Detection of Human Liver-specific F Antigen in Serum and Its Preliminary Application

World Journal of Gastroenterology : WJG. Apr, 1999  |  Pubmed ID: 11819422

Nuclear Receptor Agonists As Potential Differentiation Therapy Agents for Human Osteosarcoma

Clinical Cancer Research : an Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. May, 2002  |  Pubmed ID: 12006550

This study was designed to investigate whether nuclear receptor agonists can be used as potential differentiation therapy agents for human osteosarcoma.

Selective Formation of Cumulative Double Bonds (C[double Bond]C[double Bond]N) in the Attachment of Multifunctional Molecules on Si(111)-7 X 7

Journal of the American Chemical Society. Jun, 2002  |  Pubmed ID: 12059243

The cumulative double bond (C[double bond]C[double bond]N), an important intermediate in synthetic organic chemistry, was successfully prepared via the selective attachment of acrylonitrile to Si(111)-7 x 7. The covalent binding of acrylonitrile on Si(111)-7 x 7 was studied using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and DFT calculations. The observation of the characteristic vibrational modes and electronic structures of the C[double bond]C[double bond]N group in the surface species demonstrates the [4 + 2]-like cycloaddition occurring between the terminal C and N atoms of acrylonitrile and the neighboring adatom-rest atom pair, consistent with the prediction of DFT calculations. STM studies further show the preferential binding of acrylonitrile on the center adatom sites of faulted halves of Si(111)-7 x 7 unit cells.

Toxic Contaminants and Their Biological Effects in Coastal Waters of Xiamen, China. II. Biomarkers and Embryo Malformation Rates As Indicators of Pollution Stress in Fish

Marine Pollution Bulletin. Aug, 2002  |  Pubmed ID: 12269479

Baseline information is presented on embryo malformation rate and biomarkers in fish as indicators of sub-lethal stress caused by pollution in coastal waters of Xiamen, PR China. Fish and eggs were sampled from several areas in Xiamen coastal waters (Xiamen Harbour, Maluan and Tongan Bays and East Channel), where varying levels of pollutant input have been documented. Comparative sampling was done at a "cleaner" reference site at Dongshan Island. Embryonic malformation rates, which indicate general water quality, varied with location and species of fish, and exceeded background levels for unpolluted waters (assumed approximately 5%) by up to eightfold at some sites. Generally, sites around Xiamen Harbour show signs of poor water quality having highest mean levels of embryo deformity (20-30%) and these decreased towards open waters (Tongan Bay, Eastern Channel) where abnormalities approached background levels. An indication that toxic contaminants may be having a localised effect in the region, particularly in the harbour was reinforced by the biomarker assays. However, activities of the biomarkers ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) and glutathione S-transferase in fish livers indicate no clear pattern, and there is no evidence that fish from the four sampling areas have been more or less exposed to PAHs and other compounds that induce these biomarkers. Antioxidant biomarkers (glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and reduced glutathione) suggest that exposure to xenobiotics appears to be lowest in Dongshan and Maluan and highest in the harbour and Tongan. Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase in fish muscle indicated possible effects by organophosphate and carbamate pesticides in Xiamen waters and these effects may be greatest in the area of the harbour.

Cytoplasmic And/or Nuclear Accumulation of the Beta-catenin Protein is a Frequent Event in Human Osteosarcoma

International Journal of Cancer. Journal International Du Cancer. Dec, 2002  |  Pubmed ID: 12402302

The molecular events that precede the development of osteosarcoma, the most common primary malignancy of bone, are unclear, and concurrent molecular and genetic alterations associated with its pathogenesis have yet to be identified. Recent studies suggest that activation of beta-catenin signaling may play an important role in human tumorigenesis. To investigate the potential role of beta-catenin deregulation in human osteosarcoma, we analyzed a panel of 47 osteosarcoma samples for beta-catenin accumulation using immunohistochemistry. Potential activating mutations were investigated by sequencing exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene in genomic DNA isolated from tumor samples. Our findings revealed cytoplasmic and/or nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin in 33 of 47 samples (70.2%); however, mutation analysis failed to detect any genetic alterations within exon 3, suggesting that other regulatory mechanisms may play an important role in activating beta-catenin signaling in osteosarcoma. In our survival analysis, beta-catenin deregulation conferred a hazard ratio of 1.05, indicating that beta-catenin accumulation does not appear to be of prognostic value for osteosarcoma patients. When analyzed against other clinicopathologic parameters, beta-catenin accumulation correlated only with younger age at presentation (26.4 vs. 39.8 years). Nevertheless, our results demonstrate that the deregulation of beta-catenin signaling is a common occurrence in osteosarcoma that is implicated in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma.

Distribution of the CCR5 Gene 32-base Pair Deletion and CCR5 Expression in Chinese Minorities

Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1999). Feb, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 12571521

China has an ethnically diverse population. Genetic differences may contribute to disparities in the efficiency of HIV transmission. To further characterize this risk, we examined the HIV-related genetic diversity in the predominant Han Chinese and in six minority groups. We searched for the delta32-CCR5 mutation, a common cause of relative HIV resistance in the white population. In addition, CCR5 receptor expression was measured. Blood samples were obtained from adults belonging to the Han, Meng, Zang, Weiwuer, Zhuang, Yi, and Dai ethnic groups. Polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed on genomic DNA samples. Surface expression of CCR5 on peripheral blood mononuclear cells was measured by flow cytometry. One-way ANOVA was used to determine mean statistical differences. Samples from 10 members of each minority were examined. A delta32-CCR5 heterozygote phenotype was detected in one Weiwuer subject, but no mutations were found in the other 69 subjects studied. The mean CCR5 expression of cells harvested from the Dai minority was greater than that of cells from all other minorities studied, for both CD3+CCR5+ and CD4+CCR5+ sets (p < .01, one-way ANOVA). The delta32-CCR5 mutation seems to be rare in most Han Chinese and the minority populations studied. CCR5 expression appears to be greater in the Dai minority than in the other minorities investigated. The mechanism for this increased expression requires further study.

Potential Use of Sox9 Gene Therapy for Intervertebral Degenerative Disc Disease

Spine. Apr, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 12698117

A new recombinant adenoviral vector expressing Sox9, a chondrocyte-specific transcription factor, was tested in a chondroblastic cell line and primary human intervertebral disc cells in vitro. Direct infection of intervertebral disc cells then was assessed in a rabbit model.

Attachment of Styrene and Phenylacetylene on Si(111)-7 X 7: the Influence of Substitution Groups on the Reaction Mechanism and Formation of Pi-conjugated Skeletons

Journal of the American Chemical Society. Jun, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 12769578

The interactions of styrene and phenylacetylene and their isotope substitutions with a Si(111)-7 x 7 surface have been studied as model systems to mechanistically understand the chemical binding of conjugated pi-electron systems to di-radical-like silicon dangling bonds of the adjacent adatom-rest atom pair. Vibrational studies show that styrene mainly binds to the surface through a diradical reaction involving both the external C=C and its conjugated internal C=C of the phenyl ring with an adjacent adatom-rest atom pair, forming a 5-ethylidene-1,3-cyclohexadiene-like skeleton. On the other hand, phenylacetylene was shown to be covalently attached to Si(111)-7 x 7 through the external C[triple bond]C, forming a styrene-like conjugation system. These experimental results are consistent with density functional theory calculations. The different binding mechanisms for styrene and phenylacetylene clearly demonstrate that reaction channels for multifunctional organic molecules are strongly dependent on the chemical and physical properties of the functional groups. The resulting pi-electron conjugation structures may possibly be employed as intermediates for further organic syntheses and fabrication of multilayer organic films on semiconductor surfaces.

Synaptic PDZ Domain-mediated Protein Interactions Are Disrupted by Inhalational Anesthetics

The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Sep, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 12853458

Anesthetics exert multiple effects on the central nervous system through altering synaptic transmission, but the mechanisms for this process are poorly understood. PDZ domain-mediated protein interactions play a central role in organizing signaling complexes around synaptic receptors for efficient signal transduction. We report here that clinically relevant concentrations of inhalational anesthetics dose-dependently and specifically inhibit the PDZ domain-mediated protein interaction between PSD-95 or PSD-93 and the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor or neuronal nitric-oxide synthase. These inhibitory effects are immediate, potent, and reversible and occur at a hydrophobic peptide-binding groove on the surface of the second PDZ domain of PSD-95 in a manner relevant to anesthetic action. These findings reveal the PDZ domain as a new molecular target for inhalational anesthetics.

Impaired NMDA Receptor-mediated Postsynaptic Function and Blunted NMDA Receptor-dependent Persistent Pain in Mice Lacking Postsynaptic Density-93 Protein

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience. Jul, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 12890763

Modification of synaptic NMDA receptor (NMDAR) expression influences NMDAR-mediated synaptic function and associated persistent pain. NMDARs directly bind to a family of membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs) that regulate surface and synaptic NMDAR trafficking in the CNS. We report here that postsynaptic density-93 protein (PSD-93), a postsynaptic neuronal MAGUK, is expressed abundantly in spinal dorsal horn and forebrain, where it colocalizes and interacts with NMDAR subunits NR2A and NR2B. Targeted disruption of the PSD-93 gene reduces not only surface NR2A and NR2B expression but also NMDAR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents and potentials, without affecting surface AMPA receptor expression or its synaptic function, in the regions mentioned above. Furthermore, mice lacking PSD-93 exhibit blunted NMDAR-dependent persistent pain induced by peripheral nerve injury or injection of Complete Freund's Adjuvant, although they display intact nociceptive responsiveness to acute pain. PSD-93 appears to be important for NMDAR synaptic targeting and function and to be a potential biochemical target for the treatment of persistent pain.

Effect of Knock Down of Spinal Cord PSD-93/chapsin-110 on Persistent Pain Induced by Complete Freund's Adjuvant and Peripheral Nerve Injury

Pain. Nov, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 14581127

PSD-93/chapsin-110 is a neuronal PDZ domain-containing protein that binds to and clusters the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) at synapses in the central nervous system. It also assembles a specific set of signaling proteins around the NMDAR and mediates downstream signaling by the NMDAR. Thus, PSD-93/chapsin-110 might be involved in many physiological and pathophysiological actions triggered via the activation of the NMDAR. In the current study, we report that abundant PSD-93/chapsin-110 protein was detected in rat spinal cord, particularly in the superficial dorsal horn. The rats injected intrathecally with PSD-93/chapsin-110 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide every 24 h for 4 days displayed not only a remarkable decrease in spinal cord PSD-93/chapsin-110 expression but also a significant reduction in the paw withdrawal responses to thermal and mechanical stimuli during complete Freund's adjuvant-induced inflammatory pain and peripheral nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain. In contrast, the rats injected intrathecally with PSD-93/chapsin-110 missense oligodeoxynucleotide did not exhibit these changes. We also found that pretreatment with PSD-93/chapsin-110 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide did not change the locomotor activity or the responses to acute noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in intact rats. The present results indicate that the deficiency of spinal cord PSD-93/chapsin-110 protein significantly attenuates thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia in complete Freund's adjuvant- or peripheral nerve injury-induced chronic pain. This suggests that spinal cord PSD-93/chapsin-110 might be involved in the central mechanism of chronic pain. Our work might provide a new target for the therapy of chronic pain.

[Variations of Protein Concentration in Saliva Stimulated and Its Effect on Clinical Diagnosis]

Zhongguo Yi Xue Ke Xue Yuan Xue Bao. Acta Academiae Medicinae Sinicae. Dec, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 14714319

To study the variations of protein concentration in saliva stimulated and its effect on clinical diagnosis.

[Effects of BaP Exposure on Ultrastructures of Hepatic Cells of Boleophthalmus Pectinirostris]

Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao = The Journal of Applied Ecology / Zhongguo Sheng Tai Xue Xue Hui, Zhongguo Ke Xue Yuan Shenyang Ying Yong Sheng Tai Yan Jiu Suo Zhu Ban. Oct, 2003  |  Pubmed ID: 14986387

The changes of ultrastructures of hepatic cells of Boleophthalmus pectinirostris were investigated after the fish were exposed under benzo(a) pyrene in different concentrations under experimental condition. The results showed that the organelles in hepatic cells of B. pectinirostris were damaged to different extents after the fish was exposed under lower concentration of BaP (0.5 mg.L-1) for up to 7 d, in which, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum were the chief organelles affected by BaP exposure. While the fish was exposed under higher concentration of BaP (5 mg.L-1) for 2 h, almost all of the organelles including mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in hepatic cells of B. pectinirostr were affected by BaP exposure. The structures of liver cells were seriously damaged. It was demonstrated that BaP could produce multiorganalle lesions in hepatic cells of B. pectinirostris, and the severity extent of such lesions was dependent on the concentration level of BaP.

Attachment Chemistry of Organic Molecules on Si(111)-7 X 7

Accounts of Chemical Research. Nov, 2004  |  Pubmed ID: 15612678

Molecular attachment chemistry is emerging as an important approach to tailor the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of silicon surfaces, as well as to incorporate organic functions into silicon-based devices for various technological needs. The chemical bonding and reactivity of various organic molecules on Si(111)-7 x 7 were systematically studied using XPS, HREELS, TPD, UPS, STM, and DFT calculations. The spatial arrangements and unique electronic properties of reactive adatoms and rest atoms on the surface offer rich attachment chemistry for organic functionalities. Investigations demonstrated that organic molecules can be chemically bound to Si(111)-7 x 7 through several reaction pathways, including [4 + 2]- and [2 + 2]-like additions, dative bonding, and dissociative reaction. This Account reviews the recent progress and current understanding of reactivity, selectivity, and mechanisms of organic molecules on Si(111)-7 x 7.

Si-C(N) Sigma Linkages and N --> Si Dative Bonding at Pyridine/Si(111)-7 X 7

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids. Jan, 2004  |  Pubmed ID: 15743079

We experimentally demonstrated that pyridine/Si(111)-7 x 7 can act as an electron donor/acceptor pair as a result of the charge transfer from the electron-rich N atom of pyridine to the electron-deficient adatom of the Si surface, evidenced by the upshift of 1.8 eV (state A) for the N(1s) core level upon the formation of a datively bonded complex compared to physisorbed molecules. Another state (B) whose N(1s) binding energy downshifts by 1.2 eV was assigned to an adduct through Si-C and Si-N covalent linkages, formed via a [4 + 2]-like addition mechanism on Si(111)-7 x 7. Binding molecules through the formation of the dative bond resulted from significant electron transfer opens a new approach for the creation of Si-based molecular architectures and modification of semiconductor interfacial properties with unsaturated organic molecules.

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies of the Self-assembly of Carboxylic Esters on Graphite: Linear Distortion and Multiple Adsorption Structures

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids. Feb, 2005  |  Pubmed ID: 15697270

Self-assembled monolayers of carboxylic esters (stearic acid palmityl ester, lauric acid palmityl ester, and lauric acid behenyl ester) on graphite were investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy. All three esters, which are bent at the carboxylic group in the gas phase, are distorted into a straight-chain shape upon self-assembly on graphite. This results from optimizing the adsorption energy by matching the adsorbate molecular chain with the graphite substrate lattice periodicity. In all the formed lamellae, the long alkyl chain of the ester always aligns with the long chain of the adjacent molecule. Steric repulsion of the carbonyl group pointing perpendicularly to the neighboring molecule weakens the interaction of the ester molecule with the substrate. The ester molecules then easily self-assemble into multilamellae with molecular chain-trough angles of 73, 61, and 49 degrees in addition to the 90 degrees angle typical of n-alkane monolayers. This results from a shifting of 1/2, 1, or 3/2 units from the adjacent molecule in a lamella. The relatively weak interaction between ester molecules and substrate lattice also results in the formation of zigzag patterns with domain-domain angles of 145, 133, and 122 degrees , respectively. The structures of esters adsorbed on HOPG indicate, contrary to what might be expected, that physisorbed molecular adsorbates do not necessarily have the same geometry as in the gas phase.

