R epeated evolution of similar traits in organisms facing the same ecological challenges has long captured the interest of evolutionary biologists (1–4). Naturally occurring examples of “convergent evolution” offer new opportunities to ask about predictability in evolution. Do complex genomes mean that there are endless possibilities for adapting to an ecological challenge? Or must evolution ta...

Functionalization of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) requires chemical derivatization and/or genetic manipulation. Inherent in these methods are challenges with protein heterogeneity, stability and solubility. Such perturbations could potentially be avoided by using a high affinity, non-covalent intermediate to bridge the desired functionality to a stable mAb. Recently, we engineered a binding sit...

parathyroid adenoma involving a single parathyroid gland is the underlying cause of 80-85% of primary hyperparathyroidism (phpt). skeletal system is significantly affected by phpt. brown tumors are known to have affinity for 99mtc-mibi. we report a rare case of phpt presenting with diffuse bony pain, high calcium level and significantly elevated alkaline phosphatase level. 99mtc-pertechnetate/9...

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) encodes two envelope glycoproteins, E1 and E2. Our previous work selected a specific aptamer ZE2, which could bind to E2 with high affinity, with a great potential for developing new molecular probes as an early diagnostic reagents or therapeutic drugs targeting HCV. In this study, the binding sites between E2 and aptamer ZE2 were further explored. E2 was truncated to 15...

Protein specific aptamers are highly applicable affinity ligands in different fields of research and clinical applications. They have been developed against various targets, in particular, bio-macromolecules such as proteins. Among human proteins, the coagulation factors are the most attractive targets for aptamer selection and their specific aptamers had valuable characteristics in therapeutic...

B cells have been strongly implicated in the development of human type 1 diabetes and are required for disease in the NOD mouse model. These functions are dependent on B cell antigen receptor (BCR) specificity and expression of MHC, implicating linked autoantigen recognition and presentation to effector T cells. BCR-antigen affinity requirements for participation in disease are unclear. We hypo...

background: plasminogen is one of the compounds derived from human plasma. activation of plasminogen produces plasmin. plasmin is able to lyse fibrinogen, fibrin, and some other human plasma proteins. the aim of the present work was to study the separation of human plasminogen by affinity chromatography using gel lysine sepharose. materials and methods: normal human plasma was used as the start...

A person, who is talented, performs in a certain capacity above the norm. Talent is different from intelligence which is a response to a circumstance using knowledge and skill. The attributes of talent are exceptional memory, rapid processing speed, and high motivation, an affinity for learning, creativity and optimal cognition. There is some proof suggests that certain aspects of talent are re...