Rational design of protein-based MRI contrast agents.
AuthorsYang JJ, Yang J, Wei L, Zurkiya O, Yang W, Li S, Zou J, Zhou Y, Maniccia AL, Mao H, Zhao F, Malchow R, Zhao S, Johnson J, Hu X, Krogstad E, Liu ZR,
JournalJ Am Chem Soc
PubMed ID18576649
We describe the rational design of a novel class of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents with engineered proteins (CAi.CD2, i = 1, 2,..., 9) chelated with gadolinium. The design of protein-based contrast agents involves creating high-coordination Gd(3+) binding sites in a stable host protein using amino acid residues and ... More
Concurrent maturation of inner hair cell synaptic Ca2+ influx and auditory nerve spontaneous activity around hearing onset in mice.
AuthorsWong AB, Jing Z, Rutherford MA, Frank T, Strenzke N, Moser T,
Journal
PubMed ID23804089
Hearing over a wide range of sound intensities is thought to require complementary coding by functionally diverse spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), each changing activity only over a subrange. The foundations of SGN diversity are not well understood but likely include differences among their inputs: the presynaptic active zones (AZs) of ... More
Low-affinity Ca2+ indicators compared in measurements of skeletal muscle Ca2+ transients.
AuthorsHollingworth S, Gee KR, Baylor SM,
JournalBiophys J
PubMed ID19804716
The low-affinity fluorescent Ca(2+) indicators OGB-5N, Fluo-5N, fura-5N, Rhod-5N, and Mag-fluo-4 were evaluated for their ability to accurately track the kinetics of the spatially averaged free Ca(2+) transient (Delta[Ca(2+)]) in skeletal muscle. Frog single fibers were injected with one of the above indicators and, usually, furaptra (previously shown to rapidly ... More
Tuning of synapse number, structure and function in the cochlea.
Cochlear inner hair cells (IHCs) transmit acoustic information to spiral ganglion neurons through ribbon synapses. Here we have used morphological and physiological techniques to ask whether synaptic mechanisms differ along the tonotopic axis and within IHCs in the mouse cochlea. We show that the number of ribbon synapses per IHC ... More
Confocal imaging of CICR events from isolated and immobilized SR vesicles.
AuthorsShannon TR, Bers DM, Blatter LA, Niggli E
JournalCell Calcium
PubMed ID16122794
The Ca2+ concentration inside the sarcoplasmic reticulum ([Ca2+]SR) is a difficult parameter to measure in ventricular cardiac myocytes. Interference from Ca2+-sensitive dye loading into cellular compartments other than the SR interferes with free Ca2+ measurement. In addition, the composition of the cytosol surrounding the SR in intact cells cannot be ... More
Sustained overexpression of IGF-1 prevents age-dependent decrease in charge movement and intracellular Ca(2+) in mouse skeletal muscle.
AuthorsWang ZM, Messi ML, Delbono O
JournalBiophys J
PubMed ID11867450
In this work we tested the hypothesis that transgenic sustained overexpression of IGF-1 prevents age-dependent decreases in charge movement and intracellular Ca(2+) in skeletal muscle fibers. To this end, short flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscle fibers from 5-7- and 21-24-month-old FVB (wild-type) and S1S2 (IGF-1 transgenic) mice were studied. Fibers ... More
Ionic calcium determination in skim milk with molecular probes and front-face fluorescence spectroscopy: simple linear regression.
AuthorsGangidi RR, Metzger LE
JournalJ Dairy Sci
PubMed ID17032997
The purpose of this study was to determine if the ionic calcium content of skim milk could be determined using molecular probes and front-face fluorescence spectroscopy. Current methods for determining ionic calcium are not sensitive, overestimate ionic calcium, or require complex procedures. Molecular probes designed specifically for measuring ionic calcium ... More