gelso and grand – The Automation Partnership

An open source protein gel documentation system for proteome analyses

February 13, 2022 Lieven Leave a comment

Data organization and data mining represents one of the main challenges for modern high throughput technologies in pharmaceutical chemistry and medical chemistry. The presented open source documentation and analysis system provides an integrated solution (tutorial, setup protocol, sources, executables) aimed at substituting the traditionally used lab-book.

The data management solution provided incorporates detailed information about the processing of the gels and the experimental conditions used and includes basic data analysis facilities which can be easily extended.

Cost-effective gel documentation using a web-cam.

In search for a cost effective gel documentation system applicable for different fields of molecular biology, we analyzed the capabilities of a cheap CCD-camera originally designed to capture images for transmission through the internet (web-cam) with regard to gel documentation. The camera was connected to a personal computer https://biodas.org/ by universal serial bus (USB) and used for the documentation of DNA separated on agarose gels and stained by ethidium-bromide using the software provided with the camera.

The web-cam provided digital images of sufficient quality for routine documentation and combined the low set-up costs of a Polaroid system with the low running costs of video capture systems, hence is ideal as a start-up system and as augmentation to existing equipment.

Persistence of the same Candida albicans strain despite fluconazole therapy. Documentation by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Candida albicans and other Candida species have emerged as major nosocomial pathogens associated with a high mortality. Therapeutic options for fungal infections are limited. Amphotericin B has been the mainstay of treatment for serious systemic candidal infections, but it is relatively toxic and associated with a variety of side effects. Fluconazole has been proposed as alternative therapy for the treatment of systemic candidiasis including candidemia. We report the case of a patient with fungemia in whom fluconazole failed to eradicate C. albicans and C. tropicalis.

These pathogens were recovered from sputum and urine cultures, respectively, on day 12 of intravenous fluconazole therapy. Molecular epidemiologic techniques employing pulsed-field gel electrophoresis confirmed the persistence of the same C. albicans strain. Susceptibility studies showed a marked change in MICs of fluconazole between 24 and 48 hr, with an increase from less than or equal to 1.25 to greater than 80 micrograms/ml. Controlled trials will be needed to delineate the role of fluconazole in the treatment of disseminated candidiasis and its efficacy in comparison with amphotericin B. Amphotericin B should remain the drug of choice for such infections until data from controlled trials are available.

Inhibition of post-surgery tumour recurrence via a sprayable chemo-immunotherapy gel releasing PD-L1 antibody and platelet-derived small EVs

Background: Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer, and surgery is an effective method to treat melanoma. Unfortunately, local residual micro-infiltrated tumour cells and systemic circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are significant causes of treatment failure, leading to tumour recurrence and metastasis.

Methods: Small EVs were isolated from platelets by differential centrifugation, and doxorubicin-loaded small EVs (PexD) was prepared by mixing small EVs with doxorubicin (DOX). PexD and an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (aPD-L1) were co-encapsulated in fibrin gel. The synergistic antitumour efficacy of the gel containing PexD and aPD-L1 was assessed both in vitro and in vivo.

Results: Herein, we developed an in situ-formed bioresponsive gel combined with chemoimmunotherapeutic agents as a drug reservoir that could effectively inhibit both local tumour recurrence and tumour metastasis. In comparison with a DOX solution, PexD could better bind to tumour cells, induce more tumour immunogenic cell death (ICD) and promote a stronger antitumour immune response. PexD could enter the blood circulation through damaged blood vessels to track and eliminate CTCs. The concurrent release of aPD-L1 at the tumour site could impair the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and restore the tumour-killing effect of cytotoxic T cells. This chemoimmunotherapeutic strategy triggered relatively strong T cell immune responses, significantly improving the tumour immune microenvironment.

Conclusion: Our findings indicated that the immunotherapeutic fibrin gel could “awaken” the host innate immune system to inhibit both local tumour recurrence post-surgery and metastatic potential, thus, it could serve as a promising approach to prevent tumour recurrence.

Clinical Comparison of I-gel and Laryngeal Mask Airway-Supreme Airway Devices During General Anaesthesia in the Paediatric Population

Objectives: Both the Supreme Laryngeal Mask Airway (SLMA) and the I-gel (I-gel) are supraglottic airway devices (SADs) commonly used for airway management in paediatric patients. This study aims to compare the efficacy in terms of insertion and ventilation profiles of size 2 SLMA and the I-gel in anaesthetised paediatric patients.

