Maf-family bZIP transcription factor NRL interacts with RNA-binding proteins and R-loops in retinal photoreceptors.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) perform diverse functions including the regulation of chromatin dynamics and the coupling of transcription with RNA processing. However, our understanding of their actions in mammalian neurons remains limited. Using affinity purification, yeast-two-hybrid and proximity ligation assays, we identified interactions of multiple RBPs with neural retina leucine (NRL) zipper, a Maf-family transcription factor critical for retinal rod photoreceptor development and function.

RhoA and Rac1 as Mechanotransduction Mediators in Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, creating an urgent need for innovative diagnostic solutions. Mechanobiology, a cutting-edge field that investigates how physical forces influence cell behavior, is now revealing new insights into cancer progression. This research focuses on two crucial players: RhoA and Rac1, small yet powerful proteins that regulate the structure and movement of cancer cells.

Maf-family bZIP transcription factor NRL interacts with RNA-binding proteins and R-loops in retinal photoreceptors.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) perform diverse functions including the regulation of chromatin dynamics and the coupling of transcription with RNA processing. However, our understanding of their actions in mammalian neurons remains limited. Using affinity purification, yeast-two-hybrid and proximity ligation assays, we identified interactions of multiple RBPs with NRL, a Maf-family bZIP transcription factor critical for retinal rod photoreceptor development and function.

Uniaxial Cyclic Cell Stretching Device for Accelerating Cellular Studies.

Cellular response to mechanical stimuli is a crucial factor for maintaining cell homeostasis. The interaction between the extracellular matrix and mechanical stress plays a significant role in organizing the cytoskeleton and aligning cells. Tools that apply mechanical forces to cells and tissues, as well as those capable of measuring the mechanical properties of biological cells, have greatly contributed to our understanding of fundamental mechanobiology.

TP5: A Novel Therapeutic Approach Targeting Aberrant and Hyperactive CDK5/p25 for the Treatment of Colorectal Carcinoma.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a prevalent cancer worldwide with a high mortality rate. Evidence suggests that increased expression of Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 () contributes to cancer progression, making it a promising target for treatment. This study examined the efficacy of selectively inhibiting CDK5 in colorectal carcinoma using TP5, a small peptide that selectively inhibits the aberrant and hyperactive CDK5/p25 complex while preserving physiological CDK5/p35 functions.

Charge-Reduced Particles via Self-Propelled Electrohydrodynamic Atomization for Drug Delivery Applications.

Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) provides unparalleled control over the size and production rate of particles from solution. However, conventional methods produce highly charged particles that are not appropriate for inhalation drug delivery. We present a self-propelled EHDA system to address this challenge, a promising one-step platform for generating and delivering charge-reduced particles.

Protein kinase CK2 modulates the activity of Maf-family bZIP transcription factor NRL in rod photoreceptors of mammalian retina.

Maf-family basic motif leucine zipper protein NRL specifies rod photoreceptor cell fate during retinal development and, in concert with homeodomain protein CRX and other regulatory factors, controls the expression of most rod-expressed genes including the visual pigment gene Rhodopsin (Rho). Transcriptional regulatory activity of NRL is modulated by post-translational modifications, especially phosphorylation, and mutations at specific phosphosites can lead to retinal degeneration. During our studies to elucidate NRL-mediated transcriptional regulation, we identified protein kinase CK2 in NRL-enriched complexes bound to Rho promoter-enhancer regions and in NRL-enriched high molecular mass fractions from the bovine retina.

Wide bandgap semiconductor nanomembranes as a long-term biointerface for flexible, implanted neuromodulator.

Electrical neuron stimulation holds promise for treating chronic neurological disorders, including spinal cord injury, epilepsy, and Parkinson's disease. The implementation of ultrathin, flexible electrodes that can offer noninvasive attachment to soft neural tissues is a breakthrough for timely, continuous, programable, and spatial stimulations. With strict flexibility requirements in neural implanted stimulations, the use of conventional thick and bulky packages is no longer applicable, posing major technical issues such as short device lifetime and long-term stability.

