Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, 321 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Published: June 2018
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
The significance of lipid droplets in lipid metabolism, cell signaling, and regulating longevity is increasingly recognized, yet the lipid droplet's unique properties and architecture make it difficult to size and study using conventional methods. To begin to address this issue, we demonstrate the capabilities of nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) for sizing of lipid droplets. NTA was found to be adequate to assess lipid droplet stability over time, indicating that lipid droplet preparations are stable for up to 24 h. NTA had the ability to compare the size distributions of lipid droplets from adult and geriatric mouse liver tissue, suggesting an age-related decrease in lipid droplet size. This is the first report on the use of NTA to size intracellular organelles. Graphical Abstract Light scattering reveals the temporal positions of individual lipid droplets, which are recorded with a camera. The two-dimensional diffusion constant of each lipid droplet is extracted from the data set, which is then used to calculate a hydrodynamic radius using the Stokes-Einstein equation.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of short-term exposure of Bisphenol A (BPA) on the growth and lactation performance, blood parameters, and milk composition of lactating rabbits and explore its potential molecular mechanisms. Eight lactating rabbits with similar body weight were selected and randomly divided into the experimental group (BPA) and the control group (Ctrl). The group BPA was orally administered 80 mg/kg/day BPA on the 15th day postpartum, while the group Ctrl received a corresponding volume of vehicle.
During the study of algal diversity in pyroclastic deposits of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Chlorella-like green algae strains VCA-72 and VCA-93 were isolated from samples collected from along the Baydarnaya river bed on the Shiveluch volcano in 2018 and at the outlet of thermal vapors along the edge of the caldera on the southern slope of the Gorely volcano in 2020. Identification of the strains was carried out within the framework of an integrative approach using microscopic and molecular genetic methods, including preliminary taxon identification, obtaining nucleotide sequences of the small subunit and the internal transcribed spacer rRNA, reconstruction of phylogenetic trees and secondary structures of the ITS1 and ITS2 rRNA regions. On the phylogenetic tree, strain VCA-93 was clustered in the Micractinium thermotolerans species clade.
Ambient mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) enables hundreds of analytes in tissue sections to be directly mapped at atmospheric pressure with minimal sample preparation. This field is currently experiencing rapid growth, with numerous reported ambient ionization techniques resulting in a "hundred flowers bloom" situation. Nanospray desorption electrospray ionization (nano-DESI), developed by the Laskin group in 2010, is a widely used liquid-extraction-based ambient ionization technique that was first used for mass spectrometry imaging of tissue in 2012.
Lipids are indispensable components of living organisms and play pivotal roles in cell-membrane fluidity, energy provision, and neurotransmitter transmission and transport. Lipids can act as potential biomarkers of diseases given their abilities to indicate cell-growth status. For example, the lipid-metabolism processes of cancer cells are distinct from those of normal cells owing to their rapid proliferation and adaptation to ever-changing biological environments.
Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) was associated with adipogenesis. However, potential mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Herein, a 3T3-L1 adipocyte model was used to explore the dynamic changes in adipocyte differentiation (2, 4, and 8 days) under PFOA and HFPO-DA exposure.
