45 research outputs found
RNAi for Treating Hepatitis B Viral Infection
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Current treatment strategies of HBV infection including the use of interferon (IFN)-α and nucleotide analogues such as lamivudine and adefovir have met with only partial success. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more effective antiviral therapies that can clear HBV infection with fewer side effects. RNA interference (RNAi), by which a small interfering RNA (siRNA) induces the gene silence at a post-transcriptional level, has the potential of treating HBV infection. The successful use of chemically synthesized siRNA, endogenous expression of small hairpin RNA (shRNA) or microRNA (miRNA) to silence the target gene make this technology towards a potentially rational therapeutics for HBV infection. However, several challenges including poor siRNA stability, inefficient cellular uptake, widespread biodistribution and non-specific effects need to be overcome. In this review, we discuss several strategies for improving the anti-HBV therapeutic efficacy of siRNAs, while avoiding their off-target effects and immunostimulation. There is an in-depth discussion on the (1) mechanisms of RNAi, (2) methods for siRNA/shRNA production, (3) barriers to RNAi-based therapies, and (4) delivery strategies of siRNA for treating HBV infection
HERA Collider Physics
HERA, the first electron-proton collider, has been delivering luminosity
since 1992. It is the natural extension of an impressive series of fixed-target
lepton-nucleon scattering experiments. The increase of a factor ten in
center-of-mass energy over that available for fixed-target experiments has
allowed the discovery of several important results, such as the large number of
slow partons in the proton, and the sizeable diffractive cross section at large
. Recent data point to a possible deviation from Standard Model
expectations at very high , highlighting the physics potential of HERA for
new effects. The HERA program is currently in a transition period. The first
six years of data taking have primarily elucidated the structure of the proton,
allowed detailed QCD studies and had a strong impact on the understanding of
QCD dynamics. The coming years will bring the era of electroweak studies and
high measurements. This is therefore an appropriate juncture at which to
review HERA results.Comment: 351 pages, 154 figures, submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic
Photoproduction of J/psi and of high mass e+e- in ultra-peripheral Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
We present the first measurement of photoproduction of J/psi and of
two-photon production of high-mass e+e- pairs in electromagnetic (or
ultra-peripheral) nucleus-nucleus interactions, using Au+Au data at sqrt(s_NN)
= 200 GeV. The events are tagged with forward neutrons emitted following
Coulomb excitation of one or both Au^{star} nuclei. The event sample consists
of 28 events with m_{e+e-} > 2 GeV/c^2 with zero like-sign background. The
measured cross sections at midrapidity of d\sigma / dy (J/psi + Xn, y=0) = 76
+/- 33 (stat) +/- 11 (syst) micro b and d^2\sigma/dm dy (e^+e^- + Xn, y=0) = 86
+/- 23 (stat) +/- 16 (syst) micro b/(GeV/c^2) for m_{e+e-} \in [2.0,2.8]
GeV/c^2 are consistent with various theoretical predictions.Comment: 345 authors from 52 institutions, 20 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables.
Submitted to Physics Letters B. Plain text data tables for the points plotted
in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be)
publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm