The present invention relates to an epidithiodioxopiperazine derivative represented by the following Chemical Formula 1 or its reduced derivative; a method for preparing a compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 having improved intracellular permeability and mimicking the activity of 2-Cys-Prx in its reduced form in the cells; a pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating vascular diseases comprising an epidithiodioxopiperazine compound or its derivatives or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as an active ingredient; a drug delivery device for local administration including the pharmaceutical composition; and a pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting melanoma metastasis comprising the epidithiodioxopiperazine compound or its derivatives or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as an active ingredient.

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Biomarkers for abnormal kidney function, including the biomarkers in Tables 1 and 2 such as peroxiredoxin-2, complement C1q subcomponent subunit B, sulfhydryl oxidase 1 and apolipoprotein A-IV, and methods for their use in assessing abnormal kidney function are disclosed herein.

The present disclosure relates generally to compositions and methods for the treatment of a RAS-mutant cancer. In particular, the present technology relates to administering a therapeutically effective amount of one or more TXNRD1 inhibitors to a subject diagnosed with, or at risk for a RAS-mutant cancer (e.g., RAS-mutant pancreatic cancer).

The present invention relates to a method for detecting specific proteins in amniotic fluid to predict the risk of preterm birth. The method determines different protein markers in premature amniotic fluid samples and normal amniotic fluid samples to predict the risk of preterm birth, and apply the expression levels of these protein markers to build a set of prediction models. This allows the medical staff to be prepared and greatly reduces the threat to the fetus.

The present application provides a method of assaying pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) activity in a mammalian cell that expresses human sirtuin 4 (SIRT4) comprising measuring a level of a dihydrolipoyllysine acetyltransferase (DLAT) lipoamide peptide comprising the amino acid sequence TDK[lipoyl]AT in the cell. The present application also demonstrates that sirtuin 4 (SIRT4) acts as a cellular lipoamidase that negatively regulates pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) activity through hydrolysis of its lipoamide cofactors.

The present application demonstrates that sirtuin 4 (SIRT4) acts as a cellular lipoamidase that negatively regulates pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) activity through hydrolysis of its lipoamide cofactors.

Enzymes that reduce specific metal or metalloid ions to insoluble form are important to science. Peptides isolated from yeast- and phage-display libraries can affect the size and morphology of inorganic materials during their synthesis. Herein, an Se binding peptide was fused to an enzyme capable of reducing selenite (SeO3.sup.2−) to a Se.sup.0 nanoparticle (SeNP). The fusion of the Se binding peptide to the metalloid reductase provided size control of the resulting SeNP. The SeNP product also remains associated to the enzyme fusion. The Se binding peptide fusion to the enzyme increases the enzyme's SeO3.sup.2− reductase activity. Modification of enzyme activity was absent, and the size control of particles was diminished when the Se binding peptide was added exogenously to the reaction mixture. Binding of the peptide is attributed to His based ligation that results in a conformational change to the peptide.

Disclosed herein are differentiation methods for producing SC-β cells, as well as methods for screening stem cell-derived cells to measure gene expression. Also disclosed herein are SC-EC cells.

A method for setting a threshold for basal levels of QSOX1-L in urine comprising: Storing de-identified urine from 100 BC patient samples and from 100 patients with non-malignant conditions; serially diluting the patient samples with a blocking buffer in triplicate followed by incubation in ELISA plates coated with anti-QSOX-L capture Ab; after 1-hour incubation at 37 C, washing plates followed by addition of biotinylated anti-QSOX-L detection antibody; using Streptavidin-HRP to generate dose dependent signal; obtaining a standard curve for each plate using recombinant QSOX1-L protein spiked into urine that has been depleted of QSOX1-L using affinity chromatography column conjugated with anti-sera against 100aa peptide; calculating concentrations of QSOX1-L based on a standard curve for each plate; and calculating a mean concentrations, ±2 SD to establish a reference range for QSOX1-L levels in urine from patients and individuals without malignant disease.

Disclosed are compositions and methods for detecting the presence or level of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), or for diagnosing GHB toxicity or overdose.