An architecturally rational hemostat for rapid stopping of massive bleeding on anticoagulation therapy.

Hemostatic devices are critical for managing emergent severe bleeding. With the increased use of anticoagulant therapy, there is a need for next-generation hemostats. We rationalized that a hemostat with an architecture designed to increase contact with blood, and engineered from a material that activates a distinct and undrugged coagulation pathway can address the emerging need. Inspired by lung alveolar architecture, here, we describe the engineering of a next-generation single-phase chitosan hemostat with a tortuous spherical microporous design that enables rapid blood absorption and concentrated platelets and fibrin microthrombi in localized regions, a phenomenon less observed with other classical hemostats without structural optimization. The interaction between blood components and the porous hemostat was further amplified based on the charged surface of chitosan. Contrary to the dogma that chitosan does not directly affect physiological clotting mechanism, the hemostat induced coagulation via a direct activation of platelet Toll-like receptor 2. Our engineered porous hemostat effectively stopped the bleeding from murine liver wounds, swine liver and carotid artery injuries, and the human radial artery puncture site within a few minutes with significantly reduced blood loss, even under the anticoagulant treatment. The integration of engineering design principles with an understanding of the molecular mechanisms can lead to hemostats with improved functions to address emerging medical needs.

Heritable pattern of oxidized DNA base repair coincides with pre-targeting of repair complexes to open chromatin.

Human genome stability requires efficient repair of oxidized bases, which is initiated via damage recognition and excision by NEIL1 and other base excision repair (BER) pathway DNA glycosylases (DGs). However, the biological mechanisms underlying detection of damaged bases among the million-fold excess of undamaged bases remain enigmatic. Indeed, mutation rates vary greatly within individual genomes, and lesion recognition by purified DGs in the chromatin context is inefficient. Employing super-resolution microscopy and co-immunoprecipitation assays, we find that acetylated NEIL1 (AcNEIL1), but not its non-acetylated form, is predominantly localized in the nucleus in association with epigenetic marks of uncondensed chromatin. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) revealed non-random AcNEIL1 binding near transcription start sites of weakly transcribed genes and along highly transcribed chromatin domains. Bioinformatic analyses revealed a striking correspondence between AcNEIL1 occupancy along the genome and mutation rates, with AcNEIL1-occupied sites exhibiting fewer mutations compared to AcNEIL1-free domains, both in cancer genomes and in population variation. Intriguingly, from the evolutionarily conserved unstructured domain that targets NEIL1 to open chromatin, its damage surveillance of highly oxidation-susceptible sites to preserve essential gene function and to limit instability and cancer likely originated ∼500 million years ago during the buildup of free atmospheric oxygen.

Ligand-induced gene activation is associated with oxidative genome damage whose repair is required for transcription.

Among several reversible epigenetic changes occurring during transcriptional activation, only demethylation of histones and cytosine-phosphate-guanines (CpGs) in gene promoters and other regulatory regions by specific demethylase(s) generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), which oxidize DNA and other cellular components. Here, we show induction of oxidized bases and single-strand breaks (SSBs), but not direct double-strand breaks (DSBs), in the genome during gene activation by ligands of the nuclear receptor superfamily. We observed that these damages were preferentially repaired in promoters via the base excision repair (BER)/single-strand break repair (SSBR) pathway. Interestingly, BER/SSBR inhibition suppressed gene activation. Constitutive association of demethylases with BER/SSBR proteins in multiprotein complexes underscores the coordination of histone/DNA demethylation and genome repair during gene activation. However, ligand-independent transcriptional activation occurring during heat shock (HS) induction is associated with the generation of DSBs, the repair of which is likewise essential for the activation of HS-responsive genes. These observations suggest that the repair of distinct damages induced during diverse transcriptional activation is a universal prerequisite for transcription initiation. Because of limited investigation of demethylation-induced genome damage during transcription, this study suggests that the extent of oxidative genome damage resulting from various cellular processes is substantially underestimated.

