Best practice standards for circular RNA research.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are formed in all domains of life and via different mechanisms. There has been an explosion in the number of circRNA papers in recent years; however, as a relatively young field, circRNA biology has an urgent need for common experimental standards for isolating, analyzing, expressing and depleting circRNAs. Here we propose a set of guidelines for circRNA studies based on the authors' experience.

Cancer survivors on the process of returning to work: a Danish focus group study.

Objectives The aim of this study was to explore Danish cancer survivors perspectives on the process of returning to work. Methods Six focus-group interviews (N=32) were held with cancer survivors attending a five-day rehabilitation stay. Data were analyzed by applying meaning condensation then organized into themes.

The mammalian tRNA ligase complex mediates splicing of XBP1 mRNA and controls antibody secretion in plasma cells.

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a conserved stress-signaling pathway activated after accumulation of unfolded proteins within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Active UPR signaling leads to unconventional, enzymatic splicing of XBP1 mRNA enabling expression of the transcription factor XBP1s to control ER homeostasis. While IRE1 has been identified as the endoribonuclease required for cleavage of this mRNA, the corresponding ligase in mammalian cells has remained elusive.

Bioresponsive hyperbranched polymers for siRNA and miRNA delivery.

This work presents the novel use of reducible hyperbranched (rHB) polymers for delivery of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. Cationic poly(amido amine) hyperbranched polymers that contain different contents of reducible disulfide to nonreducible linkages (0%, 17%, 25%, and 50%) were used to form interpolyelectrolyte polyplexes with siRNA and precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed rHB complexes of ∼100 nm in size, which exhibited redox-activated disassembly in the presence of dithiothreitol (DTT).

RNA aptamers as conformational probes and regulatory agents for plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.

The hallmark of serpins is the ability to undergo the so-called "stressed-to-relaxed" switch during which the surface-exposed reactive center loop (RCL) becomes incorporated as strand 4 in central beta-sheet A. RCL insertion drives not only the inhibitory reaction of serpins with their target serine proteases but also the conversion to the inactive latent state. RCL insertion is coupled to conformational changes in the flexible joint region flanking beta-sheet A.

MicroRNAs cross the line: the battle for mRNA stability enters the coding sequence.

A study in this issue of Molecular Cell (Elcheva et al., 2009) shows the inherent instability of the betaTrCP1 mRNA to be caused by microRNA-183 targeting the coding sequence; interestingly, this action is directly opposed by the RNA-binding protein CRD-BP.

Ars2 and the Cap-Binding Complex Team up for Silencing.

In this issue, Sabin et al. (2009) and Gruber et al. (2009) reveal the protein Ars2 as a versatile regulator of RNA silencing.

A large-scale chemical modification screen identifies design rules to generate siRNAs with high activity, high stability and low toxicity.

The use of chemically synthesized short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is currently the method of choice to manipulate gene expression in mammalian cell culture, yet improvements of siRNA design is expectably required for successful application in vivo. Several studies have aimed at improving siRNA performance through the introduction of chemical modifications but a direct comparison of these results is difficult. We have directly compared the effect of 21 types of chemical modifications on siRNA activity and toxicity in a total of 2160 siRNA duplexes.

Intracellular siRNA and precursor miRNA trafficking using bioresponsive copolypeptides.

Background: Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can induce specific gene silencing through cytoplasmic mRNA cleavage and nuclear transcriptional silencing, necessitating delivery to different cellular compartments. This study presents a reducible copolypeptide (rCPP) carrier containing different molar ratios of a histidine-rich peptide (HRP) and nuclear localization sequence (NLS) peptide to modulate intracellular trafficking of transfected siRNA and primary RNA transcripts (pri-miRNA).

Methods: Polyplex formation using siRNA and rCPP was demonstrated using photon correlation spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy.

Helium pycnometry as a tool for assessment of sealing efficiency in microencapsulation.

There is a need for a fast and reliable method to evaluate the development in coating quality during coating, especially for fast dissolving coatings. In the present study, pycnometric density was evaluated as a tool for assessment of coating quality in terms of sealing efficiency for microspheres coated with polymeric aqueous solutions. Further, it was investigated if the method could be used to study effects of spray variables on the sealing efficiency of coated microspheres.

Investigation and comparison of performance of effervescent and standard pneumatic atomizer intended for soluble aqueous coating.

Effervescent atomizers belong to the group of internal mixing atomizers. The effervescent approach might be a potential alternative to traditional atomization techniques, e.g.