A Genome-Wide Association Study of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Identifies New Disease Loci

A genome-wide association study was performed to identify genetic factors involved in susceptibility to psoriasis (PS) and psoriatic arthritis (PSA), inflammatory diseases of the skin and joints in humans. 223 PS cases (including 91 with PSA) were genotyped with 311,398 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and results were compared with those from 519 Northern European controls. Replications were performed with an independent cohort of 577 PS cases and 737 controls from the U.S., and 576 PSA patients and 480 controls from the U.K.. Strongest associations were with the class I region of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The most highly associated SNP was rs10484554, which lies 34.7 kb upstream from HLA-C (P = 7.8×10⁻¹¹, GWA scan; P = 1.8×10⁻³⁰, replication; P = 1.8×10⁻³⁹, combined; U.K. PSA: P = 6.9×10⁻¹¹). However, rs2395029 encoding the G2V polymorphism within the class I gene HCP5 (combined P = 2.13×10⁻²⁶ in U.S. cases) yielded the highest ORs with both PS and PSA (4.1 and 3.2 respectively). This variant is associated with low viral set point following HIV infection and its effect is independent of rs10484554. We replicated the previously reported association with interleukin 23 receptor and interleukin 12B (IL12B) polymorphisms in PS and PSA cohorts (IL23R: rs11209026, U.S. PS, P = 1.4×10⁻⁴; U.K. PSA: P = 8.0×10⁻⁴; IL12B:rs6887695, U.S. PS, P = 5×10⁻⁵ and U.K. PSA, P = 1.3×10⁻³) and detected an independent association in the IL23R region with a SNP 4 kb upstream from IL12RB2 (P = 0.001). Novel associations replicated in the U.S. PS cohort included the region harboring lipoma HMGIC fusion partner (LHFP) and conserved oligomeric golgi complex component 6 (COG6) genes on chromosome 13q13 (combined P = 2×10⁻⁶ for rs7993214; OR = 0.71), the late cornified envelope gene cluster (LCE) from the Epidermal Differentiation Complex (PSORS4) (combined P = 6.2×10⁻⁵ for rs6701216; OR 1.45) and a region of LD at 15q21 (combined P = 2.9×10⁻⁵ for rs3803369; OR = 1.43). This region is of interest because it harbors ubiquitin-specific protease-8 whose processed pseudogene lies upstream from HLA-C. This region of 15q21 also harbors the gene for SPPL2A (signal peptide peptidase like 2a) which activates tumor necrosis factor alpha by cleavage, triggering the expression of IL12 in human dendritic cells. We also identified a novel PSA (and potentially PS) locus on chromosome 4q27. This region harbors the interleukin 2 (IL2) and interleukin 21 (IL21) genes and was recently shown to be associated with four autoimmune diseases (Celiac disease, Type 1 diabetes, Grave''s disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis).     

Plasminogen alleles influence susceptibility to invasive aspergillosis

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a common and life-threatening infection in immunocompromised individuals. A number of environmental and epidemiologic risk factors for developing IA have been identified. However, genetic factors that affect risk for developing IA have not been clearly identified. We report that host genetic differences influence outcome following establishment of pulmonary aspergillosis in an exogenously immune suppressed mouse model. Computational haplotype-based genetic analysis indicated that genetic variation within the biologically plausible positional candidate gene plasminogen (Plg; Gene ID 18855) correlated with murine outcome. There was a single nonsynonymous coding change (Gly110Ser) where the minor allele was found in all of the susceptible strains, but not in the resistant strains. A nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (Asp472Asn) was also identified in the human homolog (PLG; Gene ID 5340). An association study within a cohort of 236 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients revealed that alleles at this SNP significantly affected the risk of developing IA after HSCT. Furthermore, we demonstrated that plasminogen directly binds to Aspergillus fumigatus. We propose that genetic variation within the plasminogen pathway influences the pathogenesis of this invasive fungal infection.     

In vitro and in silico studies of bis (indol-3-yl) methane derivatives as potential α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitors

In this paper, bis (indol-3-yl) methanes (BIMs) were synthesised and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and α-amylase. All synthesised compounds showed potential α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities. Compounds 5 g (IC₅₀: 7.54 ± 1.10 μM), 5e (IC₅₀: 9.00 ± 0.97 μM), and 5 h (IC₅₀: 9.57 ± 0.62 μM) presented strongest inhibitory activities against α-glucosidase, that were ∼ 30 times stronger than acarbose. Compounds 5 g (IC₅₀: 32.18 ± 1.66 µM), 5 h (IC₅₀: 31.47 ± 1.42 µM), and 5 s (IC₅₀: 30.91 ± 0.86 µM) showed strongest inhibitory activities towards α-amylase, ∼ 2.5 times stronger than acarbose. The mechanisms and docking simulation of the compounds were also studied. Compounds 5 g and 5 h exhibited bifunctional inhibitory activity against these two enzymes. Furthermore, compounds showed no toxicity against 3T3-L1 cells and HepG2 cells.

