Esta pesquisa comparou a incorporação de iodeto de propídio (IP) com a avaliação simultânea de corantes indicativos de danificação em membrana e atividade enzimática (Live/Dead Cell Assay®) para a estimar a viabilidade de cistos de Giardia muris e oocistos de Cryptosporidium parvum. Além disso, foram testados métodos de recuperação de (oo)cistos em amostras de lodo e água de lavagem de filtros (ALF) geradas em escala de bancada, simulando tratamento de água por ciclo completo com decantação. Dentre os métodos estudados para a detecção de G. muris e C. parvum inoculados em amostras de lodo, destacou-se a floculação com sulfato férrico, seguida de separação imunomagnética (IMS). Realizou-se, portanto, ensaio de qualidade analítica com ColorSeedTM, para este método, tendo atendido ao requerido pelo Método 1623.1 da USEPA (2012) para Giardia spp. (32,25%; CV=9,00%), mas não tendo sido suficiente para Cryptostoridium spp. (11,00%; CV=47,67%). O teste com ColorSeedTM em amostras de ALF reproduziu o procedimento de filtração em membrana (FM) com raspagem utilizando Tween® 80 (45°C, 0,1%) seguido de IMS, tendo atendido ao Método 1623.1 para Giardia spp. (13,00%, CV=19,61%), mas não tendo sido suficiente para Cryptostoridium spp. (2,00%; CV=93,54%). Optou-se por este procedimento na avaliação de qualidade analítica, pois o inóculo prévio de suspensões comerciais seguido de recuperação por FM sem IMS superou 100% para C. parvum, devido à utilização de fator de multiplicação. O desempenho do Live/Dead Cell Assay® sobre suspensões comerciais de (oo)cistos foi subjetivo, sobretudo para visualização de organismos enzimaticamente ativos, de modo que optou-se pela inclusão de IP como parâmetro para estimar o efeito dos métodos de recuperação sobre a viabilidade. Em função da baixa recuperação e fluorescência de G. muris, a incorporação de IP foi avaliada apenas em C. parvum. Os resultados reiteraram a dificuldade na recuperação de protozoários em lodo e ALF e o fato de que as particularidades destes procedimentos analíticos podem prejudicar a interpretação de dados de viabilidade. / This study compared the incorporation of propidium iodide (PI) with the simultaneous evaluation of dyes that indicate both membrane damage and enzymatic activity (Live/Dead Cell Assay®) to assess the viability of Giardia muris cysts and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. In addition, methods of recovering protozoan cysts and oocysts from sludge and filter backwash water (FBW) samples generated on bench scale, simulating conventional water treatment with decantation, were tested. Among the studied methods for detection of G. muris and C. parvum spiked into sludge samples, ferric sulphate flocculation followed by immunomagnetic separation (IMS) lead to higher recoveries. An analytical quality assay was therefore carried out with ColorSeedTM having met the USEPA Method 1623.1 (2012) recommendation for Giardia spp. (32.25%, CV=9.00%) but not for Cryptostoridium spp. (11.00%, CV = 47.67%). The quality assay test for FBW samples replicated the membrane filtration (MF) procedure using Tween® 80 (45 °C, 0.1%) followed by IMS, having complied with Method 1623.1 for Giardia spp. (13.00%, CV=19.61%) but again not for Cryptostoridium spp. (2.00%; CV=93.54%). This procedure was chosen for the analytical quality exam, since the previous inoculum of commercial suspensions followed by MF without IMS exceeded 100% recovery for C. parvum, due to the use of a multiplication factor. The Live/Dead Cell Assay® performance on commercial suspensions of cysts and oocysts was subjective, especially for visualizing enzymatically active organisms, thus PI inclusion was chosen as the parameter to estimate the effect of recovery methods on the organisms\' viability. Due to the low recovery and poor fluorescence of G. muris, IP inclusion was evaluated only in C. parvum. The results reiterated the difficulty in the recovery of protozoa from sludge and FBW and the possibility of these analytical procedures hinder the interpretation of cysts and oocysts viability.

