Mathematical modelling and simulation in biophysics and its applications in terms of both theoretical and biological/physical/ecological point of view arise in a number of research problems ranging from physical and chemical processes to biomathematics and life science. As known, the modeling of a biophysical system requires the analysis of the different interactions occurring among the different components of the system. This editorial article deals with the topic of this special issue, which is devoted to the new developments in the modelling and simulation in biophysical applications with special attention to the interplay between different scholars.
{"title":"Importance of modelling and simulation in biophysical applications","authors":"Mehmet Yavuz, F. Usta","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2023017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2023017","url":null,"abstract":"Mathematical modelling and simulation in biophysics and its applications in terms of both theoretical and biological/physical/ecological point of view arise in a number of research problems ranging from physical and chemical processes to biomathematics and life science. As known, the modeling of a biophysical system requires the analysis of the different interactions occurring among the different components of the system. This editorial article deals with the topic of this special issue, which is devoted to the new developments in the modelling and simulation in biophysical applications with special attention to the interplay between different scholars.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arsha Moorthy, Alireza Sarvestani, Whitney Massock, Chamaree de Silva
Magnetic tweezers have emerged as a vital force spectroscopy tool for characterizing the mechanical properties of nucleic acids and their interactions with proteins. Harnessing the principles of magnetic theory, magnetic tweezers allow for the precise manipulation of biological compounds at the single-molecule level through the imposition of a magnetic field. This review focuses on the application of magnetic tweezers in the context of DNA studies, with a particular emphasis on the mechanical properties of DNA and its dynamic interactions with proteins and enzymes. These interactions are essential to genomic transactions such as DNA replication, repair, and transcription. Over the last few decades, magnetic tweezer technology has experienced significant advancements, leading to the development of different types of magnetic tweezers. These technological breakthroughs have opened up new avenues of scientific research, including studies related to DNA elasticity, supercoiling, replication, and repair.
{"title":"Twisting and extension: Application of magnetic tweezers to DNA studies","authors":"Arsha Moorthy, Alireza Sarvestani, Whitney Massock, Chamaree de Silva","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2023020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2023020","url":null,"abstract":"<abstract> <p>Magnetic tweezers have emerged as a vital force spectroscopy tool for characterizing the mechanical properties of nucleic acids and their interactions with proteins. Harnessing the principles of magnetic theory, magnetic tweezers allow for the precise manipulation of biological compounds at the single-molecule level through the imposition of a magnetic field. This review focuses on the application of magnetic tweezers in the context of DNA studies, with a particular emphasis on the mechanical properties of DNA and its dynamic interactions with proteins and enzymes. These interactions are essential to genomic transactions such as DNA replication, repair, and transcription. Over the last few decades, magnetic tweezer technology has experienced significant advancements, leading to the development of different types of magnetic tweezers. These technological breakthroughs have opened up new avenues of scientific research, including studies related to DNA elasticity, supercoiling, replication, and repair.</p> </abstract>","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135699563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Computer simulation plays an important role in medical physics. The aim of this study was to generate an accurate model to calculate the absorbed dose at the cell level in a voxelized phantom of nephrons. In order to implement a model of kidney microdosimetry, a 3D mesh phantom of a human kidney nephron, representing a cortical nephron, was digitized to create a 3D voxelized phantom of a nephron for use in Monte Carlo simulations. The phantom was fed to GATE Monte Carlo toolkits, and simulations were performed to calculate the absorbed dose/energy from alpha and electron sources over a range of energy levels. The results were compared to the results published in literature that were derived by using a stylized phantom. The dose estimated in subunits of the voxelized and stylized phantoms showed a considerable bias (average of relative differences). The maximum difference for self-absorption was 12.5%, and up to 20% for cross-absorption. The digital phantom showed very significant differences in dose distribution among the cells in different subunits of the nephron. The results demonstrated that a small dissimilarity in the size and shape of subunits can lead to a considerable difference in the microdosimetry results. The model presented in this study offers a phantom that not only presents the realistic geometry of a nephron, which has been neglected in previous stylized models, but also one that has the capability of plotting the spatial distribution of the absorbed dose for any distribution of radiopharmaceuticals in nephron cells.
