Non-Coding RNA Prediction and Verification in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) play an important and varied role in cellular function. A significant amount of research has been devoted to computational prediction of these genes from genomic sequence, but the ability to do so has remained elusive due to a lack of apparent genomic features. In this work, thermodynamic stability of ncRNA structural elements, as summarized in a Z-score, is used to predict ncRNA in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This analysis was coupled with comparative genomics to search for ncRNA genes on chromosome six of S. cerevisiae and S. bayanus. Sets of positive and negative control genes were evaluated to determine the efficacy of thermodynamic stability for discriminating ncRNA from background sequence. The effect of window sizes and step sizes on the sensitivity of ncRNA identification was also explored. Non-coding RNA gene candidates, common to both S. cerevisiae and S. bayanus, were verified using northern blot analysis, rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), and publicly available cDNA library data. Four ncRNA transcripts are well supported by experimental data (RUF10, RUF11, RUF12, RUF13), while one additional putative ncRNA transcript is well supported but the data are not entirely conclusive. Six candidates appear to be structural elements in 5′ or 3′ untranslated regions of annotated protein-coding genes. This work shows that thermodynamic stability, coupled with comparative genomics, can be used to predict ncRNA with significant structural elements

Water and the display of power in Augustan Rome: the so-called ‘Villa Claudia’ at Anguillara Sabazia

This article re-considers the architecture of the Roman villa site at Anguillara Sabazia (Lazio (RM), Italy). It is argued that the villa should be dated to the Augustan period, rather than the late Republic, and that its elaborate ornamental water features, including fountains arranged in an elliptical curve, were supplied by the Augustan aqueduct, the Aqua Alsietina, also known as the Aqua Augusta, either directly, or through a subsidiary branch off the main conduit. Its particular elliptical form, unique in Roman villa architecture at that time, may be explained as a small-scale version of the imperial pool (Stagnum) created in 2 bc for the Emperor Augustus’s recreation of sea-battles (Naumachia Augusti) in the modern district of Trastevere, which was the eventual destination of the aqueduct. There is no firm evidence for the owner of the villa, but a fragment of an honorific inscription from the site suggests a high-ranking ex-consul from the family of the Cornelii, possibly connected with the water administration (Cura Aquarum) in Rome

Peptide-based targeting strategies for simultaneous imaging and therapy with nanovectors

Over recent years, multifunctional compounds that combine diagnostic and therapeutic modalities using one unified material have been developed and designated as theranostics. These compounds provide the chance to develop individually designed therapies against various diseases to accomplish personalized medicine. In this review, theranostic agents based on nanovectors (liposomes, naposomes, micelles, polymeric micelles and micelles built around a solid core) externally modified with targeting peptides able to simultaneously carry a drug and a contrast agent are described, demonstrating that peptide-modified nanovectors can selectively carry a drug to target cells with an imaging probe co-incorporated into the nanovector to monitor therapy