Cassette hybridization for vector assembly application in antibody chain shuffling.

Gene assembly methods are an integral part of molecular cloning experiments. The majority of existing vector assembly methods stipulate a need for exonucleases, endonucleases and/or the use of single-stranded DNA as starting materials. Here, we introduced a vector assembly method that employs conventional PCR to amplify stable double-stranded DNA fragments and assembles them into functional vectors specifically for antibody chain shuffling.

Alizarin Red S for Online Pyrophosphate Detection Identified by a Rapid Screening Method.

We identified Alizarin Red S and other well known fluorescent dyes useful for the online detection of pyrophosphate in enzymatic assays, including the loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. An iterative screening was used for a selected set of compounds to first secure enzyme compatibility, evaluate inorganic pyrophosphate sensitivity in the presence of manganese as quencher and optimize conditions for an online detection. Of the selected dyes, the inexpensive alizarin red S was found to selectively detect pyrophosphate under LAMP and PCR conditions and is superior with respect to its defined red-shifted spectrum, long shelf life and low toxicity.

Improved Fab presentation on phage surface with the use of molecular chaperone coplasmid system.

The low presentation efficiency of Fab (fragment antigen binding) fragments during phage display is largely due to the complexity of disulphide bond formation. This can result in the presentation of Fab fragments devoid of a light chain during phage display. Here we propose the use of a coplasmid system encoding several molecular chaperones (DsbA, DsbC, FkpA, and SurA) to improve Fab packaging.

IQPA: isothermal nucleic acid amplification-based immunoassay using DNAzyme as the reporter system.

Immunoassays are often coupled to peroxidase activity for antigen detection. Sensitivity and speed of detection has been increased by the advent of hybrid methods such as immuno-PCR (polymerase chain reaction). However, a more simplified immunoassay that retains both colorimetric peroxidase detection and effective DNA amplification in a setting closer to field application conditions has been nonexistent.

Development of an antigen-DNAzyme based probe for a direct antibody-antigen assay using the intrinsic DNAzyme activity of a daunomycin aptamer.

G-Quadruplex (G-4) structures are formed when G-rich DNA sequences fold into intra- or intermolecular four-stranded structures in the presence of metal ions. G-4-hemin complexes are often effective peroxidase-mimicking DNAzymes that are applied in many detection systems. This work reports the application of a G-rich daunomycin-specific aptamer for the development of an antibody-antigen detection assay.

Assembly of highly diverse genes using degenerate oligonucleotides by temperature cascade.

The quality of a nucleotide-based library such as a synthetic antibody library is highly dependent on the diversity available. Diversity can be generated using degenerate oligonucleotides introduced during gene assembly. Conventional approaches to gene assembly are not efficient for oligonucleotides with long stretches of degeneracy.