Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Pia Haegerbaeumer, Friederike Graebitz-Braeuer, Marco Annegarn, Carina Dargel, Tim Julian Stank, Thomas Bizien, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: In this study, the researchers investigated the interaction between the lipid membrane model, DMPC, and the drug naproxen and the saponin beta-aescin. The results showed that naproxen and aescin distorted the lipid membrane structure and lowered the main phase transition temperature. Below the transition temperature, the mixture showed a vesicle structure, while above it, the insertion of the molecules induced the formation of correlated bilayers. The data confirmed the interaction of naproxen and aescin with DMPC model membranes and the incorporation of both additives.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elias Khayat, Bryan M. Delfing, Xavier Laracuente, Audrey Olson, Christopher Lockhart, Dmitri K. Klimov
Summary: The Lys28 acetylation of the Afi peptide has significant impact on its binding to the lipid bilayer. Acetylation strengthens the hydrophobic moment and promotes helical structure of the peptide, but reduces its affinity to the DMPC bilayer. Acetylation also facilitates aggregation of the peptide into low-molecular-weight oligomers.
ACS CHEMICAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Gerome Vancuylenberg, Amin Sadeghpour, Arwen I. I. Tyler, Michael Rappolt
Summary: Phospholipid-based liposomes were studied to understand the interactions between lipid and water. A new model was proposed to describe three water regions using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and densitometry. The behavior of these regions was influenced by temperature, chain saturation, and headgroup type.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yanshu Liang, Shuang Zhi, Zhixia Qiao, Fancui Meng
Summary: This study investigated the interaction and transmembrane mechanism of AZD3759 using molecular simulations. The results showed that the cationic state of AZD3759 formed more hydrogen bonds with the bilayer compared to the neutral state, and Coulombic interaction played a crucial role in the transmembrane process. AZD3759 preferred to reside at the interface between the hydrophilic headgroup region and hydrophobic region of the bilayer, with the chloroflurobenzene moiety playing a key role in the insertion process. Furthermore, the study found that AZD3759 could permeate the hydrophobic region of the DMPC bilayer.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR MODELING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ramsia Geisler, Martin Cramer Pedersen, Natalie Preisig, Yvonne Hannappel, Sylvain Prevost, Rajeev Dattani, Lise Arleth, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: The study investigates the self-assembly and morphological transition of nm-sized discoidal lipid nanoparticles composed of beta-aescin and the phospholipid DMPC. The transition of the lipid nanoparticles is mainly triggered by the phase state change of the phospholipid, resulting in different final morphologies depending on the phospholipid-to-saponin ratio and temperature. Techniques like SAXS, TEM, and FFEM are used to analyze the nano-particles at different length scales, with models applied to evaluate possible geometries and molecular mixing.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Yuxuan Huang, Jinzhe Li, Yue Liu, Munkh-Amgalan Gantumur, Narantuya Sukhbaatar, Panpan Zhao, Kwang Chol Oh, Zhanmei Jiang, Juncai Hou
Summary: The binding interactions, gas-water interface properties, and bioactivities between alpha-lactalbumin (alpha La) and tea saponin (Ts), gynostemma saponin (Gyp), and tribulus saponin (Tr) were characterized. The results showed that alpha La interacted with Ts and Gyp through hydrogen bond and van der Waals force, while it combined with Tr via hydrophobic interaction force. Ts, Gyp, and Tr increased the foaming ability of alpha La. The DPPH scavenging ability, ferrous reducing power, and alpha-glucosidase inhibition of alpha La-saponins were higher than those of alpha La, with alpha La-Ts showing the highest activity. The study provides valuable insights into the interaction mechanism between natural saponins and proteins for developing protein-saponin foaming agents in the food industry.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Peng Liu, Lichun Ye, Yongshen Ren, Guodun Zhao, Yun Zhang, Shaojuan Lu, Qiang Li, Chen Wu, Lijie Bai, Zhongyun Zhang, Zhongqiu Zhao, Zhaohua Shi, Shijin Yin, Maochuan Liao, Zhou Lan, Jing Feng, Lvyi Chen
Summary: RNA-seq analysis identified upregulation of GBP5 in CIP patients and genetic ablation of GBP5 in murine macrophages alleviated VIN-induced CIP. Mechanistically, GBP5 activated NLRP3 inflammasome and promoted IL-1 beta production, contributing to the inflammatory responses. Furthermore, aescin inhibited the GBP5/NLRP3 axis and alleviated CIP.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Przemyslaw Jurczak, Kosma Szutkowski, Slawomir Lach, Stefan Jurga, Paulina Czaplewska, Aneta Szymanska, Igor Zhukov