Src Homology 2 Domain-containing Inositol-5-phosphatase 1 (SHIP1) Negatively Regulates TLR4-mediated LPS Response Primarily Through a Phosphatase Activity- and PI-3K-independent Mechanism

Blood. Jun, 2005  |  Pubmed ID: 15701712

Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing inositol-5-phosphatase 1 (SHIP1) plays important roles in negatively regulating the activation of immune cells primarily via the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI-3K) pathway by catalyzing the PI-3K product PtdIns-3,4,5P3 (phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate) into PtdIns-3,4P2. However, the role of SHIP1 in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) response remains unclear. Here we demonstrate that SHIP1 negatively regulates LPS-induced inflammatory response via both phosphatase activity-dependent and -independent mechanisms in macrophages. SHIP1 becomes tyrosine phosphorylated and up-regulated upon LPS stimulation in RAW264.7 macrophages. SHIP1-specific RNA-interfering and SHIP1 overexpression experiments demonstrate that SHIP1 inhibits LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) production by negatively regulating the LPS-induced combination between TLR4 and myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88); activation of Ras (p21(ras) protein), PI-3K, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), p38, and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK); and degradation of IkappaB-alpha. SHIP1 also significantly inhibits LPS-induced mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation in TLR4-reconstitited COS7 cells. Although SHIP1-mediated inhibition of PI-3K is dependent on its phosphatase activity, phosphatase activity-disrupted mutant SHIP1 remains inhibitory to LPS-induced TNF-alpha production. Neither disrupting phosphatase activity nor using the PI-3K pathway inhibitor LY294002 or wortmannin could significantly block SHIP1-mediated inhibition of LPS-induced ERK1/2, p38, and JNK activation and TNF-alpha production, demonstrating that SHIP1 inhibits LPS-induced activation of MAPKs and cytokine production primarily by a phosphatase activity- and PI-3K-independent mechanism.

SilkDB: a Knowledgebase for Silkworm Biology and Genomics

Nucleic Acids Research. Jan, 2005  |  Pubmed ID: 15608225

The Silkworm Knowledgebase (SilkDB) is a web-based repository for the curation, integration and study of silkworm genetic and genomic data. With the recent accomplishment of a approximately 6X draft genome sequence of the domestic silkworm (Bombyx mori), SilkDB provides an integrated representation of the large-scale, genome-wide sequence assembly, cDNAs, clusters of expressed sequence tags (ESTs), transposable elements (TEs), mutants, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and functional annotations of genes with assignments to InterPro domains and Gene Ontology (GO) terms. SilkDB also hosts a set of ESTs from Bombyx mandarina, a wild progenitor of B.mori, and a collection of genes from other Lepidoptera. Comparative analysis results between the domestic and wild silkworm, between B.mori and other Lepidoptera, and between B.mori and the two sequenced insects, fruitfly and mosquito, are displayed by using B.mori genome sequence as a reference framework. Designed as a basic platform, SilkDB strives to provide a comprehensive knowledgebase about the silkworm and present the silkworm genome and related information in systematic and graphical ways for the convenience of in-depth comparative studies. SilkDB is publicly accessible at http://silkworm.genomics.org.cn.

Two-dimensional Self-assembly of a Two-component Molecular System: Formation of an Ordered and Homogeneous Molecular Mesh

Journal of the American Chemical Society. Sep, 2005  |  Pubmed ID: 16159239

The formation of nanoscaled objects often relies on the two-dimensional self-assembly of organic molecules on solid substrates, leading to a number of interesting structures with nanometer dimensions. Assembly of single-component systems driven by chain-chain van der Waals interactions, hydrogen bonding, and dipolar interactions governs the structures typically formed. The two-dimensional self-assembly of a two-component molecular system is described here, where the structure involves mixing of the components at the molecular level. A mixture of 5-octadecyloxyisophthalic acid and octanoic acid forms an ordered stoichiometric array of homogeneous nanometer-sized openings of dimension 8.5 A x 13.5 A x1.8 A, verified by atomic resolution scanning tunneling microscopy. Assembly in the structure is driven by van der Waals and hydrogen bonding interactions between the molecular components.

Chirality in Supramolecular Self-assembled Monolayers of Achiral Molecules on Graphite: Formation of Enantiomorphous Domains from Arachidic Anhydride

The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B. Apr, 2005  |  Pubmed ID: 16851690

The molecular arrangement and chirality of the self-assembled arachidic anhydride monolayer on graphite were investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). This molecule has two identical alkyl chains, linked by an anhydride group in the middle. In its extended form, one alkyl chain is shifted, with respect to the other, along the molecular backbone. Upon adsorption on graphite, this achiral anhydride spontaneously forms two types of homogeneous domains (denoted as m and m') with mirror symmetry. The angle from the molecular chain to the row-packing direction is 98.0 degrees +/- 0.5 degrees and 82.0 degrees +/- 0.5 degrees for domains m and m', respectively. Domain m is the mirror image of m'. The molecular arrangement of this self-assembled monolayer shows that domains m and m' are two-dimensional enantiomers with opposite chiralities. This new molecular packing motif is confirmed by line-profile analyses along the molecule-chain and the row-packing directions. This finding demonstrates the spontaneous formation of highly ordered homogeneous enantiomorphous domains on graphite resulting only from weak van der Waals forces between the achiral arachidic anhydride molecules.

Human Proinsulin C-peptide from a Precursor Overexpressed in Pichia Pastoris

Acta Biochimica Et Biophysica Sinica. Aug, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 16894482

In this article we report the production of human proinsulin C-peptide with 31 amino acid residues from a precursor overexpressed in Pichia pastoris. A C-peptide precursor expression plasmid containing nine C-peptide genes in tandem was constructed and used to transform P. pastoris. Transformants with a high copy number of the C-peptide precursor gene integrated into the chromosome of P. pastoris were selected. In high-density fermentation in a 300 liter fermentor using a simple culture medium composed mainly of salt and methanol, the C-peptide precursor was overexpressed to a level of 2.28 g per liter. A simple procedure was established to purify the expression product from the culture medium. The purified C-peptide precursor was converted into C-peptide by trypsin and carboxypeptidase B joint digestion. The yield of C-peptide with a purity of 96% was 730 mg per liter of culture. The purified C-peptide was characterized by mass spectrometry, N- and C-terminal amino acid sequencing, and sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Competition and Coadsorption of Di-acids and Carboxylic Acid Solvents on HOPG

The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B. Oct, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 17004820

The self-assemblies of di-acids HOOC-(CH(2))(n)-COOH (n = 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10) in three solvents hexanoic acid, octanoic acid, and decanoic acid on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were studied with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). In the solvent hexanoic acid, solvent molecules coadsorb with HOOC-(CH(2))(n)-COOH (n = 20, 18, 16) via formation of hydrogen bonds. The solvent octanoic acid coadsorbs with HOOC-(CH(2))(n)-COOH (n = 20, 18). Decanoic acid only coadsorbs with HOOC-(CH(2))(20)-COOH. In each solvent, the trend of coadsorption between solvent molecules and di-acid molecules decreases with decreasing chain-length of di-acid molecules. These systematic investigations suggest that coadsorption of solvent molecules with di-acid solute molecules is mainly dependent on the relative hydrogen-bond densities in the formed monolayer. This is consistent with the maximization of adsorption heat of the self-assembled monolayers of di-acids dissolved in solvents of carboxylic acids.

Proteome Society Meeting. October 19, 2005, MA, USA

Expert Review of Proteomics. Feb, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 16445346

Self-assembly and Odd-even Effects of Cis-unsaturated Carboxylic Acids on Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite

The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B. Mar, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 16509715

The self-assembly of several cis-unsaturated carboxylic acids of the structure cis-CH3(CH2)p-1CH=CH(CH2)m-1COOH on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) was studied. The impact of the interior cis-CH=CH group and the molecular chain length on their self-assembled structures was considered. Due to the cis conformation of the -HC=CH- group in the interior of these molecules, they display self-assembled structures significantly different from saturated acids with all-trans configurations. As an example of the class of molecules cis-CH3(CH2)p-1CH=CH(CH2)2n-1COOH (p not equal 2n) (p=8, n=7), cis-CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)13COOH self-assembles into two kinds of enantiomer domains with opposite 2-D chirality. Due to the steric restriction of the interior cis-HC=CH group, all chains with acid groups are packed at the same side of a lamella, a head-to-head arrangement which is different from the head-to-tail packing of saturated all-trans acids. However, cis-CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)8COOH, considered as one example of the group cis-CH3(CH2)p-1CH=CH(CH2)2n-2COOH (p not equal 2n-1) (p=8, n=5), does not form any stable self-assembled domain, consistent with the molecular arrangement model. This difference in self-assembly behavior between cis-CH3(CH2)p-1CH=CH(CH2)2n-1COOH (p not equal 2n) and cis-CH3(CH2)p-1CH=CHC2n-2COOH (p not equal 2n-1) shows an odd-even chain-length effect of cis-CH3(CH2)p-1CH=CH(CH2)m-1COOH (p not equal m, m=2n or 2n-1). For another category of molecules, cis-unsaturated acids with equal numbers of all-trans carbon atoms on both sides of the cis-CH=CH group, cis-CH3(CH2)m-1CH=CH(CH2)m-1COOH (m=2n or 2n-1), display another odd-even effect. cis-CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH, one example of cis-CH3(CH2)2n-1-CH=CH(CH2)2n-1COOH (n=4), is predicted to form both an enantiomer and a nonchiral racemic structure, which is in accordance with the experimental observation of its self-assembled monolayer. However, cis-CH3(CH2)2n-2CH=CH(CH2)2n-2COOH does not form a stable self-assembled domain due to the same steric repulsion as that seen in the cis-CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)8COOH structure. These odd-even effects demonstrate that molecular self-assembly can be significantly tailored by slightly changing the molecular chain length.

Increased Protein Yields from Escherichia Coli Using Pressure-cycling Technology

Journal of Biomolecular Techniques : JBT. Apr, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 16741245

Sample preparation is critical to the success of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and other analytical methods. Pressure-cycling technology (PCT) uses alternating cycles of high and low pressure to induce cell lysis. Cell suspensions were placed in PULSE Tubes and subjected to alternating cycles of high and low pressure in a Barocycler instrument. each cycle consisted of 20 sec at 35,000 psi followed by 20 sec at ambient pressure. For the bacterium Escherichia coli, PCT extracted 14.2% more total protein than was extracted using a standard bead mill. Image analysis of two-dimensional gels revealed 801 protein spots in the PCT lysate, compared to 760 protein spots in the bead mill lysate.

New Role for Spinal Stargazin in Alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic Acid Receptor-mediated Pain Sensitization After Inflammation

Journal of Neuroscience Research. Sep, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 16791853

Considerable evidence has demonstrated that alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor blockade has an antinociceptive effect on inflammatory pain. Stargazin (STG) is the first transmembrane protein known to associate with AMPA receptors and regulate their synaptic targeting. However, it is not known whether STG is involved in inflammatory pain processing by regulating AMPA receptor function. In the present study, we investigated the effect of knockdown of spinal STG on AMPA receptor-mediated pain sensitization after inflammation. Antisense technology was employed to knock down STG expression in the spinal cord. We show that STG was expressed and interacted with AMPA receptor subunit GluR2 in the spinal cord. Intrathecally injected STG antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide (ODN) specifically decreased STG expression in the lumbar spinal cord and dose dependently inhibited formalin-induced inflammatory pain in the second phase. More important was our finding for the first time that this specific STG antisense ODN diminished AMPA (0.1 mug)-enhanced formalin pain and lost its effect if pretreated with AMPA receptor antagonist CNQX. Our results demonstrate a new role for STG in central sensitization of inflammatory pain by interacting with AMPA receptors in the spinal cord.

Synthesis of Tb(OH)(3) Nanowire Arrays Via a Facile Template-assisted Hydrothermal Approach

Nanotechnology. Feb, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 21727384

Hexagonal wurtzite structure Tb(OH)(3) nanowires with a uniform diameter of about 70-80 nm and lengths of up to several micrometres have been synthesized on a large scale via a hydrothermal treatment based on the use of an anodic aluminium membrane as the template. Aligned Tb(OH)(3) nanowire arrays can be obtained by dissolving the template. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, x-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence (PL) spectra have been employed to characterize the as-prepared samples. The PL spectrum of Tb(OH)(3) under 350 nm excitation consists of four main peaks at 489.9, 543, 584 and 621 nm, among which that for the electric dipole transition (5)D(4) to (7)F(5) (at 543 nm) is the strongest. Furthermore, a preliminary suggestion for the mechanism of growth of the Tb(OH)(3) nanowires using the hydrothermal-template synthesis technique has been proposed.

Amplification of Circularizable Probes for the Detection of Target Nucleic Acids and Proteins

Clinica Chimica Acta; International Journal of Clinical Chemistry. Jan, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 16122721

Circularizable oligonucleotide probe (C-probe) is a unique molecule that offers significant advantages over conventional probes.

Fourth International Conference on High-Pressure Biosciences and Biotechnology

Expert Review of Proteomics. Dec, 2006  |  Pubmed ID: 17181471

Clinical Proteomics: Opportunities for Diagnostics, Pharmaceuticals and the Clinical Laboratory

Expert Review of Proteomics. Feb, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17288511

Complexity in the Self-assembly of Bifunctional Molecules on HOPG: the Influence of Solvent Functionality on Self-assembled Structures

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids. Mar, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17328563

Self-assembled monolayers of bifunctional molecules HOOC(CH2)nCOOH (n = 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10), HOOC(CH2)nCH2OH (n = 13, 14), and HOCH2(CH2)14CH2OH dissolved in octanoic acid were investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy, to understand the self-assembly of bifunctional molecules and the influence of a carboxylic acid solvent on the formation of self-assembled structures on HOPG. In the series of di-acids (HOOC(CH2)nCOOH), only HOOC(CH2)20COOH forms stable coadsorption structures with the solvent octanoic acid. The remaining di-acids form stable single-component monolayers and do not coadsorb with solvent octanoic acid. Coadsorption structures involving mixtures of di-acids were observed. This result suggests that coadsorption with acid solvent or with other di-acids occurs to maximize hydrogen-bond density in the overlayer. A quantitative model based on this concept is proposed. For hetero-bifunctional molecules HOOC(CH2)nCH2OH (n = 13, 14), the coadsorption of HOOC(CH2)14CH2OH and octanoic acid at the molecular level produces a microscopic mesh made of homogeneously arranged openings with a dimension of approximately 12.5 A x approximately 5.0 A x approximately 1.8 A. For the hetero-bifunctional molecule HOOC(CH2)13CH2OH, hydroxyl groups of two adjacent lamellae assemble to form a herringbone geometry, and the two carboxylic acid groups assemble with a straight head-to-head configuration. In addition, a new mixed hydrogen-bonding network of COOH...O-H was observed in another self-assembled structure of this molecule. The bifunctional molecule HOCH2(CH2)14CH2OH exhibits multiple packing patterns on HOPG via different hydrogen-bonding networks. HOCH2(CH2)14CH2OH self-assembles using the H-O...O-H network typical of the n-alcohol herringbone structure, forming an asymmetric adsorbate on HOPG. It also forms domains with another hydrogen-bonding network, in which molecules in adjacent lamellae are parallel to each other. This investigation demonstrates the complexity and diversity of self-assembled structures formed from bifunctional molecules on solid surfaces. It also indicates that a solvent with the same functional group as the solute can significantly impact the formation of the self-assembled structures of these bifunctional molecules.

