scholarly journals Measuring S-Depalmitoylation Activity In Vitro and In Live Cells with Fluorescent Probes

Author(s):  
Rahul S. Kathayat ◽  
Bryan C. Dickinson
Author(s):  
E. D. Salmon ◽  
J. C. Waters ◽  
C. Waterman-Storer

We have developed a multi-mode digital imaging system which acquires images with a cooled CCD camera (Figure 1). A multiple band pass dichromatic mirror and robotically controlled filter wheels provide wavelength selection for epi-fluorescence. Shutters select illumination either by epi-fluorescence or by transmitted light for phase contrast or DIC. Many of our experiments involve investigations of spindle assembly dynamics and chromosome movements in live cells or unfixed reconstituted preparations in vitro in which photodamage and phototoxicity are major concerns. As a consequence, a major factor in the design was optical efficiency: achieving the highest image quality with the least number of illumination photons. This principle applies to both epi-fluorescence and transmitted light imaging modes. In living cells and extracts, microtubules are visualized using X-rhodamine labeled tubulin. Photoactivation of C2CF-fluorescein labeled tubulin is used to locally mark microtubules in studies of microtubule dynamics and translocation. Chromosomes are labeled with DAPI or Hoechst DNA intercalating dyes.


1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-80
Author(s):  
Matteo Valentino ◽  
Francesca Monaco ◽  
Maria Antonietta Pizzichini ◽  
Mario Governa

The acute cytotoxicity of the first ten MEIC chemicals has been estimated by others in various cell lines. In the present investigation, isolated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from ten healthy non-smoking laboratory personnel were used to assess in vitro toxicity of the same chemicals. The cells were treated with different concentrations of the respective chemicals for three hours and their vitality and chemotaxis were tested. Vitality was measured by fluorescence microscopy after the addition of fluorescein diacetate and ethidium bromide. Living cells which took up and hydrolysed fluorescein diacetate, and dead cells, stained by ethidium bromide, were counted and the percentage of live cells was calculated. Locomotion stimulated by the chemotactic peptide formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (F-MLP), was measured in blind-well Boyden chambers and a chemotactic index was calculated. The results were mathematically transformed to produce a linear curve, and then fitted by the linear least squares procedure, from which LC50 and IC50 values were obtained by interpolation. All the chemicals decreased the vitality and inhibited the chemotaxis of the PMN. Obviously the chemotactic test was more sensitive than the vitality one. A correlation (r = 0.933) was found between vitality and chemotaxis inhibition. Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between our results and those from in vitro experiments conducted in other laboratories, as well as with data concerning mouse, rat and human lethal doses.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 3575
Author(s):  
Shenggang Wang ◽  
Yue Huang ◽  
Xiangming Guan

Thiols play vital and irreplaceable roles in the biological system. Abnormality of thiol levels has been linked with various diseases and biological disorders. Thiols are known to distribute unevenly and change dynamically in the biological system. Methods that can determine thiols’ concentration and distribution in live cells are in high demand. In the last two decades, fluorescent probes have emerged as a powerful tool for achieving that goal for the simplicity, high sensitivity, and capability of visualizing the analytes in live cells in a non-invasive way. They also enable the determination of intracellular distribution and dynamitic movement of thiols in the intact native environments. This review focuses on some of the major strategies/mechanisms being used for detecting GSH, Cys/Hcy, and other thiols in live cells via fluorescent probes, and how they are applied at the cellular and subcellular levels. The sensing mechanisms (for GSH and Cys/Hcy) and bio-applications of the probes are illustrated followed by a summary of probes for selectively detecting cellular and subcellular thiols.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Montanucci ◽  
Silvia Terenzi ◽  
Claudio Santi ◽  
Ilaria Pennoni ◽  
Vittorio Bini ◽  
...  

Alginate-based microencapsulation of live cells may offer the opportunity to treat chronic and degenerative disorders. So far, a thorough assessment of physical-chemical behavior of alginate-based microbeads remains cloudy. A disputed issue is which divalent cation to choose for a high performing alginate gelling process. Having selected, in our system, high mannuronic (M) enriched alginates, we studied different gelling cations and their combinations to determine their eventual influence on physical-chemical properties of the final microcapsules preparation,in vitroandin vivo. We have shown that used of ultrapure alginate allows for high biocompatibility of the formed microcapsules, regardless of gelation agents, while use of different gelling cations is associated with corresponding variable effects on the capsules’ basic architecture, as originally reported in this work. However, only the final application which the capsules are destined to will ultimately guide the selection of the ideal, specific gelling divalent cations, since in principle there are no capsules that are better than others.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-221
Author(s):  
Jiafeng Wan ◽  
Xiaoyuan Zhang ◽  
Kai Zhang ◽  
Zhiqiang Su

Abstract In recent years, nanomaterials have attracted lots of attention from researchers due to their unique properties. Nanometer fluorescent materials, such as organic dyes, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), metal nano-clusters (MNCs), carbon dots (CDs), etc., are widely used in biological imaging due to their high sensitivity, short response time, and excellent accuracy. Nanometer fluorescent probes can not only perform in vitro imaging of organisms but also achieve in vivo imaging. This provides medical staff with great convenience in cancer treatment. Combined with contemporary medical methods, faster and more effective treatment of cancer is achievable. This article explains the response mechanism of three-nanometer fluorescent probes: the principle of induced electron transfer (PET), the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and the principle of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), showing the semiconductor QDs, precious MNCs, and CDs. The excellent performance of the three kinds of nano fluorescent materials in biological imaging is highlighted, and the application of these three kinds of nano fluorescent probes in targeted biological imaging is also introduced. Nanometer fluorescent materials will show their significance in the field of biomedicine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongtao Geng ◽  
Alexandros Pertsinidis

