Lipid raft-associated stomatin enhances cell fusion.

Membrane fusions that occur during vesicle transport, virus infection, and tissue development, involve receptors that mediate membrane contact and initiate fusion and effectors that execute membrane reorganization and fusion pore formation. Some of these fusogenic receptors/effectors are preferentially recruited to lipid raft membrane microdomains. Therefore, major constituents of lipid rafts, such as stomatin, may be involved in the regulation of cell-cell fusion. Stomatin produced in cells can be released to the extracellular environment, either through protein refolding to pass across lipid bilayer or through exosome trafficking. We report that cells expressing more stomatin or exposed to exogenous stomatin are more prone to undergoing cell fusion. During osteoclastogenesis, depletion of stomatin inhibited cell fusion but had little effect on tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase production. Moreover, in stomatin transgenic mice, increased cell fusion leading to enhanced bone resorption and subsequent osteoporosis were observed. With its unique molecular topology, stomatin forms molecular assembly within lipid rafts or on the appositional plasma membranes, and promotes membrane fusion by modulating fusogenic protein engagement.-Lee, J.-H., Hsieh, C.-F., Liu, H.-W., Chen, C.-Y., Wu, S.-C., Chen, T.-W., Hsu, C.-S., Liao, Y.-H., Yang, C.-Y., Shyu, J.-F., Fischer, W. B., Lin, C.-H. Lipid raft-associated stomatin enhances cell fusion.

Patient-reported motor chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy impacts function in advanced colorectal cancer survivors receiving chemotherapy: A cross-sectional study.

AIMS: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy limits cancer survivors' compliance with chemotherapy and impaired function. This study aimed to examine separate impacts of clinician-assessed, patient-reported sensory and motor chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy on physical/role function and functional interference in advanced colorectal cancer survivors receiving chemotherapy. METHODS: A cross-sectional, correlational design utilizing convenience sampling enrolled 75 stage III or IV colorectal cancer adults undergoing chemotherapy. Participants filled out the Patient Neurotoxicity Questionnaire, Identification Pain Questionnaire, and Peripheral Neuropathy Scale. Then, a trained research nurse conducted a brief neurological assessment using the Total Neuropathy Scale - clinical version. RESULTS: The prevalence of sensory and motor chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy was from 34.7% to 54.7% and from 16.0% to 17.3%, respectively. Further, 20% of participants suffered from neuropathic pain. A low correlation between clinician-assessed and patient-reported chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy was detected. The function was significantly impacted by patient-reported motor chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. CONCLUSIONS: This study was superior in utilizing the brief and valid patient-reported and clinician-assessed tools to measure sensory and motor chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Moreover, the identification of patient-reported motor symptoms has the largest influence on function in advanced colorectal cancer survivors. Nurses may use the brief and easily administered tools in clinical settings for effective screening and early detection of motor and sensory chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy to prevent functional decline in advanced colorectal cancer survivors. However, this study was still limited because of the cross-sectional design, small sample size, sample heterogeneity, and recruiting participants from only one medical center.

PLGA/Gelatin/Hyaluronic Acid Fibrous Membrane Scaffold for Therapeutic Delivery of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells to Promote Wound Healing.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been suggested to be a preferential material for the delivery of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) in wound healing. By incorporating HA in electrospun poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)/gelatin (PG) fibrous membrane scaffolds (FMS), we aim to fabricate PLGA/gelatin/HA (PGH) FMS to provide a milieu for 3D culture and delivery of ASCs. The prepared FMS shows adequate cytocompatibility and is suitable for attachment and growth of ASCs. Compared with PG, the PGH offers an enhanced proliferation rate of ASCs, shows higher cell viability, and better maintains an ASC-like phenotype during in vitro cell culture. The ASCs in PGH also show upregulated expression of genes associated with angiogenesis and wound healing. From a rat full-thickness wound healing model, a wound treated with PGH/ASCs can accelerate the wound closure rate compared with wounds treated with PGH, alginate wound dressing, and gauze. From H&E and Masson's trichrome staining, the PGH/ASC treatment can promote wound healing by increasing the epithelialization rate and forming well-organized dermis. This is supported by immunohistochemical staining of macrophages and α-smooth muscle actin, where early recruitment of macrophages, macrophage polarization, and angiogenesis was found due to the delivered ASCs. The content of type III collagen is also higher than type I collagen within the newly formed skin tissue, implying scarless wound healing. Taken together, using PGH FMS as a topical wound dressing material for the therapeutic delivery of ASCs, a wound treated with PGH/ASCs was shown to accelerate wound healing significantly in rats, through modulating immunoreaction, promoting angiogenesis, and reducing scar formation at the wound sites.

Fabrication of Graphene/Zinc Oxide Nano-Heterostructure for Hydrogen Sensing.