Thermodynamics and its correlation with dynamics in a mean-field model and pinned systems: A comparative study using two different methods of entropy calculation.

A recent study introduced a novel mean-field model system where each particle over and above the interaction with its regular neighbors interacts with k extra pseudo-neighbors. Here, we present an extensive study of thermodynamics and its correlation with the dynamics of this system. We surprisingly find that the well-known thermodynamic integration (TI) method of calculating the entropy provides unphysical results. It predicts vanishing of the configurational entropy at temperatures close to the onset temperature of the system and negative values of the configurational entropy at lower temperatures. Interestingly, well below the temperature at which the configurational entropy vanishes, both the collective and the single-particle dynamics of the system show complete relaxation. Negative values of the configurational entropy are unphysical, and complete relaxation when the configurational entropy is zero violates the prediction of the random first-order transition theory (RFOT). However, the entropy calculated using the two-phase thermodynamics (2PT) method remains positive at all temperatures for which we can equilibrate the system, and its values are consistent with RFOT predictions. We find that with an increase in k, the difference in the entropy computed using the two methods increases. A similar effect is also observed for a system where a randomly selected fraction of the particles are pinned in their positions in the equilibrated liquid. We show that the difference in entropy calculated via the 2PT and TI methods increases with pinning density.

Engineered cell-laden alginate microparticles for 3D culture.

Advanced microfabrication technologies and biocompatible hydrogel materials facilitate the modeling of 3D tissue microenvironment. Encapsulation of cells in hydrogel microparticles offers an excellent high-throughput platform for investigating multicellular interaction with their surrounding microenvironment. Compartmentalized microparticles support formation of various unique cellular structures. Alginate has emerged as one of the most dominant hydrogel materials for cell encapsulation owing to its cytocompatibility, ease of gelation, and biocompatibility. Alginate hydrogel provides a permeable physical boundary to the encapsulated cells and develops an easily manageable 3D cellular structure. The interior structure of alginate hydrogel can further regulate the spatiotemporal distribution of the embedded cells. This review provides a specific overview of the representative engineering approaches to generate various structures of cell-laden alginate microparticles in a uniform and reproducible manner. Capillary nozzle systems, microfluidic droplet systems, and non-chip based high-throughput microfluidic systems are highlighted for developing well-regulated cellular structure in alginate microparticles to realize potential drug screening platform and cell-based therapy. We conclude with the discussion of current limitations and future directions for realizing the translation of this technology to the clinic.

Inhibition of Tunneling Nanotubes between Cancer Cell and the Endothelium Alters the Metastatic Phenotype.

The interaction of tumor cells with blood vessels is one of the key steps during cancer metastasis. Metastatic cancer cells exhibit phenotypic state changes during this interaction: (1) they form tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) with endothelial cells, which act as a conduit for intercellular communication; and (2) metastatic cancer cells change in order to acquire an elongated phenotype, instead of the classical cellular aggregates or mammosphere-like structures, which it forms in three-dimensional cultures. Here, we demonstrate mechanistically that a siRNA-based knockdown of the exocyst complex protein Sec3 inhibits TNT formation. Furthermore, a set of pharmacological inhibitors for Rho GTPase-exocyst complex-mediated cytoskeletal remodeling is introduced, which inhibits TNT formation, and induces the reversal of the more invasive phenotype of cancer cell (spindle-like) into a less invasive phenotype (cellular aggregates or mammosphere). Our results offer mechanistic insights into this nanoscale communication and shift of phenotypic state during cancer-endothelial interactions.

A Microfabricated Sandwiching Assay for Nanoliter and High-Throughput Biomarker Screening.

