Genome-Wide Association Analysis with Gray Matter Volume as a Quantitative Phenotype in First-Episode Treatment-Na?ve Patients with Schizophrenia

Reduced Gray matter (GM) volume is a core feature of schizophrenia. Mapping genes that is associated with the heritable disease-related phenotypes may be conducive to elucidate the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. This study aims to identify the common genetic variants that underlie the deficits of GM volume in schizophrenia. High-resolution T1 images and whole genome genotyping data were obtained from 74 first-episode treatment-naïve patients with schizophrenia and 51 healthy controls in the Mental Health Centre of the West China Hospital, Sichuan University. All participants were scanned using a 3T MR imaging system and were genotyped using the HumanHap660 Bead Array. Reduced GM volumes in three brain areas including left hOC3v in the collateral sulcus of visual cortex (hOC3vL), left cerebellar vermis lobule 10 (vermisL10) and right cerebellar vermis lobule 10 (vermisR10) were found in patients with schizophrenia. There was a group by genotype interaction when genotypes from genome-wide scan were subsequently considered in the case-control analyses. SNPs from three genes or chromosomal regions (TBXAS1, PIK3C2G and HS3ST5) were identified to predict the changes of GM volume in hOC3vL, vermisL10 and vermisR10. These results also highlighted the usefulness of endophenotype in exploring the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia although further independent replication studies are needed in the future.     

Role of Baseline Antral Follicle Count and Anti-Mullerian Hormone in Prediction of Cumulative Live Birth in the First In Vitro Fertilisation Cycle: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis

Objective

This retrospective study determined for the first time the role of baseline antral follicle count (AFC) and serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) level in the first in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycle in predicting cumulative live birth from one stimulation cycle.

Methods

We studied 1,156 women (median age 35 years) undergoing the first IVF cycle. Baseline AFC and AMH level on the day before ovarian stimulation were analysed. The main outcome measure was cumulative live birth in the fresh plus all the frozen embryo transfers after the same stimulation cycle.

Results

Serum AMH was significantly correlated with AFC. Both AMH and AFC showed significant correlation with age and ovarian response in the stimulated cycle and total number of transferrable embryos. Baseline AFC and serum AMH were significantly higher in subjects attaining a live birth than those who did not in the fresh stimulated cycle, as well as those attaining cumulative live birth. There was a significant trend of higher cumulative live birth rate in women with higher AMH or AFC. However, logistic regression revealed that both AMH and AFC were not significant predictors of cumulative live birth after adjusting for age and number of embryos available for transfer. Considering only one single predictor, the areas under the ROC curves for AMH (0.646, 95% CI 0.616–0.675) and age (0.648, 95% CI 0.618–0.677) were slightly higher than that for AFC (0.617, 95% CI 0.587–0.647) in predicting cumulative live birth. However, a model combining AMH (with or without AFC) and age of the women only classified an addition of less than 2% of subjects correctly compared to the model with age alone.

Conclusion

Baseline AFC and serum AMH have only modest predictive performance on the occurrence of cumulative live birth, and may not give additional value on top of the women''s age.     

灰飞虱中IKK相关基因的鉴定及其在水稻条纹病毒侵染中的功能

【目的】本研究旨在鉴定灰飞虱Laodelphax striatellus中的IκB激酶(IκB kinase,IKK)相关基因,并调查其在灰飞虱抗病毒中的作用,以进一步深入理解传毒介体应对植物病毒的先天免疫机制。【方法】通过生物信息学鉴定了灰飞虱基因组中IKK相关基因;以无毒及水稻条纹病毒(rice stripe virus,RSV)侵染的灰飞虱为材料,利用RT-PCR方法检测IKK相关基因在无毒灰飞虱各个龄期(卵、1-5龄若虫、雄成虫和雌成虫)及成虫不同组织(肠道、唾液腺、血淋巴、脂肪体、卵巢和精巢)中的表达量;利用qRT-PCR方法检测无毒以及RSV侵染后的灰飞虱IKK相关基因在各个龄期及成虫不同组织中的表达量;通过对3龄若虫注射IKK基因dsRNA进行RNA干扰后,利用qRT-PCR检测带毒灰飞虱中表示病毒含量的RSV外壳蛋白(CP)基因转录水平。【结果】在灰飞虱基因组中鉴定到了两个IKK相关基因即IKKα(GenBank登录号:MK903504)和TANK结合激酶1(TANK-binding kinase1)基因TBK 1(GenBank登录号:MN124506)。IKKα开放阅读框长2379 bp,编码792个氨基酸;TBK 1开放阅读框长1551 bp,编码516个氨基酸。两个基因编码的蛋白都具有1个保守的丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶结构域和1个泛素折叠结构域。RT-PCR结果表明,IKKα和TBK 1在无毒灰飞虱各个龄期及成虫不同组织中均有表达。qRT-PCR分析结果表明,IKKα和TBK 1在RSV侵染后的灰飞虱各个龄期及成虫不同组织中的表达水平与其在无毒灰飞虱中的表达量之间存在明显差异。进一步将RSV侵染后的灰飞虱3龄若虫中的IKKα和TBK 1干扰后,带毒灰飞虱中的RSV含量显著上升。【结论】本研究结果表明,NF-κB信号途径中的两个重要基因IKKα和TBK 1在灰飞虱中广泛表达,且在灰飞虱抵御RSV的侵入过程中可能具有重要功能。这些结果为今后进一步深入研究NF-κB免疫通路在灰飞虱抗病毒中的功能提供了丰富的基础信息。     

