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Cancer cell lipid class homeostasis is altered under nutrient-deprivation but stable under hypoxia
(2019)
Background: Cancer cells modify the balance between fatty acid (FA) synthesis and uptake under metabolic stress, induced by oxygen/nutrient deprivation. These modifications were shown to alter the levels of individual triglyceride (TG) or phospholipid sub-species. To attain a holistic overview of the lipidomic profiles of cancer cells under stress we performed a broad lipidomic assay, comprising 244 lipids from six major classes. This assay allowed us to perform robust analyses and assess the changes in averages of broader lipid-classes, stratified on the basis of saturation index of their fatty-acyl side chains.
Methods: Global lipidomic profiling using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry was performed to assess lipidomic profiles of biologically diverse cancer cell lines cultivated under metabolically stressed conditions.
Results: Neutral lipid compositions were markedly modified under serum-deprived conditions and, strikingly, the cellular level of triglyceride subspecies decreased with increasing number of double bonds in their fatty acyl chains.
In contrast and unexpectedly, no robust changes were observed in lipidomic profiles of hypoxic (2% O2) cancer cells despite concurrent changes in proliferation rates and metabolic gene expression.
Conclusions: Serum-deprivation significantly affects lipidomic profiles of cancer cells. Although, the levels of individual lipid moieties alter under hypoxia (2% O2), the robust averages of broader lipid classes remain unchanged.
MACC1 is a prognostic and predictive metastasis biomarker for more than 20 solid Cancer entities. However, its role in cancer metabolism is not sufficiently explored. Here, we report on how MACC1 impacts the use of glucose, glutamine, lactate, pyruvate and fatty acids and show the comprehensive analysis of MACC1-driven metabolic networks. We analyzed concentrationdependent changes in nutrient use, nutrient depletion, metabolic tracing employing 13C-labeled substrates, and in vivo studies. We found that MACC1 permits numerous effects on cancer
metabolism. Most of those effects increased nutrient uptake. Furthermore, MACC1 alters metabolic pathways by affecting metabolite production or turnover from metabolic substrates. MACC1 supports use of glucose, glutamine and pyruvate via their increased depletion or altered distribution within metabolic pathways. In summary, we demonstrate that MACC1 is an important regulator of metabolism in cancer cells.
The statistical tool eCerto was developed for the evaluation of measurement data to assign property values and associated uncertainties of reference materials. The analysis is based on collaborative studies of expert laboratories and was implemented using the R software environment. Emphasis was put on comparability of eCerto with SoftCRM, a statistical tool based on the certification strategy of the former Community Bureau of Reference. Additionally, special attention was directed towards easy usability from data collection through processing, archiving, and reporting. While the effects of outlier removal can be flexibly explored, eCerto always retains the original data set and any manipulation such as outlier removal is (graphically and tabularly) documented adequately in the report. As a major reference materials producer, the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) developed and will maintain a tool to meet the needs of modern data processing, documentation requirements, and emerging fields of RM activity. The main features of eCerto are discussed using previously certified reference materials.
Real-time monitoring of newly acidified organelles during autophagy in living cells is highly desirable for a better understanding of intracellular degradative processes. Herein, we describe a reaction-based boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dye containing strongly electron-withdrawing diethyl 2-cyanoacrylate groups at the α-positions. The probe exhibits intense red fluorescence in acidic organelles or the acidified cytosol while negligible fluorescence in other regions of the cell. The underlying mechanism is a nucleophilic reaction at the central meso-carbon of the indacene core, resulting in the loss of π-conjugation entailed by dramatic spectroscopic changes of more than 200 nm between its colorless, non-fluorescent leuco-BODIPY form and its red and brightly emitting form. The reversible transformation between red fluorescent BODIPY and leuco-BODIPY along with negligible cytotoxicity qualifies such dyes for rapid and direct intracellular lysosome imaging and cytosolic acidosis detection simultaneously without any washing step, enabling the real-time monitoring of newly acidified organelles during autophagy.
The injection of hydrogen into the natural-gas grid is an alternative during the process of a gradual decarbonization of the heat and power supply. When dealing with hydrogen-enriched natural gas mixtures, the performance of the reference equations of state habitually used for natural gas should be validated by using high-precision experimental thermophysical data from multicomponent reference mixtures prepared with the lowest possible uncertainty in composition. In this work, we present experimental density data for an 11-compound high-calorific (hydrogen-free) natural gas mixture and for two derived hydrogen-enriched natural gas mixtures prepared by adding (10 and 20) mol-% of hydrogen to the original standard natural gas mixture. The three mixtures were prepared gravimetrically according to ISO 6142–1 for maximum precision in their composition and thus qualify for reference materials. A single-sinker densimeter was used to determine the density of the mixtures from (250–350) K and up to 20 MPa. The experimental density results of this work have been compared to the densities calculated by three different reference equations of state for natural gas related mixtures: the AGA8-DC92 EoS, the GERG-2008 EoS, and an improved version of the GERG-2008 EoS. While relative deviations of the experimental density data for the hydrogen-free natural gas mixture are always within the claimed uncertainty of the three considered equations of state, larger deviations can be observed for the hydrogen-enriched natural gas mixtures from any of the three equations of state, especially for the lowest temperature and the highest pressures.
For the gradual introduction of hydrogen in the energy market, the study of the properties of mixtures of hydrogen with typical components of natural gas (NG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is of great importance. This work aims to provide accurate experimental (p, rho, T) data for three hydrogen-propane mixtures with nominal compositions (amount of substance, mol/mol) of (0.95 H2 + 0.05 C3H8), (0.90 H2 + 0.10 C3H8), and (0.83 H2 + 0.17 C3H8), at temperatures of 250, 275, 300, 325, 350, and 375 K, and pressures up to 20 MPa. A single-sinker densimeter was used to determine the density of the mixtures. Experimental density data were compared to the densities calculated from two reference equations of state: the GERG-2008 and the AGA8-DC92. Relative deviations from the GERG-2008 EoS are systematically larger than those from the AGA8-DC92. They are within the ±0.5% band for the mixture with 5% of propane, but deviations are higher than 0.5% for the mixtures with 10% and 17% of propane, especially at low temperatures and high pressures. Finally, the sets of new experimental data have been processed by the application of two different statistical equations of state: the virial equation of state, through the second and third virial coefficients, B(T, x) and C(T, x), and the PC-SAFT equation of state.
Amphiphilic nanogels (ANGs) are promising carriers for hydrophobic cargos such as drugs, dyes, and catalysts.
Loading content and release kinetics of these compounds are controlled by type and number of hydrophobic groups in the amphiphilic copolymer network. Thus, understanding the interactions between cargo and colloidal carrier is mandatory for a tailor-made and cargo-specific ANG design. To systematically explore the influence of the network composition on these interactions, we prepared a set of ANGs of different amphiphilicity and loaded these ANGs with varying concentrations of the solvatochromic dye Nile Red (NR). Here, NR acts as a hydrophobic model cargo to optically probe the polarity of its microenvironment. Analysis of the NR emission spectra as well as measurements of the fluorescence quantum yields and decay kinetics revealed a decrease in the polarity of the NR microenvironment with increasing hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic groups in the ANG network and dye–dye interactions at higher loading concentrations. At low NR concentrations, the hydrophobic cargo NR is encapsulated in the hydrophobic domains. Increasing NR concentrations resulted in probe molecules located in a more hydrophilic environment, i.e., at the nanodomain border, and favored dye–dye interactions and NR aggregation.
These results correlate well with release experiments, indicating first NR release from more hydrophilic network locations. Overall, our findings demonstrate the importance to understand carrier–drug interactions for efficient loading and controlled release profiles in amphiphilic nanogels.
In this work, we describe the synthesis, structural and photophysical characterization of four novel Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes bearing tetradentate luminophoric ligands with high photoluminescence quantum yields (FL) and long excited state lifetimes (s) at room temperature, where the results were interpreted by means of DFT calculations. Incorporation of fluorine atoms into the tetradentate ligand favors aggregation and thereby, a shortened average distance between the metal centers, which provides accessibility to metal–metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (3MMLCT) excimers acting as red-shifted Energy traps if compared with the monomeric entities. This supramolecular approach provides an elegant way to enable room-temperature phosphorescence from Pd(II) complexes, which are otherwise quenched by a thermal population of dissociative states due to a lower ligand field splitting. Encapsulation of These complexes in 100 nm-sized aminated polystyrene nanoparticles enables concentration-controlled aggregation-enhanced dual emission. This phenomenon facilitates the tunability of the absorption and emission colors while providing a rigidified environment supporting an enhanced FL up to about 80% and extended s exceeding 100 ms. Additionally, these nanoarrays constitute rare examples for selfreferenced oxygen reporters, since the phosphorescence of the aggregates is insensitive to external influences, whereas the monomeric species drop in luminescence lifetime and intensity with increasing triplet molecular dioxygen concentrations (diffusion-controlled quenching).
Separation technology as a sub-discipline of thermal process engineering is one of the most critical steps in the production of chemicals, essential for the quality of intermediate and end products.
The discipline comprises the construction of facilities that convert raw materials into value-added products along the value chain. Conversions typically take place in repeated reaction and separation steps—either in batch or continuous processes. The end products are the result of several production and separation steps that are not only sequentially linked, but also include the treatment of unused raw materials, by-products and wastes. Production processes in the process industry are particularly susceptible to fluctuations in raw materials and other influences affecting product quality. This is a challenge, despite increasing fluctuations, to deliver targeted quality and simultaneously meet the increasing dynamics of the market, at least for high value fine chemicals. In order to survive successfully in a changed environment, chemical companies must tread new paths. This includes the potential of digital technologies. The full integration and intelligent networking of systems and processes is progressing hesitantly. This contribution aims to encourage a more holistic approach to the digitalization in thermal process engineering by introduction of integrated and networked systems and processes.
With the reduction of large oil spills because of stricter regulations and safety measures, the question of how to manage smaller oil spills arises. Few on-site analytical tools are available for first responders or other law enforcement personnel to rapidly test for crude oil in the early management of localized polluted areas. The approach reported here relies on well-described computer-assisted multivariate data analysis of the intrinsic fluorescence fingerprints of crude oils to build a multivariate model for the rapid classification of crude oils and the prediction of their properties. Thanks to a dedicated robust portable reader, the method allowed classification and accurate prediction of various properties of crude oil samples like density (according to API, the American Petroleum Institute and viscosity as well as composition parameters such as volume fractions of paraffins or aromatics. In this way, autonomous operation in on-site or in-the-field applications becomes possible based on the direct (undiluted and untreated) measurement of samples and a rapid, tablet-operated readout system to yield a robust and simple analytical test with superior performance. Testing in real-life scenarios allowed the successful classification and prediction of a number of oil spill samples as well as weathered samples that closely resemble samples collected by first responders.
Background: There is a need for biomarker to identify patients “at risk” for rheumatoid arthritis (risk-RA) and to better predict the therapeutic response and in this study we tested the hypothesis that novel native and citrullinated heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP)-DL autoantibodies could be possible biomarkers.
Methods: Using protein macroarray and ELISA, epitope recognition against hnRNP-DL was analysed in sera from different developed RA disease and diagnosed SLE patients. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/9 and myeloid Differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88)-dependency were studied in sera from murine disease models. HnRNP-DL expression in cultivated cells and synovial tissue was analysed by indirect immunofluorescence, immunoblot and immunohistochemistry.
Formation Mechanism of a Nano-Ring of Bismuth Cations and Mono-Lacunary Keggin-Type Phosphomolybdate
(2022)
A new hetero-bimetallic polyoxometalate (POM) nano-ring was synthesized in a one-pot procedure. The structure consists of tetrameric units containing four bismuth-substituted monolacunary Keggin anions including distorted [BiO8] cubes. The nano-ring is formed via self-assembly from metal precursors in aqueous acidic medium. The compound (NH4)16[(BiPMo11O39)4] ⋅ 22 H2O; (P4Bi4Mo44) was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS), Raman spectroscopy, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF), and thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry mass spectrometry (TG-DSC-MS). The formation of the nano-ring in solution was studied by time-resolved in situ small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) and in situ EXAFS measurements at the Mo−K and the Bi−L3 edge indicating a two-step process consisting of condensation of Mo-anions and formation of Bi−Mo-units followed by a rapid self-assembly to yield the final tetrameric ring structure.
The preparation of new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) multicomponent Crystal forms, especially co-crystals and salts, is being considered as a reliable strategy to improve API solubility and bioavailability. In this study, three novel imidazole-based salts of the poorly water-soluble salicylic acid (SA) are reported exhibiting a remarkable improvement in solubility and dissolution rate properties. All structures were solved by powder X-ray diffraction. Multiple complementary techniques were used to solve co-crystal/salt ambiguities: density functional Theory calculations, Raman and 1H/13C solid-state NMR spectroscopies. In all molecular salts, the Crystal packing interactions are based on a common charged assisted +N-H SA)...O-(co-former) hydrogen bond interaction. The presence of an extra methyl group in different positions of the co-former, induced different supramolecular arrangements, yielding salts with different physicochemical properties.
All salts present much higher solubility and dissolution rate than pure SA. The most promising results were obtained for the salts with imidazole and 1-methylimidazole co-formers.
The generation of ozone and nitrogen oxides by laser-induced dielectric breakdown (LIDB) in mixtures of air with noble gases Ar, He, Kr, and Xe is investigated using OES and IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and absorption spectrophotometry. It is shown that the formation of NO and NO2 noticeably depends on the type of inert gas; the more complex electronic configuration and the lower ionization potential of the inert gas led to increased production of NO and NO2. The formation of ozone occurs mainly due to the photolytic reaction outside the gas discharge zone. Equilibrium thermodynamic analysis showed that the formation of NO in mixtures of air with inert gases does not depend on the choice of an inert gas, while the equilibrium concentration of the NO+ ion decreases with increasing complexity of the electronic configuration of an inert gas.
During its 25 years of existence, the Inorganic Analysis Working Group of the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance: Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (CCQM IAWG) has achieved much in establishing comparability of measurement results. Impressive work has been done on comparison exercises related to real-world problems in fields such as ecology, food, or health. In more recent attempts, measurements and comparisons were focused on calibration solutions which are the basis of most inorganic chemical measurements. This contribution deals with the question of how to achieve full and transparent SI traceability for the values carried by such solutions. Within this framework, the use of classical primary methods (CPMs) is compared to the use of a primary difference method (PDM). PDM is a method with a dual character, namely a metrological method with a primary character, based on the bundling of many measurement methods for individual impurities, which lead to materials with certified content of the main component. As in classical methods, where small corrections for interferences are accepted, in PDM, many small corrections are bundled. In contrast to classical methods, the PDM is universally applicable to all elements in principle. Both approaches can be used to certify the purity (expressed as mass fraction of the main element) of a high-purity material. This is where the metrological need of National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) for analytical methods meet the challenges of analytical methods. In terms of methods, glow discharge mass spectrometry (GMDS) with sufficient uncertainties for sufficiently small impurity contents is particularly noteworthy for the certification of primary transfer standards (PTS), and isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS), which particularly benefits from PTS (back-spikes) with small uncertainties, is particularly noteworthy for the application. The corresponding relative uncertainty which can be achieved using the PDM is very low (< 10−4). Acting as PTS, they represent the link between the material aspect of the primary calibration solutions and the immaterial world of the International System of Units (SI). The underlying concepts are discussed, the current status of implementation is summarised, and a roadmap of the necessary future activities in inorganic analytical chemistry is sketched. It has to be noted that smaller measurement uncertainties of the purity of high-purity materials not only have a positive effect on chemical measurements, but also trigger new developments and findings in other disciplines such as thermometry or materials science.
