Aurora Kinase A Is Involved in Controlling the Localization of Aquaporin-2 in Renal Principal Cells

The cAMP-dependent aquaporin-2 (AQP2) redistribution from intracellular vesicles into the plasma membrane of renal collecting duct principal cells induces water reabsorption and fine-tunes body water homeostasis. However, the mechanisms controlling the localization of AQP2 are not understood in detail. Using immortalized mouse medullary collecting duct (MCD4) and primary rat inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells as model systems, we here discovered a key regulatory role of Aurora kinase A (AURKA) in the control of AQP2. The AURKA-selective inhibitor Aurora-A inhibitor I and novel derivatives as well as a structurally different inhibitor, Alisertib, prevented the cAMP-induced redistribution of AQP2. Aurora-A inhibitor I led to a depolymerization of actin stress fibers, which serve as tracks for the translocation of AQP2-bearing vesicles to the plasma membrane. The phosphorylation of cofilin-1 (CFL1) inactivates the actin-depolymerizing function of CFL1. Aurora-A inhibitor I decreased the CFL1 phosphorylation, accounting for the removal of the actin stress fibers and the inhibition of the redistribution of AQP2. Surprisingly, Alisertib caused an increase in actin stress fibers and did not affect CFL1 phosphorylation, indicating that AURKA exerts its control over AQP2 through different mechanisms. An involvement of AURKA and CFL1 in the control of the localization of AQP2 was hitherto unknown.     

Deposition welding of hot forging dies using nanoparticle reinforced weld metal

In the application field of forging, the form-giving tool components are subject to process-related severe environmental conditions, such as high mechanical loads acting simultaneously with high tribological and thermal charges. Due to high machine hour rates as well as increasing environmental requirements in terms of energy consumption, wear protection methods and suitable repair measures for forging tools become more and more important. Laser deposition welding represents an established process for the repair of complex shaped surfaces. A new approach is the addition of nano-sized ceramic particles to improve the mechanical properties. The main idea is to reduce the grain size of the cladded layers by adding nano-sized nuclei. A fine grained microstructure will improve strength as well as ductility and fatigue resistance. Furthermore small hard particles can improve the wear resistance without affecting the friction of the surface. After the cladding process the surface has to be finished usually by turning, milling and grinding operations. Within the presented paper the potential of nanoparticle-reinforced deposition welding with regard to increasing the wear resistance of forging dies will be examined. First, the process of nanoparticle-reinforced deposition welding will be presented. Afterwards it will be shown that yttrium oxide, titanium carbide and tungsten carbide nanoparticles in an AISI H10 matrix material will influence the friction coefficient between forging tool and material as well as the wear properties.     

Petrochemicals from ethanol over a W-Si-based nanocomposite bidisperse solid acid catalyst

Very high ethylene selectivity values approaching 100% and very high ethanol conversion values approaching 85% were obtained in dehydration of ethanol over a new W-silicate-based nanocomposite catalyst having both meso and macropores and containing a W/Si atomic ratio of 0.85. Silicotungsticacid was successfully incorporated into the catalyst structure following a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis procedure. This catalyst is highly stable and does not loose activity in polar solvents and it has a sufficiently high surface area for catalytic applications. Calcination temperature of the catalyst was found to have a very significant effect on the catalyst structure and also on its catalytic performance in ethanol dehydration. Maximum selectivity of the second major reaction product diethylether was obtained as 0.7 at 200 °C, with the catalyst which was calcined at 400 °C. Very high ethylene and diethylether yield values obtained in this study at different reaction conditions are highly promising for the production of petrochemicals from ethanol.     

