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Biological Experiments (biological + experiment)
Selected AbstractsRatio-dependent significance thresholds in reciprocal 15N-labeling experiments as a robust tool in detection of candidate proteins responding to biological treatmentPROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 7 2009Sylwia Kierszniowska Abstract Metabolic labeling of plant tissues with 15N has become widely used in plant proteomics. Here, we describe a robust experimental design and data analysis workflow implementing two parallel biological replicate experiments with reciprocal labeling and series of 1:1 control mixtures. Thereby, we are able to unambiguously distinguish (i) inherent biological variation between cultures and (ii) specific responses to a biological treatment. The data analysis workflow is based on first determining the variation between cultures based on 15N/14N ratios in independent 1:1 mixtures before biological treatment is applied. In a second step, ratio-dependent SD is used to define p -values for significant deviation of protein ratios in the biological experiment from the distribution of protein ratios in the 1:1 mixture. This approach allows defining those proteins showing significant biological response superimposed on the biological variation before treatment. The proposed workflow was applied to a series of experiments, in which changes in composition of detergent resistant membrane domains was analyzed in response to sucrose resupply after carbon starvation. Especially in experiments involving cell culture treatment (starvation) prior to the actual biological stimulus of interest (resupply), a clear distinction between culture to culture variations and biological response is of utmost importance. [source] Uptake and Release of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Mammalian CellsADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 19 2010Vera Neves Abstract Efforts to develop carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as nano-vehicles for precise and controlled drug and gene delivery, as well as markers for in vivo biomedical imaging, are currently hampered by uncertainties with regard to their cellular uptake, their fate in the body, and their safety. All of these processes are likely to be affected by the purity of CNT preparation, as well as the size and concentration of CNTs used, parameters that are often poorly controlled in biological experiments. It is demonstrated herein that under the experimental conditions of standard transfection methods, DWNTs are taken up by cultured cells but are then released after 24 h with no discernable stress response. The results support the potential therapeutic use of CNTs in many biomedical settings, such as cancer therapy. [source] Feeding and anhydrobiosis in bdelloid rotifers: a preparatory study for an experiment aboard the International Space StationINVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2004Claudia Ricci Abstract. Here we report the effect of food concentration on the recovery from anhydrobiosis of a bdelloid rotifer, Macrotrachela quadricornifera. Cohorts were either starved, or fed high or low concentrations of food, before being dried and their subsequent recovery rates determined. The rotifers starved for 3 d before anhydrobiosis recovered in significantly higher proportion, and those fed lower food concentration recovered better than those fed higher food concentration. In addition, starvation did not decrease the recovery of other bdelloid species (Philodina roseola and Adineta sp. 1) which were either fed or starved before anhydrobiosis. These results suggest that a successful recovery from anhydrobiosis is not dependent on prior resource level supplied to the bdelloids. However, the lack of resources might not be the only factor in a successful recovery from anhydrobiosis. Observations using scanning electron microscopy of fed individuals of M. quadricornifera entering anhydrobiosis showed that some food remained in the digestive tract. Thus, we propose that the negative effect of rich food may be due to a purely mechanical effect and may be interfering with a proper folding of the rotifer body at the onset of anhydrobiosis. This contribution results from studies carried out in preparation for biological experiments scheduled on the International Space Station (ISS). [source] Synthesis and radioiodination of some 9-aminoacridine derivatives for potential use in radionuclide therapyJOURNAL OF LABELLED COMPOUNDS AND RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS, Issue 12 2005Senait Ghirmai Abstract Three derivatives of the DNA intercalating compound 9-aminoacridine, were prepared and radioiodinated for biological experiments. The compounds are the stannyl derivatives 3-{4-[3-(acridin-9-ylamino)-propoxy]-3-trimethylstannyl-phenyl}-propionic acid and acridin-9-yl-{3-[4-(2-amino-ethyl)-2-trimethylstannyl-phenoxy]-propyl}-amine which were synthesized from the corresponding iodo derivatives by palladium catalyzed reactions, and 4-[2-(acridin-9-ylamino)-ethyl]-phenol. The two stannylated compounds and the phenol were used as precursors for radioiodination and were labeled with 125I using chloramine-T as an oxidant achieving high-to-excellent yields. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Synthesis of A,[1-42] and its derivatives with improved efficiencyJOURNAL OF PEPTIDE SCIENCE, Issue 2 2007Márta Zarándi Abstract It has been proved that the principal component of senile plaques is aggregates of ,-amyloid peptide (A,) in cases of one of the most common forms of age-related neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the synthetic methods for the synthesis of A, peptides have been developed since their first syntheses, A,[1-42] is still problematic to prepare. The highly hydrophobic composition of A,[1-42] results in aggregation between resin-bound peptide chains or intrachain aggregation which leads to a decrease in the rates of deprotection and repetitive incomplete coupling reactions during 9-flurenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) synthesis. In order to avoid aggregation and/or disrupt internal aggregation during stepwise Fmoc solid phase synthesis and to improve the quality of crude products, several attempts have been made. Since highly pure A, peptides in large quantities are used in biological experiments, we wanted to develop a method for a rational synthesis of human A,[1-42] with high purity and adequate yield. This paper reports a convenient methodology with a novel solvent system for the synthesis of A,[1-42], its N -terminally truncated derivatives A,[4-42] and A,[5-42], and A,[1-42] labeled with 7-amino-4-methyl-3-coumarinylacetic acid (AMCA) at the N -terminus using Fmoc strategy. The use of 10% anisole in Dimethylformamide/Dichloromethane (DMF/DCM) can substantially improve the purity and yield of crude A,[1-42] and has been shown to be an optimal coupling condition for the synthesis of A,[1-42]. Anisole is a cheap and simple aid in the synthesis of ,difficult sequences' where other solvents are less successful in the prevention of aggregation during the synthesis. Copyright © 2006 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Risk Assessment for Quantitative Responses Using a Mixture ModelBIOMETRICS, Issue 2 2000Mehdi Razzaghi Summary. A problem that frequently occurs in biological experiments with laboratory animals is that some subjects are less susceptible to the treatment than others. A mixture model has traditionally been proposed to describe the distribution of responses in treatment groups for such experiments. Using a mixture dose-response model, we derive an upper confidence limit on additional risk, defined as the excess risk over the background risk due to an added dose. Our focus will be on experiments with continuous responses for which risk is the probability of an adverse effect defined as an event that is extremely rare in controls. The asymptotic distribution of the likelihood ratio statistic is used to obtain the upper confidence limit on additional risk. The method can also be used to derive a benchmark dose corresponding to a specified level of increased risk. The EM algorithm is utilized to find the maximum likelihood estimates of model parameters and an extension of the algorithm is proposed to derive the estimates when the model is subject to a specified level of added risk. An example is used to demonstrate the results, and it is shown that by using the mixture model a more accurate measure of added risk is obtained. [source] | ||||||||||