PCR is the most widely used method for in vitro DNA amplification. However, it requires thermocycling to facilitate DNA melting and enzymatic replication (switching between double and single stranded DNA). Heating/cooling limits device design and thermocycling is a power-hungry process so that isothermal approaches have been sought as improvements to conventional PCR. (more...)

Optical density measurements are a necessary step for monitoring the growth of a microbial culture. Increase in cell density is an easy and quick method of assessing the growth rate of a bacterial culture. Spectrophotometric measurements are typically used to determine the cell density of a growing culture and is the standard method used. Though quick and easy, it is an ex situ method of growth measurement requiring the need to remove an aliquot every time and the contamination of a culture is always possible. There have been several efforts to develop a continuous method of optical density measurements but with very limited success.  (more...)

UC Researchers have developed a Field-Programmable-Gate-Array (FPGA) based hardware implementation that utilizes the FM-Index for exact pattern matching for string searching.  This method of FM-Index string matching has a higher effective throughput than brute force due to the higher number of character comparisons per cycle performed by the FM-Index.  Further, the speed of this method is in the order of two orders of magnitude greater than Bowtie software tools and ten to seventy times faster than the traditional method using FHAST.   (more...)

Optical trapping systems are commercially available through several companies. In these systems, the optical trap precision relies on the passive stability of the instrument itself, and therefore demands costly engineering solutions to limit environmental noise that can be coupled into the optomechanical components. Consequently, high-resolution measurements are not possible in common biological laboratory settings that typically lack appropriate vibration isolation and temperature stability.  Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have developed an invention that addresses a critical problem currently limiting the performance of high-resolution optical traps: that the mechanical drift of optical components often results in physical drift in the location of an optical trap that obscures the displacement-of-interest. The motion of biological motor proteins that are specific to interacting with DNA often take steps along the double helix that is on the order of 0.3 nanometers in size. Accurate measurement of displacements on this scale requires that drift of the trap positions be limited to no more than a few angstroms. However, the current best-performing optical traps suffer from instrumental drift that is almost twice what can be tolerated. Owing to the critical role of these components in all optical trapping systems, and the previously undetectable levels of mechanical drift they undergo, we sought to measure the trap drift with angstrom-level precision using a new approach. This new approach has successfully measured for and corrected for the mechanical drift of these components and demonstrated that this novel invention is capable of consistently reducing the noise floor to levels that have not previously been accomplished.        (more...)

The introduction of green and red fluorescent proteins has revolutionized gene expression studies. For applications involving highly pigmented or dense tissue, these proteins have certain shortcomings, such as interference from cellular auto fluorescence. Although used extensively in FRET systems, their usefulness measuring protein-protein interactions is limited to distances of angstroms. Initial attempts to generate fluorescent proteins (from cyanobacteria) that fluoresce at longer wavelengths did not result in constructs that could be easily expressed in mammalian cells. The addition of proteins that overcome these limitations and fluoresce in the infrared or generate singlet oxygen to aid in the investigation of protein-protein interactions over greater distances would provide an exciting addition to the fluorescent protein tool box available to the research community. (more...)

SDS-PAGE is one of the most commonly used laboratory techniques in the field of life sciences that allows for resolution of proteins and nucleic acids according to their size.  It is often followed by Western blotting, where resolved proteins are transferred to a thin membrane, probed with anitbodies to proteins of interest and identified via chemiluminescent detection. Commercially available gels are limited by the minimum amount of protein that must be loaded to detect less abundant proteins.  This is a serious obstacle for researchers that need to use particularly rare or difficult to obtain samples, including cultured neurons, micro-punched regions of the brain, laser capture microdissection samples, forensic evidence or archived human tissue.  Therefore, there is an urgent need for development of high performance, convenient and easy methods to enable scientists, to study less abundant proteins via Western blot analysis. (more...)

Opioid receptors are abundant in the central and peripheral nervous system and are the targets of both opiate drugs and a family of endogenous opioid peptides. Seminal work carried out by Dr. Evans' research group at UCLA on this receptor has led to key insights in the field of neuropharmacology. To date, the delta opioid receptor has been implicated in various diseases including, but not limited to, pain, depression, neuroprotection, drug abuse and impulse control disorders. Moreover, on-going work has hinted at additional roles for this critical receptor. A method for screening potential modulators of the delta opioid receptors would provide unparalleled insight into the development of targeted therapies against this key target. (more...)

