A real-time RT-PCR method to detect viable Giardia lamblia cysts in environmental waters.

Currently, USEPA Method 1623 is the standard assay used for simultaneous detection of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in various water matrices. However, the method is unable to distinguish between species, genotype, or to assess viability. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to address the shortcomings of USEPA Method 1623 by developing a novel molecular-based method that can assess viability of Giardia cysts in environmental waters and identify genotypes that pose a human health threat (assemblage groups A and B).

Profiling of differential expression of messenger RNA in normal, benign, and metastatic prostate cell lines.

To understand the phenotypic changes associated with prostate cancer development and metastasis, we investigated differential gene expression in primary and established prostate cell lines used as models. We have used a differential display of messenger RNA (DDRT-PCR) technique using 168 primer combinations and total RNA from BPH-1, LNCaP, and PC3 cells to identify filter-based cDNA microarrays containing 18,376 nonredundant clones of genes and expressed sequence tags (EST) using mRNA from PrEC and MDAPCa2a cells to identify genes that are differentially expressed in normal, benign, and cancerous prostate cell lines. Twenty-five cDNA with a significant difference in expression of 76 candidate cDNA, as identified by DDRT-PCR and confirmed by slot-blot analysis, were selected for sequence analysis.

Down-regulation of Cdc6, a cell cycle regulatory gene, in prostate cancer.

CDC6 plays a critical role in regulation of the onset of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. We have found that Cdc6 expression is down-regulated in prostate cancer as detected by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR of prostate cell lines and laser-captured microdissected prostate tissues. This result was substantiated by immunohistochemical analysis of paraffin-embedded tissue sections and immunoblot analysis of benign (BPH-1) and adenocarcinomatous prostatic cells.