Recently, human semen was shown to contain cell-free nucleic acids, such as DNA, long single stranded RNA, and small RNAs-miRNA and piRNA. The RNAs have been suggested to have potential biological roles as communication molecules between cells and in the temporal and spatial regulation of gene expression in the male reproductive system. Here we demonstrate that human seminal plasma contains a v...

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses in some fungi are associated with hypovirulence and have been used or proposed as biological control agents. We isolated 7.5-kb dsRNAs from 13 of 286 field strains of Fusarium graminearum isolated from maize in Korea. One of these strains, DK21, was examined in more detail. This strain had pronounced morphological changes, including reduction in mycelial grow...

The addition of small amounts of multivalent cations to solutions containing double-stranded DNA leads to inter-DNA attraction and eventual condensation. Surprisingly, the condensation is suppressed in double-stranded RNA, which carries the same negative charge as DNA, but assumes a different double helical form. Here, we combine experiment and atomistic simulations to propose a mechanism that ...

dsRNA, as genomic fragment, replicative intermediate, or stem and loop structure in cells infected by viruses, can act to signal the immune system of the presence of viral infections. Although most viral infections are associated with strong Th1 immune responses, Th2-type responses have also been observed. In this study, we characterize the effects of dsRNA on the induction of Th2 responses in ...

Inosine residues may be introduced into long dsRNA (double-stranded RNA) molecules by the action of a family of editing enzymes, ADARs (adenosine deaminases that act on RNA). Furthermore, hyperediting of dsRNA by ADARs may result in up to 50% of adenosine residues being converted into inosine. While the effect of hyperediting has traditionally been thought to be limited to the edited dsRNA, we ...