{"title":"High-resolution phantom of a nephron for radiation nephrotoxicity evaluation in biophysical simulations","authors":"Masoud Jabbary, H. Rajabi","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2022013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2022013","url":null,"abstract":"Computer simulation plays an important role in medical physics. The aim of this study was to generate an accurate model to calculate the absorbed dose at the cell level in a voxelized phantom of nephrons. In order to implement a model of kidney microdosimetry, a 3D mesh phantom of a human kidney nephron, representing a cortical nephron, was digitized to create a 3D voxelized phantom of a nephron for use in Monte Carlo simulations. The phantom was fed to GATE Monte Carlo toolkits, and simulations were performed to calculate the absorbed dose/energy from alpha and electron sources over a range of energy levels. The results were compared to the results published in literature that were derived by using a stylized phantom. The dose estimated in subunits of the voxelized and stylized phantoms showed a considerable bias (average of relative differences). The maximum difference for self-absorption was 12.5%, and up to 20% for cross-absorption. The digital phantom showed very significant differences in dose distribution among the cells in different subunits of the nephron. The results demonstrated that a small dissimilarity in the size and shape of subunits can lead to a considerable difference in the microdosimetry results. The model presented in this study offers a phantom that not only presents the realistic geometry of a nephron, which has been neglected in previous stylized models, but also one that has the capability of plotting the spatial distribution of the absorbed dose for any distribution of radiopharmaceuticals in nephron cells.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oxidative stress factors are among the most common carcinogens, Superoxide dismutase enzyme-2 (SOD2) is an endogenous antioxidant involved in the scavenging of superoxide anions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the SOD2 gene polymorphism (rs5746136) on SOD activity and biomarker levels in breast cancer patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of SOD2 gene (rs5746136) polymorphisms on SOD activity and biomarkers levels in breast cancer patients. The spectrophotometry methods were used to detect malondialdehyde (MDA) and Catalase (CAT), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), and Glutathione (GSH) levels, which reflect antioxidant capacity, and the genotypes of rs5746136 were detected utilize PCR and RFLP. According to the current findings, the GA genotype of the control group was the most common (70%), followed by GG and AA genotypes (26.7% and 3.3%) respectively. In the patient group, the most common genotype was GG (45.6%), followed by the GA genotype (42.8%) and then the AA genotype (11.4%) The frequency of heterozygous genotype G/A compared to the homozygous genotype (G/G) [OR = 0.3571, 95% CI = 0.1375–0.9277, P = 0.0345]. The AA genotype is significantly associated with an increased risk of developing BC [OR = 2.00, p = 0.5403, CI: 0.2175–18.3883]. No significant differences were found in frequencies of the A allele between patients and control groups [OR = 0.7872, 95% CI = 0.4198–1.4762, P = 0.4558]. In addition, there are modest (P 0.05) relationships between serum biochemical parameters levels and rs5746136 genotype in breast cancer patients, but a substantial association between serum SOD activity and GSH concentration and GA and GG rs5746136 genotype in the control group. In conclusion, the current investigation suggests that the AA genotype of (rs5746136) in the MnSOD gene may be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The chosen SOD2 variants (rs5746136) play a crucial role in controlling the activity of the SOD enzyme.
氧化应激因子是最常见的致癌物之一，超氧化物歧化酶-2 (SOD2)是一种内源性抗氧化剂，参与清除超氧阴离子。本研究旨在探讨SOD2基因多态性(rs5746136)对乳腺癌患者SOD活性及生物标志物水平的影响。本研究旨在探讨SOD2基因(rs5746136)多态性对乳腺癌患者SOD活性及生物标志物水平的影响。采用分光光度法检测反映抗氧化能力的丙二醛(MDA)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和谷胱甘肽(GSH)水平，并采用PCR和RFLP检测rs5746136基因型。根据目前的研究结果，对照组以GA基因型最常见(70%)，其次是GG和AA基因型(26.7%和3.3%)。在患者组中，GG基因型最多(45.6%)，其次是GA基因型(42.8%)，其次是AA基因型(11.4%)。G/A基因型的杂合子频率与纯合子基因型(G/G)的频率比较[OR = 0.3571, 95% CI = 0.1375 ~ 0.9277, P = 0.0345]。AA基因型与发生BC的风险增加显著相关[OR = 2.00, p = 0.5403, CI: 0.2175-18.3883]。A等位基因频率在患者与对照组间无显著差异[OR = 0.7872, 95% CI = 0.4198 ~ 1.4762, P = 0.4558]。此外，乳腺癌患者血清生化指标水平与rs5746136基因型之间存在适度关系(P < 0.05)，而对照组血清SOD活性和GSH浓度与GA和GG rs5746136基因型之间存在显著相关性。综上所述，本研究提示MnSOD基因中(rs5746136)的AA基因型可能与乳腺癌风险增加有关。所选择的SOD2变体(rs5746136)在控制SOD酶的活性方面起着至关重要的作用。
