For the first time the influence of the chirality of the gel fibers in protein crystallogenesis has been studied. Enantiomeric hydrogels 1 and 2 were tested with model proteins lysozyme and glucose isomerase and a formamidase extracted from B. cereus. Crystallization behaviour and crystal quality of these proteins in both hydrogels are presented and compared.

Over the last decade, circulating microRNAs have received attention as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. In particular, microRNA122 has been demonstrated to be an early and more sensitive indicator of drug-induced liver injury than the widely used biomarkers such as alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Recently, microRNA122 has been used in vitro to assess the cellular toxicity of new drugs and as a biomarker for the development of a rapid test for drug overdose/liver damage. In this proof-of-concept study, we report a PCR-free and label-free detection method that has a limit of detection (3 standard deviations) of 15 fmoles of microRNA122, by integrating a dynamic chemical approach for "Single Nucleobase Labelling" with a bead-based platform (Luminex) thereby, in principle, demonstrating the exciting prospect of rapid and accurate profiling of any microRNAs related to diseases and toxicology.

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