Integrated, Transparent Silicon Carbide Electronics and Sensors for Radio Frequency Biomedical Therapy.

The integration of micro- and nanoelectronics into or onto biomedical devices can facilitate advanced diagnostics and treatments of digestive disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers. Recent developments in gastrointestinal endoscopy and balloon catheter technologies introduce promising paths for minimally invasive surgeries to treat these diseases. However, current therapeutic endoscopy systems fail to meet requirements in multifunctionality, biocompatibility, and safety, particularly when integrated with bioelectronic devices.

Tuning particle inertial separation in sinusoidal channels by embedding periodic obstacle microstructures.

Inertial microfluidics functions solely based on the fluid dynamics at relatively high flow speed. Thus, channel geometry is the critical design parameter that contributes to the performance of the device. Four basic channel geometries (, straight, expansion-contraction, spiral and serpentine) have been proposed and extensively studied.

On-demand deterministic release of particles and cells using stretchable microfluidics.

Microfluidic technologies have been widely used for single-cell studies as they provide facile, cost-effective, and high-throughput evaluations of single cells with great accuracy. Capturing single cells has been investigated extensively using various microfluidic techniques. Furthermore, cell retrieval is crucial for the subsequent study of cells in applications such as drug screening.

Investigation of viscoelastic focusing of particles and cells in a zigzag microchannel.

Microfluidic particle focusing has been a vital prerequisite step in sample preparation for downstream particle separation, counting, detection, or analysis, and has attracted broad applications in biomedical and chemical areas. Besides all the active and passive focusing methods in Newtonian fluids, particle focusing in viscoelastic fluids has been attracting increasing interest because of its advantages induced by intrinsic fluid property. However, to achieve a well-defined focusing position, there is a need to extend channel lengths when focusing micrometer-sized or sub-microsized particles, which would result in the size increase of the microfluidic devices.

Size-tuneable isolation of cancer cells using stretchable inertial microfluidics.

Inertial microfluidics is a simple, low cost, efficient size-based separation technique which is being widely investigated for rare-cell isolation and detection. Due to the fixed geometrical dimensions of the current rigid inertial microfluidic systems, most of them are only capable of isolating and separating cells with certain types and sizes. Herein, we report the design, fabrication, and validation of a stretchable inertial microfluidic device with a tuneable separation threshold that can be used for heterogenous mixtures of particles and cells.

RhoA and Rac1 in Liver Cancer Cells: Induction of Overexpression Using Mechanical Stimulation.

Liver cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is an aggressive disease with an extremely high mortality rate. Unfortunately, no promising markers are currently available for the early diagnosis of this disease. Thus, a reliable biomarker reflecting the early behaviour of the tumour will be valuable for diagnosis and treatment.

Stretching Induces Overexpression of RhoA and Rac1 GTPases in Breast Cancer Cells.

Rho GTPases are well known for regulating cell morphology and intracellular interactions. They can either be oncogenic or tumor suppressors. However, these proteins are associated with the acquirement of malignant features by cancer cells.

Autoantibodies as diagnostic and prognostic cancer biomarker: Detection techniques and approaches.

Autoantibodies produced by the patients' own immune systems in response to foreign substances are emerging as an attractive biomarker for early detection of cancer. These serum immunobiomarkers are produced in large quantities despite the presence of very less amount of the corresponding antigens, and thus presenting themselves as a novel class of stable and minimally invasive disease biomarkers especially for cancer diagnosis. Although a plethora of research, including conventional molecular biology-based as well as cutting-edge optical and electrochemical strategies (biosensor), have been conducted to detect autoantibodies, most of these strategies are yet to be readily applicable in the off-laboratory settings at clinics.

Stretching cells - An approach for early cancer diagnosis.

Cells express multiple biophysical cues during migration, differentiation, and transformation. Probing and quantifying these biophysical cues could serve as a diagnostic tool for differentiating healthy with neoplastic cells. These biophysical cues may be utilized for diagnostic screening in cancer, as the tumor cells interact with the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM).