Transferrin-Decorated Niosomes with Integrated InP/ZnS Quantum Dots and Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Dual Targeting and Imaging of Glioma

The development of multifunctional nanoscale systems that can mediate efficient tumor targeting, together with high cellular internalization, is crucial for the diagnosis of glioma. The combination of imaging agents into one platform provides dual imaging and allows further surface modification with targeting ligands for specific glioma detection. Herein, transferrin (Tf)-decorated niosomes with integrated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) and quantum dots (QDs) were formulated (PEGNIO/QDs/MIONs/Tf) for efficient imaging of glioma, supported by magnetic and active targeting. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the complete co-encapsulation of MIONs and QDs in the niosomes. Flow cytometry analysis demonstrated enhanced cellular uptake of the niosomal formulation by glioma cells. In vitro imaging studies showed that PEGNIO/QDs/MIONs/Tf produces an obvious negative-contrast enhancement effect on glioma cells by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and also improved fluorescence intensity under fluorescence microscopy. This novel platform represents the first niosome-based system which combines magnetic nanoparticles and QDs, and has application potential in dual-targeted imaging of glioma.     

Therapeutic Effects of hiPSC-Derived Glial and Neuronal Progenitor Cells-Conditioned Medium in Experimental Ischemic Stroke in Rats

Transplantation of various types of stem cells as a possible therapy for stroke has been tested for years, and the results are promising. Recent investigations have shown that the administration of the conditioned media obtained after stem cell cultivation can also be effective in the therapy of the central nervous system pathology (hypothesis of their paracrine action). The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of the conditioned medium of hiPSC-derived glial and neuronal progenitor cells in the rat middle cerebral artery occlusion model of the ischemic stroke. Secretory activity of the cultured neuronal and glial progenitor cells was evaluated by proteomic and immunosorbent-based approaches. Therapeutic effects were assessed by overall survival, neurologic deficit and infarct volume dynamics, as well as by the end-point values of the apoptosis- and inflammation-related gene expression levels, the extent of microglia/macrophage infiltration and the numbers of formed blood vessels in the affected area of the brain. As a result, 31% of the protein species discovered in glial progenitor cells-conditioned medium and 45% in neuronal progenitor cells-conditioned medium were cell type specific. The glial progenitor cell-conditioned media showed a higher content of neurotrophins (BDNF, GDNF, CNTF and NGF). We showed that intra-arterial administration of glial progenitor cells-conditioned medium promoted a faster decrease in neurological deficit compared to the control group, reduced microglia/macrophage infiltration, reduced expression of pro-apoptotic gene Bax and pro-inflammatory cytokine gene Tnf, increased expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine genes (Il4, Il10, Il13) and promoted the formation of blood vessels within the damaged area. None of these effects were exerted by the neuronal progenitor cell-conditioned media. The results indicate pronounced cytoprotective, anti-inflammatory and angiogenic properties of soluble factors secreted by glial progenitor cells.     

Acceptive Immunity: The Role of Fucosylated Glycans in Human Host–Microbiome Interactions

The growth in the number of chronic non-communicable diseases in the second half of the past century and in the first two decades of the new century is largely due to the disruption of the relationship between the human body and its symbiotic microbiota, and not pathogens. The interaction of the human immune system with symbionts is not accompanied by inflammation, but is a physiological norm. This is achieved via microbiota control by the immune system through a complex balance of pro-inflammatory and suppressive responses, and only a disturbance of this balance can trigger pathophysiological mechanisms. This review discusses the establishment of homeostatic relationships during immune system development and intestinal bacterial colonization through the interaction of milk glycans, mucins, and secretory immunoglobulins. In particular, the role of fucose and fucosylated glycans in the mechanism of interactions between host epithelial and immune cells is discussed.     

Schwarz lemma for driving point impedance functions and its circuit applications

In this paper, a boundary version of the Schwarz lemma is investigated for driving point impedance functions and its circuit applications. It is known that driving point impedance function, Z(s) = 1 + c_p(s − 1)^p + c_{p + 1}(s − 1)^{p + 1} + ..., p > 1, is an analytic function defined on the right half of the s-plane. Two theorems are presented using the modulus of the derivative of driving point impedance function, |Z′(0)|, by assuming the Z(s) function is also analytic at the boundary point s = 0 on the imaginary axis with . In the obtained inequalities, the value of the function at s = 1 and the derivatives with different orders have been used. Finally, the sharpness of the inequalities obtained in the presented theorems is proved. Simple LC circuits are obtained using the obtained driving point impedance functions.     