Methods: 100 children were prospectively allocated to two groups depending upon the device inserted as SLMA (n = 50) and I-gel (n = 50). The primary outcomes were studied in terms of ease of insertion, haemodynamic changes, ventilation parameters, leak pressure and incidences of complications during general anaesthesia.

Results: There were no failed attempts in the insertion of the airways in either group. The SLMA was more easily inserted in the majority of cases compared to the I-gel group. The number of attempts for insertion and the time taken for insertion were comparable in the I-gel and the SLMA group (13.8462.38 vs. 14.0261.7) (P .57, .66). Securing an effective airway took <30 seconds in both the groups with an overall median duration of 15 seconds. There was no difficulty in passing the gastric tube in either group (P<.30). There was a statistical difference between the oropharyngeal seal pressure (OSP), which was 25.1861.59 and 22.1061.36 cmH2O for SLMA and I-gel, respectively (P<.001). Haemodynamic parameters after the insertion of the device were comparable, and there were no clinically important complications in the post-operative period.

Conclusions: Both the devices appeared to be simple and suitable for airway management during elective surgery in paediatric patients. However, the SLMA was easily inserted with less insertion time in the majority of patients. Also, it provides higher OSP during anaesthesia and is better tolerated during emergence, with minimal risk of injury to the oropharynx.

Transfer and Fixation of Denatured RNA in Agarose Gels to Membranes by Capillary Transfer

In most cases, fractionation of RNA by agarose gel electrophoresis is but a prelude to hybridization of the fractionated population to specific labeled probes that detect particular target mRNAs. RNA is first transferred from an agarose gel to a 2D support, usually a nylon membrane.

This protocol presents the steps involved in the transfer of RNA from an agarose gel to a membranous support, facilitated by the upward flow of buffer, followed by various methods for fixation of the RNA to the membrane in preparation for hybridization. An alternative method for transfer by downward capillary flow is also given.

AXYGEN® GEL DOCUMENTATION SYSTEM
GD-1000	CORNING	1/pk	4670 EUR
AXYGEN® GEL DOCUMENTATION SYSTEM BL
GDBL-1000	CORNING	1/pk	7632 EUR
photo documentation system
VLBPCX4-20M	Consort	ea	6352 EUR
photo documentation system
VLBPCX4-20MX	Consort	ea	6774 EUR
photo documentation system
VLDP-HOOD	Consort	ea	5084 EUR
photo documentation system
VLDP17-26M	Consort	ea	8126 EUR
photo documentation system
VLDP17-26MX	Consort	ea	8464 EUR
AXYGEN® GEL DOCUMENTATION SYSTEM BLUE LIGHT CONVERSION SCREEN FOR GD-1000
GD-BLCS	CORNING	1/pk	700 EUR
AXYGEN® GEL DOCUMENTATION SYSTEM WHITE LIGHT CONVERSION SCREEN FOR GD-1000 AND GDBL-1000
GD-WLCS	CORNING	1/pk	356 EUR
Casting Dams, For Enduro 7cm Gel System
LE1000CD-01	GenDepot	Ea	126 EUR
Casting Dams, For Enduro 10cm Gel System
LE1000CD-02	GenDepot	Ea	138 EUR
Casting Dams, For Enduro 15cm Gel System
LE1000CD-03	GenDepot	Ea	165 EUR
Casting Dams, For Enduro 20cm Gel System
LE1000CD-04	GenDepot	Ea	192 EUR
Gel and PCR Extraction System (100 preps)
9K-006-0007	Bio Basic	100preps	150.05 EUR
Gel and PCR Extraction System (200 Preps)
9K-006-0008	Bio Basic	200preps, 200prep	219.65 EUR
12 Well Comb ,0.75mm Thick For Enduro 10cm Gel System
LE1000C10-03	GenDepot	Ea	128 EUR
12 Well Comb ,1mm Thick For Enduro 10cm Gel System
LE1000C10-04	GenDepot	Ea	128 EUR
12 Well Comb ,1.5mm Thick For Enduro 10cm Gel System
LE1000C10-05	GenDepot	Ea	128 EUR
16 Well Comb ,0.75mm Thick For Enduro 10cm Gel System
LE1000C10-06	GenDepot	Ea	128 EUR