An Update of Nucleic Acids Aptamers Theranostic Integration with CRISPR/Cas Technology.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas system is best known for its role in genomic editing. It has also demonstrated great potential in nucleic acid biosensing. However, the specificity limitation in CRISPR/Cas has created a hurdle for its advancement.

Evaluation of long term retention and utilization of the situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) communication technique.

Introduction: Effective communication as part of an interprofessional team is a required standard of pharmacy education. The Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) communication technique is an evidence-based method shown to improve patient safety, and is embedded in some curricula of pharmacy and other health care professions. The aim of this study is to determine whether students can utilize the SBAR communication technique during an interprofessional skills assessment one year following initial instruction.

Recent Progress in the Identification of Aptamers Against Bacterial Origins and Their Diagnostic Applications.

Aptamers have gained an increasing role as the molecular recognition element (MRE) in diagnostic assay development, since their first conception thirty years ago. The process to screen for nucleic acid-based binding elements (aptamers) was first described in 1990 by the Gold Laboratory. In the last three decades, many aptamers have been identified for a wide array of targets.

Akt/survivin pathway inhibition enhances the apoptotic cell death-induced by alpha-santalol in human prostate cancer cells.

We have shown previously that alpha-santalol, a major component of sandalwood oil inhibits growth of cultured prostate cancer cells in vitro by causing apoptosis, but the mechanism of cell death is not fully elucidated. The present study was undertaken to investigate the role of PI3K/Akt/survivin pathway in alpha-santalol-induced apoptosis employing cultured LNCaP and PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. Treatment of prostate cancer cells with alpha-santalol (20, 40 μM) resulted in the down regulation of survivin and p-AKT (s-473) expression and statistically significant reduction in total survivin levels as evidenced by survivin ELISA assay.

In-Solution Molecular Recognition Comparison of Aptamers against the Herbicide Atrazine.

Atrazine is a common herbicide that is widely used to control weed growth in both agricultural and residential settings. It has been shown to act as an endocrine disruptor that affects aquatic organisms. Rapid and low-cost monitoring methods for atrazine is the first step to mitigate its widespread persistency.

A Mini-Review: Clinical Development and Potential of Aptamers for Thrombotic Events Treatment and Monitoring.

The unique opportunity for aptamer uses in thrombotic events has sparked a considerable amount of research in the area. The short half-lives of unmodified aptamers in vivo remain one of the major challenges in therapeutic aptamers. Much of the incremental successful therapeutic aptamer stories were due to modifications in the aptamer bases.

In Vitro Selection and Characterization of a Single-Stranded DNA Aptamer Against the Herbicide Atrazine.

Atrazine is an herbicide that is widely used in crop production at about 70 million pounds per year in the United States. Its widespread use has led to contamination of groundwater and other aquatic systems. It has resulted in many serious environmental and human health issues.

Selection of Single-Stranded DNA Molecular Recognition Elements against Exotoxin A Using a Novel Decoy-SELEX Method and Sensitive Detection of Exotoxin A in Human Serum.

Exotoxin A is one of the virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that can cause infections resulting in adverse health outcomes and increased burden to health care systems. Current methods of diagnosing P. aeruginosa infections are time consuming and can require significant preparation of patient samples.

Single-Stranded DNA Aptamers against Pathogens and Toxins: Identification and Biosensing Applications.

Molecular recognition elements (MREs) can be short sequences of single-stranded DNA, RNA, small peptides, or antibody fragments. They can bind to user-defined targets with high affinity and specificity. There has been an increasing interest in the identification and application of nucleic acid molecular recognition elements, commonly known as aptamers, since they were first described in 1990 by the Gold and Szostak laboratories.

In Vitro Selection of a Single-Stranded DNA Molecular Recognition Element against Clostridium difficile Toxin B and Sensitive Detection in Human Fecal Matter.

Toxin B is one of the major virulence factors of Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that is responsible for a significant number of diarrhea cases in acute care settings. Due to the prevalence of C. difficile induced diarrhea, rapid and correct diagnosis is crucial in the disease management.