{"title":"Effect of Rs5746136 genotypes on SOD activity and biomarkers levels in breast cancer patients","authors":"H. Abdulabbas, Y. H. Al-Mawlah","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2023001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2023001","url":null,"abstract":"Oxidative stress factors are among the most common carcinogens, Superoxide dismutase enzyme-2 (SOD2) is an endogenous antioxidant involved in the scavenging of superoxide anions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the SOD2 gene polymorphism (rs5746136) on SOD activity and biomarker levels in breast cancer patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of SOD2 gene (rs5746136) polymorphisms on SOD activity and biomarkers levels in breast cancer patients. The spectrophotometry methods were used to detect malondialdehyde (MDA) and Catalase (CAT), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), and Glutathione (GSH) levels, which reflect antioxidant capacity, and the genotypes of rs5746136 were detected utilize PCR and RFLP. According to the current findings, the GA genotype of the control group was the most common (70%), followed by GG and AA genotypes (26.7% and 3.3%) respectively. In the patient group, the most common genotype was GG (45.6%), followed by the GA genotype (42.8%) and then the AA genotype (11.4%) The frequency of heterozygous genotype G/A compared to the homozygous genotype (G/G) [OR = 0.3571, 95% CI = 0.1375–0.9277, P = 0.0345]. The AA genotype is significantly associated with an increased risk of developing BC [OR = 2.00, p = 0.5403, CI: 0.2175–18.3883]. No significant differences were found in frequencies of the A allele between patients and control groups [OR = 0.7872, 95% CI = 0.4198–1.4762, P = 0.4558]. In addition, there are modest (P 0.05) relationships between serum biochemical parameters levels and rs5746136 genotype in breast cancer patients, but a substantial association between serum SOD activity and GSH concentration and GA and GG rs5746136 genotype in the control group. In conclusion, the current investigation suggests that the AA genotype of (rs5746136) in the MnSOD gene may be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The chosen SOD2 variants (rs5746136) play a crucial role in controlling the activity of the SOD enzyme.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The magnetic field can change the polarity characteristics and hydrogen-bond structure of water; therefore, magnetized water can affect plant growth and development. Magnetized water is hexagonal water created by passing water through a specific magnet that can activate and ionize water molecules to change its structure. This review highlights the use of magnetized water in the agricultural sector to enhance plant growth and food productivity. We discussed the impact of magnetized water on seed germination, vegetative growth, fruit production, soil and pigments of treated plants. Plant growth and development can be improved both qualitatively and quantitatively via irrigation with magnetized water. It can promote seed germination, seedling early vegetative development, improvement of the mineral content of fruits and seeds, the enzyme activity of the soil, improved water use efficiency, higher nutrient content, and better transformation and consumption efficiency of nutrients; it can also mitigate soil salinity. Furthermore, magnetized water had a substantial good influence on the mobility and uptake of micronutrient concentrations, as well as promoted better growth criteria, all of which increased biomass and total yield. Also, irrigating plants with magnetized water resulted in a considerable increase in chloroplast pigments (carotenoids, chlorophyll a, and b) and photosynthetic activity. Magnetizing low-quality water (brackish water, saline water or water contaminated with metals) can be considered as an alternative tool to overcome the problem of scarcity and shortage of water resources. As a result, magnetic treatment of irrigation water could be a promising technique to boost agricultural production while also being environmentally beneficial in the future. The major challenge in using magnetized water in agriculture is creating pumps that are compatible with the technical and practical needs of magnetic systems while also effectively integrating irrigation components.
