PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
Influenza viruses are enveloped viruses with a diameter of 80-120 nm, and contain a singlestranded, segmented, negative-sense RNA within a nucleocapsid. Influenza virus is propagated in the MDCK cell line. Influenza Culture Fluid is sold in 1.0 mL aliquots, and is shipped on dry ice. Viral culture fluids consist of virus, cells, and media taken directly from the tissue culture flask. Each lot of viral culture fluid is assayed for its Tissue Culture Infective Dose (TCID50), and sold with titers>105 U/ml. Custom orders are available, including specific titersand package sizes.

INTENDED USE:
This product is intended for research, product development testing, or quality assurance testing. Viral culture fluids are sold as consumable testing materials, and are not for propagation or commercialization. Applications include:
- Nucleic Acid / Molecular Testing
- Limit of Detection (LOD) Studies
- Cross-reactivity Studies
- Other Viral-based Assays

TIOLOGIC STATUS/BIOHAZARD TESTING:
Influenza virus is a Biosafety Level 2 organism.

PRECAUTIONS:
USE UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS when handling this product! Viral Culture Fluid is live and infectious!! This material should be handled as if capable of transmitting infectious agents.

RECOMMENDED STORAGE:
Viral culture fluid is stable for at least one year when stored at -65ºC or below. To avoid repeat freeze-thaws, which could negatively impact product performance, culture fluid should be stored in aliquots upon receipt.
DO NOT USE IN HUMANS!
These products are NOT intended for use in the manufacture or processing of injectable products subject to licensure under section 351 of the Public Health Service Act, or for any other product intended for administration to humans.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
Influenza viruses are enveloped viruses with a diameter of 80-120 nm, and contain a singlestranded, segmented, negative-sense RNA within a nucleocapsid. Influenza virus is propagated in the MDCK cell line. The virus is purified using sucrose density gradient
ultracentrifugation, disrupted in the presence of 0.5% Triton X-100 non-ionic detergent/0.6 M KCl, and heat inactivated. Influenza lysate is sold in vials containing 1.0 mg of protein, and is shipped on dry ice. Protein concentrations generally range from 0.5 to 3.0
mg/ml. Custom orders are available, including specific buffer formulations and package sizes. 

INTENDED USE:
This product is intended for research, product development, quality assurance testing, or further manufacturing use. Viral lysates can be utilized as an antigen, as a source for the purification of viral proteins, or for the detection of viral antibodies.

Applications include:
- Immunodetection of antibodies to Influenza virus using solid-phase enzyme immunoassays (EIA)
- Western blot
- Dot blot
- Other protein-based assays

TIOLOGIC STATUS/BIOHAZARD TESTING:
Influenza virus is a Biosafety Level 2 organism. Viral inactivation is verified for every lot of lysate by the absence of viral growth in validated tissue culture based infectivity assays.

PRECAUTIONS:
USE UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS when handling this product! Influenza Lysate has been treated by a method validated to be effective for virus inactivation. However, no method can be guaranteed 100% effective. This material should be handled as if capable of transmitting infectious agents.

RECOMMENDED STORAGE:
The viral lysate is stable for at least one year when stored at -65ºC or below. To avoid repeat freeze-thaws, which could negatively impact product performance, viral lysateshould be stored in aliquots upon receipt.
DO NOT USE IN HUMANS!
These products are NOT intended for use in the manufacture or processing of injectable products subject to licensure under section 351 of the Public Health Service Act, or for any other product intended for administration to humans.

Product Name: Celastrol
Catalog #: SIH-333-10MG
Size: 10mg
Type: Inhibitor

Datasheet: Download PDF file

Description: Proteasome inhibitor

Research Area: Apoptosis

CAS Number: 34157-83-0

Formula: C29H38O4

Molecular weight: 450.6

Source/Host: Synthetic

Purity: >98% (TLC); NMR (Conforms)

Solubility: May be dissolved in DMSO (45mg/mL) or Ethanol (30mg/mL)

Appearance: Red Powder

Safety Phrases: 

Classification: Toxic- Toxic Material Causing Immediate and Serious Toxic Effects                     
S22 - Do not breathe dust
S36/37/39 - Wear suitable protective clothing, gloves and eye/face protection
S24/25- Avoid contact with skin and eyes
Hazard Statements:                 
H301 – Toxic if swallowed                                                     
Precautionary Statements:      
P301 + P31 – If Swallowed, immediately call a POISON CENTER or doctor.   

