No abstract

Digital droplet reactors are useful as chemical and biological containers to discretize reagents into picolitre or nanolitre volumes for analysis of single cells, organisms, or molecules. However, most DNA based assays require processing of samples on the order of tens of microlitres and contain as few as one to as many as millions of fragments to be detected. Presented in this work is a droplet microfluidic platform and fluorescence imaging setup designed to better meet the needs of the high-throughput and high-dynamic-range by integrating multiple high-throughput droplet processing schemes on the chip. The design is capable of generating over 1-million, monodisperse, 50 picolitre droplets in 2-7 minutes that then self-assemble into high density 3-dimensional sphere packing configurations in a large viewing chamber for visualization and analysis. This device then undergoes on-chip polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and fluorescence detection to digitally quantify the sample's nucleic acid contents. Wide-field fluorescence images are captured using a low cost 21-megapixel digital camera and macro-lens with an 8-12 cm(2) field-of-view at 1× to 0.85× magnification, respectively. We demonstrate both end-point and real-time imaging ability to perform on-chip quantitative digital PCR analysis of the entire droplet array. Compared to previous work, this highly integrated design yields a 100-fold increase in the number of on-chip digitized reactors with simultaneous fluorescence imaging for digital PCR based assays.

The consumption of soy protein was shown to reduce blood lipids in humans and other animal species. Furthermore, it was shown that the ingestion of soy protein maintains normal insulinemia. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to determine whether soy protein affects the synthesis of lipids in the liver through sterol-regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) due to modulation of insulin levels. We first conducted a short-term study in which rats were fed a diet containing 18 g/100 g soy protein or casein for 10 d. Rats fed soy protein had significantly lower serum insulin concentrations than rats fed casein, and this response was accompanied by an elevation in hepatic SREBP-1 mRNA that was 53% lower than that in rats fed casein at d 10. The increase in SREBP-1 mRNA occurred 30 min after consumption of the casein mean, and increased steadily for the next 2 h. We then conducted a second study to assess the long-term effect of soy protein consumption for 150 d on hepatic SREBP-1 expression. Long-term consumption of soy protein maintained normal insulin concentrations compared with rats fed casein, which were hyperinsulinemic. Thus, rats fed the soy protein diet had significantly lower expression of SREBP-1 mRNA than rats fed the casein diet. Soy protein intake also reduced the expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and malic enzyme, leading to low hepatic lipid depots of triglycerides and cholesterol, whereas rats fed the casein diet developed fatty liver. These data suggest that soy protein regulates SREBP-1 expression by modulating serum insulin concentration, thus preventing the development of fatty liver.

No abstract

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are transcription factors that belong to the superfamily of nuclear hormone receptors and regulate the expression of several genes involved in metabolic processes that are potentially linked to the development of some diseases such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and obesity. One type of PPAR, PPAR-α, is a transcription factor that regulates the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, and amino acids and is activated by ligands such as polyunsaturated fatty acids and drugs used to treat dyslipidemias. There is evidence that genetic variants within the PPARα gene have been associated with a risk of the development of dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease by influencing fasting and postprandial lipid concentrations; the gene variants have also been associated with an acceleration of the progression of type 2 diabetes. The interactions between genetic PPARα variants and the response to dietary factors will help to identify individuals or populations who can benefit from specific dietary recommendations. Interestingly, certain nutritional conditions, such as the prolonged consumption of a protein-restricted diet, can produce long-lasting effects on PPARα gene expression through modifications in the methylation of a specific locus surrounding the PPARα gene. Thus, this review underlines our current knowledge about the important role of PPAR-α as a mediator of the metabolic response to nutritional and environmental factors.