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An ingenious combination of plasmonic nanomaterials and one of the most relevant biological systems, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is achieved by bioconjugating gold nanorods (GNRs) with DNA via electrostatic interaction between positively charged GNRs and negatively charged short DNA. The obtained system is investigated as a function of DNA concentration by means of gel electrophoresis, zeta-potential, DNA melting and morphological analysis. It turns out that the obtained bioconjugated systems present both effective electric charge and aggregate size that are particularly amenable for gene therapy and nanomedicine applications. Finally, the effect of the localized (photo-thermal heating) and delocalized temperature variation on the DNA melting by performing both light induced bio-transparent optical heating experiments and a thermographic analysis is investigated, demonstrating that the developed system can be exploited for monitoring nanoscale temperature variation under optical illumination with very high sensitivity.

Nanomaterials represent a class of materials based on nanoscale structures. Nanomaterials are currently used in a wide variety of applications, including, optoelectronics, energy conversion, biology health care and medicine. Among different types of nanomaterials, gold nanoparticles have received considerable attention in disease diagnosis and therapy due to their optical and chemical properties (Liz-Marzan in Mater Today 7:26–31, 2004). This paper reports the main optical and photo-thermal properties of gold nanoparticles. Particularly, we show that gold nanorods embedded in cholesteric liquid crystals demonstrate to control the “selective reflection” of a light beam. Investigation of the optical properties of the obtained material reveals an original and efficient tool to detect temperature variations at the nanoscale useful for photo-thermal based therapies applications. Finally, the concept of ‘nanoparticle-protein corona interaction can be exploited for application ranging from regenerative medicine to theranostics.

DJ‐1 gene mutations have been found to cause early‐onset Parkinson's disease. We report a family from southern Italy with three brothers affected by early‐onset parkinsonism, dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Molecular analysis of the DJ‐1 gene in two living patients showed a novel homozygous mutation in exon 7 (E163K) and a new homozygous mutation (g.168_185dup) in the promoter region of the gene. Both mutations cosegregated with the disease and were detected in a heterozygous state in the patients' mother and their healthy siblings. Our findings expand the spectrum of clinical presentations associated with mutations in DJ‐1 gene. Ann Neurol 2005;58:803–807

We report on 2 brothers (aged 19 and 12 years) with Marinesco‐Sjögren syndrome who also had very low serum vitamin E concentrations with an absence of postprandial chylomicrons. The molecular study ruled out ataxia with isolated vitamin E deficiency, abetalipoproteinemia, and hypobetalipoproteinemia. The electron microscopy of the intestinal mucosa was consistent with a chylomicron retention disease. We speculate that both chylomicron retention disease and Marinesco‐Sjögren syndrome are related to defects in a gene crucial for the assembly or secretion of the chylomicron particles, leading to very low serum levels of vitamin E. Ann Neurol 2000;47:260–264

We report on 2 brothers (aged 19 and 12 years) with Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome who also had very low serum vitamin E concentrations with an absence of postprandial chylomicrons. The molecular study ruled out ataxia with isolated vitamin E deficiency, abetalipoproteinemia, and hypobetalipoproteinemia. The electron microscopy of the intestinal mucosa was consistent with a chylomicron retention disease. We speculate that both chylomicron retention disease and Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome are related to defects in a gene crucial for the assembly or secretion of the chylomicron particles, leading to very low serum levels of vitamin E. Ann Neurol 2000;47:260–264

The dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene has been proposed as a candidate gene underlying several psychiatric and neurologic disorders. The aim of the present study was to examine if selected polymorphisms in the DRD2 gene are associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). We determined the allelic frequencies for four polymorphisms located in the DRD2 gene in a sample of 135 patients with PD and 202 normal control subjects. No significant difference was observed in the allelic frequencies between patients with PD and control subjects with regard to the ‐141C Ins/Del and the Ser311/Cys311variants. On the contrary, the A1 allele of the TaqIA polymorphism and the B1 allele of the TaqIB polymorphism were more frequent in patients with PD than in control subjects (control subjects: TaqIA A1 = 14.6%, TaqIB B1 = 10.6%; patients with PD: TaqIA A1 = 20.7%, TaqIB B1 = 17.4%). Patients carrying the A1 allele or the B1 allele had an increased risk of developing PD (TaqIA, odds ratio: 1.71, 95% confidence intervals: 1.08–2.73; TaqIB, odds ratio: 1.83, 95% confidence intervals: 1.12–3.02). The TaqIA and TaqIB polymorphisms were in strong linkage disequilibrium, suggesting that these two polymorphisms convey the same information about the risk of presenting with PD. Genetic variation in the DRD2 gene may influence the risk of developing PD, thus confirming that the DRD2 gene is a susceptibility locus for PD.