Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) causes a range of neoplastic and degenerative diseases in cats. To obtain a more sensitive and convenient diagnosis of the disease, we prepared monoclonal antibodies specific for the FeLV p27 to develop a rapid diagnostic test with enhanced sensitivity and specificity. Among these antibodies, we identified two clones (hybridomas 8F8B5 and 8G7D1) that specifically bo...

INTRODUCTION Rapid HIV tests have been widely adopted globally as an important component of HIV prevention and control programs. The INSTI™ HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody test is a second-generation HIV antibody test, available in most countries for use from whole blood, serum, and plasma. AREAS COVERED Available data on kit characteristics and current performance data on the INSTI™ HIV-1/HIV-2 antibod...

Background: C. difficile (CD) is a common pathogen causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea in the US and Europe, but is a neglected enteric pathogen in India. During the last decade this organism has become the leading enteric pathogen causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea in Nosocomial and community populations. Laboratory confirmation is the only method of detecting C. difficile. Different la...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the measurement of total calcium levels in sera of sheep with and without milk fever by using a commercial water hardness test kit. Thirty sheep with findings of milk fever from 9 different farms were used in the present study. Total serum calcium concentrations were determined by using a commercial water hardness test kit and a laboratory automated biochemi...

PURPOSE Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common sarcoma of the intestinal tract. Nearly all tumors express KIT protein, and most have an activating mutation in either KIT or PDGFRA. Therapy with selective tyrosine kinase inhibitors achieves a partial response or stable disease in approximately 80% of patients with advanced GIST. However, after an initial clinical response, some...

AIMS To characterise KIT-negative gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) clinically, pathologically, immunohistochemically and genetically, and to establish the usefulness of protein kinase C theta (PKC) as a diagnostic marker in KIT-negative GIST. METHODS 252 consecutive cases of GIST were evaluated for clinicopathological characteristics and immunostained for various antibodies. Mutationa...

Mast cell infiltrates are associated with tumors, though their role in the tumor microenvironment remains unclear. Mast cells express high levels of KIT throughout differentiation and as mature cells. Mast cells in tumors have been shown to release proinflammatory cytokines and promote angiogenesis, increasing tumor growth and metastasis. KIT signaling and mast cells also appear to modulate myl...

The c-kit receptor tyrosine kinase (KIT) is activated upon ligand binding, thereby leading to a variety of signaling events that play a fundamental role in hematopoiesis. In addition to ligand-dependent activation, we have previously shown that KIT is constitutively activated in a ligand-independent manner by two point mutations, Val-559-->Gly (G559) mutation in the juxtamembrane domain and Asp...

Barbe and coworkers tested 318 isolates of Haemophilus and Neisseria species as well as Moraxella catarrhalis in an evaluation of the API NH kit in a study primarily addressing the ability of that kit to accurately identify organisms in its intended area of application (1). They found that only 1 of the 305 strains that were included in the kit database was identified incorrectly, and of the 13...