Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Oral Dysplasia In The High-Wavenumber Region, Hugh Byrne, Luis Felipe Carvalho, Fiona Lyng, Franck Bonnier

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Raman spectroscopy can provide a molecular-level signature of the biochemical composition and structure of cells with excellent spatial resolution and could be useful to monitor changes in composition for early stage and non-invasive cancer diagnosis, both ex-vivo and in vivo. In particular, the fingerprint spectral region (400–1,800 cm^-1) has been shown to be very promising for optical biopsy purposes. However, limitations to discrimination of dysplastic and inflammatory processes based on the fingerprint region still persist. In addition, the Raman spectral signal of dysplastic cells is one important source of misdiagnosis of normal versus pathological tissues. The high wavenumber …

Investigating The Role Of Shape On The Biological Impact Of Gold Nanoparticles In Vitro, Furong Tian, Hugh Byrne, Joao Conde, Tobias Stoeger, Martin Clift,, Alan Casey, Pablo Del Pino, Beatriz Pelaz, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,, Giovani Estrada, Jesús De La Fuente

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Aim: To investigate the influence of gold nanoparticle (GNP) geometry on the biochemical response of Calu-3 epithelial cells.

Materials and Methods: Spherical, triangular and hexagonal GNPs were used. The GNP-cell interaction was assessed via atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The biochemical impact of GNPs was determined over 72hrs at [0.0001-1mg/mL].

Results: At 1mg/mL, hexagonal GNPs reduced Calu-3 viability below 60%, showed increased reactive oxygen species production and higher expression of pro-apoptotic markers. A cell mass burden of 1:2:12 as well as number of GNPs per cell (2:1:3) was observed for spherical:triangular:hexagonal GNPs.

Conclusion:

These findings do …

Raman Spectroscopy For Screening And Diagnosis Of Cervical Cancer, Fiona Lyng, Damien Traynor, Ines Rm Ramos, Franck Bonnier, Hugh Byrne

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Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide and mainly affects younger women. The mortality associated with cervical cancer can be reduced if this disease is detected at the pre-cancer stage. Current gold standard methods include cytopathology, HPV testing and histopathology but these methods are limited in terms of subjectivity, cost and time. There is an unmet clinical need for new methods to aid clinicians in the early detection of cervical pre-cancer. These methods should be objective, rapid and require minimal sample preparation. Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique by which incident radiation is used to …

Incorporation Of Fibrin Into A Collagen–Glycosaminoglycan Matrix Results In A Scaffold With Improved Mechanical Properties And Enhanced Capacity To Resist Cell-Mediated Contraction, Claire Brougham, Tanya J. Levingstone, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas C. Flanagan, Fergal J. O'Brien

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Fibrin has many uses as a tissue engineering scaffold, however many in vivo studies have shown a reduction in function resulting from the susceptibility of fibrin to cell-mediated contraction. The overall aim of the present study was to develop and characterise a reinforced natural scaffold using fibrin, collagen and glycosaminoglycan (FCG), and to examine the cell-mediated contraction of this scaffold in comparison to fibrin gels. Through the use of an injection loading technique, a homogenous FCG scaffold was developed. Mechanical testing showed a sixfold increase in compressive modulus and a thirtyfold increase in tensile modulus of fibrin when reinforced with …

Identification Of Key Proteins In Human Epithelial Cells Responding To Bystander Signals From Irradiated Trout Skin, Hayley Furlong, Richard Smith, Jiaxi Wang, Colin Seymour, Carmel Mothersill, Orla L. Howe

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Radiation-induced bystander signaling has been found to occur in live rainbow trout fish (Oncorhynchus mykiss). This article reports identification of key proteomic changes in a bystander reporter cell line (HaCaT) grown in low-dose irradiated tissue-conditioned media (ITCM) from rainbow trout fish. In vitro explant cultures were generated from the skin of fish previously exposed to low doses (0.1 and 0.5 Gy) of X-ray radiation in vivo. The ITCM was harvested from all donor explant cultures and placed on recipient HaCaT cells to observe any change in protein expression caused by the bystander signals. Proteomic methods using 2-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis …

Raman Micro-Spectroscopy For Rapid Screening Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Luis Felipe Carvalho, Franck Bonnier, Kate O'Callaghan, Jeff O'Sullivan, Stephen Flint, Hugh Byrne, Fiona Lyng

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Raman spectroscopy can provide a molecular-level fingerprint of the biochemical composition and structure of cells with excellent spatial resolution and could be useful to monitor changes in composition for dysplasia and early, non-invasive cancer diagnosis (carcinoma in situ), both ex-vivo and in vivo. In this study, we demonstrate this potential by collecting Raman spectra of nucleoli, nuclei and cytoplasm from oral epithelial cancer (SCC- 4) and dysplastic (pre-cancerous, DOK) cell lines and from normal oral epithelial primary cell cultures, in vitro, which were then analysed by principal component analysis (PCA) as a multivariate statistical method to discriminate the spectra. Results …

Current Advances In The Application Of Raman Spectroscopy For Molecular Diagnosis Of Cervical Cancer, Ines Martins Ramos, Alison Malkin, Fiona Lyng

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Raman spectroscopy provides a unique biochemical fingerprint capable of identifying and characterizing the structure of molecules, cells and tissues. In cervical cancer, it is acknowledged as a promising biochemical tool due to its ability to detect pre-malignancy and early malignancy stages. This review summarizes the key research in the area and the evidence compiled is very encouraging for ongoing and further research. In addition to the diagnostic potential, promising results for HPV detection and monitoring treatment response suggest more than just a diagnosis prospective. A greater body of evidence is however necessary before Raman spectroscopy is fully validated for clinical …

Self-Cleaning Applications Of Tio2 By Photo-Induced Hydrophilicity And Photocatalysis, Swagata Banerjee, Dionysios Dionysiou, Suresh Pillai

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Self-cleaning materials have gained considerable attention for both their unique properties and practical applications in energy and environmental areas. Recent examples of many TiO2-derived materials have been illustrated to understand the fundamental principles of self-cleaning hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces. Various models including those proposed by Wenzel, Cassie-Baxter and Miwa-Hashimoto are discussed to explain the mechanism of self-cleaning. Examples of semiconductor surfaces exhibiting the simultaneous occurrence of superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic domains on the same surface are illustrated, which can have various advanced applications in microfluidics, printing, photovoltaic, biomedical devices, anti-bacterial surfaces and water purification.

Several strategies to improve the efficiency of …

Regional-Scale Simulations Of Fungal Spore Aerosols Using An Emission Parameterization Adapted To Local Measurements Of Fluorescent Biological Aerosol Particles, M. Hummell, C. Hoose, M. Gallagher, D. A. Healy, J. A. Huffmann, David O'Connor, U. Poschl, C. Pohlker, N. H. Robinson, M. Schnaiter, J. R. Sodeau, M. Stengel, E. Toprak, H. Vogel

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Fungal spores as a prominent type of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) have been incorporated into the COSMO-ART (Consortium for Small-scale Modelling- Aerosols and Reactive Trace gases) regional atmospheric model. Two literature-based emission rates for fungal spores derived from fungal spore colony counts and chemical tracer measurements were used as a parameterization baseline for this study. A third, new emission parameterization for fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAP) was adapted to field measurements from four locations across Europe. FBAP concentrations can be regarded as a lower estimate of total PBAP concentrations. Size distributions of FBAP often show a distinct mode at …