Xenobiotics and their reactive metabolites are conjugated with native biomolecules such as glutathione and glucoside during phase II metabolism. Toxic metabolites are usually detoxified during this step. On the other hand, these reactive species have a potential health impact by disrupting many enzymatic functions. Thus, it is crucial to understand phase II conjugation reactions of xenobiotics in order to address their fate and possible toxicity mechanisms.
Additionally, conventional methods (in vivo and in vitro) have limitation due to matrix complexity and time-consuming. Hence, developing fast and matrix-free alternative method is highly demandable. In this work, oxidative phase I metabolites and reactive species of chlorpyrifos (insecticide) and fluopyram (fungicide) were electrochemically produced by using a boron-doped diamond electrode coupled online to electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Reactive species of the substrates were trapped by biomolecules (glutathione and glucoside) and phase II conjugative metabolites were identified using liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS, and/or Triple time of flight (TripleTOF)-MS. Glutathione conjugates and glucosylation of chlorpyrifos, trichloropyridinol, oxon, and monohydroxyl fluopyram were identified successfully. Glutathione and glucoside were conjugated with chlorpyrifos, trichloropyridinol, and oxon by losing a neutral HCl. In the case of fluopyram, its monohydroxyl metabolite was actively conjugated with both glutathione and glucoside. In summary, seven bioconjugates of CPF and its metabolites and two bioconjugates of fluopyram metabolites were identified using electrochemistry (EC)/MS for the first time in this work. The work could be used as an alternative approach to identify glutathione and glucosylation conjugation reactions of other organic compounds too. It is important, especially to predict phase II conjugation within a short time and matrix-free environment.
Identifying the fate of agrochemicals is important to understand their potential risk for living organisms. We report here new photodegradation products (PPs) of the fungicide fluopyram. The PPs were produced by irradiating a fluopyram standard in 0.1% acetonitrile aqueous media by a 150-W medium pressure Hg-lamp that emits wavelengths between 200–280 nm. The structural elucidation of PPs was achieved by combining the retention time, isotopic pattern, targeted fragmentation, and accurate mass measurements using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and high resolution-MS (HRMS). In addition to previously known PPs, seven new PPs of fluopyram were identified in this work: mainly dihydroxyl and hydroxylimide fluopyram as well as mono, di, and trihydroxyl lactam. Additionally, two PPs were found to be formed by rearrangement after the loss of H2C=CH2. Hence, the results of the work contribute to extending the current knowledge regarding the photoinduced fate of agrochemicals, and fluopyram in particular.
An automated and straightforward detection and data treatment strategy for the determination of the protein relative concentration in individual human cells by single cell–inductively coupled plasma–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (sc-ICP-ToF-MS) is proposed. Metal nanocluster (NC)-labeled specific antibodies for the target proteins were employed, and ruthenium red (RR) staining, which binds to the cells surface, was used to determine the number of cell events as well as to evaluate the relative volume of the cells. As a proof of concept, the expression of hepcidin, metallothionein-2, and ferroportin employing specific antibodies labeled with IrNCs, PtNCs, and AuNCs, respectively, was investigated by sc-ICP-ToF-MS in human ARPE-19 cells. Taking into account that ARPE-19 cells are spherical in suspension and RR binds to the surface of the cells, the Ru intensity was related to the cell volume (i.e., the cell volume is directly proportional to (Ru intensity)3/2), making it possible to determine not only the mass of the target proteins in each individual cell but also the relative concentration. The proposed approach is of particular interest in comparing cell cultures subjected to different supplementations. ARPE-19 cell cultures under two stress conditions were compared: a hyperglycemic model and an oxidative stress model. The comparison of the control with treated cells shows not only the mass of analyzed species but also the relative changes in the cell volume and concentration of target proteins, clearly allowing the identification of subpopulations under the respective treatment.
Single-cell analysis by ICP-MS/MS as a fast tool for cellular bioavailability studies of arsenite
(2018)
Single-cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SC-ICP-MS) has become a powerful and fast tool to evaluate the elemental composition at a single-cell level. In this study, the cellular bioavailability of arsenite (incubation of 25 and 50 μM for 0-48 h) has been successfully assessed by SC-ICP-MS/MS for the first time directly after re-suspending the cells in water. This procedure avoids the normally arising cell membrane permeabilization caused by cell fixation methods (e.g. methanol fixation). The reliability and feasibility of this SC-ICP-MS/MS approach with a limit of detection of 0.35 fg per cell was validated by conventional bulk ICP-MS/MS analysis after cell digestion and parallel measurement of sulfur and phosphorus.
Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (AF4), as a cleaning technique, was combined on-line with the multielemental analytical capabilities of an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-ToF-MS). In that manner, the heavy ionic matrix effect of untreated cells' samples can be significantly reduced. As a proof of concept, commercial baker's yeast cells were analysed.
Gold-based nanoparticles below 2 nm in size are promising as luminescent probes for in vivo bioimaging, owing to their brightness and rapid renal clearance. However, their use as contrast agents in the near-infrared II (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) range remains challenging due to their low photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield. To address this, PL enhancement can be achieved by either rigidifying the ligand-shell structure or increasing the size of the ligand shell. In this study, we synthesized ultra-small gold nanoparticles stabilized by co-ligands, namely monothiol and short dithiol molecules. By precisely controlling the amount of reducing agent used during particle preparation, we successfully modulated the physicochemical properties of the co-ligand shell, including its size, composition, and structure. Consequently, we achieved a remarkable 60-fold increase in the absorption cross-section at 990 nm while maintaining the small size of the 1.5-nm metal core. The analytical and optical characterization of our thiol-capped gold nanoparticles indicates that the ligand shell size is governed by the quantity of the reducing agent, which, in turn, impacts the balance between radiative and non-radiative processes, thereby influencing the PL quantum yield.
Undetected and undesired microstructural variations in components produced by laser powder bed fusion are a major challenge, especially for safety-critical components. In this study, an in-depth analysis of the microstructural features of 316L specimens produced by laser powder bed fusion at different levels of volumetric energy density and different levels of inter layer time is reported. The study has been conducted on specimens with an application relevant build height
(>100 mm). Furthermore, the evolution of the intrinsic preheating temperature during the build-up of specimens was monitored using a thermographic in-situ monitoring set-up. By applying recently determined emissivity values of 316L powder layers, real temperatures could be quantified. Heat accumulation led to preheating temperatures of up to about 600 °C. Significant differences in the preheating temperatures were discussed with respect to the individual process parameter combinations, including the build height. A strong effect of the inter layer time on the heat accumulation was observed. A shorter inter layer time resulted in an increase of the preheating temperature by more than a factor of 2 in the upper part of the specimens compared to longer inter layer times. This, in turn, resulted in heterogeneity of the microstructure and differences in material properties within individual specimens. The resulting differences in the microstructure were analyzed using electron back scatter diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Results from chemical analysis as well as electron back scatter diffraction measurements indicated stable conditions in terms of chemical alloy composition and austenite phase content for the used set of parameter combinations. However, an increase of the average grain size by more than a factor of 2.5 could be revealed within individual specimens. Additionally, differences in feature size of the solidification cellular substructure were examined and a trend of increasing cell sizes was observed. This trend was attributed to differences in solidification rate and thermal gradients induced by differences in scanning velocity and preheating temperature. A change of the thermal history due to intrinsic preheating could be identified as the main cause of this heterogeneity. It was induced by critical combinations of the energy input and differences in heat transfer conditions by variations of the inter layer time. The microstructural variations were directly correlated to differences in hardness.
Synthesis, characterization, electrochemistry, and photophysics of novel homo- and heteroleptic ruthenium(II) complexes [Ru(cpmp)2] 2+ (22+) and [Ru(cpmp)(ddpd)]2+ (32+) bearing the tridentate ligands 6,2’’-carboxypyridyl-2,2’-methylamine-pyridylpyridine (cpmp) and N,N’-dimethyl-N,N’-dipyridin-2-ylpyridine-2,6-diamine (ddpd) are reported. The complexes possess one (32+) or two (22+) electron-deficient dipyridyl ketone fragments as electron accepting sites enabling intraligand charge transfer (ILCT), ligand-toligand charge transfer (LL’CT) and low-energy metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) absorptions. The latter peak around 544 nm (green light). 22+ shows 3MLCT phosphorescence in the red to near-infrared spectral region at room temperature in deaerated acetonitrile solution with an emission quantum yield of 1.3 % and a 3MLCT lifetime of 477 ns, while 3
2+ is much less luminescent. This different behaviour is ascribed to the energy gap law and the shape of the parasitic excited 3MC state potential energy surface. This study highlights the importance of the excited state energies and geometries for the actual excited state dynamics. Aromatic and aliphatic amines reductively quench the excited state of 22+ paving the way to photocatalytic applications using low-energy green light as exemplified with the green-light sensitized thiol-ene click reaction.
Reliable measurement of the size of polydisperse, complex-shaped commercial nanopowders is a difficult but necessary task, e.g., for regulatory requirements and toxicity risk assessment. Suitable methods exist for the accurate characterization of the size of non-aggregated, stabilized, spherical and monodisperse nanoparticles. In contrast, industrial nanoscale powders usually require dedicated sample preparation procedures developed for the analysis method of choice. These nano-powders tend to agglomerate and/or aggregate, a behavior which in combination with an innate broad particle size distribution and irregular shape often significantly alters the achievable accuracy of the measured size parameters. The present study systematically tests two commercially available nanoscale powders using different sample preparation methods for correlative analysis by scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, Brunauer–Emmet–Teller method and differential mobility analysis. One focus was set on the sample preparation by embedding nanoparticles in carbon-based hot-mounting resin. Literature on this topic is scarce and the accuracy of the data extracted from cross sections of these particles is unclearly stated. In this paper systematic simulations on the deviation of the size parameters of well-defined series of nanoparticles with different shapes from the nominal value were carried out and the contributing factors are discussed.
Lipid droplets, the dynamic organelles that store Triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol esters (CE), are highly accumulated in colon cancer cells. This work studies the TG and CE subspecies profile in colon carcinoma cell lines, SW480 derived from primary tumor, and SW620 derived from a metastasis of the same tumor. It was previously reported that the total TG and CE content is dramatically higher in SW620 cells; however, TG and CE subspecies profile has not been investigated in detail. The work presented here confirms that the total TG and CE Content is significantly higher in the SW620 cells. Moreover, the fatty acid (FA) composition of TG is significantly altered in the SW620 cells, with significant decrease in the abundance of saturated triglycerides. This resulted in a significantly decreased TG saturation index in the SW620 cells. The saturation index of CE was also significantly decreased in the SW620 cells.
Lifestyle modifications could prevent almost one‑third to one‑half of all cancer cases. The awareness of cancer risk factors could motivate people to make such changes in their behaviors and lifestyles. This work aims to investigate the cancer awareness level in the Pakistani population. Telephone interviews of 657 individuals in Pakistan were carried out using the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) and Cancer Awareness Measure–MYthical Causes Scale (CAM‑MY). We observed that participants scored significantly better on the CAM scale than the CAM‑MY scale, and CAM scores were negatively associated with CAM‑MY scores. Years of formal education or a biology major at undergraduate or graduate level did not affect our population’s cancer awareness levels. Age displayed a weak but statistically significant negative association with CAM scores. Most participants failed to identify modifiable cancer risk factors, e.g., low physical activity. Efforts should be made to improve awareness of modifiable risk factors. We observed that brief training sessions could markedly improve people’s understanding of cancer risk factors and myths.
Atherosclerosis is a progressive inflammatory vascular disease characterized by endothelial dysfunction and plaque burden. Extracellular matrix (ECM)-associated plasma proteins play an important role in disease development. Our magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study investigates the feasibility of using two different molecular MRI probes for the simultaneous assessment of ECM-associated intraplaque albumin deposits caused by endothelial damage and progressive inflammation in atherosclerosis. Male apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-)-mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 2 or 4 months. Another ApoE-/--group was treated with pravastatin and received a HFD for 4 months. T1- and T2*-weighted MRI was performed before and after albumin-specific MRI probe (gadofosveset) administration and a macrophage-specific contrast agent (ferumoxytol). Thereafter, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and histology were performed. With advancing atherosclerosis, albumin-based MRI signal enhancement and ferumoxytol-induced signal loss areas in T2*-weighted MRI increased. Significant correlations between contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) post-gadofosveset and albumin stain (R2 = 0.78, p < 0.05), and signal loss areas in T2*-weighted MRI with Perls’ Prussian blue stain (R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05) were observed. No interference of ferumoxytol with gadofosveset enhancement was detectable. Pravastatin led to decreased inflammation and intraplaque albumin. Multi-target MRI combining ferumoxytol and gadofosveset is a promising method to improve diagnosis and treatment monitoring in atherosclerosis.
The catalytic behavior of iron phthalocyanine (FePc)-sensitized magnetic nanocatalysts was evaluated for their application in the oxidative treatment of Bisphenol A (BPA) under mild environmental conditions. Two types of FePc (Fe(II)Pc and Fe(III)Pc), which are highly photosensitive compounds, were immobilized on the surface of functionalized magnetite. The nanomaterials were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray difraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). The generation of singlet Oxygen by nanomaterials was also investigated. In the presence of UVA light exposure (365nm) and 15mM H2O2, the M@Fe(III)Pc photocatalyst gave the best results; for a catalyst concentration of 2.0gL −1, around 60% BPA was removed after 120min of reaction. These experimental conditions were further tested under natural solar light exposure, for which also M@Fe(III)Pc exhibited enhanced oxidative catalytic activity, being able to remove 83% of BPA in solution. The water samples were less cytotoxic after treatment, this being confrmed by the MCF-7 cell viability assay.
