Highlighting some novel 2023 publications
Continuing to serve the scientific community with our stand-out products
Brain seizures
Epileptic seizures have the potential to rapidly reduce localized brain oxygen levels to severely hypoxic levels. For many years, Dr. Teskey's lab at the University of Calgary, Canada, has been investigating this phenomenon, seeking methods to alleviate this abrupt and detrimental pathology.
In their most recent publication, the group presents evidence that mild mitochondrial uncoupling might serve as a viable therapeutic approach to regulating brain pO2 to counteract the adverse effects associated with postictal hypoxia.
The study involved real-time monitoring of cerebral oxygen before, during, and after seizures using our OxyLite platform and minimally invasive, implantable oxygen sensors (NX-CI/BF/O/E).
Full article: “Postictal hypoxia involves reactive oxygen species and is ameliorated by chronic mitochondrial uncoupling”
Using bacterial infection to induce and assess cancer potential
This protocol paper, authored by scientists at Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands, offers valuable guidance for future researchers interested in identifying specific bacterial infections that may induce oncogenic transformation in normal cells.
During the assessment of different bacteria or mutant versions of a bacterium, the final step involves the gold standard colony formation assay (step 4). Our GelCount platform is recommended as the preferred option:
“When small cell colonies are visible, acquire the 6-well plate using the GelCount device and the GelCount software. Note: In case a GelCount device is not available, manual counting of the colonies using a bench microscope can be performed. Of note, manual counting is more time-consuming, labor-intensive, and subjective than automated detection.”
Full protocol: “Soft agar colony formation assay to quantify mouse embryonic fibroblast transformation after Salmonella infection”
Developing a hypoxic organoid model
Dr. Pasca's lab at Stanford University, California, is currently focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the encephalopathy of prematurity, a condition frequently associated with epilepsy and childhood-onset neuropsychiatric diseases. Their research is centered on the use of a human organoid model to investigate hypoxia-induced interneuronopathies, employing human forebrain assembloids.
In their most recent pre-print, the group successfully demonstrated that subjecting cells to hypoxic insult, similar to what might occur in vivo or clinically, resulted in various mechanistic deficits. Moreover, they propose potential therapeutic candidates that warrant exploration in future studies to address some of these issues.
To manipulate the pO2 in their organoid models, procedures were performed in the controlled oxygen environment of our HypoxyLab workstation.
Full Preprint: “Adrenomedullin promotes interneuron migration in a dual human model for hypoxic interneuronopathy of prematurity”