AbstractVisualizing the 4D genome in live cells is essential for understanding its regulation. Programmable DNA-binding probes, such as fluorescent clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and transcription activator-like effector (TALE) proteins have recently emerged as powerful tools for imaging specific genomic loci in live cells. However, many such systems rely on genetically-encoded components, often requiring multiple constructs that each must be separately optimized, thus limiting their use. Here we develop efficient and versatile systems, based on in vitro transcribed single-guide-RNAs (sgRNAs) and fluorescently-tagged recombinant, catalytically-inactivated Cas9 (dCas9) proteins. Controlled cell delivery of pre-assembled dCas9-sgRNA ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes enables robust genomic imaging in live cells and in early mouse embryos. We further demonstrate multiplex tagging of up to 3 genes, tracking detailed movements of chromatin segments and imaging spatial relationships between a distal enhancer and a target gene, with nanometer resolution in live cells. This simple and effective approach should facilitate visualizing chromatin dynamics and nuclear architecture in various living systems.


1932 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Wilkes ◽  
Elizabeth T. Palmer

1. The pH-activity relationship of invertase has been studied in vivo and in vitro under identical external environmental conditions. 2. The effect of changing (H+) upon the sucroclastic activity of living cells of S. cerevisiae and of invertase solutions obtained therefrom has been found, within experimental error, to be identical. 3. The region of living yeast cells in which invertase exerts its physiological activity changes its pH freely and to the same extent as that of the suspending medium. It is suggested that this may indicate that this intracellular enzyme may perform its work somewhere in the outer region of the cell. 4. In using live cells containing maltase, no evidence of increased sucroclastic activity around pH 6.9, due to the action of Weidenhagen's α-glucosidase (maltase), was found.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M Armstrong ◽  
Michael G Sugiyama ◽  
Andrew Levy ◽  
Dante Neculai ◽  
Mark Roufaiel ◽  
...  

Introduction: Retention of LDL beneath the arterial endothelium initiates an inflammatory response culminating in atherosclerosis. How LDL crosses the endothelium to enter the arterial wall remains unknown. While LDL could conceivably pass between endothelial cells (paracellularly) or through them (transcytosis), electron microscopy studies in animals revealed LDL in intracellular vesicles and none at intercellular junctions. This, combined with the absence of endothelial injury or intercellular gaps in early atherosclerosis, suggests that transcytosis is the major route. However, technical challenges with studying transcytosis have made confirming and extending these findings difficult. We developed and validated a novel assay for measuring the transcytosis of native LDL across live human coronary artery endothelium in vitro. Using this assay, we propose to elucidate the regulation of LDL transcytosis and have identified a novel role for SR-B1. Methods and Results: Experiments were performed using primary human coronary artery endothelial monolayers. Transcytosis was quantified in single live cells in real time using total internal reflectance fluorescence microscopy. Transcytosis of LDL was saturable and inhibited by excess unlabeled LDL. By fluorescence microscopy we found that DiI-LDL colocalized significantly with scavenger receptor, class B, type 1 (SR-B1). Unexpectedly, overexpression of SR-BI resulted in increased LDL transcytosis, while knockdown of SR-BI by siRNA inhibited transcytosis. Excess HDL, the canonical SR-B1 ligand, also decreased LDL transcytosis. To confirm the occurrence of transcytosis in an intact vessel, we perfused murine aortas ex vivo with both LDL and dextran of a smaller molecular radius. We observed the accumulation of subendothelial LDL without dextran, indicating that transcytosis of LDL occurs in intact vessels. Conclusions: The accumulation of LDL in the subendothelial intima is the first step of atherosclerosis yet little is known about how it occurs. Our data suggests that transcytosis of LDL is an important contributor, particularly in the early stages of the disease. By identifying the mechanisms of transcytosis, our work could have important implications for its pathogenesis and therapy.


Endocrinology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 144 (11) ◽  
pp. 4991-4998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Run Yu ◽  
Wenge Lu ◽  
Jiandong Chen ◽  
Chris J. McCabe ◽  
Shlomo Melmed

Abstract The mammalian securin, pituitary tumor-transforming gene (PTTG), is overexpressed in several tumors and transforms cells in vitro and in vivo. To test the hypothesis that PTTG overexpression causes aneuploidy, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-tagged PTTG (PTTG-EGFP) was expressed in human H1299 cancer cells (with undetectable endogenous PTTG expression) and mitosis of individual live cells observed. Untransfected cells and cells expressing EGFP alone exhibited appropriate mitosis. PTTG-EGFP markedly prolonged prophase and metaphase, indicating that PTTG blocks progression of mitosis to anaphase. In cells that underwent apparently normal mitosis (35 of 65 cells), PTTG-EGFP was degraded about 1 min before anaphase onset. Cells that failed to degrade PTTG-EGFP exhibited asymmetrical cytokinesis without chromosome segregation (18 of 65 cells) or chromosome decondensation without cytokinesis (9 of 65 cells), resulting in appearance of a macronucleus. Fifty-one of 55 cells expressing a nondegradable mutant PTTG exhibited asymmetrical cytokinesis without chromosome segregation, and some (4 of 55) decondensed chromosomes, both resulting in macronuclear formation. During this abnormal cytokinesis, all chromosomes and spindles and both centrosomes moved to one daughter cell, suggesting potential chaos in the subsequent mitosis. In conclusion, failure of PTTG degradation or enhanced PTTG accumulation, as a consequence of overexpression, inhibits mitosis progression and chromosome segregation but does not directly affect cytokinesis, resulting in aneuploidy. These results demonstrate that PTTG induces aneuploidy in single, live, human cancer cells.


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