Andrewslarsen6901

Polymer shelling around nanoparticle is commonly employed for stabilization, surface chemistry and bioconjugation. However, this shelling increases the overall size of nanoparticle which limits many biomedical applications. Here we show that soft and non-ionic polymer shelling can induce direct cytosolic delivery of nanoparticle, as compared to clathrin-mediated uptake and lysozomal trafficking by similar size nanoparticle with molecular shelling. Specifically, we have studied cellular internalization of two classes of colloidal nanoparticles of 10-50 nm hydrodynamic size. selleck products In one class 4-5 nm quantum dot is coated with soft polyacrylate shell of varied thickness between 2-20 nm and in other class Au nanoparticle of varied size between 5-45 nm is coated with molecular shell. We found that polymer shelling has two roles in controlling cellular internalization of nanoparticle. First, it increases the hydrodynamic size and controls surface charge that influences the binding with cell membrane and 10 nm appears the minimum size requirement for such binding. Second, it increases softness that induces membrane penetration and direct cytosolic delivery of nanoparticle. In particular the soft and non-ionic polymer shell induces lipid-raft mediated direct cytosolic delivery but soft and cationic polymer shell induces clathrin-mediated endocytosis with lysozomal trafficking, similar to non-ionic molecular shell. The observed results can be used to design more effective nanoprobe for controlling intracellular processing.Background The aortic valve (AV) is the most commonly affected valve in valvular heart diseases (VHDs). The objective of the study is to identify microRNA (miRNA) molecules expressed in VHDs and the differential expression patterns of miRNA in AVs with either calcification or rheumatism etiologies. Methods Human AVs were collected during valve replacement surgery. RNA was extracted and miRNA containing libraries were prepared and sequenced using the next generation sequencing (NGS) approach. miRNAs identified as differentially expressed between the two etiologies were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to examine the ability of relevant miRNA to differentiate between calcification and rheumatism etiologies. Results Rheumatic and calcified AV samples were prepared for the NGS and were successfully sequenced. The expression was validated by the qPCR approach in 46 AVs, 13 rheumatic, and 33 calcified AVs, confirming that miR-145-5p, miR-199a-5p, and miR-5701 were significantly higher in rheumatic AVs as compared with calcified AVs. ROC curve analysis revealed that miR-145-5p had a sensitivity of 76.92% and a specificity of 94.12%, area under the curve (AUC) = 0.88 (P = .0001), and miR-5701 had a sensitivity of 84.62% and a specificity of 76.47%, AUC = 0.78 (P = .0001), whereas miR-199a-5p had a sensitivity of 84.62%, and a specificity of 57.58%, AUC = 0.73 (P = .0083). Conclusion We documented differential miRNA expression between AV disease etiologies. The miRNAs identified in this study advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlining AV disease.Use of imazethapyr and imazamox has been an environmental concern due to their high persistence, water solubility, residue build up and potential to injure the succeeding crops. Hence, it is necessary to develop effective decontamination technology. In present study, effect of β-cyclodextrin-chitosan biocomposite (LCD) amendment in soil on dissipation of imazethapyr and imazamox and their phytotoxicity on succeeding crop was evaluated. The influence of different experimental variables viz. extractant solution and its concentration, liquid to soil ratio, amount of soil and soil type on dissipation of imazethapyr and imazamox was assessed through chemical assays. Irrespective of herbicide formulation and application rate, amendment of soils with LCD increased the dissipation rate of herbicide and the residues were below the detection limit ( less then 0.005 μg g-1) within 5 to 15 days in aridisol, entisol, inceptisol A, inceptisol B, inceptisol C and 7 to 21 days in alfisol and vertisol. Amendment of soils with LCD significantly reduced the growth inhibition of Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and improved the soil biological activity as evident from increase in dehydrogenase activity and soil bacterial count. Amendment of soils with LCD could be a promising, economically feasible and environmentally benign soil decontamination strategy for imazethapyr and imazamox contaminated soils.Super-concentrated aqueous electrolytes ('water-in-salt' electrolytes, or WiSE) enable various aqueous battery chemistries beyond the voltage limits imposed by the Pourbaix diagram of water. However, their detailed structural and transport proper-ties remain unexplored and could be better understood through added studies. Here, we report on our observations of strong acidity (pH = 2.4) induced by lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) at super-concentration (at 20 mol/kg). Multiple nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments pulsed-field gradient (PFG) diffusion NMR experiments, density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal that such acidity originates from the formation of nanometric ion-rich structures. The experimental and simulation results indicate the separation of water-rich and ion-rich domains at salt concentrations ≥ 5 m and the acidity arising therefrom are due to deprotonation of water molecules in the ion-rich domains. As such, the ion-rich domain is composed of hydrophobic -CF3 (of TFSI-) and hydrophilic hydroxyl (OH-) groups. At 20 m concentration, the tortuosity and radius of water diffusion channels are estimated to be ~10 and ~1 nm, respectively, which are close to values obtained from hydrated Nafion® membranes that also have hydrophobic polytetrafluo-roethylene (PTFE) backbones and hydrophilic channels consisting of a SO3- ion cluster networks providing for the transport of ions and water. Thus we have discovered the structural similarity between WiSE and hydrated Nafion® membranes on nanometeric scales.