The phenotypic expression of methicillin resistance was studied in a number of clinical isolates and laboratory strains of Staphylococcus aureus. The methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains could be divided into three classes, homogeneous, heterogeneous, and thermosensitive heterogeneous methicillin-resistant S. aureus, on the basis of their plating efficiencies at 30 or 37 degrees C on methici...

Well-defined polymers derived from L-proline are synthesized using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and the amino acid-based polymers exhibit thermosensitive phase separation at lower critical solution temperatures (LCST = 15-45 degrees C) in aqueous medium.

Thermosensitive nanoparticles were prepared via the self-assembly of two different poly(ε-caprolactone)-based block copolymers of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PNPCL) and poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEGCL). The self-aggregation and thermosensitive behaviors of the mixed nanoparticles were investigated using 1H-NMR, turbidimetry, differential scanning micr...

A combination of point mutations disrupting both stem 1 and stem 2 of U5 snRNA (U5AI) was found to confer a thermosensitive phenotype in vivo. In a strain expressing U5AI, pre-mRNA splicing was blocked before the first step through an inability of the mutant U5 snRNA to efficiently associate with the U4/U6 di-snRNP. Formation of early splicing complexes was not affected in extracts prepared fro...

Mutations causing protein misfolding and proteolysis are associated with many genetic diseases. The degradation of these aberrant proteins typically is mediated by protein-quality control pathways that recognize misfolded domains. Several E3 ubiquitin ligases have been shown to target cytosolic misfolded proteins to the proteasome. In this study, we characterized a panel of more than 20 cytosol...

We tuned the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of amphiphilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) via copolymerization with a hydrophilic comonomer of N-hydroxymethyl acrylamide (NHMAAm). A series of copolymers P(NIPAAm-co-NHMAAm) were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using CuBr/(N,N,N',N',N''-Pentamethyldiethylenetriamine) (PMDETA) as a catalyst system and ...

Thermosensitive liposomes are a promising tool for external targeting of drugs to solid tumors when used in combination with local hyperthermia or high intensity focused ultrasound. In vivo results have demonstrated strong evidence that external targeting is superior over passive targeting achieved by highly stable long-circulating drug formulations like PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin. Up to M...

One of the several ways of enhancing the solubility of poorly soluble drugs is liposomes formulations. Research on liposomes formulations has progressed from that of conventional vesicles to new generation liposomes, such as cationic liposomes, temperature sensitive liposomes, and virosomes, by modulating the formulation techniques and lipid composition. Thermosensitive liposomes are also a pro...

Replication forks face a variety of structurally diverse impediments that can prevent them from completing their task. The mechanism by which cells overcome these hurdles is likely to vary depending on the nature of the obstacle and the strand in which the impediment is encountered. Both UV-induced DNA damage and thermosensitive replication proteins have been used in model systems to inhibit DN...