A Glimpse of Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome from Comparative Genomics of S. Suis 2 Chinese Isolates

PloS One. 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17375201

Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2) is an important zoonotic pathogen, causing more than 200 cases of severe human infection worldwide, with the hallmarks of meningitis, septicemia, arthritis, etc. Very recently, SS2 has been recognized as an etiological agent for streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), which was originally associated with Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS) in Streptococci. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying STSS are poorly understood.

Surface Chemistry of Five-membered Aromatic Ring Molecules Containing Two Different Heteroatoms on Si(111)-7 X 7

Journal of the American Chemical Society. Apr, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17375932

The surface chemistry of three representative aromatic molecules containing two different heteroatoms isoxazole, oxazole, and thiazole on Si(111)-7 x 7 was studied. These molecules exhibit different competition and selectivity for multiple reaction channels with this surface, determined by a combination of molecular electronic and structural factors. Isoxazole is chemically attached to Si(111)-7 x 7 through both dative-bond addition and [4 + 2]-like cycloaddition. Oxazole chemisorbs on Si(111)-7 x 7 through both dative-bond addition and [2 + 2]-like cycloaddition. The kinetically favored [2 + 2]-like cycloadduct at low temperature is thermally converted into the thermodynamically preferred [4 + 2]-like cycloadduct at a temperature higher than 300 K. Thiazole is chemically bound to this surface only through formation of a Si...N dative bond at low temperature. This dative-bonded molecule is thermally converted into a [4 + 2]-like cycloadduct. The reaction channels of the three five-membered aromatic molecules containing two different heteroatoms (isoxazole, oxazole, and thiazole) and of the aromatic molecules containing only one heteroatom (pyridine, pyrrole, furan, and thiophene) are compared and analyzed for a thorough understanding of the reaction mechanisms of various heterocyclic aromatic molecules on this surface. The intrinsic connection between surface reaction mechanism and molecular electronic structure is demonstrated. This includes the distribution of electron density on the molecular ring determined by the geometric arrangement of the heteroatoms, the electronegativity of the heteroatoms, and the electronic contribution of the heteroatoms to formation of aromatic pi conjugation, as well as the molecular polarity.

Genetic Diversity of Volatile Components in Xinjiang Wild Apple (Malus Sieversii)

Journal of Genetics and Genomics = Yi Chuan Xue Bao. Feb, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17469789

To evaluate genetic relationships using qualitative and/or quantitative differentiation of volatile components in Xinjiang Wild Apple (Malus sieversii (Lebed.) Roem.) and to acquire basic data for the conservation and utilization of the species, aroma components in ripe fruit of M. sieversii obtained from 30 seedlings at Mohe, Gongliu County, Xinjiang Autonomic Region, China, and in ripe fruit of 4 M. pumila cultivars ('Ralls', 'Delicious', 'Golden Delicious', and 'Fuji') were analyzed using head space-solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results indicated that the values of similarity coefficient concerning volatile types between the two species were in accordance with the evolution of M. pumila cultivars (forms), and that M. sieversii seedlings showed considerable genetic variations in these aspects: the total content of volatile components, the classes and contents of each compound classes, the segregation ratio, and content of main components. The results showed significant difference among seedlings and wide genetic diversity within the populations. Comparison of the volatile components in M. sieversii with those in M. pumila cultivars showed that the common compounds whose number were larger than five with the contents over 0.04 mg/L simultaneously between M. sieversii and M. pumila cultivars belonged to esters, alcohols, aldehydes or ketones. This suggests fundamental identity in main volatile components of M. sieversii and M. pumila cultivars. The results above sustained the conclusion "M. sieversii is probably the ancestor of M. pumila". However, there were 48 compounds present in M. pumila that were not detected in M. sieversii, including 6 character impact components (i.e., propyl acetate, (Z)-3-hexenal, 2-methyl-1-butanol acetate, pentyl acetate, 3-furanmethanol, and benzene acetaldehyde). This suggested that in the domestication of M. pumila, introgression of other apple species, except for M. sieversii, by interspecies hybridization was possible. There were 177 compounds in total belonging to 11 classes detected in 30 M. sieversii seedlings, including esters, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, acids, benzene ramifications, terpenes, heterocycles, hydrocarbon derivates, acetals, and lactones. Among them, acetals and lactones were not detected in M. pumila cultivars, 90 compounds were unique to M. sieversii, and 7 components (1-butanol, ethyl butanoate, 1-hexanol, ethyl hexanoate, 3-octen-1-ol, ethyl octanoate, and damascenone) belonged to character impact odors. Thus, the potential of M. sieversii in "utilization conservation" is enormous as a rare germplasm on genetic improvement of M. pumila cultivars.

Antitumor Activity of Crude Polysaccharides Isolated from Solanum Nigrum Linne on U14 Cervical Carcinoma Bearing Mice

Phytotherapy Research : PTR. Sep, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17486683

Solanum nigrum Linne (SNL) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries because of its diuretic and antipyretic effects. The present study examined the effect of the crude polysaccharides isolated from Solanum nigrum Linne (SNL-P) on tumor growth. SNL-P had a significant growth inhibition effect on cervical cancer (U14) of tumor-bearing mice. Further analysis of the tumor inhibition mechanism indicated that the number of apoptotic tumor cells increased significantly, the expression of Bax increased and the expression of Bcl-2 and mutant p53 decreased dramatically in cervical cancer sections after oral administration of SNL-P for 12 days. Moreover, SNL-P treatment decreased the level of blood serum TNF-alpha. These results indicated that the tumor growth inhibition of SNL-P administration might correlate with the reduction of TNF-alpha level of blood serum, which resulted in a massive necrosis in tumor tissues and the up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2 and mutant p53 gene expression, which triggered apoptosis in tumor cells. These findings demonstrated that the SNL-P is a potential antitumor agent.

Two-stage Association Tests for Genome-wide Association Studies Based on Family Data with Arbitrary Family Structure

European Journal of Human Genetics : EJHG. Nov, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17653107

Recently, Steen et al proposed a two-stage approach for genome-wide family-based association studies. In the first stage, a screening test is used to select markers, and in the second stage, a family-based association test is performed on a much smaller set of the selected markers. The two-stage method can be much more powerful than the traditional family-based association tests. In this article, we extend the approach so that it can incorporate parental information and can be applied to an arbitrary pedigree structure. We use simulation studies to evaluate the type I error rates and the power of the proposed methods. Our results show that the two-stage approach that incorporates founders' phenotypes has the correct type I error rates, and is much more powerful than the two-stage approach that uses children's phenotypes only. Also, by carefully choosing the number of markers retained in the first stage, the power of a two-stage approach can be much more than that of the corresponding one-stage approach.

Genetic Structure of Malus Sieversii Population from Xinjiang, China, Revealed by SSR Markers

Journal of Genetics and Genomics = Yi Chuan Xue Bao. Oct, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17945173

One hundred and nine Malus sieversii accessions from four geographical populations located at Kuerdening in Mohe town, Gongliu County, Jiaowutuohai, in Xinyuan County, Daxigou in Houcheng County of Ily State, and Baerluke Mountain in Yumin County of Tacheng State, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China were studied by SSR markers. The purpose of the study was to determine the genetic structure and diversity in these eco-geographical populations with eight pair SSR primers of apple. The results indicated that: an average of 16 bands was detected in the four populations. The percentage of polymorphic bands in Gongliu population (89.06%) was the highest in the four populations. The average Nei's gene diversity index was 0.257 for all the loci. Totally, 128 polymorphic loci were detected and the percentage of polymorphic loci (P) was 100%, 88.28%, 84.83%, 87.50%, and 87.12%, respectively, at the species level and Gongliu, Xinyuan, Huocheng, and Yumin population levels. The Nei's gene diversity index (H = 0.2619) and Shannon's information index (I = 0.4082) in the species level were higher than in the population level. The Nei's gene diversity index and Shannon's information index in the four populations were Gongliu > Huocheng > Xinyuan > Yumin. Gongliu population and Xinyuan population were the highest in genetic identity and the closest in genetic distance. Gene flow between the populations was 7.265 based on genetic differentiation coefficient (G(ST) = 0.064). The UPGMA cluster analysis indicated that the genetic relationships between the Gongliu and Xinyuan population were the closest, and the Yumin population were the farthest with the other three populations. The UPGMA cluster analysis indicated that the four geographical populations located in Gongliu, Xinyuan, Huocheng, and Yumin were relatively independent populations. Concurrently, there was also mild gene exchange between the populations. On the basis of the study of population genetic structure and the highest genetic diversity, Gongliu population should be given a high priority consideration in Malus sieversii population's in situ germplasm conservation.

Population Genetic Structure in Apricot (Prunus Armeniaca L.) Cultivars Revealed by Fluorescent-AFLP Markers in Southern Xinjiang, China

Journal of Genetics and Genomics = Yi Chuan Xue Bao. Nov, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 18037141

Population-wide genetic structure was studied using fluorescent-AFLP markers on 85 apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars collected from Kuche, Kashi, Hetian in the Tarim Basin, southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The purpose of this study was to determine the genetic structure and genotypic diversity among the different eco-geographical populations. Based on the results from this study, 8 pairs of fluorescent-AFLP primers showed clear electrophoregram and high polymorphism amongst the 64 pairs of EcoR|/Mse|(Mse|--a FAM fluorescent marked primer) primers screened. There was a significant polymorphic difference for the same primer pair in different populations and for the same population with different primer pairs. The percentage of polymorphic loci (P) at species level was higher than Kuche, Hetian, Kashi population levels, respectively. The Nei's gene diversity index (H) and Shannon's information index (I) at species level were higher than those of Kuche, Hetian, and Kashi at population level, respectively. H and I of Kuche population were the highest amongst the three populations. Apricot population genetic diversity was found mainly within the population. Genetic differentiation coefficient between populations (G(ST)) was 0.0882. Gene flow Nm between the populations was 5.1689. Population genetic identity was between 0.9772-0.9811 and genetic distance was between 0.0191-0.0232. These results further indicated that the similarity between populations was higher and the genetic distance between populations was smaller. The UPGMA cluster analysis indicates that the geographical populations at Kuche, Kashi, Hetian were relatively independent Mendelian populations. Concurrently, there was also partial gene exchange between the populations. All the evidences indicated that the genetic diversity in Kuche population was the highest, suggesting that it could be a transition population from wild apricot to cultivated apricot. There were abundant genetic diversities in apricot cultivar populations in southern Xinjiang, China, which provide promising germplasm for further breeding and theoretical basis for biodiversity conservation and utilization for apricot population in this area.

Influenza Virus Database (IVDB): an Integrated Information Resource and Analysis Platform for Influenza Virus Research

Nucleic Acids Research. Jan, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17065465

Frequent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza and the increasing data available for comparative analysis require a central database specialized in influenza viruses (IVs). We have established the Influenza Virus Database (IVDB) to integrate information and create an analysis platform for genetic, genomic, and phylogenetic studies of the virus. IVDB hosts complete genome sequences of influenza A virus generated by Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) and curates all other published IV sequences after expert annotation. Our Q-Filter system classifies and ranks all nucleotide sequences into seven categories according to sequence content and integrity. IVDB provides a series of tools and viewers for comparative analysis of the viral genomes, genes, genetic polymorphisms and phylogenetic relationships. A search system has been developed for users to retrieve a combination of different data types by setting search options. To facilitate analysis of global viral transmission and evolution, the IV Sequence Distribution Tool (IVDT) has been developed to display the worldwide geographic distribution of chosen viral genotypes and to couple genomic data with epidemiological data. The BLAST, multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis tools were integrated for online data analysis. Furthermore, IVDB offers instant access to pre-computed alignments and polymorphisms of IV genes and proteins, and presents the results as SNP distribution plots and minor allele distributions. IVDB is publicly available at http://influenza.genomics.org.cn.

Understanding Odd-even Effects in Organic Self-assembled Monolayers

Chemical Reviews. May, 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 17439290

Summary of Genetic Analysis Workshop 15: Group 9 Linkage Analysis of the CEPH Expression Data

Genetic Epidemiology. 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 18046772

Group 9 participants carried out linkage analysis of the Centre d'Etude de Polymorphism Humain (CEPH) expression data, using strategies that ranged from focused investigation of a small number of traits to full genome scans of all available traits. Results from five key areas encompass the most important results within and across the 17 participating groups. First, both extensive genetic heterogeneity and poor predictability of mapping results based on heritability have key implications for study design. Second, choice of the map used for linkage analysis is influential, with the implication that meiotic maps are preferable to physical maps. Third, performance of different analytic methods was in general fairly consistent, with the exception of one variance-component method that uses marker allele sharing as the dependent rather than independent variable. Fourth, multivariate analysis approaches did not generally appear to provide advantages over univariate approaches for linkage detection. Finally, there were computational and analytic challenges in working with a large public data set, along with need for more data documentation.

A Method Dealing with a Large Number of Correlated Traits in a Linkage Genome Scan

BMC Proceedings. 2007  |  Pubmed ID: 18466587

We propose a method to perform linkage genome scans for many correlated traits in the Genetic Analysis Workshop 15 (GAW15) data. The proposed method has two steps: first, we use a clustering method to find the tight clusters of the traits and use the first principal component (PC) of the traits in each cluster to represent the cluster; second, we perform a linkage scan for each cluster by using the representative trait of the cluster. The results of applying the method to the GAW15 Problem 1 data indicate that most of the traits in the same cluster have the same regulators, and the representative trait measure, the first PC, can explain a large part of the total variation of all the traits in each cluster. Furthermore, considering one cluster of traits at a time may yield more linkage signals than considering traits individually.

Effect of Epstein-Barr Virus Sequence Variation on Performance of the Roche Real-time LightCycler PCR Assay

Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Jul, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18480228

A Cage-monoterpene Indole Alkaloid from Alstonia Scholaris

Organic Letters. Feb, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18205369

An unprecedented cage-like alkaloid, scholarisine A was isolated from the leaves of Alstonia scholaris and its structure determined on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR, FTIR, UV, and high-resolution mass spectroscopic data. This alkaloid might be derived from picrinine via oxygenation, rearrangement, and lactonization.

