Nanostructured Hydrogels of Carboxylated Cellulose Nanocrystals Crosslinked by Calcium Ions.

Bio-based eco-friendly cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) gain an increasing interest for diverse applications. We report the results of an investigation of hydrogels spontaneously formed by the self-assembly of carboxylated CNCs in the presence of CaCl using several complementary techniques: rheometry, isothermal titration calorimetry, FTIR-spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, and polarized optical microscopy. Increasing CaCl concentration was shown to induce a strong increase in the storage modulus of CNC hydrogels accompanied by the growth of CNC aggregates included in the network.

Structure and dynamics of the interaction of Delta and Omicron BA.1 SARS-CoV-2 variants with REGN10987 Fab reveal mechanism of antibody action.

Study of mechanisms by which antibodies recognize different viral strains is necessary for the development of new drugs and vaccines to treat COVID-19 and other infections. Here, we report 2.5 Å cryo-EM structure of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta trimeric S-protein in complex with Fab of the recombinant analog of REGN10987 neutralizing antibody.

[Zebrafish Xenographs in Oncology and Personalized Medicine].

The bony fish Danio rerio (zebrafish) has become one of the important vertebrate model organisms in biomedical cancer research and is used, among other things, for the development of anticancer drugs using xenotransplantation approaches. The ex utero development of zebrafish, optically transparent tissues in the first month of growth, and the immature adaptive immune system during this period greatly facilitate the manipulation of embryos. For highly aggressive cancers where patient survival may be expected to be only a few months, a zebrafish xenograft assay may be the only appropriate method as it requires only four to seven days.

Near-atomic cryo-EM structure of the light-harvesting complex LH2 from the sulfur purple bacterium Ectothiorhodospira haloalkaliphila.

Bacteria with the simplest system for solar energy absorption and conversion use various types of light-harvesting complexes for these purposes. Light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2), an important component of the bacterial photosynthetic apparatus, has been structurally well characterized among purple non-sulfur bacteria. In contrast, so far only one high-resolution LH2 structure from sulfur bacteria is known.

Complete genome sequence of a new member of the genus Badnavirus infecting nettle (Urtica dioica).

A new badnavirus was discovered in nettle plants (Urtica dioica L., family Urticaceae) with vein banding symptoms using high-throughput sequencing. This virus was provisionally named "nettle badnavirus 1" (NBV 1).

Combination of Phenylsilsesquioxane and Acetate Ligands as an Approach to a Record High Nuclear CuNa-Cage. Synthesis, Unique Structure, and Catalytic Activity.

Self-assembly synthesis of mixed-ligand (silsesquioxane/acetate) complex allows to isolate record high nuclear copper(II) Cu-cage (1). In the presence of two additional sodium ions, a unique molecular architecture, with triple combination of ligands (cyclic and acyclic silsesquioxanes as well as acetates), has been formed. The structure was established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction based on the use of synchrotron radiation.

Highly Porous Scandium(III) Tetrafluoroisophthalate Framework for Adsorptive Separation of Light Alkanes.

The separation of light alkanes is one of the most important tasks for modern industry due to the widespread use of ethane and propane as chemical feedstocks. Their extraction from natural gas is a challenging task and is now carried out by cryogenic distillation at a limited number of plants around the world. The development of new materials for adsorption separation is therefore important.

Monolayer Magnetic Metal with Scalable Conductivity.

2D magnets have emerged as a class of materials highly promising for studies of quantum phenomena and applications in ultra-compact spintronics. Current research aims at design of 2D magnets with particular functional properties. A formidable challenge is to produce metallic monolayers: the material landscape of layered magnetic systems is strongly dominated by insulators; rare metallic magnets, such as FeGeTe, become insulating as they approach the monolayer limit.

HDL Cholesterol-Associated Shifts in the Expression of Preselected Genes Reveal both Pro-Atherogenic and Atheroprotective Effects of HDL in Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: The associations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level and functionality with lipid metabolism, inflammation, and innate immunity in coronary artery disease (CAD) remain controversial. The differential expression of a set of genes related to HDL metabolism (24 genes) and atherogenesis (41 genes) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from CAD and control patients with varied HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels was compared.