Fundamentally altering cellular function at a genetic level is a major area of interest in the biologic sciences and the medical community. By engineering transfectable constructs that can be inserted to dysfunctional cellular systems, scientists can mitigate aberrant genetic behavior to produce proper molecular function. While viral vectors have been a mainstay in the past, there are many limitations, particularly related to safety, that have changed the focus of genome editing to incorporate alternative methods for gene delivery. Lance Array Nanoinjection (LAN), a second-generation microfabricated transfection biotechnology, is one of these alternative technologies. LAN works by utilizing both simultaneous electrostatic interaction with molecular loads and physical lancing of hundreds of thousands of target cell membranes. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate LAN in the context of in vitro transfection of immortalized culture cells and primary cells. As part of that exploration, three distinct areas of investigation are considered, which include: characterizing environmental factors that impact LAN transfection, demonstrating LAN genetic modification of immortalized HeLa 229 culture cells using an indicator marker, and lastly, investigating the effects of LAN on human primary, neonatal fibroblasts.

Artificial insemination using cooled, transported semen has become a popular practice in the equine industry. However, equine sperm are assumed to show a decline in their fertilizing ability after 24 to 48 hours of cooled storage. Two measures that are commonly used to estimate the fertility of an ejaculate are sperm motility and sperm membrane integrity (SMI). Recently, it has been suggested that SMI may have a better correlation with fertility of an inseminate than sperm motility. The effect of cooled-storage on sperm quality over an extended time period was evaluated to illustrate changes in sperm characteristics that might be related to an ejaculate’s fertility. Semen was stored at 4°C in INRA 96 extender containing 10% seminal plasma for a period of 10 days. Data were collected daily on sperm motion characteristics, SMI, mitochondrial membrane potential, and DNA quality. To measure daily changes in SMI in stallion sperm, two fluorescent vital-staining protocols used in flow cytometric analysis were compared – a combination of SNARF-1, Yo-Pro-1, and Ethidium Homodimer 1 (SYE) and a combination of lectin from Pisum sativum and propidium iodide (PSA/PI). We hypothesized that the SYE protocol adapted for use with stallion sperm could detect more subtle, and perhaps earlier, damage to the sperm plasma membrane than the PSA/PI protocol. A combination of SYBR 14, propidium iodide, and JC-1 (SYPIJC) was used to measure mitochondrial membrane potential, as well as SMI. A computer-assisted sperm motion analysis (CASA) instrument was used to evaluate sperm motion characteristics; the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) was used to measure the degree of DNA fragmentation. In this study, with the exception of sperm motility, the measures of sperm quality retained values consistent with “viability” after 10 days of cooled-storage. This suggests that the fertility of some stallions may last considerably longer than previously assumed, which could ultimately alter the time-table used for artificial insemination using cooled, transported semen.

Adjacent cells communicate through gap junctions (GJs). These GJs are formed by head to head docking of two hemichannels (HCs) from two adjacent cells. HCs are connexin hexamer proteins. Connexin mutation is the most frequent cause of childhood hearing loss. This hearing impairment affects 2 in every 2000 children. Inhibition of the HCs might be the key factor to treat such disorders. A library of amphiphilic kanamycins was synthesized to be tested as HC inhibitors. These compounds showed excellent inhibition activity in comparison with the parent compound (kanamycin A) with less toxicity. A library of monosaccharide esters with varying carbon chain lengths (acetyl (C2) to hexadecyl (C16)) were synthesized, characterized, and tested for bioactivity. Carbohydrate esters showed low toxicity while remaining active against bacteria and fungi. The compound 6-O-tetradecanoyl-D-mannopyranose (MAN014), a mannose ester with a fourteen-carbon chain, showed the greatest antibacterial and antifungal properties. A mode of action study was tested against Staphylococcus aureus (bacteria) and Fusarium graminearum (fungus) and found the compound perturbed the cell membrum.

