Measurement of protein concentration in bacteria and small organelles under a light transmission microscope.

Protein concentration (PC) is an essential characteristic of cells and organelles; it determines the extent of macromolecular crowding effects and serves as a sensitive indicator of cellular health. A simple and direct way to quantify PC is provided by brightfield-based transport-of-intensity equation (TIE) imaging combined with volume measurements. However, since TIE is based on geometric optics, its applicability to micrometer-sized particles is not clear. Here, we show that TIE can be used on particles with sizes comparable to the wavelength. At the same time, we introduce a new ImageJ plugin that allows TIE image processing without resorting to advanced mathematical programs. To convert TIE data to PC, knowledge of particle volumes is essential. The volumes of bacteria or other isolated particles can be measured by displacement of an external absorbing dye ("transmission-through-dye" or TTD microscopy), and for spherical intracellular particles, volumes can be estimated from their diameters. We illustrate the use of TIE on Escherichia coli, mammalian nucleoli, and nucleolar fibrillar centers. The method is easy to use and achieves high spatial resolution.

[Research progress on pyroptosis in liver diseases].

Pyroptosis is a newly discovered kind of cell death modality that, due to its association with innate immunity, plays a crucial role in cytolysis and inflammatory cytokine release during host defense against infection. In recent years, studies have shown that pyroptosis plays an important role in the occurrence and development of liver diseases. This article introduces and elaborates on the most recent research progress on pyroptosis in liver diseases based on the morphological features, molecular and pathophysiological mechanisms.

THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT, NEUTROPHIL-TO-LYMPHOCYTE RATIO, AND MONOCYTE-TO-LYMPHOCYTE RATIO IN GESTATIONAL DIABETES MELLITUS.

Background: To investigate the association between inflammatory factors, such as complete blood count (CBC) components, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods: A total of 635 pregnant women with GDM and 296 with normal pregnancies at 7-13 weeks of gestation who underwent prenatal examinations in the obstetrics department were enrolled (June 2020-December 2020). CBC parameters, including WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte (LYM), monocyte (MON), red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), platelet (PLT), platelet accumulation (PCT), mean platelet volume (MPV), NLR, MLR, PLR, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and other parameters were assessed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the screening effects of the variables on the development of GDM. Results: There were significant differences in the blood levels of WBC, NEU, LYM, MON, RBC, HGB, PCT, ALT, AST, GGT, NLR, and MLR between the GDM and control groups (P<0.05). The diagnostic level of MON was the highest among all factors. Conclusion: Inflammatory factors (WBC, NEU, LYM, MON, NLR, and MLR counts) were correlated with GDM.