ALBERT

Description: Abstract Transparent and homogeneous tantalum phosphate glasses were prepared in the binary system (100‐x)NaPO3‐xTa2O5 with x varying from 10 to 50 mol%. Thermal, structural, and optical properties, as well as crystallization mechanisms, were investigated by thermal analysis, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies, optical absorption, transmission electron microscopy in terms of Ta2O5 content. FTIR and Raman results support the tantalum insertion in the phosphate chains with [TaO6] polyhedra cross‐linking the phosphate units. At higher Ta2O5 content, [TaO6] clusters are formed and connected to the phosphate network by P‐O‐Ta bonds. This structural evolution is in good agreement with the thermal features measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) with a strong increase of the Tg temperatures up to 920°C, high thermal stability against crystallization for low Ta2O5 content and increasing of crystallization tendency for the most Ta‐concentrated samples. Besides, due to the progressive insertion of [TaO6] units, the precipitation of Na2Ta8O21 perovskite‐like phase was identified in the sample with 50 mol% of Ta2O5. The optimal heat treatment conditions were identified using DSC measurements and a transparent glass‐ceramic from 50NaPO3 to 50Ta2O5 composition was prepared. The obtaines glass‐ceramic has great potential for optical applications, such as host for rare‐earth ions, nonlinear optical materials, and ferroelectric domain.

Description: Background Although several studies demonstrate prion-like properties of Tau fibrils, the effect of size in the seeding capacity of these aggregates is not fully understood. The aim of this study is to characterize Tau seeds by their size and seeding capacity. Methods Tau aggregates were isolated from postmortem AD brain tissue and separated from low molecular weight species by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Biochemical characterization of the different fractions was done by non-reducing Western blotting and aggregate-specific immuno-assays using in house developed anti-Tau monoclonal antibodies, including PT76 which binds to an epitope close to the microtubule-binding domain and, hence, also to K18. Seeding efficiency was then assessed in HEK293 cells expressing K18 FRET sensors. Results We observed that upon sonication of Tau aggregates different size-distributed tau aggregates are obtained. In biochemical assays, these forms show higher signals than the non-sonicated material in some aggregation-specific Tau assays. This could be explained by an increased epitope exposure of the smaller aggregates created by the sonication. By analyzing human brain derived and recombinant (K18) Tau aggregates in a cellular FRET assay, it was observed that, in the absence of transfection reagent, sonicated aggregates showed higher aggregation induction. Preparations also showed altered profiles on native PAGE upon sonication and we could further separate different aggregate species based on their molecular weight via sucrose gradients. Conclusions This study further elucidates the molecular properties regarding relative aggregate size and seeding efficiency of sonicated vs. non-sonicated high molecular weight Tau species. This information will provide a better knowledge on how sonication, a commonly used technique in the field of study of Tau aggregation, impacts the aggregates. In addition, the description of PT76-based aggregation specific assay is a valuable tool to quantify K18 and human AD Tau fibrils.