Cost-effective water cleaning approaches using improved Treatment technologies, for instance based on catalytic processes with high activity catalysts, are urgently needed. The aim of our study was to synthesize efficient Fenton-like photo-catalysts for rapid degradation of persistent organic micropollutants in aqueous medium. Iron-based nanomaterials were chemically synthesized through simple procedures by immobilization of either iron(II) oxalate (FeO) or iron(III) citrate (FeC) on magnetite (M) nanoparticles stabilized with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Various investigation techniques were performed in order to characterize the freshly prepared catalysts. By applying advanced oxidation processes, the effect of catalyst dosage, hydrogen peroxide concentration and UV-A light exposure were examined for Bisphenol A (BPA) conversion, at laboratory scale, in mild conditions. The obtained results revealed that BPA degradation was rapidly enhanced in the presence of low-concentration H2O2, as well as under UV-A light, and is highly dependent on the surface characteristics of the catalyst. Complete photo-degradation of BPA was achieved over the M/PEG/FeO catalyst in less than 15 minutes. Based on the catalytic performance, a hierarchy of the tested catalysts was established: M/PEG/FeO > M/PEG/FeC > M/PEG. The results of cytotoxicity assay using MCF-7 cells indicated that the aqueous samples after treatment are less cytotoxic.
A modern day light microscope has evolved from a tool devoted to making primarily empirical observations to what is now a sophisticated, quantitative device that is an integral part of both physical and life science research. Nowadays, microscopes are found in nearly every experimental laboratory. However, despite their prevalent use in capturing and quantifying scientific phenomena, neither a thorough understanding of the principles underlying quantitative imaging techniques nor appropriate knowledge of how to calibrate, operate and maintain microscopes can be taken for granted. This is clearly demonstrated by the well-documented and widespread difficulties that are routinely encountered in evaluating acquired data and reproducing scientific experiments. Indeed, studies have shown that more than 70% of researchers have tried and failed to repeat another scientist’s experiments, while more than half have even failed to reproduce their own experiments1. One factor behind the reproducibility crisis of experiments published in scientific journals is the frequent underreporting of imaging methods caused by a lack of awareness and/or a lack of knowledge of the applied technique2,3. Whereas quality control procedures for some methods used in biomedical research, such as genomics (e.g., DNA sequencing, RNA-seq) or cytometry, have been introduced (e.g. ENCODE4), this issue has not been tackled for optical microscopy instrumentation and images. Although many calibration standards and protocols have been published, there is a lack of awareness and agreement on common Standards and guidelines for quality assessment and reproducibility5.
In April 2020, the QUality Assessment and REProducibility for instruments and images in Light Microscopy (QUAREP-LiMi) initiative6 was formed. This initiative comprises imaging scientists from academia and industry who share a common interest in achieving a better understanding of the performance and limitations of microscopes and improved quality control (QC) in light microscopy. The ultimate goal of the QUAREP-LiMi initiative is to establish a set of common QC standards, guidelines, metadata models7,8, and tools9,10, including detailed protocols, with the ultimate aim of improving reproducible advances in scientific research.
This White Paper 1) summarizes the major obstacles identified in the field that motivated the launch of the QUAREP-LiMi initiative; 2) identifies the urgent need to address these obstacles in a grassroots manner, through a community of Stakeholders including, researchers, imaging scientists11, bioimage analysts, bioimage informatics developers, corporate partners, Funding agencies, standards organizations, scientific publishers, and observers of such; 3) outlines the current actions of the QUAREPLiMi initiative, and 4) proposes future steps that can be taken to improve the dissemination and acceptance of the proposed guidelines to manage QC.
To summarize, the principal goal of the QUAREP-LiMi initiative is to improve the overall quality and reproducibility of light microscope image data by introducing broadly accepted standard practices and accurately captured image data metrics.
Organic and inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly used as drug carriers, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in the life and material sciences. These applications require knowledge of the chemical nature, total number of surface groups, and the number of groups accessible for subsequent coupling of e.g., antifouling ligands, targeting bioligands, or sensor molecules. To establish the concept of catch-and-release assays, cleavable probes were rationally designed from a quantitatively cleavable disulfide moiety and the optically detectable reporter 2-thiopyridone (2-TP). For quantifying surface groups on nanomaterials, first, a set of monodisperse carboxy-and amino-functionalized, 100 nm-sized polymer and silica NPs with different surface group densities was synthesized. Subsequently, the accessible functional groups (FGs) were quantified via optical spectroscopy of the cleaved off reporter after its release in solution. Method validation was done with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) utilizing the sulfur atom of the cleavable probe. This comparison underlined the reliability and versatility of our probes, which can be used for surface group quantification on all types of transparent, scattering, absorbing and/or fluorescent particles. The correlation between the total and accessible number of FGs quantified by conductometric titration, qNMR, and with our cleavable probes, together with the comparison to results of conjugation studies with differently sized biomolecules reveal the potential of catch-and-release reporters for surface analysis. Our findings also underline the importance of quantifying particularly the accessible amount of FGs for many applications of NPs in the life sciences.
Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are widely used as active agents in disinfectants, antiseptics, and preservatives. Despite being in use since the 1940s, there remain multiple open questions regarding their detailed mode-of-action and the mechanisms, including phenotypic heterogeneity, that can make bacteria less susceptible to QACs. To facilitate studies on resistance mechanisms towards QACs, we synthesized a fluorescent quaternary ammonium compound, namely N-dodecyl-N,N-dimethyl-[2-[(4-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-7-yl)amino]ethyl]azanium-iodide (NBD-DDA). NBD-DDA is readily detected by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy with standard GFP/FITC-settings, making it suitable for molecular and single-cell studies. As a proof-of-concept, NBD-DDA was then used to investigate resistance mechanisms which can be heterogeneous among individual bacterial cells. Our results reveal that the antimicrobial activity of NBD-DDA against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is comparable to that of benzalkonium chloride (BAC), a widely used QAC, and benzyl-dimethyl-dodecylammonium chloride (BAC12), a mono-constituent BAC with alkyl-chain length of 12 and high structural similarity to NBD-DDA. Characteristic time-kill kinetics and increased tolerance of a BAC tolerant E. coli strain against NBD-DDA suggest that the mode of action of NBD-DDA is similar to that of BAC. As revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), NBD-DDA is preferentially localized to the cell envelope of E. coli, which is a primary target of BAC and other QACs. Leveraging these findings and NBD-DDA‘s fluorescent properties, we show that reduced cellular accumulation is responsible for the evolved BAC tolerance in the BAC tolerant E. coli strain and that NBD-DDA is subject to efflux mediated by TolC. Overall, NBD-DDA’s antimicrobial activity, its fluorescent properties, and its ease of detection render it a powerful tool to study resistance mechanisms of QACs in bacteria and highlight its potential to gain detailed insights into its mode-of-action.
Multiple works have studied possible associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and end stage renal disease (ESRD) showing, however, contradictory and inconsistent results. Here, we revisit the association between ESRD and HLA antigens, comparing HLA polymorphism (at HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1 and DQA1 loci) in ESRD patients (n = 497) and controls (n = 672). Our data identified several HLA alleles that displayed a significant positive or negative association with ESRD. We also determined whether heterozygosity or homozygosity of the ESRD-associated HLA alleles at different loci could modify the prevalence of the disease. Few HLA allele combinations displayed significant associations with ESRD, among which A*3_26 combination showed the highest strength of association (OR = 4.488, P≤ 0.05) with ESRD. Interestingly, the age of ESRD onset was not affected by HLA allele combinations at different loci. We also performed an extensive literature analysis to determine whether the association of HLA to ESRD can be similar across different ethnic groups. Our analysis showed that at least certain HLA alleles, HLA-A*11, HLA-DRB1*11, and HLA-DRB1*4, display a significant association with ESRD in different ethnic groups. The findings of our study will help in determining possible protective or susceptible roles of various HLA alleles in ESRD.
Per- and polyfuoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are emerging organic pollutants and can occur in surface and groundwater. To identify the degree of pollution in surface water with PFAS, often targeted HPLC–ESI–MS/MS has been employed in which commonly 30–40 compounds are analyzed. However, other PFAS and organofuorines remain undetected. We sampled surface water of the river Spree and the Teltow Canal in Berlin, Germany, which are afected by the efuent discharge of wastewater treatment plants. Here, we employed high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) for measuring extractable organofuorines (EOF) and compared in a mass balance approach the total fuorine to the identifed and quantifed PFAS from the targeted analysis. The analysis highlights that the EOF are in the range expected for an urban river system (Winchell et al. in Sci Total Environ 774, 2021). However, downstream of an efuent discharge, the EOF increased by one order of magnitude, e.g., 40.3 to 574 ng F L−1, along the Teltow Canal. From our target analytes, mostly short-chained perfuorinated carboxylic acids and sulfonates occur in the water, which however makes up less than 10% of the EOF. The increase in EOF in the Teltow Canal correlates well with the increase of perfuorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), indicating that PFHxA is characteristic for the discharged EOF but not responsible for the increase. Hence, it points to PFHxA precursor discharge. The study highlights that EOF screening using HR-CS-GFMAS is necessary to identify the full scale of pollution with regard to PFAS and other organofuorines such as pharmaceutical compounds from the efuent of WWTPs.
Accessions of one plant species may show significantly different levels of susceptibility to stresses. The Arabidopsis thaliana accessions Col-0 and C24 differ significantly in their resistance to the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst). To help unravel the underlying mechanisms contributing to this naturally occurring variance in resistance to Pst, we analyzed changes in transcripts and compounds from primary and secondary metabolism of Col-0 and C24 at different time points after infection with Pst. Our results show that the differences in the resistance of Col-0 and C24 mainly involve mechanisms of salicylic-acid-dependent systemic acquired resistance, while responses of jasmonic-acid-dependent mechanisms are shared between the two accessions. In addition, arginine metabolism and differential activity of the biosynthesis pathways of aliphatic glucosinolates and indole glucosinolates may also contribute to the resistance. Thus, this study highlights the difference in the defense response strategies utilized by different genotypes.
The interaction of microcroplastics (MP) with dissolved organic matter, especially humic substances, is of great importance in understanding the behavior of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems. Surface modification by humic substances plays an essential role in transport and interaction of MP with abiotic and biotic components. Previous studies on the interaction between MP and humic substances were largely based on a model compound, humic acid (Sigma-Aldrich). In our work, we therefore investigated the interaction of natural organic matter (NOM) sampled from a German surface water with low-density polyethylene particles (LDPE). Highpressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and UV/vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to characterize the incubation solutions after modifications due to the presence of LDPE, and Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the incubated microplastics. While the studies of the solutions generally showed only very small effects, Raman spectroscopic studies allowed clear evidence of the binding of humic fractions to MP. The comparison of the incubation of NOM and a lignite fulvic acid which also was tested further showed that specific signatures of the humic substances used could be detected by Raman spectroscopy. This provides an elegant opportunity to conduct broader studies on this issue in the future.
The trafficking of illegal drugs by criminal networks at borders, harbors, or airports is an increasing issue for public health as these routes ensure the main supply of illegal drugs. The prevention of drug smuggling, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect small traces of drugs within a reasonable time frame, remains a challenge. The presented immunosensor is based on a monolithic affinity column with a large excess of immobilized hapten, which traps fluorescently labeled antibodies as long as the analyte cocaine is absent. In the presence of the drug, some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and microfluidic chip-based mixing devices and flow cells. The biosensor achieved limits of detection of 7 ppt (23 pM) of cocaine with a response time of 90 s and a total assay time below 3 min. With surface wipe sampling, the biosensor was able to detect 300 pg of cocaine. This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for cocaine and offers near-continuous analyte measurement.
The trafficking of illegal drugs by criminal networks at borders, harbors, or airports is an increasing issue in public health as these routes ensure the main supply of illegal drugs. The prevention of drug smuggling, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect ultra-small traces of drugs within a reasonable time frame, remains a challenge. The presented immunosensor is based on a monolithic affinity column with a large excess of immobilized hapten, which traps fluorescently labeled antibodies as long as the analyte cocaine is absent. In the presence of the drug, some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and microfluidic chip-based mixing devices and flow cells. The biosensor achieved limits of detection of 23 pM (7 ppt) of cocaine with a response time of 90 seconds and a total assay time below 3 minutes. With surface wipe sampling, the biosensor was able to detect 300 pg of cocaine. This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for cocaine and offers near-continuous analyte measurement.
The illegal use of explosives by terrorists and other criminals is an increasing issue in public spaces, such as airports, railway stations, highways, sports venues, theaters, and other large buildings. Security in these environments can be achieved by different means, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect ultra-small traces of explosives in a very short time-frame to be able to take action as early as possible to prevent the detonation of such devices. Unfortunately, an ideal explosive detection system still does not exist, which means that a compromise is needed in practice. Most detection devices lack the extreme analytical sensitivity, which is nevertheless necessary due to the low vapor pressure of nearly all explosives. In addition, the rate of false positives needs to be virtually zero, which is also very difficult to achieve. Here we present an immunosensor system based on kinetic competition, which is known to be very fast and may even overcome affinity limitation, which impairs the performance of many traditional competitive assays. This immunosensor consists of a monolithic glass column with a vast excess of immobilized hapten, which traps the fluorescently labeled antibody as long as no explosive is present. In the case of the explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and chip-based mixing-devices and flow-cells. The system achieved limits of detection of 1 pM (1 ppt) of the fluorescent label and around 100 pM (20 ppt) of TNT. The total assay time is less than 8 min. A cross-reactivity test with 5000 pM solutions showed no signal by pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX). This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for TNT with no significant cross-reactivity by non-related compounds. The consumption of the labeled antibody is surprisingly low: 1 mg of the reagent would be sufficient for more than one year of continuous biosensor operation.
The primary screening of hybridoma cells is a time-critical and laborious step during the development of monoclonal antibodies. Often, critical errors occur in this phase, which supports the notion that the generation of monoclonal antibodies with hybridoma technology is difficult to control and hence, a risky venture. We think that it is crucial to improve the screening process to eliminate most of the critical deficits of the conventional approach. With this new microarray-based procedure, several advances could be achieved: Selectivity for excellent binders, high-throughput, reproducible signals, avoidance of misleading avidity (multivalency) effects, and performance of simultaneous competition experiments. The latter can also be used to select clones of desired cross-reactivity properties. In this paper, a model system with two excellent clones against carbamazepine, two weak clones, and blank supernatant containing fetal bovine serum was designed to examine the effectiveness of the new system. The excellent clones could be detected largely independent of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, which is usually unknown during the clone screening since the determination and subsequent adjustment of the antibody concentration are not feasible in most cases. Furthermore, in this approach, the enrichment, isolation, and purification of IgG for characterization is not necessary. Raw cell culture supernatant can be used directly, even when fetal calf serum (FCS) or other complex media is used. In addition, an improved method for the oriented antibody-immobilization on epoxy-silanized slides is presented. Based on the results of this model system with simulated hybridoma supernatants, we conclude that this approach should be preferable to most other protocols leading to many false positives, causing expensive and lengthy elimination steps to weed out the poor clones.
