There has been a great deal of research regarding the cellular association of nanoparticles (NPs), although there are only a few methods available yet for the quantitative measurements of cellular NPs. In this study, we propose a simple and quantitative method to estimate the cellular uptake of Au NPs into cervical cancer cells (HeLa) based on their side scattering (SSC) intensities measured by flow cytometry (FCM). We have compared SSC intensities of HeLa cells exposed to eight different types of Au NPs (40-100 nm size, with positive or negative surface charge) with the amount of cellular Au NPs measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). On the basis of these comparisons, we have found linear correlations between the cellular Au NPs and the SSC intensities and used them to estimate the amount of Au NPs associated with HeLa cells. Once the correlations were found for specific cell lines and types of nanoparticles, this approach is useful for simple and quantitative estimation of the cellular Au NPs, without performing labor-intensive and complicated sample preparation procedures required for the ICPMS approach.

In this study, we have demonstrated feasibility of a semi-quantitative approach for the estimation of cellular SiO 2 nanoparticles (NPs), which is based on the flow cytometry measurements of their normalized side scattering intensity. In order to improve our understanding on the quantitative aspects of cell-nanoparticle interactions, flow cytometry, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray fluorescence experiments were carefully performed for the HeLa cells exposed to SiO 2 NPs with different core diameters, hydrodynamic sizes, and surface charges. Based on the observed relationships among the experimental data, a semi-quantitative cellular SiO 2 NPs estimation method from their normalized side scattering and core diameters was proposed, which can be applied for the determination of cellular SiO 2 NPs within their size-dependent linear ranges. V C 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry

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Platelets are anuclear discoid-shaped blood cells with key roles in human body. To understand the mechanisms of their activation process, it is required to have analytical imaging techniques capable of acquiring platelet images under fully hydrated conditions. Herein, for the first time, we demonstrate the capability of synchrotronbased transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) to study platelets (resting and ADP activated) under hydrated and air-dried conditions. To confirm the biological imaging capability of TXM, fixed platelets were imaged and compared with whole mount electron microscopy (EM) images. TXM provided morphological information with sufficient spatial resolution with simple and quick sample preparation procedure. We also observed temporal changes during the platelet activation, which initially had a discoid shape (0 s), formed pseudopodia (30 s) and generated a network of fibrin (5 min). Our results clearly demonstrate the potential of TXM technique to study fully hydrated biological samples under in situ conditions.

Trichoderma harzianum is one of rhizosphere fungus usually lives near the plant root regions in the soil. T. harzianum plays an important role in plant growth promotion and increases disease resistance against various plant pathogens on crops. In this study, the strain T. harzianum MPA167 was isolated from the barley rhizosphere soil in Suwon, Korea. Among 183 isolates, the strain T. harzianum MPA167 was selected as promising strain in which based on hyperparasitical activity against Phytophthora capsici and estimated disease control activity against P. capsici in the greenhouse conditions. The strain T. harzianum MPA167 was identified using 23s rDNA internal transcribed spacer(ITS) region sequences. MPA167 treatment (1 × 10 6 spores/ml) showed greater disease suppression against Phytophthora blight of red-pepper caused by P. capsici in greenhouse compared with the water-treated control. Volatiles derived from T. harzianum MPA167 elicit growth promotion of tobacco and Arabidopsis seedlings in I-plate assay. In addition, T. harzianum MPA167 strain was also found to be effective for the growth promotion and induction of systemic resistance on red-papper plant. These results suggest that MPA167 might be used as one of the potential biocontrol agents.

Purpose: Streptococcus pyogenes is an important cause of invasive diseases in children. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of invasive infections due to S. pyogenes in children in Korea. Methods: A retrospective study of children under 18 years of age with invasive infections due to S. pyogenes at Seoul National University Children's Hospital between March 1992 and December 2012, and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between March 2003 and December 2012 was conducted. Demographic factors, clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, treatment, mortality and morbidity of all patients were reviewed. Results: A total of 30 among 36 cases identified as invasive disease due to S. pyogenes were available for review. There was a predominance for male subjects (male:female=2.75:1). The median age was 50 months (range 12 days to 15 years) and 53.3% were under 5 years of age. Skin and soft tissue infections (9/30, 30.0%), bacteremia without identified focus (4/30, 13.3%) and bone and joint infections (6/30, 20.0%) were the most frequent clinical presentations. Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (3/30, 10.0%) pulmonary, abdomen and central nervous system infections (2/30, 6.7%) were also seen. There was a peak in number of patients in year 2012 (9/30, 30.0%). There were no cases of mortality. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance rates were low by 3.8% and 7.5%, respectively. Conclusion: We studied the clinical presentations of invasive infections due to S. pyogenes during the past 20 years in Korean children. The findings of this study help us understand the characteristics of the disease, enhancing early recognition and prompting adequate antibiotic therapy which is important in reducing morbidity and mortality.