• Evolution Of The Rat Model - Rats have been favored for drug development studies because the metabolism and pharmacokinetic properties of drugs in rats are most similar to humans. Rats are also preferable for xenograft studies because they allow for tumor volumes 10-fold higher than in mice, they are easier to surgically manipulate, and they can accommodate multiple blood samplings to assess the pharmacokinetic properties of… Continue Reading >
  • Syngeneic Orthotopic Brain Cancer Xenografts In Rats - C6, 9L, and F98 are the three of the most used rat glioma models in research. In their recent review article, Sahu et al. describe the origin, genomics, and use of these three models in research1. To this day, gliomas remain incredibly hard to treat and patients commonly have very low survival rates. Orthotopic rat brain cancer models are central… Continue Reading >
  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia MOLM13 And Optimus - The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 60,650 new leukemia cases and 24,000 leukemia deaths will occur in 2022. Of these, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) will account for around 20,050 new cases and 11,540 deaths. Almost all will be in adults, with increased risk associated with age and male sex1. AML, the most common leukemia in adults, involves uncontrolled proliferation… Continue Reading >
  • In Vivo Gene Delivery Using piggyBac With Hydrodynamic Tail Vein Injection - The piggyBac (PB) transposon system, originally identified in the Cabbage Looper moth, is a mobile genetic element that can be integrated into a host genome via the PB transposase "cut and paste" mechanism.  To perform stable genomic integration, piggyBac transposon must be co-transfected with a piggyBac transposase protein or expression vector. The transposase then inserts the gene cargo and ITRs… Continue Reading >
  • The Potential Of piggyBac Technology In The Rapid Determination Of Ebolavirus Infectivity In Clinical Samples - In this article, we would like to review a recent study regarding the effective use of piggyBac in creating novel cell lines capable of efficiently detecting live ebolavirus. It’s already known in the literature that modern ebolavirus diagnostics heavily rely on qRT-PCR, a common method in detecting viral genetic material during the acute phase of the disease. However, qRT-PCR does… Continue Reading >
  • New Connection Between Gut Microbes And Liver Cancer Uncovered In Mice - In a recent study, researchers uncovered a unique mechanism in which gut microbes have the ability to influence the immune response against nearby liver tumors. This study was observed in mice, and the results were published December 15, 2020 in Cancer Discovery. This research shows how specific diseases that weaken the protective lining of the gut barrier may aggravate certain… Continue Reading >
  • Emerging Trends: Utilizing Humanized Rat Models For Investigating Strategies Against HIV And Associated Pathologies - HIV-associated morbidity and mortality have both been significantly reduced over the past few decades due to the development of safe and effective combination antiretroviral medications. These drugs have provided a great way for protection against HIV transmission so far. Despite these advancements, there are also some significant limitations, including the inability to eliminate HIV reservoirs and to reverse lymphoid tissue… Continue Reading >
  • Cotransfect Multiple piggyBac Transposons To Easily Express Complex Proteins - Multiplexed Gene Delivery With piggyBac One of the most widely used approaches in biotechnology and drug development is the generation of cultured human cells that can stably express one or more recombinant gene sequences for further studies. As we have seen in the past, conventional methods are never that efficient and have major limitations as far as engineering cells to… Continue Reading >
  • Optimizing Cell Based Research Models With Cas-CLOVER - The creation of cell-based disease and research models can inform drug development programs through mechanism elucidation, isogenic disease models, loss or gain-of-function studies and more. Because of the imprecision and variable transgene expression associated with random integration, many times development of models with these technologies is delayed or comes to a complete halt. On the other hand, popular single-guided RNA… Continue Reading >
  • Hera Biolabs Acquires Spectral Instruments Ami HT imaging technology For Enhanced In Vivo Capabilities - Hera Biolabs’ piggyBac transposase is proven to rapidly create stable in vivo reporter cell lines for imaging tumor growth and metastasis. Hera has the piggyBac cell line engineering capabilities, unique oncology rodent models and now has the Spectral Instruments Ami HT optical imaging system as well for advanced in vivo imaging. Let’s review a recent study that used the piggyBac… Continue Reading >