The primary screening of hybridoma cells is a time-critical and laborious step during the development of monoclonal antibodies. Often critical errors occur in this phase, which supports the notion that the generation of monoclonal antibodies with hybridoma technology is difficult to control and hence a risky venture. We think that it is crucial to improve the screening process to eliminate most of the immanent deficits of the conventional approach. With this new microarray-based procedure, several advances could be achieved: Selectivity for excellent binders, high throughput, reproducible signals, avoidance of misleading avidity (multivalency) effects, and simultaneous performance of competition experiments. The latter can directly be used to select clones of desired cross-reactivity properties. In this paper, a model system with two excellent clones against carbamazepine, two weak clones and blank supernatant has been designed to examine the effectiveness of the new system. The excellent clones could be detected largely independent of the IgG concentration, which is unknown during the clone screening since the determination and subsequent adjustment of the antibody concentration is not possible in most cases. Furthermore, in this approach, the enrichment, isolation, and purification of IgG for characterization is not necessary. Raw cell culture supernatant can be used directly, even when fetal calf serum (FCS) or other complex media had been used. In addition, an improved method for the oriented antibody-immobilization on epoxy-silanized slides is presented. Based on the results of this model system, we conclude that this approach should be preferable to most other protocols leading to many of false positives, causing expensive and lengthy confirmation steps to weed out the poor clones.
The increasingly sophisticated nature of modern, more environmentally friendly cementitious binders requires a better understanding and control particularly of the complex, dynamic processes involved in the early phase of cement hydration. In-situ monitoring of properties of a constantly changing system over a defined period of time calls for simple, sensitive, fast, and preferably also non-invasive methods like optical spectroscopy
Four donor-acceptor boron difluoride complexes based on the carbazole electron donor and the [1,3,5,2]oxadiazaborinino[3,4-a][1,8]naphthyridine acceptor were designed, synthesized, and systematically spectroscopically investigated in solutions, in the solid states, and dye-doped polymer films. The dyes exhibit an intense blue to red solid-state emission with photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 56% in pure dye samples and 86% in poly(methyl methacrylate) films. All boron complexes show aggregation-induced emission and reversible mechanofluorochromism. The optical properties of these dyes and their solid state luminescence can be tuned by substitution pattern, i.e., the substituents at the naphthyridine unit. Exchange of CH3- for CF3-groups does not only increase the intramolecular charge transfer character, but also provides a crystallization-induced emission enhancement.
Following the reviews of atomic-weight determinations and other cognate data in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021, the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW) reports changes of standard atomic weights. The symbol Ar(E) was selected for standard atomic weight of an element to distinguish it from the atomic weight of an element E in a specific substance P, designated Ar(E, P). The CIAAW has changed the values of the standard atomic weights of five elements based on recent determinations of terrestrial isotopic abundances:
Ar (argon): from 39.948 ± 0.001 to [39.792, 39.963]
Hf (hafnium): from 178.49 ± 0.02 to 178.486 ± 0.006
Ir (iridium): from 192.217 ± 0.003 to 192.217 ± 0.002
Pb (lead): from 207.2 ± 0.1 to [206.14, 207.94]
Yb (ytterbium): from 173.054 ± 0.005 to 173.045 ± 0.010
The standard atomic weight of argon and lead have changed to an interval to reflect that the natural variation in isotopic composition exceeds the measurement uncertainty of Ar(Ar) and Ar(Pb) in a specific substance. The standard atomic weights and/or the uncertainties of fourteen elements have been changed based on the Atomic Mass Evaluations 2016 and 2020 accomplished under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). Ar of Ho, Tb, Tm and Y were changed in 2017 and again updated in 2021:
Al (aluminium), 2017: from 26.981 5385 ± 0.000 0007 to 26.981 5384 ± 0.000 0003
Au (gold), 2017: from 196.966 569 ± 0.000 005 to 196.966 570 ± 0.000 004
Co (cobalt), 2017: from 58.933 194 ± 0.000 004 to 58.933 194 ± 0.000 003
F (fluorine), 2021: from 18.998 403 163 ± 0.000 000 006 to 18.998 403 162 ± 0.000 000 005
(Ho (holmium), 2017: from 164.930 33 ± 0.000 02 to 164.930 328 ± 0.000 007)
Ho (holmium), 2021: from 164.930 328 ± 0.000 007 to 164.930 329 ± 0.000 005
Mn (manganese), 2017: from 54.938 044 ± 0.000 003 to 54.938 043 ± 0.000 002
Nb (niobium), 2017: from 92.906 37 ± 0.000 02 to 92.906 37 ± 0.000 01
Pa (protactinium), 2017: from 231.035 88 ± 0.000 02 to 231.035 88 ± 0.000 01
Pr (praseodymium), 2017: from 140.907 66 ± 0.000 02 to 140.907 66 ± 0.000 01
Rh (rhodium), 2017: from 102.905 50 ± 0.000 02 to 102.905 49 ± 0.000 02
Sc (scandium), 2021: from 44.955 908 ± 0.000 005 to 44.955 907 ± 0.000 004
(Tb (terbium), 2017: from 158.925 35 ± 0.000 02 to 158.925 354 ± 0.000 008)
Tb (terbium), 2021: from 158.925 354 ± 0.000 008 to 158.925 354 ± 0.000 007
(Tm (thulium), 2017: from 168.934 22 ± 0.000 02 to 168.934 218 ± 0.000 006)
Tm (thulium), 2021: from 168.934 218 ± 0.000 006 to 168.934 219 ± 0.000 005
(Y (yttrium), 2017: from 88.905 84 ± 0.000 02 to 88.905 84 ± 0.000 01)
Y (yttrium), 2021: from 88.905 84 ± 0.000 01 to 88.905 838 ± 0.000 002
Mobile proximal gamma-ray spectrometry (GS) is an emerging approach to estimate soil texture directly in the field. It relies on gamma radiation emitted during the natural decay of potassium-40 (K-40) and other isotopes. The K-40 counts are correlated with total K content, mineralogical soil composition and therefore with soil texture. Yet, it is not clear if K fertilisation impacts the ratio of K-40 to total K which would necessitate to take the fertilisation history into account for soil sensing applications. To elucidate this question, a well-documented long-term experiment was selected. The soils of the Rengen grassland experiment (55 plots) were investigated for total K (XRF-K) and for K-40 via mobile proximal GS. No significant differences in XRF-K and K-40 were found between the treatments with and without K fertilisation, although formely published results point to negative and positive K balances, respectively. Fertiliser analysis revealed a ratio of K-40 to total K that was almost identical to the natural abundance of 0.0117%. It was concluded that it is not necessary to take K fertilisation history into account when predicting soil texture from mobile proximal GS on agricultural land for, e.g., precision farming purposes.
In situ chemical analysis of duplex stainless steel weld by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy
(2024)
The high corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties of duplex stainless steel (DSS) are due to its special chemical composition, which is a balanced phase ratio of ferrite (α) and austenite (γ). Many industrial applications require the integration of DSS components. For this, Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is an excellent choice, as it allows an automated operation with high reproducibility. However, when the weld pool solidifies, critical ratios of α- and γ- phases can occur, which lead to solidification cracking, increased susceptibility to corrosion, and a decrease in ductility and critical strength. Previous studies have shown that these defects can be caused by the accumulation of manganese and chromium in the heat affected zone (HAZ), requiring ongoing monitoring of this accumulation. A suitable method for such monitoring is laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which can be used in two operating modes: calibration using standard reference samples and calibration-free. Unlike conventional quantitative LIBS measurements, which require reference samples to generate a calibration curve, calibration-free LIBS (CF-LIBS) allows chemical compositions to be determined solely from the emission spectrum of the plasma. Numerous publications show that CF-LIBS is a fast and efficient analytical method for the quantitative analysis of metal samples. In this work, CF-LIBS is applied to spectra obtained during GTAW DSS welding and the result is compared with those obtained by PLS analysis. A good correlation was found between both types of analysis, demonstrating the suitability of the CF-LIBS method for this application. The CF-LIBS method has a significant advantage over conventional LIBS due to the rapid in situ measurement of concentrations of major alloying elements without calibration procedure. This, combined with fast feedback and appropriate adjustment of welding parameters, helps prevent welding defects.
Core–shell nanoparticles have attracted much attention in recent years due to their unique properties and their increasing importance in many technological and consumer products. However, the chemistry of nanoparticles is still rarely investigated in comparison to their size and morphology. In this review, the possibilities, limits, and challenges of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for obtaining more insights into the composition, thickness, and homogeneity of nanoparticle coatings are discussed with four examples: CdSe/CdS quantum dots with a thick coating and a small core; NaYF4-based upconverting nanoparticles with a large Yb-doped core and a thin Er-doped coating; and two types of polymer nanoparticles with a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) core with either a poly(methyl methacrylate) or polystyrene coating. Different approaches for calculating the thickness of the coating are presented, like a simple numerical modelling or a more complex simulation of the photoelectron peaks. Additionally, modelling of the XPS background for the investigation of coating is discussed. Furthermore, the new possibilities to measure with varying excitation energies or with hard-energy X-ray sources (hard-energy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) are described. A discussion about the sources of uncertainty for the determination of the thickness of the coating completes this review.
Pharmacologically active compounds are often detected in wastewater and surface waters. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac (DCF) was included in the European watch list of substances that requires its environmental monitoring in the member states. DCF may harmfully influence the ecosystem already at concentrations ≤ 1 μg L−1. The fast and easy quantification of DCF is becoming a subject of global importance. Fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) is a homogeneous mix-and-read method which does not require the immobilization of reagents. FPIA can be performed in one phase within 20–30 min, making it possible to analyse wastewater without any complicated pre-treatment. In this study, new tracermolecules with different structures, linking fluorophores to derivatives of the analyte, were synthesized, three homologous tracers based on DCF, two including a C6 spacer, and one heterologous tracer derived from 5-hydroxy-DCF. The tracer molecules were thoroughly assessed for performance. Regarding sensitivity of the FPIA, the lowest limit of detection reached was 2.0 μg L−1 with a working range up to 870 μg L−1. The method was validated for real wastewater samples against LC-MS/MS as reference method with good agreement of both methods.
One of the most important chemicals used in the production of polymer plastics and coatings is bisphenol A. However, despite the large number of studies on the toxicity and hormonal activity of BPA, there are still open questions and thus considerable media attention regarding BPA toxicity. Hence, it is necessary to develop a sensitive, simple, cost-efficient, specific, portable, and rapid method for monitoring bisphenol A and for high sample throughput and on-site screening analysis. Lateral flow immunoassays have potential as rapid tests for on-site screening. To meet sensitivity criteria, they must be carefully optimized. A latex microparticle-based LFIA for detection of BPA was developed. The sensitivity of the assay was improved by non-contact printing of spot grids as the control and test lines with careful parameter optimization. Results of the test could be visually evaluated within 10 min with a visual cut-off of 10 µg/L (vLOD). Alternatively, photographs were taken, and image analysis performed to set up a calibration, which allowed for a calculated limit of detection (cLOD) of 0.14 µg/L. The method was validated for thermal paper samples against ELISA and LC–MS/MS as reference methods, showing good agreement with both methods
BPA is a chemical commonly used in the production of polymer-based materials that can have detrimental effects on the thyroid gland and impact human reproductive health. Various expensive methods, such as liquid and gas chromatography, have been suggested for detecting BPA.
The fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) is an inexpensive and efficient homogeneous mix-and-read method that allows for high-throughput screening. FPIA offers high specificity and sensitivity and can be carried out in a single phase within a timeframe of 20–30 min. In this study, new tracer molecules were designed that linked the fluorescein fluorophore with and without a spacer to the bisphenol A moiety. To assess the influence of the C6 spacer on the sensitivity of an assay based on the respective antibody, hapten–protein conjugates were synthesized and assessed for performance in an ELISA setup, and this resulted in a highly sensitive assay with a detection limit of 0.05 µg/L. The lowest limit of detection was reached by employing the spacer derivate in the FPIA and was 1.0 µg/L, working range from 2 to 155 µg/L. The validation of the methods was conducted using actual samples compared to LC–MS/MS, which served as the reference method. The FPIA and ELISA both demonstrated satisfactory concordance.
For more than 110 years, BAM has been producing reference materials for a wide range of application fields. With the development of new analytical methods and new applications as well as continuously emerging more stringent requirements of laboratory accreditation with regard to quality control and metrological traceability, the demand and requirements for reference materials are increasing. This trend article gives an overview of general developments in the field of reference materials as well as developments in selected fields of application in which BAM is active. This includes inorganic and metal analysis, gas analysis, food and consumer products, and geological samples. In addition to these more traditional fields of application, developments in the areas of optical spectroscopy, particulary fluorescence methods, and nanomaterials are considered.
Since 1 January 2019 a maximum content of 0.6 mg kg−1 cadmium (Cd) in cocoa powder sold to the final consumer or as an ingredient in sweetened cocoa powder sold to the final consumer (drinking chocolate) is set by the Commission Regulation (EU) No. 488/2014. Monitoring compliance with the specified limit value requires analytical measuring methods and reference materials for quality control. However, suitable certified reference materials intended for quality assurance and quality control purposes are still lacking. Therefore, three cocoa reference materials (ERM®-BD513, ERM®-514 and ERM®-515) were developed according to the requirements of ISO 17034 and the recommendations of ISO Guide 35. The whole process of reference material development, including material preparation, assessment of homogeneity and stability, characterisation and value assignment is presented. The assignment of the certified mass fractions was based upon an interlaboratory comparison study involving 19 expert laboratories for Cd and 12 laboratories for acrylamide. The certified mass fractions and expanded uncertainties (k = 2) of the reference materials were (0.181 ± 0.009) mg kg−1 Cd (ERM®-BD513), (0.541 ± 0.024) mg kg−1 Cd (ERM®-BD514) and (0.690 ± 0.029) mg kg−1 Cd (ERM®-BD515). Acrylamide contents are given for information.
CRM (Certified Reference Material) BAM-U116/CGL306 “Cyanide in soil” was produced within a framework of cooperation between CGL (Central Geological Laboratory) of Mongolia and Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) of Germany in 2013-2017. The CRM BAM-U116/CGL306 represents a mixture of a sandy soil collected from a contaminated former gasworks area in the Berlin region (Germany) and an unpolluted sandy soil from Nalaikh region (Mongolia).
The bulk candidate material for this reference material was prepared at CGL CRM Laboratory exclusively destined to the preparation of reference materials and equipped with modern technical equipment. Homogeneity, stability and shelf life were studied in full compliance with ISO Guide 35. The CRM was evaluated as sufficiently homogeneous. Statistical evaluation of certification analysis
was software packages SoftCRM and ProLab Plus. Certified value of total cyanide of the CRM is 12.0 mg/kg and expanded uncertainty was assigned as 0.8 mg/kg. The intended purpose of this material is the verification of analytical results obtained for the mass fraction of total cyanide in soils and soil-like materials applying the standardized procedure ISO 11262:2011. As any reference material, it can also be used for routine performance checks (quality control charts) or validation studies.
