Biological Elements Research Articles

Electrochemical aptasensors for pathogenic detection toward point-of-care diagnostics.

A biosensor system refers to a biomedical device, which detects biological, chemical, or biochemical components by converting those signals to an electrical signal by utilizing and uniting physical or chemical transducer with biorecognition elements. An electrochemical biosensor is generally based on the reaction of either production or consumption of electrons under a three-electrode system. Biosensor systems are exploited in a wide range of areas, such as medicine, agriculture, husbandry, food, industry, environment protection, quality control, waste disposal, and the military. Pathogenic infections are the third leading cause of death worldwide after cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Therefore, there is an urgent need for effective diagnostic tools to control food, water, and soil contamination result in protecting human life and health. Aptamers are peptide or oligonucleotide-based molecules that show very high affinity to their targets that are produced from large pools of random amino acid or oligonucleotide sequences. Generally, aptamers have been utilized for fundamental sciences and clinical implementations for their target-specific affinity and have been intensely exploited for different kinds of biosensor applications for approximately 30 years. The convergence of aptamers with biosensor systems enabled the construction of voltammetric, amperometric, and impedimetric biosensors for the detection of specific pathogens. In this review, electrochemical aptamer biosensors were evaluated by discussing the definition, types, and production techniques of aptamers, the advantages of aptamers as a biological recognition element against their alternatives, and a wide range of aptasensor examples from literature in the detection of specific pathogens.

Sensitive MIM plasmonic biosensors for detection of hemoglobin, creatinine and cholesterol concentrations

In this paper, a nano structure based on graphene-plasmonic/black phosphorous combination is proposed and investigated. The main goal of the presented work is detection of different biological elements in blood samples. The structure is consisted of different layers of Ag (silver), air, graphene and black phosphorous. Various layers are considered in the T-shaped, U-shaped and split ring-shaped waveguides. The incident field would be applied to the T-shaped waveguide and output signals would be transmitted to the three output ports (output1, output2 and output3). The structure is supposed to function as sensitive bio-sensors. Therefore, effects of different structural parameters (r2, t2, r3, t3, r4, t4), chemical potentials (μc2, μc3, μc4) and black phosphorous layers on the transmission spectrum of output ports are considered. These processes lead to improved transmission's peak value and wavelength (enhancing sensor's functionalities). Finally, the improved structure would be considered as refractive index sensors. Cholesterol, Creatinine and Hemoglobin concentrations in blood samples would be diagnosed at ouput1, output2 and output3 ports, respectively. Considerable sensitivity factors of 5333.3[nm/RIU], 1562.5[nm/RIU] and 800[nm/RIU] are obtained for Cholesterol, Creatinine and Hemoglobin concentrations, respectively. Other important parameters (figure of merit, quality factor and limit of detection) are also calculated for each biomolecule sensor. Considering these sensitivity factors, the structure can be utilized as accurate bio-sensors in optical integrated circuits.

Translation initiation consistency between in vivo and in vitro bacterial protein expression systems.

Strict on-demand control of protein synthesis is a crucial aspect of synthetic biology. The 5'-terminal untranslated region (5'-UTR) is an essential bacterial genetic element that can be designed for the regulation of translation initiation. However, there is insufficient systematical data on the consistency of 5'-UTR function among various bacterial cells and in vitro protein synthesis systems, which is crucial for the standardization and modularization of genetic elements in synthetic biology. Here, more than 400 expression cassettes comprising the GFP gene under the regulation of various 5'-UTRs were systematically characterized to evaluate the protein translation consistency in the two popular Escherichia coli strains of JM109 and BL21, as well as an in vitro protein expression system based on cell lysate. In contrast to the very strong correlation between the two cellular systems, the consistency between in vivo and in vitro protein translation was lost, whereby both in vivo and in vitro translation evidently deviated from the estimation of the standard statistical thermodynamic model. Finally, we found that the absence of nucleotide C and complex secondary structure in the 5'-UTR significantly improve the efficiency of protein translation, both in vitro and in vivo.

