U6 is unsuitable for normalization of serum miRNA levels in patients with sepsis or liver fibrosis

MicroRNA (miRNA) levels in serum have recently emerged as potential novel biomarkers for various diseases. miRNAs are routinely measured by standard quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR); however, the high sensitivity of qPCR demands appropriate normalization to correct for nonbiological variation. Presently, RNU6B (U6) is used for data normalization of circulating miRNAs in many studies. However, it was suggested that serum levels of U6 themselves might differ between individuals. Therefore, no consensus has been reached on the best normalization strategy in ‘circulating miRNA''. We analyzed U6 levels as well as levels of spiked-in SV40-RNA in sera of 44 healthy volunteers, 203 intensive care unit patients and 64 patients with liver fibrosis. Levels of U6 demonstrated a high variability in sera of healthy donors, patients with critical illness and liver fibrosis. This high variability could also be confirmed in sera of mice after the cecal ligation and puncture procedure. Most importantly, levels of circulating U6 were significantly upregulated in sera of patients with critical illness and sepsis compared with controls and correlated with established markers of inflammation. In patients with liver fibrosis, U6 levels were significantly downregulated. In contrast, levels of spiked-in SV40 displayed a significantly higher stability both in human cohorts (healthy, critical illness, liver fibrosis) and in mice. Thus, we conclude that U6 levels in the serum are dysregulated in a disease-specific manner. Therefore, U6 should not be used for data normalization of circulating miRNAs in inflammatory diseases and previous studies using this approach should be interpreted with caution. Further studies are warranted to identify specific regulatory processes of U6 levels in sepsis and liver fibrosis.     

Influence of Interfacial Tension on Seeded Calcium Carbonate Scale Precipitation: Effect of Adsorbed Asphaltenes

Clay particles with adsorbed asphaltenes, which are commonly found in produced water, have been used as seed particles during precipitation of calcium carbonate in order to determine whether such particles may influence the kinetics of precipitation. The results show that the presence of the adsorbed asphaltenes accelerates the precipitation, and there is also a significant difference between different types of adsorbed asphaltenes. The adsorption of asphaltenes at the seed surface leads to a significant increase in the interfacial tension between the seed surface and the aqueous solution, and calcium carbonate therefore precipitates at the seed surface in order to reduce this high interfacial tension.     

Ionization by pH and Anionic Surfactant Binding Gives the Same Thickening Effects of Crosslinked Polyacrylic Acid Derivatives

Physical properties of aqueous solutions of hydrophobically modified crosslinked polyacrylic acids change quite extensively as the polymer is charged up. A study is carried out concerning the similarities between two polymer ionization processes, that is, by pH increment and anionic surfactant addition. The two processes charge the polymer by distinctly different mechanisms. At sufficiently high pH the carboxylic groups of the polymer are virtually all ionized and the polymer is, therefore, fully charged. The effective repulsion among the charged groups due to the entropy of the counterions promotes an increased stiffness as well as an expansion of the polymer particles. We investigate here how the ionization and swelling will be if, instead of high pH, the polymer is at low pH conditions but associated to ionic surfactants. Surfactants associate to the polymer both in a noncooperative way by the binding of individual surfactant molecules and in a cooperative way as micelles since the polymer promotes surfactant self-assembly. This binding leads to a highly charged polymer-surfactant complex and leads to an osmotic swelling as well. The swelling and the gelation were monitored by rheology and dynamic light scattering, of polymer solutions by varying the pHs and adding ionic surfactants at low pH. The results show that ionization by surfactants and by pH lead to approximately the same gelation degree, as can be seen by similar viscosity values. Both processes result in dramatic viscosity increases, up to 8 orders of magnitude. More hydrophobic surfactants, with longer alkyl chain, are shown to be more efficient as enhancers of swelling and gelation. The network that is formed at high pH or at sufficiently high concentration of surfactant can be weakened or even disrupted if monovalent or divalent salts are added, demonstrating the role of counterion entropy.     

Synthesis of Glycosylated Amino Acids for Use in Solid Phase Glycopeptide Synthesis,Part 2: N-(9-Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl)-3-0-[2,4,6-TRI-0-Acetyl-3-0-(2,3,4-TRI-0-Acetyl-α-D-Xylopyranosyl)-β-D-Glucopyranosyl]-L-Serine

Abstract

FMOC-serine phenacylester was glycosylated with a derivative of the disaccharide α-D-Xylp-(1→3)-β-D-Glcp, and the product was treated with zinc to remove the phenacyl group. The title derivative is useful for synthesis of blood clotting factor IX glycopeptide fragments by the solid-phase approach.     

