Reversibility of Functional and Structural Changes of Lysozyme Subjected to Hydrodynamic Flow

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Kaplan Türköz ◽  
Anastassia Zakhariouta ◽  
Muhsincan Sesen ◽  
Alpay Taralp ◽  
Ali Koşar
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Hydrodynamic Flow ◽  
Hydrodynamic Cavitation ◽  
Hydrodynamic Diameter ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
And Function ◽  
Microchannel Device

In this initial study, the effect of hydrodynamic flow on lysozyme structure and function was investigated using a microchannel device. Protein was subjected to bubbly cavitation as well as noncavitating flow conditions at pH 4.8 and 25 °C. Interestingly, time course analyses indicated that the secondary structure content, the hydrodynamic diameter, and enzymatic activity of lysozyme were unaffected by cavitation. However, noncavitating flow conditions did induce a decrease of the hydrodynamic diameter. The corresponding structural change was subtle to the extent that bioactivity was marginally suppressed. Moreover, native diameter and bioactivity could be fully restored following a brief period of ultrasonication. The findings encouraged further study of various hydrodynamic flow conditions in order to better ascertain the potential risks and benefits of invasive hydrodynamic cavitation in medicine. The results also served to highlight the counter-intuitive notion that proteins need not necessarily be denatured in high-shear media, risks that typically correlate well with forcefully agitated solutions.

Alterations in Cardiac Structure and Function in a Murine Model of Chronic Alcohol Consumption

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany A. Law ◽  
Scott P. Levick ◽  
Wayne E. Carver
Keyword(s):  
Transforming Growth Factor Beta ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Cardiac Fibrosis ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy ◽  
Histological Techniques ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Mrna Analysis ◽  
And Function

AbstractMale, wild-type, FVB strain mice were fed a nutritionally complete liquid diet supplemented with 4% ethanol v/v over a time course of 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 14 weeks. Controls were offered an isocaloric liquid equivalent and pair fed with their ethanol counterparts. Changes in cardiac physiology were assessed at respective time points via echocardiography. Additionally, the use of histological techniques, mRNA analysis, apoptosis determination, and immunohistochemistry were employed to determine the functional and structural changes on the heart. Echocardiograph analysis revealed a compensatory phase that occurred early in the time course (1–8 weeks) and decompensation reverting toward heart failure at weeks 12 and 14. Throughout the study, an increase in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, cardiac fibrosis, apoptosis, TGF-β, and the presence of α-SMA-positive cells were determined. A compensatory period in mice treated with ethanol occurred early followed by a transition to a dilated phenotype over time. A number of factors may be involved in this process including the activation of myofibroblasts and their fibrotic activities that is correlated with the presence of transforming growth factor beta.

Hydrodynamic flow conditions through permeable walls

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (8) ◽  
pp. 1565-1569
Author(s):  
S. Vollmar ◽  
J. A. M. S. Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Hydrodynamic Flow ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Permeable Walls

Influence of Ascorbic Acid on the Structure and Function of Alpha-2- macroglobulin: Investigations using Spectroscopic and Thermodynamic Techniques

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-209
Author(s):  
Syed Saqib Ali ◽  
Mohammad Khalid Zia ◽  
Tooba Siddiqui ◽  
Haseeb Ahsan ◽  
Fahim Halim Khan
Keyword(s):  
Ascorbic Acid ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
The Body ◽  
Titration Calorimetry ◽  
Spectroscopic Techniques ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Plasma Ascorbic Acid ◽  
Dietary Antioxidant ◽  
And Function

