Hyaluronan is a polysaccharide, which is ubiquitous in vertebrates and has been reported to be strongly hydrated in a biological environment. We study the hydration of hyaluronan in solution using the rotational dynamics of water as a probe. We measure these dynamics with polarization-resolved femtosecond-infrared and terahertz time-domain spectroscopies. Both experiments reveal that a subensem...

The random priming DNA-labeling method of Feinberg and Vogelstein (1, 2) produces probes of high activities. However, incompletely denatured templates in the reaction mixture may cause problems. In addition, probes generated by the standard random priming method are not ideal for in situ hybridization or other methods requiring only one labeled strand. We have developed a method utilizing a bio...

The extracellular matrix (ECM) glycosaminoglycan (GAG) hyaluronan (HA) and its binding proteins, the hyaladherins, have long been implicated in the regulation of a variety of morphogenetic processes associated with embryogenesis (reviewed, Toole, 1981, 1990; Toole et al., 1984). Due to the structure of the molecule and its hydrophilic nature, HA forms hydrated gels even at very low concentratio...

Some of the anticarcinogenic effects of 2(3)-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (BHA) are attributable to the induction of detoxifying enzymes in the liver and peripheral tissues. This study was designed to determine if the tissue specificity of enzyme induction could be manipulated by structural modification of BHA. The induction of glutathione S-transferases and quinone reductase (EC 1.6.99.2) by th...

Histochemical staining of the epiphysial growth plate revealed that free hyaluronan (i.e. available to the staining probe) was restricted to the zone of hypertrophy, where it was located in the pericellular space between the chondrocytes and the edge of the lacunae. Furthermore, the amount of hyaluronan staining was directly proportional to the size of the lacunae. Autoradiographic analysis of ...

INTRODUCTION To protect residents from tobacco smoke exposure (TSE), the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) prohibited smoking in BHA-owned apartments beginning in 2012. Our goal was to determine if the smoke-free policy reduced TSE for non-smoking BHA residents. METHODS We compared TSE before the smoke-free policy (2012) and one year later among BHA residents as well as residents of the neighbor...

Two hybridization assays have been developed to detect BCR-ABL mRNA transcripts arising from the Philadelphia translocation. Both assays use time-resolved immunofluorometric detection of polymerase chain reaction-amplified BCR-ABL mRNA sequences hybridized to specific probes. In configuration I, biotinylated amplified target is immobilized onto streptavidin-coated wells and hybridized to a prob...

Affinity proteins binding to antibody constant regions have proved to be invaluable tools in biotechnology. Here, protein engineering was used to expand the repertoire of available immunoglobulin binding proteins via improvement of the binding strength between the widely used staphylococcal protein A-derived Z domain and the important immunoglobulin isotype mouse IgG₁ (mIgG₁). Addressing seven ...

In situ hybridization using biotinylated total genomic DNA and avidin detection systems was adapted for examination of thin-sectioned plant material in the light and electron microscopes. Root tip material was preserved prior to sectioning, so that the in vivo disposition of the chromatin was maintained. Use of total genomic DNA from Secale africanum as a probe enabled the chromatin from the tw...