Background: Phosphodiesterase 3A (PDE3A) and phosphodiesterase 3B (PDE3B) play a critical role in the regulation of intracellular level of adenosine 3´,5´-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP, cAMP) and guanosine 3´,5´-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic GMP, cGMP). Subsequently PDE3 inhibitors have shown to relax vascular and inhibit platelet aggregation in cardiovascular disease. Objectives: In th...

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) ¡sa ß-galactoside-binding protein with Mr ~30,000. Cell surface Gal-3 is postulated to be involved in homotypic aggregation of tumor cells in the circulation during metastasis through attachment to a complementary serum glycoprotein(s), which serves as a cross-linking bridge between adjacent cells. To test this hypothesis a recombinant strain of baculovirus encoding Gal-3 w...

CD19 is a specific surface marker of B cells. A murine IgM-subtype antibody, 2E8, was generated previously and assigned to the CD19 category by the 6th International Workshop and Conference on Human Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens in 1996. In the present study, the 2E8 Fv gene was inserted into a baculovirus shuttle vector and novel protein was expressed in an IgG1 form in the Sf9 insect cel...

Protein-based reprogramming of somatic cells is a non-genetic approach for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), whereby reprogramming factors, such as OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC, are delivered as functional proteins. The technique is considered safer than transgenic methods, but, unfortunately, most protein-based protocols provide very low reprogramming efficiencies. In thi...

Although the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling pathway is part of the antiviral response in arthropods such as Drosophila, here we show that white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) uses a shrimp STAT as a transcription factor to enhance viral gene expression in host cells. In a series of deletion and mutation assays using the WSSV immediate-early gene i...

Conventional non-viral gene transfer uses bacterial plasmid DNA containing antibiotic resistance genes, cis-acting bacterial sequence elements, and prokaryotic methylation patterns that may adversely affect transgene expression and vector stability in vivo. Here, we describe novel replicative forms of a eukaryotic vector DNA that consist solely of an expression cassette flanked by adeno-associa...

The melanoma differentiation associated gene-7 (mda-7), also known as interleukin-24 (IL-24) is a novel cytokine, which exhibits both tumor suppressing and immunostimulatory activities. Mda-7 has the ability to restrain growth and induce programmed cell death (apoptosis) in a wide variety of human cancer cells without having similar effects on normal cells. This study was performed to investiga...

Polygodial (1) and its derivatives acetal 2 (propylene) and 3 (ethylene) were prepared and their antifeedant activity and toxic effects evaluated on several insect species with different feeding ecologies (Spodoptera littoralis, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi) along with that of polygonone (4). We also tested their selective cytotoxic effects on insect-derived ...

Introduction Insect cells have been widely used for the production of recombinant proteins using recombinant baculovirus for gene delivery [1]. To simplify protein production in insect cells, we have previously described a method, based on transient gene expression (TGE) with cultures of suspension-adapted Sf9 cells using polyethylenimine (PEI) for DNA delivery [2]. Expression of GFP has been r...

Pseudomonas taiwanensis is a broad-host-range entomopathogenic bacterium that exhibits insecticidal activity toward agricultural pests Plutella xylostella, Spodoptera exigua, Spodoptera litura, Trichoplusia ni and Drosophila melanogaster. Oral infection with different concentrations (OD = 0.5 to 2) of wild-type P. taiwanensis resulted in insect mortality rates that were not significantly differ...