Dakwah Sebagai Konsep Perubahan Sosial

This paper discusses da'wah as a concept of social change. This paper also discusses several explanations including the understanding of social change, the factors causing social change, the impact of social change, da'wah as the core of social change studies. Social change in general is a change in the relationship of interaction between individuals, organizations or communities related to social structures or patterns of values and norms. Thus the change in question is a "socio-cultural" change, because indeed humans are social creatures that are inseparable from culture. The method in this research is qualitative discriptive with a literature study approach. Social change occurs due to changes in the elements that maintain the balance of society, such as changes in geographical, biological, economic, and cultural elements. Therefore, social change will always occur in every part of society itself. The results to be obtained with knowledge from this paper are expected to help understand more deeply about da'wah as social change, factors causing social change, the impact of social change, da'wah as the core of social change studies and others.

A Novel Repetition Frequency-Based DNA Encoding Scheme to Predict Human and Mouse DNA Enhancers with Deep Learning.

Recent studies have shown that DNA enhancers have an important role in the regulation of gene expression. They are responsible for different important biological elements and processes such as development, homeostasis, and embryogenesis. However, experimental prediction of these DNA enhancers is time-consuming and costly as it requires laboratory work. Therefore, researchers started to look for alternative ways and started to apply computation-based deep learning algorithms to this field. Yet, the inconsistency and unsuccessful prediction performance of computational-based approaches among various cell lines led to the investigation of these approaches as well. Therefore, in this study, a novel DNA encoding scheme was proposed, and solutions were sought to the problems mentioned and DNA enhancers were predicted with BiLSTM. The study consisted of four different stages for two scenarios. In the first stage, DNA enhancer data were obtained. In the second stage, DNA sequences were converted to numerical representations by both the proposed encoding scheme and various DNA encoding schemes including EIIP, integer number, and atomic number. In the third stage, the BiLSTM model was designed, and the data were classified. In the final stage, the performance of DNA encoding schemes was determined by accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, CSI, MCC, G-mean, Kappa coefficient, and AUC scores. In the first scenario, it was determined whether the DNA enhancers belonged to humans or mice. As a result of the prediction process, the highest performance was achieved with the proposed DNA encoding scheme, and an accuracy of 92.16% and an AUC score of 0.85 were calculated, respectively. The closest accuracy score to the proposed scheme was obtained with the EIIP DNA encoding scheme and the result was observed as 89.14%. The AUC score of this scheme was measured as 0.87. Among the remaining DNA encoding schemes, the atomic number showed an accuracy score of 86.61%, while this rate decreased to 76.96% with the integer scheme. The AUC values of these schemes were 0.84 and 0.82, respectively. In the second scenario, it was determined whether there was a DNA enhancer and, if so, it was decided to which species this enhancer belonged. In this scenario, the highest accuracy score was obtained with the proposed DNA encoding scheme and the result was 84.59%. Moreover, the AUC score of the proposed scheme was determined as 0.92. EIIP and integer DNA encoding schemes showed accuracy scores of 77.80% and 73.68%, respectively, while their AUC scores were close to 0.90. The most ineffective prediction was performed with the atomic number and the accuracy score of this scheme was calculated as 68.27%. Finally, the AUC score of this scheme was 0.81. At the end of the study, it was observed that the proposed DNA encoding scheme was successful and effective in predicting DNA enhancers.

(383) Sexual Healthcare in Oncology: Description of a Sexual Health Clinic Utilizing an Innovative Blended Model of In-person and Facilitated Virtual Care

