Engineered PRINT(®) nanoparticles for controlled delivery of antigens and immunostimulants.

Particle replication in non-wetting templates (PRINT) is a novel nanoparticle platform that provides compositional flexibility with the ability to specify size and shape in formulating vaccines. The PRINT platform also offers manufacturing and cost advantages over traditional particle technologies. Across multiple antigen and adjuvant formulations, robust antibody and cellular responses have been achieved using PRINT particles in mouse models.

[Correction of energy homeostasis in the acute period of concomitant brain injury].

A randomized prospective study of 191 patients with concomitant brain injury (CBI) of different severity has been carried out. All patients underwent surgery and received treatment in reanimation and intensive care departments. The main group consisted of 100 (52.

[New low-copy plasmid in cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis].

Complete genome sequencing was performed for Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 from the collection of the Chair of Genetics, Department of Biology, Moscow State University, Russia. In addition to known plasmids A, B, and C, a new circular low-copy plasmid was detected and named D. It was also sequenced completely and found to have 27051 bp.

Recognition of stable distribution with Lévy index α close to 2.

We address the problem of recognizing α-stable Lévy distribution with Lévy index close to 2 from experimental data. We are interested in the case when the sample size of available data is not large, thus the power law asymptotics of the distribution is not clearly detectable, and the shape of the empirical probability density function is close to a Gaussian. We propose a testing procedure combining a simple visual test based on empirical fourth moment with the Anderson-Darling and Jarque-Bera statistical tests and we check the efficiency of the method on simulated data.

Patterns of expression of TSC-22 protein in astrocytic gliomas.

Aim: To evaluate expression patterns of protein product of putative tumor suppressor gene TSC-22 in human astrocytic tumors by immunohistochemical approach.

Methods: Plasmid pET-23d-TSC22 was constructed for the expression of human TSC-22 protein in bacterial system, and polyclonal rabbit antibodies against recombinant TSC-22 were produced. Immunohistochemical analysis of TSC-22 and GFAP expression with the use of anti-human-TSC-22- and anti-human-GFAP-antibodies was performed on histological slides of astrocytic tumors.

High-throughput phagocytosis assay utilizing a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye.

We describe a development of a novel high-throughput phagocytosis assay based on a pH-sensitive cyanine dye, CypHer5E, which is maximally fluorescent in an acidic environment. This dye is ideally suited for the study of phagocytosis because of the acidic conditions generated in the intracellular phagocytic vesicles after particle uptake. Use of CypHer5E-labeled particles results in greatly reduced background from noninternalized particles and makes the assay more robust.

Transcription-induced cytosine-to-thymine mutations are not dependent on sequence context of the target cytosine.

We showed previously that transcription of a plasmid-borne kan allele increases C-to-T mutations in the nontranscribed strand. Using two new plasmid-borne kan alleles, one cmp allele, and a chromosomal kan allele, we found in this study that transcription-induced mutations are not limited to specific genes, alleles, or locations and are likely to be a general property of transcript elongation in Escherichia coli.

PNA interference mapping demonstrates functional domains in the noncoding RNA Xist.

The noncoding RNA Xist has been shown to be essential for X-chromosome inactivation and to coat the inactive X-chromosome (Xi). Thus, an important question in understanding the formation of Xi is whether the binding reaction of Xist is necessary for X-chromosome inactivation. In this article, we demonstrate the failure of X-chromosome silencing if the association of Xist with the X-chromosome is inhibited.

Development of two bacterial artificial chromosome shuttle vectors for a recombination-based cloning and regulated expression of large genes in mammalian cells.

Most conditional expression vectors designed for mammalian cells have been valuable systems for studying genes of interest by regulating their expressions. The available vectors, however, are reliable for the short-length cDNA clones and not optimal for relatively long fragments of genomic DNA or long cDNAs. Here, we report the construction of two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vectors, capable of harboring large inserts and shuttling among Escherichia coli, yeast, and mammalian cells.

Mutations induced by bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase and their effects on the composition of the T7 genome.

We show here that transcription by the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase increases the deamination of cytosine bases in the non-transcribed strand to uracil, causing C to T mutations in that strand. Under optimal conditions, the mutation frequency increases about fivefold over background, and is similar to that seen with the Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. Further, we found that a mutant T7 RNA polymerase with a slower rate of elongation caused more cytosine deaminations than its wild-type parent.

Correlation between transcription and C to T mutations in the non-transcribed DNA strand.

We recently showed that transcription can promote C to T mutations in the non-transcribed strand in E. coli. To study the relationship between the level of transcription and mutant frequency, an inactive allele of the kanamycin-resistance gene was expressed under the control of a hybrid promoter consisting of an UP element and the tac promoter.

Transcription-induced mutations: increase in C to T mutations in the nontranscribed strand during transcription in Escherichia coli.

Cytosines in single-stranded DNA deaminate to uracils at 140 times the rate for cytosines in double-stranded DNA. If resulting uracils are not replaced with cytosine, C to T mutations occur. These facts suggest that cellular processes such as transcription that create single-stranded DNA should promote C to T mutations.

[Suprasegmental autonomic regulation in syringomyelia patients and its alteration during radionuclide therapy].

Limbic-reticular dysfunction due to pathologic rearrangement in functional intracentral relations was evidenced in 85 syringomyelic patients. The dysfunction was initiated by the syringomyelic inflicted focus within the brainstem (syringobulbia) or spinal cord. Displayed were the psychoemotional, unspecific activational and hemodynamic correlates of this pathophysiological phenomenon.