We describe an adaptation of the yeast three-hybrid system that allows the reconstitution in vivo of tripartite (protein-RNA-protein) ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). To build and try this system that we called RNP interaction trap assay (RITA), we used as a model the autoantigenic Ro RNPs. hY RNAs bear distinct binding sites for Ro60 and La proteins, and Ro RNPs are thus physiologically tripartite (...

While numerous strategies exist for biomarker discovery, the bottleneck to product development and routine use at the clinic is in the verification phase of candidate biomarkers. The aim of this study was to establish a robust and high-throughput product ion monitoring (PIM) assay that is potentially capable of rapidly verifying candidates from discovery phase experiments. Using prostate-specif...

Moths in the genus Helicoverpa are some of the most important agricultural pests in the world. Two species, H. armigera (Hübner) and H. zea (Boddie), cause the majority of damage to crops and millions of dollars are spent annually on control of these pests. The recent introduction of H. armigera into the New World has prompted extensive survey efforts for this species in the United States. Surv...

BACKGROUND Sclerostin, encoded by the SOST gene, has been implicated in the response to mechanical loading in bone. Some studies demonstrated that unloading leads to up-regulated SOST expression, which may induce bone loss. PURPOSE Most reported studies regarding the changes caused by mechanical unloading were only based on a single site. Considering that the longitudinal bone growth leads to...

Tryptophan biosynthesis is subject to exquisite control in species of Bacillus and has become one of the best-studied model systems in gene regulation. The protein TRAP (trp RNA-binding attenuation protein) predominantly forms a ring-shaped 11-mer, which binds cognate RNA in the presence of tryptophan to suppress expression of the trp operon. TRAP is itself regulated by the protein Anti-TRAP, w...

An 11-subunit protein called trp RNA binding Attenuation Protein (TRAP) controls attenuation of the tryptophan biosynthetic (trpEDCFBA) operon in Bacillus subtilis. Tryptophan-activated TRAP binds to 11 (G/U)AG repeats in the 5' leader region of trp mRNAs, and downregulates expression of the operon by promoting transcription termination prior to the structural genes. Anti-TRAP (AT) is an antago...

The results of the whole blood VerifyNow P2Y12 assay can be expressed as platelet reaction units (PRU) or % inhibition index (%inh), but an optimal cut-off for the assessment of high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) predictive of clinical events has been validated only for PRU. The aim of the study was to study the influence of haematological variables, such as platelet and leukocyte coun...

background and objectives: numerous procedures in biology and medicine require the counting of cells. direct enumer- ation of colony forming units (cfus) is time-consuming and dreary accurate cell counting on plates with high numbers of cfus is error prone. in this study we report a new indirect cell counting method that was developed based on the use of redsafe fluorometric assay. the usefulne...

Genetic information encoded by DNA is organized in a complex and highly regulated chromatin structure. Each chromosome occupies a specific territory, that may change according to stage of development or cell cycle. Gene expression can occur in specialized transcriptional factories where chromatin segments may loop out from various chromosome territories, leading to co-localization of DNA segmen...