Cells secrete substances that are essential to the understanding of numerous immunological phenomena and are extensively used in clinical diagnoses. Countless techniques for screening of biomarker secretion in living cells have generated valuable information on cell function and physiology, but low volume and real-time analysis is a bottleneck for a range of approaches. Here, a simple, highly sensitive assay using a high-throughput micropillar and microwell array chip (MIMIC) platform is presented for monitoring of biomarkers secreted by cancer cells. The sensing element is a micropillar array that uses the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) mechanism to detect captured biomolecules. When integrated with a microwell array where few cells are localized, interleukin 8 (IL-8) secretion can be monitored with nanoliter volume using multiple micropillar arrays. The trend of cell secretions measured using MIMICs matches the results from conventional ELISA well while it requires orders of magnitude less cells and volumes. Moreover, the proposed MIMIC is examined to be used as a drug screening platform by delivering drugs using micropillar arrays in combination with a microfluidic system and then detecting biomolecules from cells as exposed to drugs.

Microhomology-mediated end joining is activated in irradiated human cells due to phosphorylation-dependent formation of the XRCC1 repair complex.

Microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ), an error-prone pathway for DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair, is implicated in genomic rearrangement and oncogenic transformation; however, its contribution to repair of radiation-induced DSBs has not been characterized. We used recircularization of a linearized plasmid with 3΄-P-blocked termini, mimicking those at X-ray-induced strand breaks, to recapitulate DSB repair via MMEJ or nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). Sequence analysis of the circularized plasmids allowed measurement of relative activity of MMEJ versus NHEJ. While we predictably observed NHEJ to be the predominant pathway for DSB repair in our assay, MMEJ was significantly enhanced in preirradiated cells, independent of their radiation-induced arrest in the G2/M phase. MMEJ activation was dependent on XRCC1 phosphorylation by casein kinase 2 (CK2), enhancing XRCC1's interaction with the end resection enzymes MRE11 and CtIP. Both endonuclease and exonuclease activities of MRE11 were required for MMEJ, as has been observed for homology-directed DSB repair (HDR). Furthermore, the XRCC1 co-immunoprecipitate complex (IP) displayed MMEJ activity in vitro, which was significantly elevated after irradiation. Our studies thus suggest that radiation-mediated enhancement of MMEJ in cells surviving radiation therapy may contribute to their radioresistance and could be therapeutically targeted.

Regulation of oxidized base damage repair by chromatin assembly factor 1 subunit A.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated both endogenously and in response to exogenous stress, induce point mutations by mis-replication of oxidized bases and other lesions in the genome. Repair of these lesions via base excision repair (BER) pathway maintains genomic fidelity. Regulation of the BER pathway for mutagenic oxidized bases, initiated by NEIL1 and other DNA glycosylases at the chromatin level remains unexplored. Whether single nucleotide (SN)-BER of a damaged base requires histone deposition or nucleosome remodeling is unknown, unlike nucleosome reassembly which is shown to be required for other DNA repair processes. Here we show that chromatin assembly factor (CAF)-1 subunit A (CHAF1A), the p150 subunit of the histone H3/H4 chaperone, and its partner anti-silencing function protein 1A (ASF1A), which we identified in human NEIL1 immunoprecipitation complex, transiently dissociate from chromatin bound NEIL1 complex in G1 cells after induction of oxidative base damage. CHAF1A inhibits NEIL1 initiated repair in vitro Subsequent restoration of the chaperone-BER complex in cell, presumably after completion of repair, suggests that histone chaperones sequester the repair complex for oxidized bases in non-replicating chromatin, and allow repair when oxidized bases are induced in the genome.

Reporter nanoparticle that monitors its anticancer efficacy in real time.

The ability to monitor the efficacy of an anticancer treatment in real time can have a critical effect on the outcome. Currently, clinical readouts of efficacy rely on indirect or anatomic measurements, which occur over prolonged time scales postchemotherapy or postimmunotherapy and may not be concordant with the actual effect. Here we describe the biology-inspired engineering of a simple 2-in-1 reporter nanoparticle that not only delivers a cytotoxic or an immunotherapy payload to the tumor but also reports back on the efficacy in real time. The reporter nanoparticles are engineered from a novel two-staged stimuli-responsive polymeric material with an optimal ratio of an enzyme-cleavable drug or immunotherapy (effector elements) and a drug function-activatable reporter element. The spatiotemporally constrained delivery of the effector and the reporter elements in a single nanoparticle produces maximum signal enhancement due to the availability of the reporter element in the same cell as the drug, thereby effectively capturing the temporal apoptosis process. Using chemotherapy-sensitive and chemotherapy-resistant tumors in vivo, we show that the reporter nanoparticles can provide a real-time noninvasive readout of tumor response to chemotherapy. The reporter nanoparticle can also monitor the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibition in melanoma. The self-reporting capability, for the first time to our knowledge, captures an anticancer nanoparticle in action in vivo.