Synthesis of 2,6-Dideoxy-6-Thio Derivatives of KDO

ABSTRACT

Ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-D-manno-2-octenoate (8), ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-D-glycero-D-talo-octanoate (10a), ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-D-glycero-D-galacto-octanoate (10b) and ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-oxa-D-glycero-D-galacto-octanoate (13) have been synthesised as potential inhibitors of the enzyme CMP-KDO synthetase. The key step in the synthesis of 8 was the elimination of water from methyl 3,6-dideoxy-4,5:7,8-di-O-isopropylidene-6-thio-D-manno-2-octulosonate (4) using chlorodiphenylphosphine, imidazole and bromine to give the unsaturated methyl 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-4,5:7,8-di-O-isopropylidene-D-manno-2-octenoate (5). For the synthesis of 10a and 10b, zinc reduction of methyl 3,6-dideoxy-4,5:7,8-di-O-isopropylidene-6-S-(4-methoxybenzyl)-6-thio-2-O-(trichloro-tert-butoxycarbonyl)-D-manno-2-octenoate (2) gave an epimeric mixture of an α-hydroxyester 6 which was ring closed by in situ activation of the hydroxyl group using triphenylphosphine and tri-iodoimidazole followed by cleavage of the p-methoxybenzyl group to give 7a and 7b, which then were deprotected to give 10a and 10b.     

Bridging Ligand Length Controls AT Selectivity and Enantioselectivity of Binuclear Ruthenium Threading Intercalators

The slow dissociation of DNA threading intercalators makes them interesting as model compounds in the search for new DNA targeting drugs, as there appears to be a correlation between slow dissociation and biological activity. Thus, it would be of great value to understand the mechanisms controlling threading intercalation, and for this purpose we have investigated how the length of the bridging ligand of binuclear ruthenium threading intercalators affects their DNA binding properties. We have synthesised a new binuclear ruthenium threading intercalator with slower dissociation kinetics from ct‐DNA than has ever been observed for any ruthenium complex with any type of DNA, a property that we attribute to the increased distance between the ruthenium centres of the new complex. By comparison with previously studied ruthenium complexes, we further conclude that elongation of the bridging ligand reduces the sensitivity of the threading interaction to DNA flexibility, resulting in a decreased AT selectivity for the new complex. We also find that the length of the bridging ligand affects the enantioselectivity with increasing preference for the ΔΔ enantiomer as the bridging ligand becomes longer.     

Clean and reactive nanostructured cellulose surface

A simple, solvent-free and low cost method to activate the surface of nanofibrillated cellulose films for further functionalization is presented. The method is based on the oxidative properties of UV radiation and ozone, to effectively remove contaminants from nanocellulosic surface, which remains clean and reactive for at least a week. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurements. In clear contrast to previous results on nanoscaled cellulose the relative atomic concentration of non-cellulosic carbon atoms was only 4 %, and water completely wetted the surface within seconds. After activation, neither chemical degradation nor morphological changes on cellulose were observed. This surface activation is essential for further functionalization of the film in dry state or nonpolar media. The surface activation was confirmed by silylation and a four times higher degree of substitution was achieved on the activated sample compared to non-activated reference film, as monitored with XPS.     

Nanofibrillated cellulose/carboxymethyl cellulose composite with improved wet strength

In this paper, nanofibrillated cellulose/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) composite films were prepared using tape casting. The obtained transparent films showed shear induced partial alignment of fibrils along the casting direction, resulting in birefringence in cross polarized light. The carboxyl groups of CMC could be further utilized to create ionic crosslinking by treatment with glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTMA). The GTMA treated composite films had improved mechanical properties both in wet and dry state. The chemical composition and morphologies of composites were analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy and wide-angle X-ray scattering.     

Application of fibre BRAGG grating sensors for residual stress analysis

Residual stresses are important by the manufacturing of the most components. The analysis of residual stresses using the hole-drilling method is complicated and is based at the moment solely on strain measurement on the surface. Now, an approach is described where the residual stresses can be calculated on the basis of strain measured in several plains. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

FE-simulation of spatially graded gelation during adhesive's curing

In this contribution main aspects of material characterization and modelling of a curing adhesive are denoted. It is pointed out how to deal with the exothermic heat generation during curing, both, how to obtain it experimentally as well as how to account for it in the continuum mechanical an FE-modelling framework. Furthermore, a strategy to simulate spatially graded gelation processes in ANSYS® is presented. An academic simulation example completes this work. By the help of this simulation tool a better understanding of a novel manufacturing process of smart semi-finished light weight structures is ensured. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)