1st NCI Annual Meeting on Clinical Proteomic Technologies for Cancer

Expert Review of Proteomics. Feb, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18282119

The National Cancer Institute of the US National Institutes of Health established a Clinical Proteomic Technologies Initiative for Cancer (CPTI) in 2006. The first annual meeting organized by the CPTI program provided up-to-date information on the research activities and achievements at its first anniversary of this program. Presentations were made by leaders from the five centers nationwide of the Clinical Proteomic Technology Assessment for Cancer (CPTAC), and other principal investigators funded by the CPTI.

Highly Selective Synthesis of Catalytically Active Monodisperse Rhodium Nanocubes

Journal of the American Chemical Society. May, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18399628

Monodisperse sub-10 nm Rh nanocubes were synthesized with high selectivity (>85%) by a seedless polyol method. The {100} faces of the Rh NCs were effectively stabilized by chemically adsorbed Br- ions from trimethyl(tetradecyl)ammonium bromide (TTAB). This simple one-step polyol route can be readily applied to the preparation of Pt and Pd nanocubes. Moreover, the organic molecules of PVP and TTAB that encapsulated the Rh nanocubes did not prevent catalytic activity for pyrrole hydrogenation and CO oxidation.

Investigation of the Variability of NIR In-line Monitoring of Roller Compaction Process by Using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) Analysis

AAPS PharmSciTech. 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18431668

The purpose of this research was to investigate the variability of the roller compaction process while monitoring in-line with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. In this paper, a pragmatic method in determining this variability of in-line NIR monitoring roller compaction process was developed and the variability limits were established. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis was used to study the source of the systematic fluctuations of the NIR spectra. An off-line variability analysis method was developed as well to simulate the in-line monitoring process in order to determine the variability limits of the roller compaction process. For this study, a binary formulation was prepared composed of acetaminophen and microcrystalline cellulose. Different roller compaction parameters such as roll speed and feeding rates were investigated to understand the variability of the process. The best-fit line slope of NIR spectra exhibited frequency dependence only on the roll speed regardless of the feeding rates. The eccentricity of the rolling motion of rollers was identified as the major source of variability and correlated with the fluctuations of the slopes of NIR spectra. The off-line static and dynamic analyses of the compacts defined two different variability of the roller compaction; the variability limits were established. These findings were proved critical in the optimization of the experimental setup of the roller compaction process by minimizing the variability of NIR in-line monitoring.

An Efficient Method to Identify Differentially Expressed Genes in Microarray Experiments

Bioinformatics (Oxford, England). Jul, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18453554

Microarray experiments typically analyze thousands to tens of thousands of genes from small numbers of biological replicates. The fact that genes are normally expressed in functionally relevant patterns suggests that gene-expression data can be stratified and clustered into relatively homogenous groups. Cluster-wise dimensionality reduction should make it feasible to improve screening power while minimizing information loss.

[KISS-1/GPR54 Genes and Their Role in Reproduction]

Yi Chuan = Hereditas / Zhongguo Yi Chuan Xue Hui Bian Ji. Apr, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18424411

KISS-1 gene and its receptor gene GPR54 play key roles in the initiation of puberty onset. The peptide product of the KiSS-1 gene, Kisspeptins stimulate gonadotrophins release to initiate puberty through the expression of GPR54 gene in the brain. So the level of KISS-1 and GPR54 mRNA in hypothalamus was very high on the onset of puberty. The expression of KISS-1gene was regulated by steroid hormone in different nuclei within the forebrain to control the reproduction in puberty. Loss of function mutations of GPR54 gene could cause idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) and gonadotrophin-dependant premature puberty. This review also introduced the structure, expression, homology comparison, polymorphism of KISS-1 and GPR54 genes and their interrelation with other regulators of reproduction.

Effect of Disrupting N-methyl-d-aspartate Receptor-postsynaptic Density Protein-95 Interactions on the Threshold for Halothane Anesthesia in Mice

Anesthesiology. May, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18431124

The authors' previous studies have shown that clinically relevant concentrations of inhalational anesthetics dose-dependently and specifically inhibit the PSD-95, Dlg, and ZO-1 (PDZ) domain-mediated protein interactions between postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) and N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors, and that the knockdown of spinal PSD-95 by intrathecal injection of PSD-95 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide significantly reduces the minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration for isoflurane in rats.

Process Induced Disorder in Crystalline Materials: Differentiating Defective Crystals from the Amorphous Form of Griseofulvin

Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Aug, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 17990307

This research investigates milling induced disorder in crystalline griseofulvin. Griseofulvin was subjected to cryogenic milling for various lengths of time. For comparison, the amorphous form of griseofulvin was also prepared by the quench melt method. Different analytical techniques were used to study the differences between the cryomilled, amorphous and crystalline forms of the drug. Cryogenic milling of griseofulvin progressively reduces the crystallinity of the drug by inducing crystal defects, rather than amorphous materials. Raman analysis provides evidence of structural differences between the two. The differences between the defective crystals produced by milling and the amorphous form are significant enough as to be measurable in their bulk thermal properties. Defective crystals show significant decrease in the heat of fusion as a function of milling time but do not exhibit a glass transition nor recrystallization from the amorphous form. Crystal defects undergo recrystallization upon heating at temperatures well below the glass transition temperature (T(g)) in a process that is separate and completely independent from the crystallization of the amorphous griseofulvin, observed above T(g). Physical mixtures of defective crystals and amorphous drug demonstrate that the thermal events associated with each form persist in the mixtures, unaffected by the presence of the other form.

[Acute Dopaminergic Responsiveness Test in Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and Parkinsonian Disorders]

Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. Aug, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 19087697

To investigate the features of acute dopaminergic responsiveness test in patients with Parkinsonian disorders, and to find a convenient approach of differential diagnosis of Parkinsonian disorders.

Comparison of Cerebral Glucose Metabolism Between Multiple System Atrophy Parkinsonian Type and Parkinson's Disease

Neurological Research. May, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18544255

To investigate the difference in the regional cerebral glucose metabolism between multiple system atrophy Parkinsonian type (MSA-P) and Parkinson's disease (PD).

Cloning and Characterization of E-dlg, a Novel Splice Variant of Mouse Homologue of the Drosophila Discs Large Tumor Suppressor Binds Preferentially to SAP102

IUBMB Life. Oct, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18618587

Membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs) act as scaffolds to coordinate signaling events through their multiple domains at the plasma membrane. The MAGUK SH3 domain is noncanonical and its function remains unclear. To identify potential binding partners of MAGUK SH3, the synapse-associated protein 102 (SAP102) SH3 domain was used as bait in a yeast two-hybrid screen of a mouse embryonic cDNA library. A mouse homologue of the Drosophila discs large tumor suppressor (Dlg, also known as SAP97) bound preferentially to SAP102 SH3. The 4347bp cDNA sequence encoded an 893 amino acid protein with 94% identity to mouse SAP97. A deleted region (33-aa) strongly suggests this is a novel splice variant, which we call Embryonic-dlg/SAP97 (E-dlg). The interaction of SAP102 and E-dlg was confirmed in mammalian cells. E-dlg can also bind to potassium channel Kv1.4 in a pull-down assay. E-dlg was highly expressed in embryonic and some adult mouse tissues, such as brain, kidney, and ovary. Furthermore, in situ hybridization showed that E-dlg was mostly expressed in olfactory bulb and cerebellum.

Aqueous Extract of Solanum Nigrum Inhibit Growth of Cervical Carcinoma (U14) Via Modulating Immune Response of Tumor Bearing Mice and Inducing Apoptosis of Tumor Cells

Fitoterapia. Dec, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18687388

To explore the antitumor activity of aqueous extract of Solanum nigrum (SNL-AE) and its possible mechanism, we examined the effects of SNL-AE on the tumor growth in vivo, the number of CD4+, CD8+ T lymphocyte subsets of peripheral blood in tumor-bearing mice by means of FACScan flow cytometer, the expression of PCNA in U14 cervical carcinoma section by means of immunohistochemistry SP method, the cell cycle of transplanted tumor by means of FACScan flow cytometer and DNA fragmentation by means of agarose gel electrophoresis. Our results showed that SNL-AE could inhibit U14 cervical carcinoma growth and increased the number of CD4+ T lymphocyte subsets as well as the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ T lymphocyte, decreased the number of CD8+ T lymphocyte subsets of tumor-bearing mice and PCNA positive cells. Furthermore, it had the abilities to cause cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and to induce apoptosis of more transplanted tumor cells in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicated that SNL-AE could suppress the cervical carcinoma via modulating immune response of the tumor-bearing mice and causing tumor cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase, as well as inducing apoptosis with little toxicity to the animals.

Cell-permeable Peptide Tat-PSD-95 PDZ2 Inhibits Chronic Inflammatory Pain Behaviors in Mice

Molecular Therapy : the Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy. Nov, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18781143

Inflammatory conditions can lead to persistent debilitating pain, and the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) has been shown to play an important role in the processing of inflammatory pain. Postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), a scaffolding protein, has been identified to interact with NMDARs at neuronal synapses of the central nervous system (CNS). However, the role of these interactions in the central sensitization of nociceptive processing has not been defined. In this study, we investigated the effect of disrupting NMDAR/PSD-95 interactions on chronic inflammatory pain behaviors. We constructed a fusion peptide, Tat-PSD-95 PDZ2, comprising the second PDZ domain of PSD-95, to disrupt specifically NMDARs/PSD-95 protein interactions. Western blot analysis showed that Tat-PSD-95 PDZ2 intraperitoneally injected into mice was delivered intracellularly into neurons in the CNS. By in vitro and in vivo binding assays, we found that the Tat-PSD-95 PDZ2 dose dependently inhibited the interactions between NMDARs and PSD-95. Furthermore, behavioral testing showed that mice given Tat-PSD-95 PDZ2 exhibited significantly reduced complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced chronic inflammatory pain behaviors compared to the vehicle-treated group. Our results indicate that by disrupting NMDAR/PSD-95 protein interactions, the cell-permeable fusion peptide Tat-PSD-95 PDZ2 provides a new target and approach for chronic inflammatory pain therapy.

Reaction-driven Restructuring of Rh-Pd and Pt-Pd Core-shell Nanoparticles

Science (New York, N.Y.). Nov, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 18845713

Heterogeneous catalysts that contain bimetallic nanoparticles may undergo segregation of the metals, driven by oxidizing and reducing environments. The structure and composition of core-shell Rh(0.5)Pd(0.5) and Pt(0.5)Pd(0.5) nanoparticle catalysts were studied in situ, during oxidizing, reducing, and catalytic reactions involving NO, O2, CO, and H2 by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at near-ambient pressure. The Rh(0.5)Pd(0.5) nanoparticles underwent dramatic and reversible changes in composition and chemical state in response to oxidizing or reducing conditions. In contrast, no substantial segregation of Pd or Pt atoms was found in Pt(0.5)Pd(0.5) nanoparticles. The different behaviors in restructuring and chemical response of Rh(0.5)Pd(0.5) and Pt(0.5)Pd(0.5) nanoparticle catalysts under the same reaction conditions illustrates the flexibility and tunability of the structure of bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts during catalytic reactions.

A New Scanning Tunneling Microscope Reactor Used for High-pressure and High-temperature Catalysis Studies

The Review of Scientific Instruments. Aug, 2008  |  Pubmed ID: 19044362

We present the design and performance of a homebuilt high-pressure and high-temperature reactor equipped with a high-resolution scanning tunneling microscope (STM) for catalytic studies. In this design, the STM body, sample, and tip are placed in a small high pressure reactor ( approximately 19 cm(3)) located within an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber. A sealable port on the wall of the reactor separates the high pressure environment in the reactor from the vacuum environment of the STM chamber and permits sample transfer and tip change in UHV. A combination of a sample transfer arm, wobble stick, and sample load-lock system allows fast transfer of samples and tips between the preparation chamber, high pressure reactor, and ambient environment. This STM reactor can work as a batch or flowing reactor at a pressure range of 10(-13) to several bars and a temperature range of 300-700 K. Experiments performed on two samples both in vacuum and in high pressure conditions demonstrate the capability of in situ investigations of heterogeneous catalysis and surface chemistry at atomic resolution at a wide pressure range from UHV to a pressure higher than 1 atm.

[Effects of Manganese on Antioxidant System of Manganese-hyperaccumulator Phytolacca Americana L.]

Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao = The Journal of Applied Ecology / Zhongguo Sheng Tai Xue Xue Hui, Zhongguo Ke Xue Yuan Shenyang Ying Yong Sheng Tai Yan Jiu Suo Zhu Ban. Oct, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 20077708

A hydroponic experiment was conducted to study the growth, manganese (Mn) accumulation, lipid peroxidation, H2O2 concentration, and antioxidant system of Phytolacca americana L. exposed to different concentration Mn. With increasing Mn concentration in the medium, the plant Mn content increased significantly, and the Mn accumulation was in the sequence of leaf > stem > root. Comparing with the control, low concentration (5 mmol x L(-1)) Mn promoted the plant growth, decreased the leaf H2O2 concentration, and had less effects on the leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) content, while high concentration (> or = 10 mmol x L(-1)) Mn led to a remarkable increase of leaf H2O2 and MDA contents, indicating an evident oxidative damage occurred in leaves. The activities of ascorbate peroxidase, dehydroascorbate reductase and glutathione reductase and the content of reduced ascorbate increased with increasing Mn concentration, while the SOD activity was inhibited significantly at 5 mmol x L(-1) of Mn but enhanced at > or = 10 mmol x L(-1) of Mn. The activities of catalase and peroxidase and the content of reduced glutathione increased at 5-10 mmol x L(-1) of Mn but dropped markedly at 20 mmol x L(-1) of Mn. All the results suggested that the Mn-induced oxidative damage and Mn accumulation might be responsible for the growth inhibition of P. americana plants at high Mn exposure, and the increase of antioxidative enzyme activities and low molecular antioxidant contents was, at least partly, contributed to the Mn tolerance and hyperaccumulation of P. americana. However, due to their different Mn concentration-dependent change modes, these antioxidants played different roles in the Mn tolerance of P. americana.

Dynamics of Hepatitis B Virus Resistance to Entecavir in a Nucleoside/nucleotide-naïve Patient

Antiviral Research. Feb, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 18948142

The genotypic evolution of HBV quasi-species was analyzed in a nucleoside/nucleotide-naïve patient who developed resistance to entecavir. The lamivudine resistant quasi-species (rtM204V+/-rtL180M), absent at baseline, were emerged as early as 48 weeks after entecavir administration. Entecavir-resistant quasi-species (rtM204V+/-rtL180M plus S202G) were found after week 112 and gradually became the predominant mutations afterwards. The lamivudine- and entecavir-resistant mutations emerged closely in combination with the rtV207L, rtA222T, rtP237T or rtI163V substitutions. Our results indicated that the lamivudine-resistant mutations were developed first and may serve as a prequisite for subsequent entecavir-resistant mutations in this nucleoside/nucleotide-naïve patient.

Antimicrobially Active Isoquinoline Alkaloids from Litsea Cubeba

Planta Medica. Jan, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 18991207

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the alkaloidal extract of the aerial part of Litsea cubeba led to the isolation of two new isoquinoline alkaloids, (+)- N-(methoxycarbonyl)-N-norboldine (1) and (+)-isoboldine beta-N-oxide (2), together with 11 known analogues (3-13). Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic techniques and by comparing spectroscopic data with those in the literature. Compounds 1 and 4 showed antimicrobial activities. This is the first report on the presence of compounds 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 in this plant and on the antimicrobial activities of 1 and 4. The bioactivities of isoquinoline alkaloids are also at least partly responsible for the pharmacological function of the folk medicinal plant Litsea cubeba.