Abstract Introduction Sexual health is compromised by the diagnosis and treatment of virtually all cancer types. Although sexual dysfunction (SD) can manifest uniquely within each cancer population, it consistently involves biological, psychological and relational elements that affect overall health-related quality of life. Breast and pelvic cancers constitute 53% of cancer cases diagnosed in Canada with over 30% of colorectal, 73% of breast, 90% of prostate/gynecological, and 20% of non-breast/non-pelvic cancer survivors experiencing long-term SD. Despite the prevalence and negative impact of SD, sexual health clinics are the exception in cancer centres worldwide. Unfortunately, this gap in care hinders cancer survivors from achieving optimal sexual health recovery, sexual satisfaction, and relationship intimacy post-treatment. Objective We are establishing an innovative Sexual Health Clinic (SHC) that fosters accessibility and efficiency via virtual care, and personalized medicine via in-person care. The goal of the SHC is to assist patients/couples in achieving optimal sexual function, satisfaction (vs distress), and relational intimacy. Methods The SHC evolved from a fusion and expansion of the Prostate Cancer (Sexual) Rehabilitation Clinic (in-person care) at Princess Margaret, and the TrueNorth Sexual Health And Rehabilitation e-Clinic (virtual care). The SHC is theoretically founded in a biopsychosocial framework and utilizes a blended model of in-person and facilitated virtual care. The SHC virtual visits are tailored to the patient via content (text, videos, animations, and graphics) based on gender, cancer type, and treatment type. The SHC virtual platform also allows for chat-based synchronous and asynchronous facilitation with highly trained sexual health counsellors. In-person visits are designed to provide for a comprehensive sexual health assessment and sexual medicine prescription. A Hybrid Type 3 implementation research design will be used as a methodological framework for ensuring seamless integration of the SHC into the patient workflows of a high-volume cancer centre. Results An empirically-based, systematic approach to the development of a SHC based on a blended care model will be presented. Outcomes will include the process of developing: 1) personalize care pathways in a virtual setting; 2) efficient modes of digital facilitation; 3) approaches to integration of in-person and virtual care; and 4) empirically-based procedures for patient workflow implementation. Conclusions Innovative care provision is essential given the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and the limitations of resources within cancer centres. If successful, the proposed SHC will offer an efficient and effective model of care without compromising personalized patient care. Disclosure No

From national monitoring to transnational indicators: reporting and processing of aquatic biology data under the European Environment Agency’s State of the Environment data flow

Biological monitoring data from aquatic ecosystems are collected from European countries on a yearly basis by the European Environment Agency (EEA) through the Water Information System for Europe (WISE). The WISE-SoE (State of Environment) data flows provide indicators of pressures, states and impacts of surface waters and groundwaters on a pan-European scale. The WISE-2 Biology was established to obtain a harmonised flow of biology data reported annually as Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs) from European surface waters, as a supplement to the mandatory 6-yearly reporting of ecological status of water bodies for the Water Framework Directive. The purposes of this paper are 1) to describe the compilation of national aquatic biology monitoring data indicators and to inform about the public availability of these data, 2) to give an overview of the reported data and indicate the potential for assessments based on these data, and 3) to illustrate the potential for further use of the underlying species abundance data in biodiversity research and assessment. WISE-2 data are reported for the following biological quality elements: phytoplankton, phytobenthos, macrophytes, macroalgae, angiosperms, benthic invertebrates and fish in rivers, lakes, transitional and/or coastal waters. The EQR values represent the deviation from reference conditions. The final processed and quality-checked data are published in EEA’s database Waterbase - Biology, which currently holds data from more than 13,000 waterbodies in 26 countries from the reporting years 2011–2021. Examples of time series aggregated by geographic regions give an indication of the type of trends that can be obtained from the reported data at the nEQR scale. However, the current results are representative only for certain geographic regions with high coverage of water bodies. Within the European research project EuropaBON (Europa Biodiversity Observation Network), the use of WISE-2 data can be leveraged to support biodiversity policy and conservation planning. EuropaBON’s online database provides an overview of how biodiversity monitoring schemes across Europe flows through different integration nodes, to produce Essential Biodiversity Variables and other policy-relevant indicators. Here, we use the EuropaBON visualisation tool to illustrate the WISE-2 as a European integration node for 157 biology datasets via the national integration nodes.

The microbial landscape in bioturbated mangrove sediment: A resource for promoting nature-based solutions for mangroves.

Globally, soils and sediments are affected by the bioturbation activities of benthic species. The consequences of these activities are particularly impactful in intertidal sediment, which is generally anoxic and nutrient-poor. Mangrove intertidal sediments are of particular interest because, as the most productive forests and one of the most important stores of blue carbon, they provide global-scale ecosystem services. The mangrove sediment microbiome is fundamental for ecosystem functioning, influencing the efficiency of nutrient cycling and the abundance and distribution of key biological elements. Redox reactions in bioturbated sediment can be extremely complex, with one reaction creating a cascade effect on the succession of respiration pathways. This facilitates the overlap of different respiratory metabolisms important in the element cycles of the mangrove sediment, including carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and iron cycles, among others. Considering that all ecological functions and services provided by mangrove environments involve microorganisms, this work reviews the microbial roles in nutrient cycling in relation to bioturbation by animals and plants, the main mangrove ecosystem engineers. We highlight the diversity of bioturbating organisms and explore the diversity, dynamics and functions of the sediment microbiome, considering both the impacts of bioturbation. Finally, we review the growing evidence that bioturbation, through altering the sediment microbiome and environment, determining a 'halo effect', can ameliorate conditions for plant growth, highlighting the potential of the mangrove microbiome as a nature-based solution to sustain mangrove development and support the role of this ecosystem to deliver essential ecological services.

