المؤلفون: Holly. E. Smith, Alasdair M. Mackenzie, Chloe Seddon, Rhys Mould, Ifi Kalampouka, Partha Malakar, Sarah R. Needham, Konstantinos Beis, Jimmy D. Bell, Alistair Nunn, Stanley W. Botchway

المصدر: Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2024)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Medicine, Science

الوصف: Abstract Life may be expressed as the flow of electrons, protons, and other ions, resulting in large potential difference. It is also highly photo-sensitive, as a large proportion of the redox capable molecules it relies on are chromophoric. It is thus suggestive that a key organelle in eukaryotes, the mitochondrion, constantly adapt their morphology as part of the homeostatic process. Studying unstained in vivo nano-scale structure in live cells is technically very challenging. One option is to study a central electron carrier in metabolism, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), which is fluorescent and mostly located within mitochondria. Using one and two-photon absorption (340–360 nm and 730 nm, respectively), fluorescence lifetime imaging and anisotropy spectroscopy of NADH in solution and in live cells, we show that mitochondria do indeed appear to be aligned and exhibit high anisotropy (asymmetric directionality). Aqueous solution of NADH showed an anisotropy of ~ 0.20 compared to fluorescein or coumarin of

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/ca19fb62f5e542bfb5271897cdf078ce

المؤلفون: Rhys R. Mould, Alasdair M. Mackenzie, Ifigeneia Kalampouka, Alistair V. W. Nunn, E. Louise Thomas, Jimmy D. Bell, Stanley W. Botchway

المصدر: Frontiers in Physiology, Vol 15 (2024)

مصطلحات موضوعية: biophoton, ultraweak photon emission, bystander effect, non-chemical signalling, radicals, biological autoluminescence, Physiology, QP1-981

الوصف: Cells emit light at ultra-low intensities: photons which are produced as by-products of cellular metabolism, distinct from other light emission processes such as delayed luminescence, bioluminescence, and chemiluminescence. The phenomenon is known by a large range of names, including, but not limited to, biophotons, biological autoluminescence, metabolic photon emission and ultraweak photon emission (UPE), the latter of which shall be used for the purposes of this review. It is worth noting that the photons when produced are neither ‘weak’ nor specifically biological in characteristics. Research of UPE has a long yet tattered past, historically hamstrung by a lack of technology sensitive enough to detect it. Today, as technology progresses rapidly, it is becoming easier to detect and image these photons, as well as to describe their function. In this brief review we will examine the history of UPE research, their proposed mechanism, possible biological role, the detection of the phenomenon, and the potential medical applications.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2024.1348915/full; https://doaj.org/toc/1664-042X

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/b1a289b4ad994ed2977b70669fe740bd

المؤلفون: Alasdair M. Mackenzie, Holly E. Smith, Rhys R. Mould, Jimmy D. Bell, Alistair V.W. Nunn, Stanley W. Botchway

المصدر: Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, Vol 19, Iss , Pp 100224- (2024)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Biophoton, Ultraweak Emission, Reactive Oxygen Species, Microscopy, Biophotonics, Metabolism, Chemistry, QD1-999

الوصف: It is well known that life has evolved to use and generate light, for instance, photosynthesis, vision and bioluminescence. What is less well known is that during normal metabolism, it can generate 1–100 photons s−1 cm–2 known as ultra-weak photon emission (UPE), biophoton emission or biological autoluminescence. The highest generation of these metabolic photons seem to occur during oxidative stress due to the generation and decay of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and their interaction with other components of the cell. To study this further, we have configured a sensitive detection system to study photon emission in germinating mung beans.Here we investigated growing mung beans over 7 days at a constant temperature of 21 ± 1 °C in a light tight box, using dual top and bottom opposing photomultiplier tubes. Over this time period we showed that in total, mung beans grown from seeds generated an average of 5 ± 1 counts s−1 above background. As the new bean stems grew, they showed a gradual linear increase in emission of up to 30 ± 1 counts s−1, in agreement with previous literature. In addition to this “steady-state” emission we also observe delayed luminescence and drought-stress response emission previously observed in other species. Finally, we also observe episodic increased emission events of between 2 and 15 counts s−1 for durations of around 3 h detected underneath the sample, and assign these to the growing of secondary roots.We then induce secondary root formation using aqueous solutions of growth hormones hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 167 µM) or 3-indole acetic acid (IAA, 0.5 µM) for watering. Both hormones show prolonged increase in emission above steady-state, over days 3–5 with at least 3 times the number of secondary roots formed compared with water alone. We also observed a significant peak increase in photon emission (474 and 1738 cps vs. 28 and 55 cps for water alone) for the H2O2 which we attribute to direct ROS reaction emission as confirmed by measurement on dead plants.Altogether we have expanded upon and demonstrated an instrument and biological system for reliably producing and measuring intrinsic metabolic photons, first observed 100 years ago by Alexander Gurwitsch.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666469023000659; https://doaj.org/toc/2666-4690

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/592851e2c1594e0a92504e3421c9c19d

