Hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5B protein is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) with essential functions in viral genome replication and represents a promising therapeutic target to develop direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). Multiple nonnucleoside inhibitors (NNIs) binding sites have been identified within the polymerase. VX-222 and ANA598 are two NNIs targeting thumb II site and palm I site of HC...

Influenza polymerase uses short capped primers snatched from nascent Pol II transcripts to initiate transcription of viral mRNAs. Here we describe crystal structures of influenza A and B polymerase bound to a capped primer in a configuration consistent with transcription initiation ('priming state') and show by functional assays that conserved residues from both the PB2 midlink and cap-binding ...

Through polarization observations, circumstellar masers are excellent probes of the magnetic field in the envelopes of late-type stars. Whereas observations of the polarization of the SiO masers close to the star and on the OH masers much further out were fairly commonplace, observations of the magnetic field strength in the intermediate density and temperature region where the 22 GHz H 2 O mas...

A rapid and simple HPLC method has been developed for the determination of 4-chloro-3-methylphenol (CMP) in the metal working fluid (MWF), Trim VX and in experiments designed to measure the dermal penetration of CMP from MWF. The method used 2-methyl-4,6-dinitrophenol as an internal standard (IS). Water was used as the extraction solvent. The retention times of CMP and internal standard (IS) we...

OBJECTIVE Even after successful Kasai portoenterostomy, progressive hepatic fibrosis in postoperative patients with biliary atresia (BA) can be associated with portal hypertension and esophageal or gastric varices. Therefore, early diagnosis and close follow-up of varices are important. We investigated the correlation between the liver stiffness scores measured by FibroScan and the presence of ...

BACKGROUND TRPC6 has been proposed to be responsible for the abnormal OAG-dependent Ca(2+) influx in cystic fibrosis (CF) cells and we hypothesized that it interacts with CFTR. Here, we investigated how this functional complex operates in CF and non-CF epithelial cells. METHODS Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably transfected with pNut vector containing wild type CFTR (CHO-WT), F508del-CF...

Akanksha Jain*, Shilpi Agarwal, Manupriya Nain, Deeksha Singh Department of Pathology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi, India Verruciform xanthoma (VX) is an uncommon benign condition, which frequently affects the oral mucosa in adults. Only few cases of VX of anogenital region and skin have been reported. Clinically, it presents as a white or yellowish-white sessile or pedunculated, papil...

Mitotic serine/threonine kinase Aurora-A (Aur-A) plays a critical role in regulating centrosome segregation and spindle assemble. Aur-A overexpression causes excessive centrosome duplication and abnormal spindle structure, leading to tumor malignant progression. Here, we investigated Aur-A expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and the association between Aur-A and NPC invasiveness. We sh...

Rational site-directed mutagenesis and biophysical analyses have been used to explore the thermodynamic stability and catalytic capabilities of organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) and its genetically modified variants. There are clear trade-offs in the stability of modifications that enhance catalytic activities. For example, the H254R/H257L variant has higher turnover numbers for the chemical war...