Hybrid Supported Lipid Bilayers for Bioinspired Bioelectronics with Enhanced Stability

A promising new class of biosensors leverages the sensing mechanisms of living cells by incorporating native transmembrane proteins into biomimetic membranes. Conducting polymers (CPs) can further improve the detection of electrochemical signals from these biological recognition elements through their low electrical impedance. Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) on CPs mimic the structure and biology of the cell membrane to enable such sensing, but their extrapolation to new target analytes and healthcare applications has been difficult due to their poor stability and limited membrane properties. Blending native phospholipids with synthetic block copolymers to create a hybrid SLB (HSLB) may address these challenges by allowing for the tuning of chemical and physical properties during membrane design. We establish the first example of HSLBs on a CP device and show that polymer incorporation enhances bilayer resilience and thus offers important benefits toward bio-hybrid bioelectronics for sensing applications. Importantly, HSLBs outperform traditional phospholipid bilayers in stability by exhibiting strong electrical sealing after exposure to physiologically relevant enzymes that cause phospholipid hydrolysis and membrane degradation. We investigate the impact of HSLB composition on membranes and device performance and demonstrate the ability to finely adjust the lateral diffusivity of HSLBs with modest changes in block copolymer content through a large compositional range. The inclusion of the block copolymer into the bilayer does not disrupt electrical sealing on CP electrodes, an essential metric for electrochemical sensors, or the insertion of a representative transmembrane protein. This work interfacing tunable and stable HSLBs with CPs paves the way for future bioinspired sensors that combine the exciting developments from both bioelectronics and synthetic biology.

Histological Assessment of Selenium Protective Effect Against Diclofenac Sodium-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats

Drug-induced nephrotoxicity is a matter of global significance, with widespread implications for human health. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as Diclofenac Sodium, are widely used but have been associated with numerous adverse effects, including those on the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and kidney. Selenium, an essential element in mammalian biology, has demonstrated antioxidant properties that enable it to antagonize the effects of free radicals. The present study aimed to investigate the potential protective effect of Selenium against Diclofenac Sodium-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. The study sample consisted of 32 male albino Wistar rats and was randomly divided into 4 groups: Control group, Diclofenac group (Dic group) (administered at a dose of 50 mg/kg I.M., for 3 days), Selenium group (Se group) (administered at a dose of 1 mg/kg I.P., for 8 days), and Diclofenac plus Selenium group (Dic + Se group). Rats were sacrificed on the 9th day. The results were analyzed with a significance level of p<0.05. The findings revealed significant tubular and glomerular injuries in the Diclofenac group compared to the control group. However, there was no statistically significant improvement observed in the Dic + Se group. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that Selenium affords partial protection against Diclofenac Sodium-induced nephrotoxicity, but it is not sufficient to provide complete protection.

Colorimetric and electrochemical assay for dual-mode detection of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate based on hemin-graphene nanocomposites

Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is one of the phthalic acid esters (PAEs) that can impact human health and increase the risk of cancer. In this study, we report a dual-mode method for detecting DEHP using hemin-graphene (H-Gr) hybrids and DEHP aptamers. The H-Gr nanocomposites possess inherent peroxidase-like activity, which can catalyze the chromogenic substrate TMB to produce a blue oxidized product (oxTMB). Additionally, H-Gr can be used as an in situ probe for electrochemical detection. And DEHP aptamer is added as the biological recognition element. Due to its specific recognition properties, the DEHP-aptamer complexes formed inhibit the enzymatic activity and reduce the electrochemical signal of H-Gr. As a result, colorimetric and electrochemical methods were developed for detecting DEHP with a linear relationship ranging from 2.00 × 10−10 − 1.00 × 10−7 g·L−1 and 1.00 × 10−10 − 1.00 × 10−7 g·L−1, respectively. In summary, our study presents a sensitive, rapid, and simple dual-mode strategy for detecting DEHP and has the potential for practical use in detecting DEHP in water samples.

