The antimicrobial, hemagglutinating and toxic activities of the purple fluid of the sea hare Aplysia dactylomela are described. Intact or dialyzed purple fluid inhibited the growth of species of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and the action was not bactericidal but bacteriostatic. The active factor or factors were heat labile and sensitive to extreme pH values. The fluid preferentiall...

Fetal serum markers, such as alpha fetoprotein (AFP), must traverse one of two very different pathways to reach maternal serum, either from fetus to amnion fluid, membranes and decidua or from fetal to maternal circulation through the placental villi. Alpha fetoprotein usually enters the amnion fluid through body wall defects uncovered by skin or through urine. Placental AFP leakage may be from...

1College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, USA 2Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, USA 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, USA 4Hematology/Oncology Section, Department of Medicine, Stephenson Cancer Center, University...

PURPOSE This study was conducted in order to determine the most cost-effective strategy, in terms of interval and age range, forliver cancer screening in the high-risk population of Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS A stochastic modelwas used to simulate the cost-effectiveness ofliver cancer screening by combined ultrasonography and alpha-fetoprotein testing when varying both screening intervals a...

A portable, affordable and simple detector is requested in a "Point-of-Care-Testing" (POCT) system. In this study, we exploited the potentialities of Differential Pressure Gauge (DPG) to the orientation of POCT technology. Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) was chosen as a model analyte that could specifically recognized by its antigen, and a tiny outfits equipped with a DPG was employed as the signal rea...

Primary cultures of rat mammary epithelial cells proliferate and synthesize basement membrane collagen (type IV collagen) in a serum-free medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor (EGF), hydrocortisone or dexamethasone, insulin, transferrin, and Pedersen fetuin. The growth response of the cells to EGF and glucocorticoids but not to insulin or transferrin varies depending on the substratu...

We have developed a simple administration method, which is gastric serosal surface instillation of naked plasmid DNA (pDNA) in experimental animals. The purpose of this study was to improve gastric gene transfer efficiency by pre-treatment with a macropinocytosis enhancer, such as fetuin or epidermal growth factor (EGF), in mice. A series of concentrations of fetuin were instilled onto gastric ...

BACKGROUND Increased second-trimester levels of maternal serum HCG in IVF conceptions lead to an increased false-positive rate in Down syndrome screening. Increased levels of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma have been correlated with increased HCG levels. Our aim was to determine whether cffDNA levels are elevated in IVF pregnancies compared with natural pregnancies. METHODS Si...

BACKGROUND During the past three decades, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States has tripled. The neuroendocrine character has been observed in some tumor cells within some hepatocellular carcinoma nodules and elevated serum chromogranin A also been reported in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of serum concentration...

Combining with the synergic effect of carbon nanotubes and ionic liquids for enhancing electrochemiluminescence (ECL) response of CdSe QDs, a universal strategy for highly sensitive biosensing was designed. Using alpha-fetoprotein as a model and monitoring the variation of ECL intensity before and after immunoreaction, a label-free ECL biosensor was developed.