The aim of the study was phenotypic and genotypic analysis of 132 S. aureus strains isolated from mastitis in eastern Poland in respect to their biofilm formation ability. The analysis of the size polymorphism of fragment X in the gene encoding protein A (spa) revealed high genetic differentiation of the analyzed group of isolates. The ability of biofilm formation by the isolates was tested usi...

The hydroxyurea, a cytotoxic drug, is the mainly available therapeutical strategy for the treatment of sickle cell disease. This study aimed to evaluate the mutagenic and genotoxic potential of the hydroxyurea through the Salmonella/Microsome assay and micronucleus test in peripheral blood of mice. The doses were evaluated at 29.25-468 μmol/plate in Salmonella/Microsome assay in presence and ab...

An efficient and rapid cytotoxicity assay has been developed, particularly for radiobiological studies, utilizing 96-well microtiter plates. Several days after treatment, cell numbers per well were measured by fluorescent intensity using an automatic reader after staining with the DNA specific dye Hoechst 33258. For radiobiological applications, a microtiter plate irradiation box was designed a...

Benchmarks Since its discovery in 1990, aptamer technology (1,2) has emerged as a novel and increasingly important approach to evolve specifically binding nucleic acid molecules (3). As aptamers can be developed to a vast range of target molecules, their potential application is very diverse. They can be used as molecular recognition elements in analytical systems for detection, separation, or ...

A simple, membrane-strip-based lateral-flow (LF) biosensor assay and a high-throughput microtiter plate assay have been combined with a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the detection of a small number (ten) of viable Mycobacterium (M.) avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) cells in fecal samples. The assays are based on the identification of the RNA of the IS900 elemen...

The lysine acetyltransferase (KAT) Rtt109 forms a complex with Vps75 and catalyzes the acetylation of histone H3 lysine 56 (H3K56ac) in the Asf1-H3-H4 complex. Rtt109 and H3K56ac are vital for replication-coupled nucleosome assembly and genotoxic resistance in yeast and pathogenic fungal species such as Candida albicans. Remarkably, sequence homologs of Rtt109 are absent in humans. Therefore, i...

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for paraquat is described. The microtitration plate-based assay has a limit of detection of 10 pg per well, and was specific for paraquat and monoquat. Reversed affinity chromatography was used to refine the polyclonal antibody preparation and eliminate interfering antibodies. There were consequent and significant improvements in assay sensitivity an...

Direct smear examination using Ziehl-Neelsen staining for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis is inexpensive and easy to use, but has the major limitation of low sensitivity. Rapid molecular methods are becoming more widely available in centralized laboratories, but they depend on timely reporting of results and strict quality assurance obtainable only from costly commercial kits available i...

PBP2a, the molecular determinant for high level β-lactam resistance in 19 Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is intrinsically resistant to most β20 lactam antibiotics. The development and characterization of new inhibitors targeting 21 PBP2a would benefit from an effective and convenient assay for inhibitor binding. This 22 study was directed towards the development of a fluore...

LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE M onoclonal antibodies are used to treat a wide range of illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, and follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma (1). The identification and use of certain growth medium additives and modified culture conditions during cell culture processes that produce MAbs may lower production costs—which could help lower the overall costs of those dru...