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Our results suggest that storage method is important in microbiota studies and that the stabilization device may be useful in maintaining microbial profile integrity, especially for samples collected off-site and/or those undergoing temperature changes during shipment or storage.This study explored the impact of gold nanoparticles on the metabolic activity and morphology of human pulmonary endothelial cell monolayers. We developed a gold nanoparticle library of three different sizes and two surface chemistries that include anionic citrate and the cationic polyelectrolyte poly(allylamine hydrochloride). The nanoparticles were characterized in cell culture medium to assess how their physical properties are altered after exposure to biological fluids. A bovine serum albumin pretreatment protocol was developed to stabilize the nanoparticles in cell culture medium. Results of this study show that an 18 h exposure of human pulmonary artery endothelial cells to the different nanoparticles modestly affects cellular metabolic activity. However, nanoparticle exposure perturbs the cortical actin networks and induces the formation of intercellular gaps. In particular, exposure to the poly(allylamine hydrochloride)-coated particles reduces the area of cell-cell junctions-a change that correlates with increased leakiness of endothelial barriers. The presence of excess polyelectrolyte capping agents in the supernatant of poly(allylamine hydrochloride)-coated nanoparticles significantly impacts endothelial morphology. Pretreatment of the particle supernatant with bovine serum albumin mitigates the negative effects of free or bound polyelectrolytes on endothelial cell monolayers.Eyespots evolved independently in many taxa as anti-predator signals. There remains debate regarding whether eyespots function as diversion targets, predator mimics, conspicuous startling signals, deceptive detection, or a combination. Although eye patterns and gaze modify human behaviour, anti-predator eyespots do not occur naturally in contemporary mammals. Here we show that eyespots painted on cattle rumps were associated with reduced attacks by ambush carnivores (lions and leopards). Cattle painted with eyespots were significantly more likely to survive than were cross-marked and unmarked cattle, despite all treatment groups being similarly exposed to predation risk. While higher survival of eyespot-painted cattle supports the detection hypothesis, increased survival of cross-marked cattle suggests an effect of novel and conspicuous marks more generally. To our knowledge, this is the first time eyespots have been shown to deter large mammalian predators. Applying artificial marks to high-value livestock may therefore represent a cost-effective tool to reduce livestock predation.Although electroporation has been widely accepted as the main gene transfer tool, there is still considerable scope to improve the electroporation efficiency of exogenous DNAs into primary cells. Here, we developed a square-wave pulsing protocol using OptiMEM-GlutaMAX for highly efficient transfection of murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) and induced pluripotency stem (iPS) cells using reporter genes as well as gRNA/Cas9-encoding plasmids. An electrotransfection efficiency of &gt; 95% was achieved for both MEF and iPS cells using reporter-encoding plasmids. The protocol was efficient for plasmid sizes ranging from 6.2 to 13.5 kb. Inducing the error prone non-homologous end joining repair by gRNA/Cas9 plasmid transfection, a high rate of targeted gene knockouts of up to 98% was produced in transgenic cells carrying a single-copy of Venus reporter. Targeted deletions in the Venus transgene were efficiently (up to 67% deletion rate) performed by co-electroporation of two gRNA-encoding plasmids. We introduced a plasmid electrotransfection protocol which is straight-forward, cost-effective, and efficient for CRISPRing murine primary cells. This protocol is promising to make targeted genetic engineering using the CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid system.The network-based proximity between drug targets and disease genes can provide novel insights regarding the repercussions, interplay, and repositioning of drugs in the context of disease. Current understanding and treatment for reversing of the fibrotic process is limited in systemic sclerosis (SSc). We have developed a network-based analysis for drug effects that takes into account the human interactome network, proximity measures between drug targets and disease-associated genes, genome-wide gene expression and disease modules that emerge through pertinent analysis. Currently used and potential drugs showed a wide variation in proximity to SSc-associated genes and distinctive proximity to the SSc-relevant pathways, depending on their class and targets. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TyKIs) approach disease gene through multiple pathways, including both inflammatory and fibrosing processes. The SSc disease module includes the emerging molecular targets and is in better accord with the current knowledge of the pathophysiology of the disease. In the disease-module network, the greatest perturbing activity was shown by nintedanib, followed by imatinib, dasatinib, and acetylcysteine. Suppression of the SSc-relevant pathways and alleviation of the skin fibrosis was remarkable in the inflammatory subsets of the SSc patients receiving TyKI therapy. Our results show that network-based drug-disease proximity offers a novel perspective into a drug's therapeutic effect in the SSc disease module. This could be applied to drug combinations or drug repositioning, and be helpful guiding clinical trial design and subgroup analysis.Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS) catalyzes the synthesis of pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C), a key precursor for the synthesis of proline and ornithine. P5CS malfunction leads to multiple human diseases; however, the molecular mechanism underlying these diseases is unknown. We found that P5CS localizes in mitochondria in rod- and ring-like patterns but diffuses inside the mitochondria upon cellular starvation or exposure to oxidizing agents. Some of the human disease-related mutant forms of P5CS also exhibit diffused distribution. Multimerization (but not the catalytic activity) of P5CS regulates its localization. P5CS mutant cells have a reduced proliferation rate and are sensitive to cellular stresses. Flies lacking P5CS have reduced eclosion rates. [https://www.selleckchem.com/products/mi-3-menin-mll-inhibitor.html Menin-MLL Inhibitor inhibitor] Lipid droplets accumulate in the eyes of the newly eclosed P5CS mutant flies, which degenerate with aging. The loss of P5CS in cells leads to abnormal purine metabolism and lipid-droplet accumulation. The reduced lipid-droplet consumption is likely due to decreased expression of the fatty acid transporter, CPT1, and few β-oxidation-related genes following P5CS knockdown.