Can Zooplankton Add Value to Monitoring Water Quality? A Case Study of a Meso/Eutrophic Portuguese Reservoir

Despite the key role of zooplankton communities in regulating the water quality of lentic ecosystems, they are absent from the list of biological elements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for the assessment of ecological status. Based on this, the present work was a case study that aimed to understand the relevance of zooplankton as a bioindicator for classifying the water quality of reservoirs. For one year and in each season, the water quality of the Torrão reservoir was assessed using the mandatory elements proposed by the WFD in the sampling year (second cycle) and the legislation currently applicable (third cycle). Additionally, zooplankton samples were collected to characterize the community dynamic. The water quality of the Torrão reservoir does not reach the WFD good ecological potential. Furthermore, with the updating of the criteria, the classification tends to get worse. Concerning the zooplankton, the occurrence of Cyclopoida and Bosmina are associated with lower water quality, as well as the collapse or low abundance of the Daphnia population, in the same periods. Low abundances of zooplankton are associated with better water quality, and the Shannon-Wiener diversity values decrease with the increase of the trophic state. High-efficiency feed filters and macrofiltrator organisms dominate the Torrão reservoir in all seasons, which is associated with low water quality. The Calanoida/Cyclopoida ratio shows a strong and negative association with the trophic state. The occurrence and abundance of species, Shannon-Wiener diversity, functional groups (high and low efficiency feed filters and macrofiltrators), and different ratios (large Cladocera/total Cladocera and Calanoida/Cyclopoida) are promising and valuable tools to determine the water quality status, and should be considered within the WFD metrics. Notwithstanding this, further research including reservoirs from different geographical areas with various trophic status and pressures must be analyzed.

The signal conversion strategy using the lytic transglycosylase Cag4-double nanoporous gold co-catalysis for the rapid screening of drugs against Helicobacter pylori infection

The cag pathogenicity island (cagPAI) is the main virulence factor of gastric carcinoma induced by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). The lytic transglycosylase Cag4 is an important component that assists in the translocation of the bacterial oncoprotein CagA and maintains the peptidoglycan cycle. The allosteric regulation of Cag4 has been preliminarily demonstrated to inhibit H. pylori infection. Unfortunately, a rapid screening technology for allosteric regulators of Cag4 has not been established. In this study, a novel Cag4-double nanoporous gold (NPG) biosensor based on enzyme-inorganic co-catalysis was constructed using the heterologously expressed H. pylori 26695 Cag4 as the biological recognition element for screening Cag4 allosteric regulators. The results showed that chitosan or carboxymethyl chitosan was a mixed Cag4 inhibitor combining non-competition with uncompetition. The inhibition constants were Ki' Chitosan = 0.88909 mg/mL and Ki' Carboxymethyl chitosan = 1.13480 mg/mL, respectively. Surprisingly, D-(+)-cellobiose showed the activation effect of Cag4 on E. coli MG1655 cell wall lysis by decreasing the Ka value by 29.7% and increasing the Vmax value by 71.3%. In addition, molecular docking revealed the importance of the polarity of the C2 substituent group with glucose as the main structure in the Cag4 allosteric regulator. This study provides a fast and useful platform for screening potential new drugs based on the Cag4 allosteric regulator.

