conclusions we introduced an anti-hbsp antibodies elisa, designed for locally circulating hbv strains. correlation observed of anti-hbsp with liver fibrosis staging regardless of viral replication and liver inflammation suggests anti-hbsp antibodies as possible indicator for hbv-associated liver fibrosis. results seven out of eighty (9%) chb patients were positive for anti-hbsp antibodies. mean...

The presence of brown adipose tissue responsible for thermogenic energy dissipation has been revealed in adult humans and has high clinical importance. Owing to limitations of current methods for brown adipose tissue detection, analysing the abundance and localization of brown adipose tissue in the body has remained challenging. Here we screen a combinatorial peptide library in mice and charact...

Encapsulating anticancer drugs in nanoparticles has proven to be an effective mechanism to alter the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of the drugs, leading to clinically useful cancer therapeutics like Doxil and DaunoXome. Underdeveloped tumor vasculature and lymphatics allow these first-generation nanoparticles to passively accumulate within the tumor, but work to create the next-g...

A potent cytotoxic peptide (r7-kla) was synthesized by incorporating a mitochondrial membrane disrupting peptide, kla (klaklakklaklak), with a cell-penetrating domain, r7 (rrrrrrr). The IC(50) of r7-kla (3.54 +/- 0.11 micromol/L) was more than two orders of magnitude lower than that of kla. r7-kla induced cell death in both in vitro and in vivo environments, and showed rapid kinetics. Within mi...

conclusions the results of the current study suggested that spinal anesthesia plus intravenous patient-controlled analgesia have the most favorable cardiac effects regarding postoperative levels of pro-bnp. results there was no difference between three groups for basic characteristics and variables and baseline pro-bnp levels; however, postoperative pro-bnp levels in groups a, b, and c were res...

RGD peptides recognize the α(v)β(3) integrin, a receptor that is overexpressed on the surface of both tumor blood vessels and cancerous cells. These peptides are powerful tools that act as single antiangiogenic molecules, but recently also have been used for tumor imaging and drug targeting. We designed the molecule RAFT-(c[-RGDfK-])(4), a constrained and chemically defined entity that can be p...

Statement of Purpose: Hybrid nanostructures composed of various inorganic materials coupled with functional biomolecules, such as antibodies, enzymes, or DNA, are of considerable interest in the development of new research strategies for potential practical applications in biotechnological and biomedical fields, including biosensors, delivery and targeting platforms. Current approaches for coup...

BACKGROUND Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used in modern clinical medicine as a diagnostic tool, and provides noninvasive and three-dimensional visualization of biological phenomena in living organisms with high spatial and temporal resolution. Therefore, considerable attention has been paid to magnetic nanoparticles as MRI contrast agents with efficient targeting ability and cellul...

We have evaluated the capacity of the cell-binding heptapeptide SIGYPLP to enhance transgene expression using non-viral and viral gene delivery vectors. Targeted polyplex based vectors showed good levels of DNA uptake in freshly isolated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) compared to untargeted controls, whilst displaying only modest increases in reporter gene activity. The targete...

We describe here a near infrared light-responsive elastin-like peptide (ELP)-based targeted nanoparticle (NP) that can rapidly switch its size from 120 to 25 nm upon photo-irradiation. Interestingly, the targeting function, which is crucial for effective cargo delivery, preserved after transformation. The NPs are assembled (targeted) diblock ELP micelles encapsulating photosensitizer TT1-monobl...