Gaining chemical control over the thermodynamics and kinetics of photoexcited states is paramount to an efficient and sustainable utilization of photoactive transition metal complexes in a plethora of technologies. In contrast to energies of charge Transfer states described by spatially separated orbitals, the energies of spinflip states cannot straightforwardly be predicted as Pauli Repulsion and the nephelauxetic effect play key roles. Guided by multireference quantum chemical calculations, we report a novel highly luminescent spin-flip emitter with a quantum chemically predicted blue-shifted luminescence. The spin-flip emission band of the chromium complex [Cr(bpmp)2]3+ (bpmp = 2,6-bis(2-pyridylmethyl) pyridine) shifted to higher energy from ca. 780 nm observed for known highly emissive chromium(III) complexes to 709 nm. The photoluminescence quantum yields climb to 20%, and very long excited state lifetimes in the millisecond range are achieved at room temperature in acidic D2O solution. Partial ligand deuteration increases the quantum yield to 25%. The high excited state energy of [Cr(bpmp)2]3+ and its facile reduction to [Cr(bpmp)2]2+ result in a high excited state redox potential. The ligand’s methylene bridge acts as a Brønsted acid quenching the luminescence at high pH. Combined with a pH-insensitive chromium(III) emitter, ratiometric optical pH sensing is achieved with single wavelength excitation. The photophysical and Ground state properties (quantum yield, lifetime, redox potential, and acid/base) of this spin-flip complex incorporating an earth-abundant metal surpass those of the classical precious metal [Ru(α-diimine)3]2+ charge transfer complexes, which are commonly employed in optical sensing and photo(redox) catalysis, underlining the bright future of these molecular ruby analogues.
Molecular MRI is a promising in-vivo modality to detect and quantify morphological and molecular vessel-wall changes in atherosclerosis. The combination of different molecular biomarkers may improve the risk stratification of patients. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of simultaneous visualization and quantification of plaque-burden and inflammatory activity by dual-probe molecular
MRI in a mouse-model of progressive atherosclerosis and in response-to-therapy. Homozygous apolipoprotein E knockout mice (ApoE−/−) were fed a high-fat-diet (HFD) for up to four-months prior to MRI of the brachiocephalic-artery. To assess response-to-therapy, a statin was administered for the same duration. MR imaging was performed before and after administration of an elastin-specific gadolinium-based and a macrophage-specific iron-oxide-based probe. Following in-vivo MRI, samples were analyzed using histology, immunohistochemistry, inductively-coupled-mass-spectrometry and laser-inductively-coupled-mass-spectrometry. In atherosclerotic-plaques, intraplaque expression
of elastic-fibers and inflammatory activity were not directly linked. While the elastin-specific probe demonstrated the highest accumulation in advanced atherosclerotic-plaques after four-months of HFD, the iron-oxide-based probe showed highest accumulation in early atherosclerotic-plaques after two months of HFD. In-vivo measurements for the elastin and iron-oxide-probe were in good agreement
with ex-vivo histopathology (Elastica-van-Giesson stain: y = 298.2 + 5.8, R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05; Perls‘ Prussian-blue-stain: y = 834.1 + 0.67, R2 = 0.88, p < 0.05). Contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) measurements of the elastin probe were in good agreement with ICP-MS (y = 0.11x-11.3, R² = 0.73, p < 0.05). Late stage atherosclerotic-plaques displayed the strongest increase in both CNR and gadolinium concentration (p < 0.05). The gadolinium probe did not affect the visualization of the iron-oxide-probe and vice versa. This study demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneous assessment of plaque-burden.
Molecular MRI is a promising in-vivo modality to detect and quantify morphological and molecular vessel-wall changes in atherosclerosis. The combination of different molecular biomarkers may improve the risk stratification of patients. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of simultaneous visualization and quantification of plaque-burden and inflammatory activity by dual-probe molecular MRI in a mouse-model of progressive atherosclerosis and in response-to-therapy. Homozygous apolipoprotein E knockout mice (ApoE−/−) were fed a high-fat-diet (HFD) for up to four-months prior to MRI of the brachiocephalic-artery. To assess response-to-therapy, a statin was administered for the same duration. MR imaging was performed before and after administration of an elastin-specific gadolinium-based and a macrophage-specific iron-oxide-based probe. Following in-vivo MRI, samples were analyzed using histology, immunohistochemistry, inductively-coupled-mass-spectrometry and laser-inductively-coupled-mass-spectrometry. In atherosclerotic-plaques, intraplaque expression of elastic-fibers and inflammatory activity were not directly linked. While the elastin-specific probe demonstrated the highest accumulation in advanced atherosclerotic-plaques after four-months of HFD, the iron-oxide-based probe showed highest accumulation in early atherosclerotic-plaques after two-months of HFD. In-vivo measurements for the elastin and iron-oxide-probe were in good agreement with ex-vivo histopathology (Elastica-van-Giesson stain: y = 298.2 + 5.8, R2 = 0.83, p < 0.05; Perls‘ Prussian-blue-stain: y = 834.1 + 0.67, R2 = 0.88, p < 0.05). Contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) measurements of the elastin probe were in good agreement with ICP-MS (y = 0.11x-11.3, R² = 0.73, p < 0.05). Late stage atherosclerotic-plaques displayed the strongest increase in both CNR and gadolinium concentration (p < 0.05). The gadolinium probe did not affect the visualization of the iron-oxide-probe and vice versa. This study demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneous assessment of plaque-burden and inflammatory activity by dual-probe molecular MRI of progressive atherosclerosis. The in-vivo detection and quantification of different MR biomarkers in a single scan could be useful to improve characterization of atherosclerotic-lesions.
Chemical modification by peroxynitrite enhances TLR4 activation of the grass pollen allergen Phl p 5
(2023)
The chemical modification of aeroallergens by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) may contribute to the growing prevalence of respiratory allergies in industrialized countries. Post-translational modifications can alter the immunological properties of proteins, but the underlying mechanisms and effects are not well understood. In this study, we investigate the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation of the major birch and grass pollen allergens Bet v 1 and Phl p 5, and how the physiological oxidant peroxynitrite (ONOO–) changes the TLR4 activation through protein nitration and the formation of protein dimers and higher oligomers. Of the two allergens, Bet v 1 exhibited no TLR4 activation, but we found TLR4 activation of Phl p 5, which increased after modification with ONOO– and may play a role in the sensitization against this grass pollen allergen. We attribute the TLR4 activation mainly to the two-domain structure of Phl p 5 which may promote TLR4 dimerization and activation. The enhanced TLR4 signaling of the modified allergen indicates that the ONOO–-induced modifications affect relevant protein-receptor interactions. This may lead to increased sensitization to the grass pollen allergen and thus contribute to the increasing prevalence of allergies in the Anthropocene, the present era of globally pervasive anthropogenic influence on the environment.
Fast and accurate determination of the protein content of a sample is an important and non-trivial task of many biochemical, biomedical, food chemical, pharmaceutical, and environmental research activities. Different methods of total protein determination are used for a wide range of proteins with highly variable properties in complex matrices. These methods usually work reasonably well for proteins under controlled conditions, but the results for non-standard and complex samples are often questionable. Here, we compare new and well-established methods, including traditional amino acid analysis (AAA), aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA) based on the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, reversed-phase liquid chromatography of intact proteins with UV absorbance measurements at 220 and 280 nm (LC-220, LC-280), and colorimetric assays like Coomassie Blue G-250 dye-binding assay (Bradford) and bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. We investigated different samples, including proteins with challenging properties, chemical modifications, mixtures, and complex matrices like air particulate matter and pollen extracts. All methods yielded accurate and precise results for the protein and matrix used for calibration. AAA, AAAA with fluorescence detection, and the LC-220 method yielded robust results even under more challenging conditions (variable analytes and matrices). These methods turned out to be well-suited for reliable determination of the protein content in a wide range of samples, such as air particulate matter and pollen.
Carbon dots have attracted much attention due to their unique optical, chemical and electronic properties enabling a wide range of applications. The properties of carbon dots can be effectively adjusted through modifying their chemical composition. However, a major challenge remains in understanding the core and surface contributions to optical and electronic transitions. Here, three blue luminescent carbon dots with carboxyl, amino and hydroxyl groups were comprehensively characterized by UV-vis absorption and emission spectroscopy, synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy. The influence of the surface functionality on their fluorescence was probed by pH-dependent photoluminescence measurements. Moreover, the hydrogen bonding interactions between water and the surface groups of carbon dots were characterized by infrared spectroscopy. Our results show that both core and surface electronic states of blue luminescent carbon dots contribute to electronic acceptor levels while the chemical nature of the surface groups determines the hydrogen bonding behavior of the carbon dots. This comprehensive spectroscopic study demonstrates that the surface chemistry has a profound influence on the electronic configuration and surface–water interaction of carbon dots, thus affecting their photoluminescence properties.
We present a comprehensive investigation of the magnetic and optical properties of an ytterbium complex, which combines two desirable and practical features into a single molecular system. Based upon YbIII Ions that promote near-infrared optical activity and a chemical backbone that is ideal for an in-depth understanding of the magnetic behaviour, we have designed a multifunctional opto-magnetic species that operates as a luminescent thermometer and as a single-molecule magnet (SMM). Our magnetic investigations, in conjunction with ab initio calculations, reveal one of the highest energy barriers reported for an YbIII-based complex. Moreover, we correlate this anisotropic barrier with the Emission spectrum of the compound, wherein we provide a complete assignment of the energetic profile of the complex. Such studies lay the foundation for the design of exciting multi-faceted materials that are able to retain information at the single-molecule level and possess built-in thermal self-monitoring capabilities.
We developed a procedure to prepare luminescent LiYF4:Yb/LiYF4 and LiYF4:Yb,Er/LiYF4 core/shell nanocrystals with a size of approximately 40 nm revealing luminescence decay times of the dopant ions that approach those of high-quality laser crystals of LiYF4:Yb (Yb:YLF) and LiYF4:Yb,Er (Yb,Er:YLF) with identical doping concentrations. As the luminescence decay times of Yb3+ and Er3+ are known to be very sensitive to the presence of quenchers, the long decay times of the core/shell nanocrystals indicate a very low number of defects in the core particles and at the core/shell interfaces. This improvement in the performance was achieved by introducing two important modifications in the commonly used oleic acid based synthesis. First, the shell was prepared via anewly developed method characterized by a very low nucleation rate for particles of pure LiYF4 shell material. Second, anhydrous acetates were used as precursors and additional drying steps were applied to reduce the incorporation of OH− in the crystal lattice, known to quench the emission of Yb3+ ions. Excitation power density (P)-dependent absolute measurements of the upconversion luminescence quantum yield (Φ,UC) of LiYF4:Yb,Er/LiYF4 core/shell particles reveal a maximum value of 1.25% at P of 180 W·cm−2.
Although lower than the values reported for NaYF4:18%Yb,2%Er core/shell nanocrystals with comparable sizes, these Φ, UC values are the highest reported so far for LiYF4:18%Yb,2%Er/LiYF4 nanocrystals without additional dopants. Further improvements May nevertheless be possible by optimizing the dopant concentrations in the LiYF4 nanocrystals.
Current trends in materials and life sciences are flanked by the need to push detection limits to single molecules or single cells, enable the characterization of increasingly complex matrices or sophisticated nanostructures, speed up the time of analysis, reduce instrument complexity and costs, and improve the reliability of data. This requires suitable analytical tools such as spectroscopic, separation and imaging techniques, mass spectrometry, and hyphenated techniques as well as sensors and their adaptation to application-specific challenges in the environmental, food, consumer product, health sector, nanotechnology, and bioanalysis. Increasing concerns about health threatening known or emerging pollutants in drinking water, consumer products, and food and about the safety of nanomaterials led to a new awareness of the importance of analytical sciences. Another important driver in this direction is the increasing demand by legislation, particularly in view of the 17 sustainable development goals by the United Nations addressing clean energy, industry, and innovation, sustainable cities, clean water, and responsible consumption and production. In this respect, also the development of analytical methods that enable the characterization of material flows in production processes and support recycling concepts of precious raw materials becomes more and more relevant. In the future, this will provide the basis for greener production in the chemical industry utilizing recycled or sustainable starting materials.
This makes analytical chemistry an essential player in terms of the circular economy helping to increase the sustainability of production processes. In the life sciences sector, products based on proteins, such as therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies, increase in importance. These increasingly biotechnologically produced functional biomolecules pose a high level of complexity of matrix and structural features that can be met only by highly advanced methods for separation, characterization, and detection. In addition, metrological traceability and target definition are still significant challenges for the future, particularly in the life sciences.
However, innovative reference materials as required for the health and food sector and the characterization of advanced materials can only be developed when suitable analytical protocols are available. The so-called reproducibility crisis in sciences underlines the importance of improved measures of quality control for all kinds of measurements and material characterization. This calls for thorough method validation concepts, suitable reference materials, and regular interlaboratory comparisons of measurements as well as better training of scientists in analytical sciences.
The important contribution of analytical sciences to these developments is highlighted by a broad collection of research papers, trend articles, and critical reviews from these different application fields. Special emphasis is dedicated to often-overlooked quality assurance and reference materials.
The performance of second generation ICP-TOFMS, equipped with a micro-channel plate (MCP) enabling multi-isotope detection, in terms of isotope ratio precision and instrumental isotopic fractionation (IIF) for (multi-)isotope ratio analysis was thoroughly assessed for B, Sr and Pb. Experimental isotope ratio precision of 0.14 % for 11B/10B intensity ratio, 0.15 % for 87Sr/86Sr intensity ratio and 0.07% for 208Pb/206Pb intensity ratio were obtained at high signal levels ($500 mg L−1) which is comparable to first generation ICP-TOFMS. The long-term stability of isotope ratios, measured over several hours and expressed as repeatability, is between 0.05 % and 1.8 % for B, Sr and Pb. The observed IIF per mass unit is negative for B (i.e., −11 % for 11B/10B) which is in accordance with measurements using sector field (MC) ICP-MS. But the observed IIF per mass unit is positive for Sr (i.e., 2 % for 87Sr/86Sr) and Pb (i.e., 4.5 % for 208Pb/206Pb) which is not in accordance with measurements using sector field (MC) ICP-MS. Furthermore, different IIFs per mass unit were observed for different isotope pairs of the same isotopic system (i.e., Sr, Pb) and adjacent isotopic systems (i.e., Pb vs. Tl). This and the observations from three-isotope plots for Sr and Pb show that ion formation, ion extraction, ion transmission, ion separation and ion detection in second generation ICP-TOFMS is subject to IIF that does not follow the known mass dependent fractionation laws and is possibly caused by mass independent fractionation and/or multiple (contradictory) fractionation processes with varying contributions. The non-mass dependent IIF behavior observed for second generation ICP TOFMS has profound consequences for the IIF correction of isotope raw data, including application of multi-isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) using ICP-TOFMS. Hence, only IIF correction models that correct also for mass independent fractionation are applicable to calculate reliable isotope ratios using second generation ICP-TOFMS. In the present study, reliable d11B values, and absolute B, Sr and Pb isotope ratios could be determined using the SSB approach in single-element solutions as well as in a mixture of B, Sr and Pb, where the isotopes were measured simultaneously.
