Single Cell Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The goal of this project is to develop and utilize a microfluidic device to isolate and enrich tumor cells circulating in peripheral blood. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been used as biomarkers for cancer diagnostics and prognosis.... more

The goal of this project is to develop and utilize a microfluidic device to isolate and enrich tumor cells circulating in peripheral blood. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been used as biomarkers for cancer diagnostics and prognosis. However, the rarity of these cells (roughly 1 in a billion) poses a technological challenge to sort and concentrate them. CTCs hold potential sources for early detection, characterization, monitoring of cancers, and development of personalized treatment. The project is currently funded by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Cell intrinsic motility and morphology are highly affected by its surrounding environmental conditions. Extracellular proteins have been thoroughly studied along with their effects on Rho GTPases, which been closely linked with cellular... more

Cell intrinsic motility and morphology are highly affected by its surrounding environmental conditions. Extracellular proteins have been thoroughly studied along with their effects on Rho GTPases, which been closely linked with cellular movement. Therefore, we investigated the contributing effects two ECM proteins, fibronectin and collagen, have on NIH-3T3 fibroblast motility. In this study, cell motility is characterized through a novel biophysical assay that uses the correlations of the cellular and nuclear centroid minutely displacements to precisely explain the subcellular activity of 3T3 fibroblasts on ECM and also quantify their migration capacity. The results suggest that a fibronectin-rich environment positively affects effective cell displacement and migration potential, compared to a collagen substrate which induced stagnant behavior associated with loss of cell polarity and increased cell sampling, or membrane ruffling. The student t-test was applied to indicate the statistical difference (p < 0.001). This provides us with an insight of the ECM effects on subcellular activity and on the cell-ECM interaction in general. Knowledge gained from these experiments could prove useful in cancer prognosis, diagnosis, or treatment.

We examined the psychosocial influences on female prisoner suicide by carrying out a study of near-lethal self-harm. We interviewed 60 women prisoners who had recently engaged in near-lethal self-harm (cases) and 60 others who had never... more

We examined the psychosocial influences on female prisoner suicide by carrying out a study of near-lethal self-harm. We interviewed 60 women prisoners who had recently engaged in near-lethal self-harm (cases) and 60 others who had never carried out near-lethal acts in ...

Ceria-carbonate composite materials have been widely investigated as candidate electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells operated at 300–600 °C. However, fundamental studies on the composite electrolytes are still in the early stages and... more

Ceria-carbonate composite materials have been widely investigated as candidate electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells operated at 300–600 °C. However, fundamental studies on the composite electrolytes are still in the early stages and intensive research is demanded to advance their applications. In this study, the crystallite structure, microstructure, chemical activity, thermal expansion behavior and electrochemical properties of the samaria doped ceria-carbonate (SCC) composite have been investigated. Single cells using the SCC composite electrolyte and Ni-based electrodes were assembled and their electrochemical performances were studied. The SCC composite electrolyte exhibits good chemical compatibility and thermal-matching with Ni-based electrodes. Peak power density up to 916 mW cm−2 was achieved at 550 °C, which was attributed to high electrochemical activity of both electrolyte and electrode materials. A stable discharge plateau was obtained under a current density of 1.5 A cm−2 at 550 °C for 120 min. In addition, the ionic conducting property of the SCC composite electrolyte was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique. It was found that the hybrid-ionic conduction improves the total ionic conductivity and fuel cell performance. These results highlight potential low-temperature application of ceria-carbonate composite electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells.► Ceria-carbonate composite is employed as electrolyte for low-temperature SOFCs. ► Composite electrolyte shows good chemical & thermal compatibility with Ni-based electrodes. ► A maximum power density of 916.2 mW cm−2 is obtained at 550 °C. ► Fuel cell keeps stable under a high discharging current density of 1.5 A cm−2 for 120 min. ► The hybrid-ionic conduction property of composite electrolyte is studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique.

The preparation of single-cell suspensions from tissues is an important prerequisite for many experiments in cellular research. The process of dissociating whole organs requires specific parameters in order to obtain a high number of... more

The preparation of single-cell suspensions from tissues is an important prerequisite for many experiments in cellular research. The process of dissociating whole organs requires specific parameters in order to obtain a high number of viable cells in a reproducible manner. The gentleMACS Dissociator optimizes this task with a simple, practical protocol. The instrument contains pre-programmed settings that are optimized for the efficient but gentle dissociation of a variety of tissue types, including mouse lungs. In this publication the use of the gentleMACS Dissociator on lung tissue derived from mice is demonstrated.

Over the last three decades substantial attention has been given to the role of dietary fiber in health and disease, in particular diabetes, cardiovascular disease, intestinal health, and some types of cancer. As a result the food... more

Over the last three decades substantial attention has been given to the role of dietary fiber in health and disease, in particular diabetes, cardiovascular disease, intestinal health, and some types of cancer. As a result the food industry started to add back fiber to refined foods and develop fiber rich foods. Scientists suggested that whole grain foods are superior to foods enriched with fibers obtained/synthesized using enzyme treatment, and thermal or chemical processing because the content of bioactive components and micronutrients in whole grain is more abundant. This triggered interest in how to isolate the micronutrient rich aleurone fiber fraction from wheat. Aleurone is a single cell layer at the inner site of the bran. It contains most of the minerals, vitamins, phenolic antioxidants, and lignans of the wheat grain. Novel milling and dry-fractionation techniques have recently allowed for full-scale separation of aleurone cells from the other layers of wheat bran, yielding a fiber rich concentrate which potentially contains many of the “whole grain kernel bioactives,” which recently have been used in a variety of studies. The present review highlights available data on aleurone isolation, composition, intestinal physiology, and its metabolism and potential health benefits as well as its use in food.

Radiation-induced adaptive response belongs to the group of non-targeted effects that do not require direct exposure of the cell nucleus by radiation. It is described as the reduced damaging effect of a challenging radiation dose when... more

Radiation-induced adaptive response belongs to the group of non-targeted effects that do not require direct exposure of the cell nucleus by radiation. It is described as the reduced damaging effect of a challenging radiation dose when induced by a previous low priming dose. Adaptive responses have been observed in vitro and in vivo using various indicators of cellular damage, such as cell lethality, chromosomal aberrations, mutation induction, radiosensitivity, and DNA repair. Adaptive response can be divided into three successive biological phenomena, the intracellular response, the extracellular signal, and the maintenance. The intracellular response leading to adaptation of a single cell is a complex biological process including induction or suppression of gene groups. An extracellular signal, the nature of which is unknown, may be sent by the affected cell to neighbouring cells causing them to adapt as well. This occurs either by a release of diffusible signalling molecules or by gap-junction intercellular communication. Adaptive response can be maintained for periods ranging from of a few hours to several months. Constantly increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or nitric oxide (NO) have been observed in adapted cells and both factors may play a role in the maintenance process. Although adaptive response seems to function by an on/off principle, it is a phenomenon showing a high degree of inter- and intraindividual variability. It remains to be seen to what extent adaptive response is functional in humans at relevant dose and dose-rate exposures. A better understanding of adaptive response and other non-targeted effects is needed before they can be confirmed as risk estimate factors for the human population at low levels of ionising radiation.