Gene therapy: the end of the rainbow?

The increased understanding of the molecular basis of oral cancer has led to expectations that correction of the genetic defects will lead to improved treatments. Nevertheless, the first clinical trials for gene therapy of oral cancer occurred 20 years ago, and routine treatment is still not available. The major difficulty is that genes are usually delivered by virus vectors whose effects are weak and temporary. Viruses that replicate would be better, and the field includes many approaches in that direction. If any of these are effective in patients, then gene therapy will become available in the next few years. Without significant advances, however, the treatment of oral cancer by gene therapy will remain as remote as the legendary pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Voice biometrics over the internet in the framework of cost action 275

Original article can be found at: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/asp/ *Copyright Hindawi Publishing CorporationThe emerging field of biometric authentication over the Internet requires both robust person authentication and secure computer network protocols. This paper presents investigations of vocal biometric person authentication over the Internet, both at the protocol and authentication robustness levels. As part of this study, an appropriate client-server architecture for biometrics on the Internet is proposed and implemented. It is shown that the transmission of raw biometric data in this application is likely to result in unacceptably long delays in the process. On the other hand, by using data models (or features), the transmission time can be reduced to an acceptable level. The use of encryption/decryption for enhancing the data security in the proposed client-server link and its effects on the transmission time are also examined. Furthermore, the scope of the investigations includes an analysis of the effects of packet loss and speech coding on speaker verification performance. It is experimentally demonstrated that whilst the adverse effects of packet loss can be negligible, the encoding of speech, particularly at a low bit rate, can reduce the verification accuracy considerably. The paper details the experimental investigations conducted and presents an analysis of the results.Peer reviewe

Novel, Soluble Isoform of the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Receptor Nectin1 (or PRR1-HIgR-HveC) Modulates Positively and Negatively Susceptibility to HSV Infection

A novel member of the nectin family, nectin1γ, was molecularly cloned. The cDNA has the same ectodomain as nectin1α and nectin1β, the two known transmembrane isoforms that serve as receptors for herpes simplex virus (HSV) entry into human cell lines (nectin1α and nectin1β, also called PRR1-HveC and HIgR, respectively). The 1.4-kb transcript, which originated by alternative splicing, is expressed in human cell lines, and appears to have a narrow distribution in human tissues. The sequence does not have a hydrophobic anchoring region, and the protein is secreted in the culture medium of cells transfected with the cDNA. Nectin1γ, purified from culture medium, can compete with membrane-bound nectin1β and reduce HSV infectivity. The expression of nectin1γ cDNA in cells resistant to HSV infection and lacking HSV receptors enables HSV to enter the cell, which implies that it is present at the cell surface. Thus, nectin1γ has the potential both to mediate and to reduce HSV entry into cells

Herpes simplex virus enhances chemokine function through modulation of receptor trafficking and oligomerization

Glycoprotein G (gG) from herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2, important human neurotropic pathogens) is the first viral chemokine-binding protein found to potentiate chemokine function. Here we show that gG attaches to cell surface glycosaminoglycans and induces lipid raft clustering, increasing the incorporation of CXCR4 receptors into these microdomains. gG induces conformational rearrangements in CXCR4 homodimers and changes their intracellular partners, leading to sustained, functional chemokine/receptor complexes at the surface. This results in increased chemotaxis dependent on the cholesterol content of the plasma membrane and receptor association to Src-kinases and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase signalling pathways, but independent of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Furthermore, using electron microscopy, we show that such enhanced functionality is associated with the accumulation of low-order CXCR4 nanoclusters. Our results provide insights into basic mechanisms of chemokine receptor function and into a viral strategy of immune modulation.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SAF2009-07857 and SAF2012-38957) and Red Española de Esclerosis Múltiple (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, RD07/0060/0014). N.M.-M. was funded by a studentship from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and by Fundación Severo Ochoa. A.V.-B. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.Peer Reviewe