Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 4, Issue 6, 2003

The collection of articles published under the motto “The way down from single genes and proteins to single molecules” is covering the results of groundbreaking developments of the recent years. They include single molecule detection yielding ultimate sensitivity and closely linked to the analysis of molecular noise by correlation spectroscopy. Several important examples from the field of nucleic acid as well as protein ana Read More

The identification of genes predisposing to human diseases is of paramount importance for understanding the molecular basis of the disease and individually different drug response, and will establish new routes to diagnosis and therapeutic advances of immense medical benefit. A key step common to all strategies for disease gene identification is the systematic analysis of candidate gene sequences to identify specific sequ Read More

The interactions of nucleic acids technology and the technology of arrayed nucleic acids are described, showing the interdependence of nucleic acids chemistry, surface chemistry, (micro-) technology and the requirements of biomedical applications. The methods and problems of the production of large numbers of oligonucleotides as well as the methods of arraying oligonucleotides are highlighted. The basic approach Read More

The data generated by DNA arrays are often described as the molecular “portrait” of a particular physiological / pathological sample. Although the emotional reactions could range from revulsion to adoration when viewing those portraits, as it might be when viewing some contemporary art, array technology has fundamentally changed the way researchers approach many biomedical questions. With its ability to monitor the e Read More

Whereas the majority of microarray applications still deal with expression analysis for gathering information about levels of gene products at certain cell states, other approaches simply ask the question whether particular genes, which are usually indicative for particular microorganisms and pathogens, are present in a sample or not. Investigations that are more detailed try to evaluate the presence of particular subtypes Read More

Microarray technology enables researchers to investigate the expression of several thousand genes simultaneously. The whole transcriptional response of these genes in normal cells or tissue, in disease condition, as an response to biological, genetical or chemical stimuli or during normal biological processes such as cell cycle or embryonic development can be investigated. This leads to a huge amount of data, from which Read More

The creation of enormous libraries of chemicals and their subsequent screening for bioactivity has been accelerated through recent developments in encoding solid supports. The ability to accurately identify the structure of a biomolecule that has exhibited activity is invaluable and is closer to realisation in the advent of smart nanoscience. In this review the evolution of encoding solid supports as platforms for combinatorial syn Read More

Fluorescence methods are commonly used in pharmaceutical drug discovery to assay the binding of drug-like compounds to signaling proteins and other bio-particles. For binding studies of non-fluorescent compounds, a competitive format may be used in which the binding of the compound results in displacement of another fluorescently labeled ligand. Highly-sensitive measurements within nano-liter sized open probe volum Read More

The rapid increase of compound libraries as well as new targets emerging from the Human Genome Project require constant progress in pharmaceutical research. An important tool is High-Throughput Screening (HTS), which has evolved as an indispensable instrument in the pre-clinical target-to-IND (Investigational New Drug) discovery process. HTS requires machinery, which is able to test more than 100,000 pot Read More

Reliable, efficient and cost-effective modalities are urgently needed for mass screening of gene mutations. Previous reports have shown that SSCP or genechip methods require substantial time and monetary costs, thus limiting their appeal. Sequence Specific Primer Polymerase Chain Reaction (SSP-PCR) is a reliable and cost-effective method that utilizes the 3'-end discrimination properties of polymerase. However, the applicabi Read More