The opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans can undergo phenotypic switching between a benign, unicellular phenotype and an invasive, multicellular form that causes candidiasis. Increasingly, strains of Candida are becoming resistant to antifungal drugs, making the treatment of candidiasis difficult, especially in immunocompromised or critically ill patients. Consequently, there is a pressing n...

Structure determination of membrane proteins by crystallographic means has been facilitated by crystallization in lipidic mesophases. It has been suggested, however, that this so-called in meso method, as originally implemented, would not apply to small protein targets having </=4 transmembrane crossings. In our study, the hypothesis that the inherent flexibility of the mesophase would enable c...

The ability of nanoparticles to penetrate the stratum corneum was the focus of several studies. Yet, there are controversial issues available for particle penetration due to different experimental setups. Meanwhile, there is little known about the mechanism and determinants of their penetration. In this paper the penetration of four model gold nanoparticles of diameter 6 and 15 nm, differing in...

This article reviews the pulmonary route of administration, aerosol delivery devices, characterization of pulmonary drug delivery systems, and discusses the rationale for inhaled delivery of siRNA. Diseases with known protein malfunctions may be mitigated through the use of siRNA therapeutics. The inhalation route of administration provides local delivery of siRNA therapeutics for the treatment...

Membrane proteins perform critical functions in living cells related to signal transduction, transport and energy transformations, and, as such, are implicated in a multitude of malfunctions and diseases. However, a structural and functional understanding of membrane proteins is strongly lagging behind that of their soluble partners, mainly, due to difficulties associated with their solubilizat...