Within the Working Group on Inorganic Analysis (IAWG) of the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance: Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (CCQM) international key comparisons and pilot studies related to inorganic analysis are carried to ensure consistency in this field at the highest level. Some of these comparisons deal directly with the preparation and characterization of monoelemental solutions or with topics, closely related. The importance of monoelemental solutions lies in the fact that almost every measurement in inorganic analysis relies on the comparison with either a reference material, or references in form of solutions, usually (mono)elemental solutions. All quantitative measurement approaches, e.g. isotope dilution or standard addition, need an accurate reference solution made from a well characterized reference material, prepared under full gravimetric control. These primary (monoelemental) solutions do not only serve as arbitrary references/calibration solutions, but they also link up measurement results to the International System of units (SI), this way establishing the so-called metrological traceability to a measurement unit of the SI. Without such solutions on the highest possible level of accuracy and with the smallest possible associated uncertainties (for e.g. element content and/or impurities), an analysis itself can never be as good as it could be with appropriate reference solutions. This article highlights select key comparisons and pilot studies dealing with monoelemental solution related topics within the IAWG from the foundation of CCQM – 25 years ago – up to latest achievements in the field of inorganic analysis.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is becoming a more mature technology every year with new variants such as laser ablation molecular isotopic spectrometry, reheating by various discharge techniques, and multiple pulse excitation schemes, in which sometimes lasers of different pulse lengths are used. However, lasers with inherent parameters like pulse length and repetition rate are still almost exclusively employed. Recent years have witnessed the advent of novel high-repetition-rate laser concepts for machining processes, like welding, milling, and engraving. Here, a comprehensive study of single-pulse LIBS spectra of a single aluminum target is presented to showcase the applicability of flexible high duty-cycle master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) lasers. Although traditional flashlamp-pumped Fabry–Pérot lasers only permit a variation in the pulse energy and are operated at very low duty-cycles, MOPA lasers add repetition rate and pulse length as variable parameters. A thorough analysis of the temporal plasma behavior revealed the emission dynamic to closely match the excitation laser pulse pattern. An aluminum sample’s spectral response was shown to be significantly impacted by variations in both rate and length. Although the spectral emission strength of the elemental lines of Al, Sr, and Ca all peaked at slightly different parameter settings, the strongest impact was found on the relative abundance of molecular AlO bands. Unlike in previous laser ablation molecular isotopic spectrometry (LAMIS) publications, the latter could be readily detected with a good intensity and well-resolved spectral features without any temporal gating of the detector. This finding, together with the fact that MOPA lasers are both inexpensive and dependable, makes for a promising combination for future studies including the detection of diatomic band structures.
Zearalenone (ZEN), an estrogenic mycotoxin produced by several species of Fusarium fungi, is a common contaminant of cereal-based food worldwide. Due to frequent occurrences associated with high levels of ZEN, maize oil is a particular source of exposure. Although a European maximumlevel for ZEN in maize oil exists according to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1126/2007 along with a newly developed international standard method for analysis, certified reference materials (CRM) are still not available. To overcome this lack, the first CRM for the determination of ZEN in contaminated maize germ oil (ERM®-BC715) was developed in the frame of a European Reference Materials (ERM®) project according to the requirements of ISO Guide 35. The whole process of CRM development including preparation, homogeneity and stability studies, and value assignment is presented. The assignment of the certified mass fraction was based upon an in-house study using high-performance liquid chromatography isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry. Simultaneously, to support the in-house certification study, an interlaboratory comparison study was conducted with 13 expert laboratories using different analytical methods. The certified mass fraction and expanded uncertainty (k=2) of ERM®-BC715 (362± 22) μg kg−1 ZEN are traceable to the SI. This reference material is intended for analytical quality control and contributes to the improvement of consumer protection and food safety.
Electrochemical methods offer great promise in meeting the demand for user-friendly on-site devices for Monitoring important parameters. The food industry often runs own lab procedures, for example, for mycotoxin analysis, but it is a major goal to simplify analysis, linking analytical methods with smart technologies. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, with photometric detection of 3,3’,5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB),form a good basis for sensitive detection. To provide a straightforward approach for the miniaturization of the detectionstep, we have studied the pitfalls of the electrochemical TMB detection. By cyclic voltammetry it was found that the TMB electrochemistry is strongly dependent on the pH and the electrode material. A stable electrode response to TMB could be achieved at pH 1 on gold electrodes. We created a smartphonebased, electrochemical, immunomagnetic assay for the detection of ochratoxin A in real samples, providing a solid basis forsensing of further analytes.
A certain group of mycotoxins, the ergot alkaloids, has caused countless deaths throughout human history. They are found in rye and other cereals and ingesting contaminated foods can cause serious health problems. To identify contaminated food exceeding the legal limits for ergot alkaloids, a portable and cost-effective test system is of great interest to the food industry. Rapid analysis can be achieved by screening for a marker compound, for which we chose ergometrine. We developed a magnetic bead-based immunoassay for ergometrine with amperometric detection in a flow injection system using a handheld potentiostat and a smartphone. With this assay a limit of detection of 3 nM (1 μg/L) was achieved. In spiked rye flour, ergometrine levels from 25 to 250 μg/kg could be quantified. All results could be verified by optical detection. The developed assay offers great promise to meet the demand for on-site ergometrine detection in the food industry.
Trace element (TE) analysis of pyrite via LA-ICP-MS can be used to reconstruct the conditions of pyrite formation in complex mineral systems. The Carpentaria province in northern Australia is host to some of the world’s highest value Zn-Pb (+Ag, Cu) deposits. The genesis of many of these deposits is controversial, with competing models of single-vs. multi-stage ore formation. In this study, LA-ICP-MS data of paragenetically constrained pyrite from the George Fisher Zn-Pb-Ag deposit has been analysed to investigate the chemistry of different stages of ore formation. Pyrite from correlative unmineralized host rocks has also been analysed to investigate evidence of distal hydrothermal anomalism. All LA-ICP-MS data have been statistically evaluated (principal component analysis) and interpreted together with whole rock lithogeochemical data of the same samples. Pre-ore diagenetic pyrite is compositionally similar to other Proterozoic diagenetic pyrite, with some evidence of minor hydrothermal anomalism that with further analysis could help define distal alteration. Pyrite from the different ore stages are compositionally distinct, consistent with a multi-stage system. Ore stage 1 pyrite exceeds background contents of Co, Cu, Zn, As, Ag, Sb, Tl, and Pb and has elevated Co/Ni ratios, whereas only Ni and Co are above background abundances in ore stage 2 and 3 pyrite, of which only ore stage 3 pyrite has high Co/Ni ratios. Ore stage 1 pyrite has a similar composition to hydrothermal pyrite in the undeformed northern Carpentaria CD-type deposits and was likely syn-diagenesis. Ore stage 2 was syn-deformation, and resulted in replacement and recrystallization of pre-existing pyrite, and the expulsion of incompatible TEs. Ore stage 3 formed via a later Cu-Zn-Pb mineralizing event that resulted in a new geochemically distinct generation of Co-rich pyrite. Overall, this study demonstrates the value of paragenetically-constrained pyrite TE data for refining genetic models in complex sediment hosted mineral systems.
Between Aromatic and Quinoid Structure: A Symmetrical UV to Vis/NIR Benzothiadiazole Redox Switch
(2020)
Reversibly switching the light absorption of organic molecules by redox processes is of interest for applications in sensors, light harvesting, smart materials, and medical diagnostics. This work presents a symmetrical benzothiadiazole (BTD) derivative with a high fluorescence quantum yield in solution and in the crystalline state and shows by spectroelectrochemical analysis that reversible switching of UV absorption in the neutral state, to broadband Vis/NIR absorption in the 1st oxidized state, to sharp band Vis absorption in the 2nd oxidized state, is possible.
For the one-electron oxidized species, formation of a delocalized radical is confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroelectrochemistry. Furthermore, our results reveal an increasing quinoidal distortion upon the 1st and 2nd oxidation, which can be used as the leitmotif for the development of BTD based redox switches.
Redox switches are applied in various fields of research, including molecular lifts, electronic devices and sensors. Switching the absorbance between UV and Vis/NIR by redox processes is of interest for applications in light harvesting or biomedicine.
Here, we present a series of push-pull benzothiadiazole derivatives with high fluorescence quantum yields in solution and in the crystalline solid state. Spectroelectrochemical analysis reveals the switching of UV-absorption in the neutral state to Vis/NIR absorption in the reduced state. We identify the partial irreversibility of the switching process, which appears to be reversible on the cyclic voltammetry timescale.
Here, we report a comparative study of different sum parameter analysis methods for the extraction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from manufactured consumer products, which can be measured by combustion ion chromatography (CIC). Therefore, a hydrolysis-based extraction method was further developed, which accounts for the addition of hydrolyzable covalently bound polyfluoroalkylated side-chain polymers (SFPs) to the extractable organic fluorine portion of the mass balance proposed as "hydrolyzable organically bound fluorine" (HOF). To test this hypothesis, the method was applied to 39 different consumer products containing fluoropolymers or monomeric PFAS taken from four different categories: outdoor textiles, paper packaging, carpeting, and permanent baking sheets. We also evaluated the method's efficiency by extracting four synthesized fluorotelomer polyacrylate reference compounds. The total fluorine (TF) and extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF) values were measured through CIC using established protocols. The TF values ranged from sub-ppb to %-levels, depending on the compound class. All samples showed results for hydrolyzed organofluorine (HOF) between 0.03 and 76.3 μg/g, while most EOF values were lower (<LOD to 58.1 μg/g). Moreover, the methods were contrasted with the "total hydrolyzable precursor" (THP) assay analyzed using gas-chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which yielded concentrations of 6:2–10:2 fluorotelomer alcohols (<LOD-568 μg/g) for textile and paper samples. Furthermore, targeted analytical investigation of 25 compounds via liquid chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was conducted and accounted for significantly lower sum amounts (<LOD-0.98 μg PFAS/g). To estimate the fluorine mass balance of all methods, the fluorine levels of target analytical data were calculated and compared to the sum parameter values and evaluated. Finally, the efficiency of the extraction method was approximated by the recovery analysis of four selected SFP model compounds compared to their TF values, yielding 36.7–74.0% after extraction and 3.8–36.3% after processing the extract for the HOF sum parameter.
For the first time, µ-X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) mapping combined with fluorine K-edge µ-X-ray absorption near-edge structure (µ-XANES) spectroscopy was applied to depict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination and inorganic fluoride in samples concentrations down to 100 µg/kg fluoride. To demonstrate the matrix tolerance of the method, several PFAS contaminated soil and sludge samples as well as selected consumer product samples (textiles, food contact paper and permanent baking sheet) were investigated. µ-XRF mapping allows for a unique element-specific visualisation at the sample surface and enables localisation of fluorine containing compounds to a depth of 1 µm. Manually selected fluorine rich spots were subsequently analysed via fluorine K-edge µ-XANES spectroscopy. To support spectral interpretation with respect to inorganic and organic chemical distribution and compound class determination, linear combination (LC) fitting was applied to all recorded µ-XANES spectra. Complementarily, solvent extracts of all samples were target-analysed via LC-MS/MS spectrometry. The detected PFAS sum values range from 20 to 1136 µg/kg dry weight (dw). All environmentally exposed samples revealed higher concentration of PFAS with a chain length >C8 (e.g. 580 µg/kg dw PFOS for Soil1), whereas the consumer product samples showed a more uniform distribution with regard to chain lengths from C4 to C8. Independent from quantified PFAS amounts via target analysis, µ-XRF mapping combined with µ-XANES spectroscopy was successfully applied to detect both point-specific concentration maxima and evenly distributed surface coatings of fluorinated organic contaminants in the corresponding samples.
Metal-containing nanoparticles (NP) can be characterized with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS) in terms of their size and number concentration by using the single-particle mode of the instrument (spICP-MS). The accuracy of measurement depends on the setup, operational conditions of the instrument and specific parameters that are set by the user. The transport efficiency of the ICP-MS is crucial for the quantification of the NP and usually requires a reference material with homogenous size distribution and a known particle number concentration.
Currently, NP reference materials are available for only a few metals and in limited sizes. If particles are characterized without a reference standard, the results of both size and particle number may be biased. Therefore, a dual-inlet Setup for characterizing nanoparticles with spICP-MS was developed to overcome this problem. This setup is based on a conventional introduction system consisting of a pneumatic nebulizer (PN) for nanoparticle solutions and a microdroplet Generator (μDG) for ionic calibration solutions. A new and flexible interface was developed to facilitate the coupling of μDG, PN and the ICP-MS system. The interface consists of available laboratory components and allows for the calibration, nanoparticle (NP) characterization and cleaning of the arrangement, while the ICP-MS instrument is still running.
Three independent analysis modes are available for determining particle size and number concentration. Each mode is based on a different calibration principle.
While mode I (counting) and mode III (μDG) are known from the literature, mode II (sensitivity), is used to determine the transport efficiency by inorganic ionic Standard solutions only. It is independent of NP reference materials. The μDG based inlet system described here guarantees superior analyte sensitivities and, therefore, lower detection limits (LOD). The size dependent LODs achieved are less than 15 nm for all NP (Au, Ag, CeO2) investigated.
We present a workflow for obtaining fully trained artificial neural networks that can perform automatic particle segmentations of agglomerated, non-spherical nanoparticles from scanning electron microscopy images “from scratch”, without the need for large training data sets of manually annotated images. The whole process only requires about 15 minutes of hands-on time by a user and can typically be finished within less than 12 hours when training on a single graphics card (GPU). After training, SEM image analysis can be carried out by the artificial neural network within seconds. This is achieved by using unsupervised learning for most of the training dataset generation, making heavy use of generative adversarial networks and especially unpaired image-to-image translation via cycle-consistent adversarial networks. We compare the segmentation masks obtained with our suggested workflow qualitatively and quantitatively to state-of-the-art methods using various metrics. Finally, we used the segmentation masks for automatically extracting particle size distributions from the SEM images of TiO2 particles, which were in excellent agreement with particle size distributions obtained manually but could be obtained in a fraction of the time.
Photon upconversion nanomaterials have a wide range of applications, including biosensing and deep-tissue imaging. Their typically very weak and narrow absorption bands together with their size dependent luminescence efficiency can limit their application potential. This has been addressed by increasingly sophisticated core-shell particle architectures including the sensitization with organic dyes that strongly absorb in the near infrared (NIR). In this work, we present a simple water-dispersible micellar system that features energy transfer from the novel NIR excitable dye, 1859 SL with a high molar absorption coefficient and a moderate fluorescence quantum yield to oleate-capped NaYF4:20%Yb(III), 2%Er(III) upconversion nanoparticles (UCNP) upon 808 nm excitation. The micelles were formed using the surfactants Pluronic F-127 and Tween 80 to produce a hydrophilic dye-UCNP system. Successful energy transfer from the dye to the UCNP could be confirmed by emission measurements that revealed the occurrence of upconversion emission upon excitation at 808 nm and an enhancement of the green Er(III) emission compared to direct Er(III) excitation at 808 nm.
