Uric acid is released from injured cells and can act as an adjuvant signal to the immune system. ... more Uric acid is released from injured cells and can act as an adjuvant signal to the immune system. Uric acid crystals invoke strong inflammatory responses in tissues. Although their biological effects are evident and the associated signaling mechanisms are becoming clear, it remains unexplained as to why uric acid precipitates rapidly in vivo, in sharp contrast to the minimal crystallization in vitro. We report in this study that a group of IgM Abs is able to bind to these crystals, which is interesting in light that B cell-deficient mice do not sense the proinflammatory adjuvant effect of uric acid. The titers of these Abs increase upon immunization with uric acid crystals. We have produced large quantities of such mAbs. The purified IgM Abs can significantly facilitate uric acid precipitation to form the inflammatory crystals in vitro. Infusion of these Abs into B cell-deficient mice significantly increases the basal level of inflammation in these recipients and restores the host’s ...
In this paper we present a smartphone-based system that can assess road damage by determining the... more In this paper we present a smartphone-based system that can assess road damage by determining the amount of cracks in the road. The smartphone can be mounted in vehicles like personal cars, buses and garbage trucks that travel the roads on a regular basis. It collects images and tags them with GPS and other information, which is then either displayed to inspectors or automatically analyzed to give a road distress score. With this system the whole street network of a city can be continuously monitored at a much lower initial and operating cost than traditional methods. A pilot test of this system is on its way in the City of Pittsburgh and first results are shown.
Infections with bacteria have become a serious problem in joint arthroplasty. This study reports ... more Infections with bacteria have become a serious problem in joint arthroplasty. This study reports about in vitro antibacterial activity and in vitro cell compatibility of poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) nanofibers loaded with metallic silver particles of a size of 5-13 nm. In vitro antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae was studied by microplate proliferation tests. The adhesion, viability, and proliferation properties of fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) and differentiation of osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) were done to study in vitro cell compatibility of the scaffolds. As the results, only silver-containing PHBV nanofibrous scaffolds showed a high antibacterial activity and an inhibitory effect on the growth of both Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria. The nanofibrous scaffolds having silver nanoparticles <1.0% were free of in vitro cytotoxicity. To sum up, the PHBV nanofibrous scaffolds having nanoparticles <1.0 wt % showed not only good antibacterial activity but also good in vitro cell compatibility. It is considered that the PHBV nanofibrous scaffolds with silver nanoparticles <1.0 wt % have a potential to be used in joint arthroplasty.
Synucleinopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (P... more Synucleinopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). The common pathological hallmark of synucleinopathies is the filamentous α-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregates along with membrane components in cytoplasmic inclusions in the brain. β-Synuclein (β-Syn), an isoform of α-Syn, inhibits α-Syn aggregation and prevents its neurotoxicity, suggesting the neuroprotective nature of β-Syn. However, this notion changed with the discovery of disease-associated β-Syn mutations, V70M and P123H in the patients with DLB. It is still unclear how these missense mutations alter the structural and amyloidogenic properties of β-Syn, leading to neurodegeneration. Here, we characterized the biophysical properties and investigated the effect of mutations on β-Syn fibrillation under different conditions. V70M and P123H show high membrane binding affinity compared to wild-type β-Syn, suggesting their potential role in membrane interactions. β-Syn and its mutants do not aggregate under normal physiological conditions; however, the proteins undergo self-polymerization in a slightly acidic microenvironment and/or in the presence of an inducer, forming long unbranched amyloid fibrils similar to α-Syn. Strikingly, V70M and P123H mutants exhibit accelerated fibrillation compared to native β-Syn under these conditions. NMR study further revealed that these point mutations induce local perturbations at the site of mutation in β-Syn. Overall, our data provide insight into the biophysical properties of disease-associated β-Syn mutations and demonstrate that these mutants make the native protein more susceptible to aggregation in an altered microenvironment.
... by KARAN SHARMA (Under the Direction of Walter D. Potter) ABSTRACT ... by KARAN SHARMA B.Tech... more ... by KARAN SHARMA (Under the Direction of Walter D. Potter) ABSTRACT ... by KARAN SHARMA B.Tech., Kurukshetra University, India, 2005 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ...
