The impact of the tumor microenvironment on the survival of penile cancer patients.

PeCa is a rare entity with rising incidence rates due to increased infections with human papillomaviruses (HPV). The distinct subtypes of PeCa with an individual pathogenesis demand biomarkers for a precise patient risk assessment regarding disease progression and therapeutic susceptibility. We recently identified promising candidates associated with an HPV-instructed tumor microenvironment (TME) using HPV-positive PeCa cell lines and tissue microarrays (TMA).

How to steer active colloids up a vertical wall.

An important challenge in active matter lies in harnessing useful global work from entities that produce work locally, e.g., via self-propulsion.

Flocking of two unfriendly species: The two-species Vicsek model.

We consider the two-species Vicsek model (TSVM) consisting of two kinds of self-propelled particles, A and B, that tend to align with particles from the same species and to antialign with the other. The model shows a flocking transition that is reminiscent of the original Vicsek model: it has a liquid-gas phase transition and displays micro-phase-separation in the coexistence region where multiple dense liquid bands propagate in a gaseous background. The interesting features of the TSVM are the existence of two kinds of bands, one composed of mainly A particles and one mainly of B particles, the appearance of two dynamical states in the coexistence region: the PF (parallel flocking) state in which all bands of the two species propagate in the same direction, and the APF (antiparallel flocking) state in which the bands of species A and species B move in opposite directions.

Inhibition of Collagenase Q1 of as a Novel Antivirulence Strategy for the Treatment of Skin-Wound Infections.

Despite the progress in surgical techniques and antibiotic prophylaxis, opportunistic wound infections with remain a public health problem. Secreted toxins are one of the main factors contributing to . pathogenicity.

Scanning electron microscopy preparation of the cellular actin cortex: A quantitative comparison between critical point drying and hexamethyldisilazane drying.

The cellular cortex is an approximately 200-nm-thick actin network that lies just beneath the cell membrane. It is responsible for the mechanical properties of cells, and as such, it is involved in many cellular processes, including cell migration and cellular interactions with the environment. To develop a clear view of this dense structure, high-resolution imaging is essential.

Streptococcal Extracellular Membrane Vesicles Are Rapidly Internalized by Immune Cells and Alter Their Cytokine Release.

Extracellular vesicles are membranous structures shed by almost every living cell. Bacterial gram-negative outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) and gram-positive membrane vesicles (MVs) play important roles in adaptation to the surrounding environment, cellular components' exchange, transfer of antigens and virulence factors, and infection propagation. is considered one of the priority pathogens, with a global health impact due to the increase in infection burden and growing antibiotic resistance.

Reduced Radiation Damage in Transmission Electron Microscopy of Proteins in Graphene Liquid Cells.

Liquid-phase electron microscopy (LPEM) is capable of imaging native (unstained) protein structure in liquid, but the achievable spatial resolution is limited by radiation damage. This damaging effect is more pronounced when targeting small molecular features than for larger structures. The matter is even more complicated because the critical dose that a sample can endure before radiation damage not only varies between proteins but also critically depends on the experimental conditions.

Redox-Responsive and Thermoresponsive Supramolecular Nanosheet Gels with High Young's Moduli.

Supramolecular gels made from 2D building blocks are emerging as one of the novel multifunctional soft materials for various applications. This study reports on a class of supramolecular nanosheet gels formed through a reversible self-assembly process involving both intramolecular folding and intermolecular self-assembly of poly[oligo(ethylene glycol)-co-(phenyl-capped bithiophenes)]. Such hierarchical self-assembled structure allows the gels to switch between sol and gel states under either redox or thermostimulus.

Pseudocapacitive Desalination of Brackish Water and Seawater with Vanadium-Pentoxide-Decorated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes.

A hybrid membrane pseudocapacitive deionization (MPDI) system consisting of a hydrated vanadium pentoxide (hV O )-decorated multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) electrode and one activated carbon electrode enables sodium ions to be removed by pseudocapacitive intercalation with the MWCNT-hV O electrode and chloride ion to be removed by non-faradaic electrosorption of the porous carbon electrode. The MWCNT-hV O electrode was synthesized by electrochemical deposition of hydrated vanadium pentoxide on the MWCNT paper. The stable electrochemical operating window for the MWCNT-hV O electrode was between -0.

Quantification of Internalized Silica Nanoparticles via STED Microscopy.

The development of safe engineered nanoparticles (NPs) requires a detailed understanding of their interaction mechanisms on a cellular level. Therefore, quantification of NP internalization is crucial to predict the potential impact of intracellular NP doses, providing essential information for risk assessment as well as for drug delivery applications. In this study, the internalization of 25 nm and 85 nm silica nanoparticles (SNPs) in alveolar type II cells (A549) was quantified by application of super-resolution STED (stimulated emission depletion) microscopy.

Sorption of hydrophilic dyes on anodic aluminium oxide films and application to pH sensing.

The sorption of selected hydrophilic pH-sensitive dyes (bromophenol blue, bromothymol blue, bromocresol purple, alizarin red, methyl orange, congo red, rhodamine 6G) on films of anodized aluminium oxide (AAO) was investigated in this study. Depth and pore structure of the AAO channels were adjusted by changing electrolysis time and current density during treatment of aluminium foil in oxalic acid, sulfosalycilic acid and sulfuric acid at concentration levels between 0.2 and 0.

Liquid scanning transmission electron microscopy: imaging protein complexes in their native environment in whole eukaryotic cells.

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) of specimens in liquid, so-called Liquid STEM, is capable of imaging the individual subunits of macromolecular complexes in whole eukaryotic cells in liquid. This paper discusses this new microscopy modality within the context of state-of-the-art microscopy of cells. The principle of operation and equations for the resolution are described.

Ligand-dominated temperature dependence of agglomeration kinetics and morphology in alkyl-thiol-coated gold nanoparticles.

The stability of nanoparticle suspensions and the details of their agglomeration depend on the interactions between particles. We study this relationship in gold nanoparticles stabilized with different alkyl thiols in heptane. Temperature-dependent interactions were inferred from small-angle x-ray scattering, agglomeration kinetics from dynamic light scattering, and agglomerate morphologies from transmission electron microscopy.

Role of the meniscus shape in large-area convective particle assembly.

Dense and uniform particle films are deposited using a robust version of the convective particle assembly process. We analyze how the shape of the gas-liquid interface and the three-phase contact line govern the stability of convective deposition and, thus, the achievable quality of films. Interference microscopy indicates that a highly curved meniscus cannot compensate for the ubiquitous perturbation during deposition.