Abstract:
The present disclosure provides methods for inducing tolerance in a recipient to a mismatched graft of an organ, tissue, and/or cells, by disrupting sex steroid signaling in the patient, wherein the bone marrow and other immune cell functionality is improved without, prior to, or concurrently with, thymic regeneration. In some embodiments, sex steroid signaling in the patient, is interrupted or ablated by the administration of LHRH agonists, LHRH antagonists, anti-LHRH receptor antibodies, anti-LHRH vaccines, anti-androgens, anti-estrogens, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), selective progesterone response modulators (SPRMs), ERDs, aromatase inhibitors, or various combinations thereof.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to methods and systems for the accurate prediction of nucleic acid, e.g., RNA and DNA, and other macromolecular and biomolecular three-dimensional structure from sequence and constraint information.
Abstract:
The invention provides methods of identifying candidate psychiatric patients, or patients with movement disorder, for treatment with medication that acts at a D2 dopan-line receptor site or increases density of D2 dopamine receptors. The method comprises determining a patient's DRD2 genotype. Patients having the Taq1A (A1) allele (A1 + allelic status) are candidates for treatment with high dose, high binding antipsychotics and/or SSRIs that influence D2 receptor density. Patients lacking the Taq1A allele (A1- allelic status) are candidates for treatment with low dose, low binding atypical antipsychotics, and are not likely to respond well to these SSRIs.
Abstract:
A computer having a memory stores instructions for receiving data. The data comprises one or more characteristics for each cellular constituent in a plurality of cellular constituents that have been measured in a test organism of a species or a test biological specimen from an organism of the species. The memory further stores instructions for computing a model in a plurality of models, wherein the model is characterized by a model score that represents the likelihood of a biological feature in the test organism or the test biological specimen. Computation of the model comprises determining the model score using one or more characteristics for one or more cellular constituents in the plurality of cellular constituents. The memory also stores instructions for repeating the instructions for computing one or more times, thereby computing the plurality of models. The memory also stores instructions for communicating computed model scores.
Abstract:
A method is provided of determining whether an individual has reduced ability to form platelet thrombi due to inhibition of platelet activation initiation, signal transduction and/or GPIlb/IIIa blockade. A blood sample is obtained from the individual being assessed. The blood sample is mixed in combination with 1) an anticoagulant; 2) sufficient buffer to maintain the pH and salt concentration of the anticoagulated blood within a range suitable for platelet aggregation; 3) a platelet GPIIb/IIIa receptor ligand immobilized on a solid surface; 4) one or more agents to enhance a signal transduction pathway and 5) a receptor activator. The combination is incubated under conditions for agglutinating particles. Platelet-mediated agglutination is assessed in the agitated mixture. The absence of agglutination indicates that the individual has a reduced ability to form platelet thrombi.
Abstract:
Non-fluorescent dyes (i.e., dark quenchers) which can be used to quench the fluorescence of energy donors in bioassays through fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) are described. The dark quenchers can be associated with (e.g., conjugated to) peptides, proteins, antibodies, DNA/RNA, or other biological molecules or receptors or complexed to metal containing compounds to develop bioassays based on donor-acceptor energy transfer. Bioassays are also described wherein an increase or a decrease in separation distance between a fluorescent donor compound and a dark quencher or dark quencher conjugate is detected. Kits including the dark quenchers or dark quencher conjugates are also described.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to improved methods for determining functional residues on the surface of a query protein. The claimed methods rely on determining a plurality of functional annotation scores for a query protein and comparing these functional annotation scores to distributions of similar functional annotation scores derived from a plurality of reference proteins. Based upon these comparisons, a putative functional cluster may be annotated as a functional cluster or a non-functional cluster.
Abstract:
Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is the most important commercial tree species in the USA harvested for pulp and solid wood products. Increasing the efficiency of chemical pulping may be achieved through the manipulation of genes involved in the lignin biosynthetic pathway. A null allele of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) has been discovered in the loblolly pine clone 7-56 which displays altered lignin composition. During identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cad gene, a two-base pair adenosine insertion located in exon five and unique to clone 7-56 was discovered. The sequence mutation causes a frame-shift predicted to result in premature termination of the protein. For routine detection of the mutation, a diagnostic assay was developed utilizing Template-directed Dye-terminator Incorporation and Fluorescence Polarization detection (FT-TDI).
Abstract:
Disclosed are compositions and a method for amplification of nucleic acid sequences of interest. The method is based on strand displacement replication of the nucleic acid sequences by primers. The disclosed method is a form of multiple displacement amplification (MDA) useful for amplifying genomic nucleic acid samples and other nucleic acid samples of high complexity. The disclosed method can be used to amplify such highly complex nucleic acid samples using only one or a limited number of primers. It has been discovered that one or a small number of primers can effectively amplify whole genomes an other nucleic acid samples of high sequence complexity. The primers are specially selected or designed to be able to prime and efficiently amplify the broad range of sequences present in highly complex nucleic acid samples despite the limited amount of primer sequence represented in the primers. It has been discovered that generation of high molecular weight artifacts, in an isothermal amplification procedure, is substantially reduced or eliminated while still allowing the desired amplification of input DNA by carrying out the reaction at a higher temperature and, optionally, in the presence of one or more additives. It has also bee discovered that amplification reactions can produce amplification products of high quality, such as low amplification bias, if performed on an amount of nucleic acid at or over a threshold amount and/or on nucleic acids at or below a threshold concentration.