المؤلفون: Ryan Waite, Candace T. Adams, David R. Chisholm, C. H. Cole Sims, Joshua G. Hughes, Eva Dias, Emily A. White, Kathryn Welsby, Stanley W. Botchway, Andrew Whiting, Gary J. Sharples, Carrie A. Ambler

المصدر: Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 14 (2023)

مصطلحات موضوعية: antimicrobial resistance, photodynamic therapy, Gram-positive bacteria, lipopolysaccharides, reactive oxygen species, Microbiology, QR1-502

الوصف: The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to human health, and therefore, alternatives to existing compounds are urgently needed. In this context, a novel fluorescent photoactivatable diarylacetylene has been identified and characterised for its antibacterial activity, which preferentially eliminates Gram-positive over Gram-negative bacteria. Experiments confirmed that the Gram-negative lipopolysaccharide-rich outer surface is responsible for tolerance, as strains with reduced outer membrane integrity showed increased susceptibility. Additionally, bacteria deficient in oxidative damage repair pathways also displayed enhanced sensitivity, confirming that reactive oxygen species production is the mechanism of antibacterial activity. This new diarylacetylene shows promise as an antibacterial agent against Gram-positive bacteria that can be activated in situ, potentially for the treatment of skin infections.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1243818/full; https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/2ca0943a02ac4994a295010168375706

المؤلفون: Ellen Clancy, Siva Ramadurai, Sarah R. Needham, Karen Baker, Tara A. Eastwood, Julia A. Weinstein, Daniel P. Mulvihill, Stanley W. Botchway

المصدر: Scientific Reports, Vol 13, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2023)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Medicine, Science

الوصف: Abstract Cytoplasmic viscosity is a crucial parameter in determining rates of diffusion-limited reactions. Changes in viscosity are associated with several diseases, whilst nuclear viscosity determines gene integrity, regulation and expression. Yet how drugs including DNA-damaging agents affect viscosity is unknown. We demonstrate the use of a platinum complex, Pt[L]Cl, that localizes efficiently mostly in the nucleus as a probe for nuclear viscosity. The phosphorescence lifetime of Pt[L]Cl is sensitive to viscosity and provides an excellent tool to investigate the impact of DNA damage. We show using Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) that the lifetime of both green and red fluorescent proteins (FP) are also sensitive to changes in cellular viscosity and refractive index. However, Pt[L]Cl proved to be a more sensitive viscosity probe, by virtue of microsecond phosphorescence lifetime versus nanosecond fluorescence lifetime of FP, hence greater sensitivity to bimolecular reactions. DNA damage was inflicted by either a two-photon excitation, one-photon excitation microbeam and X-rays. DNA damage of live cells causes significant increase in the lifetime of either Pt[L]Cl (HeLa cells, 12.5–14.1 µs) or intracellularly expressed mCherry (HEK293 cells, 1.54–1.67 ns), but a decrease in fluorescence lifetime of GFP from 2.65 to 2.29 ns (in V15B cells). These values represent a viscosity change from 8.59 to 20.56 cP as well as significant changes in the refractive index (RI), according to independent calibration. Interestingly DNA damage localized to a submicron region following a laser microbeam induction showed a whole cell viscosity change, with those in the nucleus being greater than the cytoplasm. We also found evidence of a by-stander effect, whereby adjacent un-irradiated cells also showed nuclear viscosity change. Finally, an increase in viscosity following DNA damage was also observed in bacterial cells with an over-expressed mNeonGreen FP, evidenced by the change in its lifetime from 2.8 to 2.4 ns.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/b8177410469a46f5968c335a1144f149

المؤلفون: Tara A. Eastwood, Karen Baker, Bree R. Streather, Nyasha Allen, Lin Wang, Stanley W. Botchway, Ian R. Brown, Jennifer R. Hiscock, Christopher Lennon, Daniel P. Mulvihill

المصدر: Cell Reports: Methods, Vol 3, Iss 2, Pp 100396- (2023)

مصطلحات موضوعية: CP: Biotechnology, CP: Molecular biology, Biotechnology, TP248.13-248.65, Biochemistry, QD415-436, Science

الوصف: Summary: We describe an innovative system that exports diverse recombinant proteins in membrane-bound vesicles from E. coli. These recombinant vesicles compartmentalize proteins within a micro-environment that enables production of otherwise challenging insoluble, toxic, or disulfide-bond containing proteins from bacteria. The release of vesicle-packaged proteins supports isolation from the culture and allows long-term storage of active protein. This technology results in high yields of vesicle-packaged, functional proteins for efficient downstream processing for a wide range of applications from discovery science to applied biotechnology and medicine. Motivation: The ability to reprogram a cell to direct the packaging of specific molecules into discrete membrane envelopes is one of the major challenges in the fields of synthetic biology and recombinant protein today. We thus set out to develop a system to allow the export of vesicle-packaged proteins from Escherichia coli. The resultant technology, involving a simple peptide tag, not only simplifies subsequent recombinant protein purification but the controlled packaging into membrane vesicles can be applied to the development of numerous technologies and commercializable products within the biotechnology and medical industries, including generation of recombinant bioreactors, environmental dispersion of biomolecules, and vehicles for drug delivery and vaccination, as well as providing a stable environment for isolation and storage of proteins.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667237523000036; https://doaj.org/toc/2667-2375

