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| 3. |
- Bengtsson, Elina, et al.
(författare)
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Altered Structural State of Actin Filaments Upon MYOSIN II Binding
- 2015
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Biophysical Society. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 108:2 Suppl. 1, s. 299A-300A
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The paths of actin filaments propelled over a heavy meromyosin (HMM) surface in the in vitro motility assay (IVMA) can statistically be described by a path persistence length (LPP) and has been hypothesized to be proportional to the flexural rigidity of the filaments. Here, we have studied the LPP at high (130 mM) ionic strength along with the persistence length of actin filaments in solution (LPS) to elucidate how HMM binding affects the flexural rigidity of actin filaments. Characterization and control of material properties, such as the path persistence length, is useful in engineered devices that takes advantages of the function of the muscle contractile proteins e.g. for biocomputation. It has been suggested that myosin binding reduces Lpp for phalloidin stabilizedact in filaments. This is consistent with the results presented here where the phalloidin stabilized actin filaments rigidity is reduced to the level of phalloidin free actin filaments in the IVMA. Further, reducing the MgATP concentration in the IVMA would increase the HMM head density along the actin filament hence making the effect of myosin binding more pronounced. A reduced [MgATP] from 1 mM to 0.02-0.05 mM did indeed reduce the LPP from 10-12 mm to 6-7 mm for both phalloidin-stabilized and phalloidin free actin filaments. Additionally, we found a negative correlation between the LPS and the [HMM]/actin ratio. However, this [HMM] dependent reduction observed in LPS was too small to account for the reduction in LPP seen with reduced [MgATP] in the IVMA. Monte-Carlo simulations and theoretical analysis revealed that the large reduction in LPP is consistent with the idea that every head attachment adds an extra angular displacement.(Support from EU-FP7-FET-ABACUS grant number 613044).
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| 4. |
- Bengtsson, Elina, et al.
(författare)
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Myosin-Induced Gliding Patterns at Varied [MgATP] Unveil a Dynamic Actin Filament
- 2016
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 111:7, s. 1465-1477
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Actin filaments have key roles in cell motility but are generally claimed to be passive interaction partners in actin-myosin -based motion generation. Here, we present evidence against this static view based on an altered myosin-induced actin filament gliding pattern in an in vitro motility assay at varied [MgATP]. The statistics that characterize the degree of meandering of the actin filament paths suggest that for [MgATP] >= 0.25 mM, the flexural rigidity of heavy meromyosin (HMM)-propelled actin filaments is similar (without phalloidin) or slightly lower (with phalloidin) than that of HMM-free filaments observed in solution without surface tethering. When [MgATP] was reduced to <= 0.1 mM, the actin filament paths in the in vitro motility assay became appreciably more winding in both the presence and absence of phalloidin. This effect of lowered [MgATP] was qualitatively different from that seen when HMM was mixed with ATP-insensitive, N-ethylmaleimide-treated HMM (NEM-HMM; 25-30%). In particular, the addition of NEM-HMM increased a non-Gaussian tail in the path curvature distribution as well as the number of events in which different parts of an actin filament followed different paths. These effects were the opposite of those observed with reduced [MgATP]. Theoretical modeling suggests a 30-40% lowered flexural rigidity of the actin filaments at [MgATP] <= 0.1 mM and local bending of the filament front upon each myosin head attachment. Overall, the results fit with appreciable structural changes in the actin filament during actomyosin-based motion generation, and modulation of the actin filament mechanical properties by the dominating chemomechanical actomyosin state.
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- Borges, J., et al.
