9%. The performance in distinguishing each individual PCA3 concentration in a multiclass task was lower, with an accuracy of 88.3%, which means that further developments in image analysis are required for this innovative approach.Interest in impedance-based cellular assays is rising due to their remarkable advantages, including label-free, low cost, non-invasive, non-destructive, quantitative and real-time monitoring. In order to test their potential in cancer treatment decision and early detection of chemoresistance, we devised a new custom-made impedance measuring system based on electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS), optimized for long term impedance measurements. This device was employed in a proof of concept cell culture impedance analysis for the characterization of chemo-resistant colon cancer cells. Doxorubicin-resistant HT-29 cells were used for this purpose and monitored for 140 h. Analysis of impedance-based curves reveal different trends from chemo-sensitive and chemo-resistant cells. An impedance-based cytoxicity assay with different concentrations of doxorubicin was also performed using ECIS. The obtained results confirm the feasibility of ECIS in the study of drug resistance and show promises for studies of time-dependent factors related to physiological and behavioral changes in cells during resistance acquisition. The methodology presented herein, allows the continuous monitoring of cells under normal culture conditions as well as upon drug exposure. The ECIS device used, sets the basis for high-throughput early detection of resistance to drugs, administered in the clinical practice to cancer patients, and for the screening of new drugs in vitro, on patient-derived cells.To have information on the proteolytic activity of convertases and exo-peptidases on human salivary proteins, this study investigated the relative amounts of the truncated proteoforms in the saliva of preterm newborns and compared them with the relative amounts measured in saliva of at-term newborns, of babies (0-10 years old) and of adults. Results indicated that convertase(s), acting on acidic proline-rich proteins and histatin 3, and carboxypeptidase(s) acting on acidic proline-rich proteins, P-C peptide, histatin 6 and statherin were many folds more active in preterm newborns than in the other groups. Conversely, the aminopeptidase responsible for the removal of the N-terminal Asp residue of statherin was not active in preterm newborns, becoming active only several months after the normal term of delivery. The high activity of convertases determined in preterm newborns suggests that it is required for the molecular events connected to the fetus development, and encourages further studies devoted to the characterization of their specific substrates.Folate receptors (FRs) are a class of valuable therapeutic target which is highly expressed on a variety of cancers. The accurate detection of the expression of FRs in different cells is conducive to improve the accuracy of FR targeted tumor therapy. Herein, a method based on nonimmobilized cell capillary electrophoresis (NICCE) combined with a mathematic model to quantify FRs on each single tumor cell was developed. At first, we studied the interactions between FA and A549, HT-29, HepG2, and U87MG cells by NICCE respectively, and calculated the kinetic parameters (Ka, k', ka, and kd). Next, we established a mathematic model to accurately determine the number of moles of FRs on per A549, HT-29, HepG2, and U87MG cell for the first time, that were (10.44 ± 0.53) × 10-19 mol, (34.32 ± 1.33) × 10-19 mol, (337.14 ± 10.11) × 10-19 mol, and (37.31 ± 2.13) × 10-19 mol. Then, these re-sults were proved to be consistent with the results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Therefore, this method is simple, rapid, sensitive, and without protein separation or purification, which is expected to achieve clinical detection of cell membrane receptor expression level of cell membrane receptors on a single cell, which may be greatly beneficial to further clinical diagnosis and therapy.This work addresses the development of a disposable electrochemical genosensor for the detection of the toxic dinoflagellate, Alexandrium minutum. Analyzing public databases, a specific 70 bp DNA probe, targeting A. minutum, was selected and designed. The genosensor methodology implied the immobilization of a A. minutum-specific DNA-capture probe onto screen-printed gold electrodes (SPGE). To improve both the selectivity and to avoid strong secondary structures, that could hinder the hybridization efficiency, a sandwich format of the A. minutum gene was designed using a fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled signaling DNA probe and enzymatic amplification of the electrochemical signal. Using this electrochemical genosensor, a concentration range from 0.12 to 1.0 nM, a LD of 24.78 pM with a RSD less then 5.2% was determined. The genosensor was successfully applied to the selective analysis of the targeted A. minutum specific region denatured genomic DNA extracted from toxic dinoflagellates present in the Atlantic Ocean.Only a limited and scattered knowledge is currently available on the conditions leading to the occurrence of sampling alteration at low ionic strength ( less then 10-3 mol L-1) with DGT (diffusive gradients in thin films technique). In this study, the role of the pH and the charge of the analyte were comprehensively evaluated with DGT equipped with APA (polyacrylamide with agarose-derivative crosslinker) diffusive gels and ZrO or Chelex binding phases. The sampling of four cations (CdII, CuII, NiII and PbII) and two anions (AsV and CrVI) was compared for pH 4, 6 and 8 at common (10-2 mol L-1) and low (10-4 mol L-1) ionic strengths. Results showed that the sampling was modified at low ionic strength only in the most acidic condition (pH 4) for both anions and cations with an opposite incidence cations' sampling was halved whereas anions' sampling was increased.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/forskolin.html  Furthermore, cations sampling alteration was similarly reproduced using diffusion cell experiments, which requires only the APA gel, indicating that the binding layer does not participate in the low ionic strength effect.