Real-time electrocatalytic sensing of cellular respiration.

In the present work we develop a real-time electrochemical mediator assay to enable the assessment of cell numbers and chemical toxicity. This allowed us to monitor metabolism down to a single cell in a low cost easy to use rapid assay which is not possible with current technology. The developed assay was based on the determination of oxygen.

Regucalcin (RGN/SMP30) alters agonist- and thapsigargin-induced cytosolic [Ca2+] transients in cells by increasing SERCA Ca(2+)ATPase levels.

Regucalcin (RGN), also reported as senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30), plays a role in Ca(2+) homeostasis by modulating a number of Ca(2+)-dependent proteins. RGN also plays a cyto-protective role and its decrease is linked to age-related diseases and cell death. This study shows that RGN reduces agonist (histamine)-induced Ca(2+) transients in RGN(+) transfected COS-7 cells (RGN(+)) and also increases their Ca(2+) storage capacity.

Simultaneous detection of MDR1 and WT1 gene expression to predict the prognosis of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The interaction between Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1) and the promoter region of the multidrug resistance-1 (MDR1) gene has been previously reported but the clinical significance of the coexpression of WT1 and MDR1 in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is still largely unknown. In this study, the expression levels of WT1 and MDR1 mRNA in 57 adult ALL patients were simultaneously detected using multiplex fluorescence real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels of WT1 and MDR1 in bone marrow samples of adult ALL patients were significantly higher than those in the normal samples (P<0.