in the present study, an expression plasmid for chimeric VSV-G, consisting of a ZZ fragment derived from Staphylococcal protein A fused to the N-terminus of VSV-G (ZZ-VSV-G), was constructed to produce viral vectors capable of antibody-de pendent gene transduction. Gammaretroviral (based on mouse stem cell virus, MSCV) and lentiviral (based on human immunodeficiency virus type 1, HIV-1) vectors pseudotyped with ZZ-VSV-G were produced without the loss of antibody-binding activity. The production of infectious viral particles was promoted by the addition of an expression plasmid for native VSV-G and Paclitaxel order antibody-dependent gene transduction was achieved using plates coated with antibodies.

This system may be useful for the genetic transduction of cells expressing specific proteins on their surface, and for screening of antibodies specific for cell surface receptors. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“A one-step real-time RT-PCR assay (rRT-PCR) was developed for efficient detection of Duck hepatitis virus type1 (DHV-1). A pair of specific primers was designed against the conserved region in the 3D gene that encodes the RNA dependent RNA polymerase with a single conserved TaqMan (TM) probe. The

detection limit of this assay was 10 viral genomic copies per reaction and it was highly specific to DHV-1. The rRT-PCR assay was used to determine the distribution and concentration of DHV-1 virulent strain in duck embryos as well as the DHV-1 attenuated vaccine strain in chicken embryos. The results revealed that the copy numbers of DHV-1 reached a peak in duck embryos and chicken embryos selleck products at 28-40 h, 44-56 h postinoculation respectively. The comparative tests for ducklings infected artificially and clinical samples between neutralization test and rRT-PCR showed that the positive results of infected samples were the same, while the rRT-PCR method was more sensitive than neutralization test for detection of clinical samples. The rapid, sensitive and specific rRT-PCR assay will be a powerful tool for detection of suspected cases of DHV-1, distribution

pattern of DHV-1 in vivo and molecular epidemiological screening. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Objective: Determine the molecular mechanism(s) behind tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha)-induced Dapagliflozin loss of auditory hair cells and the ability of dexamethasone base (DXMb) to protect against TNF alpha ototoxicity.

Methods: Hair cell counts: Three-day-old rat organ of Corti explants were cultured under three different conditions: 1) untreated-control; 2) TNF alpha (2 mu g/ml); and 3) TNF alpha (2 mu g/ml)+DXMb (70 mu g/ml) for 4 days, fixed, and stained with FITC-phalloidin. Hair cells were counted in the basal and middle turns. Gene expression: total RNA was extracted from the three different groups of explants at 0, 12, 24 and 48 h.