Tc(I)-Labeled His-Tagged Proteins: Impact in the Development of Novel Imaging Probes and in Drug Discovery.

Technetium-99 m (Tc) remains the cornerstone of nuclear medicine for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) due to its widespread availability and chemical and physical features. Its multiple oxidation states allow for the design and production of radiopharmaceuticals with versatile properties, namely in terms of pharmacokinetic profile. Tc(V) is the most common oxidation state, but Tc(I) gained traction after the pioneering work of Alberto and colleagues, which resulted in the introduction of the organometallic core fac-[Tc(CO)(HO)].

Tailored Viral-like Particles as Drivers of Medical Breakthroughs.

Despite the recognized potential of nanoparticles, only a few formulations have progressed to clinical trials, and an even smaller number have been approved by the regulatory authorities and marketed. Virus-like particles (VLPs) have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional nanoparticles due to their safety, biocompatibility, immunogenicity, structural stability, scalability, and versatility. Furthermore, VLPs can be surface-functionalized with small molecules to improve circulation half-life and target specificity.

Construction of HER2-Specific HIV-1-Based VLPs.

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are nanoplatforms comprised of one or more viral proteins with the capacity to self-assemble without viral genetic material. VLPs arise as promising nanoparticles (NPs) that can be exploited as vaccines, as drug delivery vehicles or as carriers of imaging agents. Engineered antibody constructs, namely single-chain variable fragments (scFv), have been explored as relevant molecules to direct NPs to their target.

How promising are HIV-1-based virus-like particles for medical applications.

New approaches aimed at identifying patient-specific drug targets and addressing unmet clinical needs in the framework of precision medicine are a strong motivation for researchers worldwide. As scientists learn more about proteins that drive known diseases, they are better able to design promising therapeutic approaches to target those proteins. The field of nanotechnology has been extensively explored in the past years, and nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as promising systems for target-specific delivery of drugs.

A case of severe systemic type 1 pseudohypoaldosteronism with 10 years of evolution.

Type 1 pseudohypoaldosteronism (PHA-1) is a rare genetic syndrome of unresponsiveness to aldosterone and presents in the neonatal period with hyperkalemia, hyponatremia and metabolic acidosis. The mortality rate can be high and multidisciplinary team is needed for optimal management and adequate growth and development of these patients. Many genotype-phenotype correlations remain uncertain, and the description of the evolution of cases can increase scientific knowledge about the psychomotor development and severity of the different mutations.

SPARC-p53: The double agents of cancer.

Cancer is a complex disease with high incidence and mortality rates. The important role played by the tumor microenvironment in regulating oncogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis is by now well accepted in the scientific community. SPARC is known to participate in tumor-stromal interactions and impact cancer growth in ambiguous ways, which either enhance or suppress cancer aggressiveness, in a context-dependent manner.

Use of ImageJ to recover information from individual cells in a G protein-coupled receptor assay.

Live-cell assays used in GPCR research often rely on fluorescence techniques that generate large amounts of raw image data. Consequently, the capacity to accurately and timely extract useful information from image and video data has become more and more important. Image J is an open-source program that provides powerful tools with a simple interface designed to fit the needs of image analysis of most researchers.

G protein-coupled receptors: an overview of signaling mechanisms and screening assays.

The existence of cellular receptors, a group of specialized biomolecules to which endogenous and exogenous compounds bind and exert an effect, is one of the most exciting aspects of cell biology. Among the different receptor types recognized today, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute, undoubtedly, one of the most important classes, in part due to their versatility, but particularly, due to their central role in a multitude of physiological states. The unveiling of GPCR function and mode of action is a challenging task that prevails until our days, as the full potential of these receptors is far from being established.

Capture and detection of DNA hybrids on paper via the anchoring of antibodies with fusions of carbohydrate binding modules and ZZ-domains.

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) fabricated by wax-printing are suitable platforms for the development of simple and affordable molecular diagnostic assays for infectious diseases, especially in resource-limited settings. Paper devices can be modified for biological assays by adding appropriate reagents to the test areas. For this purpose, the use of affinity immobilization strategies can be a good solution for bioactive paper fabrication.

Towards the miniaturization of GPCR-based live-cell screening assays.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play a key role in many physiological or disease-related processes and for this reason are favorite targets of the pharmaceutical industry. Although ~30% of marketed drugs target GPCRs, their potential remains largely untapped. The discovery of new leads calls for the screening of thousands of compounds with high-throughput cell-based assays.

Gene delivery to human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by microporation.

Electroporation has been considered one of the most efficient non-viral based methods to deliver genes regardless of frequently observed high cell mortality. In this study we used a microporation technique to optimise the delivery of plasmid DNA encoding green fluorescence protein (GFP) to human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC). Using resuspension buffer (RB) and as low as 1.