Response Mechanism of Leaf Area Index and Main Nutrient Content in Mangrove Supported by Hyperspectral Data

Mangrove is the key vegetation in the transitional zone between land and sea, and its health assessment can indicate the deep-level ecological information. The LAI and six key nutrients of mangrove were selected as quantitative evaluation indicators, and the decisive evaluation method of mangrove growth was expected. The mangrove reserve of Dongzhai Port National Nature Reserve in Hainan Province, China, was selected as the study area, with an area of 17.71 km2. The study area was divided into adjacent urban areas, aquaculture areas, and agricultural production areas, and key indicators are extracted from satellite hyperspectral data. The extraction process includes spectral data preprocessing, spectral transformation, spectral combination, spectral modeling, and precision inspection. The spatial distribution of LAI and six key nutrient components of mangrove in the study area were obtained. LAI and Chla need to calculate the index after high-order differentiation of the spectrum; MSTR and Chlb need to calculate the envelope after the second-order differential of the spectrum; TN and TP are directly changed by original or exponential spectrum; the spectral transformation method adopted by TK was homogenization after first-order differential. The results of the strength of nutrient content along the three regions show that there was no significant difference in the retrieval index of mangroves in the three regions, and the overall health level of mangroves was consistent. Chla was the key identification component of mangrove growth and health. The contents of nutrient elements with correlation coefficient exceeding 0.80 include MSTR and TK (0.98), Chla and TP (0.96), Chla and TK (0.87), MSTR and Chla (0.86), MSTR and TK (0.83), and MSTR and TP (0.81). The study quantifies the relationship between different LAI and nutrient content of mangrove leaves from the perspectives of water, leaf biology, and chemical elements, which improved our understanding of the relationship between key components during mangrove growth for the first time.

Understorey bird assemblages in selected environmentally sensitive areas (ESA) of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) refer to areas that are of critical importance in terms of ecosystem services such as goods, services and life-support systems, such as water purification, pest control and erosion regulation. In addition, they also refer to areas that harbour the wealth of the nation's biodiversity. However, the classification of ESA in Malaysia is incomprehensible and lacks weightage on biological elements as the current classification is more centred on physical attributes. In order to enhance the existing classification of ESA by introducing biological elements, biological data are urgently required, especially for forest reserves and protected habitat. Hence, we conducted understorey birds surveys in three ESA rank II permanent forest reserves, located in northern Selangor as baseline information to strengthen the ESA classification. The surveys were carried out using mist-netting in three 400 m × 200 m plots. Alpha diversity indices were calculated and showed a significant difference in terms of diversity, composition and biomass of understorey birds between investigated sites. Analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) showed that bird assemblages from forest reserves designated as ESA rank II in Selangor, based on disturbances levels, have weakly diverged and SIMPER analysis has identified six species that contributed to 60% of the differences amongst the bird assemblages. The finding provides the first insight into understorey birds of the study sites and the importance of conserving and preserving ESA of permanent forest reserves, especially the small and fragmented forests.

Integrated Control of White Rot in Eggplant by using Pseudomonas flourescens, Penicillium Commune and Trichoderma asperellum in Iraq

The results of isolation and diagnosis of the fungus growing from Sclerotia and isolated from the infected explants showed that the pathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was isolated. The results of the antagonistic ability test of the biological resistance elements against S.sclerotiorum gave a high antagonistic ability compared to the control treatment. The treatment of P.fluorescens gave the highest percentage of inhibition against the pathogenic fungus, followed by the treatment of P.commune and T.asperellum. The results showed the efficiency of biological resistance elements, including P.fluorescens, T.asperellum and P.commune, either singly or in combination with each other, in reducing the percentage of infection severity with S.sclerotiorum under plastic house conditions and in the greenhouse, where it amounted between 5.55-50 compared to the control treatment (pathogenic fungi alone), which amounted to 94.44% and under field conditions in the greenhouse, which amounted to 5.55-66.66% compared to the control treatment, which amounted to 83.33%. It provided good protection for eggplant, which was positively reflected on all plant growth parameters, in addition to an increase in the cumulative weight of eggplant fruits.

Nanotechnology in Medical Field

Abstract: Nanotechnology is the field of using the technology and science that focuses on using molecular level regulation of matter that are of size range less than 100 nm range. In the field of nanotechnology, there are two primary approaches. The two main approaches are “Top-down” approach and “Bottom-up” approach. With a “Bottom-up” approach, materials and gadgets made of molecules that chemically put themselves together using molecular recognition principles are used. The nano-objects are created from larger entities using “Top-down” approach without atomic-level control. In fact, nanotechnology has been useful in a variety of medical fields, including cardiovascular medicine, oncology and the treatment of other chronic illnesses, as there is a significant need for the creation of pharmaceuticals and because the biological elements of live cells play crucial functions at the nanoscale. Undoubtedly, nanotechnology is being utilised to improve the identification of biomarkers, medication development, drug delivery and molecular diagnostics, all of which may be useful in the treatment of these patients. The imp

