Their contributions go well beyond the historical contributions of mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering to medical practice that were largely equipment oriented. Over the next generation, the entire fabric of the biosciences will change as research barriers between disciplines diminish and eventually cease to exist. The resulting effects are starting to be noticed in front-line medicine and the prospects for the future are immense and potentially society changing. The most likely disciplines Sorafenib to have early effects are outlined and form the main thrust of this paper, with speculation about
other disciplines and emphasis that although physics-based and engineering-based biology will change future medicine, the physical sciences and engineering EPZ004777 nmr will also be changed by these developments. Essentially, physics is being redefined by the need to accommodate these new views of what constitutes biological systems and how they function.”
“Purpose: Invasive aspergillosis is a major cause of infectious morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) is the primary causative agent of invasive aspergillosis.
However, A. fumigatus infections remain difficult to diagnose particularly in the early stages due to the lack of a rapid, sensitive and specific diagnostic approach. In this study, we investigated Tc-99m labeled MORF oligomers targeting fungal ribosomal RNA (rRNA) for the imaging detection of
fungal infections.
Procedures: Three phosphorodiamidate morpholino (MORF) oligomer (a DNA analogue) probes were designed: AGEN, complementary to a sequence of the fungal 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of Aspergillus, as a genus-specific probe; AFUM, complementary to the 28S rRNA Endodeoxyribonuclease sequence of A. fumigatus, as a fungus species-specific probe; and cMORF, irrelevant to all fungal species, as a control probe. The probes were conjugated with Alexa Fluor 633 carboxylic acid succinimidyl ester (AF633) for fluorescence imaging or with NHS-mercaptoacetyl triglycine (NHS-MAG3) for nuclear imaging with Tc-99m and then evaluated in vitro and in vivo.
Results: The specific binding of AGEN and AFUM to fungal total RNA was confirmed by dot blot hybridization while specific binding of AGEN and AFUM in fixed and live A. fumigatus was demonstrated by both fluorescent in Situ hybridization (FISH) analysis and accumulation in live cells. SPECT imaging of BALB/c mice with pulmonary A. fumigatus infections and administered Tc-99m labeled AGEN and AFUM showed immediate and obvious accumulation in the infected lungs, while no significant accumulation of the control Tc-99m-cMORF in the infected lung was observed.