In Vitro Anti-HIV-1 Activity of Fucoidans from Brown Algae.

Due to the developing resistance and intolerance to antiretroviral drugs, there is an urgent demand for alternative agents that can suppress the viral load in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Recently, there has been increased interest in agents of marine origin such as, in particular, fucoidans to suppress HIV replication. In the present study, the anti-HIV-1 activity of fucoidans from the brown algae , , , , , and was studied in vitro.

RT-qPCR Detection of Low-Copy HIV RNA with Yin-Yang Probes.

Accurate monitoring of low levels of viral load (the number of viral particles per milliliter of plasma) in HIV-infected patients is important in terms of evaluation of the progress of antiretroviral therapy. The general approach for detection of low copy HIV RNA is reverse transcription combined with quantitative real-time PCR based on fluorescence detection. The selection of primers and the structure of fluorogenic oligonucleotide probes are crucial for sensitivity and accuracy of the assay.

Novel homo Yin-Yang probes improve sensitivity in RT-qPCR detection of low copy HIV RNA.

Nucleic acids labeled with a fluorophore/quencher pair are widely used as probes in biomedical research and molecular diagnostics. Here we synthesized novel DNA molecular beacons double labeled with the identical dyes (R6G, ROX and Cy5) at 5'- and 3'-end and studied their photo physical properties. We demonstrated that fluorescence quenching by formation of the homo dimer exciton in such molecular beacons allows using them in homogeneous assays.