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A disulfide-tethered peptide–lipid conjugate self-assembled into a homogeneously distributed peptide–lipid hybrid vesicle. Upon dithiothreitol treatment, the homogeneous peptide–lipid membrane spontaneously divided into lipid-rich and peptide-rich domains, while the vesicle retained its size and shape. Membrane phase separation enhanced temperature-dependent cargo release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report a new strategy for the buildup reaction of active siRNA species from short RNA fragments in living cells using a chemical ligation reaction. This strategy could decrease undesired immune responses and provide more latitude for RNAi technology in the design and concentration of introduced RNA compared to traditional siRNA methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A peptide that binds and emits fluorescence in response to conformational change in a target protein was developed by in vitro selection using tRNA carrying a fluorogenic amino acid. This technology could prove to be useful for the development of separation-free immunoassays and bio-imaging analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated with ester-headed or ether-headed PEG ligands were synthesized. Ester-headed AuNPs, but not ether-headed, were transferred from the organic phase (CH2Cl2) to the alkali aqueous phase, indicating that the hydrolysis of the ester moiety triggered the phase transfer of the AuNPs. We found that AuNPs with ester-headed ligands (ester-AuNPs) were internalized into HeLa cells at a greater level than were ether-headed AuNPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein nanotubes formed by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly can penetrate cells and act as nanopores for direct transmembrane delivery of chemical compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a system to release a biologically active molecule in response to the sequence of a target gene. The releasing system, which was triggered by the reduction of an azidomethyl group, was successfully applied to protein expression induced by the release of IPTG triggered by endogenous RNA in bacterial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small circular double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) were synthesized. The structural analysis by atomic force microscopy gave direct images for the interpretation of the structural strain present in circular dsRNAs. Finally, we demonstrated that circular dsRNA caused RNAi effect in cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]