Notes: The authors sought to identify the mediators of transmission of HIV across the mucosal barrier in humans. They noted that transmission occurs even the genital tract epithelium is seemingly not damaged. In this study they showed that gp340 expressed on primary female genital epithelial cells binds HIV-1 and enhances transmission of otherwise subinfectious amounts of HIV to infect cells, also allowing transmission to occur over longer time periods. Their study methods included plating a variety of cell types, incubating these cells with HIV, and lysing the cells with Luciferase Cell Culture Lysis Reagent, then measuring HIV-1 p24 content by ELISA. (3701)

Notes: Leaves of Glycine max (soybean) were co-transfected by particle bombardment with various combinations of vectors encoding plant disease resistance (R) genes and a luciferase reporter construct containing the constitutive ³⁵S promoter of Cauliflower mosaic virus. Leaf disks from the transfected areas were frozen in liquid nitrogen, ground, and resuspended in 240μl of Cell Culture Lysis Reagent. The lysates were then assayed for luciferase activity with the Luciferase Assay System. The luciferase values correlated to plant leaf cell survival of the various constructs. (3035)

Notes: In this article, a 2.5- and a 1.7-kb fragment of the myostatin promoter were amplified by PCR and cloned into the pGEM®-T Easy vector. These clones were then subcloned into the pGL3-Basic Vector.  Deletion mutants of the constructs were made and used to transient transfect mouse muscle C₂C₁₂ cells. The Luciferase Assay System was then used to analyze transfectants. The researchers also injected luciferase-reporter constructs into mouse muscle. Luciferase activity in the mouse muscle was examined by grinding isolated muscles in liquid nitrogen and resuspending them in Cell Culture Lysis Buffer. Ten micron cryosections of the muscles were also used in immunohistochemical staining experiments.  For these experiments, the researchers used a 1:50 dilution of Promega’s polyclonal anti-luciferase antibody, a secondary antibody and tertiary fluorescein-labeled conjugate. The slides were counterstained with DAPI. (3147)

Notes: The pGL3-Control Vector was co-transfected into COS-7 cells with mammalian expression vectors expressing either heat shock protein Hsp70 or Hsp105α.  The cells were ATP-depleted in glucose-free media with 2μM rotenone and 5mM 2-deoxyglucose for up to 3 hours. Afterwards the cells were lysed with the Cell Culture Lysis Reagent and assayed for luciferase activity uaing the Luciferase Assay System. ATP depletion was verified during 2μM rotenone and 5mM 2-deoxyglucose treatment using the CellTiter-Glo^® Assay.  (2841)

Notes: The authors investigated the effect of various pharmacological treatments on desensitization and endocytosis of mu opioid receptors (MORs). They demonstrate that MORs can form oligomers, and that one receptor can (2450)

Notes: DNA-liposomes were injected intravenously with a RSV-luciferase expression vector. Forty-eight hours post injection, the animal was sacrificed and the heart, lung and ~300mg of liver was homogenized in Promega's Luciferase Cell Culture Lysis Reagent with the aid of zirconium beads. The debris was centrifuged away and the supernatant analyzed for luciferase activity with the Luciferase Assay System. (0199)