Extracellular water

Natural photosynthesis holds great potential to generate clean electricity from solar energy. In order to utilize this process for power generation, it is necessary to rewire photosynthetic electron transport chains (PETCs) of living photosynthetic organisms to redirect more electron flux toward an extracellular electrode. In this study, a semi-artificial rewiring strategy, which use a water-soluble fullerene derivative to capture electrons from PETCs and donate them for electrical current generation, is proposed...

Experimental evolution was carried out to investigate the adaptive responses of extremotolerant fungi to a stressful environment. For 12 cultivation cycles, the halotolerant black yeasts Aureobasidium pullulans and Aureobasidium subglaciale were grown at high NaCl or glycerol concentrations, and the halophilic basidiomycete Wallemia ichthyophaga was grown close to its lower NaCl growth limit. All evolved Aureobasidium spp. accelerated their growth at low water activity. Whole genomes of the evolved strains were sequenced...

PURPOSE: The study aimed to analyze whether adding Cissus quadrangularis (CQ) extract and the extracellular matrix of ovine tendon (TENDON) increases the regenerative potential of mesenchymal stem cells produced in hyaluronic acid (HA) scaffolds for tenogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty grams of powdered CQ was mixed with 250 mL of ethanol to prepare the extract. Two grams of hyaluronic acid powder was added to 100 mL of distilled water to make the HA solution...

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play significant roles in the formation, function, and interactions of microalgal-bacteria consortia. Understanding the key roles of EPS depends on reliable extraction and quantification methods, but differentiating of EPS from microalgae versus bacteria is challenging. In this work, cation exchange resin (CER) and thermal treatments were applied for total EPS extraction from microalgal-bacteria mixed culture (MBMC), flow cytometry combined with SYTOX Green staining was applied to evaluate cell disruption during EPS extraction, and auto-fluorescence-based cell sorting (AFCS) was used to separate microalgae and bacteria in the MBMC...

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms have increased globally, releasing hazardous cyanotoxins that threaten the safety of water resources. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a nature-based and low-cost solution to purify and remove cyanotoxins from water. However, bio-mechanistic understanding of the biotransformation processes expected to drive cyanotoxin removal in such systems is poor, and primarily focused on bacteria. Thus, the present study aimed at exploring the fungal contribution to microcystin-LR and cylindrospermopsin biodegradation in CWs...

Large bone defects, often resulting from trauma and disease, present significant clinical challenges. Electrospun fibrous scaffolds closely resembling the morphology and structure of natural ECM are highly interested in bone tissue engineering. However, the traditional electrospun fibrous scaffold has some limitations, including lacking interconnected macropores and behaving as a 2D scaffold. To address these challenges, a sponge-like electrospun poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA)/polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous scaffold has been developed by an innovative and convenient method (i...

The complex composition of coal chemical wastewater (CCW), marked by numerous highly toxic aromatic compounds, induces the destabilization of the biochemical treatment system, leading to suboptimal treatment efficacy. In this study, a biochemical treatment system was established to efficiently degrade aromatic compounds by quantitatively regulating the dosage of co-metabolized substrates (specifically, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) Glucose : COD Sodium acetate = 3:1, 1:3, and 1:1). The findings demonstrated that the system achieved optimal performance under the condition that the ratio of COD Glucose to COD Sodium acetate was 3:1...

Periodontitis is a common condition characterized by a bacterial infection and the disruption of the body's immune-inflammatory response, which causes damage to the teeth and supporting tissues and eventually results in tooth loss. Current therapy involves the systemic and local administration of antibiotics. However, the existing treatments cannot exert effective, sustained release and maintain an effective therapeutic concentration of the drug at the lesion site. Hydrogels are used to treat periodontitis due to their low cytotoxicity, exceptional water retention capability, and controlled drug release profile...

BACKGROUND: Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) plays an important role in cell metabolism and has been regarded as an indicator of cell survival and damage. Golgi apparatus participates in the signal transduction processes of substance transport, ion homeostasis and stress when extracellular substances enter cells. Till now, there is no fluorescent probe for monitoring Golgi ATP level fluctuation and visualizing the configuration change of the Golgi apparatus during the inhibition of glycolysis...

Changes in structure and dynamics elicited by agonist ligand binding at the extracellular side of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) must be relayed to the cytoplasmic G protein binding side of the receptors. To decipher the role of water-mediated hydrogen-bond networks in this relay mechanism, we have developed graph-based algorithms and analysis methodologies applicable to datasets of static structures of distinct GPCRs. For a reference dataset of static structures of bovine rhodopsin solved at the same resolution, we show that graph analyses capture the internal protein-water hydrogen-bond network...