Summary: Studying the mechanisms behind amyloid-based diseases can help identify future treatment targets, but the complexity and interactions of proteins responsible for fibril formation make it a challenging and time-consuming task. Human cystatin C, a cysteine-protease inhibitor, tends to form fibrils under certain stimuli, potentially regulated by cellular components with the cell membrane playing a key role in the oligomerization pathway. The use of phospholipid liposomes as membrane mimetics provides a promising alternative for studying protein-mimetic interactions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mikheil Kharbedia, Niccolo Caselli, Diego Herraez-Aguilar, Horacio Lopez-Menendez, Eduardo Enciso, Jose A. Santiago, Francisco Monroy
Summary: The study demonstrates that dynamically frozen Faraday waves, called 2D hydrodynamic crystals, appear as ordered patterns of nonlinear gravity-capillary modes on water surfaces functionalized with soluble surfactants. The phase coherence and increased surface rigidity lead to the Faraday waves ordering transition, allowing for reversible control of the hydrodynamic crystals' degree of order, unit cell size, and symmetry. These newly discovered hydrodynamic crystals could be utilized in touchless strategies for soft matter and biological scaffolding, enhanced under external control of Faraday waves coherence.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jyoti Singh, Yusuf Hussain, Abha Meena, Suaib Luqman, Rohit Anthony Sinha
Summary: This study elucidates the molecular mechanism of aescin in targeting protein kinases responsible for lung cancer proliferation and mobility, suggesting that it could be a safer and more viable therapeutic agent for lung cancer treatment.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Hao Yu, Siru Yan, Meiyu Jin, Yunfei Wei, Lilei Zhao, Jiaqi Cheng, Lu Ding, Haihua Feng
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the role of aescin (Aes) in treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its underlying mechanism. It was found that Aes can promote autophagy, activate the Nrf2 pathway, and ameliorate lipid accumulation and oxidative stress both in vitro and in vivo. However, Aes lost its therapeutic effect on NAFLD in Atg5 and Nrf2 knockout mice.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Friederike Graebitz-Braeuer, Carina Dargel, Ramsia Geisler, Pascal Fandrich, Viktor Sabadasch, Lionel Porcar, Andreas Mix, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: This study investigates the interaction between β-aescin and small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) made of the negatively charged lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DOPG). Contrary to expectations, the study finds little to no interaction between DOPG SUVs and aescin micelles.
COLLOID AND POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Natasha H. Rhys, David J. Barlow, M. Jayne Lawrence, Christian D. Lorenz
Summary: This study used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the interactions between different diols with varying carbon chain lengths and hydroxylation patterns and a DMPC monolayer, finding that shorter diols can penetrate deeper into the lipid monolayer and disrupt its structure, while all diols studied formed hydrogen-bonded networks with DMPC head groups.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Jeongyun Ko, Jagadeesh Sundaramoorthy, Chigen Tsukamoto, Junbeom Park, Jinwon Lee, Hyun Jo, Jeong-Dong Lee, Hak Soo Seo, Jong Tae Song
Summary: The soybean mutant PE1539 lacking saponins with a glucose moiety at the third position of the C-3 sugar chain was analyzed in this study. It was found that the saponin phenotype of PE1539 is controlled by a recessive mutation in the Sg-3 gene, which was determined by DNA sequencing. The expression of Sg-3 was reduced in PE1539 cells, indicating that the mutation in Sg-3 is responsible for the saponin phenotype of PE1539.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Candelaria Ines Camara, Matias Ariel Crosio, Ana Valeria Juarez, Natalia Wilke
Summary: Dexamethasone and Dexamethasone phosphate, synthetic glucocorticoids, have been shown to reduce mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Their effects on DMPC membranes were studied and both were found to penetrate and alter the mechanical properties of the membranes. Dexamethasone had a greater effect on surface pressure and induced the appearance of aggregates, while Dexamethasone phosphate decreased membrane deformability.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Simon Friesen, Yvonne Hannappel, Sergej Kakorin, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: The comparison of different methods for describing the swelling curves of smart microgels shows that the Hill-like equation provides physically meaningful parameters, unlike the series expansion of the Flory-Huggins parameter chi.