Nucleic acid quantification is extremely important in the field of biological research and has been used for studies of genes, genomes, chromosomes, and viruses. While current methods for nucleic acid quantification are powerful, new methods may provide researchers with increased accuracy, higher resolution, and a larger dynamic range. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a novel device and method that can achieve ultra-high dynamic range PCR over 10-12 orders of magnitude. The device can be used on large sample volumes (50 uL) that contain as little as a single nucleic acid strand to as high as theoretically possible. In addition, the device and method can provide higher dynamic ranges with exceptionally higher resolution and accuracy than any prior methods. (more...)

Instead of modifying upstream promoter and enhancer elements, UC San Diego researchers have developed innovative technologies based on combining elements of a eukaryotic core promoter to achieve significantly higher expression of recombinant proteins and reporters in mammalian cells. The inventors have designed, constructed, and optimized two generations of extremely strong synthetic core promoters. The first generation technology (case no. SD2005-186), now with an issued patent, has been shown to greatly enhance the expression of a wide variety of recombinant proteins and reporters in mammalian cells, in vitro and in vivo. Building on the patented first generation transcription system, a second generation of synthetic promoter (case no. SD2011-233) was constructed with enhanced performance characteristics. Like its predecessor, laboratory results indicate a high transcription yield while functioning with a wide variety of transcriptional enhancers. This technology is ideally suited for essentially all foreseeable applications in which stable, long-term expression of a transgene is desired in a mammalian cell. A detailed description of this 2nd generation technology is available under a secrecy agreement. (more...)

Sequencing based approaches of gene expression analysis generate millions of sequence tags, thus providing the dynamic range required to investigate genes of low abundance. Currently available digital gene expression analysis systems offer the potential for high-throughput transcriptomic measurements, however truly quantitative data are routinely not obtained. The most widely used RNA-seq protocol relies upon fragmentation of mRNA generating a library of uniformly distributed fragments of mRNA. This protocol requires large amounts of starting material (100ng of mRNA) limiting its application in many fields such as in developmental biology, where it is impractical to get such large amounts. Furthermore, this protocol maintains the relative order of transcript expression resulting in poor representation of low abundance transcripts at current sequencing depths. Multireads and biases introduced by transcript length and random hexamer primer hybridization further restrict reliable quantitation of low abundance transcripts for large mammalian transcriptomes. While random priming strategies amplify starting material (mRNA or cDNA) by exploiting hybridization and extension potential of hexamer/heptamer primers, they often result in low yield of good quality reads arising out of mis-hybridization of primers and primer dimerization. In a recent experiment, the inventors used a widely available sequencer to generate sequence tags via random priming strategy. Only 18% of the reads mapped uniquely to the transcriptome and low abundant transcripts were significantly under-represented because of poor dynamic range. Since many genes (signal transduction, transcription factors) are only expressed at relatively low levels, currently available strategies fall short in statistically quantifying these genes. (more...)

Microfluidic devices have applications in a wide variety of areas, including molecular biology, DNA analysis, and lab-on-a-chip systems. Many microfluidic devices incorporate systems that utilize centrifugal force and pneumatic pressure of compressed air to reverse the flow direction on a rotating platform. A centrifugal system that allows for continuous flow without the use of compressed air will be very useful. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a centrifugal microfluidic system that allows for uniform continuous flow reciprocation motion in a microchannel without an external source of pressure. This system requires lower operational rotational velocities and promotes more effective liquid reciprocation than currently available methods. (more...)

The invention provides methods and devices in which microscopic particles or cells within a fluid flowing in microfluidic channels are selectively manipulated, normally by being pushed with optical pressure forces at branching junctions in the channels so as to enter into selected downstream branches, thereby realizing particle switching and sorting. Transport of the particles thus transpires by microfluidics while manipulation in the manner of optical tweezers arises either from pushing due to optical scattering force, or from pulling due to an attractive optical gradient force. Whether pushed or pulled, the particles within the flowing fluid may be optically sensed, and highly-parallel, low-cost, cell- and particle-analysis devices thus may be efficiently realized, including as integrated on bio-chips. (more...)

A library of RNA constructs has been developed by combining Drosophila and mammalian signaling pathway components, which is intended for use in identifying new signal transduction pathway components. (more...)