Recognition mechanism and sequence optimization of organophosphorus pesticides aptamers for better monitoring contaminations in food

Aptamers as a kind of biological recognition element have shown great potential in monitoring and the rapid quantification of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs). However, molecules of OPPs are structurally similar and original aptamers selected by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment are usually long-chain bases, which hamper the further application under OPPs-aptamer recognition. The aim of the research was to develop a new strategy to design oligonucleotide sequences for binding OPPs by combination of experimental and molecular modeling methods. 3D models of aptamers binding OPPs were constructed, and binding energy and the most probable binding site for the OPPs were then determined by molecular docking, and the binding sites were further confirmed by the results of 2-AP replaced experiments. Based on the docking results, a new aptamer for detection 4 representative OPPs with only 29 bases was designed by reasonable truncation and mutation of the reported aptamer (named S4-29). The interaction between this new aptamer and OPPs were analyzed by molecular docking, microscale thermophoresis, circular dichroism and fluorometric analysis. The results revealed that the new aptamer exhibit more superior recognition performance to OPPs, which can be promote the monitoring ability of OPPs contaminations in food.

Chronic basal forebrain activation improves spatial memory, boosts neurotrophin receptor expression, and lowers BACE1 and Aβ42 levels in the cerebral cortex in mice.

The etiology of Alzheimer's dementia has been hypothesized in terms of basal forebrain cholinergic decline, and in terms of reflecting beta-amyloid neuropathology. To study these different biological elements, we activated the basal forebrain in 5xFAD Alzheimer's model mice and littermates. Mice received 5 months of 1 h per day intermittent stimulation of the basal forebrain, which includes cholinergic projections to the cortical mantle. Then, mice were behaviorally tested followed by tissue analysis. The 5xFAD mice performed worse in water-maze testing than littermates. Stimulated groups learned the water maze better than unstimulated groups. Stimulated groups had 2-3-fold increases in frontal cortex immunoblot measures of the neurotrophin receptors for nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and a more than 50% decrease in the expression of amyloid cleavage enzyme BACE1. Stimulation also led to lower Aβ42 in 5xFAD mice. These data support a causal relationship between basal forebrain activation and both neurotrophin activation and reduced Aβ42 generation and accumulation. The observation that basal forebrain activation suppresses Aβ42 accumulation, combined with the known high-affinity antagonism of nicotinic receptors by Aβ42, documents bidirectional antagonism between acetylcholine and Aβ42.

Multiple indices on different habitats and descriptors provide consistent assessments of environmental quality in a marine protected area

In the last decades, climate change and human pressures have increasingly and dramatically impacted the ocean worldwide, calling for urgent actions to safeguard coastal marine ecosystems. The European Commission, in particular, has set ambitious targets for member states with two major directives, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), both designed to protect the marine environment in EU waters. Diverse biotic indices have accordingly been developed to assess water and habitat quality. The WFD adopts four Biological Quality Elements (BQEs), whereas the MSFD recommends a set of eleven qualitative descriptors. The borderline between water quality and habitat quality is hard to trace and so far most assessments have involved the use of a few indices and were mainly related to a single BQE or qualitative descriptor. In this study, thanks to the availability of a large dataset encompassing a wide array of descriptors, we compared the performance of 11 biotic indices relative to three habitats/biotic components (reefs, seagrass, and fish) of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Capo Carbonara (SE Sardinia, Italy). The aim was to assess whether the indices were consistent in defining the environmental status in the MPA investigated. We used the graphical approach RESQUE (REsilience and QUality of Ecosystem), which enabled us to obtain a single and comprehensive measure of the status of the environment by integrating several metrics. This approach was applied here to different habitats for the first time. All indices were consistent with each other in confirming the good status of Capo Carbonara MPA. The use of RESQUE provided insights to interpret the differences between water quality, defined according to the WFD, and habitat quality, defined according to the MSFD. Differences between the two EU directives, in terms of either requirements or goals, have long been discussed but the present study highlights for the first time that they are congruent in their assessment of the environmental status of marine ecosystems.