Uric acid is released from injured cells and can act as an adjuvant signal to the immune system. ... more Uric acid is released from injured cells and can act as an adjuvant signal to the immune system. Uric acid crystals invoke strong inflammatory responses in tissues. Although their biological effects are evident and the associated signaling mechanisms are becoming clear, it remains unexplained as to why uric acid precipitates rapidly in vivo, in sharp contrast to the minimal crystallization in vitro. We report in this study that a group of IgM Abs is able to bind to these crystals, which is interesting in light that B cell-deficient mice do not sense the proinflammatory adjuvant effect of uric acid. The titers of these Abs increase upon immunization with uric acid crystals. We have produced large quantities of such mAbs. The purified IgM Abs can significantly facilitate uric acid precipitation to form the inflammatory crystals in vitro. Infusion of these Abs into B cell-deficient mice significantly increases the basal level of inflammation in these recipients and restores the host’s ...
In this paper we present a smartphone-based system that can assess road damage by determining the... more In this paper we present a smartphone-based system that can assess road damage by determining the amount of cracks in the road. The smartphone can be mounted in vehicles like personal cars, buses and garbage trucks that travel the roads on a regular basis. It collects images and tags them with GPS and other information, which is then either displayed to inspectors or automatically analyzed to give a road distress score. With this system the whole street network of a city can be continuously monitored at a much lower initial and operating cost than traditional methods. A pilot test of this system is on its way in the City of Pittsburgh and first results are shown.
Infections with bacteria have become a serious problem in joint arthroplasty. This study reports ... more Infections with bacteria have become a serious problem in joint arthroplasty. This study reports about in vitro antibacterial activity and in vitro cell compatibility of poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) nanofibers loaded with metallic silver particles of a size of 5-13 nm. In vitro antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae was studied by microplate proliferation tests. The adhesion, viability, and proliferation properties of fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) and differentiation of osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) were done to study in vitro cell compatibility of the scaffolds. As the results, only silver-containing PHBV nanofibrous scaffolds showed a high antibacterial activity and an inhibitory effect on the growth of both Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria. The nanofibrous scaffolds having silver nanoparticles <1.0% were free of in vitro cytotoxicity. To sum up, the PHBV nanofibrous scaffolds having nanoparticles <1.0 wt % showed not only good antibacterial activity but also good in vitro cell compatibility. It is considered that the PHBV nanofibrous scaffolds with silver nanoparticles <1.0 wt % have a potential to be used in joint arthroplasty.
Synucleinopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (P... more Synucleinopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). The common pathological hallmark of synucleinopathies is the filamentous α-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregates along with membrane components in cytoplasmic inclusions in the brain. β-Synuclein (β-Syn), an isoform of α-Syn, inhibits α-Syn aggregation and prevents its neurotoxicity, suggesting the neuroprotective nature of β-Syn. However, this notion changed with the discovery of disease-associated β-Syn mutations, V70M and P123H in the patients with DLB. It is still unclear how these missense mutations alter the structural and amyloidogenic properties of β-Syn, leading to neurodegeneration. Here, we characterized the biophysical properties and investigated the effect of mutations on β-Syn fibrillation under different conditions. V70M and P123H show high membrane binding affinity compared to wild-type β-Syn, suggesting their potential role in membrane interactions. β-Syn and its mutants do not aggregate under normal physiological conditions; however, the proteins undergo self-polymerization in a slightly acidic microenvironment and/or in the presence of an inducer, forming long unbranched amyloid fibrils similar to α-Syn. Strikingly, V70M and P123H mutants exhibit accelerated fibrillation compared to native β-Syn under these conditions. NMR study further revealed that these point mutations induce local perturbations at the site of mutation in β-Syn. Overall, our data provide insight into the biophysical properties of disease-associated β-Syn mutations and demonstrate that these mutants make the native protein more susceptible to aggregation in an altered microenvironment.
... by KARAN SHARMA (Under the Direction of Walter D. Potter) ABSTRACT ... by KARAN SHARMA B.Tech... more ... by KARAN SHARMA (Under the Direction of Walter D. Potter) ABSTRACT ... by KARAN SHARMA B.Tech., Kurukshetra University, India, 2005 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ...
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