Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is a powerful method to enhance sensitivity especially of solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR by up to several orders of magnitude. The increased interest both from a practical as well as theoretical viewpoint has spawned several fields of active research such as the development of new polarizing agents with improved or unique properties and description...

In vertebrates, the apical ectodermal ridge (AER) is a specialized epithelium localized at the dorsoventral boundary of the limb bud that regulates limb outgrowth. In Drosophila, the wing margin is also a specialized region located at the dorsoventral frontier of the wing imaginal disc. The wingless and Notch pathways have been implicated in positioning both the wing margin and the AER. One of ...

The apicobasal polarity of enterocytes determines where the brush border membrane (apical membrane) will form, but how this apical membrane faces the lumen is not well understood. The electrical signal across the epithelium could serve as a coordinating cue, orienting and polarizing enterocytes. Here, we show that applying a physiological electric field to intestinal epithelial cells, to mimic ...

An artificial microswimmer drifts in response to spatio-temporal modulations of an activating suspension medium. We consider two competing mechanisms capable of influencing its tactic response: angular fluctuations, which help it explore its surroundings and thus diffuse faster toward more active regions, and self-polarization, a mechanism inherent to self-propulsion, which tends to orient the ...

T cells can 'polarize' into T1 and T2 effector cell types in response to distinct cytokines. T cells and cells presenting antigen to the T cells are themselves candidate sources of these polarizing cytokines.