Region Genes (region + gene)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


MicroRNAs control hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration,

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
Guisheng Song
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a new class of regulators of gene expression. Among other actions, miRNAs have been shown to control cell proliferation in development and cancer. However, whether miRNAs regulate hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration is unknown. We addressed this question by performing 2/3 partial hepatectomy (2/3 PH) on mice with hepatocyte-specific inactivation of DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 (DGCR8), an essential component of the miRNA processing pathway. Hepatocytes of these mice were miRNA-deficient and exhibited a delay in cell cycle progression involving the G1 to S phase transition. Examination of livers of wildtype mice after 2/3 PH revealed differential expression of a subset of miRNAs, notably an induction of miR-21 and repression of miR-378. We further discovered that miR-21 directly inhibits Btg2, a cell cycle inhibitor that prevents activation of forkhead box M1 (FoxM1), which is essential for DNA synthesis in hepatocytes after 2/3 PH. In addition, we found that miR-378 directly inhibits ornithine decarboxylase (Odc1), which is known to promote DNA synthesis in hepatocytes after 2/3 PH. Conclusion: Our results show that miRNAs are critical regulators of hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration. Because these miRNAs and target gene interactions are conserved, our findings may also be relevant to human liver regeneration. (HEPATOLOGY 2010) [source]


Suppression of putative tumour suppressor gene GLTSCR2 expression in human glioblastomas,

THE JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2008
Y-J Kim
Abstract Glioma tumour-suppressor candidate region gene 2 (GLTSCR2/PICT-1) is localized within the well-known 1.4 Mb tumour-suppressive region of chromosome 19q, which is frequently altered in various human tumours, including diffuse gliomas. Aside from its chromosomal localization, several lines of evidence, including PTEN-phosphorylating and cell-killing activities, suggests that GLTSCR2 participates in the suppression of tumour growth and development. However, little is known about the biological functions and molecular mechanisms of GLTSCR2 as a tumour suppressor gene. We investigated the pathological significance of GLTSCR2 expression in association with the development and progression of glioblastomas, the most common malignant brain tumour. We used real-time PCR and western blot analysis to examine the expression levels of GLTSCR2 mRNA and protein in glioblastomas, normal brain tissue and in non-glial tumour tissue of different origin, and found that GLTSCR2 expression is down-regulated in glioblastomas. In addition, direct sequencing analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization clearly demonstrates the presence of genetic alterations, such as a nonsense mutation and deletion, in the GLTSCR2 gene in glioblastomas. Finally, our immunohistochemical study demonstrates that GLTSCR2 is sequentially down-regulated according to the histological malignant progression of the astrocytic glial tumour. Taken together, our results suggest that GLTSCR2 is involved in astrocytic glioma progression. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Intra- and inter-allelic ordering of T cell receptor , chain gene assembly

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
Bernard Khor
Abstract Allelic exclusion at the TCR, locus mandates that gene assembly be regulated in a manner that permits feedback inhibition of further complete TCR, rearrangements upon pre-TCR expression. Here we show that assembly of TCR, chain genes from V,, D, and J, gene segments is intra-allelically ordered, proceeding primarily through DJ,, and not VD,, intermediates. This ensures that V, to DJ, rearrangement, which can be feedback inhibited, is the final step in the assembly process. A newly assembled VDJ, rearrangement must be tested to determine if it is in-frame before V, to DJ, rearrangement is permitted on the alternate allele. This inter-allelic ordering may occur through a general inefficiency of V, to DJ, rearrangement and/or through static differences in accessibility of the two TCR, alleles. However, we find that within the regulatory context of allelic exclusion, V, to DJ, rearrangement proceeds to completion on both alleles. Furthermore, all possible VDJ, rearrangements are not completed on one allele before V, to DJ, rearrangement is initiated on the alternate allele. Together, these data support a dynamic model of inter-allelic accessibility that permits the ordered and efficient assembly of complete variable region genes on both TCR, alleles during T cell development. [source]


The Helicobacter pylori plasticity region locus jhp0947,jhp0949 is associated with duodenal ulcer disease and interleukin-12 production in monocyte cells

FEMS IMMUNOLOGY & MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2004
Ramon De Jonge
Abstract Colonization with Helicobacter pylori always results in chronic gastritis, which is controlled by infiltration of mononuclear cells and the subsequent release of cytokines like interleukin (IL)-12. To identify H. pylori factors involved in inducing cytokine production in mononuclear cells, a random H. pylori mutant library was screened for the inability to induce IL-12 production in monocyte THP-1 cells. Of the 231 random mutants screened, one mutant (M1) showed a consistent twofold decrease in the amount of IL-12 induction compared to the parental strain 1061 (P<0.01). Further characterization of mutant M1 revealed that the kanamycin resistance cassette had integrated in the jhp0945 gene, which is situated in an H. pylori strain-specific plasticity region. Three reference strains possessing this plasticity region induced significantly higher amounts of IL-12 when compared to the H. pylori 26695 reference strain, which does not possess this plasticity region. The role in disease outcome of jhp0945 as well as the neighbouring plasticity region genes jhp0947 and jhp049 was assessed in a Dutch population cohort. Firstly, the presence of jhp0947 was completely linked with that of jhp0949 and was roughly associated with jhp0945 (P=0.072), but not with the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) (P=0.464). The presence of the jhp0947 and jhp0949 genes, but not of jhp0945, was significantly associated with duodenal ulcer disease when compared to gastritis (P=0.027). Therefore, the jhp0947,jhp0949 locus may be a novel putative H. pylori marker for disease outcome independent of the cag PAI. [source]


