Application of microarray technology in pulmonary diseases

Microarrays are a powerful tool that have multiple applications both in clinical and cell biology arenas of common lung diseases. To exemplify how this tool can be useful, in this review, we will provide an overview of the application of microarray technology in research relevant to common lung diseases and present some of the future perspectives.     

The implications of microarray technology for animal use in scientific research

Microarray technology has the potential to affect the number of laboratory animals used, the severity of animal experiments, and the development of non-animal alternatives in several areas scientific research. Microarrays can contain hundreds or thousands of microscopic spots of DNA, immobilised on a solid support, and their use enables global patterns of gene expression to be determined in a single experiment. This technology is being used to improve our understanding of the operation of biological systems during health and disease, and their responses to chemical insults. Although it is impossible to predict with certainty any future trends regarding animal use, microarray technology might not initially reduce animal use, as is often claimed to be the case. The accelerated pace of research as a result of the use of microarrays could increase overall animal use in basic and applied biological research, by increasing the numbers of interesting genes identified for further analysis, and the number of potential targets for drug development. Each new lead will require further evaluation i n studies that could involve animals. In toxicity testing, microarray studies could lead to increases in animal studies, if further confirmatory and other studies are performed. However, before such technology can be used more extensively, several technical problems need to be overcome, and the relevance of the data to biological processes needs to be assessed. Were microarray technology to be used in the manner envisaged by its protagonists, there need to be efforts to increase the likelihood that its application will create new opportunities for reducing, refining and replacing animal use. This comment is a critical assessment of the possible implications of the application of microarray technology on animal experimentation in various research areas, and makes some recommendations for maximising the application of the Three Rs.     

Visual neuroscience research in China

Historically,vision research in China was one of a few distinct research programs within the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS).With improved funding opportunities and research environment in neuroscience,vision research at several research institutes within the academy has made significant progress not only in the quantity of publications,but also in the quality of the work.Based on our own expertise,this review is mainly focused on the findings that have advanced the understanding of visual processing in th...     

The application of gene expression microarray technology to kinetoplastid research

Protozoan parasites in the order Kinetoplastida cause severe disease primarily in tropical and subtropical areas. Vaccines to control these diseases have shown some promise, but none are in active clinical use. Drug treatments are available for all of the acute infections, but the emergence of resistance and an unresponsive chronic phase are current problems. Rapid advances in genomic technology open the possibility of discovering new genes that can contribute to vaccine initiatives or serve as targets for development of new drugs. The DNA microarray is a genomic technology, which is being applied to new gene discovery in kinetoplastid parasites. Both cDNA and genomic microarrays for Leishmania major have identified a number of new genes that are expressed in a stage-specific fashion and preliminary results from a L. donovani genomic microarray also demonstrated new gene discovery. A microarray of Trypanosoma brucei genomic fragments identified new genes whose expression differs between the insect borne stage and the human infectious stage of the parasite. The next few years, building on this foundational work, should witness the most exciting stage as microarrays are applied to questions such as the basis of drug resistance, post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis, the regulation of differentiation to infectious stages, linking coordinately regulated pathways of genes and development of genetically defined parasites that may have potential as live attenuated vaccines.     

Application of adeno-associated viral vectors in behavioral research

Viral vectors afford the capability of genetically manipulating the expression of neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, hormones, and their receptors in specific brain sites of adult animals of any species. Hence, they are a powerful tool for investigating the neurochemistry underlying complex cognitive processes and behaviors. Here we discuss how the recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) can be engineered for use in neurobehavioral studies, techniques for site-specific delivery of vector into the brain, characterization of expression profiles, and biosafety issues. Finally, we discuss issues of experimental design and interpretation of behavioral results in viral vector studies.     

Advances in field-based studies of primate behavioral endocrinology

The papers in this issue were inspired by a symposium we organized for the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, held in June 2004. The purpose of the symposium was to highlight some of the new ways in which noninvasive techniques for measuring steroids are being employed to investigate the relationships between hormones and behavior in wild primates. Endocrinological data from the field provide new insights and more precise interpretations of behavioral data on topics ranging from social and reproductive strategies to seasonality, reproductive suppression, concealed ovulation, and development. Advances in the development of methods for extracting steroids from urine and feces have increased the options available to field workers, who can now select the most appropriate methodology for their study subjects, field conditions, and specific research questions. Field-based studies of behavioral endocrinology have spread to include a wide diversity of primate species. As the scope of these studies continues to grow, we anticipate the emergence of a dynamic new field in which comparative models of primate behavioral endocrinology contribute new perspectives on primates.     

Protein microarray technology

Microarray technology allows the simultaneous analysis of thousands of parameters within a single experiment. Microspots of capture molecules are immobilized in rows and columns onto a solid support and exposed to samples containing the corresponding binding molecules. Readout systems based on fluorescence, chemiluminescence, mass spectrometry, radioactivity or electrochemistry can be used to detect complex formation within each microspot. Such miniaturized and parallelized binding assays can be highly sensitive, and the extraordinary power of the method is exemplified by array-based gene expression analysis. In these systems, arrays containing immobilized DNA probes are exposed to complementary targets and the degree of hybridization is measured. Recent developments in the field of protein microarrays show applications for enzyme-substrate, DNA-protein and different types of protein-protein interactions. Here, we discuss theoretical advantages and limitations of any miniaturized capture-molecule-ligand assay system and discusses how the use of protein microarrays will change diagnostic methods and genome and proteome research.     