{"title":"Improvement in growth of plants under the effect of magnetized water","authors":"Etimad M. Alattar, Eqbal Radwan, K. Elwasife","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2022029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2022029","url":null,"abstract":"The magnetic field can change the polarity characteristics and hydrogen-bond structure of water; therefore, magnetized water can affect plant growth and development. Magnetized water is hexagonal water created by passing water through a specific magnet that can activate and ionize water molecules to change its structure. This review highlights the use of magnetized water in the agricultural sector to enhance plant growth and food productivity. We discussed the impact of magnetized water on seed germination, vegetative growth, fruit production, soil and pigments of treated plants. Plant growth and development can be improved both qualitatively and quantitatively via irrigation with magnetized water. It can promote seed germination, seedling early vegetative development, improvement of the mineral content of fruits and seeds, the enzyme activity of the soil, improved water use efficiency, higher nutrient content, and better transformation and consumption efficiency of nutrients; it can also mitigate soil salinity. Furthermore, magnetized water had a substantial good influence on the mobility and uptake of micronutrient concentrations, as well as promoted better growth criteria, all of which increased biomass and total yield. Also, irrigating plants with magnetized water resulted in a considerable increase in chloroplast pigments (carotenoids, chlorophyll a, and b) and photosynthetic activity. Magnetizing low-quality water (brackish water, saline water or water contaminated with metals) can be considered as an alternative tool to overcome the problem of scarcity and shortage of water resources. As a result, magnetic treatment of irrigation water could be a promising technique to boost agricultural production while also being environmentally beneficial in the future. The major challenge in using magnetized water in agriculture is creating pumps that are compatible with the technical and practical needs of magnetic systems while also effectively integrating irrigation components.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recently the understanding of complex biological systems has been increased considering the important interplay among different scholars coming from different applied sciences such as mathematics, physics and information sciences. As known, the modeling of a complex system requires the analysis of the different interactions occurring among the different components of the system. Moreover, the analysis of a complex system can be performed at different scales; usually the microscopic, the mesoscopic and the macroscopic scales are the most representation scales. However, a multiscale approach is required. A unified approach that takes into account the different phenomena occurring at each observation scale is the desire of this century. This editorial article deals with the topic of this special issue, which is devoted to the new developments in the multiscale modeling of complex biological systems with special attention to the interplay between different scholars.
{"title":"Interplay and multiscale modeling of complex biological systems","authors":"C. Bianca","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2022005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2022005","url":null,"abstract":"Recently the understanding of complex biological systems has been increased considering the important interplay among different scholars coming from different applied sciences such as mathematics, physics and information sciences. As known, the modeling of a complex system requires the analysis of the different interactions occurring among the different components of the system. Moreover, the analysis of a complex system can be performed at different scales; usually the microscopic, the mesoscopic and the macroscopic scales are the most representation scales. However, a multiscale approach is required. A unified approach that takes into account the different phenomena occurring at each observation scale is the desire of this century. This editorial article deals with the topic of this special issue, which is devoted to the new developments in the multiscale modeling of complex biological systems with special attention to the interplay between different scholars.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70184829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Ginovyan, S. Hovhannisyan, Hayarpi Javrushyan, Gohar Sevoyan, Z. Karabekian, N. Zakaryan, N. Sahakyan, N. Avtandilyan
Compounds of plant origin are considered promising alternative approaches in the development of medicines for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The large diversity of herbal species still requires careful exploration as a source for new anticancer compounds. The goal of the study was to screen different herbal extracts traditionally used in Armenian folk medicine for their cytotoxic effect against some cancer cell lines, and to find the prospective plant species among them. The cytotoxicity of the plant ethanol extracts was evaluated with MTT test against HeLa (human cervical carcinoma) and A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma) cells. Antioxidant properties were assessed with DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Five of the tested ten herbal extracts exhibited significant growth-inhibiting activity on HeLa cells. Moreover, Alchemilla smirnovii and Hypericum alpestre extracts also showed potent cytotoxicity on human lung adenocarcinoma cells. These two plants possessed high antiradical activity as well. Their DPPH stoichiometric values were 0.4234 and 0.14437 respectively, meaning that 1 µg of plant extract brought the reduction of DPPH equal to the respective stoichiometric values in µg. Thus, A. smirnovii and H. alpestre extracts expressed themselves as potent cytotoxic and antioxidant agents and could have promising anticancer potential. Further evaluation of their in vivo anticancer properties has much interest.