We studied the dissolution behavior of β NaYF4:Yb(20%), Er(2%) UCNP of two different sizes in biologically relevant media i.e., water (neutral pH), phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium (DMEM) at different temperatures and particle concentrations. Special emphasis was dedicated to assess the influence of different surface functionalizations, particularly the potential of mesoporous and microporous silica shells of different thicknesses for UCNP stabilization and protection. Dissolution was quantified electrochemically using a fluoride ion selective electrode (ISE) and by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). In addition, dissolution was monitored fluorometrically. These experiments revealed that a thick microporous silica shell drastically decreased dissolution. Our results also underline the critical influence of the chemical composition of the aqueous environment on UCNP dissolution. In DMEM, we observed the formation of a layer of adsorbed molecules on the UCNP surface that protected the UCNP from dissolution and enhanced their fluorescence. Examination of this layer by X ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and mass spectrometry (MS) suggested that mainly phenylalanine, lysine, and glucose are adsorbed from DMEM. These findings should be considered in the future for cellular toxicity studies with UCNP and other nanoparticles and the design of new biocompatible surface coatings.
facile hydrothermal method to synthesize water-soluble copper indium sulfide (CIS) nanocrystals (NCs) at 150 degrees C is presented. The obtained samples exhibited three distinct photoluminescence peaks in the red, green and blue spectral regions, corresponding to three size fractions, which could be separated by means of size-selective precipitation. While the red and green emitting fractions consist of 4.5 and 2.5 nm CIS NCs, the blue fraction was identified as in situ formed carbon nanodots showing excitation wavelength dependent emission. When used as light absorbers in quantum dot sensitized solar cells, the individual green and red fractions yielded power conversion efficiencies of 2.9% and 2.6%, respectively. With the unfractionated samples, the efficiency values approaching 5% were obtained. This improvement was mainly due to a significantly enhanced photocurrent arising from complementary panchromatic absorption.
The importance of plasmonic heating for the plasmondriven photodimerization of 4-nitrothiophenol
(2019)
Metal nanoparticles form potent nanoreactors, driven by the optical generation of energetic electrons and nanoscale heat. The relative influence of these two factors on nanoscale chemistry is strongly debated. This article discusses the temperature dependence of the dimerization of 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP) into 4,4′-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) adsorbed on gold nanoflowers by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS). Raman thermometry shows a significant optical heating of the particles. The ratio of the Stokes and the anti-Stokes Raman signal moreover demonstrates that the molecular temperature during the reaction rises beyond the average crystal lattice temperature of the plasmonic particles. The product bands have an even higher temperature than reactant bands, which suggests that the reaction proceeds preferentially at thermal hot spots. In addition, kinetic measurements of the reaction during external heating of the reaction environment yield a considerable rise of the reaction rate with temperature. Despite this significant heating effects, a comparison of SERS spectra recorded after heating the sample by an external heater to spectra recorded after prolonged illumination shows that the reaction is strictly photo-driven. While in both cases the temperature increase is comparable, the dimerization occurs only in the presence of light. Intensity dependent measurements at fixed temperatures confirm this finding.
Commercial bead-based assays are commonly built upon polystyrene particles. The polymeric carrier can be encoded with organic dyes and has ideal material properties for cytometric applications such as low density and high refractive index. However, functional groups are conventionally integrated during polymerization and subsequent modification is limited to the reactivity of those groups. Additionally, polystyrene as the core material leads to many hydrophobic areas still being present on the beads’ surfaces even after functionalization, Rendering the particles prone to nonspecific adsorption during an application. The latter calls for several washing steps and the use of additives in (bio)analytical assays. In this contribution, we show how these limitations can be overcome by using monodisperse polystyrene (PS) core/silica (SiO2) shell particles (SiO2@PS). Two different hydrophobic BODIPY (boron−dipyrromethene) dyes were encapsulated inside a poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) -stabilized polystyrene core in different concentrations to create 5-plex arrays in two separate detection channels of a cytometer. A subsequent modification of the silica shell with an equimolar APTES/PEGS (aminopropyltriethoxysilane/polyethylene glycol silane) blend added multifunctional properties to the hybrid core/Shell microparticles in a single step: APTES provides amino groups for the attachment of a caffeine derivative (as a hapten) to create antigen-coupled microspheres; the PEG moiety effectively suppresses nonspecific binding of antibodies, endowing the surface with antifouling properties. The particles were applied in a competitive fluorescence immunoassay in suspension, and a highly selective wash-free assay for the detection of caffeine in beverages was developed as a proof of concept.
Binder remnants in historical mortars represent a record of the connection between the raw materials that enter the kiln, the process parameters, and the end product of the calcination. Raman microspectroscopy combines high structural sensitivity with micrometre to sub-micrometre spatial resolution and compatibility with conventional thin-sectional samples in an almost unique fashion, making it an interesting complementary extension of the existing methodological arsenal for mortar analysis. Raman spectra are vibrational fingerprints of crystalline and amorphous compounds, and contain marker bands that are specific for minerals and their polymorphic forms. Relative intensities of bands that are related to the same crystalline species change according to crystal orientations, and band shifts can be caused by the incorporation of foreign ions into crystal lattices, as well as stoichiometric changes within solid solution series. Finally, variations in crystallinity affect band widths. These effects are demonstrated based on the analysis of three historical mortar samples: micrometric distribution maps of phases and polymorphs, crystal orientations, and compositional variations of solid solution series of unreacted clinker grains in the Portland cement mortars of two 19th century castings, and the crystallinities of thermal anhydrite clusters in a high-fired medieval gypsum mortar as a measure for the applied burning temperature were successfully acquired.
Raman spectroscopy provides vibrational fingerprints of chemical compounds enabling their unambiguous identification. The assignment of Raman spectra to minerals is straightforward, if appropriate reference data is accessible. Modern couplings of Raman spectroscopy with microscopy (Raman microspectroscopy) merge the high structural specificity with down to sub-micrometre spatial resolution. This analytical tool has high potential not only in the identification of minerals from natural sources but also for studying the complex microstructure and mineral distribution of both ancient and modern man-made materials. In addition to the chemical identity of minerals, Raman spectra are affected by crystal orientations (varying relative Raman band intensities); (sub)stoichiometric compositional changes (e.g., in solid solution series), traces of foreign ions, strain (the latter three shifting Raman bands); and crystallinity (changing Raman band widths), enabling a comprehensive physico-chemical characterisation of minerals. Thus, Raman spectroscopy – including its in situ measurement capabilities – provides possibilities to study mineral paragenesis in both, natural and man-made samples at the micrometre scale. While in 1928 the first experimental evidence for inelastic light scattering was provided by C. V. Raman and K. S. Krishnan by using sunlight for excitation, filters for selecting the inelastically scattered light, and their eyes for detection (later, photographic plates for acquisition of spectra were employed), modern Raman spectrometers make use of laser excitation, dispersive spectrographs and charge coupled device (CCD) detection. This Special Issue includes technological developments and applications in the field of modern Raman spectroscopy of minerals in a broad sense, from natural mineral deposits and archaeological objects to inorganic phases in man-made materials. The studied minerals include fossil resins, typical rock-forming minerals (calcite, quartz, forsterite), iron-sulphur species (e.g., mackinawite), a range of sulphates (gypsum, bassanite, anhydrite III, anhydrite II, celestine, barite, ternesite), as well as silicate minerals like garnets (e.g., almandine).
Raman band widths of anhydrite II reveal the burning history of high-fired medieval gypsum mortars
(2019)
The use of high-fired gypsum as binder for masonry and joint mortars or stuccowork in Central Europe in the Early and High Middle Ages was a regional specific as it depended on local gypsum deposits. The calcination technology possible at the time resulted in an assemblage of calcium sulphate phases dehydrated to different degrees and partly thermally damaged accessory minerals of the raw gypsum. Because of the absence of medieval textbooks, the observation of high-temperature, low-pressure mineral transformations and the correlation of phases coexisting in not hydrated binder relicts in the gypsum matrix to the mineralogy of the raw material and the burning conditions constitute the only source to the historical technological know-how.
The CaSO4–H2O system consists of five crystalline phases, which can be discriminated by structural analysis methods, such as Raman spectroscopy, due to obvious differences in their spectroscopic data: gypsum (CaSO4 ⋅ 2 H2O), bassanite (hemihydrate, CaSO4 ⋅ ½ H2O), anhydrite III (CaSO4), anhydrite II (CaSO4), and anhydrite I (CaSO4). Only recently, it was possible to demonstrate that small spectroscopic variations exist also within the relatively large stability range of anhydrite II from approx. 180°C to 1180°C: all Raman bands narrow with increasing burning temperature applied in the synthesis from gypsum powder. The determination of band widths of down to 3 cm-1 and differences between them of a few tenths of a wavenumber is not a trivial task. Thus, this contribution discusses peak fitting and strategies for correction of instrument-dependent band broadening.
Raman maps of polished thin sections of gypsum mortars provide access to the burning histories of individual remnant thermal anhydrite grains and enable the discrimination of natural anhydrite originating from the gypsum deposit. This novel analytical method was applied to samples from medieval South Tyrolean stucco decorations and sculptures. Beyond that, Raman microspectroscopy was employed for following pyrometamorphic reactions in natural impurities of the raw material. In the presented examples mineral thermometry indicates process temperatures above 800°C: the breakdown of magnesium-rich chlorite led to the formation of forsterite Mg2SiO4, while the thermal decomposition of dolomite CaMg(CO3)2 yielded – after hydration and carbonation – magnesite MgCO3, CaCO3 polymorphs and magnesian calcite. Lower burning temperatures, which leave the accessory minerals in their pristine form, can be traced by measuring the spectra of anhydrite crystalites in grains of firing products and evaluating Raman band widths. Throughout the applications of this analytical method so far, calcination temperatures ranging from approx. 600°C to 900°C were determined.
Microscope slide collections represent extremely valuable depositories of research material in a natural history, forensic, veterinary, and medical context. Unfortunately, most mounting media of these slides deteriorate over time, with the reason for this not yet understood at all. In this study, Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, and different types of light microscopy were used to investigate the ageing behaviour of naturally aged slides from museum collections and the experimentally aged media of Canada balsam and Permount™, representing a natural and a synthetic resin, respectively, with both being based on mixtures of various terpenes. Whereas Canada balsam clearly revealed chemical ageing processes, visible as increasing colouration, Permount™ showed physical deterioration recognisable by the increasing number of cracks, which even often impacted a mounted specimen. Noticeable changes to the chemical and physical properties of these mounting media take decades in the case of Canada balsam but just a few years in the case of Permount™. Our results question whether or not Canada balsam should really be regarded as a mounting medium that lasts for centuries, if its increasing degree of polymerisation can lead to a mount which is no longer restorable.
Even though being the subject of natural scientific research for many decades, the system CaSO4–H2O, consisting of the five crystalline phases gypsum, bassanite, and the anhydrites III, II, and I, has left many open questions for research. Raman spectroscopy was used because of its structural sensitivity and in situ measurement capability to obtain further insight by studying phase transitions in both ex situ and in situ experiments. The findings include significant contributions to the completeness and understanding of Raman spectroscopic data of the system. The dehydration path gypsum–bassanite–anhydrite III was shown to have strong parallels to a physical drying process, which depends on many parameters beyond the burning temperature. Raman band width determination was demonstrated to enable the quantitative discrimination of α-bassanite and β-bassanite as well as the postulated three sub-forms of anhydrite II (AII), which are all based on differences in crystallinity. In the latter case, the observed continuous structural variations over increasing burning temperatures were elucidated as a combination of decreasing surface areas and healing of crystal lattice defects. We propose an only two-fold sub-division of AII into reactive “disordered AII” and much less reactive “crystalline AII” with a transition temperature of 650°C ± 50 K.
We previously described the observation of a characteristic narrowband red luminescence emission of burnt lime (CaO), whose reason was unknown so far. This study presents Raman spectra of Mg5 CO3)4(OH)2∙4H2O, Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2, MgCO3, CaMgCO3 and CaCO3 (in limestone powder) as well as luminescence spectra of their calcination products. Comparison of the latter revealed MgO:Cr3+ as the source of the red lime luminescence in all studied samples, containing magnesium oxide as major component, minor component or trace. Spectral characteristics and theoretical background of the luminescence emission of d-block elements integrated in crystal lattices are discussed with the aim of sharpening the awareness for this effect in the Raman community and promoting its application in materials analysis. The latter is demonstrated by the Raman microspectroscopic imaging of the distributions of both Raman-active and Raman-inactive phases in clinker remnants in a 19th-century meso Portland cement mortar sample, which contain relatively high amounts of free lime detected in the form of both luminescing CaO and Raman-scattering Ca(OH)2, owing to exposure of the surface of the thin section to humid air. A combination of light and Raman spectroscopy revealed a calcium–magnesium–iron sulphide phase, indicating sulphurous raw materials and/or solid fuels employed in the calcination process, which in contrast to previously described morphologies of sulphides in cement clinker form extensive greenish black layers on free lime crystals.
During R/V Meteor cruise 141/1, pore fluids of near surface sediments were investigated to find indications for hydrothermal activity in the Terceira Rift (TR), a hyperslow spreading center in the Central North Atlantic Ocean. To date, submarine hydrothermal fluid venting in the TR has only been reported for the D. João de Castro seamount, which presently seems to be inactive. Pore fluids sampled close to a volcanic cone at 2,800‐m water depth show an anomalous composition with Mg, SO4, and total alkalinity concentrations significantly higher than seawater and a nearby reference core. The most straightforward way of interpreting these deviations is the dissolution of the hydrothermally formed mineral caminite (MgSO4 0.25 Mg (OH)2 0.2H2O). This interpretation is corroborated by a thorough investigation of fluid isotope systems (δ26Mg, δ30Si, δ34S, δ44/42Ca, and 87Sr/86Sr). Caminite is known from mineral assemblages with anhydrite and forms in hydrothermal recharge zones only under specific conditions such as high fluid temperatures and in altered oceanic crust, which are conditions generally met at the TR. We hypothesize that caminite was formed during hydrothermal activity and is now dissolving during the waning state of the hydrothermal system, so that caminite mineralization is shifted out of its stability zone. Ongoing fluid circulation through the basement is transporting the geochemical signal via slow advection toward the seafloor.
