Non-canonical transcriptional regulation of the poor prognostic factor UGT2B17 in chronic lymphocytic leukemic and normal B cells.

Background: High expression of the glycosyltransferase UGT2B17 represents an independent adverse prognostic marker in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It also constitutes a predictive marker for therapeutic response and a drug resistance mechanism. The key determinants driving expression of the UGT2B17 gene in normal and leukemic B-cells remain undefined.

The revolution of PDMS microfluidics in cellular biology.

Microfluidics is revolutionizing the way research on cellular biology has been traditionally conducted. The ability to control the cell physicochemical environment by adjusting flow conditions, while performing cellular analysis at single-cell resolution and high-throughput, has made microfluidics the ideal choice to replace traditional models. However, such a revolution only truly started with the advent of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a microfluidic structural material and soft-lithography as a rapid manufacturing technology.