5-FAM SE

Novel Au-Se Nanoprobes for Specific Thrombin Detection in Diagnosis of Lung Cancer

Thrombin is associated with malignant tumors and promotes tumor development, metastasis, and angiogenesis, therefore its identification especially in lung cancer cells is crucial. Because the interference of in vivo biothiols caused false positive findings with prior gold fluorescent nanoprobes, in this manuscript, an Au-selenol(Se) nanoprobe (5-FAM-peptide-Se-AuNPs) that could specifically detect thrombin was designed and compared to traditional Au-S nanoprobes. For reaching this goal, fluorophore-bearing thrombin-specific peptide containing selenol at the end was synthesized. The nanoprobe may be broken by thrombin to regain its fluorescence in lung cancer cells, allowing for high-sensitivity thrombin detection. Since the Au-Se bond is more stable than the Au-S bond, the accuracy of the detection results can be guaranteed. The probe synthesis method is simple and cost-effective, as well as having high biocompatibility. Low concentrations of thrombin can be detected and imaged in lung cancer cells. The synthetic method of this probe opens up new avenues for the application of Au-Se bonds.

The association between lumican gene polymorphisms and high myopia

Purposes: Lumican (LUM) is one of the major extracellular matrix components of the sclera. Increasing evidence suggests that changes in the structure and composition of the sclera are major factors in regulating scleral integrity and axial elongation of the eye, as in myopia.
Patients and methods: Patients (n=182; age range, 17-24 years) were with a myopic spherical equivalent (SE)>6.5 diopters (D) and the control group comprised individuals (n=78; age range, 17-25 years) were with a myopic SE<0.5 D. The DNA fragments were separated by horizontal electrophoresis on 3% agarose gels. The forward primer was labelled with a 5' FAM and the reaction products were detected using a 3100 Genetic Analyzer.
Results: The polymorphisms detected in this study were LUMc.601, LUM-59, LUM-628, and LUM-1554. Moreover, the haplotype distributions of Ht1 (C/A/CC/T), Ht2 (C/A/--/T), Ht3 (T/A/CC/C), Ht4 (T/--/CC/T), Ht5 (T/--/CC/C), and Ht6 (T/--/--/C) of these polymorphisms were compared between the two groups. The haplotype frequencies of Ht1, Ht2, Ht5, and Ht6 differed significantly between the two groups (P=2.08x10(-5), odds ratio (OR): 2.19, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.52-3.15; P=2.2x10(-5), OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.25-0.61; P=2.7x10(-5), OR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.22-0.59; P=3.7x10(-5), OR: 4.71, 95% CI: 2.12-10.5, respectively).
Conclusions: These observations suggest that the four polymorphisms of the LUM promoter contribute to the pathogenesis of high myopia. Understanding the functions of LUM in myopia helps us design new methods in treating and preventing myopia.

Inhibitor screening and selectivity assessment against multiple cellular protein kinases by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection

A method that can be used for screening protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs) and simultaneously assessing their selectivity is described. The method is based on simultaneously assaying multiple cellular protein kinases by performing capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation and measuring the peak areas of the phosphorylated substrate peptides. The powerful separation capability of CE combined with the highly sensitive and selective laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detector enables the direct screening of PKIs against cell lysates, which are used as an inexpensive source of enzymes. Four cell lines, three specific substrate peptides labeled with 5-carboxyfluorescein (5-FAM), two relative specific PKIs (TBB and H-89) and one non-specific PKI (staurosporine) were utilized to prove the methodology. With this method, the inhibitory activity of the tested compounds against multiple protein kinases was identified in parallel by comparing the peak areas of the phosphorylated substrates with those obtained in the absence of any inhibitors. The reduced peak area of the phosphorylated substrate definitively represents a positive screening result. Simultaneously, assaying the inhibition of one inhibitor against mutiple cellular protein kinases enables the assessment of its selectivity. Compared to the conventional, single-target screening format, the cell lysate-based multi-target method is more informative, more straightforward and more cost effective.