COLLOID AND POLYMER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Maxim Dirksen, Pascal Fandrich, Lukas Goett-Zink, Julian Cremer, Dario Anselmetti, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: This study explores the production of thermoresponsive, free-standing microgel membranes using N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and the UV-sensitive comonomer 2-hydroxy-4-(methacryloyloxy)benzophenone (HMABP). The use of different cross-linkers in microgel syntheses allows for variations in the network structure and swelling behavior. The incorporation of the comonomer is influenced by the choice of cross-linker, which is crucial for the subsequent photochemical membrane formation.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Reza Baserinia, Katrina Brockbank, Rajeev Dattani
Summary: This study investigates the relationships between the flow properties of five blends of polyamide 12 and the mechanical and physical characteristics of the fabricated components, aiming to predict the final product quality.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ekaterina Ponomareva, Ben Tadgell, Marco Hildebrandt, Marcel Kruesmann, Sylvain Prevost, Paul Mulvaney, Matthias Karg
Summary: The study focuses on the internal structure and light scattering intensity changes of core-shell microgels, analyzing them using small-angle X-ray scattering and small-angle neutron scattering data. The research discusses the relationship between structural changes during collapse/swelling and polymer volume fractions by matching findings with temperature-dependent absorbance measurements.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Maximilian Schons, Lisa Pilgram, Jens-Peter Reese, Melanie Stecher, Gabriele Anton, Katharina S. Appel, Thomas Bahmer, Alexander Bartschke, Carla Bellinghausen, Inga Bernemann, Markus Brechtel, Folke Brinkmann, Clara Bruenn, Christine Dhillon, Cornelia Fiessler, Ramsia Geisler, Eckard Hamelmann, Stefan Hansch, Frank Hanses, Sabine Hanss, Susanne Herold, Ralf Heyder, Sina Marie Hopff, Anna Horn, Carolin Jakob, Thomas Keil, Yascha Khodamoradi, Mirjam Kohls, Monika Kraus, Dagmar Krefting, Sonja Kunze, Florian Kurth, Wolfgang Lieb, Lena Johanna Lippert, Roberto Lorbeer, Corina Maetzler, Olga Miljukov, Matthias Nauck, Daniel Pape, Valentina Puntmann, Lennart Reinke, Christoph Roemmele, Stefanie Rudolph, Julian Sass, Christian Schaefer, Jens Schaller, Mario Schattschneider, Christian Scheer, Margarete Scherer, Sein Schmidt, Julia Schmidt, Kristina Seibel, Dana Stahl, Fridolin Steinbeis, Stefan Stoerk, Maike Tauchert, Johannes Josef Tebbe, Charlotte Thibeault, Nicole Toepfner, Kathrin Ungethuem, Istvan Vadasz, Heike Valentin, Silke Wiedmann, Thomas Zoller, Eike Nagel, Michael Krawczak, Christof von Kalle, Thomas Illig, Stefan Schreiber, Martin Witzenrath, Peter Heuschmann, Jorg Janne Vehreschild
Summary: The German government initiated the Network University Medicine (NUM) in early 2020 to improve national research activities on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON) aims to create the most comprehensive COVID-19 cohort in Germany, with 36 German Academic Medical Centers collaborating on 13 projects. The cohort platforms within NAPKON observe adult and pediatric patients through comprehensive clinical and imaging diagnostics, quality-of-life assessment, patient-reported outcomes, and biosampling.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Pascal Fandrich, Jorge Esteban Vazquez, Rene Haverkamp, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: A continuous flow setup for in situ investigation of microgel growth using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is established in this work. Poly(N-n-propylacrylamide) (PNNPAM) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels are synthesized in a continuous flow reactor and investigated using in situ SAXS and ex situ photon correlation spectroscopy. The size of the microgels is found to be reproducible in independent experiments, and the spherical shape of the microgels is confirmed through scattering analysis. The presented compact reactor offers a plug and-play setup close to the sample environment, paving the way for future investigations of microgel growth at synchrotron X-ray beamlines.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Pia Haegerbaeumer, Friederike Graebitz-Braeuer, Marco Annegarn, Carina Dargel, Tim Julian Stank, Thomas Bizien, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: In this study, the researchers investigated the interaction between the lipid membrane model, DMPC, and the drug naproxen and the saponin beta-aescin. The results showed that naproxen and aescin distorted the lipid membrane structure and lowered the main phase transition temperature. Below the transition temperature, the mixture showed a vesicle structure, while above it, the insertion of the molecules induced the formation of correlated bilayers. The data confirmed the interaction of naproxen and aescin with DMPC model membranes and the incorporation of both additives.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yi Qu, Rene Haverkamp, Desiree Jakobs-Schoenwandt, Jorge Miguel Esteban Vazquez, Thomas Hellweg, Anant V. V. Patel
Summary: Biodegradable hydrogels of slow-release fertilizers were developed using Schiff base reaction between dialdehyde carboxymethyl cellulose and gelatin. The release behavior of iron cations from carboxymethyl cellulose-based hydrogels with different degrees of substitution was investigated. The correlation length of the cross-linked hydrogels was found to influence the cation release kinetics, with the hydrogel having the lowest degree of substitution showing the slowest release. These findings highlight the potential of DACMC-Gelatin hydrogels as matrix for slow-release fertilizers.
