In addition to being one of the proponents of the “Lipid World hypothesis”, David Deamer, together with other colleagues, pioneered studies involving formation of RNA-like oligomers from their ‘non-activated’, prebiotically pl...
Implicit in the RNA world hypothesis is that prebiotic RNA synthesis, despite occurring in an environment without biochemical catalysts, produced the long RNA polymers which are essential to the formation of life. In order to investigate the prebioti...
Short interfering RNA (siRNA) targeted against anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein proved to knockdown its expression and trigger cancer cell death. We used degradable, pH-sensitive, comb-like [P(EAA-co-BMA)-b-PNASI-g-P(HMA-co-TMAEMA)] polymer to condense a...
Prebiotic polymerization had to be a nonenzymatic, chemically driven process. These processes would have been particularly favored in scenarios which push reaction regimes far from equilibrium. Dehydration-rehydration (DH-RH) cycles are one such regi...
Most contemporary theories for the chemical origins of life include the prebiotic synthesis of informational polymers, including strong interpretations of the RNA World hypothesis. Existing challenges to the prebiotic emergence of RNA have encouraged...
It is possible that early life relied on RNA polymers that served as ribozyme-like catalysts and for storing genetic information. The source of such polymers is uncertain, but previous investigations reported that wet–dry cycles simulating preb...
The endoergic nature of protein and nucleic acid assembly in aqueous media presents two questions that are fundamental to the understanding of life’s origins: (i) how did the polymers arise in an aqueous prebiotic world; and (ii) once formed in some...
An essential question in studies on the origins of life is how nucleic acids were first synthesized and then incorporated into compartments about 4 billion years ago. A recent discovery is that guided polymerization within organizing matrices could p...
Polymers containing platinum and to a lesser extent tin, have repeatedly demonstrated antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo against a variety of cell and tumor types. The mechanisms responsible for the antitumor activity include inducing a delay in...
Protein aggregation and protein self-assembly is an important occurrence in natural systems, and is in some form or other dictated by biopolymers. Very obvious influences of biopolymers on protein assemblies are, e.g., virus particles. Viruses are a...
The origins of life require the emergence of informational polymers capable of reproduction. In the RNA world on the primordial Earth, reproducible RNA molecules would have arisen from a mixture of compositionally biased, poorly available, short RNA...
Plastics are associated with a worldwide pollution crisis, with strong negative impacts on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In marine environments, various organisms are colonizing plastic debris, but few studies have focused on fungal commun...
Background: Transfection is vital for gene therapy, mRNA treatments, CAR-T cell therapy, and regenerative medicine. While viral vectors are effective, non-viral systems like lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) offer safer, more flexible alternatives. This wor...
Though siRNA-based therapy has achieved great progress, efficient siRNA delivery remains a challenge. Here, we synthesized a copolymer PAsp(-N=C-PEG)-PCys-PAsp(DETA) consisting of a poly(aspartate) block grafted with comb-like PEG side chains via a p...
Messenger RNA (mRNA) is increasingly gaining interest as a modality in vaccination and protein replacement therapy. In regenerative medicine, the mRNA-mediated expression of growth factors has shown promising results. In contrast to protein delivery,...
mRNA vaccines represent a revolutionary advance in vaccinology, boasting advantages like rapid development, robust immunogenicity and flexible antigen design over traditional vaccines. This review systematically summarizes the core research progress...
Highly efficient, biocompatible, and fast nucleic acid delivery methods are essential for biomedical applications and research. At present, two main strategies are used to this end. In non-viral transfection liposome- or polymer-based formulations ar...
Despite potential for clinical efficacy, therapeutic delivery of microRNAs (miRNA) remains a major translational barrier. Here, we explore a strategy for miRNA delivery in the treatment of glioblastoma, the most common form of adult brain cancer, tha...
To combine the excellent transfection properties of lipids with the high stability of polymeric nanoparticles, we designed a hybrid system with a polymeric core surrounded by a shell of different lipids. The aim is to use this technology for skin vac...
RNA-based molecules have recently become hot candidates to be developed into therapeutic agents. However, successful applications of RNA-based therapeutics might require suitable carriers to protect the RNA from enzymatic degradation by ubiquitous RN...
Exosome-like extracellular vesicles (ELVs) contain biomolecules that have potential as diagnostic biomarkers, such as proteins, micro-RNAs (miRNAs), and lipids. However, it is difficult to enrich ELVs consistently with high yield and purity from clin...
Chikungunya is an infectious disease caused by mosquito-transmitted chikungunya virus (CHIKV). It was reported that NS1 and E2 siRNAs administration demonstrated CHIKV inhibition in in vitro as well as in vivo systems. Cationic lipids are promising f...
We propose that the first step in the origin of cellular life on Earth was the self-assembly of fatty acids with the building blocks of RNA and protein, resulting in a stable aggregate. This scheme provides explanations for the selection and concentr...
The death rate from breast cancer (BC) has dropped due to early detection and sophisticated therapeutic options, yet drug resistance and relapse remain barriers to effective, systematic treatment. Multiple mechanisms underlying miRNAs appear crucial...
