An improved method for isolation of RNA from rat femur.

Background: RNA isolation from ossified bone is a difficult and time-consuming process which often results in poor recovery of RNA. The yield is limited and might not be suitable for gene quantification studies by real time PCR.

Methodology: The present study demonstrates RNA extraction from rat femur utilizing the silica column along with the trizol reagent.

An innovative and cost-effective way to estimate alkaline phosphatase activity in cellular model systems.

Alkaline phosphatase is an enzyme that converts para-nitrophenyl phosphate to para-nitrophenol (yellow coloured) in 2-amino, 2-methyl, 1-propanol buffer at pH 10.5. However, when this protocol is applied to the in vitro cellular model systems to estimate alkaline phosphatase activity, it tends to generate clumps of genomic DNA, leading to inaccurate pipetting for protein estimation.

Cloning of hok gene into anhydrotetracycline inducible pASK75 vector reveals potent antimicrobial effect of 19 amino acid long N-terminal fragment of hok peptide.

An important toxin-antitoxin (TA) system hok/sok, encoded by R1 plasmid of Escherichia coli, is involved in the post segregation killing of cells that have lost the plasmid. The lethal properties of hok protein have been utilized for the environmental containment of microbes and the development of potential vaccine candidates. This study aimed to demonstrate the potent anti-microbial property of a 19 amino acid (AA) long N-terminal fragment of hok peptide.

Evaluation of antioxidants and argpyrimidine in normal and cataractous lenses in north Indian population.

Aim: To assess the level of glutathione, thioltransferase, and argpyrimidine in nuclear and cortical cataractous lenses as well as in the clear lenses in the north Indian population.

Methods: Human cataractous lenses were collected from the patients who underwent extracapsular cataract extraction surgery; clear lenses were collected from the freshly donated eye bank eyes. Antioxidant molecules such as glutathione and thioltransferase enzyme activity were measured; simultaneously in these lenses a blue fluorophore argpyrimidine, an advanced glycation end (AGE) product level was assessed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

A silent mutation in human alpha-A crystallin gene in patients with age-related nuclear or cortical cataract.

A cataract is a complex multifactorial disease that results from alterations in the cellular architecture, i.e. lens proteins.