Chimeric ribonuclease as a source of human adapter protein for targeted drug delivery

Assembled modular complexes for targeted drug delivery can bebased on strong non-covalent interactions between a cargo modulecontaining an adapter protein and a docking tag fused to a targetingprotein. We have recently constructed a completely humanizedadapter/docking tag system based on interactions between 15amino acid (Hu-tag) and 110 amino acid (HuS) fragments of humanribonuclease I (RNase I). Although recombinant HuS can be expressedand refolded into a functionally active form, the purificationprocedure is cumbersome and expensive, and more importantly,it yields a significant proportion of improperly folded proteins.Here we describe engineering, high-yield expression, and purificationof a chimeric bovine/human RNase (BH-RNase) comprising 1–29N-terminal amino acids of bovine ribonuclease A and 30–127amino acids of human RNase I. Unlike RNase I, the chimeric BH-RNasecan be cleaved by either subtilisin or proteinase K betweenA20 and S21, providing a functionally active HuS. The HuS obtainedfrom chimeric BH-RNase differs from wild-type HuS by an N24Tsubstitution; therefore, we have reverted this substitutionby mutating N24 to T24 in BH-RNase. This BH-RNase mutant canalso be cleaved by subtilisin or proteinase K yielding wild-typeHuS. The affinity of HuS obtained from BH-RNase to Hu-tag isapproximately five times higher than that for recombinant HuS,reflecting a higher percentage of properly folded proteins. Received June 9, 2003; revised August 4, 2003; accepted August 28, 2003.     

The effect of recycling number on the mechanical,chemical, thermal,and rheological properties of PBT/PC/ABS ternary blends: With and without glass‐fiber

The recycling possibilities of poly(butylene terephthalate)/polycarbonate/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (PBT/PC/ABS) ternary blend with and without glass‐fiber content were investigated using repeated injection molding process. In this study, PBT/PC/ABS ternary blends were reprocessed at five times and the results were presented after each recycling process. The recycling possibility of PBT/PC/ABS ternary blend was evaluated by measuring the mechanical, chemical, thermal, and rheological properties. Mechanical properties were determined by the tensile strength, yield strength, strain at break, elastic modulus, impact strength, flexural strength, and flexural modulus. Chemical and thermal properties were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Rheological properties of the ternary blends were studied by melt flow index measurement. From the results, it was found that mechanical properties of recycled composites were better than virgin PBT/PC/ABS ternary blends. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:2074–2084, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Synthesis of Schiff base–containing benzoxazine derivatives

The excellent chemical and physical properties of benzoxazine resins and the functionality of Schiff bases were combined in one compound's structure, creating newly designed benzoxazine derivatives that can form complexes with metals. The new type of benzoxazine monomer was synthesized via the ring-closure reaction of formaldehyde, aniline, and three newly designed Schiff bases. The presence of the Schiff base in the molecular structure of these novel benzoxazine monomers enables them to trap metals as the functional compounds, like Cu, from a solution. Thermally initiated polymerization occurs at a lower temperature by the formation of intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonds between imine, oxazine, Schiff base hydroxyl groups, and the newly generated hydroxyl groups. The thermal behavior of the bisbenzoxazine monomers was investigated with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry, and then they were cured at 120, 180, and 230°C. According to the magnetic susceptibility, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, TGA, and microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy results, it is shown that Cu(II) complexes of the compounds were also succesfully synthesized, and they proved to be successful in catching metal. This is due to the functionality of Schiff bases forming the metal complexation in the compounds. The poly(bisbenzoxazine)s also showed high limiting oxygen index (31–37), low ring-opening temperature (150–190°C), high char yield (35%–49%), and excellent thermal stability, due to the highly crosslinked nature of the polymers. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47908.