UC San Diego investigators have identified a key plant regulatory gene, SIR1, that works through the auxin signal transduction mechanism. The sir1 mutant is resistant to sirtinol, a small molecule that activates many auxin-inducible genes and promotes auxin-related developmental phenotypes. Auxins are plant hormones, universal in plants, that affect root and vascular development as well as many other aspects of plant growth. The cloned genes are available under Material Transfer Agreement. (more...)

Use of synthetic nucleic acids to manipulate gene function has become a powerful tool for both basic research and therapeutics.  Silencing disease targets by RNA interference is a promising approach to drug development, and various experimental RNA therapies are currently in clinical development by both small and large biotechnology companies.  miRNAs are also being developed for disease treatment and diagnosis.  However, lack of specifically targeted, efficient and safe vehicles for systemic delivery of small RNA payloads in vivo is a serious challenge.  Synthetic nucleic acids face a number of physiological barriers in the bloodstream, and their intracellular uptake is hampered by the fact that they are highly charged and have much larger molecular wieght than small-molecule drugs.  Current strategies to circumvent these problems includes local administration, chemical modifications of nucleic acids, viral delivery vectors, lipid-based delivery systems, polymer-based delivery systems and nanoparticle encapsulation.  These methods have serious flaws including toxicity, inummue effects, non-selectively and high cost of manufacturing.  Therefore, novel ways to deliver synthetic nucleic acids for use in humans and experimental animal models are sorely needed. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a process and method to increase microwell density by as much as twofold in a 2D imaging plane using 3-D arrangements of micro-well reactor plates. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a simple method for the rapid self-assembly of predictable high density droplet-reactor arrays for high throughput microfluidic applications in biology and chemistry. By controlling the ratio of the chamber height to droplet diameter, the resulting self-assembled 3D colloidal, lattice droplet pattern formations can be selectively tuned for optimal real-time and/or long-term 2D visualization and image capture of reactions occuring in the droplet micro-reactors. (more...)

For producing RNA viruses, applications such as drug screening or basic research require immortalized tissue cultures that enable efficient production of fully infectious viruses of a genotype of clinical interest and are easy to use. In the case of hepatitis C virus (HCV), however, existing tissue culture systems yield incompletely replicated viruses (which do not infect cells in vitro), work only transiently, or are not robust enough and otherwise yield viruses with less prevalent HCV genotypes such as genotype 2. Thus, there is a need for a continuous or semi-continuous HCV production system that overcomes these limitations with the generation of a fully infectious HCV of genotype 1. (more...)

The MEME Suite allows you to: Discover motifs using MEME or GLAM2 on groups of related DNA or protein sequences.Search sequence databases using motifs.Compare a motif to all motifs in a database of motifs.Associate motifs with gene ontology terms via their putative target genes. Click on the following link to download a commercial-use license for the MEME Suite. Simply complete and mail the completed/signed license and you are good to go!     (more...)

UC San Diego researchers have discovered an enhancer function of an approximately 30 bp DNA fragment that had been reported to function as a protein transduction domain in microbial cells. (more...)

Despite the numerous advantages inherent to dynamic bead-based microfluidic arrays, current microparticle trapping methods remain limited. There are currently two fundamental classes of microarrays: static and dynamic microarrays. Static microarrays consist of bio-molecules or chemicals immobilized on a static substrate. Alternatively, dynamic microarrays consist of bio-molecules or chemicals immobilized on mobile substrates, such as microparticle. To enable resettable microfluidic arrays, investigators at University of California at Berkeley have developed a novel reusable dynamic particle-based microarray – termed ‘Microfluidic Ping Pong’ (MPP). In contrast to current dynamic microarray techniques, this system can achieve (i) high-density/throughput microparticle trapping, (ii) microdevice resettability, and (iii) microparticle resettability. High-density trapping enables the acquisition of high numbers of data points (i.e. immobilized microparticle) from a single experiment, without sacrificing device ‘real-estate.’ Dynamic microarrays offer a superior platform due to several advantages compared to static microarrays, including faster reaction times due to larger surface areas of the microparticles, reduced background noise, and the ability to ‘mix-and-match’ particles corresponding to different screenings. Also, the constant mixing of solutions and particulate substrates in microfluidic channels results in faster reaction kinetics compared to the diffusion-based mixing of static systems. (more...)