Acute Stepwise Challenge Test with Levodopa in Treated Patients with Parkinsonism

Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. Jun, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19010079

The aim of this study was to establish a new stepwise type of acute challenge test with incremental doses of levodopa/benserazide, and verify its predictive value in follow-up diagnoses and outcomes of deep-brain stimulation (DBS) in treated patients with parkinsonism.

Toward Understanding the Evolution of Griseofulvin Crystal Structure to a Mesophase After Cryogenic Milling

International Journal of Pharmaceutics. Feb, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19013224

The purpose of this research is to investigate the response of crystalline griseofulvin to mechanically induced stress through cryogenic milling. Crystalline griseofulvin was subjected to cryogenic milling for two different lengths of time. Following cryo-milling, the samples were immediately analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). The DSC thermograms of cryo-milled griseofulvin showed a complex exothermic event at around 65 degrees C for the 30min cryo-milled sample and around 75 degrees C for the 60min cryo-milled sample. A glass transition event was not observed for the cryo-milled samples. This is in direct contrast to the X-ray amorphous griseofulvin sample prepared through the quench melt method The XRPD patterns of cryo-milled griseofulvin show a loss of the crystalline Bragg peaks and a corresponding increase in diffuse scattering (halos). The disordered griseofulvin material produced through cryo-milling appears X-ray amorphous, yet different from the amorphous phase produced using the quench melt method. Both X-ray amorphous materials have distinctive DSC thermograms and X-ray powder patterns. These findings suggest that the evolution of the griseofulvin crystal structure during cryo-milling is not simply a crystal-to-amorphous transition but a transition to an intermediate mesophase.

[The Comparison of CD4(+);CD25(high); Foxp3(+); Regulatory T Cells Between Neonatal Cord Blood and Adult Peripheral Blood.]

Xi Bao Yu Fen Zi Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi = Chinese Journal of Cellular and Molecular Immunology. Dec, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19961805

To quantify the proportion of CD4(+);CD25(high); Foxp3(+); regulatory T cells (Treg) in neonatal cord blood and adult peripheral blood, and to explore the clinical significance of Treg in neonatal cord blood.

A Method to Correct for Population Structure Using a Segregation Model

BMC Proceedings. 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 20017968

ABSTRACT : To overcome the "spurious" association caused by population stratification in population-based association studies, we propose a principal-component based method that can use both family and unrelated samples at the same time. More specifically, we adapt the multivariate logistic model, which is often used in segregation analysis and can allow for the family correlation structure, for association analysis. To correct the effect of hidden population structure, the first ten principal-components calculated from the matrix of marker genotype data are incorporated as covariates in the model. To test for the association, the marker of interest is also incorporated as a covariate in the model. We applied the proposed method to the second generation (i.e., the Offspring Cohort), in the Genetic Analysis Workshop 16 Framingham Heart Study 50 k data set to evaluate the performance of the method. Although there may have been difficulty in the convergence while maximizing the likelihood function as indicated by a flat likelihood, the distribution of the empirical p-values for the test statistic does show that the method has a correct type I error rate whenever the variance-covariance matrix of the estimates can be computed.

Assessing the Impact of Global Versus Local Ancestry in Association Studies

BMC Proceedings. 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 20017971

ABSTRACT :

Comparison of a Unified Analysis Approach for Family and Unrelated Samples with the Transmission-disequilibrium Test to Study Associations of Hypertension in the Framingham Heart Study

BMC Proceedings. 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 20018012

ABSTRACT : Population stratification is one of the major causes of spurious associations in association studies. A unified association approach based on principal-component analysis can overcome the effect of population stratification, as well as make use of both family and unrelated samples combined to increase power (family-case-control, or FamCC). In this study, we compared FamCC and the transmission-disequilibrium test (TDT) using data on hypertension, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure in the Framingham Heart Study. Our study indicated FamCC has reasonable type I error for both the unrelated sample and the family sample for all three traits. For these three traits, we found results from FamCC were inconsistent with those from the TDT. We discuss the reasons for this inconsistency. After correcting for multiple tests, we did not detect any significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms by either FamCC or the TDT.

[A Pancreas Suture-less Type II Binding Pancreaticogastrostomy]

Zhonghua Wai Ke Za Zhi [Chinese Journal of Surgery]. Dec, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 20193541

To explore the feasibility and safety of type II binding pancreaticogastrostomy (BPG) in pancreaticoduodenectomy and mid-segmentectomy of pancreas.

Recent Patents in Flavor Microencapsulation

Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition & Agriculture. Nov, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 20653540

Many aroma compounds, used to flavor food products, are used in a solid state, after encapsulation. Synthetic or natural polymers are the common matrices used to entrap these volatiles. This paper reviews the recent patents of versatile matrices and methods used in flavor microencapsulation. The encapsulation ratio depends on both the carriers' physicochemical properties and the characteristics of the aroma compound. The patents about flavor encapsulation methods are spray drying, fluidized bed coating, melt extrusion, complex coacervation, aqueous diffusion and novel fat-coating etc. All these methods have both advantages and disadvantages. In brief, spray drying is very convenient but unsuitable for heat sensitive flavor and stored with moisture instability. Fluidized bed coating is costly but having better storage stability. Melt extrusion is suitable for large-scale production but having bad particle size distribution. Complex coacervation has good capsule size uniformity but controversial safety. Aqueous diffusion has excellent safety but low efficient encapsulation. Novel fat-coating has good encapsulation efficiency but uncontrollable size distribution.

[Advances on Related Genes with Sexual Precocity in Mammals]

Yi Chuan = Hereditas / Zhongguo Yi Chuan Xue Hui Bian Ji. Jan, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19138897

In mammals and humans, reproductive capacity is attained at puberty as the end-point of a complex series of developmental and neuroendocrine events that lead to true sexual maturity. As for humans, sexual precocity looks like a pathologic status. While for some animals, sexual precocity may be a valuable quantitative character. For some species, the character of sexual precocity was developed in the evolutionary process and stably transmitted to future generations. Sexual precocity is a complex character determined by polygenes. This review introduced the association between KiSS-1, GPR54, LHR, FSHR, CYP, ER, TGFa, IGF-, GNAS1, HSD3B2, SHBG, VDR genes and sexual precocity in mammals.

[Clinical Treatment of Acute Traumatic Central Cervical Spinal Cord Syndrome Without Fracture and Dislocation]

Zhongguo Gu Shang = China Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Feb, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19281027

To analyze clinical characteristics and therapeutic efficacy of acute traumatic central cervical spinal-cord syndrome without fracture and dislocation,and to investigate its treatment methods.

Up-regulation of Chloroplastic Antioxidant Capacity is Involved in Alleviation of Nickel Toxicity of Zea Mays L. by Exogenous Salicylic Acid

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. Jul, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19375798

A pot experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of exogenous salicylic acid (SA) on the growth, photosynthesis, oxidative stress and responses of chloroplastic antioxidant defense system of maize (Zea mays L.) plants grown in a nickel (Ni)-contaminated soil. The results indicate that exogenous SA significantly decreased the reduction in dry weight, chlorophyll and beta-carotene contents, and net photosynthetic rate of the Ni-stressed maize, demonstrating an alleviating effect of SA on Ni toxicity of plants. Superoxide anion generation rate, H(2)O(2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, and lipoxygenase (LOX, EC 1.13.11.12) activity significantly increased in the chloroplasts of maize exposed to Ni stress, revealing an oxidative damage occurred in maize chloroplasts, whereas, the values of these parameters were markedly lowered in the SA-treated plants under Ni stress. Application of SA significantly enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR, EC 1.6.5.4), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1) and glutathione reductase (GR, EC 1.6.4.2), and the poll of reduced ascorbate and glutathione in chloroplasts of the Ni-stressed maize. Accordingly, the fact that SA up-regulates the capacity of antioxidant defense system in chloroplasts, thus reducing the oxidative damage, is involved in the SA-induced alleviation of Ni toxicity in maize.

Effects of Intrathecal Injection of Nicotine on the Analgesic Effects of Isoflurane in a Model of Inflammatory Pain

Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. Aug, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19389046

The present study was designed to investigate the role of spinal neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the analgesic effects of isoflurane. After having established the mice model of analgesia by intraperitoneally injecting (i.p.) appropriate doses of isoflurane, nicotine, a neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist was intrathecally injected. The effects of isoflurane and nicotine on paw licking times and formalin-induced c-fos expression in the spinal cord dorsal horn were examined. Our correlative studies have shown that isoflurane can decrease the paw licking times and simultaneously suppress c-fos expression after injection of formalin in the mice. Nicotine can partially antagonize the effects induced by isoflurane above. Spinal neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors may be important targets for the analgesic effects of isoflurane in formalin pain.

Restructuring of Hex-Pt(100) Under CO Gas Environments: Formation of 2-D Nanoclusters

Nano Letters. May, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19391609

The atomic-scale restructuring of hex-Pt(100) induced by carbon monoxide with a wide pressure range was studied with a newly designed chamber-in-chamber high-pressure STM and theoretical calculations. Both experimental and DFT calculation results show that CO molecules are bound to Pt nanoclusters through a tilted on-top configuration with a separation of approximately 3.7-4.1 A. The phenomenon of restructuring of metal catalyst surfaces induced by adsorption and, in particular, the formation of small metallic clusters suggests the importance of studying structures of catalyst surfaces under high-pressure conditions for understanding catalytic mechanisms.

Intracerebroventricular or Intrathecal Injection of Glycine Produces Analgesia in Thermal Nociception and Chemical Nociception Via Glycine Receptors

European Journal of Pharmacology. Jul, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19445923

The present study was designed to investigate the role of glycine receptors in analgesia induced by injection of glycine in vivo. Glycine was injected intracerebroventricularly or intrathecally and strychnine, a glycine receptor antagonist, was injected intracerebroventricularly or intrathecally before glycine injection. The effects on the pain threshold index in hot-plate test and the writhing times in acetic acid-induced writhing test were observed. The locomotor activity and motor performance (rotarod test) were also observed. The dosages of glycine and strychnine we choose had no effect on locomotor activity or motor performance in conscious mice. Glycine increased the pain threshold index in hot-plate test and decreased the writhing times of the mice. Strychnine antagonized the effects induced by glycine above. These results demonstrated that intracerebroventricular or intrathecal injection of glycine can produce analgesia in thermal nociception and chemical nociception in vivo, which is mediated by glycine receptors.

Synthesis of a Novel Biodegradable and Electroactive Polyphosphazene for Biomedical Application

Biomedical Materials (Bristol, England). Jun, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19468157

To prepare one electroactive and biodegradable biomaterial for biomedical application, a new synthetic strategy was developed to synthesize a novel electrically conductive biodegradable polyphosphazene polymer containing parent aniline pentamer (PAP) and glycine ethyl ester (GEE) as side chains by a nucleophilic substitution reaction. The electrical conductivity of the polymer is approximately 2 x 10(-5) S cm(-1) in the semiconducting region upon preliminarily protonic-doped experiment. The degradation and RSC96 Schwann cells experiments in vitro prove that the polymer is biodegradable and beneficial to the cell adhesion and proliferation. The as-synthesized polymer also shows good solubility in common organic solvent and good film-forming properties. This new type of polymer has potential applications as scaffolds for neuronal and cardiovascular tissue engineering or other biomedical devices that require electroactivity.

Wnt Antagonist SFRP3 Inhibits the Differentiation of Mouse Hepatic Progenitor Cells

Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. Sep, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19562671

Wnt/beta-catenin pathway plays an important role in regulating embryonic development. Hepatocytes differentiate from endoderm during development. Hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) have been isolated from fetal liver and extrahepatic tissues. Most current studies in liver development and hepatic differentiation have been focused on Wnts, beta-catenin, and their receptors. Here, we sought to determine the role of Wnt antagonists in regulating hepatic differentiation of fetal liver-derived HPCs. Using mouse liver tissues derived from embryonic day E12.5 to postnatal day (PD) 28, we found that 13 of the 19 Wnt genes and almost all of Wnt receptors/co-receptors were expressed in most stages. However, Wnt antagonists SFRP2, SFRP3, and Dkk2 were only detected in the early stages. We established and characterized the reversible stable HPCs derived from E14.5 mouse fetal liver (HP14.5). HP14.5 cells were shown to express high levels of early liver progenitor cell markers, but low levels or none of late liver markers. HP14.5 cells were shown to differentiate into mature hepatocytes upon dexamethasone (Dex) stimulation. Dex-induced late marker expression and albumin promoter activity in HP14.5 cells were inhibited by exogenous expression of SFRP3. Furthermore, Dex-induced glycogen synthesis of PAS-positive HP14.5 cells was significantly inhibited by SFRP3. Therefore, our results have demonstrated that the expression of Wnt antagonists decreases as hepatic differentiation progresses, suggesting that a balanced Wnt signaling may be critical during mouse liver development and hepatic differentiation.

[Binding Pancreaticogastrostomy]

Zhonghua Wai Ke Za Zhi [Chinese Journal of Surgery]. Jan, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19563012

To discuss the value of a new technique of the binding pancreaticogastrostomy (BPG) in pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids from the Bark of Alstonia Scholaris

Planta Medica. Nov, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19609839

Six new monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, scholarisines B-G (1- 6), together with 15 known analogues (7- 21), were isolated from the bark of Alstonia scholaris. Their structures were determined by 1D and 2D NMR spectra and MS analyses. The structure of 1 was further supported by the single-crystal X-ray.

[Meta-analysis on the Correlation of Cholecystectomy or Cholecystolithiasis to Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Chinese Population]

Ai Zheng = Aizheng = Chinese Journal of Cancer. Jul, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19624904

It is reported that the incidence of colorectal cancer is higher in patients receiving cholecystectomy (CHE) than in those who did not. However, the correlation of CHE and cholecystolithiasis (CHO) to colorectal cancer is unclear. This study was to investigate the correlation of CHE or CHO to risk of colorectal cancer in Chinese population.

[A Study of the Influence of Temperature and Humidity on Skin Friction Property]

Sheng Wu Yi Xue Gong Cheng Xue Za Zhi = Journal of Biomedical Engineering = Shengwu Yixue Gongchengxue Zazhi. Jun, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19634665

To investigate the influence of temperature and humidity on skin friction property and to unveil the mechanism therein involved, a test of friction coefficient for four volunteers was carried out on a multi-specimen friction tester. The temperature and humidity of skin were measured with infrared temperature instrument and dermohygrometer. The results showed that the fluidity and ductility of skin were affected by the change of skin temperature. The skin temperature decreasing friction coefficient and the normal displacement decreased first, and then remained unchanged, deformation friction and adhesive friction being the major underlying mechanism. Humidity significantly affected the skin friction properties. The friction coefficient increased with the increasing of humidity. When skin humidity reached to 42% or so, the friction coefficient increased to 1.0 and higher. Meniscus effect was noted to be the major cause of moist skin surface with high friction coefficient.

