Determination of the shell growth direction during the formation of silica microcapsules by confocal fluorescence microscopy

A novel procedure was developed to determine the direction of silica growth during the formation of a silica shell around aqueous microdroplets in water-in-oil Pickering emulsions. Two fluorescently labeled silica precursors were added consecutively and the resulting microcapsules were visualized via confocal fluorescence microscopy, allowing...

The antimicrobial peptide LL-37 facilitates the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps

NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps) have been described as a fundamental innate immune defence mechanism. Duringformation of NETs, the nuclear membrane is disrupted by an asyet unknown mechanism. In the present study we investigated the role of human cathelicidin LL-37 in nuclear membrane disruption and formation of NETs. Immunofluorescence...

Visualization of capsular polysaccharide induction in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) are of fundamental importance for attachment to metal sulfides, biofilm formation and leaching efficiency of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. In this work we have visualized the capsular polysaccharides (CPS) of A. ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 using the fluorescently-labeled lectin Concanavalin A (ConA) and...

Glucoamylasegreen fluorescent protein fusions to monitor protein secretion in Aspergillus niger

A glucoamylase::green fluorescent protein fusion (GLA::sGFP) was constructed which allows the green fluorescent protein to be used as an in vivo reporter of protein secretion in Aspergillus niger. Two secretory fusions were designed for secretion of GLA::sGFP which employed slightly different lengths of the glucoamylase protein (GLA499 and...

Investigation of the conservation-treatment methods of the Dutch National Monument: The role of microscopy

The Dutch National Monument in Amsterdam, a World War-II memorial structure, was built with an outer face consisting of slabs of travertine. In 1995, the masonry structure forming the core of the monument showed severe deterioration. In order to determine the actual cause of deterioration and to advise on the most suitable method of restoration,...

Composition of mortar as a function of distance to the brick-mortar interface: A study on the formation of cured mortar structure in masonry using NMR, PFM and XRD

The formation of cured mortar structure in masonry was studied using multiple experimental techniques. Starting with fresh mortar, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to measure the water extraction during brick laying. After curing, the composition of cured mortar was investigated with polarizing and fluorescent microscopy (PFM) and X-Ray...

Interactions between staphylokinase, plasmin(ogen), and fibrin. Staphylokinase discriminates between free plasminogen and plasminogen bound to partially degraded fibrin

Staphylokinase (STA), a protein of bacterial origin, induces highly fibrin-specific thrombolysis both in human plasma in vitro and in pilot clinical trials. Using fluorescence microscopy, we investigated the spatial distribution of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled STA during lysis of a plasma clot and its binding to purified fibrin...

Antigen detection in vivo after immunization with different presentation forms of rabies virus antigen: Involvement of marginal metallophilic macrophages in the uptake of immune-stimulating complexes

Several mechanisms have been postulated to explain the relatively high immunogenicity of antigens presented in immune-stimulating complexes (iscom). Their potency can in part be explained by the specific targeting of these structures to cells presenting antigens to the immune system. However, until now no method for the subcellular detection of...