This invention relates to the areas of the biochemical and chemical analysis of molecules in cells, and in particular to an assay and method for measuring the activation of internal chemical activity of a plurality of proteins in a single cell, a population of cells, or portion of a cell. The activity of multiple proteins in a single living cell, portion of a cell or in a group of cells is simultaneously measured by introducing reporter molecules into the cell(s) or a portion thereof, chemically modifying the reporter(s) by the enzyme of interest, terminating the modification reactions, removing the reporter(s) and modified reporter(s), and determining the amount of enzyme activity present by measuring or comparing the amount of reporter(s) and modified reporter(s) present. By performing a series of experiments at different time points, conditions, and varieties of cell types, a database is developed for molecular cellular mechanisms in health and disease states. By exposing cells to a variety of compounds data for drug development and screening is provided. (more...)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) is a disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies that react with native cells and tissues, causing inflammation, pain, and damage throughout the body. Increased production of IgG in SLE causes the precipitation of immune complexes in the kidney, resulting in irreversible renal damage and failure. There is no known definitive cure for SLE, and treatment is relegated to symptomatic relief of inflammation flare-ups and to non-antigen specific immunosuppression. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-malarials are used to treat milder forms of SLE, though corticosteroids and immunosuppressants are used in more severe cases. However, the efficacy of immunomodulating drugs is limited by the increased risk of infection in lupus patients, while corticosteroid therapy is also limited by its side effects, such as obesity, diabetes, and osteoporosis. There is an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Americans with lupus who will benefit from therapeutics that intervene at the gene product level and interrupt the pathogenic process. (more...)

An efficient chemical synthesis has been developed for a new low molecular weight compound, Fluoro Nissl Green, which selectively binds RNA in vitro and in vivo in the presence of DNA. The compound is highly fluorescent with an emission at 510 nm and it has been purified and well characterized. Unlike other known RNA-binding compounds, it does not significantly bind to DNA. Unlike antibodies or oligonucleotide sequences targeted for detection of nucleic acids, it is inexpensive to prepare, stable tohydrolysis and is not limited by sequence specificity. Potential uses for Fluoro Nissl Green and related derivatives are in the areas of cancer diagnosis (specifically astrocytic neoplasia), fluorescent activated cell sorting as well as RNA labeling, targeting, separation and quantization. (more...)

Inorganic nitrogen is a vital nutrient for plants. Soil nitrate provides as much as 90 percent of the nitrogen taken up by most plants and leads to a dramatic change in gene expression, which is critical to direct the productivity and survival of the plant. Consequently, nitrate is commonly provided by way of fertilizer to improve crop yield. However, many crop plants are inefficient in their ability to utilize the nitrogen. For example, corn and wheat typically only utilize 50 percent of the nitrogen applied to the soil and paddy rice may recoup as little as 30 percent. Nitrogen not used by crops may contribute to severe environmental problems, including pollution of ground water, run-off into nearby bodies of water, and release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Plants take up and assimilate nitrate in response to its availability in the soil and the demands of the plant, but with varying efficiency among species. Understanding and improving the ability of particular plant species to respond to and utilize nitrogen could therefore lead to increased crop productivity and decreased water and air pollution. (more...)

The availability of complete genome sequences from many organisms allows scientists to create genomic collections where each encoded protein can be analyzed individually in high throughput applications. The yeast one and two-hybrid systems are the most widely accepted genetic assays used to identify and characterize novel protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions. Yeast hybrid screening systems that are commercially available in high throughput format are optimized for use with random or pooled libraries and typically use lacZ as a reporter.However, these systems have several limitations when used with individually arrayed libraries. Multiple, time-consuming steps, the need for polyethylene glycol, and the disruption of the cells to assay the reporter activity all limit the adaptability to automated formats. Therefore, there is a need for an improved protocol that can be used for the screening of individually arrayed libraries and is also compatible with robotic applications. (more...)

  Normal 0 0 1 137 783 UC Berkeley 6 1 961 11.1282 0 0 0 Imprinting regulates a number of genes essential for normal development in mammals and angiosperms. In mammals such imprinted genes contribute to the control of fetal growth and development. Human diseases may also be linked to mutations in imprinted genes or aberrant regulation of their expression.. Differential DNA methylation can be established during oogenesis or spermatogenesis by de novo methyltransferases and maintained somatically by methyltransferases. The conversion of cytosine to 5'-methylcytosine in promoter associated CpG islands has been linked to changes in chromatin structure and often results in transcriptional silencing of the associated gene. Transcriptional silencing by DNA methylation has been linked to mammalian development, imprinting and X-Chromosome inactivation, suppression of parasitic DNA and numerous cancer types. This invention provides for demethylase polypeptides that excise methylated cytosines in DNA. (more...)