Although molecules like DNA can be analyzed in terms of their intrinsic information content on the basis of their structural complexity, it is their role in regulating cell metabolism and preserving genetic inheritance that is central. It is a basic...
Macrophages possess an innate ability to scavenge heterogenous objects from the systemic circulation and to regulate inflammatory diseases in various organs via cytokine production. That makes them attractive targets for nanomedicine-based therapeuti...
It is not known how life arose from prebiotic physical chemistry. How did fruitful cell-like associations emerge from the two polymer types—informational (nucleic acids, xNAs = DNA or RNA) and functional (proteins)? Our model shows how function...
An indispensable prerequisite for establishing a scenario of life emerging by natural processes is the requirement that the first simple proto-molecules could have had a realistic probability of self-assembly from random molecular polymers in the pre...
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and about 30% of the pneumococcal clinical isolates show type I pili-like structures. These long proteinaceous polymers extending from the bacterial surface are encoded b...
Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have been attracting significant attention owing to their gene silencing properties, which can be utilized to treat intractable diseases. In this study, two temperature-responsive liposomal siRNA carriers were prepared...
We synthesized seven carbocyclic nucleoside analogs featuring a cyclopentane ring in place of the (deoxy)ribose sugar, which serves as a linker in DNA/RNA nucleosides. We assessed the stability of cyclopentane nucleosides in 98% w/w sulfuric acid at...
The origin of genetic coding is characterised as an event of cosmic significance in which quantum mechanical causation was transcended by constructive computation. Computational causation entered the physico-chemical processes of the pre-biotic world...
Graphene is an emerging nanomaterial increasingly being used in electrochemical biosensing applications owing to its high surface area, excellent conductivity, ease of functionalization, and superior electrocatalytic properties compared to other carb...
Semisynthetic glycosaminoglycan ethers (SAGEs) are short, sulfated hyaluronans which combine the natural properties of hyaluronan with chemical sulfation. In a murine model, SAGEs provide protection against radiation induced proctitis (RIP), a side e...
Traditional prebiotic chemistry experiments often isolated single reactions under clean, controlled conditions, yet early Earth was chemically diverse and physically dynamic. Such primordial complexity likely imposed obstacles, including side reactio...
The regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins play an important role in upstream control of heterotrimeric G-protein signaling pathways. In the genome of the human opportunistic pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, six RGS protein-encoding...
The currently recommended treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection achieves only viral suppression whilst on therapy, but rarely hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss. The ultimate therapeutic endpoint is the combination of HBsAg lo...
Genome of an early-diverged yeast Blastobotrys (Arxula) adeninivorans (Ba) encodes 88 glycoside hydrolases (GHs) including two α-glucosidases of GH13 family. One of those, the rna_ARAD1D20130g-encoded protein (BaAG2; 581 aa) was overexpressed i...
In this study, we aimed to develop a multifunctional drug/gene delivery system for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme by combining the ligand-mediated active targeting and the pH-triggered drug release features of graphene oxide (GO). Toward th...
In recent decades, drug delivery systems (DDSs) based on nanotechnology have been attracting substantial interest in the pharmaceutical field, especially those developed based on natural polymers such as chitosan, cellulose, starch, collagen, gelatin...
Despite widespread industrial use, the environmental safety of hydroquinone (HQ), a benzene compound from plants used in processes like cosmetics, remains uncertain. This study evaluated the ecotoxicological impact of HQ on soil and river environment...
Nanogels are polymer-based, crosslinked hydrogel particles on the nanometer scale. Nanogels developed from synthetic and natural polymers have gathered a great deal of attention in industry and scientific society due to having an increased surface ar...
In the most recent scientific reports based on the DNA or RNA-analyses a widespread presence of the filamentous fungi, Mortierella in various environments has been shown. Some strains of this genus belong to the plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF) an...
Since the discovery of a novel liver hyaluronan (HA) clearance receptor in 1981 by Laurent, Fraser and coworkers, 22 different ligands cleared by the renamed receptor (the Hyaluronan Receptor for Endocytosis (HARE); Stabilin-2 (Stab2)) were discovere...
Skeletal systems provide support, movement, and protection to the human body. It can be affected by several life suffering bone disorders such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and bone cancers. It is not an easy job to treat bone disorders because of...
CRISPR-Cas systems have transformed genome engineering with their exceptional precision, programmability, and affordability. Although they originate from microbial defense mechanisms, expanding their use, especially in therapeutics, requires a chemic...
Nucleopeptides (NPs) are unnatural hybrid polymers designed by coupling nucleobases to the side chains of amino acid residues within peptides. In this study, we present the synthesis of an Fmoc-protected nucleobase amino acid (NBA) monomer (Fmoc-1,4-...
Polymer microspheres have recently shown outstanding potential for bone tissue engineering due to their large specific surface area, good porosity, injectable property, good biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Their good load-release function and...
Y-box-binding protein 1 (YB-1) is a multifunctional positively charged protein that interacts with DNA or RNA and poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR). YB-1 is poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated and stimulates poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) activity. Here, we studied th...
Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health concern. Because only a few novel classes of antibiotics have been developed in the last 40 years, such as the class of oxazolidinones, new antibacterial strategies are urgently needed (Coates, A.R. et...
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