Since our attempt to standardize the Staphylococcus aureus µSiM-CA division assay, described here, we have moved towards investigating biological reasons as to why our assay performance is not where we want it to be. While biofilms have been suspect from the…
Category: NRG
Staph Discipline: Pulling Staphylococcus aureus onto the Membrane to Encourage Timely Transmission
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Gene expression analysis of HUVECs cultured on uSiM (static vs flow)
Introduction Studies have shown that the shear-stimulation of endothelial cells results in the upregulation of the shear-sensitive transcription factor Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2). KLF2 plays a critical role in the regulation of endothelial activity such as the regulation of vascular…
Plasma Urea Clearance of Liftoff Device
Introduction This experiment is a continuation of previous work, cited below. Instead of urea spiked 1x PBS, whole heparinized bovine blood was pushed through the device over a period of four hours to then perform a urea assay on the…
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Urea Clearance of Liftoff Device
Introduction These results are thanks to assistance from Sam Walker and his previous posts regarding urea clearance that helped lay the foundation of this experiment. “Single Slot Inverted-Chip and Double Slot: Single-Pass Dialysis Devices” (Walker 2018) https://trace-bmps.org/single-slot-inverted-chip-and-double-slot-single-pass-dialysis-devices/ More information…
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Staphing Issues: Standardizing the Staphylococcus aureus µSiM-CA Division Assay
After continually seeing variability in assays using the microfluidic silicon membrane canalicular array (µSiM-CA) and developing a new technique to visualize bacterial division in the µSiM-CA, discussed here, we wanted to improve and stabilize the performance of our assays. Currently,…
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A Move in the Light Direction: Visualizing Staphylococcus aureus Division Across Membranes Within µSiM-CA Devices Using Confocal Microscopy
Recently, several studies on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) have been hindered due to poor performance from assays using the µSiM-Canalicular Array (CA). As discussed here, we attempted to improve assay performance by coating our membranes with fibronectin. This did not…
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To Bead or not to Bead: Struggling to Detect tRNA Binding to Silica Particles towards Wastewater Genome Extraction
This post describes my second attempt at developing a protocol for viral genome extraction in large volumes of waste water. Like our first attempt, described here, we looked to improve upon the protocol Direct wastewater RNA extraction via the “Milk…
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Physiological Facade: Fibronectin coating membranes in an attempt to improve the performance of Staphylococcus aureus propagation assays using the µSiM
Parallel with my efforts in the Osteomyelitis project to coat our membranes with polyurethane acrylate, I began working with the Gill lab on improving the performance of our uSiM platform as a propagation assay for Staphylococcus aureus. In the past…
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Flabbergrassted: Persistent Surface Roughness in Polyurethane Acrylate Etches
Since I discovered a dilution of polyurethane acrylate (PUA) which coats well (described here), I have restarted my efforts towards etching the PUA. Described below are my most recent attempts towards creating a PUA coating with a smooth surface with…
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Fibronectin and Friends: Confirming the Presence of Multiple Vascular Basement Membrane Components in the μSiM-hNVU
Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development of neurological disorders [1]. One potential mechanism of…