Highlights

1. A series of bis (indol-3-yl) methanes (BIMs) were synthesised and evaluated inhibitory activities against α-glucosidase and α-amylase.
2. Compound 5g exhibited promising activity (IC₅₀ = 7.54 ± 1.10 μM) against α-glucosidase.
3. Compound 5s exhibited promising activity (IC₅₀ = 30.91 ± 0.86 μM) against α-amylase.
4. In silico studies were performed to confirm the binding interactions of synthetic compounds with the enzyme active site.

     

Effect of ducks on CH4 emission from paddy soils and its mechanism research in the rice-duck ecosystem

The effect of ducks on CH₄ emission from paddy soils and its mechanism were probed in order to decide the optimum number of ducks in the rice-duck ecosystem. Methane emission fluxes from paddy soils were measured by the static box technique. The correlations between methane emission and soil physical and chemical characteristics were also analyzed. The results showed that significant differences (p < 0.01) existed in the dissolved oxygen content of water body in the treatment fields, and the more the ducks, the higher the dissolved oxygen content. Secondly, the soil redox matter content and methanogenic bacteria population of the rice-duck ecosystem reduced more sharply than those of the no-duck rice farming, resulting in a lower methane production. Thirdly, the amount of methane emission differed between the treatments—the more the ducks, the less the methane emission. Other related analyses showed that the negative correlation was significant (p < 0.001) between the methane emission flux and dissolved oxygen content of water body. However, CH4 emission flux had significantly positive correlation (p < 0.01) with the soil redox matter content and rice field methanogenic population.     

过氧化氢胁迫促进产朊假丝酵母合成谷胱甘肽

谷胱甘肽(GSH)在生物细胞抵御外界环境条件的刺激和胁迫时起到非常重要的作用。考察了不同时间不同浓度过氧化氢胁迫和过氧化氢连续胁迫对产朊假丝酵母合成GSH的影响, 发现低浓度过氧化氢的连续胁迫对GSH的合成有明显促进作用。进一步在发酵罐上应用了低浓度过氧化氢(36 mmol/L)持续胁迫策略, 最终GSH产量为922 mg/L, 胞内GSH含量为1.64%, 比对照分别提高了7%和35%。     

HERG通道在爪蟾卵母细胞的持续表达与电流变化

目的:探索一个HERG通道在爪蟾卵母细胞持续稳定表达HERG通道的方法,研究表达培养不同时期卵母细胞膜静息电位和通道电流特性的变化.方法:用含HERG片段的pSP64载体质粒体外转录制备的mRNA注射表达于卵母细胞,用双电极电压钳技术记录通道电流.结果:①本方法可成功在卵母细胞持续表达与HERG通道电生理特性一致的功能性通道,并可在10～15 d内稳定用于电生理记录.②在培养的第3、6和9 d细胞膜静息电位负值逐渐升高,在第12 d又开始降低.异源表达的HERG通道内向整流的最大电位在第3、6和9 d逐渐向正向转移,在第12 d又回复,激活曲线的半最大激活电压(V1/2)在培养的第3、6和9 d逐渐向负向转移,在第12 d又逐渐回复,其改变和膜静息电位的变化趋势一致.结论:本研究提供了一种HERG基因在爪蟾卵母细胞长期持续表达的方法,并为HERG通道的分子位点和药物作用研究在不同实验条件电生理实验数据的差异提供依据.     

Functional analysis of protein disulfide isomerases in blood feeding, viability and oocyte development in Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks

Three protein disulfide isomerases from Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks (designated as HlPDI-1, HlPDI-2, and HlPDI-3) were previously identified. In order to further analyze their biological functions, the dsRNA of each HlPDI gene and one dsRNA combination of HlPDI-1/HlPDI-3 were separately injected into female ticks. Reduction of gene and protein expression of HlPDIs by RNA interference (RNAi) was demonstrated by real-time PCR, RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. In single dsRNA-injected groups, HlPDI-1 RNAi impacted tick blood feeding and oviposition, HlPDI-2 RNAi impacted tick viability and HlPDI-3 RNAi had no significant impact by itself. However, the injection of a combination of HlPDI-1/HlPDI-3 dsRNA had synergistic effects on tick viability. Furthermore, the midgut and cuticle were severely damaged in HlPDI-2 dsRNA-injected ticks and HlPDI-1/HlPDI-3 dsRNA-injected ticks, respectively, and disruption of HlPDI genes led to a significant reduction of disulfide bond-containing vitellogenin (Vg) expression in ticks. These results indicate that PDIs from H. longicornis are involved in blood feeding, viability and oocyte development, probably by mediating the formation of disulfide bond-containing proteins of the ticks and the formation of basement membrane and cuticle components such as extracellular matrix (ECM). This is the first report on the functional analysis of PDI family molecules as well as the interactions of PDI and other molecules in blood-feeding arthropods.