A CRISPR/Cas9-Based Assay for High-Throughput Studies of Cancer-Induced Innervation.

The aggressive nature of certain cancers and their adverse effects on patient outcomes have been linked to cancer innervation, where neurons infiltrate and differentiate within the cancer stroma. Recently we demonstrated how cancer plasticity and TGFβ signaling could promote breast cancer innervation that is associated with increased cancer aggressivity. Despite the promising potential of cancer innervation as a target for anti-cancer therapies, there is currently a significant lack of effective methods to study cancer-induced neuronal differentiation, hindering the development of high-throughput approaches for identifying new targets or pharmacological inhibitors against cancer innervation.

Detection of Elm Yellows Phytoplasma in Elms and Insects Using Real-Time PCR.

A rapid and accurate method to detect the common strain of elm yellows (EY) phytoplasma in elm and insect samples was developed using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure based on the TaqMan minor-groove-binder probe. Primers and probe were designed based on the EY phytoplasma-specific translocation protein secY gene DNA sequence. Success of the DNA extraction procedure was evaluated by amplifying the chloroplast trnL gene of Ulmus americana.