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A biosensor is an integrated receptor-transducer device, which can convert a biological response into an electrical signal. The design and development of biosensors have taken a center stage for researchers or scientists in the recent decade owing to the wide range of biosensor applications, such as health care and disease diagnosis, environmental monitoring, water and food quality monitoring, and drug delivery. The main challenges involved in the biosensor progress are (i) the efficient capturing of biorecognition signals and the transformation of these signals into electrochemical, electrical, optical, gravimetric, or acoustic signals (transduction process), (ii) enhancing transducer performance i.e., increasing sensitivity, shorter response time, reproducibility, and low detection limits even to detect individual molecules, and (iii) miniaturization of the biosensing devices using micro-and nano-fabrication technologies. Those challenges can be met through the integration of sensing technology with nanomaterials, which range from zero- to three-dimensional, possessing a high surface-to-volume ratio, good conductivities, shock-bearing abilities, and color tunability. Nanomaterials (NMs) employed in the fabrication and nanobiosensors include nanoparticles (NPs) (high stability and high carrier capacity), nanowires (NWs) and nanorods (NRs) (capable of high detection sensitivity), carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (large surface area, high electrical and thermal conductivity), and quantum dots (QDs) (color tunability). Furthermore, these nanomaterials can themselves act as transduction elements. This review summarizes the evolution of biosensors, the types of biosensors based on their receptors, transducers, and modern approaches employed in biosensors using nanomaterials such as NPs (e.g., noble metal NPs and metal oxide NPs), NWs, NRs, CNTs, QDs, and dendrimers and their recent advancement in biosensing technology with the expansion of nanotechnology.Bulk ceria-zirconia solid solutions (Ce1-xZrxO2-δ, CZO) are highly suited for application as oxygen storage materials in automotive three-way catalytic converters (TWC) due to the high levels of achievable oxygen non-stoichiometry δ. In thin film CZO, the oxygen storage properties are expected to be further enhanced. The present study addresses this aspect. CZO thin films with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 were investigated. A unique nano-thermogravimetric method for thin films that is based on the resonant nanobalance approach for high-temperature characterization of oxygen non-stoichiometry in CZO was implemented. The high-temperature electrical conductivity and the non-stoichiometry δ of CZO were measured under oxygen partial pressures pO2 in the range of 10-24-0.2 bar. Markedly enhanced reducibility and electronic conductivity of CeO2-ZrO2 as compared to CeO2-δ and ZrO2 were observed. A comparison of temperature- and pO2-dependences of the non-stoichiometry of thin films with literature data for bulk Ce1-xZrxO2-δ shows enhanced reducibility in the former. The maximum conductivity was found for Ce0.8Zr0.2O2-δ, whereas Ce0.5Zr0.5O2-δ showed the highest non-stoichiometry, yielding δ = 0.16 at 900 °C and pO2 of 10-14 bar. The defect interactions in Ce1-xZrxO2-δ are analyzed in the framework of defect models for ceria and zirconia.Cetaceans are a group of secondary aquatic mammals whose ancestors returned to the ocean from land, and during evolution, their immune systems adapted to the aquatic environment. Their skin, as the primary barrier to environmental pathogens, supposedly evolved to adapt to a new living environment. However, the immune system in the skin of cetaceans and the associated molecular mechanisms are still largely unknown. To better understand the immune system, we extracted RNA from the sperm whale’s (Physeter macrocephalus) skin and performed PacBio full-length sequencing and RNA-seq sequencing. We obtained a total of 96,350 full-length transcripts with an average length of 1705 bp and detected 5150 genes that were associated with 21 immune-related pathways by gene annotation enrichment analysis. Moreover, we found 89 encoding genes corresponding to 33 proteins were annotated in the NOD-like receptor (NLR)-signaling pathway, including NOD1, NOD2, RIP2, and NF-kB genes, which were discussed in detail and predicted to play essential roles in the immune system of the sperm whale. Furthermore, NOD1 was highly conservative during evolution by the sequence comparison and phylogenetic tree. These results provide new information about the immune system in the skin of cetaceans, as well as the evolution of immune-related genes.Diet-derived histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), butyrate, alters global acetylation and consequently global gene expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells to exert its anticancer effects. Aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression contributes to CRC development and progression. Butyrate-mediated modulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression remains under-investigated. This study employed a systems biology approach to gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex miRNA-mRNA interactions contributing to the butyrate response in CRC cells. Next-generation sequencing, gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analyses were utilized to reveal the extent of butyrate-mediated gene regulation in CRC cells. Changes in cell proliferation, apoptosis, the cell cycle and gene expression induced by miRNAs and target gene knockdown in CRC cells were assessed. Butyrate induced differential expression of 113 miRNAs and 2447 protein-coding genes in HCT116 cells. Butyrate also altered transcript splicing of 1591 protein-coding genes. GO, and pathway enrichment analyses revealed the cell cycle to be a central target of the butyrate response. Two butyrate-induced miRNAs, miR-139 and miR-542, acted cooperatively with butyrate to induce apoptosis and reduce CRC cell proliferation by regulating target genes, including cell cycle-related EIF4G2 and BIRC5. EIF4G2 RNA interference mimicked the miR-139-mediated reduction in cell proliferation. The cell cycle is a critical pathway involved in the butyrate response of CRC cells. CM 4620 mw These findings reveal novel roles for miRNAs in the cell cycle-related, anticancer effects of butyrate in CRC cells.