Evaluation of Maxwell® 16 for automated DNA extraction from whole blood and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue.

Background: The aim of the study was to assess the performance of Promega, Maxwell® 16 for the extraction of genomic DNA from whole blood and FFPE tissue.

Methods: DNA was extracted from 10 whole blood and 10 FFPE specimens using six different commercial kits.

Results: For whole blood, the mean DNA concentration obtained by Maxwell® 16 was significantly greater than either easyMAG® (p<0.

Differential effects of p63 mutants on transactivation of p53 and/or p63 responsive genes.

p63, known to play a role in development, has more recently also been implicated in cancer progression. Mutations in p63 have been shown to be responsible for several human developmental diseases. Differential splicing of the p63 gene gives rise to p63 isoforms, which can act either as tumor suppressors or as oncogene.

Patterned silk films cast from ionic liquid solubilized fibroin as scaffolds for cell growth.

Silk is an attractive biomaterial for use in tissue engineering applications because of its slow degradation, excellent mechanical properties, and biocompatibility. In this report, we demonstrate a simple method to cast patterned films directly from silk fibroin dissolved in an ionic liquid. The films cast from the silk ionic liquid solution were found to support normal cell proliferation and differentiation.