Stem cell gene therapy approaches for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection have been explored in clinical trials and several anti-HIV genes delivered by retroviral vectors were shown to block HIV replication. However, gammaretroviral and lentiviral based retroviral vectors have limitations for delivery of anti-HIV genes into hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). Foamy virus vectors have sever...

At Planck-scale, spacetime is " foamy " due to quantum fluctuations predicted by quantum gravity. Here we consider the possibility of using spacetime foam-induced phase incoherence of light from distant galaxies and gamma-ray bursters to probe Planck-scale physics. In particular, we examine the cumulative effects of spacetime fluctuations over a huge distance. Our analysis shows that they are f...

Metastases to pituitary gland are unusual and mostly asymptomatic, presenting with local symptoms in one of ten patients, and only 3%-5% of them are of prostate origin. Here we report and evaluate the effectiveness and safety of multimodal treatment in a patient with pituitary metastasis of a prostate foamy gland carcinoma. A 78-year-old male patient presented with blurred vision and headache w...

OBJECTIVE The goals of the research were to determine if a foamy effect on macrophages was due to human endogenous retrovirus K102 (HERV-K102) replication, and to further address its potential significance in HIV-1 infection. METHODS An RT-PCR HERV-K HML-2 pol method was used to screen the unknown HERV, and isolated bands were sent for sequencing. Confirmation of RNA expression was performed ...

Like all other viruses, a successful egress of functional particles from infected cells is a prerequisite for foamy virus (FV) spread within the host. The budding process of FVs involves steps, which are shared by other retroviruses, such as interaction of the capsid protein with components of cellular vacuolar protein sorting (Vps) machinery via late domains identified in some FV capsid protei...