Biophysical properties of cells for cancer diagnosis.

Biophysical properties associated with the microenvironment of a tumor has been recognized as an important modulator for cell behaviour and function. Particularly, tissue rigidity is important during tumor carcinogenesis as it affects the tumor's ability to metastasis. Multiple downstream pathways are affected with a difference in rigidity of the extracellular matrix.

Phosphorylation, Dephosphorylation, and Multiprotein Assemblies Regulate Dynamic Behavior of Neuronal Cytoskeleton: A Mini-Review.

Cellular localization, assembly and abnormal aggregation of neurofilaments depend on phosphorylation. Pathological processes associated with neurodegeneration exhibit aberrant accumulation of microtubule associated aggregated forms of hyperphosphorylated neuronal protein tau in cell bodies. These processes are critical for the disease progression in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Correction: Gold-loaded nanoporous iron oxide nanocubes: a novel dispersible capture agent for tumor-associated autoantibody analysis in serum.

Correction for 'Gold-loaded nanoporous iron oxide nanocubes: a novel dispersible capture agent for tumor-associated autoantibody analysis in serum' by Sharda Yadav et al., Nanoscale, 2017, 9, 8805-8814.

Gold-Loaded Nanoporous Ferric Oxide Nanocubes with Peroxidase-Mimicking Activity for Electrocatalytic and Colorimetric Detection of Autoantibody.

The enzyme-mimicking activity of iron oxide based nanostructures has provided a significant advantage in developing advanced molecular sensors for biomedical and environmental applications. Herein, we introduce the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-like activity of gold-loaded nanoporous ferric oxide nanocubes (Au-NPFeONC) for the development of a molecular sensor with enhanced electrocatalytic and colorimetric (naked eye) detection of autoantibodies. The results showed that Au-NPFeONC exhibits enhanced peroxidase-like activity toward the catalytic oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tertamethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of HO at room temperature (25 °C) and follows the typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics.

Gold-loaded nanoporous iron oxide nanocubes: a novel dispersible capture agent for tumor-associated autoantibody analysis in serum.

Autoantibodies are produced against tumor associated antigens (TAAs) long before the appearance of any symptoms and thus can serve as promising, non-invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis of cancer. Current conventional methods for autoantibody detection are highly invasive and mostly provide diagnosis in the later stages of cancer. Herein we report a new electrochemical method for early detection of p53 autoantibodies against colon cancer using a strategy that combines the strength of gold-loaded nanoporous iron oxide nanocube (Au@NPFeONC)-based capture and purification while incorporating the inherent simplicity, inexpensive, and portable nature of the electrochemical and naked-eye colorimetric readouts.

An electrochemical method for sensitive and rapid detection of FAM134B protein in colon cancer samples.

Despite the excellent diagnostic applications of the current conventional immunoassay methods such as ELISA, immunostaining and Western blot for FAM134B detection, they are laborious, expensive and required a long turnaround time. Here, we report an electrochemical approach for rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of FAM134B protein in biological (colon cancer cell extracts) and clinical (serum) samples. The approach utilises a differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in the presence of the [Fe(CN)] redox system to quantify the FAM134B protein in a two-step strategy that involves (i) initial attachment of FAM134B antibody on the surface of extravidin-modified screen-printed carbon electrode, and (ii) subsequent detection of FAM134B protein present in the biological/clinical samples.

Optical biosensing strategies for DNA methylation analysis.

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification of DNA, where a methyl group is added at the fifth carbon of the cytosine base to form 5 methyl cytosine (5mC) without altering the DNA sequences. It plays important roles in regulating many cellular processes by modulating key genes expression. Alteration in DNA methylation patterns becomes particularly important in the aetiology of different diseases including cancers.

Detection of regional DNA methylation using DNA-graphene affinity interactions.

We report a new method for the detection of regional DNA methylation using base-dependent affinity interaction (i.e., adsorption) of DNA with graphene.