Rhesus macaque antibody molecules: sequences and heterogeneity of alpha and gamma constant regions

IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 1 2004
Franco Scinicariello
Summary Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are extensively used in vaccine development. Macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) or simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIV) are the best animal model currently available for acquired-immune-deficiency-syndrome-related studies. Recent results emphasize the importance of antibody responses in controlling HIV and SIV infection. Despite the increasing attention placed on humoral immunity in these models, very limited information is available on rhesus macaque antibody molecules. Therefore, we sequenced, cloned and characterized immunoglobulin gamma (IGHG) and alpha (IGHA) chain constant region genes from rhesus macaques of Indian and Chinese origin. Although it is currently thought that rhesus macaques express three IgG subclasses, we identified four IGHG genes, which were designated IGHG1, IGHG2, IGHG3 and IGHG4 on the basis of sequence similarities with the four human genes encoding the IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 subclasses. The four genes were expressed at least at the messenger RNA level, as demonstrated by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The level of intraspecies heterogeneity was very high for IGHA genes, whereas IGHG genes were remarkably similar in all animals examined. However, single amino acid substitutions were present in IGHG2 and IGHG4 genes, indicating the presence of IgG polymorphism possibly resulting in the expression of different allotypes. Two IgA alleles were identified in several animals and RT-PCR showed that both alleles may be expressed. Presence of immunoglobulin gene polymorphism appears to reflect the unusually high levels of intraspecies heterogeneity already demonstrated for major histocompatibility complex genes in this non-human primate species. [source]


Comparison between two PCR-based bacterial identification methods through artificial neural network data analysis

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL LABORATORY ANALYSIS, Issue 1 2008
Jie Wen
Abstract The 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) and 16S-23S rRNA spacer region genes are commonly used as taxonomic and phylogenetic tools. In this study, two pairs of fluorescent-labeled primers for 16S rRNA genes and one pair of primers for 16S-23S rRNA spacer region genes were selected to amplify target sequences of 317 isolates from positive blood cultures. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products of both were then subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis by capillary electrophoresis after incomplete digestion by Hae III. For products of 16S rRNA genes, single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis was also performed directly. When the data were processed by artificial neural network (ANN), the accuracy of prediction based on 16S-23S rRNA spacer region gene RFLP data was much higher than that of prediction based on 16S rRNA gene SSCP analysis data(98.0% vs. 79.6%). This study proved that the utilization of ANN as a pattern recognition method was a valuable strategy to simplify bacterial identification when relatively complex data were encountered. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 22:14,20, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Genetic divergence between morphological forms of brown trout Salmo trutta L. in the Balkan region of Macedonia

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
S. Lo Brutto
The objective of this study was to characterize the genetic structure of two Balkan brown trout morphotypes, Salmo macedonicus and Salmo pelagonicus, and to test whether molecular traits support the species' status proposed by traditional morphological identification. The mitochondrial DNA 12S-rDNA, cyt b and control region genes were sequenced in 15 specimens collected from three localities in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The results of these markers did not support the taxonomic category of species but confirmed the existence of two morphotypes, Salmo trutta macedonicus and Salmo trutta pelagonicus, in the Aegean,Adriatic lineages of the Salmo trutta species complex. [source]


Pinpointing a selective sweep to the chimpanzee MHC class I region by comparative genomics

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 8 2008
NATASJA G. DE GROOT
Abstract Chimpanzees experienced a reduction of the allelic repertoire at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I A and B loci, which may have been caused by a retrovirus belonging to the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) family. Extended MHC haplotypes were defined in a pedigreed chimpanzee colony. Comparison of genetic variation at microsatellite markers mapping inside and outside the Mhc region was carried out in humans and chimpanzees to investigate the genomic extent of the repertoire reduction. Multilocus demographic analyses underscored that chimpanzees indeed experienced a selective sweep that mainly targeted the chromosomal segment carrying the Mhc class I region. Probably due to genetic linkage, the sweep also affected other polymorphic loci, mapping in the close vicinity of the Mhc class I region genes. Nevertheless, although the allelic repertoire at particular Mhc class I and II loci appears to be limited, naturally occurring recombination events allowed the establishment of haplotype diversity after the sweep. However, recombination did not have sufficient time to erase the signal of the selective sweep. [source]


Cloning, expression, and identification of anti-carbofuran single chain Fv gene

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2009
Hong Wang
Abstract Phage display method was used to clone anti-carbofuran (CBF) single chain Fv (scFv) gene. The heavy chain and light chain variable region genes were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction from the CBF-specific hybridoma cell lines 5D3 and assembled as a scFv DNA fragment with linker peptide (Gly4Ser)3. The scFv DNA fragment was cloned into M13 phagemid vector pCANTAB5E and the anti-CBF antibody libraries were then constructed. After one round of panning with CBF-ovalbumin (CBF-OVA) as a conjugate, antigen-binding positive recombinant phage clones were successfully selected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The positive phages were used to infect Escherichia coli HB2151 cells and the expression of the soluble scFv antibodies was then induced by IPTG. The scFv antibody was about 31 kDa by SDS-PAGE and showed HRP-anti-E-tag antibody-recognized activity by Western blotting. The indirect competitive ELISA (icELISA) showed that the recombinant scFv antibody could competitively combine with CBF, with the IC50 value of 1.07 ng/mL. The cross reactivity studies showed that the anti-CBF scFv antibody, similar to the parent monoclonal antibody, poses high specificity to CBF and has little reactivity to the analogs. Taken together, these findings suggest that the recombinant scFv antibody can be used for further developing immunoassay method for CBF. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009 [source]