Suppression of the PI3K subunit p85α delays embryoid body development and inhibits cell adhesion.

Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases (PI3Ks) exert a variety of signaling functions in eukaryotes. We suppressed the PI3K regulatory subunit p85α using a small interfering RNA (Pik3r1 siRNA) and examined the effects on embryoid body (EB) development in hanging drop culture. We observed a 150% increase in the volume of the treated EBs within 24 h, compared to the negative controls.

Developing equine mtDNA profiling for forensic application.

Horse mtDNA profiling can be useful in forensic work investigating degraded samples, hair shafts or highly dilute samples. Degraded DNA often does not allow sequencing of fragments longer than 200 nucleotides. In this study we therefore search for the most discriminatory sections within the hypervariable horse mtDNA control region.

Evaluating length heteroplasmy in the human mitochondrial DNA control region.

We present allelic data for three known and one new C-tract in the human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region, and we measure intergenerational mutation rates at such C-tracts. In detail, in a sample of 1,172 mtDNA sequences, we demonstrate the existence of an instability threshold of eight consecutive cytosines, at and above which the phenomenon of length heteroplasmy arises. To determine mutation rates, we draw on mtDNA sequences in up to four generations of 248 pedigrees for families living in high or low-radiation environmental conditions.