Journal: Scientific Reports

Article Title: Light-evoked hyperpolarization and silencing of neurons by conjugated polymers

doi: 10.1038/srep22718

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( a ) Analysis of the distribution of neurons grown on either glass:P3HT or glass and responding with a decreased, increased or stable firing rate during the light pulse (Glass:P3HT vs Glass: decreasing 55.56% vs 0.00%; stable 37.04% vs 100.00%, increasing 7.40% vs 0.00%). The percentage of cell showing a decrease during the pulse on glass:P3HT is statistically significant with respect to those on glass (p < 0.0001, Fisher’s test). For neurons on glass:P3HT showing a decrease in the firing rate during the light pulse, the distribution of the response after the pulse is also described as part of the whole (decreasing 13.33%; stable 20.00%, increasing 66.67%). ( b ) Mean (±sem) hyperpolarization amplitude recorded in neurons grown on glass:P3HT (grey and black bars) or glass (white bar) in the presence of the synaptic blockers AP5/CNQX/PTX (glass:P3HT, −5.74 ± 0.71 mV, n = 27; glass:P3HT with blockers, −5.62 ± 1.55 mV, n = 14; Glass, −1.08 ± 0.10 mV, n = 14; Glass:P3HT vs Glass ****p < 0.0001, Glass:P3HT Blockers vs Glass ****p < 0.0001, Glass:P3HT vs Glass:P3HT Blockers p > 0.9999; Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison test). ( c ) Linear correlation between the hyperpolarization amplitude during illumination and the firing rate after illumination in individual neurons grown on glass:P3HT (Pearson’s correlation coefficient r = 0.69, n = 27; p < 0.001). ( d ) Amplitude of the hyperpolarization response to 15 consecutive stimulations (green bars) performed at 0.1 Hz. Potential traces were averaged over the recorded cells on glass:P3HT ( n = 27). Left panel: full traces for sweeps 1, 2 and 15. Right panel: average hyperpolarization amplitude of cells grown onto glass:P3HT over the repeated stimulations (sweeps 1–15).

Article Snippet: To block excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission, recordings were performed in the presence of AP5 (50 μM), CNQX (10 μM) and PTX (100 μM) all from Tocris (USA).

Techniques: Comparison

Journal: Agronomy

Article Title: Softening of Processed Plant Virus Infected Cucumis sativus L. Fruits

doi: 10.3390/agronomy11081451

Figure Lengend Snippet: Figure 1. Cultivation design for Cucumis sativus plants infected with Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) or Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) and control. Plants were cultivated under greenhouse conditions in soil bags; water was supplied via drip irrigation. Two plants of each cultivar (‘Platina’, ‘Liszt’, ‘Dirigent’ and ‘Profi’) served as controls. Four plants per cultivar were infected with one of the viruses.

Article Snippet: Four cucumber plants per cultivar were artificially infected by mechanical inoculation of cotyledons with freeze-dried infected leaf material of ZYMV (strain PV-0466, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ), Braunschweig, Germany) or CGMMV (strain PV-0375, DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany) according to the supplier’s instructions.

Techniques: Infection, Virus, Control

Journal: Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering

Article Title: Re-engineering Antimicrobial Peptides into Oncolytics Targeting Drug-Resistant Ovarian Cancers

doi: 10.1007/s12195-020-00626-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: Chemotherapeutic synergy. (a) Isobolograms of MAD1 and Doxorubicin (Dox), Paclitaxel (Ptx) or Cisplatin (Cis) combinatorial synergy in OVCAR-3 (left) and NCI/ADR-RES (right) cells. Fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) < 1 and < 0.5 represent additive and synergistic effects, respectively. (b) Comparison of Dox and Cis IC50 towards NCI/ADR-RES as either a monotherapy (ADR-RES, black) or in combination with 20 μM MAD1 (ADR-RES + MAD1, grey). Activity of each drug as a monotherapy in pre-resistant OVCAR-3 (OVCAR-3, white) cells shown for comparison. (c–f) Indicated ovarian cancer cell line or patient-derived ovarian carcinoma cells were cultured in ultra-low attachment conditions and treated for 48 h with 2 μM cisplatin or 4 μM MAD1 alone and in combination. Data represent volume in arbitrary units (a.u.) and median.

Article Snippet: 3-(4,5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), Fmoc-protected amino acids, N,N 0 -diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC), O-(7-Azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N’,N’-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HATU), N,N -dimethylformamide (DMF), and Paclitaxel were purchased from Chem-Impex International, Inc. RPMI-1640, M199, trypsin and EDTA solution, Antibiotic-Antimycotic Solution, ultra-low attachment (ULA) plates, and 1× phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were purchased from Corning.

Techniques: Concentration Assay, Comparison, Activity Assay, Derivative Assay, Cell Culture