Storage Temp: -20°C

Shipping Temp: Blue Ice or 4°C

Pictured in the foreground is the snail. In the background is the child from whence the snail emerged.

The child's name is Paul Franklin. A few weeks back Paul was visiting the beach with his family when he tripped and dashed his right knee against a rock. His parents cleaned and bandaged the injury. A week later Paul fell again while iceskating, and again his parents dressed the wound. A day later the knee had swollen and Paul had developed a limp. He was hurried to a nearby hospital, where doctors prescribed him a course of antibiotics.

What happened next is recounted in greater details at The Orange County Register, but here's the play-by-play summary:

• After a couple days, the would looked like it was getting better. But then it got way, way worse. The wound looked necrotic, and was badly swollen. Doctors advised Paul's parents not to drain the wound by squeezing it. When the wound started looking even nastier than it does at right in the side-by-side, Paul's mom said to hell with doctor's orders and squeezed away. Boom. Out pops a snail.

At first she thought it was a rock. But nope. It was a snail. A live snail that had been wriggling around in her son's knee since... well... the leading theory is that when Paul smacked his knee against a seaside rock, an egg must have been jammed into the flesh and just kind of... incubated. Nobody's really sure how or if that's possible, but according to the OC Register, Paul's mom is now "trying to find a marine biologist" who can tell her as much.

A comprehensive line of Seroconversion and Serology Reference Panels for many infectious disease markers. All testing is performed by Certified Reference Laboratories and Domestic and International Regulatory Bodies.

Sterile, unadulterated plasma from asymptomatic untreated donors collected in US Licensed Blood Banks
Therapeutic grade source plasma (sodium citrate) that is frozen within ~30 min of collection
Available as finished 1 ml panels or in custom bulk quantities

Custom OEM Panels:

Any specific panel matrix can be developed to complement your custom application. Specific areas include: 
• New Product Development 
• Regulatory Submissions 
• Kit “lot” Release & other QC Applications 
• Clinical Trials
• Training 
• Equipment Validation & Familiarization

MOLECULAR VALIDATION

NATtrol™ Respiratory Validation Panel (US)
NATtrol™ Respiratory Validation Panel (Global)
NATtrol™ Respiratory Validation Panel(Includes H1N1 2009)
NATtrol™ Flu Verification Panel
NATtrol™ Respiratory Verification Panel
NATtrol™ Influenza Verification Panel
NATtrol™ C.difficile Verification Panel
NATtrol™ CT/NG Panel

 Click here to see all products

MOLECULAR RANGE VALIDATION

NATtrol™ BK Virus Linearity Panel
NATtrol™ Cytomegalovirus Linearity Panel
NATtrol™ HIV1 Virus Linearity Panel

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URODETECT DRUGS OF ABUSE PANELS

UroDetect Drugs of Abuse Panel II- Barbiturates
UroDetect Drugs of Abuse Panel I- Amphetamines
UroDetect Drugs of Abuse Panel III- Benzodiazepines
UroDetect Drugs of Abuse Panel IV- Cannabinoids
UroDetect Drugs of Abuse Panel V- Cocaine
UroDetect Drugs of Abuse Panel VI- Oxycodone

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HBV SEROCONVERSION

Hepatitis B Panels

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HCV SEROCONVERSION

HCV PCR only Panels 
Anti-HCV Panels 
Anti-HCV "False Positive" Panels 
HCV Pre-Post

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HIV SEROCONVERSION

HIV Panels 
Anti-HIV-1 Panels 
Anti-HIV-1 "False Positive" Panels
HIV Pre-Post

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SERODETECT™ QC VALIDATION

HIV-Ab 
HBsAg 
ANTI –HBs 
ANTI-HBCore 
ANTI-HCV 
HTLV Ab 
HCV-Ab Mixed Titer

 Product list

GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE

Global HIV Surveillance

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CLINICAL VALIDATION

Clinical Normal 
Post Menopausal
Influenza Point Of Care Validation
Influenza Rapid Test Validation Panel

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DIAGNOSTIC REFERENCE

Autoimmune Disease
PSA Sensitivity
HAMA

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VACCINE

Flu Vaccine
HBV Vaccine
HAV Vaccine

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MIXED TITER

Syphilis Mixed Titer Panel Lot# 1111-272-00123
Syphilis Mixed Titer Panel Lot# 0709-272-00053 
Hepatitis E Positive Titer
ToRCH Mixed Titer
Mixed Bacteria Titer

