1,721,015 research outputs found

    Data for "Graphene oxide - upconversion nanoparticle based optical sensors for targeted detection of mRNA biomarkers present in Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer"

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    Raw data and images for the article Vilela, Patrick, El-Sagheer, Afaf, Millar, Timothy M., Brown, Tom, Muskens, Otto and Kanaras, Antonios (2016) Graphene oxide-upconversion nanoparticle based optical sensors for targeted detection of mRNA biomarkers present in Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease and prostate cancer. ACS Sensors (doi:10.1021/acssensors.6b00651)</span

    Peroxynitrite formation from the simultaneous reduction of nitrite and oxygen by xanthine oxidase

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    One electron reductions of oxygen and nitrite by xanthine oxidase form peroxynitrite. The nitrite and oxygen reducing activities of xanthine oxidase are regulated by oxygen with K(oxygen) 26 and 100 microM and K(nitrite) 1.0 and 1.1 mM with xanthine and NADH as donor substrates. Optimal peroxynitrite formation occurs at 70 microM oxygen with purine substrates. Kinetic parameters: V(max) approximately 50 nmol/min/mg and K(m) of 22, 36 and 70 microM for hypoxanthine, pterin and nitrite respectively. Peroxynitrite generation is inhibited by allopurinol, superoxide dismutase and diphenylene iodonium. A role for this enzyme activity can be found in the antibacterial activity of milk and circulating xanthine oxidase activity

    ROS generation in endothelial hypoxia and reoxygenation stimulates MAP kinase signaling and kinase-dependent neutrophil recruitment

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    Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced injury has been shown to occur during the reperfusion phase of ischemia–reperfusion and ROS are known to induce signaling events. We hypothesized that oxygen sensing in endothelial cells is also dependent on internal redox changes during hypoxia and that endothelial cells respond to changing oxygen environments via signaling, switching to an inflammatory phenotype. Endothelial cells exposed to relative hypoxia or the mitochondrial inhibitors rotenone, antimycin A, or FCCP show loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. During hypoxia, an increase in cytoplasmic ROS and glutathione S-transferase activity occurred, suggesting changes in intracellular redox state, mimicked with rotenone or FCCP but inhibited by antimycin A. Phosphorylation of stress-responsive mitogen-activated protein kinases occurred in hypoxia and was rapid and prolonged. Phosphorylation was inhibited by vitamin C, N-acetyl cysteine, or antimycin A. Chelation of intracellular calcium inhibits phosphorylation but the mitochondrial transition pore inhibitor cyclosporin A had no effect. Reoxygenation caused a further round of signaling, which was rapid but transient. Functionally, adhesion of neutrophils after hypoxia–reoxygenation under flow is ROS, P-selectin, and MAPK dependent. Therefore, changes in cellular signaling and phenotype are abrogated by ROS scavengers and suggest their use as therapeutic agents in ischemia–reperfusion

    Xanthine oxidoreductase catalyses the reduction of nitrates and nitrite to nitric oxide under hypoxic conditions

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    Xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) catalyses the reduction of the therapeutic organic nitrate, nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate, GTN), as well as inorganic nitrate and nitrite, to nitric oxide (NO) under hypoxic conditions in the presence of NADH. Generation of nitric oxide is not detectable under normoxic conditions and is inhibited by the molybdenum site-specific inhibitors, oxypurinol and (-)BOF 4272. These enzymic reactions provide a mechanism for generation of NO under hypoxic conditions where nitric oxide synthase does not function, suggesting a vasodilatory role in ischaemia.<br/

    Human Endothelial Cells Modulate CD4+ T Cell Populations and Enhance Regulatory T Cell Suppressive Capacity

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    Endothelial cells (ECs) line the luminal surface of blood vessels and have an active role in the recruitment of leukocytes, including immune cell activation. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are immune suppressor cells that maintain peripheral tolerance and must interact with the endothelium as they traffic into tissue. We hypothesized that human ECs could modulate Tregs and their suppressor function. Cocultures of CD4+ T cells with human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) or dermal microvascular ECs (HDMECs) were conducted and analyzed for activation and proliferation after 72 and 120 h using flow cytometry. In monocyte-depleted cultures, human ECs were found to support CD4+ T cell proliferation in the presence of external mitogens phytohemagglutinin or anti-CD3/28 antibodies (aCD3/28). Activation was shown by CD25 expression in these cells that also transiently expressed the Treg transcription factor FOXP3. HUVECs supported the specific concurrent proliferation of both effector T cells and Tregs when cocultured with aCD3/28. Purified Tregs were also functionally activated by prior coculture with EC to suppress effector T (Teff) cell proliferation. Both direct coculture and indirect coculture of EC and Treg showed activation of the Treg suppressive phenotype. However, whereas HUVEC showed enhancement of suppression by both mechanisms, HDMEC only supported Treg suppressive activity via the contact-independent mechanism. In the contact-independent cultures, the soluble mediators IL-6, GM-CSF, or G-CSF released from ECs following interferon-γ activation were not responsible for the enhanced Treg suppressor function. Following direct coculture, Treg expression of inhibitory receptors PD-1 and OX40 was elevated while activated EC expressed the counter ligands programmed death ligand (PD-L)1 and PD-L2. Therefore, human ECs have a role in supporting T cell proliferation and increasing Treg suppressor function. This ability of EC to enhance Treg function could offer novel targets to boost Treg activity during inflammatory disorders

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Xanthine oxidase mediates cytokine-induced, but not hormone-induced bone resorption

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    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) have been implicated as mediators of osteoclastic bone resorption. Xanthine oxidase (XO) a ubiquitous enzyme is widely known for its production of these ROS. We therefore evaluated the potential of XO as a source of ROS in cytokine-and hormone-induced bone resorption. XO activity in rat calvarial osteoblasts was found to be significantly elevated upon stimulation by the cytokines, TNFalpha and IL-1beta. These cytokines also caused a dose related increase in bone resorption of mouse calvariae, which was significantly inhibited by catalase (10 IU/ml). Allopurinol, the competitive inhibitor of XO, also caused a dose related (1-50 microM) inhibition of TNFalpha (20 ng/ml) and (0.01-10 microM) IL-1beta (50 IU/ml)-induced bone resorption, respectively. PTH- and 1,25-(OH)2 Vitamin D3-induced bone resorption could also be inhibited by catalase (100 IU/ml) but was unaffected by allopurinol, indicating that another mediator, other than XO, is required for hormone-induced bone resorption. These results demonstrate, that modulation of the redox balance in the bone microenvironment, which contains XO, can affect the bone resorbing process. Therefore, XO may play a pivotal role in cytokine-induced bone resorption and, if manipulated appropriately, could show a therapeutic benefit in inflammatory bone disorders such as RA.<br/

    Manipulation of in vitro angiogenesis using peptide-coated gold nanoparticles

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    We demonstrate the deliberate activation or inhibition of in vitro angiogenesis using functional peptide coated gold nanoparticles. The peptides, anchored to oligo-ethylene glycol capped gold nanospheres, were designed to selectively interact with cell receptors responsible for activation or inhibition of angiogenesis. The functional particles are shown to influence significantly the extent and morphology of vascular structures, without causing toxicity. Mechanistic studies show that the nanoparticles have the ability to alter the balance between naturally secreted pro- and anti- angiogenic factors, under various biological conditions. Nanoparticle-induced control over angiogenesis opens up new directions in targeted drug delivery and therapy
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