Expression level of enzymes related to in situ estrogen synthesis and clinicopathological parameters in breast cancer patients

In order to evaluate the importance of estrogen production in tumor and surrounding tissues, we measured mRNA expression levels of 5 enzymes participating to estrogen synthesis in situ and 4 breast cancer-related proteins in 27 pairs of tumor and non-malignant tissues. Steroid sulfatase (STS) mRNA was more frequently detected in tumor tissues rather than in their non-malignant counterparts. Estrogen sulfotransferase (EST) was constantly expressed with high level not only in tumor tissues but also in their surrounding non-malignant counterparts. In contrast, mRNA expression levels of aromatase, and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type I and II were relatively low and detected only in small proportion of the patients. We also measured the mRNA expression levels of the same nine genes in tumor tissues of 197 breast cancer patients, and analyzed relationship between the mRNA expression level and the clinicopathological parameters. The mRNA expression levels of STS, aromatase and erbB2 in tumor tissues increased as breast cancer progressed. The tumoral mRNA expression levels of STS, estrogen receptor β, and erbB2 in patients with recurrence were higher than those in patients without recurrence. Upregulation of STS expression plays an important role in tumor progression of human breast cancer and is considered to be responsible for estrogen production in tumor and surrounding tissues.     

Expressed sequence tag analysis of Eimeria-stimulated intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes in chickens

Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) play a critical role in protective immune response to intestinal pathogens such as Eimeria, the etiologic agent of avian coccidiosis. A list of genes expressed by intestinal IELs of Eimeria-infected chickens was compiled using the expressed sequence tag (EST) strategy. The 14,409 ESTs consisted of 1851 clusters and 7595 singletons, which revealed 9446 unique genes in the data set. Comparison of the sequence data with chicken DNA sequences in GenBank identified 125 novel clones. This EST library will provide a valuable resource for profiling global gene expression in normal and pathogen-infected chickens and identifying additional unique immune-related genes.     

条锈菌诱导的抗锈小麦种质的基因表达分析

以条锈菌接种前后的抗条锈病种质N 95175的小麦幼苗叶片为材料,利用抑制消减杂交技术,构建了条锈菌接种初期小麦抗性种质叶片的SSH-cDNA文库。通过对文库中随机选取的50个阳性克隆提取质粒,进行测序,共获得已知功能的EST序列14条,如蛋白激酶、锌指蛋白、细胞色素P 450和OM T 1等抗病相关基因,它们涉及植物的信号传导、转录调控、丙烷代谢途径及防卫反应等方面。     

人致肺纤维化相关因子的克隆和生物信息学分析

几丁质酶是自然界广泛存在的一类降解几丁质的水解酶类,但是直至近些年才在哺乳动物体内发现存在有几丁质酶样蛋白.早年曾于矽肺大鼠中纯化出矽诱导的支气管肺泡灌洗蛋白iSBLP58,体外具有促进人胚肺成纤维细胞2BS增殖的作用,N端测序显示与哺乳动物几丁质酶蛋白家族成员具有高度同源性.生物信息学分析表明,来源于人的结肠、肾和胃的几个表达序列标签(EST)克隆和大鼠的这一蛋白质序列匹配.随后成功地从人肾RNA样品中克隆到一组cDNA,其序列及相应的氨基酸序列彼此高度相似,并与GenBank中的几个人几丁质酶蛋白高度相似.和人基因组序列比较,揭示这些分子可能来自于同一基因,为可变剪切的产物.     

EST分子标记开发及在比较基因组学中的应用

数量迅速增加的EST(expressed sequence tags)为分子标记的开发提供了宝贵的资源。与来自于基因组DNA开发的传统标记相比,以EST为基础的分子标记是一种新型分子标记,具有其显著的优势,如开发简便、信息量高和通用性好等,在多方面都有重要的利用价值。本文详细地介绍了目前基于EST开发的5类分子标记以及基于生物信息学方法的开发策略,这些标记包括EST-PCR、EST-SSR、EST-SNP、EST-RFLP和EST-AFLP。此外,对这些标记在比较基因组学研究中的应用进行了评述,包括比较作图、遗传多样性评价及系统发育研究等。     

Signatures of diversifying selection at EST‐SSR loci and association with climate in natural Eucalyptus populations

Understanding the environmental parameters that drive adaptation among populations is important in predicting how species may respond to global climatic changes and how gene pools might be managed to conserve adaptive genetic diversity. Here, we used Bayesian F_ST outlier tests and allele–climate association analyses to reveal two Eucalyptus EST‐SSR loci as strong candidates for diversifying selection in natural populations of a southwestern Australian forest tree, Eucalyptus gomphocephala (Myrtaceae). The Eucalyptus homolog of a CONSTANS‐like gene was an F_ST outlier, and allelic variation showed significant latitudinal clinal associations with annual and winter solar radiation, potential evaporation, summer precipitation and aridity. A second F_ST outlier locus, homologous to quinone oxidoreductase, was significantly associated with measures of temperature range, high summer temperature and summer solar radiation, with important implications for predicting the effect of temperature on natural populations in the context of climate change. We complemented these data with investigations into neutral population genetic structure and diversity throughout the species range. This study provides an investigation into selection signatures at gene‐homologous EST‐SSRs in natural Eucalyptus populations, and contributes to our understanding of the relationship between climate and adaptive genetic variation, informing the conservation of both putatively neutral and adaptive components of genetic diversity.