Sirt6 LoxP (Sirt6tm1.1Cxd) Mouse Model for Liver Studies

Generation of floxed Sirtuin 6 for the construction of conditional knockout mice.

The Sirtuins (Sirt1-7), a family of seven proteins related to yeast Sir2, are histone deacetylases that regulate many critical biological processes including genomic stability, adaptation to calorie restriction and aging. Mice with a targeted disruption of Sirt6 had very low levels of blood glucose (and paradoxically, low insulin levels) and died shortly after weaning. Hypoglycemia, attributed to increased sensitivity to insulin, was the major cause for lethality.

Automated Core Biopsy Instrument

The invention is an automated core biopsy instrument that may be operated with one hand. The instrument has a single activation element that causes a stylet to advance into the tissue of interest as a cutting cannula disposed around the stylet is fired to shear off the tissue into specimen notches disposed in the stylet. The invention is constructed so that the stylet and cutting cannula may be separately driven and biased. The cocking mechanism of the automated core biopsy instrument is used to cock both the stylet assembly and cutting cannula assemblies against separate biasing springs.

Antagonist of A3 Adenosine Receptor Fluorescent Probes for the Study of Diseases that Involve A3 Signaling

This molecular probe may serve as a companion tool to identify and stratify patient populations based on the prevalence of the target A3 adenosine receptors.

Small molecule drugs, A3AR-selective agonists, are currently in advanced clinical trials for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, autoimmune inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and dry eye disease, and other conditions.

Polyclonal Antibodies for the Specialized Signaling G protein, Gbeta5

Researchers at NIDDK have developed polyclonal antibodies against the G protein, Gbeta5. Gbeta5 is a unique and highly specialized G protein that exhibits much less homology than other Gbeta isoforms (~50%) and is preferentially expressed in brain and neuroendocrine tissue. It is expressed prominently in the neuronal cell membrane, as well as in the cytosol and nucleus. Although this distribution pattern suggests that Gbeta5 may shuttle information between classical G protein-signaling elements at the plasma membrane and the cell interior, its function in the brain is largely unknown.