蛋白微阵列研究进展

蛋白微阵列是随着基因微阵列技术发展起来的,用于基因微阵列的制备方法、信号的检测及分析系统,也可用于蛋白微阵列。各种蛋白微阵列基质的发展,提高了蛋白的固定效率。放射性同位数、化学发光、激光共聚焦荧光扫描等技术都已用于微阵列的检测。重组蛋白技术的发展,提高了蛋白微阵列检测的通量和灵敏度。蛋白微阵列具有通量高、使用样品少、重复性好、可定量的特点,使其在生物医药科学研究中得到了广泛应用。本综述了蛋白微阵列的制备及其在免疫检测、医学诊断及蛋白组研究中的应用。     

Protein microarray technology

Emerging drug resistance thwarts progress in chemotherapy, resulting in increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. Understanding the mechanisms by which drug resistance phenotypes emerge is important to prolong the useful life of existing drugs but may also highlight pathways that play a role in the acquisition of resistance and which may themselves present resistance-proof drug targets. Comparative proteomic approaches have demonstrated potential to link drug resistance phenotypes to molecular changes but will also prove powerful in the elucidation of the mechanisms by which drug resistance arises.     

基因芯片在细菌基因组学和细胞微生物学研究中的应用

利用基因芯片可以鉴定病原菌在不同宿主微环境中受到差异调节的基因、直接或间接由转录因子控制的基因,以及编码多步骤代谢和生物合成途径中各种组分的基因;通过比较基因组学研究,评价相关菌种和菌株的自然群体内遗传多样性的范围和特性,并在ORF水平描述病原体和共生体之间的差异;同时也可进行感染组织细胞基因表达分析,研究病原体和宿主之间复杂的相互作用关系。     

New developments in microarray technology

Microarrays have emerged as indispensable research tools for gene expression profiling and mutation analysis. New classification of cancer subtypes, dissecting the yeast metabolism and large-scale genotyping of human single nucleotide polymorphisms are important results being obtained with this technique. Realizing the microsphere-based massively parallel signature sequencing technique as fluid microarrays, building new types of protein arrays and constructing miniaturized flow-through systems, which can potentially take this technology from the research bench into industrial, clinical and other routine applications, exemplify the intense developments that are now ongoing in this field.     

属级芯片筛查技术在马铃薯纺锤块茎类病毒属检测中的应用

建立马铃薯纺锤块茎类病毒属(Pospiviroid)类病毒有效的芯片筛查技术,对该属类病毒进行筛查。分析了该属类病毒序列,得到19条具有属级鉴定特征的探针。这些探针符合GC含量在40%与60%之间、单个核苷酸含量不大于50%、无多于4个核苷酸的连续重复及不形成多于6个核苷酸的发卡结构的标准;将探针点制到玻璃片基上制备芯片。芯片探针有效性实验结果表明,菊花矮化类病毒(Chrysanthemum stunt viroid,CSVd)及番茄雄性株类病毒(Tomato planta macho viroid,TPMVd)样品杂交可获得有效信号;灵敏度实验结果表明,该芯片可检测到200 pg/μL的总RNA。该芯片可用于Pospiviroid类病毒的筛查。     

Virtual reality in neuroscience research and therapy

Virtual reality (VR) environments are increasingly being used by neuroscientists to simulate natural events and social interactions. VR creates interactive, multimodal sensory stimuli that offer unique advantages over other approaches to neuroscientific research and applications. VR's compatibility with imaging technologies such as functional MRI allows researchers to present multimodal stimuli with a high degree of ecological validity and control while recording changes in brain activity. Therapists, too, stand to gain from progress in VR technology, which provides a high degree of control over the therapeutic experience. Here we review the latest advances in VR technology and its applications in neuroscience research.     

生物芯片技术在药物研究中的应用前景

1991年 ,美国Ｓｔｅｐｈｅｎｆｏｄｏｒ等提出了ＤＮＡ芯片的概念[1] ,随着人类基因组计划 (ＨｕｍａｎＧｅｎｏｍｅＰｒｏｊｅｃｔ,ＨＧＰ)的实施 ,生物芯片技术已成为基因组计划中的一种重要技术手段。生物芯片 (ｂｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｃｈｉｐ或ｂｉｏｃｈｉｐ) ,把生化分析系统中的样品制备、生化反应和结果检测三个部分有机地结合起来连续完成。与传统的检测方法相比 ,具有高通量、高信息量、快速、微型化、自动化、成本低、污染少、用途广等特点[2 ] 。生物芯片包括基因芯片、蛋白质芯片或肽芯片、细胞芯片、组织芯片、元件型的微阵列…