Electronic and Structural Factors in Modification and Functionalization of Clean and Passivated Semiconductor Surfaces with Aromatic Systems

Chemical Reviews. Sep, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19637925

A Variable-sized Sliding-window Approach for Genetic Association Studies Via Principal Component Analysis

Annals of Human Genetics. Nov, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19735491

Recently with the rapid improvements in high-throughout genotyping techniques, researchers are facing the very challenging task of analysing large-scale genetic associations, especially at the whole-genome level, without an optimal solution. In this study, we propose a new approach for genetic association analysis that is based on a variable-sized sliding-window framework and employs principal component analysis to find the optimum window size. With the help of the bisection algorithm in window-size searching, our method is more computationally efficient than available approaches. We evaluate the performance of the proposed method by comparing it with two other methods-a single-marker method and a variable-length Markov chain method. We demonstrate that, in most cases, the proposed method out-performs the other two methods. Furthermore, since the proposed method is based on genotype data, it does not require any computationally intensive phasing program to account for uncertain haplotype phase.

Retinoic Acid Signalling Induces the Differentiation of Mouse Fetal Liver-derived Hepatic Progenitor Cells

Liver International : Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver. Nov, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19737349

Hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) can be isolated from fetal liver and extrahepatic tissues. Retinoic acid (RA) signalling plays an important role in development, although the role of RA signalling in liver-specific progenitors is poorly understood.

Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids from Alstonia Yunnanensis

Journal of Natural Products. Oct, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19775092

Eight new monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, alstoyunines A-H (1-8), along with 17 known analogues, were isolated from Alstonia yunnanensis. The structures of the new alkaloids were established by means of extensive spectroscopic methods. Alstoyunines C (3), E (5), and F (6) showed selective inhibition of Cox-2 (>75%). Alstoyunine F (6) showed weak cytotoxicity against the human myeloid leukemia HL-60 (IC50 = 3.89 microM) and hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 (IC50 = 21.73 microM) cell lines.

Electron Field Emission from Screen-printed Graphene Films

Nanotechnology. Oct, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19779246

The electron field emission performance of screen-printed graphene cathode was studied. High-yield graphene was prepared by a modified Hummers method and hydrazine hydrate reduction process, and screen printing technology was used to prepare the graphene field emission cathode. This cathode structure satisfies the requirements of both good electrical conductivity and a high surface field enhancement factor, leading to excellent and stable field emission properties with a low threshold field ( approximately 1.5 V microm(-1)). Our work introduced a simple and convenient method suitable for large scale on different substrates, paving the way for more applications of graphene films.

Melohenines A and B, Two Unprecedented Alkaloids from Melodinus Henryi

Organic Letters. Nov, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 19863145

A phytochemical study on Melodinus henryi has led to the isolation of two novel alkaloids, melohenines A (1), a monoterpenoid indole alkaloid with additional skeletal carbons arranged compactly in eight rings, and melohenine B (2), an alkaloid with an unprecedented 6/9/6/6 tetracyclic ring system regarded as a key intermediate from indole to quinoline alkaloids. Their structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods and further confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis.

Self-aggregation of Water-soluble Chitosan and Solubilization of Thymol As an Antimicrobial Agent

Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. Part A. Sep, 2009  |  Pubmed ID: 18618589

Water-soluble chitosan (WCS) with five different molecular weights was synthesized by N-acetylation of chitosan with acetic anhydride. Degree of deacetylation of sample was determined by potentiometric titration. The structure of WCS was characterized by FTIR, XRD, and gel permeation chromatography. The critical aggregation concentration (cac) of self-aggregation was determined by measuring the fluorescence intensity of pyrene as a fluorescent probe and the surface tension. With the decrease of weight-average molecular weight (M(w)), the cac values of WCSs in aqueous media were 0.48, 0.41, 0.35, 0.16, and 0.06 mg/mL, respectively. The surface tension-concentration plots of WCS5 had more than one turning point. It showed WCS had tendency to form monomolecular micelles in the very dilute solutions. In addition, WCSs were evaluated for efficacy of nanoparticle formation, which can solubilize and carry thymol, a water-insoluble antimicrobial agent. The diameter and morphology of thymol-loaded WCS nanoparticles were characterized by Zeta size nano series and TEM. Mean diameters of these thymol-loaded WCS nanoparticles in aqueous media were 189, 167, 134, 35, and 21 nm, respectively. TEM photographs exhibited the thymol-loaded WCS nanoparticle as a bimolecular micelle. Furthermore, thymol-loaded WCS nanoparticles had stronger antibacterial activity than thymol. With the decrease of the size, the thymol-loaded nanoparticles showed a stronger antimicrobial effect on gram-positive bacteria and fungi. The minimum inhibitory concentration value of thymol-loaded WCS5 nanoparticle against Staphyococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis was 0.00313-0.00157% (w/v).

A Data-driven Weighting Scheme for Family-based Genome-wide Association Studies

European Journal of Human Genetics : EJHG. May, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 19935828

Recently, Steen et al proposed a novel two-stage approach for family-based genome-wide association studies. In the first stage, a test based on between-family information is used to rank SNPs according to their P-values or conditional power of the test. In the second stage, the R most promising SNPs are tested using a family-based association test. We call this two-stage approach top R method. Ionita-Laza et al proposed an exponential weighting method within a two-stage framework. In the second stage of this approach, instead of testing top R SNPs, it tests all SNPs and weights the P-values of association test according to the information of the first stage. However, both of the top R and exponential weighting methods only use the information from the first stage to rank SNPs. It seems that the two methods do not use information from the first stage efficiently. Furthermore, it may be unreasonable for the exponential weighting method to use the same weight for all SNPs within a group when only one or a few SNPs are related with a disease. In this article, we propose a data-driven weighting scheme within a two-stage framework. In this method, we use the information from the first stage to determine a SNP-specific weight for each SNP. We use simulation studies to evaluate the performance of our method. The simulation results showed that our proposed method is consistently more powerful than the top R method and the exponential weighting method, regardless of the LD structure, population structure, and family structure.

Recent Patents on Nano Flavor Preparation and Its Application

Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition & Agriculture. Nov, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20858190

Nano flavor preparation and its application have been reviewed in this paper. Nano flavor could be prepared by physical methods such as spray drying with microfluidization and ultrasonication, physical adsorption and so on, chemical methods such as complex formation, nano-sized self-structured liquid, and nano emulsification and so on. Different preparation technology could produce nano particles with different physical properties, thus they could be used in different occasions such as food, drug, cosmetics and so on. The article presents some promising patents on nano flavor preparation and its application.

Fast and Selective Removal of Oils from Water Surface Via Highly Hydrophobic Core-shell Fe2O3@C Nanoparticles Under Magnetic Field

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Nov, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20942429

The removal of oil spills or organic contaminants from water surface is of great technological importance for environmental protection. A major challenge is the fast distribution and collection of absorbent materials with high separation selectivity, good thermal stability, and excellent recyclability. Here we reported fast and selective removal of oils from water surface through core-shell Fe(2)O(3)@C nanoparticles under magnetic field. These nanoparticles combined with unsinkable, highly hydrophobic and superoleophilic properties, could selectively absorb lubricating oil up to 3.8 times of the particles' weight while completely repelling water. The oil-absorbed nanoparticles were quickly collected in seconds by applying an external magnetic field. More importantly, the oil could be readily removed from the surfaces of nanoparticles by a simple ultrasonic treatment whereas the particles still kept highly hydrophobic and superolephilic characteristics. Experiment results showed that the highly hydrophobic Fe(2)O(3)@C nanoparticles could be reused in water-oil separation for many cycles. Our results suggest a facile and efficient method that might find practical applications in the cleanup of oil spills and the removal of organic pollutants on water surface.

Detecting Rare Variants for Complex Traits Using Family and Unrelated Data

Genetic Epidemiology. Feb, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 19847924

Large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been performed to detect common genetic variants involved in common diseases, but most of the variants found this way account for only a small portion of the trait variance. Furthermore, candidate gene-based resequencing suggests that many rare genetic variants contribute to the trait variance of common diseases. Here we propose two designs, sibpair and unrelated-case designs, to detect rare genetic variants in either a candidate gene-based or genome-wide association analysis. First we show that we can detect and classify together rare risk haplotypes using a relatively small sample with either of these designs, and then have increased power to test association in a larger case-control sample. This method can also be applied to resequencing data. Next we apply the method to the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertension (HT) data, the latter being the only trait for which no genome-wide association evidence was reported in the original WTCCC study, and identify one interesting gene associated with HT and four associated with CAD at a genome-wide significance level of 5%. These results suggest that searching for rare genetic variants is feasible and can be fruitful in current GWAS, candidate gene studies or resequencing studies.

Recent Patents in Flavor Controlled Release

Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition & Agriculture. Jun, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20653556

In recent years, considerable effort has been directed toward the preparation of flavoring materials specifically, flavor materials have been sought that provide greater flavor intensity coupled with controlled flavor release for long periods of time. Here, some recent patents related to controlled flavor release are reviewed from the angle of its application field, its mechanism and its determination method. It is found that controlled flavor release often depends not only on materials' chemical and physical properties, such as melting point, solution properties and so on, but also on flavors' chemical and physical properties, such as diffusion capacity, its stability in different media etc. Meanwhile, flavor release is also controlled by an electric reducing device according to the flavor generation condition. It might be also known that flavor release rate could be determined by using a purge-and-trap/gas chromatographic procedure. In future, it's necessary to use mathematical model to study the kinetic behavior of controlled flavor release.

Tirucallane-type Alkaloids from the Bark of Dysoxylum Laxiracemosum

Journal of Natural Products. Aug, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20669932

Eight novel tirucallane-type alkaloids (1-8) and 11 known compounds were isolated from a methanol extract of the bark of Dysoxylum laxiracemosum. The structures of 1-8 were elucidated using extensive NMR spectrometric and mass spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1 and 5, named laxiracemosins A and E, showed significant cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines.

Tat-Mediated Peptide Intervention in Analgesia and Anesthesia

Drug Development Research. Apr, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20711510

Membrane-permeable peptide carriers are attractive drug delivery tools. Among such carriers, the protein transduction domain (PTD) of the human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 Tat protein is most frequently used and has been successfully shown to deliver a large variety of cargoes. The Tat PTD can facilitate the uptake of large, biologically active molecules into mammalian cells, and recent studies have shown that it can mediate the delivery of different cargoes into tissues throughout a living organism. Given that the Tat PTD-mediated delivery is size-independent, this technology could make previously non-applicable large molecules usable to modulate biological function in vivo and treat human diseases. It is likely that the peptide carrier-mediated intracellular delivery process encompasses multiple mechanisms, but endocytic pathways are the predominant internalization routes. Tat PTD has been successfully used in preclinical models for the study of cancer, ischemia, inflammation, analgesia, and anesthesia. Our recent studies have shown that intraperitoneally injected fusion Tat peptide Tat-PSD-95 PDZ2 can be delivered into the spinal cord to dose-dependently disrupt protein-protein interactions between PSD-95 and NMDA receptors. This peptide significantly inhibits chronic inflammatory pain and reduces the threshold for halothane anesthesia. The ability of the Tat PTD to target any cell is advantageous in some respects. However, the drug delivery system will be more attractive if we can modify the Tat PTD to deliver cargo only into desired organs to avoid possible side effects.

Pharmacological Evaluation of Alstonia Scholaris: Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Effects

Journal of Ethnopharmacology. May, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20219658

Alstonia scholaris (Apocynaceae) has been historically used in "dai" ethnopharmacy to treat chronic respiratory diseases. The leaf extract, developed as a commercially available traditional Chinese medicine, used to release tracheitis and cold symptom, has also been prescribed in hospitals and sold over the counter in drug stores.

Combustion Synthesis of Eu(3+)-activated Y2Hf7O17 Powders

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Mar, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20355644

Eu3+ doped-Y2Hf7O17 nanopowders were synthesized by the chemical self-combustion method at low temperature. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were employed to analyze the phase composition and the characteristics of the nanopowders. The excitation and emission spectra were analyzed with a fluorescence photometer. Results show that nanoscale powders calcined at 800 degrees C have good luminescent properties. There are two peaks in the emission spectra. One is at 595 nm, and the other is at 614 nm. Analysis of X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectra reveals that Y2Hf7O17 is cubic phase. The sample doped with 14 mol% Eu3+ has the maximum luminescent intensity.

Sterols and Terpenoids from Melia Azedarach

Journal of Natural Products. Apr, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20361779

Three new sterols (1-3) including an unprecedented ring A-seco natural product (1), five new terpenoids (4-8), and 15 known compounds were isolated from the bark of Melia azedarach. Their structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic data, and the structure of 1 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

Pharmacological Evaluation of Alstonia Scholaris: Anti-tussive, Anti-asthmatic and Expectorant Activities

Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Jun, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20381600

Alstonia scholaris (Apocynaceae) was documented as an effective herb for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases in "dai" ethnopharmacy historically, and its leaf crude extract, used for releasing tracheitis and cold symptom, was approved to be a commercial formulation by State Food and Drugs Administration of China (SFDA).

Genome-wide Association of Anthropometric Traits in African- and African-derived Populations

Human Molecular Genetics. Jul, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20400458

Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified common variants that are associated with a variety of traits and diseases, but most studies have been performed in European-derived populations. Here, we describe the first genome-wide analyses of imputed genotype and copy number variants (CNVs) for anthropometric measures in African-derived populations: 1188 Nigerians from Igbo-Ora and Ibadan, Nigeria, and 743 African-Americans from Maywood, IL. To improve the reach of our study, we used imputation to estimate genotypes at approximately 2.1 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and also tested CNVs for association. No SNPs or common CNVs reached a genome-wide significance level for association with height or body mass index (BMI), and the best signals from a meta-analysis of the two cohorts did not replicate in approximately 3700 African-Americans and Jamaicans. However, several loci previously confirmed in European populations showed evidence of replication in our GWA panel of African-derived populations, including variants near IHH and DLEU7 for height and MC4R for BMI. Analysis of global burden of rare CNVs suggested that lean individuals possess greater total burden of CNVs, but this finding was not supported in an independent European population. Our results suggest that there are not multiple loci with strong effects on anthropometric traits in African-derived populations and that sample sizes comparable to those needed in European GWA studies will be required to identify replicable associations. Meta-analysis of this data set with additional studies in African-ancestry populations will be helpful to improve power to detect novel associations.

[Screening and Identification of Effective Small Interfering RNAs Against Bone Morphogenetic Protein-9]

Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao = Journal of Southern Medical University. Apr, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20423820

To screen specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting mouse BMP9 gene and identify its function in BNLCL.2 fetal liver cells and C3H10 cells.

Effect of PSD-95/SAP90 And/or PSD-93/chapsyn-110 Deficiency on the Minimum Alveolar Anesthetic Concentration of Halothane in Mice

Anesthesiology. Jun, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20460989

The authors have previously shown that the clinically relevant concentrations of inhalational anesthetics dose-dependently inhibit the postsynaptic density protein (PSD)-95, Dlg, and ZO-1 domain-mediated protein interactions between N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors and PSD-95/synaptic-associated protein (SAP) 90 or PSD-93/Chapsyn-110 and that the knockdown of spinal PSD-95/SAP90 significantly reduces the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) for isoflurane in rats.

