PIK3CA mutations in in situ and invasive breast carcinomas.

The PIK3 signaling pathway has been identified as one of the most important and most frequently mutated pathways in breast cancer. Somatic mutations in the catalytic subunit of PIK3CA have been found in a significant fraction of breast carcinomas, and it has been proposed that mutant PIK3CA plays a role in tumor initiation. However, the majority of primary human tumors analyzed for genetic alterations in PIK3CA have been invasive breast carcinomas and the frequency of PIK3CA mutations in preinvasive lesions has not been explored.

Targeted disruption of the voltage-dependent calcium channel alpha2/delta-1-subunit.

Cardiac L-type voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels are heteromultimeric polypeptide complexes of alpha(1)-, alpha(2)/delta-, and beta-subunits. The alpha(2)/delta-1-subunit possesses a stereoselective, high-affinity binding site for gabapentin, widely used to treat epilepsy and postherpetic neuralgic pain as well as sleep disorders. Mutations in alpha(2)/delta-subunits of voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels have been associated with different diseases, including epilepsy.

Real-time study of the effect of different stress factors on lactic acid bacteria by electrochemical optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy.

Lactic acid bacteria play an important role in the fermentation of different food products. During the fermentation processes, lactobacilli are confronted with many inhibitor factors. These factors by themselves or in combination can influence the growth of lactic acid bacteria and their acidification capacity.

Application of electrochemical optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy for studying the effect of different stress factors on lactic acid bacteria.

Electrochemical optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (EC-OWLS) has been developed to combine evanescent-field optical sensing with electrochemical control of surface adsorption processes. For bioanalytical sensing, a layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) served as both a high-refractive index waveguide and a conductive electrode. In addition, an electrochemical flow-through fluid cuvette was applied, which incorporated working, reference, and counter electrodes, and was compatible with the constraints of optical sensing.

Development of a direct-binding chloramphenicol sensor based on thiol or sulfide mediated self-assembled antibody monolayers.

A batch-type antibody-immobilized quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) system for detecting chloramphenicol (CAP) was developed. To bind an anti-CAP antibody onto the gold electrode surface of piezoelectric crystals, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of different thiols or sulfides were formed by a chemisorption procedure. Then, the anti-CAP antibody was covalently linked to the pre-formed monolayers by an activation procedure using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide.

Characterization of auto-regulation of the human cardiac alpha1 subunit of the L-type calcium channel: importance of the C-terminus.

The carboxyl terminal of the L-type calcium channel alpha1C subunit comprises approximately one third of the primary structure of the alpha1 subunit (> 700 amino acids residues). This region is sensitive to limited posttranslational processing. In heart and brain the alpha1C subunits are found to be truncated but the C-terminal domain remains functionally present.