A novel approach to Au nanoparticle-based identification of DNA nanoarrays.

The combination of electron beam lithography and gold nanoparticle-based detection method is subject to a novel high-resolution approach to detecting DNA nanoarrays. In this work, gold nanoparticle-based detection of DNA hybridization on nanostructured arrays is presented. The nanostructured arrays were created by electron beam lithography of a self-assembled monolayer.

Production of nanopatterns by a combination of electron beam lithography and a self-assembled monolayer for an antibody nanoarray.

We report on a flexible method of producing antibody (IgG) nanopatterns by combining electron beam (EB) lithography and a perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (FDTES) self-assembled monolayer (SAM). Using EB lithography of the FDTES SAM, we easily fabricated IgG patterns with feature sizes on the order of 100 nm. The patterned IgG retained its ability to interact specifically with an anti-LgG.

[Surgical treatment of lesional temporal lobe epilepsy].

Objective: To discuss the presurgical evaluation and surgical treatment of lesional temporal lobe epilepsy (LTLE).

Methods: We retrospectively studied the patients whose MRI or CT showed lesions on one of the temporal lobes among patients who underwent epilepsy surgeries in our institute. All patients were divided into satisfactory and unsatisfactory group according to outcomes after operation.

The antiandrogenic activity of the fungicide N-(3, 5-dichlorophenyl) succinimide in in vivo and in vitro assays.

Antiandrogens can cause reproductive disorders in humans and wild animals. In the present study, we tested whether the fungicide N-(3, 5-dichlorophenyl) succinimide (NDPS) acts as an antiandrogen using in vitro and in vivo assays. A transient transfection system based on luciferase activity was utilized for in vitro analysis of the antiandrogeic activity of NDPS.

Optical molecular imaging in drug discovery and clinical development.

Recently, the drug discovery process has greatly benefited from a wealth of novel druggable targets following the sequencing of the human genome and the parallel development of combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening technologies. The large number of drug candidates generated by this combined approach requires an evolution and refinement of in vivo measurement methodologies and animal models to cope with this flux of novel compounds. At the same time, drug developers are looking for translational biomarkers that can facilitate the clinical evaluation of the most promising molecules.

Characterization of DNA hybridization on partially aminated diamond by aromatic compounds.

Here, we report a novel method of micropatterning oligonucleotides via aromatic groups as linkers on partially amino-terminated diamond and the inherence on subsequent hybridization. The covalent immobilization of probe oligonucleotides and characterization of immobilized probe oligonucleotides with carboxylic compounds were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). To confirm the effects of linker flexibility in a low amino group on diamond for probe oligonucleotides, three kinds of dicarboxylic compound--adipic acid, terephthalic acid, and trimesic acid--were used for immobilization of probe oligonucleotides, like linkers; and these oligonucleotides were hybridized with target oligonucleotides labeled with Cy 5 on the micropatterned diamond surface.

[Effects of expression silencing of MAGE3 by RNA interference on location and metastasis of lung carcinoma cells].

Objective: To construct small interfering RNA (siRNA) expression vectors targeting human MAGE3 gene and to observe the effects of gene silencing of MAGE3 by RNA interference on location and metastasis of lung carcinoma cells.

Methods: MAGE3 mRNA targeted hairpin siRNA was devised and the oligonucleotide strands of DNA fragments encoding the above siRNA were synthesized. After annealing of the complementary strands, the DNA fragments were cloned into pSUPERneoGFP, followed by amplification and DNA sequencing, then transfected into human lung carcinoma NCI-H446.

DNA micropatterning on polycrystalline diamond via one-step direct amination.

We report a novel method of one-step direct amination on polycrystalline diamond to produce functionalized surfaces for DNA micropatterning by photolithography. Polycrystalline diamond was exposed to UV irradiation in ammonia gas to generate amine groups directly. After patterning, optical microscopy confirmed that micropatterns covered with an Au mask were regular in size and shape.

Clusterin is a secreted marker for a hypoxia-inducible factor-independent function of the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein.

Germline mutations in the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene predispose people to renal cancer, hemangioblastomas, and pheochromocytomas in an allele-specific manner. The best documented function of the VHL gene product (pVHL) relates to its ability to polyubiquitinate, and hence target for destruction, the alpha subunits of the heterodimeric transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). pVHL mutants linked to familial pheochromocyctoma (type 2C VHL disease), in contrast to classical VHL disease, appear to be normal with respect to HIF regulation.

Bioluminescent imaging of ubiquitin ligase activity: measuring Cdk2 activity in vivo through changes in p27 turnover.

