Antisense oligonucleotide conjugates, bearing constructs with two imidazole residues, were synthesized using a precursor-based technique employing post-synthetic histamine functionalization of oligonucleotides bearing methoxyoxalamido precursors at the 5'-termini. The conjugates were assessed in terms of their cleavage activities using both biochemical assays and conformational analysis by mole...

Advances in molecular and synthetic biology call for efficient assembly of multi-modular DNA constructs. We hereby present a novel modular cloning method that obviates the need for restriction endonucleases and significantly improves the efficiency in the design and construction of complex DNA molecules by standardizing all DNA elements and cloning reactions. Our system, named HomeRun Vector As...

Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that direct cell motility, cell division, and cell shaping has benefited from innovations in cell labeling and the ability to resolve intracellular dynamics with multispectral, high-resolution imaging. However, due to difficulties with in vivo cell marking and monitoring, most studies have been restricted to fixed tissue or cells in culture. Here, w...

This paper introduces and describes a five aspect framework for the engineering of complex systems. The framework serves three purposes: (1) characterizing and elaborating engineering methods to ensure coverage of essential aspects; (2) providing an organizing taxonomy for research initiatives related to developing methods and practices; and (3) providing a focusing framework to develop managem...

FlyBase (http://flybase.org) is the primary repository of genetic and molecular data of the insect family Drosophilidae. For the most extensively studied species, Drosophila melanogaster, a wide range of data are presented in integrated formats. Data types include mutant phenotypes, molecular characterization of mutant alleles and aberrations, cytological maps, wild-type expression patterns, an...

We have developed an algorithm called the Universal Chemical Key (UCK) algorithm that constructs a unique key for a molecular structure. The molecular structures are represented as undirected labeled graphs with the atoms representing the vertices of the graph and the bonds representing the edges. The algorithm was tested on 236,917 compounds obtained from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) da...

Ligand-specific molecular switches composed of RNA were created by coupling preexisting catalytic and receptor domains via structural bridges. Binding of ligand to the receptor triggers a conformational change within the bridge, and this structural reorganization dictates the activity of the adjoining ribozyme. The modular nature of these tripartite constructs makes possible the rapid construct...