COLLOID AND POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Yanyan Shi, Ralf Strobl, Christian Apfelbacher, Thomas Bahmer, Ramsia Geisler, Peter Heuschmann, Anna Horn, Hanno Hoven, Thomas Keil, Michael Krawczak, Lilian Krist, Christina Lemhoefer, Wolfgang Lieb, Bettina Lorenz-Depiereux, Rafael Mikolajczyk, Felipe A. Montellano, Jens Peter Reese, Stefan Schreiber, Nicole Skoetz, Stefan Stoerk, Jorg Janne Vehreschild, Martin Witzenrath, Eva Grill
Summary: This study aimed to assess symptoms in patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection and identify factors predicting prolonged time to symptom-free. The results showed that over half of the participants still reported COVID-19-related symptoms 9 months after infection. Symptom persistence was predominantly determined by participant characteristics that are difficult to modify.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Friederike Graebitz-Braeuer, Carina Dargel, Ramsia Geisler, Pascal Fandrich, Viktor Sabadasch, Lionel Porcar, Andreas Mix, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: This study investigates the interaction between β-aescin and small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) made of the negatively charged lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DOPG). Contrary to expectations, the study finds little to no interaction between DOPG SUVs and aescin micelles.
COLLOID AND POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yi Qu, Rene Haverkamp, Zhaorui Jin, Desiree Jakobs-Schoenwandt, Anant V. Patel, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: This study investigates the mechanism of cation release from carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels synthesized through Schiff base reaction. By analyzing the release kinetics of potassium, calcium, and iron cations at different pH values, it is demonstrated that this hydrogel has the property of slow cation release.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jorge Esteban Vazquez, Janine Birnbach, Peter Schmiedel, Mahdis Hesami, Melanie Gettinger, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: In this study, the cubic phase of a triblock copolymer called Pluronic PE6800 was investigated with and without additives. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments were conducted to analyze the cubic lattice constant and temperature stability. Rheology tests were also performed to examine the flow properties and stability of the samples at ambient temperature.
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Martin Wortmann, Waldemar Keil, Elise Diestelhorst, Michael Westphal, Rene Haverkamp, Bennet Brockhagen, Jan Biedinger, Laila Bondzio, Christian Weinberger, Dominik Baier, Michael Tiemann, Andreas Huetten, Thomas Hellweg, Guenter Reiss, Claudia Schmidt, Klaus Sattler, Natalie Frese
Summary: Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an efficient method for converting organic feedstock into carbonaceous solids. The HTC of trehalose shows bimodal sphere diameter distribution, with small spheres of (2.1 +/- 0.2) μm and large spheres of (10.4 +/- 2.6) μm. After pyrolytic post-carbonization, the trehalose-derived hard carbon microspheres develop a hierarchical pore structure, making them promising materials for catalysis, filtration, and energy storage devices.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Pascal Fandrich, Marco Annegarn, Lars Wiehemeier, Ina Ehring, Tilman Kottke, Thomas Hellweg
Summary: In this study, core-shell microgels based on NiPMAM core and NnPAM shell were synthesized in a continuous flow reactor. The formation mechanism of the shell was investigated and it was found that the growth of the shell depends on the residence time of the solution inside the reactor. The volume phase transition temperatures of the core and the shell decreased significantly with increasing residence time.