{"title":"Screening revealed the strong cytotoxic activity of Alchemilla smirnovii and Hypericum alpestre ethanol extracts on different cancer cell lines","authors":"M. Ginovyan, S. Hovhannisyan, Hayarpi Javrushyan, Gohar Sevoyan, Z. Karabekian, N. Zakaryan, N. Sahakyan, N. Avtandilyan","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2023002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2023002","url":null,"abstract":"Compounds of plant origin are considered promising alternative approaches in the development of medicines for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The large diversity of herbal species still requires careful exploration as a source for new anticancer compounds. The goal of the study was to screen different herbal extracts traditionally used in Armenian folk medicine for their cytotoxic effect against some cancer cell lines, and to find the prospective plant species among them. The cytotoxicity of the plant ethanol extracts was evaluated with MTT test against HeLa (human cervical carcinoma) and A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma) cells. Antioxidant properties were assessed with DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Five of the tested ten herbal extracts exhibited significant growth-inhibiting activity on HeLa cells. Moreover, Alchemilla smirnovii and Hypericum alpestre extracts also showed potent cytotoxicity on human lung adenocarcinoma cells. These two plants possessed high antiradical activity as well. Their DPPH stoichiometric values were 0.4234 and 0.14437 respectively, meaning that 1 µg of plant extract brought the reduction of DPPH equal to the respective stoichiometric values in µg. Thus, A. smirnovii and H. alpestre extracts expressed themselves as potent cytotoxic and antioxidant agents and could have promising anticancer potential. Further evaluation of their in vivo anticancer properties has much interest.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Balaji, Anbazhagan Murugadas, Lauri Paasonen, S. Shanmugaapriya, M. A. Akbarsha
In recent times, homotypic and heterotypic 3D tumor spheroid (HTS) models have been receiving increasing attention and come to be widely employed in preclinical studies. The present study is focused on the generation of homotypic (A549 and MDA-MB-231, separately) and heterotypic (A549 + NIH/3T3; MDA-MB-231 + NIH/3T3) 3D tumor spheroids by using GrowDex® nanofibrillar cellulosic (NFC) hydrogel as the scaffold. Light microscopic observations and F-actin staining confirmed the formation of spheroids. The proliferation efficiency indicated an expansion of cell population and an increase in spheroid size over time. The distribution, interaction pattern and influence of fibroblasts on the epithelial cell types were observed in terms of the size and shape of the HTS against homo-spheroids. An interesting observation was that, with an increase in the size of HTSs, many more fibroblast cells were found to occupy the core region, which, perhaps, was due to the faster growth of tumor cells over normal cells. Thus, normal and tumor cells, especially with origins from two different species, can be cultured together in 3D format, and this can potentially enhance our knowledge of tumor microenvironments and cell-cell interaction. These spheroids could be used to improve microphysiological systems for drug discovery and to better understand the tumor microenvironment.
{"title":"Efficiency of GrowDex® nanofibrillar cellulosic hydrogel when generating homotypic and heterotypic 3D tumor spheroids","authors":"P. Balaji, Anbazhagan Murugadas, Lauri Paasonen, S. Shanmugaapriya, M. A. Akbarsha","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2022019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2022019","url":null,"abstract":"In recent times, homotypic and heterotypic 3D tumor spheroid (HTS) models have been receiving increasing attention and come to be widely employed in preclinical studies. The present study is focused on the generation of homotypic (A549 and MDA-MB-231, separately) and heterotypic (A549 + NIH/3T3; MDA-MB-231 + NIH/3T3) 3D tumor spheroids by using GrowDex® nanofibrillar cellulosic (NFC) hydrogel as the scaffold. Light microscopic observations and F-actin staining confirmed the formation of spheroids. The proliferation efficiency indicated an expansion of cell population and an increase in spheroid size over time. The distribution, interaction pattern and influence of fibroblasts on the epithelial cell types were observed in terms of the size and shape of the HTS against homo-spheroids. An interesting observation was that, with an increase in the size of HTSs, many more fibroblast cells were found to occupy the core region, which, perhaps, was due to the faster growth of tumor cells over normal cells. Thus, normal and tumor cells, especially with origins from two different species, can be cultured together in 3D format, and this can potentially enhance our knowledge of tumor microenvironments and cell-cell interaction. These spheroids could be used to improve microphysiological systems for drug discovery and to better understand the tumor microenvironment.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The morphinomimetic properties of hemorphins are intensively studied with regard to new peptide drug developments. In this respect, the investigation of mechanical properties and stability of lipid membranes provides a useful background for advancement in pharmacological applications of liposomes. Here we probed the effect of the endogenous heptapeptide VV-hemorphin-5 (valorphin) on the bending elasticity of biomimetic lipid membranes of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) by analysis of thermal shape fluctuations of nearly spherical giant unilamellar vesicles. In a wide concentration range covering valorphin concentrations applied in nociceptive screening in vivo, we report alterations of the bilayer bending rigidity in a concentration-dependent non-monotonic manner. We performed quantitative characterization of VV-hemorphin-5 association to POPC membranes by isothermal titration calorimetry in order to shed light on the partitioning of the amphiphilic hemorphin between the aqueous solution and membranes. The calorimetric results correlate with flicker spectroscopy findings and support the hypothesis about the strength of valorphin-membrane interaction related to the peptide bulk concentration. A higher strength of valorphin interaction with the bilayer corresponds to a more pronounced effect of the peptide on the membrane's mechanical properties. The presented study features the comprehensive analysis of membrane bending elasticity as a biomarker for physicochemical effects of peptides on lipid bilayers. The reported data on thermodynamic parameters of valorphin interactions with phosphatidylcholine bilayers and alterations of their mechanical properties is expected to be useful for applications of lipid membrane systems in pharmacology and biomedicine.
