An Update on Protection of 5'-Hydroxyl Functions of Nucleosides and Oligonucleotides.

The synthesis of natural and chemically modified nucleosides and oligonucleotides is in great demand due to its increasing number of applications in diverse areas of research. These include tools for diagnostics and proteomics, research reagents for molecular biology, probes for functional genomics, and the design, discovery, development, and manufacture of new therapeutics. The likelihood of success in synthesizing these molecules is often dependent on the correct choice of a protection strategy to block the 5'-hydroxyl group of a carbohydrate moiety, nucleoside, or oligonucleotide.

Use of a cohorting-unit and systematic surveillance cultures to control a Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae outbreak.

Objective: Describe the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of an outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing organisms and the novel use of a cohorting unit for its control.

Design: Observational study.

Setting: A 566-room academic teaching facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Immediate impact of healthcare-facility-onset Clostridium difficile laboratory-identified events reporting methodology change on standardized infection ratios.

In 2018, the Clostridium difficile LabID event methodology changed so that hospitals doing 2-step tests, nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) plus enzyme immunofluorescence assay (EIA), had their adjustment modified to EIA-based tests, and only positive final tests (eg, EIA) were counted in the numerator. We report the immediate impact of this methodological change at 3 Milwaukee hospitals.

Differences in uptake, localization, and processing of PNAs modified by COX VIII pre-sequence peptide and by triphenylphoshonium cation into mitochondria of tumor cells.

Two approaches to target PNAs (peptide nucleic acids) into mitochondria of HeLa cells were compared. In the first, PNA was modified with the lipophilic cation TPP. TPP-PNA accumulated rapidly within mitochondria driven by the membrane potential.

Genetically engineered clostridial C2 toxin as a novel delivery system for living mammalian cells.

The C2 toxin of Clostridium botulinum is a binary bacterial protein toxin, comprising the enzyme component C2I and the separate binding/translocation component C2IIa. C2IIa mediates the transport of C2I into the host cell cytosol. The N-terminal domain of C2I (C2IN) is enzymatically inactive but essential for C2IIa-mediated internalization of C2I.