Plasticity of intermediate filament subunits.

Intermediate filaments (IFs) assembled in vitro from recombinantly expressed proteins have a diameter of 8-12 nm and can reach several micrometers in length. IFs assemble from a soluble pool of subunits, tetramers in the case of vimentin. Upon salt addition, the subunits form first unit length filaments (ULFs) within seconds and then assembly proceeds further by end-to-end fusion of ULFs and short filaments.

Structural analysis of DNA complexation with cationic lipids.

Complexes of cationic liposomes with DNA are promising tools to deliver genetic information into cells for gene therapy and vaccines. Electrostatic interaction is thought to be the major force in lipid-DNA interaction, while lipid-base binding and the stability of cationic lipid-DNA complexes have been the subject of more debate in recent years. The aim of this study was to examine the complexation of calf-thymus DNA with cholesterol (Chol), 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP), dioctadecyldimethylammoniumbromide (DDAB) and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), at physiological condition, using constant DNA concentration and various lipid contents.