Voltammetric sensing of sugar by an electrode covered with wheat germ agglutinin/chitin film

Revealing the carbohydrate pattern on a cell surface by super-resolution imaging

Carbohydrates are involved in various physiological and pathological activities including cell adhesion, signal transduction and tumor invasion. The distribution of carbohydrates is the molecular basis of their multiple functions, but remains poorly understood. Here, we employed direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM) to visualize the pattern of N-acetylglucosamine (N-GlcNAc) on Vero cell membranes at the nanometer level of resolution. We found that N-GlcNAcs exist in irregular clusters on the apical membrane with an average cluster area of about 0.37 μm(2). Most of these N-GlcNAc clusters are co-localized with lipid rafts by dual-color dSTORM imaging, suggesting that carbohydrates are closely associated with lipid rafts as the functional domains. Our results demonstrate that super-resolution imaging is capable of characterizing the distribution of carbohydrates on the cellular surface at the molecular level.

Comprehensive review on additives of topical dosage forms for drug delivery

Skin is the largest organ of the human body and plays the most important role in protecting against pathogen and foreign matter. Three important modes such as topical, regional and transdermal are widely used for delivery of various dosage forms. Among these modes, the topical dosage forms are preferred because it provides local therapeutic activity when applied to the skin or mucous membranes. Additives or pharmaceutical excipients (non-drug component of dosage form) are used as inactive ingredients in dosage form or tools for structuring dosage forms. The main use of topical dosage form additives are controling the extent of absorption, maintaining the viscosity, improving the stability as well as organoleptic property and increasing the bulk of the formulation. The overall goal of this article is to provide the clinician with information related to the topical dosage form additives and their current major applications against various diseases.

Sensitivity of a glassy carbon electrode covered with a chitin film improved by the addition of carbon powder

The redox activity of a chitin film on a glassy carbon electrode was remarkably improved by the addition of carbon powder to the film in the detection of ascorbic acid, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Although oxidation of ascorbic acid using the electrode with the chitin film did not give an appreciable voltametric response, the addition of carbon powder to the film greatly improved its activity up to a 95% level of the bare carbon electrode. For FAD and NADH, an increase in each oxidation peak was observed in a similar manner. The improvement was due to electron mediation of the carbon powder contained in the film. Thus, the electrode effectively recovers the sensitivity for some biological molecules, and thus becomes a powerful device to monitor reactions between biological molecules. Because both carbon and chitin are materials with high biocompatibility, the film can be considered as cell scaffolds. Furthermore, the film immobilized on the plate has a possibility as an electrode in itself.