Clostridium perfringens type E isolates produce iota-toxin, which is encoded by iap and ibp genes. Using Southern blot analyses, the current study identified iap/ibp plasmids of approximately 97 or approximately 135 kb among eight type E isolates. For most of these isolates, their iap/ibp plasmid also encoded urease and lambda-toxin. However, the beta2-toxin gene, if present, was on a different...

The most basic level of transcription regulation in Streptococcus pneumoniae is the organization of its chromosome in topological domains. In response to drugs that caused DNA-relaxation, a global transcriptional response was observed. Several chromosomal domains were identified based on the transcriptional response of their genes: up-regulated (U), down-regulated (D), non-regulated (N), and fl...

Background: Human colorectal cancer cells overexpress carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). CEA is a glycoprotein which has shown to be a promising vaccine target for immunotherapy against colorectal cancer. Objective: To design a DNA vaccine harboring CEA antigen and evaluate its effect on inducing immunity against colorectal cancer cells in tumor bearing mice. <str...

The effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on supercoiled plasmid DNA relaxation catalyzed by two typical type I topoisomerases were investigated in our studies. It is shown that DMSO in a low concentration (less than 20%, v/v) can induce a dose-related enhancement of the relaxation efficiency of Escherichia coli topoisomerase I (type IA). Conversely, obvious inhibitory effect on the activity of ...

Objective(s):N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a candidate gene for tumor suppression. The expression of NDRG2 is down-regulated in several tumors including lung cancer. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of NDRG2 overexpression on invasion, migration, and enzymatic activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and -9 (MMP-9) in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells.  Ma...

Type II topoisomerases, a family of enzymes that govern topological DNA interconversions, are essential to many cellular processes in eukaryotic organisms. Because no data are available about the functions of these enzymes in the replication of viruses that infect eukaryotic hosts, this led us to express and characterize the first topoisomerase II encoded by one of such viruses. Paramecium burs...

The cytotoxic activity of amino (3a-e), aza-1-antraquinone (4a-e) lapachol derivatives against Ehrlich carcinoma and human K562 leukemia cells was investigated. Cell viability was determined using MTT assay, after 48 (Ehrlich) or 96 h (K562) of culture, and vincristine (for K562 leukemia) and quercetin (for Ehrlich carcinoma) were used as positive controls. The results showed dose-dependent gro...

We demonstrate the development of a multiplex droplet digital PCR assay for human cytomegalovirus (CMV), human adenovirus species F, and an internal plasmid control that may be useful for PCR inhibition-prone clinical samples. This assay performs better on inhibition-prone stool samples than a quantitative PCR assay for CMV and is the first published clinical virology droplet digital PCR assay ...

One of the mechanisms Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli resistance to ?-lactam antibiotics is production ?-lactamase enzymes. Among these are AmpC ?-lactamases, which confer a class antibiotics. However, little known about ?-lactamases K. E. clinical isolates in Qazvin, Iran. This study was designed assess ??lactamases-producing strains also identify prevalence ??lactamases genes. Anti...