BACKGROUND Mycoplasmas, the smallest and simplest prokaryotes that reside in endosomes of mammalian cells, are widespread contaminants found in cell cultures. About 30% of all cell cultures, varying from 15 to 80%, are reportedly contaminated with mycoplasmas. Here, we present our experience in successfully detecting and treating mycoplasmal infection in various cell lines. METHODS The nested...

The genome size of the marine sponges Suberites domuncula and Geodia cydonium has been determined by flow cytofluorometric analysis using diamidino-phenylindole [DAPI]. Using human lymphocytes as reference the amount of DNA in cells from S. domuncula has been determined to be 3.7 pg and that of G. cydonium 3.3 pg. While no chromosomes could be identified in G. cydonium, the karyotype of the Sub...

We report here a new staining procedure which uses both the enzymatic dehydrogenation of 2-(p-iodophenyl)-3-p-(nitrophenyl)-5 phenyltetrazolium chloride to a pink intracellular formazan and the DNA-specific fluorochrome 4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole. Application of this staining procedure to cells concentrated on filters and then transferred to microscope slides by the filter-transfer-freeze t...

Here for the first time, we investigated the cytotoxic effects of the chitosan extracted from the Persian Gulf Chiton shell (Acanthopleura vaillantii) on liver cancer cell line (HepG2). Chitosan extraction was implemented following this method: chitin was produced by demineralization and deproteinization procedure, and the extracted chitin was converted into soluble chitosan using deacetylation...

BACKGROUND AIMS Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are regenerative and immuno-privileged cells that are used for both tissue regeneration and treatment of severe inflammation-related disease. For quality control of manufactured MSC batches in regard to mature fat cell contamination, a quantitative method for measuring adipogenesis is needed. METHODS Four previously proposed methods were valida...

Paclitaxel is a current standard chemotherapeutic drug for ovarian cancer with several side effects. Recurrences of drug resistant clones have been considered the serious problem in the failure of chemotherapy. Medicinal marine natural products have been intensively proposed as diverse chemotherapeutic agents. Therefore there is an affinity to find efficient modality to overwhelm ovarian cancer...

The spatial organization of chloroplast DNA in developing and dividing wheat chloroplasts was studied in the light microscope using the fluorescent probe 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, which binds specifically to DNA.The DNA of wheat chloroplasts was localized at the periphery of the plastid, frequently in a discrete band. No relocalization of the DNA was observed during plastid replication. Th...

A new real-time PCR assay was successfully developed using a TaqMan fluorescence probe for specific detection and enumeration of a novel bacterium, Lactobacillus thermotolerans, in chicken feces. The specific primers and probe were designed based on the L. thermotolerans 16S rRNA gene sequences, and these sequences were compared to those of all available 16S rRNA genes in the GenBank database. ...