Glass Transition in Supercooled Liquids with Medium-Range Crystalline Order.

The origin of the rapid dynamical slowdown in glass forming liquids in the growth of static length scales, possibly associated with identifiable structural ordering, is a much debated issue. Growth of medium range crystalline order (MRCO) has been observed in various model systems to be associated with glassy behavior. Such observations raise the question of whether molecular mechanisms for the glass transition in liquids with and without MRCO are the same. In this study we perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a number of glass forming liquids and show that the static and dynamic properties of glasses with MRCO are different from those of other glass forming liquids with no predominant local order. We also resolve an important issue regarding the so-called point-to-set method for determining static length scales, and demonstrate it to be a robust method for determining static correlation lengths in glass formers.

Power law relationship between diffusion coefficients in multi-component glass forming liquids.

The slow down of dynamics in glass forming liquids as the glass transition is approached has been characterised through the Adam-Gibbs relation, which relates relaxation time scales to the configurational entropy. The Adam-Gibbs relation cannot apply simultaneously to all relaxation times scales unless they are coupled, and exhibit closely related temperature dependences. The breakdown of the Stokes-Einstein relation presents an interesting situation to the contrary, and in analysing it, it has recently been shown that the Adam-Gibbs relation applies to diffusion coefficients rather than to viscosity or structural relaxation times related to the decay of density fluctuations. However, for multi-component liquids --the typical cases considered in computer simulations, metallic glass formers, etc.-- such a statement raises the question of which diffusion coefficient is described by the Adam-Gibbs relation. All diffusion coefficients can be consistently described by the Adam-Gibbs relation if they bear a power law relationship with each other. Remarkably, we find that for a wide range of glass formers, and for a wide range of temperatures spanning the normal and the slow relaxation regimes, such a relationship holds. We briefly discuss possible rationalisations of the observed behaviour.

Length-Scale Dependence of the Stokes-Einstein and Adam-Gibbs Relations in Model Glass Formers.

The Adam-Gibbs (AG) relation connects the dynamics of a glass-forming liquid to its thermodynamics via the configurational entropy and is of fundamental importance in descriptions of glassy behavior. The breakdown of the Stokes-Einstein relation (SEB) between the diffusion coefficient and the viscosity (or structural relaxation times) in glass formers raises the question as to which dynamical quantity the AG relation describes. By performing molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the AG relation is valid over the widest temperature range for the diffusion coefficient and not for the viscosity or relaxation times. Studying relaxation times defined at a given wavelength, we find that SEB and the deviation from the AG relation occur below a temperature at which the correlation length of dynamical heterogeneity equals the wavelength probed.

Evaluation of therapeutic potential of VB-001, a leave-on formulation, for the treatment of moderate adherent dandruff.