Methods: 76 male patients 40-60 years old with CAD diagnosed by angiography and 63 control patients were divided into three groups with low, normal (1.

An octanuclear 3-phenyl-5-(2-pyridyl)pyrazolate/phenylsilsesquioxane complex: synthesis, unique structure, and catalytic activity.

The first metallasilsesquioxane bearing pyrazolylpyridine ligands, the Cu-based complex 1, adopts a cage-like structure with two zigzag-type copper tetramers sandwiched by two cyclic Si silsesquioxane ligands. The four 3-phenyl-5-(2-pyridyl)pyrazolate ligands in 1 exhibit dual (chelating and bridging) modes of ligation. Compound 1 is very active in the oxidation of alkanes and alcohols.

Insights into the Functioning of the D-amino Acid Transaminase from Haliscomenobacter Hydrossis via a Structural and Spectral Analysis of its Complex with 3-Aminooxypropionic Acid.

Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzymes play a crucial role in nitrogen metabolism. Carbonyl compounds, such as O-substituted hydroxylamines, stand out among numerous specific inhibitors of these enzymes, including those of practical importance, because they react with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate in the active site of the enzymes to form stable oximes. O-substituted hydroxylamines mimic the side group of amino acid substrates, thus providing highly potent and specific inhibition of the corresponding enzymes.

Magnetic polarons reach a hundred thousand Bohr magnetons.

The ability of light to manipulate fundamental interactions in a medium is central to research in optomagnetism and applications in electronics. A prospective approach is to create composite quasiparticles, magnetic polarons, highly susceptible to external stimuli. To control magnetic and transport properties by weak magnetic and electric fields, it is important to find materials that support photoinduced magnetic polarons with colossal net magnetic moments.

Features of Brain Damage after Neutron Irradiation of the Head and Modification of the Damage by Lactoferrin.

Unlabelled: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of γ,n-irradiation of the mouse head on the brain cells damage, behavior, and cognition and to examine the possibility of using lactoferrin (LF) to alleviate radiation-induced impairments.

Materials And Methods: : Mouse heads were irradiated in a beam of neutrons and gamma rays from the IR-8 nuclear reactor. The brain cells of control and irradiated mice were isolated using Percoll.

Genetically encoded green fluorescent sensor for probing sulfate transport activity of solute carrier family 26 member a2 (Slc26a2) protein.

Genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors became indispensable tools for biological research, enabling real-time observation of physiological processes in live cells. Recent protein engineering efforts have resulted in the generation of a large variety of fluorescent biosensors for a wide range of biologically relevant processes, from small ions to enzymatic activity and signaling pathways. However, biosensors for imaging sulfate ions, the fourth most abundant physiological anion, in mammalian cells are still lacking.

Antidepressant-like and antistress effects of the ACTH(4-10) synthetic analogs Semax and Melanotan II on male rats in a model of chronic unpredictable stress.

Current antidepressant therapy shows substantial limitations, and there is an urgent need for the development of new treatment strategies for depression. Stressful events and hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis play an important role in the pathogenesis of depression. HPA axis activity is self-regulated by negative feedback at several levels including adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-mediated feedback.

Parylene-MoO crossbar memristors as a volatile reservoir and non-volatile readout: a homogeneous reservoir computing system.

From the very beginning, the emulation of biological principles has been the primary avenue for the development of energy-efficient artificial intelligence systems. Reservoir computing, which has a solid biological basis, is particularly appealing due to its simplicity and efficiency. So-called memristors, resistive switching elements with complex dynamics, have proved beneficial for replicating both principal parts of a reservoir computing system.

NeIle, a Genetically Encoded Indicator for Branched-Chain Amino Acids Based on mNeonGreen Fluorescent Protein and LIVBP Protein.

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) play an important role in the functioning of mammalian cells and the central nervous system. However, available genetically encoded indicators for BCAAs are based on Förster resonance energy transfer and have a limited dynamic range. We developed a single fluorescent protein-based sensor for BCAAs, called NeIle, which is composed of circularly permutated mNeonGreen protein inserted into the leucine-isoleucine-valine binding protein (LIVBP) from bacteria.

A novel HER2-specific sensor based on DARPin_9-29 and albumin binding domain for real-time fluorescence-guided tumor detection in animal model of cancer.

