The -675 4G/5G polymorphism in plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 gene is associated with risk of asthma: a meta-analysis

Background

A number of studies assessed the association of −675 4G/5G polymorphism in the promoter region of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 gene with asthma in different populations. However, most studies reported inconclusive results. A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the association between polymorphism in the PAI-1 gene and asthma susceptibility.

Methods

Databases including Pubmed, EMBASE, HuGE Literature Finder, Wanfang Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Weipu Database were searched to find relevant studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of association in the dominant model, recessive model, codominant model, and additive model.

Results

Eight studies involving 1817 cases and 2327 controls were included. Overall, significant association between 4G/5G polymorphism and asthma susceptibility was observed for 4G4G+4G5G vs. 5G5G (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.12–2.18, P = 0.008), 4G/4G vs. 4G/5G+5G/5G (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.06–1.80, P = 0.02), 4G/4G vs. 5G/5G (OR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.17–2.76, P = 0.007), 4G/5G vs. 5G/5G (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.07–1.84, P = 0.02), and 4G vs. 5G (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.08–1.68, P = 0.008).

Conclusions

This meta-analysis suggested that the −675 4G/5G polymorphism of PAI-1 gene was a risk factor of asthma.     

Sulfosalicylate mediates improved vinorelbine loading into LUVs and antineoplastic effects

Liposomal vinorelbine formulation is desirable, as it might improve the therapeutic activity of vinorelbine. However, because of its lipophilic and membrane-permeable properties, vinorelbine is hard to be formulated into liposomes using conventional drug-loading technologies. To improve vinorelbine retention, ammonium salts of several anionic agents were employed to prepare liposomal vinorelbine formulations. It was found that 5-sulfosalicylate (5ssa) could form stable complexes with vinorelbine and stabilize entrapped vinorelbine. The resultant vesicles had an in vitro release t(1/2) of ~12.49 hours in NH(3)-containing media, which is longer than those of sulfate and phytate vesicles (~0.57 hours). The circulation half-life of vinorelbine after the injection of 5ssa vesicles into normal mice was ~13.01 hours, accounting for ~2-fold increase relative to that of sulfate vesicles. Improved drug retention correlated with enhanced antitumor efficacy. In the RM-1/c57 model, 5ssa vesicles were more efficacious than sulfate vesicles (P?相似文献   

pParse: a method for accurate determination of monoisotopic peaks in high-resolution mass spectra

Determining the monoisotopic peak of a precursor is a first step in interpreting mass spectra, which is basic but non-trivial. The reason is that in the isolation window of a precursor, other peaks interfere with the determination of the monoisotopic peak, leading to wrong mass-to-charge ratio or charge state. Here we propose a method, named pParse, to export the most probable monoisotopic peaks for precursors, including co-eluted precursors. We use the relationship between the position of the highest peak and the mass of the first peak to detect candidate clusters. Then, we extract three features to sort the candidate clusters: (i) the sum of the intensity, (ii) the similarity of the experimental and the theoretical isotopic distribution, and (iii) the similarity of elution profiles. We showed that the recall of pParse, MaxQuant, and BioWorks was 98-98.8%, 0.5-17%, and 1.8-36.5% at the same precision, respectively. About 50% of tandem mass spectra are triggered by multiple precursors which are difficult to identify. Then we design a new scoring function to identify the co-eluted precursors. About 26% of all identified peptides were exclusively from co-eluted peptides. Therefore, accurately determining monoisotopic peaks, including co-eluted precursors, can greatly increase peptide identification rate.     

经典饲养层细胞Wnt表达的差异及其对人胚胎干细胞Wnt/β-Catenin信号通路的影响

目的:研究比较三种经典饲养层体系使用的成纤维细胞中Wnt基因的表达,及其对共培养的人胚胎干细胞的影响。方法:PCR验证19种Wnt基因在三种不同来源饲养层细胞中的表达情况,q PCR验证各组共培养人胚胎干细胞的Wnt/β-Catenin信号通路相关基因表达水平,流式检测其在不同密度饲养层条件下的增殖分化情况。结果:在全部19种Wnt基因(Wnt1,Wnt2,Wnt2b,Wnt3,Wnt3a,Wnt4,Wnt5a,Wnt5b,Wnt6,Wnt7a,Wnt7b,Wnt8a,Wnt8b,Wnt9a,Wnt9b,Wnt10a,Wnt10b,Wnt11,Wnt16)的表达检测中,昆明白小鼠来源饲养层细胞表达其中的16种,ICR小鼠来源饲养层细胞表达其中的10种,人成纤维细胞来源饲养层细胞表达其中的10种;增加饲养层细胞密度能够不同程度活化Wnt/β-Catenin信号通路下游基因的表达,并激活人胚胎干细胞中的负反馈机制;高密度小鼠饲养层条件促进人胚胎干细胞的分化,高密度人饲养层条件促进人胚胎干细胞的增殖和分化。结论:不同经典饲养层体系提供的Wnt环境不同,其培养的人胚胎干细胞状态也有差异。     

Microbial production of 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae using crude glycerol from biodiesel preparations

1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PD) was produced by Klebsiella pneumoniae using crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel production. The 1,3-PD concentration of 51.3 g/l⁻¹ on crude glycerol from alkali-catalyzed methanolysis of soybean oil was comparable to that of 53 g/l⁻¹ on crude glycerol derived from a lipase-catalyzed process. The productivities of 1.7 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹ on crude glycerol were comparable to that of 2 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹ on pure glycerol. It could be concluded that the crude glycerol could be directly converted to 1,3-PD without any prior purification.     