Optical imaging of reporter molecules such as firefly luciferase has become a popular method of tracking and visualizing cells in living animals. Many biological processes involve ubiquitin ligases, which target specific proteins for destruction under specific sets of conditions. Importantly, the motifs recognized by different ubiquitin ligases are often modular and can be used to target foreign proteins for destruction in cis.

[Development and clinical application of the tractor for the fracture reduction].

This paper expounds how the tractor for the fracture reduction works. The clinical results show that the traction apparatus is a labour-saving and time-saving orthopedic device with simple operation and few suffering to patients.

Application of ulinastatin in severe craniocerebral injuries.

Objective: To assess the therapeutic effect of ulinastatin on severe craniocerebral injuries and to explore its mechanism.

Methods: There were 87 cases of severe brain injury in this series and they were either treated by ulinastatin (treatment group, 41 cases) or not (control group, 46 cases) besides routine managements. We estimated C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, superoxide dismutase, and endothelin from plasmas of all the cases on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th day after injury.

[High-cell density cultivation of recombinant Escherichia coli for production of TRAIL by using a 2-stage feeding strategy].

Escherichia coli was genetically engineered to produce recombinant tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (Apo2L/TRAIL) using a temperature-inducible expression system. To create a fed-batch culture condition that allows efficient production of TRAIL, different feeding strategy including discontinuous, DO-stat and pH-stat feeding strategies were compared. Then, a special 2-stage feeding strategy was developed.

Microstructured arrays with pre-synthesized capture probes for DNA detection based on metal nanoparticles and silver enhancement.

DNA microarrays exhibiting highly defined squared spot geometry and increased homogeneity in capture DNA distribution were prepared by a combination of microfabrication and DNA spotting. The microfabricated substrates were tested using metal nanoparticles as markers. The optical absorption signal is improved by a silver enhancement step.

Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor with a sequence-specific hypoxia response element antagonist.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors have been implicated as key factors in tumor angiogenesis that are up-regulated by hypoxia. We evaluated the effects of DNA-binding small molecules on hypoxia-inducible transcription of VEGF. A synthetic pyrrole-imidazole polyamide designed to bind the hypoxia response element (HRE) was found to disrupt hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) binding to HRE.

Bioluminescent imaging of Cdk2 inhibition in vivo.

Many proteins and pathways of pharmaceutical interest impinge on ubiquitin ligases or their substrates. The cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p27, for example, is polyubiquitylated in a cell cycle-dependent manner by a ubiquitin ligase complex containing the F-box protein Skp2. Regulated turnover of p27 is due, at least partly, to its phosphorylation by Cdk2 on threonine 187, which generates a Skp2-binding site.

Patterning of DNA nanostructures on silicon surface by electron beam lithography of self-assembled monolayer.

Nanoscale patterns of modified oligonucleotides are produced on octadecyltrimethoxysilane self-assembled monolayers at a silicon surface by electron beam lithography. DNA structures with feature sizes of the order of 250 nm were detected by epi-fluorescence microscopy.

[The antiandrogenic effect of dimethachlon and its mechanism].

Objective: To evaluate the antiandrogenic effect of heterocyclic fungicide dimethachlon and its mechanism.

Methods: A combination of in vivo and in vitro assays was selected. Hershberger assay was used to determine the antiandrogenic potential of dimethachlon in vivo.

Degradation of the SCF component Skp2 in cell-cycle phase G1 by the anaphase-promoting complex.

Cell-cycle transitions are driven by waves of ubiquitin-dependent degradation of key cell-cycle regulators. SCF (Skp1/Cullin/F-box protein) complexes and anaphase-promoting complexes (APC) represent two major classes of ubiquitin ligases whose activities are thought to regulate primarily the G1/S and metaphase/anaphase cell-cycle transitions, respectively. The major target of the Skp1/Cul1/Skp2 (SCF(SKP2)) complex is thought to be the Cdk inhibitor p27 during S phase, whereas the principal targets for the APC are thought to be involved in chromatid separation (securin) and exit from mitosis (cyclin B).

Repeated neonatal handling with maternal separation permanently alters hippocampal GABAA receptors and behavioral stress responses.

Increasing evidence suggests that postnatal events, such as handling or maternal separation, can produce long-term changes in brain function. These are often expressed as changes in the profile of endocrine or behavioral responses to stress. Changes in gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABARs), which mediate the majority of fast synaptic inhibition in adult brain, have been proposed as one potential mediator of these behavioral effects.