Antihypertensive drug Valsartan promotes dendritic spine density by altering AMPA receptor trafficking

Recent studies demonstrated that the antihypertensive drug Valsartan improved spatial and episodic memory in mouse models of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and human subjects with hypertension. However, the molecular mechanism by which Valsartan can regulate cognitive function is still unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of Valsartan on dendritic spine formation in primary hippocampal neurons, which is correlated with learning and memory. Interestingly, we found that Valsartan promotes spinogenesis in developing and mature neurons. In addition, we found that Valsartan increases the puncta number of PSD-95 and trends toward an increase in the puncta number of synaptophysin. Moreover, Valsartan increased the cell surface levels of AMPA receptors and selectively altered the levels of spinogenesis-related proteins, including CaMKIIα and phospho-CDK5. These data suggest that Valsartan may promote spinogenesis by enhancing AMPA receptor trafficking and synaptic plasticity signaling.     

黄萎病菌诱导下野生茄‘托鲁巴姆’SSH文库的构建与分析

由大丽轮枝菌(Verticillium dahliae Kleb.)引起的茄子黄萎病是一种严重的土传病害,但在茄子栽培品种中缺少高抗种质,野生茄‘托鲁巴姆’高抗黄萎病。为探讨野生茄‘托鲁巴姆’抗黄萎病的分子机制,该试验以‘托鲁巴姆’为试材,利用抑制性差减杂交技术,分别以黄萎病菌侵染与未侵染的根系为检测方(tester)和驱动方(driver),构建了1个黄萎病菌诱导下的根器官正向差减cDNA文库。结果表明:(1)随机挑取170个阳性克隆,经测序,共获得109个非冗余EST,其中61个EST与其他植物的抗逆相关基因同源,如几丁质酶、细胞色素P450、过氧化物酶、蛋白酶抑制子等。(2)借助NCBI中的EST序列,经过电子拼接结合RT-PCR验证,克隆了1个通用胁迫蛋白基因———StUSP1。(3)表达分析结果显示,‘托鲁巴姆’受黄萎病菌侵染后,StUSP1在根中上调表达。     

不同经营管理方式对锥栗林节肢动物群落结构与多样性的影响

通过对不同经营管理方式下锥栗林节肢动物群落的调查,研究了生产上典型的5种经营管理方式对锥栗林节肢动物群落结构与多样性的影响.结果表明:5种不同经营管理方式下锥栗林节肢动物群落结构和多样性有较大差别,管理精细未用药型的锥栗林物种多样性和稳定性最高,植食性集团的多样性指数最高,天敌功能集团的相对丰盛度最高,对害虫的自然控制效能高,不利于优势害虫的暴发;相比管理撂荒型,精细的经营管理会提高林冠层物种多样性,而化学农药的使用降低了各功能集团的物种多样性、均匀度,提高了植食性集团的相对丰盛度.     

超声造影剂协同下的高强度聚焦超声对包虫原头蚴酶活性的影响

为探索高强度聚焦超声结合适宜比例的微泡造影剂对离体细粒棘球绦虫原头蚴酶活性的影响,实验分离包虫原头蚴,在原头蚴悬液中加入比例为1:80的微泡造影剂(含氟脂质体微泡),以声功率为50W的高强度聚焦超声波辐照30s,辐照后悬液涂片作酶组织化学染色,检测原头蚴三磷酸腺苷酶、葡萄糖-6-磷酸酶和琥珀酸脱氢酶的活性。结果显示,超声剂量相同时,微泡造影剂组的原头蚴三磷酸腺苷酶和琥珀酸脱氢酶活性明显低于单纯超声辐照组(P<0.05);葡萄糖-6-磷酸酶活性有一定降低;阴性对照组无酶反应物产生。高强度聚焦超声结合微泡造影剂能增强对离体原头蚴三磷酸腺苷酶和琥珀酸脱氢酶活性的抑制作用。