Identification and analysis of putative promoter motifs in bovine herpes virus

The purpose of this study is to identify and analyse the putative promoter motifs in the bovine herpes virus which causes severaldiseases in cattle worldwide including bovine mastitis with large economic impact on dairy industry. Bovine mastitis caused dueto virus is often neglected as bacterial infections are held mainly responsible for the disease. Therefore, in this in silico investigationwith all the existing experimental data a total of 147 promoter were identified along with their sequences from three genome vizbovine herpes virus 1 (BHV), bovine herpes virus 4 and bovine herpes virus 5, out of which 39 promoters were from bovine herpesvirus 4 (BHV 4), 95 from BHV1 and 13 from BHV5 and it was observed that BHV1 and BHV5 have a close evolutionary history.However, they belong to the same subfamily and size of the genome and GC% of BHV1 and BHV5 was almost equal and very highcompare to that of BHV4. This analysis may help in designing the live attenuated vaccine against BHV causing bovine mastitis thatreduces the incidence of bovine mastitis. Identification of promoters may also help in designing of expression vectors which help inbetter understanding of the regulation of gene expression. In the era of large genomics and proteomics prediction of promoters inthe whole genome is crucial for the advancement of drug discovery and gene therapy.     

Pathogenesis of familial Parkinson's disease: new insights based on monogenic forms of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common movement disorders caused by the loss of dopaminergic neuronal cells. The molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal degeneration in PD remain unknown; however, it is now clear that genetic factors contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease. Approximately, 5% of patients with clinical features of PD have clear familial etiology, which show a classical recessive or dominant Mendelian mode of inheritance. Over the decade, more than 15 loci and 11 causative genes have been identified so far and many studies shed light on their implication in not only monogenic but also sporadic form of PD. Recent studies revealed that PD-associated genes play important roles in cellular functions, such as mitochondrial functions, ubiquitin-proteasomal system, autophagy-lysosomal pathway and membrane trafficking. Furthermore, the proteins encoded by PD-associated genes can interact with each other and such gene products may share a common pathway that leads to nigral degeneration. However, their precise roles in the disease and their normal functions remain poorly understood. In this study, we review recent progress in knowledge about the genes associated with familial PD.     

Identification and developmental expression analysis of a novel homeobox gene closely linked to the mouse Twirler mutation

The Twirler mutation arose spontaneously and causes inner ear defects in heterozygous and cleft lip and/or cleft palate in homozygous mutant mice, providing a unique animal model for investigating the molecular mechanisms of inner ear and craniofacial development. Here, we report the identification of a novel homeobox gene, Iroquois-related homeobox like-1 (Irxl1), from the Twirler locus. Irxl1 encodes a TALE-family homeodomain protein with its homeodomain exhibiting the highest amino acid sequence identity (54%) to those of invertebrate Iroquois and vertebrate Irx subfamily members. The putative Irxl1 protein lacks the Iro-box, a conserved motif in all known members of the Irx subfamily. Searching the databases showed that Irxl1 orthologs exist in Xenopus, chick, and mammals. In situ hybridization analyses of mouse embryos at various developmental stages showed that Irxl1 mRNA is highly expressed in the frontonasal process and palatal mesenchyme during primary and secondary palate development. In addition, Irxl1 mRNA is strongly expressed in mesenchyme surrounding the developing inner ear, in discrete regions of the developing mandible, in the dermamyotome during somite differentiation, and in a subset of muscular structures in late embryonic stages. The developmental expression pattern indicates that Irxl1 is a good candidate gene for the Twirler gene.