Strain and Strain Recovery of Human Hair from the Nano- to the Macroscale.

In this study, in operandi SAXS experiments were conducted on samples of human hair with a varying degree of strain (2% within the elastic region and 10% beyond). Four different features in the SAXS patterns were evaluated: The intermediate filament distance perpendicular to and the distance from the meridional arc in the load direction, as well as the distances of the lipid bilayer peak in and perpendicular to the load direction. From the literature, one concludes that polar lipids in the cuticle are the origin of the lipid peak in the SAXS pattern, and this study shows that the observed strain in the lipids is much lower than in the intermediate filaments. We support these findings with SEM micrographs, which show that the scales in the cuticle deform much less than the cortex. The observed deformation of the intermediate filaments is very high, about 70% of the macrostrain, and the ratio of the transverse strain to the longitudinal strain at the nanoscale gives a Poisson ratio of νnano = 0.44, which is typical for soft matter. This work also finds that by varying the time period between two strain cycles, the typical strain recovery time is about 1000 min, i.e., one day. After this period, the structure is nearly identical to the initial structure, which suggests an interpretation that this is the typical time for the self-healing of hair after mechanical treatment.

Behavior and neuroimaging at baseline predict individual response to combined mathematical and working memory training in children.

Mathematical performance is highly correlated with several general cognitive abilities, including working memory (WM) capacity. Here we investigated the effect of numerical training using a number-line (NLT), WM training (WMT), or the combination of the two on a composite score of mathematical ability. The aim was to investigate if the combination contributed to the outcome, and determine if baseline performance or neuroimaging predict the magnitude of improvement. We randomly assigned 308, 6-year-old children to WMT, NLT, WMT+NLT or a control intervention. Overall, there was a significant effect of NLT but not WMT. The WMT+NLT was the only group that improved significantly more than the controls, although the interaction NLTxWM was non-significant. Higher WM and maths performance predicted larger benefits for WMT and NLT, respectively. Neuroimaging at baseline also contributed significant information about training gain. Different individuals showed as much as a three-fold difference in their responses to the same intervention. These results show that the impact of an intervention is highly dependent on individual characteristics of the child. If differences in responses could be used to optimize the intervention for each child, future interventions could be substantially more effective.

The branched-chain aminotransferase proteins: novel redox chaperones for protein disulfide isomerase--implications in Alzheimer's disease.

AIMS: The human branched-chain aminotransferase proteins (hBCATm and hBCATc) are regulated through oxidation and S-nitrosation. However, it remains unknown whether they share common redox characteristics to enzymes such as protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) in terms of regulating cellular repair and protein misfolding. RESULTS: Here, similar to PDI, the hBCAT proteins showed dithiol-disulfide isomerase activity that was mediated through an S-glutathionylated mechanism. Site-directed mutagenesis of the active thiols of the CXXC motif demonstrates that they are fundamental to optimal protein folding. Far Western analysis indicated that both hBCAT proteins can associate with PDI. Co-immunoprecipitation studies demonstrated that hBCATm directly binds to PDI in IMR-32 cells and the human brain. Electron and confocal microscopy validated the expression of PDI in mitochondria (using Mia40 as a mitochondrial control), where both PDI and Mia40 were found to be co-localized with hBCATm. Under conditions of oxidative stress, this interaction is decreased, suggesting that the proposed chaperone role for hBCATm may be perturbed. Moreover, immunohistochemistry studies show that PDI and hBCAT are expressed in the same neuronal and endothelial cells of the vasculature of the human brain, supporting a physiological role for this binding. INNOVATION: This study identifies a novel redox role for hBCAT and confirms that hBCATm differentially binds to PDI under cellular stress. CONCLUSION: These studies indicate that hBCAT may play a role in the stress response of the cell as a novel redox chaperone, which, if compromised, may result in protein misfolding, creating aggregates as a key feature in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

Transport of anionic drugs across the basolateral membrane of proximal S2 segments of the rabbit kidney. Inverse relationship between the affinity to the p-aminohippurate transport system and the transport rate.

The renal p-aminohippurate (PAH) transport system, which resides in the S2 segments of proximal tubules, is a main tubular secretory system for drugs. Previous studies have shown that the hydrophobicity of drugs is positively correlated with their affinity for the basolateral PAH transporter. Affinity was deduced from inhibition of tubular 3H-PAH uptake. However, up to now, no studies are available which tested the relationship between hydrophobicity and transport rate of drugs. Therefore, in the present study, the basolateral transport rates of several drugs (probenecid, CAS 57-66-9, furosemide, CAS 54-31-9, bumetanide, CAS 28395-03-1, mefruside, CAS 7195-27-9) which are substrates of the PAH transporter and which differ markedly regarding their hydrophobic properties (log P values ranging from 1-3) were determined on non-perfused proximal S2 segments microdissected from rabbit kidneys without the use of enzymatic solutions. To measure the transport rate advantage of the finding was taken that the PAH transporter in the basolateral membrane of proximal S2 segments acts as a countertransporter which exchanges PAH with dicarboxylates (glutarate or alpha-keto-glutarate). Hence, the stimulatory effect of a drug on the 14C-glutarate efflux rate of 14C-glutarate preloaded S2 segments is a measure of its translocation across the basolateral cell membrane. The results revealed that with increasing hydrophobicity (mefruside < furosemide < bumetanide < probenecid) the stimulating effect of the drugs on 14C-glutarate efflux decreased indicating that the compounds are more slowly translocated although their potency to inhibit 3H-PAH uptake increased. Thus, an inverse relationship between hydrophobicity and hence affinity of the drugs for the PAH transporter and transport rate could be established.