The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac (DCF) is an important environmental contaminant occurring in surface waters all over the world, because, after excretion, it is not adequately removed from wastewater in sewage treatment plants. To be able to monitor this pollutant, highly efficient analytical methods are needed, including immunoassays. In a medical research project, monoclonal antibodies against diclofenac and its metabolites had been produced. Based on this monoclonal anti-DCF antibody, a new indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed and applied for environmental samples. The introduction of a spacer between diclofenac and the carrier protein in the coating conjugate led to higher sensitivity. With a test midpoint of 3 mg L−1 and a measurement range of 1–30 mg L−1, the system is not sensitive enough for direct analysis of surface water. However, this assay is quite robust against matrix influences and can be used for wastewater. Without adjustment of the calibration, organic solvents up to 5%, natural organic matter (NOM) up to 10 mg L−1, humic acids up to 2.5 mg L−1, and salt concentrations up to 6 g L−1 NaCl and 75 mg L−1 CaCl2 are tolerated. The antibody is also stable in a pH range from 3 to 12. Cross-reactivity (CR) of 1% or less was determined for the metabolites 40-hydroxydiclofenac (40-OH-DCF), 5-hydroxydiclofenac (5-OH-DCF), DCF lactam, and other NSAIDs. Relevant cross-reactivity occurred only with an amide derivative of DCF, 6-aminohexanoic acid (DCF-Ahx), aceclofenac (ACF) and DCF methyl ester (DCF-Me) with 150%, 61% and 44%, respectively. These substances, however, have not been found in samples. Only DCF-acyl glucuronide with a cross-reactivity of 57% is of some relevance. For the first time, photodegradation products were tested for cross-reactivity. With the ELISA based on this antibody, water samples were analysed. In sewage treatment plant effluents, concentrations in the range of 1.9–5.2 mg L−1 were determined directly, with recoveries compared to HPLC-MS/MS averaging 136%.
Concentrations in lakes ranged from 3 to 4.4 ng L−1 and were, after pre-concentration, determined with an average recovery of 100%
Stormwater from urban areas can transport biocidally active substances and related transformation products from buildings into the environment. The occurrence of these substances in urban runoff depends on the availability of water, and on ultraviolet radiation exposure that causes photolytic reactions. In a systematic laboratory study, painted test specimens were exposed to either ultraviolet radiation, water contact, or a combination of both. Leaching of the biocidally active substances carbendazim, diuron, octylisothiazolinone, terbutryn, and selected transformation products of terbutryn and diuron were observed under various exposure conditions. Remaining concentrations of these substances in the paint were quantified. It was demonstrated that the distribution of active substances and transformation products in eluates and in the coatings themselves differs with exposure conditions. Strategies for environmental monitoring of biocide emissions need to consider the most relevant transformation products. However, environmental concentrations of biocidally active substances and transformation products depend on earlier exposure conditions. As a consequence, monitoring data cannot describe emission processes and predict expected leaching of biocidally active substances from buildings if the data are collected only occasionally.
Luminescence-encoded microbeads are important tools for many applications in the life and material sciences that utilize luminescence detection as well as multiplexing and barcoding strategies. The preparation of such beads often involves the staining of premanufactured beads with molecular luminophores using simple swelling procedures or surface functionalization with layer-by-layer (LbL) techniques. Alternatively, these luminophores are sterically incorporated during the polymerization reaction yielding the polymer beads. The favorable optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), which present broadly excitable, size-tunable, narrow emission bands and low photobleaching sensitivity, triggered the preparation of beads stained with QDs. However, the colloidal nature and the surface chemistry of these QDs, which largely controls their luminescence properties, introduce new challenges to bead encoding that have been barely systematically assessed. To establish a straightforward approach for the bead encoding with QDs with minimized loss in luminescence, we systematically assessed the incorporation of oleic acid/oleylamine-stabilized CdSe/CdS-core/shell-QDs into 0.5–2.5 μm-sized polystyrene (PS) microspheres by a simple dispersion polymerization synthesis that was first optimized with the organic dye Nile Red. Parameters addressed for the preparation of luminophore-encoded beads include the use of a polymer-compatible ligand such as benzyldimethyloctadecylammonium chloride (OBDAC) for the QDs, and crosslinking to prevent luminophore leakage. The physico-chemical and optical properties of the resulting beads were investigated with electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, optical spectroscopy, and fluorescence microscopy. Particle size distribution, fluorescence quantum yield of the encapsulated QDs, and QD leaking stability were used as measures for bead quality. The derived optimized bead encoding procedure enables the reproducible preparation of bright PS microbeads encoded with organic dyes as well as with CdSe/CdS-QDs. Although these beads show a reduced photoluminescence quantum yield compared to the initially very strongly luminescent QDs, with values of about 35%, their photoluminescence quantum yield is nevertheless still moderate.
Surface-functionalized polymer beads encoded with molecular luminophores and nanocrystalline emitters such as semiconductor nanocrystals, often referred to as quantum dots (QDs), or magnetic nanoparticles are broadly used in the life sciences as reporters and carrier beads. Many of these applications require a profound knowledge of the chemical nature and total number of their surface functional groups (FGs), that control bead charge, colloidal stability, hydrophobicity, and the interaction with the environment and biological systems. For bioanalytical applications, also the
number of groups accessible for the subsequent functionalization with, e.g., biomolecules or targeting ligands is relevant. In this study, we explore the influence of QD encoding on the amount of carboxylic acid (COOH) surface FGs of 2 μm polystyrene microparticles (PSMPs). This is done for frequently employed oleic acid and oleylamine stabilized, luminescent core/shell CdSe QDs and two commonly used encoding procedures. This included QD addition during bead formation by a thermally induced polymerization reaction and a post synthetic swelling procedure. The accessible number of COOH groups on the surface of QD-encoded and pristine beads was quantified by two colorimetric assays, utilizing differently sized reporters and electrostatic and covalent interactions. The results were compared to the total number of FGs obtained by a conductometric titration and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, a comparison of the impact of QD and dye encoding on the bead surface chemistry was performed. Our results demonstrate the influence of QD encoding and the QD-encoding strategy on the number of surface FG that is ascribed to an interaction of the QDs with the carboxylic acid groups on the bead surface. These findings are of considerable relevance for applications of nanoparticle-encoded beads and safe-by-design concepts for nanomaterials.
Preactivation Crosslinking - An Efficient Method for the Oriented Immobilization of Antibodies
(2019)
Crosslinking of proteins for their irreversible immobilization on surfaces is a proven and popular method. However, many protocols lead to random orientation and the formation of undefined or even inactive by-products. Most concepts to obtain a more targeted conjugation or immobilization requires the recombinant modification of at least one binding partner, which is often impractical or prohibitively expensive. Here a novel method is presented, which is based on the chemical preactivation of Protein A or G with selected conventional crosslinkers. In a second step, the antibody is added, which is subsequently crosslinked in the Fc part. This leads to an oriented and covalent immobilization of the immunoglobulin with a very high yield. Protocols for Protein A and Protein G with murine and human IgG are presented. This method may be useful for the preparation of columns for affinity chromatography, immunoprecipitation, antibodies conjugated to magnetic particles, permanent and oriented immobilization of antibodies in biosensor systems, microarrays, microtitration plates or any other system, where the loss of antibodies needs to be avoided, and maximum binding capacity is desired. This method is directly applicable even to antibodies in crude cell culture supernatants, raw sera or protein-stabilized antibody preparations without any purification nor enrichment of the IgG. This new method delivered much higher signals as a traditional method and, hence, seems to be preferable in many applications.
Outer membrane lipopolysaccharides (LPS) play a crucial role in determining attachment behavior and pathogenicity of bacteria. The aim of this study was to develop a simple procedure for anchoring bacterial lipopolysaccharides to polystyrene (PS) microparticles as a model system for in situ attachment studies. By using a swellcapture methodology, commercially available LPS of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (strain ATCC 27316 serotype 10.22) was anchored onto PS microparticles in a proof-of-concept study. A detailed chemical and morphological characterization has proven the success of LPS incorporation. It was shown that the coverage and structure of the LPS film was concentration dependent. The procedure can easily be adapted to LPS of other bacterial strains to generate a synthetic model toolkit for attachment studies.
Screening of one-bead-one-compound (OBOC) libraries is a proven procedure for the identification of protein-binding ligands. The demand for binders with high affinity and specificity towards various targets has surged in the biomedical and pharmaceutical field in recent years. The traditional peptide screening involves tedious steps such as affinity selection, bead picking, sequencing, and characterization. Herein, we present a high-throughput “all-on-one chip” system to avoid slow and technically complex bead picking steps. On a traditional glass slide provided with an electrically conductive tape, beads of a combinatorial peptide library are aligned and immobilized by application of a precision sieve. Subsequently, the chip is incubated with a fluorophore-labeled target protein. In a fluorescence scan followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, high-affinity binders are directly and unambiguously sequenced with high accuracy without picking of the positive beads. The use of an optimized ladder sequencing approach improved the accuracy of the de-novo sequencing step to nearly 100%. The new technique was validated by employing a FLAG-based model system, identifying new peptide binders for the monoclonal M2 anti-FLAG antibody, and was finally utilized to search for IgG-binding peptides. In the present format, more than 30,000 beads can be screened on one slide.
Hot-electron-induced reactions are more and more recognized as a critical and ubiquitous reaction in heterogeneous catalysis. However, the kinetics of these reactions is still poorly understood, which is also due to the complexity of plasmonic nanostructures. We determined the reaction rates of the hot-electron-mediated reaction of 4-nitrothiophenol (NTP) on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using fractal kinetics as a function of the laser wavelength and compared them with the plasmonic enhancement of the system. The reaction rates can be only partially explained by the plasmonic response of the NPs. Hence, synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements of isolated NTP-capped AuNP clusters have been performed for the first time. In this way, it was possible to determine the work function and the accessible valence band states of the NP systems. The results show that besides the plasmonic enhancement, the reaction rates are strongly influenced by the local density of the available electronic states of the system.
Metabolites from Alternaria fungi exhibit a variety of biological properties such as phytotoxic, cytotoxic, or antimicrobial activity. Optimization of a literature procedure culminated in an efficient total synthesis of (−)-altenuene as well as a stable isotope-labeled derivative suitable for implementation in a LC-MS/MS method for mycotoxin analysis.
This work aims to address the technical concerns related to the thermodynamic characterization of gas mixtures blended with hydrogen for the implementation of hydrogen as a new energy vector. For this purpose, new experimental speed of sound measurements have been done in gaseous and supercritical phases of two binary mixtures of nitrogen and hydrogen using the most accurate technique available, i.e., the spherical acoustic resonator, yielding an experimental expanded (k = 2) uncertainty of only 220 parts in 106 (0.022%). The measurements cover the pressure range between (0.5 and 20) MPa, the temperature range between (260 and 350) K, and the composition range with a nominal mole percentage of hydrogen of (5 and 10) mol%, respectively.
From the speed of sound data sets, thermophysical properties that are relevant for the characterization of the mixture, namely the second βa and third γa acoustic virial coefficients, are derived. These results are thoroughly compared and discussed with the established reference mixture models valid for mixtures of nitrogen and hydrogen, such as the AGA8-DC92 EoS, the GERG-2008 EoS, and the recently developed adaptation of the GERG-2008 EoS, here denoted GERG-H2_improved EoS. Special attention has been given to the effect of hydrogen concentration on those properties, showing that only the GERG-H2_improved EoS is consistent with the data sets within the experimental uncertainty in most measuring conditions.
Phosphorus (P) recovery is obligatory for all sewage sludges with more than 20 g P/kg dry matter (DM) from 2029 in Germany. Nine wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were chosen to investigate variations of phosphorus contents and other parameters in sewage sludge over the year. Monthly sewage sludge samples from each WWTP were analyzed for phosphorus and other matrix elements (C, N, H, Ca, Fe, Al, etc.), for several trace elements (As, Cr, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sn) and loss of ignition. Among the nine WWTPs, there are four which have phosphorus contents both above and below the recovery limit of 20 g/kg DM along the year. Considering the average phosphorus content over the year, only one of them is below the limit. Compared to other matrix elements and parameters, phosphorus fuctuations are low with an average of 7% over all nine WWTPs. In total, only hydrogen and carbon are more constant in the sludge.
In several WWTPs with chemical phosphorus elimination, phosphorus fuctuations showed similar courses like iron and/or aluminum. WWTPs with chamber flter presses rather showed dilution efects of calcium dosage. As result of this study, monthly phosphorus measurement is highly recommended to determine whether a WWTP is below the
20 g/kg DM limit.
The most profound consequences of the presence of Ca–Mg carbonates (CaCO3–MgCO3) in the Earth’s upper mantle may be to lower the melting temperatures of the mantle and control the melt composition.
Low-degree partial melting of a carbonate-bearing mantle produces CO2-rich, silica-poor melts compositionally imposed by the melting relations of carbonates. Thus, understanding the melting relations in the CaCO3–MgCO3 system facilitates the interpretation of natural carbonate-bearing silicate systems.
We report the melting relations of the CaCO3–MgCO3 system and the partition coefficient of trace elements between carbonates and carbonate melt from experiments at high pressure (6 and 9 GPa) and temperature (1300–1800 ◦C) using a rocking multi-anvil press. In the absence of water, Ca–Mg carbonates are stable along geothermal gradients typical of subducting slabs. Ca–Mg carbonates (∼ Mg0.1–0.9Ca0.9–0.1CO3) partially melt beneath mid-ocean ridges and in plume settings. Ca–Mg carbonates melt incongruently, forming periclase crystals and carbonate melt between 4 and 9 GPa. Furthermore, we show that the rare earth element (REE) signature of Group-I kimberlites, namely strong REE fractionation and depletion of heavy REE relative to the primitive mantle, is resembled by carbonate melt in equilibrium with Ca-bearing magnesite and periclase at 6 and 9 GPa. This suggests that the dolomite–magnesite join of the CaCO3–MgCO3 system might be useful to approximate the REE signature of carbonate-rich melts parental to kimberlites.
Cardiolipin (CL) is a major cardiac mitochondrial phospholipid maintaining regular mitochondrial morphology and function in cardiomyocytes. Cardiac CL production includes ist biosynthesis and a CL-remodeling process. Here we studied the impact of CL-biosynthesis and the enzyme Cardiolipin Synthase (CLS) on cardiac function.
CLS and cardiac CL-species were significantly downregulated in cardiomyocytes following catecholamine-induced cardiac damage in mice, accompanied by increased oxygen consumption rates, signs of oxidative stress and mitochondrial uncoupling. RNAi-mediated cardiomyocyte-specific knockdown of CLS in Drosophila melanogaster resulted in marked cardiac dilatation, severe impairment of systolic performance and slower diastolic filling velocity assessed by fluorescence-based heart imaging. Finally, we showed that CL72:8 is significantly decreased in cardiac samples from patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). In summary, we identified CLS as a regulator of cardiac function. Considering the cardiac depletion of CL-species in HFrEF, pharmacological targeting of CLS may be a promising therapeutic approach.zeige mehrzeige weniger