SERS and SERRS Detection of the DNA Lesion 8-Nitroguanine: A Self-Labeling Modification.

Rapid and sensitive methods to detect DNA lesions are essential in order to understand their role in carcinogenesis and for potential diagnosis of cancers. The 8-nitroguanine DNA lesion, which is closely associated with inflammation-induced cancers, has been characterized for the first time by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). This lesion has been studied as the free base, as well as part of a dinucleotide and oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) at 5 different excitation wavelengths in the range 785-488 nm. All nitrated samples produced distinctly different spectra from their control guanine counterparts, with nitro bands being assigned by DFT calculations. Additional resonance enhancement was observed at the shorter excitation wavelengths, these SERRS measurements allowed the detection of one nitrated guanine in over 1,300 bases. In addition, SER(R)S can be used to detect whether the unstable lesion is covalently attached to the ODN or has been released by hydrolytic depurination.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy as a Probe of the Surface Chemistry of Nanostructured Materials.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is now widely used as a rapid and inexpensive tool for chemical/biochemical analysis. The method can give enormous increases in the intensities of the Raman signals of low-concentration molecular targets if they are adsorbed on suitable enhancing substrates, which are typically composed of nanostructured Ag or Au. However, the features of SERS that allow it to be used as a chemical sensor also mean that it can be used as a powerful probe of the surface chemistry of any nanostructured material that can provide SERS enhancement. This is important because it is the surface chemistry that controls how these materials interact with their local environment and, in real applications, this interaction can be more important than more commonly measured properties such as morphology or plasmonic absorption. Here, the opportunity that this approach to SERS provides is illustrated with examples where the surface chemistry is both characterized and controlled in order to create functional nanomaterials.

Postsynaptic dorsal column and cuneate correlations in the raccoon: a re-evaluation by parallel-cascade analysis.

In a previous study, we reported evidence for correlations between the firing of postsynaptic dorsal column (PSDC) neurons and cuneate neurons with overlapping receptive fields on the glabrous skin of the raccoon forepaw. The evidence was based on cross-correlation and frequency response analyses of spontaneously firing neurons. However, cross-correlation without white noise Gaussian analog inputs or Poisson distributed pulse train inputs is difficult to interpret because of the inherent convolution with the autocorrelation of the unknown input signals. While the data suggested positive correlations in the spinocuneate direction for most neuron pairs, we could not estimate the temporal characteristics of these putative connections. We have now re-analyzed these data using a parallel-cascade method to estimate the first- and second-order kernels of a Volterra series approximation to the spinocuneate system. This unbiased analysis suggests that a positive correlation occurs after about 5 ms, probably followed by a negative correlation at about 12 ms. Second-order kernels also had repeatable structure, indicating dual pathways with time separations of at least 10 ms.

Pervasive synchronization of local neural networks in the secondary somatosensory cortex of cats during focal cutaneous stimulation.

Extracellular discharges were recorded from 205 neurons in the secondary somatosensory (SII) cortex of isoflurane-anesthetized cats. Cross-correlation analysis was used to characterize the temporal coordination of SII neurons recorded during cutaneous stimulation with a focal air jet that moved back-and-forth across the distal forelimb. Over two-thirds of the recorded neuron pairs ( n=357) displayed significant levels of synchronized activity during one or both directions of air-jet movement. The probability of detecting correlated activity varied according to the distance separating the neurons. Whereas synchronized responses were observed in 82.3% of the pairs in which the neurons were separated by 200-300 micro m, the incidence of synchronization declined to 52.3% for neurons that were separated by 600-800 micro m. The distance between neurons also had a significant effect on the temporal precision of correlated activity. For neurons that were separated by 200-300 micro m, synchronized responses in the cross-correlograms (CCGs) were characterized by narrow (0.5-1.0 ms) peaks at time zero. For SII neurons that were more widely separated, the peak half-widths were substantially broader and more likely to be displaced from time zero. Analysis of directional sensitivity indicated that only 14.2% of the correlated neurons displayed a directional preference for synchronized activity. By comparison, 63.4% of the neurons displayed a directional preference in their discharge rate. These results indicate that stimulus-induced synchronization is a prominent feature among local populations of SII neurons, but synchronization does not appear to play a critical role in coding the direction of stimulus movement. A comparison of these results with those obtained from similar experiments conducted in primary somatosensory (SI) cortex indicates that neuronal synchronization is more likely in SII cortex. This finding is discussed with respect to the known functional differences between the SI and SII cortical areas.

Effects of temporary deafferentation on raccoon post-synaptic dorsal column neurons.

The effects of temporary deafferentation were studied in 54 post-synaptic dorsal column (PSDC) neurons in the cervical spinal cord of the raccoon. Deafferentation was induced by the injection of lidocaine into the base of the digit containing the receptive field of the neuron. These neurons all had receptive fields on a single digit of the forepaw and in no case did a new receptive field appear following lidocaine injection. High intensity electrical stimulation of an off-focus digit (adjacent to the one with the receptive field) produced responses in 92% of the neurons prior to lidocaine injection. The strength of these off-focus responses was not increased by deafferentation of the on-focus digit, as might be expected if they were being suppressed by the major input; rather it was decreased. These results argue against a convergence of multi-digit inputs onto these PSDC neurons that is masked under normal circumstances. As previously described for neurons in the cuneate nucleus, deafferentation produced a significant decrease in the spontaneous activity of PSDC neurons, indicating that they receive a tonic excitatory input from the periphery. The importance of these results in understanding the starting point for injury-induced reorganization is discussed.