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Ultrasound examination during late gestation is one of the best methods for monitoring potential pregnancy risks. Enlarged bladder is a urological disorder rarely observed in equine fetuses. This clinical case report aimed to present a case illustrating the development of equine fetal enlarged bladder using transabdominal ultrasound examinations and maternal hormone evaluation during gestation. An 8-year-old Hokkaido native pony was impregnated by embryo transfer, and at 215 days of gestation, abnormalities of the fetal bladder were detected. The bladder volume increased with gestational age, and a second bladder was observed at 257 days of gestation. No abnormalities were observed in the fetal kidneys. Moreover, the maternal plasma progesterone concentration was measured throughout the gestation period. The progesterone concentration was elevated from 36 weeks of gestation until parturition. At 363 days of gestation, parturition induction was conducted, and a foal successfully delivered. This case report is the first to describe the development of equine fetal enlarged bladder and record the corresponding ultrasound and hormone profiles., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The non-polar compounds that coprecipitate with aflatoxins and interfere aflatoxin analysis using an immunoaffinity column (IAC) were identified and an effective pretreatment method was developed in combination with IAC. The proanthocyanidins fractionated from cinnamon coprecipitated with four major aflatoxins (B 1 , G 1 , B 2 and G 2 ) and were effectively removed using zirconia-coated silica gel. A pretreatment method which combined zirconia-coated silica gel and an IAC was developed for LC-MS/MS analysis of aflatoxins and the combined method substantially improved the recovery of the analytes. The method validation for the quantification of aflatoxins in four types of spiked samples (bark, dried fruits, seeds and rhizomes) and a certified reference material showed favorable accuracy. Furthermore, the developed method was applied to the real samples which encouraged mold growth, and aflatoxins B 1 and G 1 were successfully detected in some of the samples on which mold grew. This is the first study revealing the causative agent of aflatoxin coprecipitation and developing a new technique to remove the matrix from plant samples. Thus, the method has the potential to become a standard analytical method for aflatoxins in food and medicinal plant samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Introduction: Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders caused by the deposition of abnormal prion protein aggregates (PrP Sc ) in the central nervous system. This study aimed to evaluate the use of iodinated pyridyl benzofuran (IPBF) derivatives as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) probes for the detection of cerebral PrP Sc deposits., Methods: In vitro binding assays of IPBF derivatives were carried out in the recombinant mouse prion protein (rMoPrP) and brain sections of mouse-adapted bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mBSE)-infected mice. SPECT imaging of 5-(5-[ 123 I]iodobenzofuran-2-yl)-N-methylpyridin-2-amine ([ 123 I]IPBF-NHMe) was performed on mBSE-infected and mock-infected mice., Results: Fluorescence microscopy results showed that fluorescence signals of IPBF derivatives corresponded to the thioflavin-T positive amyloid deposits of PrP Sc in the brain sections of mouse-adapted bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mBSE)-infected mice. Among the IPBF derivatives, 5-(5-iodobenzofuran-2-yl)-N-methylpyridin-2-amine (IPBF-NHMe) exhibited the highest binding affinity to the recombinant mouse prion protein (rMoPrP) aggregates with a K i of 14.3 nM. SPECT/computed tomography (CT) imaging and ex vivo autoradiography demonstrated that the [ 123 I]IPBF-NHMe distribution in brain tissues of mBSE-infected mice co-localized with PrP Sc deposits., Conclusion: [ 123 I]IPBF-NHMe appears to be a prospective SPECT tracer for monitoring prion deposits in living brain tissues., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we developed selenoprotein L-inspired nano-vesicular peroxidase mimics based on amphiphilic diselenides. Selenocystine (SeCyst) was used as the starting material for the synthesis of four liposomal membrane-compatible diselenide derivatives (R-Se-Se-R') with two hydrophobic tails and a polar part. The diselenide derivatives were successfully incorporated into the phosphatidylcholine (PC)-based nano-vesicular scaffold. The results of the particle diameter and zeta-potential measurements suggested that the functional diselenide moiety was placed around the outer surface, not in the hydrophobic interior, of the liposomal membrane structures. The GPx-like catalytic activity of the diselenide/PC liposomes was determined by the conventional NADPH method using glutathione as the reducing substrate. For three peroxide substrates, i.e., hydrogen peroxide, organic tert-butyl hydroperoxide and cummen hydroperoxide, the cationic property-possessing diselenide derivatives in the PC-based liposomes resulted in a higher catalytic activity in comparison to electrically neutral and anionic derivatives. Overall, the diselenide derivatives at the surface of a liposomal colloidal scaffold could exert a GPx-like catalytic activity in physiological aqueous media., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Sup35 is a prion-like protein from yeast and shares the ability to transmit its aberrant fold and to aggregate into amyloid fibrils. 7 GNNQQNY 13 from the prion-determining domain of Sup35 was reported to form an amyloid. We first investigated the self-aggregation transition behavior of GNNQQNY to the β-sheet amyloid state under various conditions. Mechanical stirring using a magnetic bar resulted in accelerated aggregation of the GNNQQNY. The aggregation rate of GNNQQNY was also dependent on its concentration; the higher the GNNQQNY concentration, the faster the aggregation. Circular dichroism and Fourier transform-infrared spectral data indicated the formation of the β-sheet structure in the GNNQQNY aggregates. The fluorescence experiments using an amyloid-specific thioflavin T also demonstrated that the GNNQQNY aggregates formed the amyloid structures. The amyloid structure of the GNNQQNY aggregates served as seeds for the elongation of the monomeric GNNQQNY in the solution state. We further studied the ability of the GNNQQNY amyloid fibrils to act as seeds for the elongation of the amyloid-forming monomeric proteins (albumin, lysozyme and insulin). The cross-seeding experiments suggested that the GNNQQNY aggregate could possibly promote the amyloid fibril formation of heterogeneous insulin. The inverse monomeric GNNQQNY would have a binding capacity for the heterogeneous already-formed amyloid-β fibrils on a mice brain section. These basic data could be informative for elucidating the pathogenic and/or propagation mechanisms of prion agents and developing effective therapeutics and/or diagnosis for prion diseases., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Supported phospholipid bilayer membranes on polysaccharide-based cationic polymer beads (cationic group: -[OCH2CH(OH)CH2]2N(+)(CH3)3·X(-), 45-165 μm in diameter) were prepared using small unilamellar vesicles from mixtures of phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylcholine (PC). Confocal fluorescence microscopic observations with a fluorescent membrane probe (N-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-phosphatidylethanolamine) revealed that the phospholipid molecules in the phospholipid-bead complexes were along the outer surface of the beads. The fluidity of the phospholipid bilayer membranes in the PS/PC-bead complexes was investigated by the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique. The lateral diffusion coefficients (D) for the PS/PC-bead complexes were lower than that for the 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine giant unilamellar vesicles without solid supports. Such less fluid membranes in the complexes appeared to be due to the immobilization of the phospholipid bilayer membranes by electrostatic attractive forces between PS and the bead. The D values for the PS/PC-bead complexes were dependent on the phospholipid composition; the PS(100 mol%)/PC(0 mol%)-bead complex had the least fluid membranes among the PS/PC-bead complexes tested in this study. The phospholipid bilayer membranes formed on the polysaccharide-based cationic polymer beads were much more fluid than those on a polystyrene-based one. Furthermore, such fluid phospholipid bilayer membranes formed on the polysaccharide-based cationic polymer bead were maintained for 10 days, even though the complex sample was stood in plain buffer (pH 8.5) at ambient temperature., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)