{"title":"VV-hemorphin-5 association to lipid bilayers and alterations of membrane bending rigidity","authors":"I. Valkova, P. Todorov, V. Vitkova","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2022025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2022025","url":null,"abstract":"The morphinomimetic properties of hemorphins are intensively studied with regard to new peptide drug developments. In this respect, the investigation of mechanical properties and stability of lipid membranes provides a useful background for advancement in pharmacological applications of liposomes. Here we probed the effect of the endogenous heptapeptide VV-hemorphin-5 (valorphin) on the bending elasticity of biomimetic lipid membranes of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) by analysis of thermal shape fluctuations of nearly spherical giant unilamellar vesicles. In a wide concentration range covering valorphin concentrations applied in nociceptive screening in vivo, we report alterations of the bilayer bending rigidity in a concentration-dependent non-monotonic manner. We performed quantitative characterization of VV-hemorphin-5 association to POPC membranes by isothermal titration calorimetry in order to shed light on the partitioning of the amphiphilic hemorphin between the aqueous solution and membranes. The calorimetric results correlate with flicker spectroscopy findings and support the hypothesis about the strength of valorphin-membrane interaction related to the peptide bulk concentration. A higher strength of valorphin interaction with the bilayer corresponds to a more pronounced effect of the peptide on the membrane's mechanical properties. The presented study features the comprehensive analysis of membrane bending elasticity as a biomarker for physicochemical effects of peptides on lipid bilayers. The reported data on thermodynamic parameters of valorphin interactions with phosphatidylcholine bilayers and alterations of their mechanical properties is expected to be useful for applications of lipid membrane systems in pharmacology and biomedicine.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The idea of this study is to present the mathematical model of two-dimensional biofluid flow having variable viscosity along the height of the channel (proximal renal tube of artificial kidney). This research describes that flow resistance is dependent on the height of the channel (proximal renal tube of artificial kidney) which makes the high flow near the centre and slow near the wall. The goal of this research is to provide the formulas to find the flow speed, average pressure, outflow flux and filtration rate of the viscous fluid having variable viscosity. The complex mathematical problem is solved by the Inverse method and results for axial velocity are plotted at the opening, central and departure region of the conduit. The numerical values for constant reabsorption and mean pressure are calculated against the filtration rate for the constant and variable viscosity. The numerical results of pressure rise show that when the viscosity of biofluid varies from centre to the boundary, then high change in pressure is required as compared with the biofluid having constant viscosity along the height of the slit. These mathematical formulas are very useful for the bioengineers to design the portable artificial kidney which works as a mechanical tool to filter the biofluid.
{"title":"Impact of viscosity on creeping viscous fluid flow through a permeable slit: a study for the artificial kidneys","authors":"K. Maqbool, H. Mehboob, A. Siddiqui","doi":"10.3934/biophy.2022026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3934/biophy.2022026","url":null,"abstract":"The idea of this study is to present the mathematical model of two-dimensional biofluid flow having variable viscosity along the height of the channel (proximal renal tube of artificial kidney). This research describes that flow resistance is dependent on the height of the channel (proximal renal tube of artificial kidney) which makes the high flow near the centre and slow near the wall. The goal of this research is to provide the formulas to find the flow speed, average pressure, outflow flux and filtration rate of the viscous fluid having variable viscosity. The complex mathematical problem is solved by the Inverse method and results for axial velocity are plotted at the opening, central and departure region of the conduit. The numerical values for constant reabsorption and mean pressure are calculated against the filtration rate for the constant and variable viscosity. The numerical results of pressure rise show that when the viscosity of biofluid varies from centre to the boundary, then high change in pressure is required as compared with the biofluid having constant viscosity along the height of the slit. These mathematical formulas are very useful for the bioengineers to design the portable artificial kidney which works as a mechanical tool to filter the biofluid.","PeriodicalId":7529,"journal":{"name":"AIMS Biophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70185605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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