| 1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(författare)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 2. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(författare)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
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Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
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| 6. |
- Feng, Ruizhi, et al.
(författare)
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MiRNA-320 in the human follicular fluid is associated with embryo quality in vivo and affects mouse embryonic development in vitro.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated the existence of miRNAs in human follicular fluid. In the current study, we have sought to identify miRNAs that might affect oocyte/embryo quality in patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection and to investigate their roles in in vitro fertilization outcomes in mouse oocytes. 53 samples were classified as Group 1 (high quality) if the day-3 embryos had seven and more cells or as Group 2 (low quality) if the embryos had six and fewer cells. TaqMan Human microRNAs cards and qRT-PCR were performed to verify differently expressed miRNAs. The function of the corresponding miRNA was investigated in mouse oocytes by injecting them with miRNA-inhibitor oligonucleotides. We found that hsa-miR-320a and hsa-miR-197 had significantly higher expression levels in the Group 1 follicular fluids than in Group 2 (p = 0.0073 and p = 0.008, respectively). Knockdown of mmu-miR-320 in mouse oocytes strongly decreased the proportions of MII oocytes that developed into two-cell and blastocyst stage embryos (p = 0.0048 and p = 0.0069, respectively). Wnt signaling pathway components had abnormal expression level in miR-320 inhibitor-injected oocytes. This study provides the first evidence that miRNAs in human follicular fluid are indicative of and can influence embryo quality.
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| 7. |
- Feng, Ruizhi, et al.
(författare)
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Mutations in TUBB8 and Human Oocyte Meiotic Arrest.
- 2016
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Ingår i: The New England journal of medicine. - 1533-4406. ; 374:3, s. 223-232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Human reproduction depends on the fusion of a mature oocyte with a sperm cell to form a fertilized egg. The genetic events that lead to the arrest of human oocyte maturation are unknown. Methods We sequenced the exomes of five members of a four-generation family, three of whom had infertility due to oocyte meiosis I arrest. We performed Sanger sequencing of a candidate gene, TUBB8, in DNA samples from these members, additional family members, and members of 23 other affected families. The expression of TUBB8 and all other β-tubulin isotypes was assessed in human oocytes, early embryos, sperm cells, and several somatic tissues by means of a quantitative reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay. We evaluated the effect of the TUBB8 mutations on the assembly of the heterodimer consisting of one α-tubulin polypeptide and one β-tubulin polypeptide (α/β-tubulin heterodimer) in vitro, on microtubule architecture in HeLa cells, on microtubule dynamics in yeast cells, and on spindle assembly in mouse and human oocytes. Results We identified seven mutations in the primate-specific gene TUBB8 that were responsible for oocyte meiosis I arrest in 7 of the 24 families. TUBB8 expression is unique to oocytes and the early embryo, in which this gene accounts for almost all the expressed β-tubulin. The mutations affect chaperone-dependent folding and assembly of the α/β-tubulin heterodimer, disrupt microtubule behavior on expression in cultured cells, alter microtubule dynamics in vivo, and cause catastrophic spindle-assembly defects and maturation arrest on expression in mouse and human oocytes. Conclusions TUBB8 mutations have dominant-negative effects that disrupt microtubule behavior and oocyte meiotic spindle assembly and maturation, causing female infertility. (Funded by the National Basic Research Program of China and others.).
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| 9. |
- Hu, Qing-Miao, et al.
(författare)
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Magnetoelastic effects in Ni2Mn1+xGa1-x alloys from first-principles calculations
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physical Review B. Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. - 1098-0121 .- 1550-235X. ; 81:6, s. 064108-1-064108-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The magnetic coupling between Mn atoms on Ga sublattice (Mn-Ga) and Mn atoms on Mn sublattice (Mn-Mn) in Ni2Mn1+xGa1-x alloy and its effect on the elastic modulus of the alloy are investigated by the use of first-principles methods. It is shown that, for x = 0.25, the state with antiparallel Mn-Ga-Mn-Mn magnetic coupling is slightly more stable than that with parallel coupling, whereas for x = 0.10, both magnetic states are almost degenerated. For both antiparallel and parallel Mn-Ga-Mn-Mn magnetic couplings, the bulk modulus (B) of Ni2Mn1+xGa1-x deviates from the general e/a-B relationship with e/a being the number of valence electrons per atom. The shear modulus C' versus the martensitic transformation temperature T-M for Ni2Mn1+xGa1-x with antiparallel Mn-Ga-Mn-Mn magnetic coupling is in line with the general C'-T-M relationship for Ni2MnGa-based alloys, in contrast to the case of parallel Mn-Ga-Mn-Mn magnetic coupling.
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| 10. |
- Hu, Qing-Miao, et al.
(författare)
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Predicting hardness of covalent/ionic solid solution from first-principles theory
- 2007
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Ingår i: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 91:12, s. 121918-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We introduce a hardness formula for the multicomponent covalent and ionic solid solutions. This expression is tested on nitride spinel materials A3N4 (A=C,Si,Ge) and applied to titanium nitrogen carbide (TiN1-xCx with 0<=x<=1), off-stoichiometric transition-metal nitride (TiN1-x and VN1-x with x<=0.25), and B-doped semiconductors (C1-xBx, Si1-xBx, and Ge1-xBx with x<=0.1). In all cases, the theoretical hardness is in good agreement with experiments.
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