The efficacy of many drugs can be limited by undesirable properties, such as poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability, and off-target interactions. To combat this, various drug carriers have been investigated to enhance the pharmacological profile therapeutic agents. In this work, we demonstrate use mechanical protection cage a DNA-targeting metallodrug within photodegradable rotaxane. More...

To investigate the potentials of DNA methylation and H1 histone in regulating the action of DNA binding proteins, well ordered complexes were formed by slow salt gradient dialysis of mixtures of H1 histone with either methylated or nonmethylated DNA. The sites methylated in the plasmids were CCGG. Methylation of cytosine in this site protects the DNA against HpaII endonuclease but not against M...

High levels of infused anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) can completely protect macaque monkeys against mucosal chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) infection. Antibody levels below the protective threshold do not prevent infection but can substantially reduce plasma viremia. To assess if HIV-1/SIV-specific cellular immunit...

Leishmaniasis, a spectrum of diseases caused by various forms of Leishmania has become a major health problem all over the world. Vaccination against leishmaniasis has passed through many developmental stages beginning with the ancient practice of 'leishmanization'. Due to various problems and difficulties associated with traditional vaccines, the interest has been shifted to novel approaches o...

Pluripotent stem cells must strictly maintain genomic integrity to prevent transmission of mutations. In human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we found that genome surveillance is achieved via two ways, namely, a hypersensitivity to apoptosis and a very low accumulation of DNA lesions. The low apoptosis threshold was mediated by constitutive p53 expression and a marked upregulation of p...

The interaction between the GGCC-specific Bsp RI DNA methyltransferase (M. Bsp RI) and substrate DNA was studied with footprinting techniques using a DNA fragment that was unmodified on both strands. Footprinting with DNase I revealed an approximately 14 bp protected region. Footprinting with dimethylsulfate detected major groove interactions with the guanine bases of the recognition sequence. ...

Information from comparative proteome analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) principally allows prediction of potential vaccine candidates. Thirty-six M. tuberculosis DNA vaccine candidates identified by comparative proteome analysis were evaluated in the mouse model for protection against low-dose aerosol M. tuberculosis infection. We iden...

Vaccination against AIDS is hampered by great diversity between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) strains. Heterologous B-subtype-based simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) DNA prime and poxvirus boost vaccine regimens can induce partial, T-cell-mediated, protective immunity in macaques. We analyzed a set of DNA, recombinant fowlpox viruses (FPV), and vaccinia viruses (VV) expressing sub...

The catalytic hairpin DNA assembly-programmed active Mg(2+)-dependent DNAzyme was proposed for dual-signal amplified detection toward protein and DNA. The protein detection was implemented with the further combination of an additional terminal protection strategy. The detection limit toward avidin and target DNA could be achieved as 2 pM and 0.5 pM, respectively, with a high selectivity.