Abstract: The present Disclosure is directed to methods for inhibiting or suppressing metastasis of a tumor in a mammalian subject using a cysteamine product, e.g., cysteamine or cystamine or a derivative thereof. Also described herein is a method for treating pancreatic cancer in a mammalian subject by administering a cysteamine product described herein.

Abstract: The invention described herein pertains to four series of aza-A-ring indenoisoquinolines, which are inhibitors of topoisomerase IB (Top1), and the processes for preparing said aza-A-ring indenoisoquinolines. Also described are methods for treating cancer in mammals using the described aza-A-ring indenoisoquinoline compounds or pharmaceutical formulations thereof.

Abstract: The invention provides highly sensitive, specific and efficient quantitative real-time PCR compositions, methods and assay kits to detect at least one IFN subtype and/or IFN subtype allotypic variants. Primer/probe sets complementary to the coding sequence of an IFN subtype of interest avoid spurious detection of degraded mRNA and enhances the correlation between the IFN subtype that is measured by the assays of the invention and the protein that is actually expressed. The invention also provides methods for designing primers and methods of using the compositions and assay kits. The compositions, kits, and methods of the invention may be used, for example, to monitor vaccine efficacy, autoimmune disease, chronic infections, or tumor therapy.

Abstract: The invention provides methods of producing vaccines directed against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), with the methods comprising culturing, harvesting and/or suspending the MRSA or VEEV in the presence of a radiation-protective composition and irradiating the MRSA with a dose of radiation sufficient to render the MRSA or VEEV replication-deficient and/or non-infective. The radiation-protective compositions used in the methods of the present invention comprise at least one nucleoside, at least one antioxidant and at least one small peptide.

Abstract: Hydrocarbon stapling of apolipoprotein mimetic peptides increases the helicity of the peptides, enhances their ability to promote cholesterol efflux by multiple mechanisms and makes them resistant to proteolysis. Hydrocarbon stapled amphipathic helical peptides are useful in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and other disorders.

Abstract: The present invention combines a targeted cargo protein with an active agent for the treatment of a disease or condition.

Abstract: A method comprising loading a sample into a microfluidic device which comprises plural sample chambers, subdividing the sample into a plurality of sample portions, such that respective sample portions are positioned in each of a plurality of the sample chambers, and subjecting the sample portions loaded into the respective sample chambers to at least a first amplification step. Each of the sample chambers has a respective volume such that if a sample portion positioned in the sample chamber comprises at least one molecule of a target nucleic acid, the target nucleic acid would attain a detectable concentration in the sample chamber after a single round of amplification.

Abstract: A method comprising subjecting one or more sample portion(s) to a single amplification step, thereby amplifying a single molecule in the sample portion to a detectable level, and, in some embodiments, then determining whether the sample portion contains at least one molecule of the target nucleic acid. In some embodiments, the sample portion is in a porous sample structure, or in a sample chamber which comprises means for minimizing diffusion of the sample portion, or in a sample chamber which is inside a microcapillary device, or in a sample retaining means.

Abstract: Compositions, methods and kits are described for identifying biomolecules (e.g., proteins and nucleic acids) expressed in a biological sample that are associated with the presence, development, or progression of a disease (such as cancer), or more generally determination of the etiology or risk factors associated with a disease. Sample types analyzed by the disclosed methods include but are not limited to archival tissue blocks that have been preserved in a fixative, tissue biopsy samples, tissue microarrays, and so forth. The methods disclosed herein correlate expression profiles of biomolecules with various disease types, and allow for the determination of relative survival rates; in some embodiments, the methods permit determination of survival rates for a subject with cancer. In other embodiments, the disclosure relates to methods for evaluating therapeutic regimes for the treatment, such as treatment of cancer.

Abstract: A method of diagnosing cat scratch disease and a method of diagnosing bacillary angiomatosis in a subject by detecting the presence of Rochalimaea henselae or an antigenic fragment thereof in the subject is provided. Also provided is a vaccine comprising an immunogenic amount of a nonpathogenic Rochalimaea henselae or an immunogenically specific determinant thereof and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. A method of diagnosing Rochalimaea quintana infection in a subject by detecting the presence of a nucleic acid specific to Rochalimaea quintana in a sample from the subject is provided. A purified, 60-kDa heat shock protein of Rochalimaea is provided. Also provided is a 17-kDa antigenic polypeptide of Rochalimaea.

Abstract: The present invention relates, in general, to pneumococcal fimbrial protein A. In particular, the present invention relates to a DNA segment encoding a pneumococcal fimbrial protein A gene; polypeptides encoded by said DNA segment; recombinant DNA molecules containing the DNA segment; cells containing the recombinant DNA molecule; a method of producing a pneumococcal fimbrial protein A polypeptide; antibodies specific to pneumococcal fimbrial protein A; and a method of measuring the amount of pneumococcal fimbrial protein A in a sample.

Abstract: Certain new 1,2-dihydroellipticine compounds having activity against CNS specific cancer cell lines because of their ease of passage across the blood-brain barrier are disclosed along with formulations and methods for treating CNS cancers employing these compounds.

Abstract: HIV protease necessary for the natural synthesis of HIV has been identified and sequenced. Rabbit antiserum against the C-terminal portion of HIV protease has been produced and used to isolate natural HIV protease and characterize its activity. In addition, a method for producing synthetic HIV protease having the correct stereospecific conformation and specific HIV proteolytic activity has been achieved.

Abstract: Inbred Lewis (LEW/N) female rats develop an arthritis in response to Group A streptococcal cell wall peptidoglycanpolysaccharide (SCW) which mimics human rheumatoid arthritis. Histocompatible Fischer (F344/N) rats, on the other hand, do not develop arthritis in response to the same SCW stimulus. To evaluate this difference in inflammatory reactivity between the two strains, the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and its ability to modulate the development of the inflammatory response was studied. It has been found that, in contrast to F344/N rats, LEW/N rats had markedly impaired plasma ACTH and corticosterone responses to SCW, recombinant human Interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), the serotonin agonist, quipazine, and synthetic rat corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). In addition, LEW/N rats compared to F344/N rats had smaller adrenal glands and larger thymuses. Treatment of LEW/N rats with replacement doses of dexamethasone decreased the severity of their SCW-induced arthritis.