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/aaae0194c2e64ae396bd593598afc5b7

المؤلفون: Chiara Perico, Hongbo Gao, Kate J. Heesom, Stanley W. Botchway, Imogen A. Sparkes

المصدر: Communications Biology, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2021)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Biology (General), QH301-705.5

الوصف: Perico et al. use co-expression analysis and a FRET-FLIM approach to show that the Arabidopsis MyoB myosin receptor, MRF7, triggers the relocation of Myosin XI-K to the Golgi. As such, this study provides evidence for plant myosin recruitment and control of organelle movement.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2399-3642

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/6d0322a6c6e8479fb81da4d1a2b0f731

المؤلفون: Alistair V.W. Nunn, Geoffrey W. Guy, Stanley W. Botchway, Jimmy D. Bell

المصدر: Immunity & Ageing, Vol 18, Iss 1, Pp 1-4 (2021)

مصطلحات موضوعية: SARS-CoV-2, Epstein Barr Virus, Mitochondria, Long COVID, Ageing, Cost, Immunologic diseases. Allergy, RC581-607, Geriatrics, RC952-954.6

الوصف: Abstract We, and others, have suggested that as the SARS-CoV-2 virus may modulate mitochondrial function, good mitochondrial reserve and health could be key in determining disease severity when exposed to this virus, as the immune system itself is dependent on this organelle’s function. With the recent publication of a paper showing that long COVID could be associated with the reactivation of the Epstein Barr Virus, which is well known to manipulate mitochondria, we suggest that this could represent a second mitochondrial “whammy” that might support the mitochondrial hypothesis underlying COVID-19 severity and potentially, the occurrence of longer-term symptoms. As mitochondrial function declines with age, this could be an important factor in why older populations are more susceptible. Key factors which ensure optimal mitochondrial health are generally those that ensure healthy ageing, such as a good lifestyle with plenty of physical activity. The ability of viruses to manipulate mitochondrial function is well described, and it is now also thought that for evolutionary reasons, they also manipulate the ageing process. Given that slowing the ageing process could well be linked to better economic outcomes, the link between mitochondrial health, economics, COVID-19 and other viruses, as well as lifestyle, needs to be considered.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1742-4933

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/4307319eeccc44af8ea62ca4f803873a

المؤلفون: Alistair V. W. Nunn, Geoffrey W. Guy, Wolfgang Brysch, Stanley W. Botchway, Wayne Frasch, Edward J. Calabrese, Jimmy D. Bell

المصدر: Immunity & Ageing, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-21 (2020)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Immunologic diseases. Allergy, RC581-607, Geriatrics, RC952-954.6

الوصف: Abstract Infection with SARs-COV-2 displays increasing fatality with age and underlying co-morbidity, in particular, with markers of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes, which seems to be associated with a “cytokine storm” and an altered immune response. This suggests that a key contributory factor could be immunosenescence that is both age-related and lifestyle-induced. As the immune system itself is heavily reliant on mitochondrial function, then maintaining a healthy mitochondrial system may play a key role in resisting the virus, both directly, and indirectly by ensuring a good vaccine response. Furthermore, as viruses in general, and quite possibly this new virus, have also evolved to modulate immunometabolism and thus mitochondrial function to ensure their replication, this could further stress cellular bioenergetics. Unlike most sedentary modern humans, one of the natural hosts for the virus, the bat, has to “exercise” regularly to find food, which continually provides a powerful adaptive stimulus to maintain functional muscle and mitochondria. In effect the bat is exposed to regular hormetic stimuli, which could provide clues on how to resist this virus. In this paper we review the data that might support the idea that mitochondrial health, induced by a healthy lifestyle, could be a key factor in resisting the virus, and for those people who are perhaps not in optimal health, treatments that could support mitochondrial function might be pivotal to their long-term recovery.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12979-020-00204-x; https://doaj.org/toc/1742-4933

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/73b22c82396744e7b5c99995f3d8d3fd

المؤلفون: Jennifer Schoberer, Julia König, Christiane Veit, Ulrike Vavra, Eva Liebminger, Stanley W. Botchway, Friedrich Altmann, Verena Kriechbaumer, Chris Hawes, Richard Strasser

المصدر: Nature Communications, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2019)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Science

الوصف: The Arabidopsis ER-α-mannosidase I MNS3 generates N-glycan structures typical of ER-resident glycoproteins. Here Schoberer et al. identify a novel motif that anchors MNS3 to the cis-Golgi, spatially separating MNS3 from ER-localized mannose trimming associated with the ER-associated degradation pathway.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2041-1723

URL الوصول: https://doaj.org/article/ae45cf92025043e39d2f6156ceaa447d