Known methods for creating nanoparticle DNA probes rely upon synthesis of a nanoparticle followed by a functionalization step to attach the DNA. DNA is generally attached to the nanoparticle through a variety of coupling chemistries (-NH, SH, hydrazides, biotin/streptavidin, etc.). Stoichiometric additions of a 1:1 mixture of DNA to nanoparticle will not result in singly modified nanoparticles because Poission statistics govern the interactions between nanoparticle and DNA. The expected value (average) of the Poisson distribution will generate one DNA per nanoparticle, but depending upon the available coupling regions on the nanoparticle, a large percentage of nanoparticles will carry many more DNA molecules. For precise nanostructure assembly, singly modified probes need to be purified from the un and multiply-modified nanoparticles, leading to a very costly, low yield process for high purity nanoparticle probes. The problem becomes more pronounced as nanoparticle size increases, as the heterogeneity of nanoparticles make purification very difficult for oligonucleotide probes. (more...)

UC San Diego inventors have identified and cloned a nitric oxide (NO) synthase gene from plants, AtNOS1, which has been shown to play a role in plant growth, stomatal movement, hormonal signaling and fertility. The protein was expressed in bacteria as a fusion protein with glutathione-S-transferase (GST-AtNOS1), purified and assayed. The inventors were able to show that extracts from bacteria expressing the fusion protein had higher levels of NOS activity. It is particularly interesting that this gene in plants has been known, but never isolated. (more...)

Researchers at UC San Diego have invented a method of optically encoding porous silicon photonic crystals for use in high throughput screening and bioassays. The method allows for large libraries of unique particle types to be manufactured. The process is distinct from existing methods of encoding, such as fluorescent molecules, core-shell quantum dots, and photonic crystals formed using Rugate or Bragg reflectivity approaches, in that it does not strive to create spectral lines that act as bits-and are limited by the number of codes that can be generated. In contrast, this invention for data extraction and analysis utilizes all the complexity of the spectrum which results from the reflectivity properties of the photonic crystals. Unlike bioassay systems that couple fluorescent encoding methods with fluorescent assay, the method does not suffer from spectral overlap of the encoding method with the assay readout. These photonic crystals may be used as integral parts of randomly assembled microarrays. These microarrays could be applied in the field of gene expression, genotyping, proteomics, as well as real time chemical and biological sensing. (more...)

Combinatorial chemistry is arguably the most important development in the drug discovery process in over a decade. However, the detection of significant biological events in high throughput screening involves many burdensome tasks, and often includes the separation of the products of reaction before detection can take place. (more...)

In higher organisms, DNA binding proteins known as transcription factors play a key role in facilitating or inhibiting the transcription of specific sets of genes. Since expression of these genes at certain times specifies the state of the cell, the characterization of these transcription factors is an important step in developing new methods for manipulating cell proliferation. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have developed a method for the computational optimization of DNA sequences that encode their own correct self-assembly. (more...)

Her2/neu is over-expressed in various types of tumor cells, including 20-30% of breast cancers, adenocarcinomas of the ovary, salivary gland, stomach and kidney, colon cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Passive immunotherapeutics like Herceptin control and prevent further tumor cell growth. Unlike active immunotherapeutics, Herceptin does not mediate the immunological cellular destruction. Active immunotherapeutics such as vaccines elicit T helper-1 (Th1) and Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) biased immune responses and are generally observed for proteins expressed in the intracellular compartment, and less prominently with extracellular or secreted proteins. Rapid degradation of a protein containing polyepitopes can contribute to establishing a bias in the immune response, facilitate antigen presentation and, perhaps assist in establishing specificity of the immune response. This type of immunological response should result in immunological cellular destruction. (more...)