(författare)
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Broadband Optical Absorption Caused by the Plasmonic Response of Coalesced Au Nanoparticles Embedded in a TiO2 Matrix
- 2016
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 120:30, s. 16931-16945
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of Au nanopattides' (NPs) concentration, site, and spatial distribution within a TiO2 dielectric matrix on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band characteristics was experimentally and theoretically studied. The results of the analysis of the Au NPs' size distributions allowed us to conclude that isolated NPs grow only up to 5 to 6 nm in site, even for the highest annealing temperature used. However, for higher volume fractions of Au, the coalescence of closely located NPs yields elongated clusters that are much larger in size and cause a considerable broadening of the LSPR band. This effect was confirmed by Monte Carlo modeling results. Coupled dipole equations were solved to find the electromagnetic modes of a supercell, where isolated and coalesced NPs were distributed, from which an effective dielectric function of the nanocomposite material was calculated and used to evaluate the optical transmittance and reflectance spectra. The modeling results suggested that the observed LSPR band broadening is due to a wider spectral distribution of plasmonic modes, caused by the presence of coalesced NPs (in addition to the usual damping effect). This is particularly important for detection applications via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), where it is desirable to have a spectrally broad LSPR band in order:to favor the fulfillment of the conditions of resonance matching, to electronic transitions in detected species.
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- Gaur, A.P.S., et al.
(författare)
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Cold cathode emission studies on topographically modified few layer and single layer MoS2 films
- 2016
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Ingår i: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 108:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nanostructured materials, such as carbon nanotubes, are excellent cold cathode emitters. Here, we report comparative field emission (FE) studies on topographically tailored few layer MoS2films consisting of ⟨0001⟩ plane perpendicular (⊥) to c-axis (i.e., edge terminated vertically aligned) along with planar few layer and monolayer (1L) MoS2films. FE measurements exhibited lower turn-on field Eto (defined as required applied electric field to emit current density of 10 μA/cm2) ∼4.5 V/μm and higher current density ∼1 mA/cm2, for edge terminated vertically aligned (ETVA) MoS2films. However, Eto magnitude for planar few layer and 1L MoS2films increased further to 5.7 and 11 V/μm, respectively, with one order decrease in emission current density. The observed differences in emission behavior, particularly for ETVA MoS2 is attributed to the high value of geometrical field enhancement factor (β), found to be ∼1064, resulting from the large confinement of localized electric field at edge exposed nanograins. Emission behavior of planar few layers and 1L MoS2films are explained under a two step emission mechanism. Our studies suggest that with further tailoring the microstructure of ultra thin ETVA MoS2films would result in elegant FE properties.
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| 7. |
- Kumar, Saroj, et al.
(författare)
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Covalent and non-covalent chemical engineering of actin for biotechnological applications
- 2017
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Ingår i: Biotechnology Advances. - : Elsevier. - 0734-9750 .- 1873-1899. ; 35:7, s. 867-888
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The cytoskeletal filaments are self-assembled protein polymers with 8-25 nm diameters and up to several tens of micrometres length. They have a range of pivotal roles in eukaryotic cells, including transportation of intracellular cargoes (primarily microtubules with dynein and kinesin motors) and cell motility (primarily actin and myosin) where muscle contraction is one example. For two decades, the cytoskeletal filaments and their associated motor systems have been explored for nanotechnological applications including miniaturized sensor systems andlab-on-a-chip devices. Several developments have also revolved around possible exploitation of the filaments alone without their motor partners. Efforts to use the cytoskeletal filaments for applications often require chemical or genetic engineering of the filaments such as specific conjugation with fluorophores, antibodies, oligonucleotides or various macromolecular complexes e.g. nanoparticles. Similar conjugation methods are also instrumental for a range of fundamental biophysical studies. Here we review methods for non-covalent and covalent chemical modifications of actin filaments with focus on critical advantages and challenges of different methods as well as critical steps in the conjugation procedures. We also review potential uses of the engineered actin filaments in nanotechnological applications and in some key fundamental studies of actin and myosin function. Finally, we consider possible future lines of investigation that may be addressed by applying chemical conjugation of actin in new ways.
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| 8. |
- Kumar, Saroj, et al.
