In central nervous system (CNS)-directed gene therapy, efficient targeting of brain parenchyma through the vascular route is prevented by the endothelium and the epithelium of the blood-brain and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers, respectively. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of the combined genetic and chemical adenovirus capsid modification technology to enable transcellular ...

Targeting vectors for embryonic stem (ES) cells typically contain a mouse gene segment of >7 kb with the neo gene inserted for positive selection of the targeting event. More complex targeting vectors carry additional genetic elements (e.g. lacZ, loxP, point mutations). Here we use homologous recombination in yeast to construct targeting vectors for the incorporation of genetic elements (GEs) i...

in southeast asia, aedes aegypti (l.) has been incriminated as principal vector of dengue viruses and ae. albopictus as the secondary vector of dengue fever. therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of three for-mula tions of pyrethrin derived from tanacetum cinerariaefolium against the dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever vectors aedes aegypti and ae. albopictus in the...

background: laboratory bred sand flies are essential for the study of different biological phenomena including the transmis­sion dynamics of leishmania . the aim of the study was to determine the suitable situation for colonization and main­tenance of iranian strain of phlebotomus papatasi at laboratory conditions from an endemic focus of cutaneous leishmani­asis due to leishmania major . metho...

a.sacharovi, which is one of the main malaria vectors of the palearchic region, is resistant to ddt in greece (1949), lebanon (1954), turkey (1959), syria and the u.s.s.r. (1972).the first record of a. sacharovi resistance to ddt in iran was given in 1959 from the kazeroon area, followed by izeh (1969) and meshkin-shahr (1970).this study (1973) urgently advises speedy measures to eliminate the ...

BACKGROUND Standardized and well-characterized genetic building blocks are a prerequisite for the convenient and reproducible assembly of novel genetic modules and devices. While numerous standardized parts exist for Escherichia coli, such tools are still missing for the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis. The goal of this study was to develop and thoroughly evaluate such a genetic ...

Promoter-probe and terminator-probe plasmid vectors make possible to rapidly examine whether particular sequences function as promoter or terminator signals in various genetic backgrounds and under diverse environmental stimuli. At present, such plasmid-based genetic tools are very scarce in the Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis. Hence, we deve...

There is an enormous initiative to establish the genetic basis for disorders of brain function. Unfortunately, genetic intervention is not accomplished easily in the nervous system. One strategy is to engineer and deliver to neurons specialized viral vectors that carry a gene (or genes) of interest, thereby exploiting the natural ability of viruses to insert genetic material into cells. When de...

The use of mammalian gene expression vectors has become increasingly important for genetic immunization and gene therapy as well as basic research. Essential for the success of these vectors in genetic immunization is the proper choice of a promoter linked to the antigen of interest. Many genetic immunization vectors use promoter elements from pathogenic viruses including SV40 and CMV. Lymphoki...

Engineered underdominance is one of a number of different gene drive strategies that have been proposed for the genetic control of insect vectors of disease. Here we model a two-locus engineered underdominance based gene drive system that is based on the concept of mutually suppressing lethals. In such a system two genetic constructs are introduced, each possessing a lethal element and a suppre...