Molecular evolution of AdoMet synthetase by DNA recombination with a novel separate-mixing method

We describe a new approach to in vitro DNA recombination termed Separate-Mixing method in this study. The reaction process of this method consists of two stages: at the first stage the reaction was implemented in two parallel teams, which generated random recombination by template-switching of growing polynucleotides from primers in the presence of unidirectional single-stranded DNA fragments used as templates, and then both teams were mixed together for further extension and recombination of DNA sequences at the second stage. Because of the particular strategy, the reaction process was also accompanied by the other two processes of DNA shuffling and StEP simultaneously. Two AdoMet synthetase genes sam2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and metK from Escherichia coli, which have only 56% homology on the DNA level were used for recombination with Separate-Mixing method. DNA recombination was available after a single round of reaction. With sequencing of 10 randomly selected recombinants, no unshuffled parental clone was found, and also no unexpected insertion, deletion or rearrangement was detected. An evolved gene sam' was obtained after screen and selection, which could obviously increase the accumulation of AdoMet in S. cerevisiae.     

Genetic dissection of the effects of stimulatory and inhibitory IgG Fc receptors on murine lupus

Immune complex (IC)-mediated tissue inflammation is controlled by stimulatory and inhibitory IgG Fc receptors (FcgammaRs). Systemic lupus erythematosus is a prototype of IC-mediated autoimmune disease; thus, imbalance of these two types of FcgammaRs is probably involved in pathogenesis. However, how and to what extent each FcgammaR contributes to the disease remains unclear. In lupus-prone BXSB mice, while stimulatory FcgammaRs are intact, inhibitory FcgammaRIIB expression is impaired because of promoter region polymorphism. To dissect roles of stimulatory and inhibitory FcgammaRs, we established two gene-manipulated BXSB strains: one deficient in stimulatory FcgammaRs (BXSB.gamma(-/-)) and the other carrying wild-type Fcgr2b (BXSB.IIB(B6/B6)). The disease features were markedly suppressed in both mutant strains. Despite intact renal function, however, BXSB.gamma(-/-) had IC deposition in glomeruli associated with high-serum IgG anti-DNA Ab levels, in contrast to BXSB.IIB(B6/B6), which showed intact renal pathology and anti-DNA levels. Lymphocytes in BXSB.gamma(-/-) were activated, as in wild-type BXSB, but not in BXSB.IIB(B6/B6). Our results strongly suggest that both types of FcgammaRs in BXSB mice are differently involved in the process of disease progression, in which, while stimulatory FcgammaRs play roles in effecter phase of IC-mediated tissue inflammation, the BXSB-type impaired FcgammaRIIB promotes spontaneous activation of self-reactive lymphocytes and associated production of large amounts of autoantibodies and ICs.     

HLA-Ⅱ类基因DRα及DRB1 *0401转基因小鼠模型的遗传与繁殖

采用类系祖建系的方法 ,对HLA -Ⅱ类基因DRα 和DRB1 　 0 4 0 1转基因小鼠模型进行了繁育。通过PCR和Southernblot分子杂交的方法 ,检测小鼠尾组织的DNA样品 ,以确定DR基因的整合和复制情况。结果表明 ,HLA -Ⅱ类基因DR已稳定地遗传至第五代(F5) ;共产仔 32 6只 ,PCR检测出阳性小鼠 95只 ,阳性率为 2 9.1 %。PCR—Southern印迹杂交检测 ,发现 68只仔鼠整合有DR基因 ,总有效率为 2 0 9%。经Nothern杂交和RT -PCR检测HLA -DR基因在脾脏和肾脏中均有表达。     

Metabolic flux and robustness analysis of glycerol metabolism in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Klebsiella pneumoniae</Emphasis>

The knowledge of the mechanism of flux distribution will benefit understanding cell physiology and regulation of metabolism. In this study, the measured fluxes obtained under steady-state conditions were used to estimate intracellular fluxes and identify the robustness of branch points of the anaerobic glycerol metabolism in Klebsiella pneumoniae for the production of 1,3-propanediol by metabolic flux analysis. The biomass concentration increased as NADH₂/NAD⁺ decreased at low initial concentration and inversed at high initial glycerol concentration. The flux distribution revealed that the branch points of glycerol and dihydroxyacetonephosphate were rigid to the environmental conditions. However, the pyruvate and acetyl coenzyme A metabolisms gave cells the flexibility to regulate the energy and intermediate fluxes under various environmental conditions. Additionly, it was found that the formation rate of ethanol and the ratio of pyruvate dehydrogenase to pyruvate formate lyase appeared visible fluctuations at high glycerol uptake rate.