Background: Ascorbic acid is a classic dietary antioxidant which plays an important role in the body of human beings. It is commonly found in various foods as well as taken as dietary supplement. Objective: The plasma ascorbic acid concentration may range from low, as in chronic or acute oxidative stress to high if delivered intravenously during cancer treatment. Sheep alpha-2- macroglobulin (α2M), a human α2M homologue is a large tetrameric glycoprotein of 630 kDa with antiproteinase activity, found in sheep’s blood. Methods: In the present study, the interaction of ascorbic acid with alpha-2-macroglobulin was explored in the presence of visible light by utilizing various spectroscopic techniques and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Results: UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy suggests the formation of a complex between ascorbic acid and α2M apparent by increased absorbance and decreased fluorescence. Secondary structural changes in the α2M were investigated by CD and FT-IR spectroscopy. Our findings suggest the induction of subtle conformational changes in α2M induced by ascorbic acid. Thermodynamics signatures of ascorbic acid and α2M interaction indicate that the binding is an enthalpy-driven process. Conclusion: It is possible that ascorbic acid binds and compromises antiproteinase activity of α2M by inducing changes in the secondary structure of the protein.

scholarly journals Acetylcholine Receptors

1972 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Criss Hartzell ◽  
Douglas M. Fambrough
Keyword(s):  
Acetylcholine Receptors ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Scintillation Counting ◽  
Receptor Density ◽  
Rat Diaphragm ◽  
Leg Muscles ◽  
And Function ◽  
Quantitative Radioautography ◽  
Ach Receptors

Using 125iodine-labeled α-bungarotoxin (α-BGT-125I) and quantitative radioautography, we have studied the time-course of the change in acetylcholine (ACh) receptor distribution and density occurring in rat diaphragm after denervation. In innervated fibers, ACh receptors are localized at the neuromuscular junction and the extrajunctional receptor density is less than five receptors per square micrometer. The extrajunctional receptor density begins to increase between 2 and 3 days after denervation and increases approximately linearly to 1695 receptors/µm2 at 14 days, subsequently decreasing to 529 receptors/µm2 at 45 days. We have isolated plasma membranes from rat leg muscles at various times after denervation and find that the change in concentration of ACh receptors in the membranes measured by α-BGT-125I binding and scintillation counting follows a time-course similar to the change in ACh receptor density measured radioautographically. Furthermore, we have correlated extrajunctional ACh receptor density measured by radioautography with extrajunctional ACh sensitivity measured by iontophoretic application of ACh and intracellular recording and find that the log of ACh receptor density is related to 0.53 times the log of ACh sensitivity. These results are discussed in terms of the electrophysiological experiments on the ACh receptor and the recent, more biochemical approaches to the study of ACh receptor control and function.

Environmental–biomechanical reciprocity and the evolution of plant material properties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl J Niklas ◽  
Frank W Telewski
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Cellular Solids ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Evolutionary Innovation ◽  
Plant Form ◽  
And Function ◽  
Abiotic Environmental Factors

Abstract Abiotic–biotic interactions have shaped organic evolution since life first began. Abiotic factors influence growth, survival, and reproductive success, whereas biotic responses to abiotic factors have changed the physical environment (and indeed created new environments). This reciprocity is well illustrated by land plants who begin and end their existence in the same location while growing in size over the course of years or even millennia, during which environment factors change over many orders of magnitude. A biomechanical, ecological, and evolutionary perspective reveals that plants are (i) composed of materials (cells and tissues) that function as cellular solids (i.e. materials composed of one or more solid and fluid phases); (ii) that have evolved greater rigidity (as a consequence of chemical and structural changes in their solid phases); (iii) allowing for increases in body size and (iv) permitting acclimation to more physiologically and ecologically diverse and challenging habitats; which (v) have profoundly altered biotic as well as abiotic environmental factors (e.g. the creation of soils, carbon sequestration, and water cycles). A critical component of this evolutionary innovation is the extent to which mechanical perturbations have shaped plant form and function and how form and function have shaped ecological dynamics over the course of evolution.