Cytotoxic Indole Alkaloids from Melodinus Tenuicaudatus

Journal of Natural Products. Jun, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20462230

Four new bisindole alkaloids, melodinines H-K (1-4), a new monomer, melodinine L (5), and 11 known alkaloids were isolated from Melodinus tenuicaudatus. The structures of 1-5 were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, and the known compounds were identified by comparison with data in the literature. All of the compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines. Alkaloids 1, 3, and 4 and the known compound 11-methoxytabersonine (8) exhibited inhibitory effects, with IC(50) values comparable to those of cisplatin and vinorelbine.

[Expression of BDNF MRNA in Nasal Mucosa with Allergic Rhinitis Rat Model]

Lin Chuang Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi = Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery. Mar, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20464992

To evaluate the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in allergic rhinitis of rat.

Color-stable White Electroluminescence Based on a Cross-linked Network Film Prepared by Electrochemical Copolymerization

Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.). Jun, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20517872

Evolution of Structure and Chemistry of Bimetallic Nanoparticle Catalysts Under Reaction Conditions

Journal of the American Chemical Society. Jun, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20521788

Three series of bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts (Rh(x)Pd(1-x), Rh(x)Pt(1-x), and Pd(x)Pt(1-x), x = 0.2, 0.5, 0.8) were synthesized using one-step colloidal chemistry. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiles using different X-ray energies and scanning transmission electron microscopy showed that the as-synthesized Rh(x)Pd(1-x) and Pd(x)Pt(1-x) nanoparticles have a core-shell structure whereas the Rh(x)Pt(1-x) alloys are more homogeneous in structure. The evolution of their structures and chemistry under oxidizing and reducing conditions was studied with ambient-pressure XPS (AP-XPS) in the Torr pressure range. The Rh(x)Pd(1-x) and Rh(x)Pt(1-x) nanoparticles undergo reversible changes of surface composition and chemical state when the reactant gases change from oxidizing (NO or O(2) at 300 degrees C) to reducing (H(2) or CO at 300 degrees C) or catalytic (mixture of NO and CO at 300 degrees C). In contrast, no significant change in the distribution of the Pd and Pt atoms in the Pd(x)Pt(1-x) nanoparticles was observed. The difference in restructuring behavior under these reaction conditions in the three series of bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts is correlated with the surface free energy of the metals and the heat of formation of the metallic oxides. The observation of structural evolution of bimetallic nanoparticles under different reaction conditions suggests the importance of in situ studies of surface structures of nanoparticle catalysts.

Genome-wide Searching of Rare Genetic Variants in WTCCC Data

Human Genetics. Sep, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20549515

Although they have demonstrated success in searching for common variants for complex diseases, genome-wide association (GWA) studies are less successful in detecting rare genetic variants because of the poor statistical power of most of current methods. We developed a two-stage method that can apply to GWA studies for detecting rare variants. Here we report the results of applying this two-stage method to the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) dataset that include seven complex diseases: bipolar disorder, cardiovascular disease, hypertension (HT), rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes (T2D). We identified 24 genes or regions that reach genome wide significance. Eight of them are novel and were not reported in the WTCCC study. The cumulative risk (or protective) haplotype frequency for each of the 8 genes or regions is small, being at most 11%. For each of the novel genes, the risk (or protective) haplotype set cannot be tagged by the common SNPs available in chips (r (2) < 0.32). The gene identified in HT was further replicated in the Framingham Heart Study, and is also significantly associated with T2D. Our analysis suggests that searching for rare genetic variants is feasible in current GWA studies and candidate gene studies, and the results can severe as guides to future resequencing studies to identify the underlying rare functional variants.

Anti-human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Constituents of the Bark of Poncirus Trifoliata

Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. Jul, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20606349

A total of 36 compounds (1-36) were obtained from the stem bark of Poncirus trifoliata including three new prenylated flavonoids, (-)-5,4'-dihydroxy-7,8-[(3'',4''-cis-dihydroxy-3'',4''-dihydro)-2'',2''-dimethylpyrano]-flavone (1), (-)-5,4'-dihydroxy-7,8-[(3''-hydroxy-4''-one)-2'',2''-dimethylpyrano]-flavone (2), and (-)-5,4'-dihydroxy-7,8-[(cis-3''-hydroxy-4''-ethoxy-3'',4''-dihydro)-2'',2''-dimethylpyrano]-flavone (3). The new structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1-20 were evaluated for their anti-human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) activity, in which 2 showed significant anti-HIV-1 activity with high therapeutic index (TI) of 143.65.

[Construction of a Retroviral Vector Carrying HBX Gene and Its Expression in LO2 Human Hepatocytes]

Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao = Journal of Southern Medical University. Jul, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20650757

To construct a retroviral vector carrying HBX gene and investigate its expression in LO2 human hepatocytes.

Melodinines A-G, Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids from Melodinus Henryi

Journal of Natural Products. Jan, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20041704

Nineteen monoterpenoid indole alkaloids including seven new ones, melodinines A-G (1-7), were isolated from Melodinus henryi. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated using spectroscopic methods, and the structure of compound 4 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The known compounds were identified by comparing their spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature. All of the compounds were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against five human cancer cell lines, and compound 11 exhibited cytotoxicity against HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, and SK-BR-3 cells with IC50 values of 2.0, 16.8, 25.9, and 24.7 microM, respectively.

Melotenine A, a Cytotoxic Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloid from Melodinus Tenuicaudatus

Organic Letters. Mar, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20112938

Melotenine A (1), an unprecedented skeleton with a 6/5/5/6/7 pentacyclic rearranged ring system, was isolated from Melodinus tenuicaudatus. The structure was elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods and further confirmed by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. A possible biogenesis was also proposed. Melotenine A exhibited potential inhibition against five human cancer cell lines.

Break-up of Stepped Platinum Catalyst Surfaces by High CO Coverage

Science (New York, N.Y.). Feb, 2010  |  Pubmed ID: 20150498

Stepped single-crystal surfaces are viewed as models of real catalysts, which consist of small metal particles exposing a large number of low-coordination sites. We found that stepped platinum (Pt) surfaces can undergo extensive and reversible restructuring when exposed to carbon monoxide (CO) at pressures above 0.1 torr. Scanning tunneling microscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy studies under gaseous environments near ambient pressure at room temperature revealed that as the CO surface coverage approaches 100%, the originally flat terraces of (557) and (332) oriented Pt crystals break up into nanometer-sized clusters and revert to the initial morphology after pumping out the CO gas. Density functional theory calculations provide a rationale for the observations whereby the creation of increased concentrations of low-coordination Pt edge sites in the formed nanoclusters relieves the strong CO-CO repulsion in the highly compressed adsorbate film. This restructuring phenomenon has important implications for heterogeneous catalytic reactions.

Asymmetric Energy Flux in a Transmission Line Based on Frequency Multiplication

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. May, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21728680

We experimentally investigate the energy flux in a nonlinear electrical transmission line formed by two segments which are identical in structure but have different parameters. By consideration of the driving voltage at a frequency within the passband of one segment, the phenomenon of asymmetric energy flux caused by linear waves has been observed. The experiment shows that the possibility of creation of an asymmetric energy flux mainly depends on the nonlinear and lattice effects; namely, the asymmetric energy flux here is carried by a linear wave in the passband, instead of by a nonlinear wave out of the band. To further understand this phenomenon in the transmission line, we study both experimentally and numerically the dependency of the asymmetric energy flux on the parameters, and the key factors which affect the efficiency of the asymmetric energy flux are obtained.

Knockdown of SAMS Genes Encoding S-adenosyl-l-methionine Synthetases Causes Methylation Alterations of DNAs and Histones and Leads to Late Flowering in Rice

Journal of Plant Physiology. Oct, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21757254

S-Adenosyl-l-methionine synthetase (SAMS) [EC 2.5.1.6] catalyzes to produce SAM (S-adenosyl-l-methionine), a universal methyl group donor in biochemical reactions in cells. However, less is known how SAMS controls plant development. Here, we demonstrate that OsSAMS1, 2 and 3 are essential for histone H3K4me3 and DNA methylation to regulate gene expression related to flowering in Oryza sativa. RNA interference (RNAi) transgenic rice with downregulated transcripts of OsSAMS1, 2 and 3 showed pleiotropic phenotypes, including dwarfism, reduced fertility, delayed germination, as well as late flowering. Delayed germination was largely rescued by application of SAM in the knockdown lines. Knockdown of OsSAMS1, 2 and 3 led to distinguished late flowering and greatly reduced the expression of the flowering key genes, Early heading date 1 (Ehd1), Hd3a and RFT1 (rice FT-like genes). Moreover, the histone H3K4me3 and symmetric DNA methylation at these genes were greatly reduced. Thus, SAM deficiency suppressing DNA and H3K4me3 transmethylations at flowering key genes led to a late-flowering phenotype in rice. This information could help elucidate the mechanism of epigenetic control flowering transition.

[Selection and Genotyping of Lactobacillus with Potential Preventive Effect by Repetitive Element Sequence-based PCR Analysis]

Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao = Chinese Journal of Biotechnology. May, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21845850

We selected and characterized isolates of Lactobacillus crispatus (L. crispatus) for potential preventing infections of the female reproductive tract. We cultured vaginal swabs from healthy volunteers on de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) agar and identified the isolates at the species level by 16S rRNA sequence and genotyped the isolates of Lactobacillus by PCR amplification of repetitive bacterial DNA elements (rep-PCR). Furthermore, 10 L. crispatus strains were assessed for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and acid production. Overall 65 isolates were confirmed to be Lactobacillus by sequence analogy, among them 19 were L. crispatus, 17 were Lactobacillus jensenii and 12 were Lactobacillus fermentum. rep-PCR produced specie and strain-specific genomic fingerprints for the Lactobacillus isolates. The selected 10 L. crispatus isolates produced highly acidic environment after growth in MRS. The isolates T22-3 and T29-5 demonstrated high production of H2O2. This study indicated that there are individual differences with vaginal Lactobacillus colonization, and strain diversity within vaginal L. crispatus isolates, T22-3 and T29-5 might be candidates for restoring urogenital health environment in females.

Recent Patents on Amylose-flavor Inclusion Complex Nano Particles Preparation and Their Application

Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition & Agriculture. Sep, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21846320

Lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds that are solubilized in the form of nano-sized particles, or "nanoparticles", can be used in pharmacology, in the production of food additives, cosmetics, and agriculture, as well as in pet foods and veterinary products, amongst other uses. This review focuses on nanoparticles and methods for the production of soluble nanoparticles and, in particular, inclusion complexes of water-insoluble lipophilic and water-soluble hydrophilic organic materials, especially flavor compounds. The host molecule is namely V-amylose or modified starch molecule, which could form a cavity to fix or secure guest molecules. Thus, the V-amylose molecular properties and the molecular inclusion complex formation mechanism is firstly introduced, then amylose-other ingredients inclusion complex preparation and application are listed, finally amylose-flavor molecular inclusion complex preparations and its application have been overviewed. Through this review, it is concluded that amylose-small chemical molecule inclusion complexes, especially amylose-flavor inclusion complexes have a marvelous application prospect and have great significance to develop the nano-product application field. This paper reviews the recent patents on amylose-flavour inclusion complex nano particles preparation and their application.

Clinical Heterogeneity in Patients with Early-stage Parkinson's Disease: a Cluster Analysis

Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B. Sep, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21887844

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease (PD) among a cohort of Chinese patients in early stages. Clinical data on demographics, motor variables, motor phenotypes, disease progression, global cognitive function, depression, apathy, sleep quality, constipation, fatigue, and L-dopa complications were collected from 138 Chinese PD subjects in early stages (Hoehn and Yahr stages 1-3). The PD subject subtypes were classified using k-means cluster analysis according to the clinical data from five- to three-cluster consecutively. Kappa statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the consistency among different subtype solutions. The cluster analysis indicated four main subtypes: the non-tremor dominant subtype (NTD, n=28, 20.3%), rapid disease progression subtype (RDP, n=7, 5.1%), young-onset subtype (YO, n=50, 36.2%), and tremor dominant subtype (TD, n=53, 38.4%). Overall, 78.3% (108/138) of subjects were always classified between the same three groups (52 always in TD, 7 in RDP, and 49 in NTD), and 98.6% (136/138) between five- and four-cluster solutions. However, subjects classified as NTD in the four-cluster analysis were dispersed into different subtypes in the three-cluster analysis, with low concordance between four- and three-cluster solutions (kappa value=-0.139, P=0.001). This study defines clinical heterogeneity of PD patients in early stages using a data-driven approach. The subtypes generated by the four-cluster solution appear to exhibit ideal internal cohesion and external isolation.

Direct Effects of HIV-1 Tat on Excitability and Survival of Primary Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons: Possible Contribution to HIV-1-associated Pain

PloS One. 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21912693

The vast majority of people living with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) have pain syndrome, which has a significant impact on their quality of life. The underlying causes of HIV-1-associated pain are not likely attributable to direct viral infection of the nervous system due to the lack of evidence of neuronal infection by HIV-1. However, HIV-1 proteins are possibly involved as they have been implicated in neuronal damage and death. The current study assesses the direct effects of HIV-1 Tat, one of potent neurotoxic viral proteins released from HIV-1-infected cells, on the excitability and survival of rat primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. We demonstrated that HIV-1 Tat triggered rapid and sustained enhancement of the excitability of small-diameter rat primary DRG neurons, which was accompanied by marked reductions in the rheobase and resting membrane potential (RMP), and an increase in the resistance at threshold (R(Th)). Such Tat-induced DRG hyperexcitability may be a consequence of the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) activity. Tat rapidly inhibited Cdk5 kinase activity and mRNA production, and roscovitine, a well-known Cdk5 inhibitor, induced a very similar pattern of DRG hyperexcitability. Indeed, pre-application of Tat prevented roscovitine from having additional effects on the RMP and action potentials (APs) of DRGs. However, Tat-mediated actions on the rheobase and R(Th) were accelerated by roscovitine. These results suggest that Tat-mediated changes in DRG excitability are partly facilitated by Cdk5 inhibition. In addition, Cdk5 is most abundant in DRG neurons and participates in the regulation of pain signaling. We also demonstrated that HIV-1 Tat markedly induced apoptosis of primary DRG neurons after exposure for longer than 48 h. Together, this work indicates that HIV-1 proteins are capable of producing pain signaling through direct actions on excitability and survival of sensory neurons.

Chemical Constituents and Their Bioactivities of "Tongling White Ginger" (Zingiber Officinale)

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Nov, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21954969

Gingerols and their corresponding dehydration products shogaols were considered as the active principles of ginger, the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor activities. Ginger (Z. officinale) has been cultivated for thousands of years as a spice and for medicinal purposes in China. Tongling (Anhui province, China) has traditionally been regarded as an ideal cultivation place. "Tongling White Ginger" enjoys a reputation for being one of the top gingers in China for its thin white peel, tender flesh, rich juice, and flavor. In this study, we have isolated and identified two novel gingerdione dimers, bisgingerdiones A (1) and B (2); two new gingerol derivatives, (5R)-5-acetoxy-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)heptan-3-one (3) and methyl (Z)-neral acetal-[6]-gingerdiol (4); and 38 known compounds (5-42) from rhizomes of Zingiber officinale collected from Tongling, China. Their structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1-4 showed weak cytotoxic and anti-HIV-1 activities. Compounds 6, 8, and 26 showed inhibitory activities against human and mouse 11β-HSD1 (11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases) with IC(50) values between 1.09 and 1.30 μM.

