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Vast numbers of studies and developments in the nanotechnology area have been conducted and many nanomaterials have been utilized to detect cancers at early stages. Nanomaterials have unique physical, optical and electrical properties that have proven to be very useful in sensing. Quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, gold nanowires and many other materials have been developed over the years, alongside the discovery of a wide range of biomarkers to lower the detection limit of cancer biomarkers. Proteins, antibody fragments, DNA fragments, and RNA fragments are the base of cancer biomarkers and have been used as targets in cancer detection and monitoring. It is highly anticipated that in the near future, we might be able to detect cancer at a very early stage, providing a much higher chance of treatment.

Monitoring protein phosphorylation at the cellular level is important to understand the intracellular signaling. Among the phosphoproteomics methods, phosphokinase antibody arrays have emerged as preferred tools to measure well-characterized phosphorylation in the intracellular signaling. Here, we present a dendron-coated phosphokinase antibody array (DPA) in which the antibodies are immobilized on a dendron-coated glass slide. Self-assembly of conically shaped dendrons well-controlled in size and structure resulted in precisely controlled lateral spacing between the immobilized phosphosite-specific antibodies, leading to minimized steric hindrance and improved antigen-antibody binding kinetics. These features increased sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility in measured amounts of protein phosphorylation. To demonstrate the utility of the DPA, we generated the phosphorylation profiles of brain tissue samples obtained from Alzheimer's disease (AD) model mice. The analysis of the profiles revealed signaling pathways deregulated during the course of AD progression.

Functionalized ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomers, hydroxymethyl EDOT (EDOT-OH), and zwitterionic phosphorylcholine EDOT (EDOT-PC) were electropolymerized to prepare the homopolymers poly-(EDOT-OH) and poly(EDOT-PC), and mixtures of these monomers were used to produce the copolymer poly(EDOT-OH) and-poly(EDOT-PC). Force-extension-curve-based atomic force microscopy (AFM) was utilized to analyze the surfaces of the films. The PEDOT-OH film yielded force-extension curves for short stretching, and the PEDOT-PC film yielded curves for long stretching. A dendron-modified AFM tip with anthracene groups tethered at the end resulted in adhesion maps with the highest contrast The analytical data for the copolymer films correlated with the corresponding monomer composition, and the maps revealed that the average size for the copolymer nanodomains ranged from 10-14 run. This approach can be applied to studies aimed at understanding the surface structure of other relevant polymers and copolymers at the nanoscale level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vast numbers of studies and developments in the nanotechnology area have been conducted and many nanomaterials have been utilized to detect cancers at early stages. Nanomaterials have unique physical, optical and electrical properties that have proven to be very useful in sensing. Quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, gold nanowires and many other materials have been developed over the years, alongside the discovery of a wide range of biomarkers to lower the detection limit of cancer biomarkers. Proteins, antibody fragments, DNA fragments, and RNA fragments are the base of cancer biomarkers and have been used as targets in cancer detection and monitoring. It is highly anticipated that in the near future, we might be able to detect cancer at a very early stage, providing a much higher chance of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to identify key genes involved in the development of atherosclerotic lesions, differentially expressed genes in atherosclerotic plaques obtained from diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rabbit aorta were screened using the differential display (DD) RTPCR technique. Aortic RNAs were isolated from rabbits fed cholesterol-supplemented (2% cholesterol in lab-chow, w/w) chow diet for 12 weeks, followed by the synthesis of cDNAs by reverse-transcription using 2- base anchored oligo(dT) (S'-TuVN) as 3'-primers. Synthesized cDNAs were amplified by PCR using arbitrary 10-mers as S'-primers and the same 3'primers used in the reverse-transcription. Amplified cDNAs sized between 0.2 to 0.5 kb obtained from control and cholesterol-fed rabbit aortas were displayed on the 6% DNA-sequencing gel for comparisons. The cDNA bands showing distinctive differences in patterns of display or in density of the band were extracted from the gel. A total of 66 differentially displayed cDNAs was isolated and subjected to the reverse-Northern and Northern blot analyses in order to confirm the differences. Through the extensive confirming processes, three cDNAs were finally selected (designated CRGRA-l through -3) and their nucleotide sequences were determined. Two of those (CRGRA-l and -2) were determined to be upregulated and the other (CRGRA-3) was downregulated by the cholesterol-feeding. Upon homology search on databases for the identification of the genes, the first cDNA (CRGRA-l) turned out to be a part of a novel gene, the second one (CRGRA-2) was homologous (82 %) to the corresponding segment of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 gene, and the last one (CRGRA-3) was identified to be homologous (94%) to a segment of human small GTPbinding protein (Rab7) gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]