Development trends for generation of single-chain antibody fragments

Recombinant antibodies are increasingly being employed as therapeutic agents especially in combination with anti-cancer drugs. The single-chain antibody fragments are small antigen-binding proteins which provide the most commonly used antibody formats for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. These antibody fragments have more rapid tumor penetration and clearance from the serum relative to full-length monoclonal antibodies. There are in vitro antibody-display technologies such as phage display, cell surface display, ribosome display and mRNA display that can be used to isolate high specificity and affinity single-chain antibodies against a wide variety of targets. We review these strategies for generation of stable and active antibody fragments in the present article.     

Early influences of word length and frequency: a group study using MEG

In what way are linguistic word properties reflected in the neurophysiological brain response? During a memory task we presented written words orthogonally varied in length (long, short) and frequency (high, low). Brain responses of 15 subjects were recorded using a 148-channel magnetoencephalogram. Very early after stimulus onset (60 ms), long words led to significantly stronger activation than short words, as revealed by the global field power (GFP). Later on, low frequency words led to stronger brain responses than high frequency words. This effect depended on word length: it was seen 120-170 ms after stimulus onset, for short words only, but at 225-250 ms exclusively for long words. Source localisation revealed that effects due to word length were pronounced over occipital areas whereas frequency effected more widespread cortical areas with a strong focus over left occipitotemporal areas (visual word form areas).     

Interactive protein network of FXIII-A1 in lipid rafts of activated and non-activated platelets

Lipid-rafts are defined as membrane microdomains enriched in cholesterol and glycosphingolipids within platelet plasma membrane. Lipid raft-mediated clot retraction requires factor XIII and other interacting proteins. The aim of this study was to investigate the proteins that interact with factor XIII in raft and non-raft domains of activated and non-activated platelet plasma membrane. By lipidomics analysis, we identified cholesterol- and sphingomyelin-enriched areas as lipid rafts. Platelets were activated by thrombin. Proteomics analysis provided an overview of the pathways in which proteins of rafts and non-rafts participated in the interaction network of FXIII-A1, a catalytic subunit of FXIII. “Platelet activation” was the principal pathway among KEGG pathways for proteins of rafts, both before and after activation. Network analysis showed four types of interactions (activation, binding, reaction, and catalysis) in raft and non-raft domains in interactive network of FXIII-A1. FXIII-A1 interactions with other proteins in raft domains and their role in homeostasis highlight the specialization of the raft domain in clot retraction via the Factor XIII protein network.     

Molecular Detection of Plasmodium Infection among Anophelinae Mosquitoes and Differentiation of Biological Forms of Anopheles Stephensi Collected from Malarious Areas of Afghanistan and Iran

BackgroundUpdated information on the vectorial capacity of vectors is required in each malarious areas as well in Iran and its neighboring countries such as Afghanistan. The aims of this study were to investigate the potential infection of about 800 specimens collected from malarious areas of Afghanistan and Iran, and to differentiate biological forms of Anopheles stephensi.MethodTwo molecular markers, 18S RNA gene subunit and AsteObp1 intron I, were used respectively for investigation Plasmodium infection and identifying the biological forms of An. stephensi.ResultsPlasmodium infection was detected in 4 pools of Afghanistan specimens, including An. stephensi, collected from Nangarhar. Individually examination showed infection in 5 An. stephensi (infection rate: 1.25), to P. falciparum (2), P. vivax (2) and a mix infection. Out of five infected specimens, three were intermediate forms and two were mysorensis. No infection was found in specimens collected from Iran (Chabahar County), probably due to the active malaria control program in south-east of Iran.ConclusionThe key role of An. stephensi, as a known Asian malaria vector, was re-emphasized in Afghanistan by the results achieved here. The fauna of vectors and the pattern of biological forms of An. stephensi are similar in both countries that urge regional investigations to provide evidence-based and applied data for decision-maker in malaria control.     

Potential Roles of MyomiRs in Cardiac Development and Related Diseases

Muscle-specific miRNAs, which are known as MyomiRs, are crucial regulatory elements for cardiovascular development. MyomiRs are abundantly expressed in the myocardium and regulate certain aspects of physiological and pathological processes in myocardiocytes, including cardiovascular development, myocardial remodeling, and arise for cardiovascular diseases through different mechanisms, such as epigenetic pathways. Clinical and experimental studies have confirmed the myomiRs as promising diagnostic biomarkers for the early diagnosis of cardiac disorders. In this review, we have summarized recent findings in the field of epigenetic modulations of myomiRs and cardiac regeneration associated with cardiac diseases.