A brief history of the Feulgen reaction.

One hundred years ago, Robert Feulgen published a landmark paper in which he described the first method to stain DNA in cells and tissues. Although a century has passed since the discovery by Feulgen and Rossenbeck, the chemical reaction still exerts an important influence in current histochemical studies. Its contribution in diverse fields, spanning from biomedicine to plant biology, has paved the way for the most significant studies that constitute our current knowledge. The possibility to specifically explore the DNA in cell nuclei while quantifying its content makes it a contemporary and timeless method. Indeed, many histocytochemical studies following the 1924 paper have led to a deep understanding of genome organization in general as well as several specific mechanisms (e.g. DNA duplication or tumour pathology) that, nowadays, constitute some of the most fundamental pillars in biological investigations. In this review, we discuss the chemistry and application of the Feulgen reaction to both light and electron microscopy.

Impact of heat and cold shock on epigenetics and chromatin structure.

Cells are continuously exposed to various sources of insults, among which temperature variations are extremely common. Epigenetic mechanisms, critical players in gene expression regulation, undergo alterations due to these stressors, potentially leading to health issues. Despite the significance of DNA methylation and histone modifications in gene expression regulation, their changes following heat and cold shock in human cells remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the epigenetic profiles of human cells subjected to hyperthermia and hypothermia, revealing significant variations. Heat shock primarily led to DNA methylation increments and epigenetic modifications associated with gene expression silencing. In contrast, cold shock presented a complex scenario, with both methylation and demethylation levels increasing, indicating different epigenetic responses to the opposite thermal stresses. These temperature-induced alterations in the epigenome, particularly their impact on chromatin structural organization, represent an understudied area that could offer important insights into genome function and potential prospects for therapeutic targets.

Cooperative CO2 adsorption mechanism in a perfluorinated CeIV-based metal organic framework.

Adsorbents able to uptake large amounts of gases within a narrow range of pressure, i.e., phase-change adsorbents, are emerging as highly interesting systems to achieve excellent gas separation performances with little energy input for regeneration. A recently discovered phase-change metal-organic framework (MOF) adsorbent is F4_MIL-140A(Ce), based on CeIV and tetrafluoroterephthalate. This MOF displays a non-hysteretic step-shaped CO2 adsorption isotherm, reaching saturation in conditions of temperature and pressure compatible with real life application in post-combustion carbon capture, biogas upgrading and acetylene purification. Such peculiar behaviour is responsible for the exceptional CO2/N2 selectivity and reverse CO2/C2H2 selectivity of F4_MIL-140A(Ce). Here, we combine data obtained from a wide pool of characterisation techniques - namely gas sorption analysis, in situ infrared spectroscopy, in situ powder X-ray diffraction, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy, multinuclear solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and adsorption microcalorimetry - with periodic density functional theory simulations to provide evidence for the existence of a unique cooperative CO2 adsorption mechanism in F4_MIL-140A(Ce). Such mechanism involves the concerted rotation of perfluorinated aromatic rings when a threshold partial pressure of CO2 is reached, opening the gate towards an adsorption site where CO2 interacts with both open metal sites and the fluorine atoms of the linker.

[Conservative treatment of the splenic traumas]. / Trattamenti conservativi dei traumi splenici.

Authors hope for a growing diffusion of conservative treatments for lien's lesions, to avoid the asplenia syndrome, and the unfavourable implications derive from, above all immunodepression that increases septic risk. They report their experience about conservative choices for spleens traumatic injures and emphasize the absolute need of select the appropriate patients for those procedure, that must require: haemodynamics stability; not geriatric age; type I and II, according to Buntain's classifications, ien's lesions, and attentive selection of the patients carriers of type III lesions; absence of preceding spleens injures, opportunity of monitor patients, in immediate postoperative, in intensive care units. Authors suggest that one of the essential condition for the correct selection and achievement of conservative treatments of traumatic lien's injures, is the team work of the surgeon, of the anesthesiologist, of the radiologist. Conclude maintain that, conservative procedure for lien's lesions, must find a growing diffusion, but mention that is appropriate to not extend those treatments indications over the encoded ones.