Blog Archive

Αλέξανδρος Γ. Σφακιανάκης

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

DNA-derived nanostructures selectively capture gram-positive bacteria

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Abstract

We report the first demonstration of the efficient bacteria targeting properties of DNA-based polymeric micelles with high-density DNA corona. Nanoscale polymer micelles derived from DNA-b-polystyrene (DNA-b-PS) efficiently selected most tested Gram-positive strains over Gram-negative strains; single-strand DNAs were 20-fold less selective. We demonstrate that these targeting properties were derived from the interaction between densely packed DNA strands of the micelle corona and the peptidoglycan layers of Gram-positive bacteria. DNA-b-PS micelles incorporating magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) can efficiently capture and concentrate Gram-positive bacteria suggesting the simple applications of these DNA block copolymer micelles for concentrating bacteria. Adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine (G)-rich nanostructures were fabricated, respectively, for investigating the effect of sequence on Gram-selective bacteria targeting. T -rich micelles showed the most efficient targeting properties. The targeting properties of these DNA nanostructures toward Gram-positive bacteria may have applications as a targeted therapeutic delivery system.

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Development of a miRNA Sensor by an Inducible CRISPR-Cas9 Construct in Ciona Embryogenesis

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Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate multicellular processes and diverse signaling pathways in organisms. The detection of the spatiotemporal expression of miRNA in vivo is crucial for uncovering the function of miRNA. However, most of the current detecting techniques cannot reflect the dynamics of miRNA sensitively in vivo. Here, we constructed a miRNA-induced CRISPR-Cas9 platform (MICR) used in marine chordate Ciona. The key component of MICR is a pre-single guide RNA (sgRNA) flanked by miRNA-binding sites that can be released by RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) cleavage to form functional sgRNA in the presence of complementary miRNA. By using the miRNA-inducible CRISPR-on system (MICR-ON), we successfully detected the dynamic expression of a miRNA csa-miR-4018a during development of Ciona embryo. The detected patterns were validated to be consistent with the results by in situ hybridization. It is worth noting that the expression of csa-miR-4018a was examined by MICR-ON to be present in additional tissues, where no obvious signaling was detected by in situ hybridization, suggesting that the MICR-ON might be a more sensitive approach to detect miRNA signal in living animal. Thus, MICR-ON was demonstrated to be a sensitive and highly efficient approach for monitoring the dynamics of expression of miRNA in vivo and will facilitate the exploration of miRNA functions in biological systems.

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Chitosan Versus Chitosan-Vanillin Modified: An Evaluation of the Competitive Adsorption of Five Emerging Contaminants

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Abstract

Emerging contaminants (ECs) have been studied extensively because of the various damages they can cause to the environment, especially due to the non-treated domestic effluents, which contaminate the water bodies. Therefore, it is important to evaluate alternatives to remove these compounds. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of a new biosorbent from chitosan modified with vanillin (CTSV) to remove isoniazid, cortisol, bisphenol A, 17α-ethinylestradiol, and triclosan by competitive adsorption studies. Structural characterization of the biosorbents was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance. The adsorption for ECs were carried out in an aqueous medium, and quantitative analyzes were performed by HPLC. The effect of pH was evaluated in the pH range 5 to 10 and indicated that better results were found in pH 9 and 8 for CTS and CTSV, respectively. The salt concentrations effect was evaluated in 0.0 to 1.0 mol L−1 and revealed better adsorption conditions in 0.7 mol L−1 of NaCl. The adsorption kinetics pointed to an equilibrium condition reached quickly (with adjustment of data R2 > 0.969) with adequacy to pseudo–second-order model for both biosorbents and ECs. The linear isothermal model was suitable for the adsorption isothermal data and distribution constant (KD) showed the highest values for 17α-ethinylestradiol (0.067 L g−1) and triclosan (0.197 L g−1) in CTSV adsorption. Thus, the results indicated that CTSV performed well in removal for the tested ECs, being an interesting alternative, due to the ease of obtaining and abundance of reagents employed in its preparation.

