Room-temperature phosphorescence from organic materials in aqueous media.

In recent years, organic materials with room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) features have gained significant attention due to their wide applications in the fields of bioimaging, light-harvesting materials, encryption technology, etc. Although several examples of organic RTP materials in the crystalline state and polymer-based systems have been reported in the last decade or so, achieving organic RTP in the solution phase, particularly in the aqueous phase has remained a challenging task. Herein in this review, we summarize the progress in this direction by highlighting design strategies based on supramolecular scaffolding and host-guest complexation and the applications of such aqueous organic RTP materials in bioimaging, sensing, etc.

Molecular evolution of hemagglutinin gene of Influenza A virus.

In the history of human civilization, influenza is the second most catastrophic killer disease for mankind with plague ranking first in the medieval times. The 1918-1919 'Spanish flu' killed 20-50 million people worldwide. According to a report from WHO, there have been four pandemics, several epidemics and recurrent seasonal outbreaks of influenza in different parts of the world.

Rational Design of Peptide Vaccines Against Multiple Types of Human Papillomavirus.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) occurs in many types, some of which cause cervical, genital, and other cancers. While vaccination is available against the major cancer-causing HPV types, many others are not covered by these preventive measures. Herein, we present a bioinformatics study for the designing of multivalent peptide vaccines against multiple HPV types as an alternative strategy to the virus-like particle vaccines being used now.

Bioinformatics studies of Influenza A hemagglutinin sequence data indicate recombination-like events leading to segment exchanges.

Background: The influenza genome is highly variable due primarily to two mechanisms: antigenic drift and antigenic shift. A third mechanism for genetic change, known as copy choice or template switching, can arise during replication when, if two viral strains infect a cell, a part of a gene from the second viral strain can be copied into the growing progeny of a gene of the first viral strain as replacement leading to a new variety of the virus. This template switching between the same genes of the two strains is known as homologous recombination.

H7N9 influenza outbreak in China 2013: In silico analyses of conserved segments of the hemagglutinin as a basis for the selection of peptide vaccine targets.

The sudden emergence of a human infecting strain of H7N9 influenza virus in China in 2013 leading to fatalities in about 30% of the cases has caused wide concern that additional mutations in the strain leading to human to human transmission could lead to a deadly pandemic. It may happen in a short time span as the outbreak of H7N9 is more and more recurrent, which implies that H7N9 evolution is speeding up. H7N9 flu strains were not known to infect humans before this attack in China in February 2013 and it was solely an avian strain.

Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathway: a brief overview.

The non-canonical Wnt/Ca(2+) signaling cascade is less characterized than their canonical counterpart, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. The non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways are diverse, defined as planer cell polarity pathway, Wnt-RAP1 signaling pathway, Wnt-Ror2 signaling pathway, Wnt-PKA pathway, Wnt-GSK3MT pathway, Wnt-aPKC pathway, Wnt-RYK pathway, Wnt-mTOR pathway, and Wnt/calcium signaling pathway. All these pathways exhibit a considerable degree of overlap between them.

RNAi screening of Drosophila (Sophophora) melanogaster S2 cells for ricin sensitivity and resistance.

The ribosome-inhibiting toxin ricin binds exposed β1→4 linked galactosyls on multiple glycolipids and glycoproteins on the cell surface of most eukaryotic cells. After endocytosis, internal cell trafficking is promiscuous, with only a small proportion of ricin proceeding down a productive (cytotoxic) trafficking route to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here, the catalytic ricin A chain traverses the membrane to inactivate the cytosolic ribosomes, which can be monitored by measuring reduction in protein biosynthetic capacity or cell viability.