Stem cells may hold the key to future cures for many diseases. These are embryonic cells that are thought to have the potential to develop in any kind of tissue: liver, kidney, brain, etc. There is great scientific, medical, and economic interest in any technology that can facilitate the therapeutic use of stem cells. The use of stem cells in scientific research has initiated a political debate regarding the ethics of deriving stem cells from human embryos. Thus any technology that would obviate or reduce the need to use human embryos would have widespread acceptance. Additionally, any technology that can facilitate research in stem cell biology will be of great value since relatively little is presently know about the overall biology of these complex cells. It has been recently reported that it is possible to cause reprogramming of somatic (body) cell nuclei after fusion with human embryonic stem cells. One of the technical barriers that need to be overcome before human embryonic stem cells can be used for therapeutic purposes is the elimination of the stem cell's chromosomes either prior to or following cell fusion. (more...)

Cancer is genetic disease which is originated due to multiple genetic alterations, including mutation or loss of tumor suppressor genes and amplification of oncogenes, and consequently alteration of gene expression profile which alters the phenotype of normal cells. It is composed with genetically heterogeneous cell subgroups and normal cells. Information on the degree of loss of tumor suppressor genes or amplification of oncogene genes cancer mass can play important role to prognosis of patient response to therapy, as well as survival. (more...)

Scientific progress is often associated with the invention of a new experimental apparatus. New tools can increase the ease and efficiency of routine experiments as well as provide the means to make new discoveries by making possible novel experiments. The development of Lab on Chip (LOC) devices is playing an important role in the progression of many different areas of research ranging from point of care diagnostics to the search for life on Mars. LOC devices hold promise to replace existing techniques with processes that are not only more automated and consistent but also require less time and valuable reagents. Researchers at the University of California have developed an integrated LOC for cell-based studies/analysis/research. The device has integrated biological fluidic circuits with the capability of culturing cells inside of a microfluidic ?chip?, the ability to lyse the cells on demand, and the ability to perform on chip analysis of the lysate, which contains both genetic and proteinaceous material. The device is essentially a completely integrated cell-based platform capable of performing practically all of the common cell-based studies currently employed in laboratories across the world. (more...)

Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) have been successfully applied to a variety of problems in molecular biology ranging from alignment problems to gene finding and annotation. Alignment problems can be solved with pair HMMs, while gene finding programs rely on generalized HMMs in order to model exon lengths. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have developed generalized pair HMMs, an extension of both pair and generalized HMMs. The researchers have demonstrated how generalized pair HMMs, in conjunction with approximate alignments, can be used for cross-species gene finding and can be applied to DNA-cDNA and DNA-protein alignment problems. (more...)

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) DNA polymerase that extends the ends of chromosomes in most eukaryotes. DNA synthesis by telomerase can compensate for the incomplete replication of linear chromosome ends by DNA-dependent DNA polymerases and can be required for indefinite cellular proliferation. The telomerase RNP contains a catalytically essential RNA subunit. UC Berkeley researchers have discovered functionally significant elements of the human telomerase RNA. They have demonstrated that functionally significant RNA elements can be required either for RNA stability (in vivo) or for catalytic activity (in vivo and in vitro), and discovered RNA structural requirements and RNA-protein interactions of the functionally significant RNA elements. This technology can be applied to develop screens for molecules that (a) interact with, disrupt, enhance or otherwise affect any of the functionally significant RNA elements; (b) recognize, disrupt, enhance, or otherwise affect any of the functionally significant RNA protein interactions; and (c) disrupt, enhance, or otherwise affect the catalytic activity of telomerase reconstituted with functionally significant RNA elements, including the use of differentially reconstituted telomerases as tests of specificity. In addition, this technology can be applied to (d) affect telomerase activity in vivo or in vitro; and (e) further characterize the functionally significant elements of human telomerase. (more...)

DNase II, an endonuclease, has recently been shown to play a role in many different cellular activities. Mammalian DNase II enzymes and the Caenorhabditis elegans homolog NUC-1 have been shown to be critically important during engulfment-mediated clearance of apoptotic DNA. NUC-1 has been demonstrated to participate in apoptotic DNA degradation in nematodes while the mammalian enzyme appears to be critical for full degradation of engulfed apoptotic DNA. Both DNase I and DNase II have also been implicated in tumor cell necrosis induced by specific vitamin regimens. Furthermore, DNase II has been observed to play a major role in chromatin cleavage during terminal differentiation in lens cells. Finally, DNase II has been implicated by researchers at the University of California in isotype switch recombination; the process of varying antibody isotypes by targeted rearrangement of the antibody genes in mature B cells. (more...)