BACKGROUND The critical role of interleukin-7 (IL-7) in homeostatic proliferation and T cell survival has made it a promising cytokine for the treatment of various clinical conditions, especially those associated with lymphopenia. METHODS In the present study we expressed recombinant human interleukin-7 (rhIL-7) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cells. CHO-K1 cells were stably transfected wit...

Our previous expressed sequence tag database analysis indicates that XAGE-1 is frequently found in Ewing's sarcoma and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (U. Brinkmann et al., Cancer Res., 59: 1445-1448, 1999). Using Northern blots and RNA dot blots, we have now found that XAGE-1 is highly expressed in normal testis, in seven of eight Ewing's cell lines, in four of nine Ewing's sarcoma patient samples, ...

Dot and slot blotting are simple techniques for immobilizing bulk unfractionated DNA on a nitrocellulose or nylon membrane. Hybridization analysis can then be carried out to determine the relative abundance of target sequences in the blotted DNA preparations. Dot and slot blots differ only in the geometry of the blot, a series of spots giving a hybridization pattern that is amenable to analysis...

Expression of the surface-adhesion molecule CD44 was investigated during the in vitro differentiation of the embryonic stem (ES) cell line D3. By immunofluorescence analysis, totipotent, undifferentiated ES cells did not show surface expression of CD44, although two transcripts of approximately 1.6 and 3.3 kb were detected on Northern blots. Following 1 week of differentiation in either suspens...

The protozoan Giardia lamblia is a major cause of parasite-induced diarrhea in humans. Humoral immunity has been shown to be important for clearance of the infection, but only a few antigens have been identified. In this study, we focused on the immunoreactivity of nonvariant antigens. Serum samples from 93 patients with acute giardiasis who were infected during a waterborne outbreak in a nonen...

Surface proteins of different Salmonella R mutants were labeled selectively by treating live bacteria with cycloheptaamylose-dansylchloride. The labeled proteins were extracted from the cells with 6 M urea and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. From the urea extract a 55-kilodalton protein common to numerous Salmonella strains could be isolated by ion-exchang...

Preparation of samples for sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis routinely involves heating the protein in solution containing detergent and reducing agent for at least two minutes. Here we show that this treatment causes fragmentation of the protein glycogen phosphorylase, whether purified or as a component of a skeletal muscle preparation. The fragments are detected as mi...