 Click here for more information about these products

LONGITUDINAL

HBV Longitudinal

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Western blotting allows visualization of antibodies directed against specific viral proteins.
- Available for SIV, HTLV I/II, HIV and Helicobacter pylori
- Easy to use, complete kits containing everything needed for antibody detection
- Nitrocellulose strips available for use with your own detection system*
*for SIV and HTLV I/II

SIV BLOT
SIV STRIPS

Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) is the most closely related lentivirus to Human Immunodeficiency (HIV), therefore, SIV infection in monkeys has become the best animal model for studying the pathogenesis and efficacy of vaccines against HIV infection in humans. The SIV Western Blot assay is a qualitative enzyme immunoassay for the in vitro detection of antibodies to SIV in serum or plasma. 

HTLV BLOT 2.4* 
HTLV I/II STRIPS

The MP Biomedicals ® HTLV BLOT 2.4 is a qualitative enzyme immunoassay for detecting antibodies to HTLV-I and HTLV-II in human serum or plasma. The HTLV blot 2.4 incorporates MTA-1, a unique HTLV-1 envelope recombinant protein (rgp46-I), K55, a unique HTLV-II envelope recombinant protein (rgp46-II) and GD21, a common yet specific HTLV-I and HTLV-II epitope recombinant protein on the blot. This test is supplied for research purposes only. 

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HELICO BLOT 2.1*

The MP Biomedicals ® HELICO BLOT 2.1 Western blot kit is a qualitative assay for the detection of IgG antibodies to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in human serum or plasma. In addition to bacterial lysate there is a recombinant antigen with high predictive value for the indication of current H. pylori infection. The assay is intended for use as a serological test for the detection of both current and past infection with H. pylori. Unlike an ELISA, the HELICO BLOT 2.1 allows for the detection of antibodies to specific proteins of H. pylori, including antigens associated with pathology such as CagA and VacA. This kit is supplied for research purposes only. 

Click here for more information

HIV-1 BLOT 1.3 * 

The MP Biomedicals ® HIV-1 BLOT 1.3 is a qualitative enzyme immunoassay for the detection of antibodies to HIV-1 in human serum or plasma. The assay supplied for research use only and is not intended for use in diagnosis and prognosis of disease. 

A.   Problem

While working with proteins and nucleic acids, it is very often necessary to eliminate small molecular weight substances such as reducing agents [dithiothreitol (DTT), 2-mercaptoethanol (BME), urea], un-reacted crosslinking or labeling reagents (sulfo-SMCC, biotin) and preservatives (sodium azide, thimerosal) that might interfere in subsequent steps of the experimental protocol. Methods such as dialysis and electro-elution (for extraction of nucleic acids from gels) have long been used to purify proteins and nucleic acids. However, these traditional methods are riddled with numerous problems which may lead to tremendous time consumption, sample loss, contamination and high sample dilutions requiring further concentration.

B.   Solution

DiaEasy™ Dialyzer tubes product line offers a solution to most of these issues. Our Dialysis tubes come in easy to use sets of 10, 25 and 100 tubes each, catering to different molecular weight cut-offs of 1 kDa, 3.5 kDa, 6-8 kDa, 12-14 kDa, 25 kDa and 50 kDa for different sample volumes ranging from 10 µl to 20 ml.  These sets also contain floating racks and/or supporting trays for convenient handling of the tubes in the exchange buffer and electroelution. The combination of DiaEasy™ Dialyzer tubes and the electroelution accessories provides a unique tool for extraction of any protein, protein-protein, or protein DNA complexes from non-denaturing and denaturing (SDS) polyacrylamide gels, and for extraction of oligonucleotides, RNA, and DNA from both polyacrylamide and agarose gels. The DiaEasy™ tube’s membranes are ultra-clean, sulfur and heavy metal free and EDTA treated which makes the harvested proteins and nucleic acids suitable for molecular biology experiments. These DiaEasy™ tubes allow rapid, secure and simple loading and recovery. They are very high performance dialysis tubes and are the most convenient, user friendly dialysis system on the market. We offer these tubes with related accessories like supporting trays and floating racks for easy use.

