Genetic Silencing of AKT Induces Melanoma Cell Death via mTOR Suppression.

Aberrant activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway is common in many cancers, including melanoma, and AKT1, 2 and 3 (AKT1-3) are bona fide oncoprotein kinases with well-validated downstream effectors. However, efforts to pharmacologically inhibit AKT have proven to be largely ineffective. In this study, we observed paradoxical effects following either pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of AKT1-3 in melanoma cells.

A High Voltage Power Supply That Mitigates Current Reversals in Capillary Zone Electrophoresis-Electrospray Mass Spectrometry.

Capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrospray ionization typically employs two power supplies, one at each end of the capillary. One power supply is located at the proximal (injection) end of the capillary. The power supply located at the distal (detector) end of the capillary drives the electrospray.

Capillary electrophoresis coupled with automated fraction collection.

A fraction collector based on a drop-on-demand ink-jet printer was developed to interface capillary zone electrophoresis with a 96 well microtiter plate. We first evaluated the performance of the collector by using capillary zone electrophoresis to analyze a 1mM solution of tetramethylrhodamine; a fluorescent microtiter plate reader was then used to detect the analyte and characterize fraction carryover between wells. Relative standard deviation in peak height was 20% and the relative standard deviation in migration time was 1%.

Ultrasensitive online SERS detection of structural isomers separated by capillary zone electrophoresis.

A mixture of structural isomers was separated and identified at nanomolar concentrations (∼100,000 molecules) by incorporating capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with a sheath flow surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detector. Baseline resolution was obtained from three structural isomers of rhodamine using a planar silver SERS substrate, demonstrating the utility of this approach for trace chemical analysis.

Nicked-sleeve interface for two-dimensional capillary electrophoresis.

We report an improved interface for two-dimensional capillary electrophoresis. This interface is based on capillary tubing and a Plexiglas chip, both of which were milled using a micro-dicing saw. The interface was evaluated and compared to a traditional interface design for both pseudo one-dimensional and two-dimensional capillary electrophoresis.

Cyclodextrins as complexation and extraction agents for pesticides from contaminated soil.

The binding constants of seven commonly used pesticides (2,4-D, acetochlor, alachlor, dicamba, dimethenamid, metolachlor, and propanil) with native and derivatized cyclodextrins (α-CD, β-CD, γ-CD, hydroxypropyl-β-CD, methyl-β-CD, sulfated-β-CD, and carboxymethyl-β-CD) were measured using affinity capillary electrophoresis. All cyclodextrins showed significant binding interactions with each of the seven pesticides investigated, with the exception of sulfated-β-CD which exhibited negligible binding to acetochlor, alachlor, and metolachlor. Propanil was found to bind most strongly to the cyclodextrins in this study.