(författare)
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Infrared spectroscopy combined with imaging : A new developing analytical tool in health and plant science
- 2016
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Ingår i: Applied spectroscopy reviews (Softcover ed.). - : Informa UK Limited. - 0570-4928 .- 1520-569X. ; 51:6, s. 466-483
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modern infrared (IR) spectroscopy and imaging has a wide range of applications in health and plant sciences. Initially, it was extensively used for the study of proteins, nucleotides, lipids and carbohydrates. With time, its use has extended to disease assessment to discriminate healthy and diseased samples on the basis of chemical changes. The application of an advanced focal plane array detector, which is able to scan a large area of samples in a short time, helps in investigating specific changes that could be correlated with different environmental stresses. An IR microscope connected with a synchrotron light source further enhances the lateral spatial resolution at diffraction limit because of the compact beam size. For example, synchrotron-based IR spectroscopy imaging in combination with multivariate statistical analysis has been proven to be a powerful non-destructive analytical tool to probe changes in plant cell wall composition/structure in response to biological processes and environmental stresses. New development of nano-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) combined with scattering type scanning near-field optical microscopy breaks the diffraction limitation, which opens the new area of applications. This review focuses on a new area of diagnostic research as well as development of IR spectroscopy and imaging for biological specimens including compositional changes in plant cell wall.
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| 9. |
- Kumar, Saroj, et al.
(författare)
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Insights into Biochemical Alteration in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts by using Novel Correlative Spectroscopy
- 2017
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Ingår i: ChemistryOpen. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 2191-1363. ; 6:1, s. 149-157
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The microenvironment of a tumor changes chemically and morphologically during cancer progression. Cancer-stimulated fibroblasts promote tumor growth, however, the mechanism of the transition to a cancer-stimulated fibroblast remains elusive. Here, the multi-modal spectroscopic methods Fourier transform infrared imaging (FTIRI), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray fluorescence imaging (XFI) are used to characterize molecular and atomic alterations that occur in cancerstimulated fibroblasts. In addition to chemical changes in lipids (olefinic and acyl chain) and protein aggregation observed with FTIRI, a new infrared biomarker for oxidative stress in stimulated fibroblasts is reported. Oxidative stress is observed to cause lipid peroxidation, which leads to the appearance of a new band at 1721 cm(-1), assigned to 4-hydroxynonenal. Complementary to FTIRI, XFI is well suited to determining atom concentrations and XAS can reveal the speciation of individual elements. XFI reveals increased concentrations of P, S, K, Ca within stimulated fibroblasts. Furthermore, XAS studies reveal alterations in the speciation of S and Ca in stimulated fibroblasts, which might provide insight into the mechanisms of cancer progression. Using XFI, not only is the concentration change of individual elements observed, but also the subcellular localization. This study demonstrates the wealth of biochemical information provided by a multi-modal imaging approach and highlights new avenues for future research into the microenvironment of breast tumors.
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| 10. |
- Kumar, Saroj, et al.
(författare)
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Role of Infrared Spectroscopy and Imaging in Cancer Diagnosis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Current Medicinal Chemistry. - : BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBL LTD. - 0929-8673 .- 1875-533X. ; 25:9, s. 1055-1072
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Cancer is a major global health issue. It causes extensive individual suffering and gives a huge burden on the health care in society. Despite extensive research and different tools have been developed it still remains a challenge for early detection of this disease. FTIR imaging has been used to diagnose and differentiate the molecular differences between normal and diseased tissues. Methods: Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is able to measure biochemical changes in tissue, cell and biofluids based on the vibrational signature of their components. This technique enables to the distribution and structure of lipids, proteins, nucleic acids as well as other metabolites. These differences depended on the type and the grade of cancer. Results: We emphasize here, that the FTIR spectroscopy and imaging can be considered as a promising technique and will find its place on the detection of this dreadful disease because of high sensitivity, accuracy and inexpensive technique. Now the medical community started using and accepting this technique for early stage cancer detection. We discussed this technique and the several challenges in its application for the diagnosis of cancer in regards of sample preparations, data interpretation, and data analysis. The sensitivity of chemotherapy drugs on individual specific has also discussed. Conclusion: So far progressed has done with the FTIR imaging in understanding of cancer disease pathology. However, more research is needed in this field and it is necessary to understand the morphology and biology of the sample before using the spectroscopy and imaging because invaluable information to be figured out.
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