BACKGROUND: Dandruff is a common scalp condition characterized by excessive scaling and itch. Aberrant colonization of the scalp by commensal Malassezia spp. is a major contributor in the multifactorial etiology of dandruff. Literature based understanding of Malassezia linked pathophysiology of dandruff allowed us to comprehend a strategy to potentiate the efficacy of a known antifungal agent used in dandruff therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and skin safety of VB-001 antidandruff leave-on formulation in comparison with marketed antidandruff ZPTO shampoo in patients with moderate adherent dandruff of the scalp. METHODS: Healthy males or females aged ≥ 15 years and ≤ 65 with a clinical diagnosis of moderate adherent dandruff of the scalp were recruited for the study to monitor the effects of topical VB-001 versus those of marketed antidandruff ZPTO shampoo. RESULTS: 168 subjects were randomized to the treatment (VB-001, n = 84) and control (ZPTO shampoo, n = 84) groups. The efficacy of each product was evaluated by comparing proportion of subjects who have shown reduction in flaking by ASFS (adherent scalp flaking score) and pruritus by IGA (investigator global assessment) score. VB-001 imparted consistently better reduction in ASFS and enabled early reduction of pruritus in comparison to marketed ZPTO shampoo. CONCLUSION: VB-001, a leave-on formulation with ingredients chosen to selectively disturb the Malassezia niche on dandruff scalp by denying extra nutritional benefits to the microbe, provides unique advantages over existing best in class ZPTO shampoo therapy. It has the potential to emerge as an attractive novel treatment for moderate adherent dandruff. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CTRI Registration number: CTRI/2013/01/003283 . Registered on: 02/01/2013.

The C-terminal Domain (CTD) of Human DNA Glycosylase NEIL1 Is Required for Forming BERosome Repair Complex with DNA Replication Proteins at the Replicating Genome: DOMINANT NEGATIVE FUNCTION OF THE CTD.

The human DNA glycosylase NEIL1 was recently demonstrated to initiate prereplicative base excision repair (BER) of oxidized bases in the replicating genome, thus preventing mutagenic replication. A significant fraction of NEIL1 in cells is present in large cellular complexes containing DNA replication and other repair proteins, as shown by gel filtration. However, how the interaction of NEIL1 affects its recruitment to the replication site for prereplicative repair was not investigated. Here, we show that NEIL1 binarily interacts with the proliferating cell nuclear antigen clamp loader replication factor C, DNA polymerase δ, and DNA ligase I in the absence of DNA via its non-conserved C-terminal domain (CTD); replication factor C interaction results in ∼8-fold stimulation of NEIL1 activity. Disruption of NEIL1 interactions within the BERosome complex, as observed for a NEIL1 deletion mutant (N311) lacking the CTD, not only inhibits complete BER in vitro but also prevents its chromatin association and reduced recruitment at replication foci in S phase cells. This suggests that the interaction of NEIL1 with replication and other BER proteins is required for efficient repair of the replicating genome. Consistently, the CTD polypeptide acts as a dominant negative inhibitor during in vitro repair, and its ectopic expression sensitizes human cells to reactive oxygen species. We conclude that multiple interactions among BER proteins lead to large complexes, which are critical for efficient BER in mammalian cells, and the CTD interaction could be targeted for enhancing drug/radiation sensitivity of tumor cells.

What Determines the Static Force Chains in Stressed Granular Media?

The determination of the normal and transverse (frictional) interparticle forces within a granular medium is a long-standing, daunting, and yet unresolved problem. We present a new formalism that employs the knowledge of the external forces and the orientations of contacts between particles (of any given size), to compute all the interparticle forces. Having solved this problem, we exemplify the efficacy of the formalism showing that the force chains in such systems are determined by an expansion in the eigenfunctions of a newly defined operator.

Heterogeneity and antibiotic resistance in Propionibacterium acnes isolates and its therapeutic implications: blurring the lines between commensal and pathogenic phylotypes.

Acne vulgaris is a multifactorial skin disease associated with the colonization of Propionibacterium acnes. Antibiotics are a mainstay of treatment for acne, yet the emergence of resistance against the currently approved antibiotics is a serious concern. In this case report, a slow responder had multiple Propionibacterium acnes isolates with varied levels of sensitivity to the conventional antibiotics. The bacterial isolates obtained from acne samples collected from the patient were analyzed for phylogeny, and was found to be largely restricted to two different lineage patterns. Propionibacterium acnes phylotype IA1, which is considered to be pathogenic, displayed clindamycin sensitivity, but phylotype IB, which is associated with commensals, exhibited high clindamycin resistance. Sensitivity analysis revealed uniform resistance to macrolides, but susceptibility to tetracycline and nadifloxacin. These results implicate Propionibacterium acnes in the pathophysiology of acne vulgaris, although the lines between commensal and pathological phylotypes may be blurred. Switching the patient to a combination of minocycline and nadifloxacin resulted in a significant improvement in the clinical lesions. Such a science-driven judicious selection of antibiotics can minimize the probability of development of resistance, and might be the way forward in the treatment of acne.

