Electrochemical measurements of DNA melting on surfaces.

Thermal denaturation, or melting, measurements are a classic technique for analysis of thermodynamics of nucleic base driven associations in solution, as well as of interactions between nucleic acids and small molecule ligands such as drugs or carcinogens. Performed on surface-immobilized DNA films, this well-established technique can help understand how energetics of surface hybridization relate to those in solution, as well as provide high-throughput platforms for screening of small molecule ligands. Here we describe methods for measuring DNA melting transitions at solid/liquid interfaces with focus on the role of immobilization chemistry, including a common "immobilization-through-self-assembly" approach that is effective at moderate temperatures, and a thermo-stable approach based on polymer-supported DNA monolayers that can be used at elevated temperatures.

Melting thermodynamics of reversible DNA/ligand complexes at interfaces.

A variety of solution methods exist for analysis of interactions between small molecule ligands and nucleic acids; however, accomplishing this task economically at the scale of hundreds to thousands of sequences remains challenging. Surface assays offer a prospective solution through array-based multiplexing, capable of mapping out the full sequence context of a DNA/ligand interaction in a single experiment. However, relative to solution assays, accurate quantification of DNA/ligand interactions in a surface format must contend with limited understanding of molecular activities and interactions at a solid-liquid interface.

[Long-term efficacy and safety of chondroitin sulphate (structum, France) in patients with coxarthrosis].

Aim: To evaluate long-term therapeutic effect and safety of structum in patients with manifest coxarthrosis.

Material And Methods: Twenty patients with manifest coxarthrosis of degree I-III were given a 6 month structum course. Criteria of efficacy were Leken index, pain in the affected joints, nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs requirement, assessment of the efficacy by the patient and the doctor.

[Structum therapy of patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

Aim: To study efficacy of the chondroprotector chondroitin sulphate (structum, Pier Fabr Medicament Production, France) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and secondary osteoarthrosis of the knee joints.

Material And Methods: 15 women with a long history of RA (mean duration 11.9 years) entered an open non-randomized trial of structum.

Mitochondrial adaptations in skeletal muscle cells in mammals exposed to gravitational unloading.

It is known that exposure to actual or simulated weightlessness is often accompanied by decreased muscle dynamic performance, and increased level of blood lactate accumulation. Decreased mitochondrial content found in fibers of the working muscles is considered to be one of the possible causes for those changes. Studies on oxidative potential of the muscle cell (i.