We have developed a simple approach for the large-scale synthesis of water-soluble green carbon nanodots (G-dots) from many kinds of large food waste-derived sources. About 120 g of G-dots per 100 kg of food waste can be synthesized using our simple and environmentally friendly synthesis approach. The G-dots exhibit a high degree of solubility in water because of the abundant oxygen-containing functional groups around their surface. The narrow band of photoluminescence emission (400-470 nm) confirms that the size of the G-dots (∼4 nm) is small because of a similar quantum effects and emission traps on the surfaces. The G-dots have excellent photostability; their photoluminescence intensity decreases slowly (∼8%) under continuous excitation with a Xe lamp for 10 days. We carried out cell viability assay to assess the effect of cytotoxicity by introducing G-dots in cells such as Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1), mouse muscle cells (C2C12), and African green monkey kidney cells (COS-7), up to a concentration of 2 mg mL(-1) for 24 h. Due to their high photostability and low cytotoxicity, these G-dots are excellent probes for in vitro bioimaging. Moreover, the byproducts (not including G-dots) of G-dot synthesis from large food-waste derived sources promoted the growth and development of seedlings germinated on 3DW-supplemented gauze. Because of the combined advantages of green synthesis, high aqueous stability, high photostability, and low cytotoxicity, the G-dots show considerable promise in various areas, including biomedical imaging, solution state optoelectronics, and plant seed germination and/or growth.

Bone has the ability to adjust its structure to meet its mechanical environment. The prevailing view of bone mechanobiology is that osteocytes are responsible for detecting and responding to mechanical loading and initiating the bone adaptation process. However, how osteocytes signal effector cells and initiate bone turnover is not well understood. Recent in vitro studies have shown that osteocytes support osteoclast formation and activation when co-cultured with osteoclast precursors. In this study, we examined the osteocytes' role in the mechanical regulation of osteoclast formation and activation.We demonstrated here that 1) Mechanical stimulation of MLO-Y4 osteocyte-like cells decreases their osteoclastogenic-support potential when co-cultured with RAW264.7 monocyte osteoclast precursors, 2) Soluble factors released by these mechanically stimulated MLO-Y4 cells inhibit osteoclastogenesis induced by ST2 bone marrow stromal cells or MLO-Y4 cells, and 3) Soluble RANKL and OPG were released by MLO-Y4 cells, and the expressions of both were found to be mechanically regulated.Our data suggests that mechanical loading decreases the osteocyte's potential to induce osteoclast formation by direct cell-cell contact. However, it is not clear that osteocytes in vivo are able to form contacts with osteoclast precursors. Our data also demonstrates that mechanically stimulated osteocytes release soluble factors that can inhibit osteoclastogenesis induced by other supporting

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Bone response under combined mechanical and PTH stimuli is important in osteoporosis. A rat tail animal model with computer modeling was used to examine bone response to loading and PTH. PTH enhances and sustains increased bone formation rate, which directly correlates to mechanical microenvironment, suggesting beneficial effects of combined PTH treatment and exercise in preventing osteoporosis.Introduction: Using an in vivo rat tail vertebra model combined with a specimen-specific, high-resolution microcomputed tomography (CT)-based finite element analysis (FEA) technique, trabecular bone response to combined dynamic compressive loading and parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulation was characterized. Materials and Methods: Two hundred twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into seven treatment groups: (1) Control, (2) vehicle ϩ 0N, (3) PTH ϩ 0N, (4) vehicle ϩ 50N, (5) PTH ϩ 50N, (6) vehicle ϩ 100N, and (7) PTH ϩ 100N, with three treatment durations (1, 2, or 4 weeks). Rat PTH(1-34) was administered daily in the PTH-stimulated groups approximately 3 h before daily mechanical stimulation with 0, 50, or 100N dynamic compressive loading. CT-based FEA was performed for each loaded vertebra after death. Bone histomorphometry was performed on trabecular bone with double fluorochrome labeling to assess bone formation. Results: Daily mechanical loading or PTH administration significantly increased bone formation rate (BFR) compared with control or V ϩ 0N with significant increases in both mineral apposition rate (MAR) and labeled bone surface (LS/BS). PTH, when combined with mechanical loading, enhanced BFR mainly through a significant increase in MAR after the first week and through a significant increase in LS/BS after 2 and 4 weeks. Synergistic effects in BFR were present when PTH was combined with mechanical loading, especially after 2 and 4 weeks, where the increase in BFR was sustained. However, when either PTH or mechanical loading was the only stimulus, the bone formation response diminished to the level of Control animals after 4 weeks. Furthermore, significant correlations were observed between the bone formation indices and trabecular bone tissue mechanical microenvironments at 1 and 2 weeks, with PTH administration enhancing and sustaining these correlations into 4 weeks. Conclusions: The synergistic effects of combined PTH and mechanical stimulation on trabecular bone formation rate suggest a potential benefit for combined PTH administration and exercise in the treatment of osteoporosis.

Fluid flow due to loading in bone is a potent mechanical signal that may play an important role in bone adaptation to its mechanical environment. Previous in vitro studies of osteoblastic cells revealed that the upregulation of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and c-fos induced by steady fluid flow depends on a change in actin polymerization dynamics and the formation of actin stress fibers. Exposing cells to dynamic oscillatory fluid flow, the temporal flow pattern that results from normal physical activity, is also known to result in increased COX-2 expression and PGE(2) release. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dynamic fluid flow results in changes in actin dynamics similar to steady flow and to determine whether alterations in actin dynamics are required for PGE(2) release. We found that exposure to oscillatory fluid flow did not result in the development of F-actin stress fibers in MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells and that inhibition of actin polymerization with cytochalasin D did not inhibit intracellular calcium mobilization or PGE(2) release. In fact, PGE(2) release was increased threefold in the polymerization inhibited cells and this PGE(2) release was dependent on calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum. This was in contrast to the PGE(2) release that occurs in normal cells, which is independent of calcium flux from endoplasmic reticulum stores. We suggest that this increased PGE(2) release involves a different molecular mechanism perhaps involving increased deformation due to the compromised cytoskeleton.

Ultrasonic treatment (UST) has been used not only to accelerate protein fibril growth and amplify infectious prion proteins from biological fluids, but also to break amyloid-like fibrils for treatment.Despite the applicability of UST to clinical treatment, both the decomposition characteristics of fibrils and the regrowth mechanisms of the decomposed fibrils remain unclear. Here, we report UST-driven decomposition of amyloid-like fibrils into shorter fibrils and the principles of fibril regrowth via conventional heating. Short fibrils decomposed by UST can be reconstructed into mature fibrils with the addition of monomeric protein, but the regrowth of short fibrils rarely occurs in the absence of monomeric protein. Interestingly, the reconstructed fibrils possess electric properties similar to those of the original fibrils. We propose a model that describes the regrowth process of amyloid-like fibrils decomposed by UST, which sheds light on future biomedical applications of UST for the treatment of amyloidogenic diseases.

The results suggest that pulse amplitude modulation is a feasible means of implementing a stimulation strategy for retinal prostheses, despite the marked change in the physiological properties of RGCs in degenerated retinas.