Diverse genomic integration of a lentiviral vector developed for the treatment of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

Background: The genomic integration of a lentiviral vector developed for the treatment of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) was assessed by localizing the vector insertion sites (IS) in a murine model of gene therapy for the disease.

Methods: Transduced hematopoietic progenitor cells were transplanted into mice or cultured in vitro. The IS were determined in the genomic DNA from blood, the bone marrow of the animals and from cultured cells.

Comparative analysis of BAC and whole genome shotgun sequences from an Anopheles gambiae region related to Plasmodium encapsulation.

The only natural mechanism of malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa is the mosquito, generally Anopheles gambiae. Blocking malaria parasite transmission by stopping the development of Plasmodium in the insect vector would provide a useful alternative to the current methods of malaria control. Toward this end, it is important to understand the molecular basis of the malaria parasite refractory phenotype in An.

Assessing the Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae genome annotations using genome-wide sequence comparisons.

We performed genome-wide sequence comparisons at the protein coding level between the genome sequences of Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae. Such comparisons detect evolutionarily conserved regions (ecores) that can be used for a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the available annotations of both genomes. They also provide novel candidate features for annotation.

Structural analysis and modeling of a synthetic interleukin-2 mimetic and its interleukin-2Rbeta2 receptor.

Peptide p1-30, which is composed of the 30 amino-terminal residues (alpha-helix A) of human interleukin-2 (IL-2), binds as a tetramer to the dimeric IL-2Rbeta2 receptor, whereas the entire IL-2 recognizes the tricomponent receptor IL-2Ralphabetagamma. p1-30 is an IL-2 mimetic that activates CD8 low lymphocytes and natural killer cells, because these cells produce IL-2Rbeta constitutively. It also induces a strong lymphokine-activated killer cell response.

The DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 14.

Chromosome 14 is one of five acrocentric chromosomes in the human genome. These chromosomes are characterized by a heterochromatic short arm that contains essentially ribosomal RNA genes, and a euchromatic long arm in which most, if not all, of the protein-coding genes are located. The finished sequence of human chromosome 14 comprises 87,410,661 base pairs, representing 100% of its euchromatic portion, in a single continuous segment covering the entire long arm with no gaps.