In this study, hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) were used as reactive gases, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was used to grow single-layer graphene on a copper foil substrate. The single-layer graphene obtained was transferred to a single-crystal silicon substrate by PMMA transfer technology for the subsequent growth of nano zinc oxide. The characteristics of CVD-deposited graphene were analyzed by a Raman spectrometer, an optical microscope, a four-point probe, and an ultraviolet/visible spectrometer. The sol-gel method was applied to prepare the zinc oxide seed layer film with the spin-coating method, with methanol, zinc acetate, and sodium hydroxide as the precursors for growing ZnO nanostructures. On top of the ZnO seed layer, a one-dimensional zinc oxide nanostructure was grown by a hydrothermal method at 95 °C, using a zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine mixture solution. The characteristics of the nano zinc oxide were analyzed by scanning electron microscope(SEM),x-ray diffractometer(XRD), and Raman spectrometer. The obtained graphene/zinc oxide nano-heterostructure sensor has a sensitivity of 1.06 at a sensing temperature of 205 °C and a concentration of hydrogen as low as 5 ppm, with excellent sensing repeatability. The main reason for this is that the zinc oxide nanostructure has a large specific surface area, and many oxygen vacancy defects exist on its surface. In addition, the P-N heterojunction formed between the n-type zinc oxide and the p-type graphene also contributes to hydrogen sensing.

Peripheral Neuropathy: Comparison of Symptoms and Severity Between Colorectal Cancer Survivors and Patients With Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a common symptom in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors and patients with diabetes. However, the differences in PN symptoms between CRC survivors and patients with diabetes are not clear. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in PN between CRC survivors and patients with diabetes. METHODS: Secondary data were analyzed from two cross-sectional studies consisting of 81 CRC survivors and 86 patients with diabetes from two hospitals in northern and central Taiwan. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of covariance, and multiple logistic regression. FINDINGS: Significant differences in severity and prevalence of PN and neuropathic pain between CRC survivors and patients with diabetes were found. Patients with diabetes had significantly more severe PN and sensory PN compared to CRC survivors. In addition, the prevalence of PN and neuropathic pain was significantly higher in CRC survivors compared to patients with diabetes after control of covariates.

Stepped changes of monovalent ligand-binding force during ligand-induced clustering of integrin alphaIIB beta3.

Recent evidence demonstrated that conformational changes of the integrin during receptor activation affected its binding to extracellular matrix; however, experimental assessment of ligand-receptor binding following the initial molecular interaction has rarely been carried out at a single-molecule resolution. In the present study, laser tweezers were used to measure the binding force exerted by a live Chinese hamster ovary cell that expressed integrin alphaIIb beta3 (CHO alphaIIb beta3), to the bead carrier coated with the snake venom rhodostomin that served as an activated ligand for integrin alphaIIb beta3. A progressive increase of total binding force over time was noticed when the bead interacted with the CHO alphaIIb beta3 cell; such an increase was due mainly to the recruitment of more integrin molecules to the bead-cell interface. When the binding strength exerted by a single ligand-receptor pair was derived from the "polyvalent" measurements, surprisingly, a stepped decrease of the "monovalent binding force" was noted (from 4.15 to 2.54 piconewtons (pN)); such decrease appeared to occur during the ligand-induced integrin clustering process. On the other hand, the mutant rhodostomin defective in clustering integrins exhibited only one (1.81 pN) unit binding strength.

Optimization of high-performance blue organic light-emitting diodes containing tetraphenylsilane molecular glass materials.

Molecular glass material (4-(5-(4-(diphenylamino)phenyl)-2-oxadiazolyl)phenyl)triphenylsilane (Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD)) was used as the blue light-emitting material in the fabrication of high-performance organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In the optimization of performance, five types of OLEDs were constructed from Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD): device I, ITO/NPB/Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD)/Alq(3)/Mg:Ag, where NPB and Alq(3) are 1,4-bis(1-naphylphenylamino)biphenyl and tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum, respectively; device II, ITO/NPB/Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD)/TPBI/Mg:Ag, where TPBI is 1,3,5-tris(N-phenylbenzimidazol-2-yl)benzene; device III, ITO/Ph(2)Si(Ph(NPA)(2))(2)/Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD)/TPBI/Mg:Ag, where Ph(2)Si(Ph(NPA)(2))(2) is bis(3,5-bis(1-naphylphenylamino)phenyl)-diphenylsilane, a newly synthesized tetraphenylsilane-containing triarylamine as hole-transporting material; device IV, ITO/Ph(2)Si(Ph(NPA)(2))(2)/NPB/Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD)/TPBI/Mg:Ag; device V, ITO/CuPc/NPB /Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD)/Alq(3)/LiF/Al, where CuPc is Cu(II) phthalocyanine. Device performances, including blue color purity, electroluminescence (EL) intensity, current density, and efficiency, vary drastically by changing the device thickness (100-600 A of the light-emitting layer) and materials for hole-transporting layer (NPB and/or Ph(2)Si(Ph(NPA)(2))(2)) or electron-transporting material (Alq(3) or TPBI). One of the superior OLEDs is device IV, showing maximum EL near 19 000 cd/m(2) with relatively low current density of 674 mA/cm(2) (or near 3000 cd/m(2) at 100 mA/cm(2)) and high external quantum efficiency of 2.4% (1.1 lm/W or 3.1 cd/A). The device possesses good blue color purity with EL emission maximum (lambda(max)(EL)) at 460 nm, corresponding to (0.16, 0.18) of blue color chromaticity on CIE coordinates. In addition, the device is reasonably stable and sustains heating over 100 degrees C with no loss of luminance on the basis of the annealing data for device V. Formation of the exciplex at the interface of NPB and Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD) layers is verified by EL and photoluminescence (PL) spectra studies on the devices with a combination of different charge transporting materials. The EL due to the exciplex (lambda(max)(EL) at 490-510 nm) can be properly avoided by using a 200 A layer of Ph(3)Si(PhTPAOXD) in device I, which limits the charge-recombination zone away from the interface area.