In animal models of cancer, targeted fluorescence bioimaging, performed non-invasively and in real time, is indispensable tool for assessing tumor location, spread of metastasis, and the therapeutic potential of anticancer drugs under development. To overcome the limitation of antibodies in bioimaging applications, small artificial scaffold proteins based on ankyrin repeats (DARPins, designed ankyrin repeat proteins) are used as tumor-associated antigen binders. In this study for the first time, we assessed the potential of DARPin_9-29, the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) subdomain I-specific protein, genetically fused with albumin binding domain (ABD) and conjugated with Cyanine5.

Advances of the Holographic Technique to Test the Basic Properties of the Thin-Film Organics: Refractivity Change and Novel Mechanism of the Nonlinear Attenuation Prediction.

A large number of the thin-film organic structures (polyimides, 2-cyclooctylarnino-5-nitropyridine, N-(4-nitrophenyl)-(L)-prolinol, 2-(n-Prolinol)-5-nitropyridine) sensitized with the different types of the nano-objects (fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, shungites, reduced graphene oxides) are presented, which are studied using the holographic technique under the Raman-Nath diffraction conditions. Pulsed laser irradiation testing of these materials predicts a dramatic increase of the laser-induced refractive index, which is in several orders of the magnitude greater compared to pure materials. The estimated nonlinear refraction coefficients and the cubic nonlinearities for the materials studied are close to or larger than those known for volumetric inorganic crystals.

Chloroplast Genome Variation and Phylogenetic Relationships of Autochthonous Varieties of from the Don Valley.

The autochthonous grape varieties of the Don Valley, situated in southern Russia, constitute a distinctive element of regional cultural heritage. These varieties have been adapted over centuries to the region's specific local climatic and soil conditions. For the most part, these varieties are not imported from other countries.

The Barnase-Barstar-based pre-targeting strategy for enhanced antitumor therapy in vivo.

There is a great need for novel approaches to the treatment of epithelial ovarian carcinoma, which is the leading cause of mortality from gynecological malignancies. In this study, the pre-targeting technology was used to enhance the in vivo targeting of cytotoxic module composed of nanoliposomes loaded with a truncated form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (PE40) to cancer cells. Pre-targeting system used in this study is composed of bacterial ribonuclease Barnase and its natural antitoxin Barstar.

Rational (supra)molecular design and catalytic activity of cage-like Cu-based phenylsilsesquioxanes.

An extended (, 19 distinct species) family of cage-like Cu-phenylsilsesquioxanes allowed us to accentuate the general regularities behind their structural organization. Influencing factors, namely the (i) size of external alkali metal ions (from Li to Cs) and (ii) nature of bridging linkers (including the smallest possible ones, like a water molecule) on the self-assembly/supramolecular assembly of such Cu-building blocks have been thoroughly explored. A CuK-based complex has been evaluated as a precatalyst in the oxidation of alkanes (cyclohexane, -heptane, methylcyclohexane) and alcohols.

Physicochemical Characterization and Antimicrobial Properties of Lanthanide Nitrates in Dilute Aqueous Solutions.

This work presents the results of studying dilute aqueous solutions of commercial (NO) · HO salts with = Ce-Lu using X-ray diffraction (XRD), IR spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS: EXAFS/XANES), and pH measurements. As a reference point, XRD and XAS measurements for characterized (NO) · HO microcrystalline powder samples were performed. The local structure of -nitrate complexes in 20 mM (NO) · HO aqueous solution was studied under total external reflection conditions and EXAFS geometry was applied to obtain high-quality EXAFS data for solutions with low concentrations of ions.

[Immunological and neuroanatomic markers of the clinical dynamics of MCI and pre-MCI].

Objective: To study the relationship of the parameters of immunity and systemic inflammation with the structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and pre-MCI undergoing neurocognitive rehabilitation to search for candidate markers of its effectiveness.

Material And Methods: The main group included 49 patients, aged ≥60 years, with MCI and pre-MCI with memory impairment, who underwent a course of neurorehabilitation for 5 weeks. The control group included 19 volunteers of similar age with a total MoCA score of ≥25, who did not have cognitive impairment and immuno-inflammatory disorders.