We demonstrated a novel AquaporinZ (AqpZ)-incorporated double-skinned forward osmosis (FO) membrane by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly strategy. Positively charged poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) and negatively charged poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) were alternately deposited on both the top and bottom surfaces of a hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile (H-PAN) substrate. Subsequently, an AqpZ-embedded 1...

We prepared polyethylene glycol (PEG)-stabilized antisense oligonucleotide (ODN)/lipid particles from a lipid mixture including the positively charged amphiphile 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) and anti-intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) antisense ODN by an extrusion method in the presence of 40% ethanol. These particles were targeted to scavenger receptors on liver end...

Using a combination of affinity chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry, we recently identified 8 MHC class II (I-A(b)) -bound Chlamydia peptides eluted from dendritic cells (DCs) infected with Chlamydia muridarum. In this study we cloned and purified the source proteins that contained each of these peptides and determined that three of the eight peptide/protein Ags were immunodominant (Pmp...

The chemokine stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α/CXCL12 and its receptor CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) play a crucial role in the homing/engraftment and retention of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) in the bone marrow. It has been shown using the viral gene transfer technique that CXCR4 overexpression on human CD34(+) HSPC significantly improves their engraftment in murine model...

While RNA-pulsed dendritic cell (DC) vaccines have shown promise, the advancement of cellular therapeutics is fraught with developmental challenges. To circumvent the challenges of cellular immunotherapeutics, we developed clinically translatable nanoliposomes that can be combined with tumor-derived RNA to generate personalized tumor RNA-nanoparticles (NPs) with considerable scale-up capacity. ...

AIM OF THE STUDY to study the efficiency of gene therapy following traumatic brain injury (TBI) by evaluating the influences of liposomal transfection of the brain tissue by APOE3-containing plasmid vector on the structural and functional manifestations of development of secondary brain injuries after acute experimental TBI in the rats of different age. MATERIAL AND METHODS Severe diffuse TBI...

Gene therapy holds great promise as a future approach to fighting disease and is explored in worldwide clinical trials. Cationic liposome (CL)-DNA complexes are a prevalent nonviral delivery vector, but their efficiency requires improvement and the understanding of their mechanism of action is incomplete. As part of our effort to investigate the structure-transfection efficiency relationships o...

Studies were initiated to begin developing a genetic transformation system for cells derived from the freshwater gastropod, Biomphalaria glabrata, an intermediate host of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. Using a 70-kD heat-shock protein (HSP70) cDNA probe obtained from the B. glabrata embryonic (Bge) cell line, we cloned from Bge cells a complete HSP70 gene including a 1-kb genomic DN...

To examine the relevance of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) expression in the determination of myocardial function after ischemia/reperfusion, Sprague-Dawley rats were treated intravenously with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODNs) directed at AT1R mRNA (100 microg/rat, n=9) or scrambled antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (Scr-ODNs, 100 microg/rat, n=6). Both AS-ODNs and Scr-ODNs were g...

b-Blockers are widely used for hypertension treatment but must be taken daily. We have developed a novel b-blocker by targeting b1-adrenergic receptor (b1-AR) mRNA with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (b1-ASODN). A single intravenous injection of b1-AS-ODN significantly reduced cardiac contractility and blood pressure (3865 mm Hg, P,0.05) in spontaneously hypertensive rats for 3 weeks. In the p...