Quantum Sensing in a Physiological‐Like Cell Niche Using Fluorescent Nanodiamonds Embedded in Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers

Fluorescent nanodiamonds (fNDs) containing nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers are promising candidates for quantum sensing in biological environments. This work describes the fabrication and implementation of electrospun poly lactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA) nanofibers embedded with fNDs for optical quantum sensing in an environment, which recapitulates the nanoscale architecture and topography of the cell niche. A protocol that produces uniformly dispersed fNDs within electrospun nanofibers is demonstrated and the resulting fibers are characterized using fluorescent microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) and longitudinal spin relaxometry results for fNDs and embedded fNDs are compared. A new approach for fast detection of time varying magnetic fields external to the fND embedded nanofibers is demonstrated. ODMR spectra are successfully acquired from a culture of live differentiated neural stem cells functioning as a connected neural network grown on fND embedded nanofibers. This work advances the current state of the art in quantum sensing by providing a versatile sensing platform that can be tailored to produce physiological‐like cell niches to replicate biologically relevant growth environments and fast measurement protocols for the detection of co‐ordinated endogenous signals from clinically relevant populations of electrically active neuronal circuits.     

Non-equilibrium particle motion in the vicinity of a single blade

The motion of sand particles close to a single moving blade was investigated using Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) during the period in which the free bed surface profile was evolving to an equilibrium shape. The area affected by the blade was divided into active and inactive regions and these were analysed separately. The characteristic heart-shape of the active region in the plan view was determined. An approximately 10-particle-diameter wide velocity transition zone is found between the two regions. While the tracer particle is in the inactive region moving away from the blade, the time dependence of the axial displacement is well described by a logarithmic relationship. The probability of particle movement towards the centre of the blade was quantified using a “central tendency” index. The calculated central tendency shows maxima at each side of the blade. The separation of the two maxima, which indicates the width of the active region, increases with fill level but is independent of rotational speed.     

A noncompetitive peptide inhibitor of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor from Conus purpurascens venom

A paralytic peptide, psi-conotoxin Piiie has been purified and characterized from Conus purpurascens venom. Electrophysiological studies indicate that the peptide inhibits the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). However, the peptide does not block the binding of alpha-bungarotoxin, a competitive nAChR antagonist. Thus, psi-conotoxin Piiie appears to inhibit the receptor at a site other than the acetylcholine-binding site. As ascertained by sequence analysis, mass spectrometry, and chemical synthesis, the peptide has the following covalent structure: HOOCCLYGKCRRYOGCSSASCCQR* (O = 4-trans hydroxyproline; * indicates an amidated C-terminus). The disulfide connectivity of the toxin is unrelated to the alpha- or the alphaA-conotoxins, the Conus peptide families that are competitive inhibitors of the nAChR, but shows homology to the mu-conotoxins (which are Na+ channel blockers).     

A magnetic resonance imaging study of planum temporale asymmetry in men with developmental dyslexia

The influence of ionic strength and composition on the binding and inhibition of human leukocyte elastase by glycosaminoglycans with variable degree and position of sulfation was investigated. The kinetic mechanism of inhibition had a hyperbolic, mixed-type character with a competitive component that was promoted by low ionic strength, reduced by phosphate ions, and which also depended on the substrate and glycosaminoglycan structure. Enzyme binding was a cooperative phenomenon that varied with ionic strength and composition. The inhibition patterns correlated with the cationic character of elastase and with the distribution of arginines on its molecular surface, most notably with residues located in the vicinity of the substrate binding region. The order of affinity for elastase binding was chondroitin 4-sulfate < chondroitin 6-sulfate < dermatan sulfate, iduronate-containing derivatives being superior with respect to the glucuronate-containing counterparts. Additional sulfation at both the 4- and 6- positions or at the N- and 4-positions of the N-acetylgalactosamine moiety decidedly improved the inhibitory efficiency. The results highlight a fundamental physiological role of enzyme-glycosaminoglycan interactions. In the azurophil granule of the human polymorphonuclear neutrophil, elastase and other enzymes are bound to a matrix of chondroitin 4-sulfate because this is the only glycosaminoglycan that simultaneously offers good binding for enzyme compartmentalization together with prompt release from the bound state at the onset of phagocytosis.