Structure-Activity Relationship Studies of Indolglyoxyl-Polyamine Conjugates as Antimicrobials and Antibiotic Potentiators.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat, requiring urgent attention. One approach to overcome antibiotic resistance is to discover and develop new antibiotic enhancers, molecules that work with legacy antibiotics to enhance their efficacy against resistant bacteria. Our previous screening of a library of purified marine natural products and their synthetic analogues led to the discovery of an indolglyoxyl-spermine derivative that exhibited intrinsic antimicrobial properties and was also able to potentiate the action of doxycycline towards the difficult to treat, Gram-negative bacterium .

Guillain-Barre syndrome in southern Chinese children: 32 year experience in Hong Kong.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the clinical pattern of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) in southern Chinese children in Hong Kong and to compare the clinical outcome of early versus delayed intervention with i.v. immunoglobulin (IVIg).

Functional studies of individual myosin molecules.

The "conventional" isoform of myosin that polymerizes into filaments (myosin II) is the molecular motor powering contraction in all three types of muscle. Considerable attention has been paid to the developmental progression, isoform distribution, and mutations that affect myocardial development, function, and adaptation. Optical trap (laser tweezer) experiments and various types of high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, capable of interrogating individual protein motors, are revealing novel and detailed information about their functionally relevant nanometer motions and pico-Newton forces.