CD133 is a cellular surface protein that has been reported to be a cancer stem cell marker, and thus it is considered to be a potential target for cancer treatment. However, the mechanism regulating CD133 expression is not yet understood. In this study, we analyzed the activity of five putative promoters (P1-P5) of CD133 in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells and colon cancer cell line WiDr,...

Nine dinucleoside phosphates containing 1-deaza-(1A) and 3-deazaadenosine (3A) were prepared. Hypochromicity and CD spectra of these dimers were determined. It was found that varying degrees of base-stacking are operative with these oligonucleotides and their CD spectra fall into three classes. The first class CD spectra which are more or less similar in profile to those of adenylyl-(3'-5')-ade...

OBJECTIVES Tumor-associated antigen (TAA) subunit-based vaccines constitute promising tools for anticancer immunotherapy. However, a major limitation in the development of such vaccines is the poor immunogenicity of peptides when used alone. The aim of this study was to develop an efficient vaccine delivery system and adjuvant to enhance anti-tumor activity of a synthetic HER2/neu derived pepti...

The complement system is an important first line of defense against the human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae. To survive and propagate in vivo, H. influenzae has evolved mechanisms for subverting this host defense, most of which have been shown to involve outer surface structures, including lipooligosaccharide glycans and outer surface proteins. Bacterial defense against complement acts at mul...

For m = 3, 4, . . . , the polygonal numbers of order m are given by pm(n) = (m−2) ` n 2 ́ +n (n = 0, 1, 2, . . . ). For positive integers a, b, c and i, j, k > 3 with max{i, j, k} > 5, we call the triple (api, bpj , cpk) universal if for any n = 0, 1, 2, . . . there are nonnegative integers x, y, z such that n = api(x) + bpj(y) + cpk(z). We show that there are only 95 candidates for universal tr...

The in vivo subcellular localization of Mal de Río Cuarto virus (MRCV, Fijivirus, Reoviridae) non-structural proteins fused to GFP was analyzed by confocal microscopy. P5-1 showed a cytoplasmic vesicular-like distribution that was lost upon deleting its PDZ binding TKF motif, suggesting that P5-1 interacts with cellular PDZ proteins. P5-2 located at the nucleus and its nuclear import was affect...

Natural beta-phosphodiester 16mer and 15mer antisense oligonucleotides targeted against the HIV-1 and HIV-2 TAR RNAs respectively were previously described as sequence-specific inhibitors of in vitro retroviral reverse transcription. In this work, we tested chemically modified oligonucleotide analogues: alpha-phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, methylphosphonate, peptide nucleic acid or PNA, 2'- ...

Farrowing is an intrinsically risky process for both the sow and the piglets that can cause welfare and economic problems. The effects of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam on post-farrowing behaviour of sows, and the performance of piglets were investigated. A total of 48 sows were randomly allocated at the day of farrowing (day 0) into two homogeneous groups regarding parity, ...

Based on literature, it is possible to hypothesize that multidrug resistance (MDR) and angiogenic phenotypes are linked to each other in human liver cancer cells. Our goal is to assess whether MDR cells trigger angiogenesis and to study the possible molecular mechanisms involved. Conditioned medium from parental drug-sensitive P5 cells (P5-CM) and MDR-positive P1(0.5) cells [P1(0.5)-CM] stimula...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) models were often applied to regions with high heterogeneity, but limited spatially differentiated soil information and simulation unit resolution. This study, carried out in the Tai-Lake region of China, defined the uncertainty derived from application of the DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) biogeochemical model in an area with heterogeneous soil properties and di...