C.   Applications of DiaEasy™ Dialyzer tubes

• •      Dialysis or buffer exchange of six different samples volumes: 10-250 µl, 50-800 µl, 0.1-3 ml, 10 ml, 15 ml and 20 ml.
• •      High throughput dialysis (using a single beaker with several DiaEasy™ tubes on one floating pad).
• •      Preparation of protein samples for MALDI-MS.
• •      Samples concentration.
• •      Large-scale protein dialysis such as antibodies and recombinant protein purification.
• •      Peptide dialysis as small as 10 amino acids.
• •      Virus-particle purification.
• •      Removal of contaminating micro molecules.
• •      Tissue culture extracts purification.
• •      Removal of salts, surfactants, solvents & detergents.
• •      Complex formation studies (protein-protein, protein-DNA and protein-RNA).
• •      pH and buffer adjustment of sample solution, protein extract or cell extract.
• •      2D gel dots extraction.
• •      Extraction of proteins, RNA, DNA or oligonucleotides (>20 nt) from polyacrylamide, agarose or any gel matrix in any running buffer.  

D.   Advantages of DiaEasy™ Dialyzer tubes

• •       Most convenient, efficient and user-friendly dialysis sets on the market.
• •       Single step efficient dialysis saves time and eliminates the need for additional equipment.
• •       Samples pass through the tubes once, eliminating repeated dilutions and concentrations.
• •       Single step decreases the risk of potential protein aggregation and precipitation and ensures high activity retention.
• •       Elution times are as low as 10 minutes and range upto 150 minutes based on multiple criteria including the sample content, size and volume.
• •       These sets are HTP compatible.

E.   Typical Recovery Rates

F.   Advantages of DiaEasy™ Dialyzer tubes over conventional dialysis methods:

Genetically modified rice could help protect children and the immuno-compromised from diarrheal disease, according to a study published last week (August 8) in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. More than 600,000 children die of rotavirus infections each year, and researchers say the rice could eventually supplement currently available vaccines and other treatments to reduce the rates of rotavirus-related death.

To produce their virus-fighting rice, the researchers inserted genes from llamas in order to get the plants to produce a key section of a rotavirus-targeting antibody, MucoRice-ARP1. This antibody fragment survives digestion, making oral administration possible.

The researchers tested the product in mice, giving them water mixed with rice powder before inoculating the animals with rotavirus. The mice that had received the genetically modified rice water had less diarrhea and a lower viral load than those not given the treatment.

There are already two vaccines available for rotavirus, but they have relatively low efficacy, possibly because they do not work well in immuno-compromised individuals. The researchers suggest that their GM rice could supplement the vaccines, providing protection for the immuno-compromised and infants who are at particularly high risk of diarrheal disease.

But Mathuram Santosham, who studies rotaviruses at Johns Hopkins University, told that “substantially more research is needed to understand the potential impact of this intervention in humans.” She added that, “in the meantime, it is important to remember that we have highly effective tools, which are available now, including rotavirus vaccines, oral rehydration solution, and zinc supplementation.”

Investigators at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School have published the most thorough description of gene expression in the human retina reported to date. In a study published today in the journal BMC Genomics, Drs. Michael Farkas, Eric Pierce and colleagues in the Ocular Genomics Institute (OGI) at Mass. Eye and Ear reported a complete catalog of the genes expressed in the retina.

The retina is the neural tissue in the back of the eye that initiates vision.  It is responsible to receiving light signals, converting them into neurologic signals and sending those signals to the brain so that we can see.  If one thinks of the eye as a camera, the retina in the “film” in the camera. For these studies, the investigators used a technique called RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify all of the messenger RNAs (mRNAs) produced in the human retina.  The resulting catalog of expressed genes, or transcriptome, demonstrates that the majority of the 20,000+ genes in the human body are expressed in the retina.  This in itself is not surprising, because the retina is a complex tissue comprised of 60 cell types.

In a more surprising result, Dr. Farkas and colleagues identified almost 30,000 novel exons and over 100 potential novel genes that had not been identified previously. Exons are the portions of the genome that are used to encode proteins or other genetic elements.  The investigators validated almost 15,000 of these novel transcript features and found that more than 99 percent of them could be reproducibly detected. Several thousand of the novel exons appear to be used specifically in the retina.  In total, the newly detected mRNA sequence increased the number of exons identified in the human genome by 3 percent. 

“While this may not sound like a lot, it shows that there is more to discover about the human genome, and that each tissue may use distinct parts of the genome,” said Dr. Pierce, Director of the OGI and the Solman and Libe Friedman Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School.