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Impact of Pre-Chemotherapy Education with Audio Visual Methods on the Self-Efficacy of Symptom Management in Patients with Cancer

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Abstract

This study aimed to identify the effects of pre-chemotherapy education with audio visual methods on the self-efficacy of symptom management in patients with cancer who received chemotherapy. The various side effects of chemotherapy could affect the self-efficacy of symptom management. Providing pre-chemotherapy education is important to improve the self-efficacy of symptom management. Nowadays, pre-chemotherapy education is only given by using print media, which can restrict transferring information to patients with cancer. This study was based on pre- and post-test, 2 group, quasi-experimental design. A total of 80 respondents were recruited with consecutive sampling between January and March 2019. Participants in the intervention group received video pre-chemotherapy education, while participants in the control group received education with a booklet (usual care). Patients completed self-efficacy symptom management questionnaires before and 1–2 weeks aft er chemotherapy. The analysis used the Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests and by counting Cohen's d effect size. The mean scores of pre- and post-test self-efficacy of symptom management increased in the intervention group to 1.77 (p = 0.000) and in the control group to 0.64 (p = 0.001). The comparative test between the two groups showed p = 0.005 (p < 0.05) with an effect size of 0.4 (66%). This result indicates that pre-chemotherapy education had medium effect on the self-efficacy of symptom management. Pre-chemotherapy education with audio visual methods can increase the self-efficacy of symptom management in patients with cancer.

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Validation of the atherothrombotic risk score for secondary prevention in patients with acute myocardial infarction: the J-MINUET study

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Abstract

Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Risk Score for Secondary Prevention (TRS2°P) is a contemporary risk scoring system for secondary prevention based on nine clinical factors. However, this scoring system has not been validated in other populations. The aim of this study was to validate the TRS2°P in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a nationwide registry cohort. Among 3283 consecutive patients with AMI enrolled in the Japanese registry of acute Myocardial INfarction diagnosed by Universal dEfiniTion (J-MINUET), a total of 2611 patients who underwent primary PCI were included in this study. The performance of the TRS2°P to predict major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) composed of all-cause death, non-fatal MI, and non-fatal stroke up to 3 years in the present cohort was evaluated. The TRS2°P had modest discriminative performance in this J-MINUET cohort with a c-statisti c of 0.63, similar to that in the derived cohort (TRA2°P-TIMI50, c-statistic 0.67). A strong graded relationship between the TRS2°P and 3-year cardiovascular event rates was also observed in the J-MINUET cohort. Age ≥ 75 years, Killip ≥ 2, prior stroke, peripheral artery disease, anemia, and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction were identified as independent factors for the incidence of MACE. The TRS2°P modestly predicted secondary cardiovascular events among patients with AMI treated by primary PCI in a nationwide cohort of Japan. Further studies are needed to develop a novel risk score better predicting secondary cardiovascular events.

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Small bowel T-cell lymphoma: a MEITL-ing diagnosis

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Abstract

Monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma (MEITL), previously known as Type-II enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL), is a rare subset of relatively aggressive lymphoma with a poor prognosis. We present a case of a previously healthy 59-year-old male with a 2-week history of abdominal distention who was found to have a non-bleeding ulcerated segment in the proximal jejunum secondary to MEITL. This exceedingly rare type of lymphoma usually presents with non-specific symptoms and can be challenging to diagnose. Our case demonstrates the importance of understanding the endoscopic and histological findings to allow the prompt diagnosis and treatment of this aggressive disease.

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Determination of Significant Prognostic Factors for Maxillary Gingival Squamous Cell Carcinoma in 90 Cases

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Abstract

Maxillary gingival squamous cell carcinoma (MGSCC) occurs rather infrequently, compared to tongue and mandibular gingival carcinomas, among the cancers of the oral cavity. Therefore, significant numbers of MGSCC cases have not been statistically analysed. The aim of this study is to clarify the prognostic factors for MGSCC. We performed the statistical analysis of 90 MGSCC cases primarily treated in our department from 1999 to 2014. The patients (male: 36, female: 54) were aged between 38 and 93 years, and the mean age was 68.7 years. The number of patients in each tumour stage according to the TNM classification was as follows: T1: 15 cases, T2: 32 cases, T3: 13 cases, and T4: 30 cases. Forty-two patients were treated only by surgery, 5 only by radiotherapy, 3 by preoperative radiotherapy and surgery, and 40 patients were treated by combination therapy with preoperative chemoradiotherapy and surgery. Neck dissections were performed in 40 cases includin g 29 cases (11 primary and 18 secondary cases) of histopathologically diagnosed lymph node metastases. Extranodal extension was found in 74.3% cases with metastatic lymph nodes. The 5-year overall survival rate was 81.9%. In univariate analysis, the site of occurrence, stage of tumour, lymph node metastasis, and treatment contributed to the 5-year survival rate. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the site of occurrence (posterior region) was an independent prognostic factor. Seventeen deaths occurred due to the primary disease, while three deaths were caused by other diseases. The posterior region cancers, according to the classification based on site of occurrence, were independent predictors of poor 5-year overall survival rate.

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