Characterization of an in Vitro Differentiation Assay for Pancreatic-like Cell Development from Murine Embryonic Stem Cells: Detailed Gene Expression Analysis

Assay and Drug Development Technologies. Aug, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21395400

Embryonic stem (ES) cell technology may serve as a platform for the discovery of drugs to treat diseases such as diabetes. However, because of difficulties in establishing reliable ES cell differentiation methods and in creating cost-effective plating conditions for the high-throughput format, screening for molecules that regulate pancreatic beta cells and their immediate progenitors has been limited. A relatively simple and inexpensive differentiation protocol that allows efficient generation of insulin-expressing cells from murine ES cells was previously established in our laboratories. In this report, this system is characterized in greater detail to map developmental cell stages for future screening experiments. Our results show that sequential activation of multiple gene markers for undifferentiated ES cells, epiblast, definitive endoderm, foregut, and pancreatic lineages was found to follow the sequence of events that mimics pancreatic ontogeny. Cells that expressed enhanced green fluorescent protein, driven by pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 or insulin 1 promoter, correctly expressed known beta cell lineage markers. Overexpression of Sox17, an endoderm fate-determining transcription factor, at a very early stage of differentiation (days 2-3) enhanced pancreatic gene expression. Overexpression of neurogenin3, an endocrine progenitor cell marker, induced glucagon expression at stages when pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 message was present (days 10-16). Forced expression (between days 16 and 25) of MafA, a pancreatic maturation factor, resulted in enhanced expression of insulin genes, glucose transporter 2 and glucokinase, and glucose-responsive insulin secretion. Day 20 cells implanted in vivo resulted in pancreatic-like cells. Together, our differentiation assay recapitulates the proceedings and behaviors of pancreatic development and will be valuable for future screening of beta cell effectors.

Influence of Impurities on Solitons in the Nonlinear LC Transmission Line

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. Jan, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21405785

This paper studies the propagation of solitons in the nonlinear LC transmission line (NLCTL) with capacitor impurity. Based on Kirchhoff's laws, the numerical simulation shows that the amplitude of the soliton will be increased or decreased when it is close to the positive or negative impurity. Then, it will be split into reflected and transmitted waves by both the positive and negative impurities. Furthermore, their final amplitude and propagating speeds are almost independent of the impurity polarity. The observations near the impurity can be understood in the physical picture of the linear uncoupled energy absorption. By these results, we find that the impurity-soliton interactions (ISIs) in NLCTLs for both inductance and capacitance impurities, which have been seen to be different before, actually can be unified. They also indicate that the ISIs in NLCTLs essentially can be integrated with those in many other soliton systems, such as the Frenkel-Kontorova model and hydrodynamics. Moreover, the impurity-induced influence on the NLCTL solitons can also be well interpreted in the framework of the nonlinear Schrödinger model with an impurity term derived from the discrete voltage propagation equations by means of the perturbation method.

Two New Phenylpropanoids and One Propanoate from Morinda Citrifolia

Journal of Asian Natural Products Research. Mar, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21409685

Two new phenylpropanoids, methyl 3-(2,4-dihydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl)propionate (1) and butyl 3-(2,4-dihydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl)propionate (2), and one unusual propanoate, 5-hydroxyhexyl 2-hydroxypropanoate (3), were isolated from the fruits of Morinda citrifolia. Their structures were established using MS and NMR methods.

An Association of Interleukin-10 Gene Polymorphisms with Graves' Disease in Two Chinese Populations

Endocrine. Aug, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21424183

Graves' disease (GD) is a common autoimmune disorder with a genetic predisposition. The cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) has a central role in mediating inflammation, which may affect the outcome of the patients with GD. To elucidate the impact of IL-10 gene polymorphisms, we performed a two-stage case-control association study of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the IL-10 gene as well as a meta-analysis of two SNP's rs1800896 and rs1800872 covering three previous studies from Iran, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. The five SNPs were genotyped by SNPstream Genotyping and Taqman PCR. There was a significant increase of G allele of rs1800896 in the two cohorts (P (allele) = 2.6 × 10(-4) and 0.0082 for cohort Shanghai and Xiamen, respectively) compared with the controls. The meta-analysis showed the risk-increasing effects for the G allele of rs1800896 in GD (OR = 1.88; P < 0.00001). The allele and haplotype analysis results suggested that the polymorphisms of IL-10 were associated with GD susceptibility in the Chinese population.

Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids from Gardneria Ovata

Journal of Natural Products. May, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21425787

Eight new monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, gardfloramine-9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), 19(E)-18-demethoxygardfloramine-N(4)-oxide (2), gardfloramine-N(4)-oxide (3), 18-demethylgardfloramine (4), 19(E)-9,18-didemethoxygardneramine (5), 19(E)-11-methoxy-9,18-didemethoxygardneramine (6), 9-demethoxy-18-demethylgardneramine (7), and minfiensine-N(4)-oxide (8), along with six known alkaloids, were isolated from Gardneria ovata. The structures of the new alkaloids were established by means of spectroscopic methods. None of the compounds were cytotoxic to five human cancer cell lines.

Triterpene and Sterol Derivatives from the Roots of Breynia Fruticosa

Journal of Natural Products. May, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21428418

A new nor-ceanothane-type triterpenoid, breynceanothanolic acid (1), and seven novel 4α-methyl sterols, fruticosides A-G (2-8), were obtained from the roots of Breynia fruticosa. The new compound structures were established by means of extensive spectroscopic and chemical methods. Compounds 7 and 8 are sulfur-containing derivatives of the 4α-methyl sterols, and the sugar moiety of compounds 4, 5, 7, and 8 (L-quinovose) is uncommon in plants. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines.

Detecting Rare and Common Variants for Complex Traits: Sibpair and Odds Ratio Weighted Sum Statistics (SPWSS, ORWSS)

Genetic Epidemiology. Jul, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21594893

It is generally known that risk variants segregate together with a disease within families, but this information has not been used in the existing statistical methods for detecting rare variants. Here we introduce two weighted sum statistics that can apply to either genome-wide association data or resequencing data for identifying rare disease variants: weights calculated based on sibpairs and odd ratios, respectively. We evaluated the two methods via extensive simulations under different disease models. We compared the proposed methods with the weighted sum statistic (WSS) proposed by Madsen and Browning, keeping the same genotyping or resequencing cost. Our methods clearly demonstrate more statistical power than the WSS. In addition, we found that using sibpair information can increase power over using only unrelated samples by more than 40%. We applied our methods to the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) and Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) hypertension datasets. Although we did not identify any genes as reaching a genome-wide significance level, we found variants in the candidate gene angiotensinogen significantly associated with hypertension at P = 6.9 × 10(-4), whereas the most significant single SNP association evidence is P = 0.063. We further applied the odds ratio weighted method to the IFIH1 gene for type-1 diabetes in the WTCCC data. Our method yielded a P-value of 4.82 × 10(-4), much more significant than that obtained by haplotype-based methods. We demonstrated that family data are extremely informative in searching for rare variants underlying complex traits, and the odds ratio weighted sum statistic is more efficient than currently existing methods.

Two-marker Association Tests Yield New Disease Associations for Coronary Artery Disease and Hypertension

Human Genetics. Dec, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21626137

It has been postulated that multiple-marker methods may have added ability, over single-marker methods, to detect genetic variants associated with disease. The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) provided the first successful large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) which included single-marker association analyses for seven common complex diseases. Of those signals detected, only one was associated with coronary artery disease (CAD), and none were identified for hypertension (HTN). Our objective was to find additional genetic associations and pathways for cardiovascular disease by examining the WTCCC data for variants associated with CAD and HTN using two-marker testing methods. We applied two-marker association testing to the WTCCC dataset, which includes ~2,000 affected individuals with each disorder, and a shared pool of ~3,000 controls, all genotyped using Affymetrix GeneChip 500 K arrays. For CAD, we detected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) pairs in three genes showing genome-wide significance: HFE2, STK32B, and DIPC2. The most notable SNP pairs in a non-protein-coding region were at 9p21, a known major CAD-associated region. For HTN, we detected SNP pairs in five genes: GPR39, XRCC4, MYO6, ZFAT, and MACROD2. Four further associated SNP pair regions were at least 70 kb from any known gene. We have shown that novel, multiple-marker, statistical methods can be of use in finding variants in GWAS. We describe many new, associated variants for both CAD and HTN and describe their known genetic mechanisms.

Polymorphisms of Coding Region of BMPR-IB Gene and Their Relationship with Litter Size in Sheep

Molecular Biology Reports. Aug, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21110108

The bone morphogenetic protein receptor IB (BMPR-IB) was studied as a candidate gene for the prolificacy of sheep. Nine pairs of primers (P1-P9) were designed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of exons 1-4 and 6-10 of the BMPR-IB gene in both high (Small Tail Han and Hu sheep) and low prolificacy breeds (Texel and Chinese Merino sheep) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Only the products amplified by primers P2, P5, P6, P7, P8 and P9 displayed polymorphisms. The present study identified 22 SNPs in partial coding regions of ovine BMPR-IB, in which 20 SNPs were reported for the first time. In total of the 22 mutations, 18 DNA variations were originated from the Hu breed, three were found in the Small Tail Han breed (two of them were found in other sheep breeds), three in the Chinese Merino breed, and none in the Texel breed. These results preliminarily demonstrated that BMPR-IB is a major gene affecting the hyperprolificacy in Small Tail Han and Hu sheep, and could be used as a molecular genetic marker for early auxiliary selection for hyperprolificacy in sheep.

Polymorphism of Inhibin βB Gene and Its Relationship with Litter Size in Sheep

Animal Science Journal = Nihon Chikusan Gakkaihō. Feb, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21269360

The inhibin β(B) (INHBB) gene was studied as a candidate gene for the prolificacy of Small Tail Han and Hu sheep. According to the sequence of exon 1 and 2 of bovine INHBB gene, six pairs of primers were designed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms of exon 1 and 2 of INHBB gene in both high (Small Tail Han and Hu sheep) and low prolificacy breeds (Dorset, Texel and German Mutton Merino sheep) by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). Three pairs of primers (primers 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3) were used to amplify the exon 1, and others (primers 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3) to the exon 2. Only the products amplified by primer 2-3 displayed polymorphism. For primer 2-3, three genotypes (AA, AB and BB) were detected in Hu sheep and only AA genotype in other breeds. In Hu sheep, frequency of AA, AB and BB genotypes was 0.636, 0.046 and 0.318, respectively. Sequencing revealed 276A > G mutation (based on the amplification region of primer 2-3) which did not cause any amino acid change because it lay in the 3' untranslated region. The ewes with genotype BB had 0.58 (P < 0.01) lambs more than those with AA in Hu sheep.

Low Serum Concentration Facilitates the Differentiation of Hepatic Progenitor Cells

Saudi Medical Journal. Feb, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21301757

To investigate the effect of serum culture conditions on the differentiation of hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) in vitro.

N-containing Compounds of Macromycetes

Natural Product Reports. Apr, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21305063

This review surveys the chemical, biological, and mycological literature dealing with the isolation, structural elucidation, biological activities, and synthesis of nitrogen-containing compounds from the fruiting bodies or the culture broths of macromycetes.

Psychotripine: a New Trimeric Pyrroloindoline Derivative from Psychotria Pilifera

Organic Letters. Nov, 2011  |  Pubmed ID: 21999463

Psychotripine, a trimeric pyrroloindoline derivative with an unprecedented hendecacyclic system bearing a hexahydro-1,3,5-triazine unit, was isolated from the leaves of Psychotria pilifera. The structure was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic and quantum theory. A possible biogenesis was also postulated.

Evidence for the Natural Toxins from the Mushroom Trogia Venenata As a Cause of Sudden Unexpected Death in Yunnan Province, China

Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English). Jan, 2012  |  Pubmed ID: 22287497

Life saver: Two unusual and toxic amino acids, 2R-amino-4S-hydroxy-5-hexynoic acid (red, see scheme) and 2R-amino-5-hexynoic acid (blue) have been isolated from the fruiting bodies of the mushroom Trogia venenata. Toxicology studies suggest that these compounds may be the cause of Sudden Unexplained Death (SUD) in Yunnan Province, China.

Vibralactones G-J from Cultures of the Basidiomycete Boreostereum Vibrans

Journal of Asian Natural Products Research. Feb, 2012  |  Pubmed ID: 22296151

Four new vibralactone derivatives, named vibralactones G-J (1-4), together with vibralactone (5) have been isolated from cultures of the basidiomycete Boreostereum vibrans. The new structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods.

Detecting Rare Variants

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.). 2012  |  Pubmed ID: 22307713

The limitations of genome-wide association (GWA) studies that are based on the common disease common variants (CDCV) hypothesis have motivated geneticists to test the hypothesis that rare variants contribute to the variation of common diseases, i.e., common disease/rare variants (CDRV). The newly developed high-throughput sequencing technologies have made the studies of rare variants practicable. Statistical approaches to test associations between a phenotype and rare variants are quickly developing. The central idea of these methods is to test a set of rare variants in a defined region or regions by collapsing or aggregating rare variants, thereby improving the statistical power. In this chapter, we introduce these methods as well as their applications in practice.

Polymorphisms of KiSS-1 and GPR54 Genes and Their Relationships with Litter Size in Sheep

Molecular Biology Reports. Mar, 2012  |  Pubmed ID: 21698365

The KiSS-1 and GPR54 genes were studied as candidate genes for the prolificacy in sheep. Four pairs of primers were designed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms of exon 1 of KiSS-1 gene and exon 1, exon 2 and partial exon 5 of GPR54 gene in high fecundity breeds (Small Tail Han and Hu sheep) and low fecundity breeds (Dorset, Texel and Corriedale sheep) by PCR-SSCP. Polymorphisms in exon 1 of KiSS-1 gene were detected in prolific Small Tail Han sheep (AA, AB and BB genotypes) and Hu sheep (AA and CC genotypes), no polymorphism was found in low fecundity sheep breeds (only AA genotype). Polymorphisms in exon 2 of GPR54 gene were detected in prolific Hu sheep (DD and EE genotypes) and no polymorphism was found in prolific Small Tail Han sheep and low fecundity sheep breeds (only DD genotype). No polymorphism was detected in exon 1 and partial exon 5 of GPR54 gene in five sheep breeds. The polymorphic genotypes were sequenced. While compared the BB genotype with the AA genotype, one nucleotide mutation (G1035A) was detected, which resulted in amino acid change, Val25Met. Five nucleotide mutations were detected from AA to CC genotype (C981T, C996T, T997C, C1034G, C1039T), and among them four caused amino acid changes, that is, Arg7Trp, Phe12Leu, Asn24Lys, Ala26Val. While compared the EE genotype with the DD genotype, two nucleotide mutations (T2360C, A2411C) were detected, which gave rise to amino acid changes, Met90Thr and Asp107Ala, respectively. Genotype frequencies of AA, BB and AB were 0.62, 0.05 and 0.33 in Small Tail Han sheep, respectively. The Small Tail Han sheep ewes with genotype BB or AB had 0.88 (P < 0.05) or 0.51 (P < 0.05) lambs more than those with genotype AA; the Small Tail Han sheep ewes with genotype BB had 0.37 (P > 0.05) lambs more than those with genotype AB. These results preliminarily indicated that the KiSS-1 gene may have some association with prolificacy in sheep.