This work is valuable to help scientists understand how the retina worksand how it is affected by disease. For example, Dr. Pierce and colleagues in the OGI study inherited retinal degenerations, which are common causes of vision loss. These diseases are caused by misspellings or mutations in genes that are needed for vision. To date, investigators have identified more than 200 retinal degeneration disease genes, but still can’t find the cause of disease for up to half of the patients affected by these disorders. Identification of new exons used in the retina may help find the cause of disease in these patients. 

Identifying the genetic cause of patients’ retinal degeneration has become especially important with the recent success of clinical trials of gene therapy for RPE65 Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). As a follow-up to these initial proof-of-concept trials, clinical trials of gene therapy for four other genetic forms of inherited retinal degeneration are currently in progress. Further, studies in animal models have reported successful gene therapy for multiple additional genetic types of IRD. There is thus an unprecedented opportunity to translate research progress into provide sight preserving and/or restoring treatment to patients with retinal degenerative disorders.

About Massachusetts Eye and Ear 
Mass. Eye and Ear clinicians and scientists are driven by a mission to find cures for blindness, deafness and diseases of the head and neck.  After uniting with Schepens Eye Research Institute in 2011, Mass. Eye and Ear in Boston became the world's largest vision and hearing research center, offering hope and healing to patients everywhere through discovery and innovation.  Mass. Eye and Ear is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and trains future medical leaders in ophthalmology and otolaryngology, through residency as well as clinical and research fellowships.  Internationally acclaimed since its founding in 1824, Mass. Eye and Ear employs full-time, board-certified physicians who offer high-quality and affordable specialty care that ranges from the routine to the very complex.  U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals Survey” has consistently ranked the Mass. Eye and Ear Departments of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology as among the top hospitals in the nation. Mass. Eye and Ear is home to the Ocular Genomics Institute which aims to translate the promise of personalized genomic medicine into clinical care for ophthalmic disorders. 

UCLA researchers, in a finding that runs counter to conventional wisdom, have discovered for the first time that a gene thought to express a protein in all cells that come under stress is instead expressed only in specific cell types.

The group, from the Jules Stein Eye Institute and UCLA Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, focused on αB-Crystallin, a small heat shock protein. Heat shock proteins are a class of functionally-related proteins involved in the folding and unfolding of other proteins. Their expression is increased when cells are exposed to taxing environmental conditions, such as infection, inflammation, exercise, exposure to toxins and other stressors.

αB-Crystallin may be associated with certain cancers and could be developed into a biomarker to monitor for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, age-related macular degeneration, heart muscle degeneration and clouding of the eye lens. Any discoveries about how this protein is regulated and its molecular biology may reveal potential targets for novel therapies, said study first author Zhe Jing, a research associate in UCLA Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

"If you use a certain cell type, this protein can be induced when the cells are stressed, but that doesn't happen in a different cell type," said Jing. "This novel finding does conflict with what has been thought, that this protein could be induced in any cell type."

The findings of this two-year study are published in the most recent issue of the journal Cell Stress and Chaperones, a peer-reviewed journal in the fields of cell stress response.

The UCLA team did the study using four cell lines -- two epithelial cells lines and two fibroblast cells lines. They found that the protein cannot be induced by stress in epithelial cells, in which 80 percent of cancers arise. It can, however, be induced in the fibroblasts that make up muscle tissue.

The significant finding in this investigation is that, in certain cell types, only one specific heat shock factor controls the expression of αB-Crystallin. For example, in the epithelial cell lines, it is heat shock factor 4 (HSF4), while a different heat shock factor, (HSF1), plays this role in the fibroblast cells lines.

In the past, the data has indicated that a heat shock factor could control the expression of αB-Crystallin randomly and equally. However, Jing's discovery overrides this rule. His findings strongly suggest the "preference" of the αB-Crystallin to heat shock factors in certain cells may be correlated with its versatility to various diseases.

"Considering the multiple roles of αB-Crystallin in so many diseases, the access of the HSF1 and HSF4 to the αB-Crystallin gene dictated by the certain cell type may be what is helping to cause certain diseases," Jing said. "If we can uncover the cascade of events that result in disease, we may be able to come up with strategies to block or interrupt that cascade."

Going forward, Jing and the research team will validate what they found in this study by examining single cells, which provides a greater challenge but may lead to further discoveries.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.