ARRDC3 polymorphisms may affect the risk of glioma in Chinese Han

Functional & Integrative Genomics - This study ascertained to explore the potential contribution of ARRDC3 polymorphisms in the risk and prognosis of glioma. One thousand sixty-one patients and...     

Cyclophilin A binds to AKT1 and facilitates the tumorigenicity of Epstein-Barr virus by mediating the activation of AKT/mTOR/NF-κB positive feedback loop

The AKT/mTOR and NF-κB signalings are crucial pathways activated in cancers including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), which is prevalent in southern China and closely related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. How these master pathways are persistently activated in EBV-associated NPC remains to be investigated. Here we demonstrated that EBV-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) promoted cyclophilin A (CYPA) expression through the activation of NF-κB. The depletion of CYPA suppressed cell proliferation and facilitated apoptosis. CYPA was able to bind to AKT1, thus activating AKT/mTOR/NF-κB signaling cascade. Moreover, the use of mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, subverted the activation of the positive feedback loop, NF-κB/CYPA/AKT/mTOR. It is reasonable that LMP1 expression derived from initial viral infection is enough to assure the constant potentiation of AKT/mTOR and NF-κB signalings. This may partly explain the fact that EBV serves as a tumor-promoting factor with minimal expression of the viral oncoprotein LMP1 in malignancies. Our findings provide new insight into the understanding of causative role of EBV in tumorigenicity during latent infection.     

Retracted: Downregulated microRNA-224 aggravates vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques and vascular remodeling in acute coronary syndrome through activation of the TGF-β/Smad pathway

Recent studies have shown that circulating microRNAs (miRNA) play a critical role in diagnosing acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study aims to investigate the effect of miR-224 on atherosclerotic plaques forming and vascular remodeling in ACS and its relationship with TGF-β/Smad pathway. Myocardial infarction (MI) rat model was established and lentivirus vector of miR-224 inhibitor was prepared for investigating the effect of downregulated miR-224 on the contents of nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1), blood lipid levels and inflammatory factor levels in serum as well as the TGF-β/Smad pathway. The rats suffering from MI had decreased survival rates and exhibited reduced levels of NO, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and lumen diameter, and Smad7 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression; while had significantly increased ratio of heart weight or body weight, levels of ET-1, inflammatory factors, blood lipid indexes, vascular remodeling indexes, collagen volume fraction, vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque area, VCAM-1 and MMP-2 protein expression, TGF-β, Smad2, Smad3, and Smad4 mRNA and protein expression. After inhibiting the TGF-β/Smad pathway, the rats suffering from MI showed notably opposite trend. In conclusion, downregulation of miR-224 expression promotes the formation of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques and vascular remodeling in ACS through activation of the TGF-β/Smad pathway. Therefore, this study provides a new therapeutic target for ACS.     

A varying‐coefficient generalized odds rate model with time‐varying exposure: An application to fitness and cardiovascular disease mortality

Varying‐coefficient models have become a common tool to determine whether and how the association between an exposure and an outcome changes over a continuous measure. These models are complicated when the exposure itself is time‐varying and subjected to measurement error. For example, it is well known that longitudinal physical fitness has an impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. It is not known, however, how the effect of longitudinal physical fitness on CVD mortality varies with age. In this paper, we propose a varying‐coefficient generalized odds rate model that allows flexible estimation of age‐modified effects of longitudinal physical fitness on CVD mortality. In our model, the longitudinal physical fitness is measured with error and modeled using a mixed‐effects model, and its associated age‐varying coefficient function is represented by cubic B‐splines. An expectation‐maximization algorithm is developed to estimate the parameters in the joint models of longitudinal physical fitness and CVD mortality. A modified pseudoadaptive Gaussian‐Hermite quadrature method is adopted to compute the integrals with respect to random effects involved in the E‐step. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated through extensive simulation studies and is further illustrated with an application to cohort data from the Aerobic Center Longitudinal Study.     

Megabase Length Hypermutation Accompanies Human Structural Variation at 17p11.2

1. Download high-res image (279KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

Genetic Structure and Diversity of Glycyrrhiza Populations Based on Transcriptome SSR Markers

Plant Molecular Biology Reporter - Glycyrrhiza is a widely used traditional Chinese herb with medicinal value. Recently, however, Glycyrrhiza biodiversity has faced an unprecedented threat due to...     

Phloem Unloading Strategies and Mechanisms in Crop Fruits

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Carbohydrate produced by photosynthesis is loaded into phloem via collection phloem, translocated via the transport phloem, and unloaded by release phloem into...     

Study on the Physiological Mechanism of Early Flowering and Low Male Fertility of Limonium bicolor Mutant vrl15

As biennial recretohalophytes, Limonium bicolor plants need 2 years to complete their life cycle. A growth habit mutant Vernalization Requirement Loss 15 (vrl15) was obtained by ion implantation. However, the biological characteristics of the mutant were unclear. In the current study, the related traits of vrl15 and some possible reasons for these traits were examined. Compared with wild type (WT), vrl15 can bolt and flower in approximately four months without vernalization. Moreover, vrl15 needed much less time to bolting and flowering than wild-type L. bicolor under different vernalization treatments. After 20 days’ vernalization, bolting vrl15 plants had 24 rosette leaves and bolting WT had 31 rosette leaves. Moreover, the pollen number per anther, the proportion of active pollen, the seed setting rate and the 1000 seed weight of vrl15 were all lower than those of WT. The soluble sugar content and soluble protein content in leaves of the vrl15 were much higher than those of WT sowed at the same time. In addition, the GA content in the leaves of bolting vrl15 was higher than that of the non-bolting WT sowed at the same time and non-bolting vrl15, whereas the contents of ABA and BR were much lower than that of the non-bolting WT. These results indicate that to some extent the increase of GA and decrease of ABA and BR content may be involved in the growth habit and male fertility alteration of mutant vrl15 of L. bicolor.