In der Pathogenese der Temporallappenepilepsie wird kindlichen hippokampalen Schädigungen eine wesentliche Rolle zugeschrieben. Epileptische Krämpfe und perinatale Asphyxie sind zwei häufige Ursachen dieser Schädigungen. Anhaltende epileptiforme Aktivität im Niedrig-Mg2+-Modell als einer experimentellen Form epileptischer Krämpfe führt in organotypischen hippokampalen Schnittkulturen (OHSK) der Ratte, die als Ersatzsystem des kindlichen Hippokampus verwendet werden, zu Zellschäden. Während dieser Untersuchungen ergab sich der Verdacht auf eine zusätzlich schädigende Wirkung erhöhter Sauerstoffspannungen. In meiner ersten Versuchsreihe konnte ich nachweisen, dass erhöhte Sauerstoffspannungen (60 %, 95 %) verglichen mit 20%-Sauerstoffspannung zu reversiblen und irreversiblen Zellschäden in OHSK führen. Die Zellschäden wurden über Veränderungen reizinduzierter Feldpotentiale, d.h. Abnahme der Amplitude, Zunahme der Latenz und Zunahme des Doppelpulsindex, sowie über die Propidium Jodid (PJ)-Fluoreszenzintensität bestimmt. In der zweiten Versuchsreihe konnte gezeigt werden, dass erhöhte Sauerstoffspannungen auch nach einer Hypoxie im Sinne einer hyperoxischen Reoxygenierung verglichen mit normoxischer Reoxygenierung vermehrt Zellschäden in OHSK zur Folge haben. In der dritten Versuchsreihe konnte ich ausschließen, dass erhöhte Sauerstoffspannungen eine notwendige Bedingung für Zellschäden infolge anhaltender epileptiformer Aktivität sind. Um die zellschädigende Rolle von Spreading Depressions (SDs), die während epileptiformer Aktivität auftreten, zu bestimmen, wurde in der vierten Versuchsreihe eine Methode etabliert, SD-ähnliche Ereignisse isoliert und zuverlässig in normoxischen OHSK auszulösen. Auf diese Weise wiederholt ausgelöste SD-ähnliche Ereignisse führten zu Zellschäden, bestimmt über die Veränderung elektrophysiologischer Eigenschaften von SD-ähnlichen Ereignissen, Abnahme der Feldpotentialamplitude und PJ-Fluoreszenzintensität. / Hippocampal damage during infancy is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy. Epileptic seizures and perinatal asphyxia are two frequent causes of these damages. Sustained epileptiform activity induced in the low Mg2+-model of epileptic seizures leads to cell damage in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHSC) of the rat, which are used as a surrogate for the infantile hippocampus. During a previous study utilising this model the suspicion arose that increased oxygen tension could have an additional damaging effect. My first series of experiments proved that increased oxygen tension (60 %, 95 %) lead to reversible and irreversible cell damage in OHSC compared to 20%-oxygen tension. Cell damage was determined by alterations of evoked field potentials, i.e. decrement of amplitude, increment of latency and paired pulse index, as well as by propidium iodide fluorescence. The second series of experiments showed that increased oxygen tension applied after an hypoxic period (hyperoxic reoxygenation) result in augmented cell damage compared to normoxic reoxygenation. With the third series of experiments it could be excluded that increased oxygen tension is an essential condition for the occurrence of cell damage due to sustained epileptiform activity. In order to elucidate the damaging role of spreading depressions (SD), which emerge during epileptiform activity, a method was established in the fourth series of experiments that allowed the reliable induction of SD-like events in normoxic OHSC. Repetitive SD-like events induced by this method led to cell damage, assessed by alterations of electrophysiological characteristics of SD-like events, decrement of evoked field potential amplitude and propidium iodide fluorescence.