Numerical analysis of non-aligned inputs M-type micromixers with different shaped obstacles for biomedical applications

2021 ◽  
pp. 095440892110516
Author(s):  
Muhammad Irfan ◽  
Imran Shah ◽  
Usama M Niazi ◽  
Muhsin Ali ◽  
Sadaqat Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Design ◽  
Biomedical Applications ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Nanoparticle Synthesis ◽  
Fluid Mixing ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Mixing Index ◽  
Mixing Performance ◽  
Passive Micromixer

Fluid mixing in lab-on-a-chip devices at laminar flow conditions result in a low mixing index. The reason is dominant diffusion over the convection process. The mixing index can be improved by certain changes in the micromixer structural design like introducing obstacles in the path of fluid flow. These obstacles will make dominant the advection process over the diffusion process. The main contribution of this work is based on proposing the novel hybrid type micromixer design for enhancing the mixing quality. Three non-aligned M-type and non-aligned M-type with obstacles passive type micromixers are analyzed by COMSOL5.5. These designs are hybrid types because different structural changes are combined in a single design for mixing improvement. First of all the straight non-aligned inlets, M-type passive micromixer (SMTM) is analyzed. It is observed that mixing performance is improved because of M-shaped mixing units and non-aligned inlets. This improvement is deemed to be not enough so different shaped obstacles are introduced in the micromixer design. These designs based on obstacles are named horizontal rectangular M-type micromixer, square M-type micromixer, and vertical rectangular M-type micromixer. The mixing index for SMTM, square M-type micromixer, horizontal rectangular M-type micromixer, and vertical rectangular M-type micromixer at Reynolds number Re = 60 is respectively given by 71.1%, 83.21%, 84.45%, and 89.99%. The mixing index of vertical rectangular M-type micromixer was 59.34% − 87.65% for Re = 0.5–100. Vertical rectangular M-type micromixer is concluded with the better-mixing capability design among the proposed ones. Based on these simulation results, the vertical rectangular M-type micromixer design can be utilized for mixing purposes in biomedical applications like nanoparticle synthesis and biomedical sample preparation for drug delivery.

scholarly journals Metabolic aspects of the secretion of stored compounds from blood platelets. The effect of NaF at different pH on nucleotide metabolism and function of washed platelets

1981 ◽  
Vol 194 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
E H Mürer ◽  
K Davenport ◽  
E Siojo ◽  
H J Day
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Adenine Nucleotides ◽  
Blood Platelets ◽  
Fluoride Concentration ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Nucleotide Metabolism ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
And Function ◽  
Special Circumstances

The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of human blood platelets to fluoride at different pH. The results were as follows. (1) Fluoride induced secretion faster and at a lower concentration when pH was lowered. (2) Platelets exposed to 2 mM-fluoride at 0 degrees C at pH 5.3 underwent secretion when first pH and then temperature was raised, although no secretion was seen at 2 mM-fluoride concentration in the absence of the preincubation at low pH. (3) The concentration of [14C]ATP in platelets decreased steeply in response to fluoride before induction of secretion. Addition of antimycin blocked or partly inhibited secretion. Fluoride thus exerts an inhibitory effect on platelet glycolysis before induction of secretion. (4) Fluoride accumulated in the platelet pellet by a time course that preceded secretion. The accumulation was faster and greater at pH 6 than at 7.4. These four points are taken as indirect evidence that fluoride has to penetrate to the interior of the platelet to induce secretion. The activation takes place over a wide range of acid pH in contrast with induction of platelet function via the outside of the plasma membrane. In addition evidence is presented that the salvage pathway may under special circumstances play an important role in the re-synthesis of platelet adenine nucleotides.

AT1 blockade during lactation as a model of chronic nephropathy: mechanisms of renal injury

2008 ◽  
Vol 294 (6) ◽  
pp. F1345-F1353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Gomes Machado ◽  
Elizabete Pereira Barros Poppi ◽  
Camilla Fanelli ◽  
Denise Maria Avancini Costa Malheiros ◽  
Roberto Zatz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Kidney Disease ◽  
Kidney Disease ◽  
Renal Injury ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Renin Angiotensin System ◽  
Urine Osmolality ◽  
Systemic Hypertension ◽  
Advanced Stages