New paradigms in the repair of oxidative damage in human genome: mechanisms ensuring repair of mutagenic base lesions during replication and involvement of accessory proteins.

Oxidized bases in the mammalian genome, which are invariably mutagenic due to their mispairing property, are continuously induced by endogenous reactive oxygen species and more abundantly after oxidative stress. Unlike bulky base adducts induced by UV and other environmental mutagens in the genome that block replicative DNA polymerases, oxidatively damaged bases such as 5-hydroxyuracil, produced by oxidative deamination of cytosine in the template strand, do not block replicative polymerases and thus need to be repaired prior to replication to prevent mutation. Following up our earlier studies, which showed that the Nei endonuclease VIII like 1 (NEIL1) DNA glycosylase, one of the five base excision repair (BER)-initiating enzymes in mammalian cells, has enhanced expression during the S-phase and higher affinity for replication fork-mimicking single-stranded (ss) DNA substrates, we recently provided direct experimental evidence for NEIL1's role in replicating template strand repair. The key requirement for this event, which we named as the 'cow-catcher' mechanism of pre-replicative BER, is NEIL1's non-productive binding (substrate binding without product formation) to the lesion base in ss DNA template to stall DNA synthesis, causing fork regression. Repair of the lesion in reannealed duplex is then carried out by NEIL1 in association with the DNA replication proteins. NEIL1 (and other BER-initiating enzymes) also interact with several accessory and non-canonical proteins including the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U and Y-box-binding protein 1 as well as high mobility group box 1 protein, whose precise roles in BER are still obscure. In this review, we have discussed the recent advances in our understanding of oxidative genome damage repair pathways with particular focus on the pre-replicative template strand repair and the role of scaffold factors like X-ray repairs cross-complementing protein 1 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 and other accessory proteins guiding distinct BER sub-pathways.

Sustained inhibition of cMET-VEGFR2 signaling using liposome-mediated delivery increases efficacy and reduces toxicity in kidney cancer.

c-Met pathway is implicated in the resistance to anti-VEGF therapy in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, clinical translation of therapies targeting these pathways has been limited due to dose-limiting toxicities, feedback signaling, and low intratumoral drug accumulation. Here, we developed liposomes encapsulating a multi-receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (XL184) to explore the possibility of improving intratumoral concentration, enhancing antitumor efficacy and reducing toxicities. The liposomes showed increased cytotoxicity than XL184, and resulted in a sustained inhibition of phosphorylation of Met, AKT and MAPK pathways in RCC cells. In a RCC tumor xenograft model, the liposomes induced sustained inhibition of tumor growth as compared to XL184, consistent with higher inhibition of kinase signaling pathways. Biodistribution studies revealed higher accumulation of the liposomes in tumor, which translated into lower toxicities. This study shows the use of liposomes for effective inhibition of multi-kinase pathways, which can potentially emerge as a new treatment for RCC.

Antibiotic-resistant acne: getting under the skin.

Propionibacterium acnes is a key pathogenic factor in the development of acne. Antibiotics are the first choice of treatment for mild-to-moderate, mixed, papular/pustular, and moderate nodular acne, and an alternative choice in severe, nodular/conglobate acne. The emergence of resistance to the currently available antibiotics poses a serious set-back to this algorithm, and the reduced arsenal can diminish efficacy of treatment. This emerging situation should catalyze innovations in dermatology; for example, newer drugs and technologies such as next-generation antibiotics with excellent potency and low propensity to develop resistance, rapid diagnostic platforms to select responders and nonresponders, and delivery technologies that target the bacteria. Such innovations can dramatically expand the arsenal for dermatologists in the management of acne.