Panorama of boron nitride nanostructures via lamp ablation

A diverse range of remarkable boron nitride (BN) nanostructures subsuming nano-horns, nano-rods, nano-platelets, and clusters of hollow nanospheres (nano-onions, arguably of greatest applied and fundamental interest) have been produced exclusively from crystalline BN precursor powder via lamp ablation. The procedure is safe, devoid of toxic reagents, simple, rapid and scalable—generating some genres of nanoparticles that had previously proved elusive. Product structure and composition were unambiguously assessed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy.

     

Peripheral Nerve Regeneration and Muscle Reinnervation

Injured peripheral nerves but not central nerves have the capacity to regenerate and reinnervate their target organs. After the two most severe peripheral nerve injuries of six types, crush and transection injuries, nerve fibers distal to the injury site undergo Wallerian degeneration. The denervated Schwann cells (SCs) proliferate, elongate and line the endoneurial tubes to guide and support regenerating axons. The axons emerge from the stump of the viable nerve attached to the neuronal soma. The SCs downregulate myelin-associated genes and concurrently, upregulate growth-associated genes that include neurotrophic factors as do the injured neurons. However, the gene expression is transient and progressively fails to support axon regeneration within the SC-containing endoneurial tubes. Moreover, despite some preference of regenerating motor and sensory axons to “find” their appropriate pathways, the axons fail to enter their original endoneurial tubes and to reinnervate original target organs, obstacles to functional recovery that confront nerve surgeons. Several surgical manipulations in clinical use, including nerve and tendon transfers, the potential for brief low-frequency electrical stimulation proximal to nerve repair, and local FK506 application to accelerate axon outgrowth, are encouraging as is the continuing research to elucidate the molecular basis of nerve regeneration.     

Allosteric p97 Inhibitors Can Overcome Resistance to ATP-Competitive p97 Inhibitors for Potential Anticancer Therapy

Abstract : A major challenge of targeted cancer therapy is the selection for drug-resistant mutations in tumor cells leading to loss of treatment effectiveness. p97/VCP is central regulator of protein homeostasis and a promising anticancer target because of its vital role in cell growth and survival. One ATP-competitive p97 inhibitor, CB-5083, has entered clinical trials. Selective pressure on HCT116 cells dosed with CB-5083 identified five different resistant mutants. Identification of p97 inhibitors with different mechanisms of action would offer the potential to overcome this class of resistance mutations. Our results demonstrate that two CB-5083 resistant p97 mutants, N660 K and T688 A, were also resistant to several other ATP-competitive p97 inhibitors, whereas inhibition by two allosteric p97 inhibitors NMS-873 and UPCDC-30245 were unaffected by these mutations. We also established a CB-5083 resistant cell line that harbors a new p97 double mutation (D649 A/T688 A). While CB-5083, NMS-873, and UPCDC-30245 all effectively inhibited proliferation of the parental HCT116 cell line, NMS-873 and UPCDC-30245 were 30-fold more potent in inhibiting the CB-5083 resistant D649 A/T688 A double mutant than CB-5083. Our results suggest that allosteric p97 inhibitors are promising alternatives when resistance to ATP-competitive p97 inhibitors arises during anticancer treatment.     

Evaluating low-cost spectrometer designs for utility in reflectance and transmittance applications

Recent advances in low-cost microprocessors and sensors have allowed for the development of low-cost spectrometers for public experimentation and education outreach. In the context of the present paper and other recent research, low-cost spectrometers are important remote sensing instruments for numerous applications in citizen science and education. We built five spectrometer designs then tested them for absorption using concentrations of fluids and reflectance using colour swatches and minerals found on Mars as well as other materials possessing a high near infra-red (NIR) reflectance. These results were then compared with a laboratory grade spectrometer. We found that while all spectrometers produced meaningful results during the fluid concentration tests, there were considerable differences in accuracies between home-made instruments during the reflectance testing. Two spectrometer designs were identified that produced useful results for a range of low-cost scientific applications.