CONTEXT Cutaneous melanoma presents significant morbidity and mortality. Nowadays, about 90% of them are diagnosed by clinical examination and most are localized melanomas. Sentinel node biopsy has brought about a new and interesting approach towards localized cutaneous melanoma. The meaning of micrometastases in sentinel nodes diagnosed by the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction is...

To the Editor: Ritonavir is a protease inhibitor used in combination therapy for advanced HIV infection. In South Africa lopinavir/ritonavir is first-line therapy for children under 3 years of age where there is a history of perinatal exposure to the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) nevirapine.1 Ritonavir is a potent inhibitor of hepatic cytochrome P450-CYP3A4 iso-enzyme a...

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the reproducibility of a reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR)-based technique to differentiate viable and dead Salmonella cells in raw and sterilized milk. The microorganism was initially inoculated into the milk samples followed by incubating at 37°C for 4 h prior to inactivation by heat at 80°C for 10 min. The treated and non-treated samples we...

Rates of detection of rotavirus were compared by diagnostic assay and specimen type. For bulk stools, rates of detection by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) were similar, but 18% of healthy controls tested positive by RT-PCR. Testing of bulk stools by EIA appears to be optimum for rotavirus surveillance.

Solid-state culture encourages high-level enzyme secretion by Aspergillus oryzae. Using the real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, we confirmed that expression of the glucoamylase-encoding gene in A. oryzae cultured in solid-state culture depends on the water content of the culture.

Abbreviations: ARP: acidic ribosomal protein CHS: chalcone synthase DDRT-PCR: differential display reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction DETs: differentially expressed transcripts DPA: days post anthesis ESTs: expressed sequence tags MBD: methyl CpG binding domain OPT: oligopeptide transporter protein PCR: polymerase chain reaction PG: polygalacturonase enzyme RRF: ribosome recycling ...

Ribonuclease-sensitive DNA synthesis is demonstrated in a cytoplasmic particulate fraction of normal human blood lymphocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin, but not in unstimulated lymphocytes. DNA polymerase purified from this fraction does not transcribe the heteropolymeric regions of 70S RNA from RNA tumor viruses, thus distinguishing this enzyme from the RNA-directed DNA polymerase (rev...

The meroditerpenoids atomaric acid (1), epitaondiol (2) and the peroxylactone of 5'a-desmethyl-5'-acetylatomaric acid (3) were isolated from the Brazilian brown alga Stypopodium zonale collected in two localities (Búzios and Marataízes, RJ and ES States). These compounds showed strong anti-HSV-1 activity in vitro but neither of them inhibited the transcriptase reverse enzyme of HIV-1.