Suppression of the renin-angiotensin system during lactation causes irreversible renal structural changes. In this study we investigated 1) the time course and the mechanisms underlying the chronic kidney disease caused by administration of the AT1 receptor blocker losartan during lactation, and 2) whether this untoward effect can be used to engender a new model of chronic kidney disease. Male Munich-Wistar pups were divided into two groups: C, whose mothers were untreated, and LLact, whose mothers received oral losartan (250 mg·kg−1·day−1) during the first 20 days after delivery. At 3 mo of life, both nephron number and the glomerular filtration rate were reduced in LLact rats, whereas glomerular pressure was elevated. Unselective proteinuria and decreased expression of the zonula occludens-1 protein were also observed, along with modest glomerulosclerosis, significant interstitial expansion and inflammation, and wide glomerular volume variation, with a stable subpopulation of exceedingly small glomeruli. In addition, the urine osmolality was persistently lower in LLact rats. At 10 mo of age, LLact rats exhibited systemic hypertension, heavy albuminuria, substantial glomerulosclerosis, severe renal interstitial expansion and inflammation, and creatinine retention. Conclusions are that 1) oral losartan during lactation can be used as a simple and easily reproducible model of chronic kidney disease in adult life, associated with low mortality and no arterial hypertension until advanced stages; and 2) the mechanisms involved in the progression of renal injury in this model include glomerular hypertension, glomerular hypertrophy, podocyte injury, and interstitial inflammation.

scholarly journals Gap junction structures after experimental alteration of junctional channel conductance.

1985 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 1741-1748 ◽  
Author(s):  
T M Miller ◽  
D A Goodenough
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junctions ◽  
Gap Junction ◽  
Electron Micrographs ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Lucifer Yellow ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Channel Conductance ◽  
Experimental Alteration ◽  
Quick Freezing

Gap junctions are known to present a variety of different morphologies in electron micrographs and x-ray diffraction patterns. This variation in structure is not only seen between gap junctions in different tissues and organisms, but also within a given tissue. In an attempt to understand the physiological meaning of some aspects of this variability, gap junction structure was studied following experimental manipulation of junctional channel conductance. Both physiological and morphological experiments were performed on gap junctions joining stage 20-23 chick embryo lens epithelial cells. Channel conductance was experimentally altered by using five different experimental manipulations, and assayed for conductance changes by observing the intercellular diffusion of Lucifer Yellow CH. All structural measurements were made on electron micrographs of freeze-fracture replicas after quick-freezing of specimens from the living state; for comparison, aldehyde-fixed specimens were measured as well. Analysis of the data generated as a result of this study revealed no common statistically significant changes in the intrajunctional packing of connexons in the membrane plane as a result of experimental alteration of junctional channel conductance, although some of the experimental manipulations used to alter junctional conductance did produce significant structural changes. Aldehyde fixation caused a dramatic condensation of connexon packing, a result not observed with any of the five experimental uncoupling conditions over the 40-min time course of the experiments.

scholarly journals A comprehensive approach for artifact-free sample preparation and assessment of mitochondrial morphology in tissue and cultured cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antentor Hinton ◽  
Prasanna Katti ◽  
Trace A. Christensen ◽  
Margaret Mungai ◽  
Jianqiang Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Cultured Cells ◽  
Mitochondrial Dynamics ◽  
Mitochondrial Morphology ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Preparation Methods ◽  
Cellular Environment ◽  
Stress Changes ◽  
Precise Relationship ◽  
And Function

Mitochondrial dynamics and morphology (fission, fusion, and the formation of nanotunnels) are very sensitive to the cellular environment and may be adversely affected by oxidative stress, changes in calcium levels, and hypoxia. Investigating the precise relationship between the organelle structure and function requires methods that can adequately preserve the structure while providing accurate, quantitative measurements of mitochondrial morphological attributes. Here, we demonstrate a practical approach for preserving and measuring fine structural changes in two-dimensional electron micrographs, obtained using transmission electron microscopy, highlighting the specific advantages of this technique. Additionally, this study defines a set of quantifiable metrics that can be applied to measure mitochondrial architecture and other organellar structures. Finally, we validated specimen preparation methods that avoid the introduction of morphological artifacts in mitochondrial appearance that do not require whole-animal perfusion.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document