Densitometric determination of human papillomavirus DNA quantities by chromato-scanning in the fluorescence mode

Fractal dimension of error sequence dynamics in quantitative modeling of syntheses of short oligonucleotide and single-stranded DNA sequences

Oligonucleotides are becoming more and more important in molecular biomedicine; for example, they are used as defined primers in polymerase chain reaction and as antisense oligonucleotides in gene therapy. In this paper, we model the dynamics of polymer-supported oligonucleotide synthesis to an inverse power law of driven multi-cycle synthesis on fixed starting sites. The mathematical model is employed by presenting the accompanying view of error sequences dynamics. This model is a practical one, and is applicable beyond oligonucleotide synthesis to dynamics of biological diversity. Computer simulations show that the polymer support synthesis of oligonucleotides and single-stranded DNA sequences in iterated cyclic format can be assumed as scale-invariant. This synthesis is quantitatively described by nonlinear equations. From these the fractal dimension Da (N,d) is derived as the growth term (N = number of target nucleotides, d = coupling probability function). Da(N,d) is directly measurable from oligonucleotide yields via high-performance liquid chromatography or capillary electrophoresis, and quantitative gel electrophoresis. Different oligonucleotide syntheses, including those with large-scale products can be directly compared with regard to error sequences dynamics. In addition, for short sequences the fractal dimension Da (N,d) is characteristic for the efficiency with which a polymer support of a given load allows oligonucleotide chain growth. We analyze the results of separations of crude oligonucleotide product from the synthesis of a 30 mer. Preliminary analysis of a 238 mer single-stranded DNA sequence is consistent with a simulated estimate of crude synthesis product, although the target sequence itself is not detectable. We characterize the oligonucleotide support syntheses by simulated and experimentally determined values of the fractal dimension Da (N,d0) within limitations (d0 = constant (average) coupling probability).

Significance of anti-eye muscle antibody in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy by quantitative western blot

To investigate the prevalence of antibody against rat eye muscle membrane antigen, as determined from SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and western blotting, in sera from patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO), we quantitatively analyzed the binding activity with a rat eye muscle membrane 64 kDa protein using chromato-scanner. Eye muscle antibody activity was expressed as ratio of density of the 64 kDa band to that at 66 kDa found with all normal sera and phosphate buffered saline. The mean (+/- SD) eye muscle antibody activity was 2.7 +/- 2.7 in TAO (P < 0.01 v.s. normal), 1.5 +/- 1.7 in Graves' disease without evident eye disease, 1.6 +/- 2.5 in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and 0.45 +/- 0.26 in normal subjects. A positive band at 64 kDa was found in 71% of patients with TAO, 36% of those of Graves' disease without evident eye disease and in 35% of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis without eye disease. The prevalence of this antibody activity tended to correlate to the severity of ophthalmopathy. Furthermore, the level of eye muscle antibody activity decreased in parallel with the improvement of eye signs in two patients. Sera reactive with rat eye muscle membrane 64 kDa protein reacted also with a human eye muscle membrane 64 kDa protein but not with human thyroid, liver, spleen or pancreas membrane preparations. In conclusion, antibody to rat eye muscle membrane 64 kDa protein is present in TAO and may be a useful clinical marker of ophthalmopathy.