In heart, a robust regulatory mechanism is required to counteract the regenerative Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Several mechanisms, including inactivation, adaptation, and stochastic closing of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) have been proposed, but no conclusive evidence has yet been provided. We probed the termination process of Ca2+ release by using a technique of im...

An external redox signal delivered by ascorbic acid was used to trigger membrane translocation in a synthetic transduction system.

Calcium plays an essential role in excitation-contraction coupling in muscle, and derangements in calcium handling can produce a variety of potentially harmful conditions, especially in cardiac muscle. In cardiac tissue specialized invaginations of the sarcolemma, called T-tubules, penetrate deep into each sarcomere, and depolarization of the SL leads to an influx of calcium through voltage-sen...

Since its discovery in 1969, enterovirus 71 (EV71) has emerged as a serious worldwide health threat. This human pathogen of the picornavirus family causes hand, foot, and mouth disease, and also has the capacity to invade the central nervous system to cause severe disease and death. Upon binding to a host receptor on the cell surface, the virus begins a two-step uncoating process, first forming...

In the medical field, a need exists for self-contained implantable sensors for the rapid detection of disease and the rapid release of therapeutic agents. The expanding field of molecular imprinting (MIP) technology has an enormous potential to create intelligent, analyte-sensitive polymers that are capable of controlled drug delivery of therapeutic molecules in response to a biological event. ...

Ultrasound active liposomes currently have gained a lot of interest as therapeutic agents for targeted drug delivery. A well known problem is their fast clearance from the circulation and thus the short time frame for drug release. The use of ultrasound as external trigger for drug release is attractive because it can be easily focused and only few adverse effects on the healthy tissue can be o...

Nanomaterials which can respond to external stimuli have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in sensing and biomedicine. One of the most promising classes of such materials is the stimuli-responsive liposome that can release its contents in response to a specific target. Despite recent progress, development of liposomes responsive to small molecular targets rema...

one of the important reasons for death among the worldwide’s population is trauma which is injury or damage to a biological organism caused by physical harm from an external source. after trauma, the immune system and the early inflammatory immune response activation lead to massive injury. trauma causes activation of nearly all components of the immune system; it also activates the neuroendocr...