Ovarian cancer can metastasize to the omentum, which is associated with a complex tumor microenvironment. Omental stromal cells facilitate ovarian cancer colonization by secreting cytokines and growth factors. Improved understanding of the tumor supportive functions of specific cell populations in the omentum could identify strategies to prevent and treat ovarian cancer metastasis. Here, we showed that omental preadipocytes enhance the tumor initiation capacity of ovarian cancer cells. Secreted factors from preadipocytes supported cancer cell viability during nutrient and isolation stress and enabled prolonged proliferation...

Mounting evidence suggests that cell populations are extremely heterogeneous, with individual cells fulfilling different roles within the population. Flow cytometry (FC) is a high-throughput tool for single-cell analysis that works at high optical resolution. Sub-populations with unique properties can be screened, isolated and sorted through fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), using intracellular fluorescent products or surface-tagged fluorescent products of interest. However, traditional FC and FACS methods cannot identify or isolate cells that secrete extracellular products of interest...

Increasing occurrences of Microcystis surface scum have been observed in the context of global climate change and the increase in anthropogenic pollution, causing deteriorating water quality in aquatic ecosystems. Previous studies on scum formation mainly focus on the buoyancy-driven floating process of larger Microcystis colonies, neglecting other potential mechanisms. To study the non-buoyancy-driven rapid flotation of Microcystis , we here investigate the floating processes of two strains of single-cell species ( Microcystis aeruginosa and Microcystis wesenbergii ), which are typically buoyant, under light conditions (150 μmol photons s-1 m-2 )...

The neuronal differences contributing to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still not well defined. Previous studies have suggested that myelin and axons are disrupted during development in ASD. By combining structural and diffusion MRI techniques, myelin and axons can be assessed using extracellular water, aggregate g-ratio, and a new approach to calculating axonal conduction velocity termed aggregate conduction velocity, which is related to the capacity of the axon to carry information. In this study, several innovative cellular microstructural methods, as measured from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are combined to characterize differences between ASD and typically developing adolescent participants in a large cohort...

The complex and dynamic compositions of biofilms, along with their sophisticated structural assembly mechanisms, endow them with exceptional capabilities to thrive in diverse conditions that are typically unfavorable for individual cells. Characterizing biofilms in their native state is significantly challenging due to their intrinsic complexities and the limited availability of noninvasive techniques. Here, we utilized solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to analyze Bacillus subtilis biofilms in-depth...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm is a community of bacteria that adhere to live or non-living surfaces and are encapsulated by an extracellular polymeric substance. Unlike individual planktonic cells, biofilms possess a notable inherent resistance to sanitizers and antibiotics. Overcoming this resistance is a substantial barrier in the medical and food industries. Hence, while antibiotics are ineffective in eradicating P. aeruginosa biofilm, scientists have explored alternate strategies, including the utilization of natural compounds as a novel treatment option...

The cost-effective and environment-friendly sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification (SdAD) process has drawn significant attention for advanced nitrogen removal from low carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio wastewater in recent years. However, achieving efficient nitrogen removal and maintaining system stability of SdAD process in treating low C/N landfill leachate treatment have been a major challenge. In this study, a novel electrochemical-coupled sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification (ESdAD) system was developed and compared with SdAD system through a long-term continuous study...

UNLABELLED: Dye-decolorizing peroxidases are heme peroxidases with a broad range of substrate specificity. Their physiological function is still largely unknown, but a role in the depolymerization of plant cell wall polymers has been widely proposed. Here, a new expression system for bacterial dye-decolorizing peroxidases as well as the activity with previously unexplored plant molecules are reported. The dye-decolorizing peroxidase from Amycolatopsis 75iv2 (DyP2) was heterologously produced in the Gram-positive bacterium Streptomyces lividans TK24 in both intracellular and extracellular forms without external heme supplementation...

Adsorption of biomacromolecules onto polymer surfaces, including microplastics (MPs), occurs in multiple environmental compartments, forming an ecocorona. Environmental DNA (eDNA), genetic material shed from organisms, can adsorb onto MPs which can potentially either (1) promote long-range transport of antibiotic resistant genes or (2) serve to gain insights into the transport pathways and origins of MPs by analyzing DNA sequences on MPs. However, little is known about the capacity of MPs to adsorb eDNA or the factors that influence sorption, such as polymer and water chemistries...

The environmental dissemination of extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (eARGs) in wastewater and natural water bodies has aroused growing ecological concerns. The coexisting chemical pollutants in water are known to markedly affect the eARGs transfer behaviors of the environmental microbial community, but the detailed interactions and specific impacts remain elusive so far. Here, we revealed a concentration-dependent impact of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and several other types of phthalate esters (common water pollutants released from plastics) on the natural transformation of eARGs...