Correction of Down syndrome and Edwards syndrome aneuploidies in human cell cultures.

Aneuploidy, an abnormal number of chromosomes, has previously been considered irremediable. Here, we report findings that euploid cells increased among cultured aneuploid cells after exposure to the protein ZSCAN4, encoded by a mammalian-specific gene that is ordinarily expressed in preimplantation embryos and occasionally in stem cells. For footprint-free delivery of ZSCAN4 to cells, we developed ZSCAN4 synthetic mRNAs and Sendai virus vectors that encode human ZSCAN4.

Functional profiling of live melanoma samples using a novel automated platform.

Aims: This proof-of-concept study was designed to determine if functional, pharmacodynamic profiles relevant to targeted therapy could be derived from live human melanoma samples using a novel automated platform.

Methods: A series of 13 melanoma cell lines was briefly exposed to a BRAF inhibitor (PLX-4720) on a platform employing automated fluidics for sample processing. Levels of the phosphoprotein p-ERK in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway from treated and untreated sample aliquots were determined using a bead-based immunoassay.