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This experiment is about expressing ricin A chain (RTA) by wheat germ cell-free system. RTA gene sequence was obtained by PCR amplification. The RTA gene sequence was then linked to the pMD18-T vector. After identified correct, the RTA gene sequence was cloned to Flexi expression vector to build Flexi-RTA recombinant plasmid. The Flexi-RTA recombinant plasmid was then added into wheat germ cell-free system to express proteins. The expressed protein which molecular weight is 32 000, was identified as RTA by SDS-PAGE, Western blot and ELISA. The expressed RTA has multiple-use in ricin poisoning diagnosis, vaccine research and development and Anti-cancer drug as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which constructs the SPRN recombinant prokaryotic expression vector and prepares the rabbit polyclonal antibody against Shadoo protein in New Zealand.

Muir et al. [T. G. Muir, C. W. Horton, Sr., and L. A. Thompson, J. Sound Vib. 64, 539-551 (1979)] observed that the propagation direction of the sound wave in the sediment insonified by a parametric array departed significantly from the prediction of Snell's law. The wave fronts penetrated more steeply into the sediment and the attenuation at postcritical incidence was less than that predicted by the plane wave theory. It was found that mainly due to the variation of the length of the parametric array, the direction of the refracted sound wave occurs at or near the line-of-sight between the projector and the hydrophone. It has been proved, both theoretically and experimentally, that Snell's law is still valid when the length of parametric array is kept constant. At postcritical incidence, the penetration of a parametric array can be deeper due to the contribution of the lateral wave and secondary sources close to the boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the toxic effects of ricin on the gastrointestinal tract and immune organs of mice. Decrease in weight and relative weight of thymus and spleen of mice were observed in the first few toxication. Results show that ricin could cause pathologic reaction to intestines while splenocytes exhibited symptoms of apoptosis and cell death.

Ricin toxin has been regarded as one of the most potent poisons in the plant kingdom, and there is no effective therapeutic countermeasure or licensed vaccine against it. Consequently, early detection of ricin intoxication is necessary. In this study, we took mice as test subjects, and used the technique of Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) and ClinProt™ microparticle beads to set up an effective detection model with an accuracy of almost 100%. Eighty-two peaks in the mass range 1000-10,000 m/z were detected by ClinProTools software, and five different peaks with m/z of 4982.49, 1333.25, 1537.86, 4285.05 and 2738.88 had the greatest contribution to the accuracy and sensitivity of this model. They may therefore provide biomarkers for ricin intoxication.