A comparison of major histocompatibility complex SNPs in Han Chinese residing in Taiwan and Caucasians

Summary Genetic dissection of complex diseases is both important and challenging. The human major histocompatibility complex is involved in many human diseases and genetic mechanisms. This highly polymorphic chromosome region has been extensively studied in Caucasians but not as well in Asians. Thus, we compared genotypic distributions, linkage disequilibria and haplotype blocks between Caucasian and Taiwan’s Han Chinese populations. Moreover, we investigated the population admixture and phylogenetic system in Han Chinese residing in Taiwan. The results show that Taiwan’s Han Chinese differ drastically in genotypic information compared with Caucasians but are relatively homogeneous among the three major ethnic subgroups, Minnan, Hakka and Mainlanders. Differences in allele frequency (AF) between Taiwanese and Caucasians in some disease-associated loci may reveal clues to differences in disease prevalence. The results of ethnic heterogeneity imply that public databases should be used with caution in cases where the study population(s) differs from the population characterized in the database. The high homogeneity we observed among the Taiwanese subpopulations mitigates the possibility of spurious association caused by ignoring population stratification in Taiwanese disease gene association studies. These results are useful for understanding our genetic background and designing future disease gene mapping studies.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

miR-10a Regulates Proliferation of Human Cardiomyocyte Progenitor Cells by Targeting GATA6

microRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in cardiogenesis. The altered expression of miRNAs can result in cardiac malformations by inducing abnormalities in the behavior of cardiac cells. However, the role of miR-10a in the regulation of cardiomyocyte progenitor cells (CMPCs) remains undetermined. In the present study, we found that up- or down-regulation of miR-10a inhibited or promoted the proliferation of human CMPCs, respectively, without affecting their differentiation toward cardiomyocytes. miR-10a bound to GATA6 directly and reduced GATA6 expression. Over-expression of GATA6 greatly attenuated the miR-10a-mediated inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human CMPCs. Thus, our results indicate that miR-10a could effectively modulate the proliferation of human CMPCs by targeting GATA6. The finding provides novel insights into the potency of miR-10a during heart development.     

心肌缺氧对大鼠心肌细胞内游离钙浓度的作用

本实验用ｆｕｒａ－２ 荧光技术研究离体鼠心缺氧期间心肌细胞内游离钙浓度（Ｃａ＾２＋）增加的机制。实验结果为：（１）Ｋｒｅｂｓ－Ｈｅｎｓｅｌｅｉｔ（Ｋ－Ｈ）液缺氧灌流离体鼠心脏引起（Ｃａ＾２＋）先慢后快地增国（２）无钙液氧灌流,仍能引起（Ｃａ蓿玻黾印＃ǎ常┖ǎǎ保薄粒保埃蓿担恚铮欤蹋┑模耍纫喝毖豕嗔鳎ǎ茫幔蓿玻┑谋浠嗨莆薷埔喝毖豕嗔鳎伊秸咭鸬模ǎ茫幔蓿玻┰黾樱飨缘陀?     

Vaccination of chickens with DNA vaccine encoding Eimeria acervulina 3-1E and chicken IL-15 offers protection against homologous challenge

Eimeria acervulina 3-1E antigen gene and mature chicken interleukin 15 (mChIL-15) gene were cloned into expression vector pcDNA3.1(+) in different forms, produced DNA vaccine pcDNA3.1-3-1E, and pcDNA3.1-3-1E-linker-mChIL-15 co-expressing E. acervulina 3-1E gene and mChIL-15 gene, respectively. The expression of objective gene in vitro was detected by indirect fluorescent antibody technique and immunohistochemistry. The two DNA vaccines were administered by intramuscular leg injection. An animal challenge experiment was carried out to evaluate the immune protective efficacy of the vaccines. The results indicated that DNA vaccines were successfully constructed and the expression of objective gene could be detected in vitro. The animal experimental results showed that both DNA vaccines could provide partial protection against homologous challenge in chickens. The chimeric DNA vaccine, pcDNA3.1-3-1E-linker-mChIL-15, could significantly increase oocyst decrease ratio, reduce the average lesion score in the duodenum, improve body weight gain, and increase anti-coccidial index (ACI) compared to the DNA vaccine pcDNA3.1-3-1E. Taken together, these results demonstrate ChIL-15 enhance the immunogenicity of 3-1E DNA vaccine, and co-expression of cytokine and optimized surface antigen of Eimeria may be a promising method to enhance immunogenicity of DNA vaccines in poultry.     

Effects of Forest Regrowth and Urbanization on Ecosystem Carbon Storage in a Rural–Urban Gradient in the Southeastern United States

Forest regrowth after cropland abandonment and urban sprawl are two counteracting processes that have influenced carbon (C) sequestration in the southeastern United States in recent decades. In this study, we examined patterns of land-use/land-cover change and their effect on ecosystem C storage in three west Georgia counties (Muscogee, Harris, and Meriwether) that form a rural–urban gradient. Using time series Landsat imagery data including MSS for 1974, TM for 1983 and 1991, and ETM for 2002, we estimate that from 1974 to 2002, urban land use in the area has increased more than 380% (that is, 184 km²). Most newly urbanized land (63%) has been converted from forestland. Conversely, cropland and pasture area has decreased by over 59% (that is, 380 km²). Most of the cropland area was converted to forest. As a result, the net change in forest area was small over the past 29 years. Based on Landsat imagery and agricultural census records, we reconstructed an annual gridded data set of land-cover change for the three counties for the period 1850 to 2002. These data sets were then used as input to the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM) to simulate land-use effects on C fluxes and storage for the study area. Simulated results suggest that C uptake by forest regrowth (approximately 23.0 g C m⁻² y⁻¹) was slightly greater than the amount of C released due to deforestation (approximately 18.4 g C m⁻² y⁻¹), thus making the three counties a weak C sink. However, the relative importance of different deforestation processes in this area changed significantly through time. Although agricultural deforestation was generally the most important C-release process, the amount of C release attributable to urbanization has increased over time. Since 1990, urbanization has accounted for 29% of total C loss from the study area. We conclude that balancing urban development and forest protection is critically important for C management and policy making in the southeastern United States.     

Genome-wide analysis of N1-methyl-adenosine modification in human tRNAs

The N¹-methyl-Adenosine (m¹A58) modification at the conserved nucleotide 58 in the TΨC loop is present in most eukaryotic tRNAs. In yeast, m¹A58 modification is essential for viability because it is required for the stability of the initiator-tRNA^Met. However, m¹A58 modification is not required for the stability of several other tRNAs in yeast. This differential m¹A58 response for different tRNA species raises the question of whether some tRNAs are hypomodified at A58 in normal cells, and how hypomodification at A58 may affect the stability and function of tRNA. Here, we apply a genomic approach to determine the presence of m¹A58 hypomodified tRNAs in human cell lines and show how A58 hypomodification affects stability and involvement of tRNAs in translation. Our microarray-based method detects the presence of m¹A58 hypomodified tRNA species on the basis of their permissiveness in primer extension. Among five human cell lines examined, approximately one-quarter of all tRNA species are hypomodified in varying amounts, and the pattern of the hypomodified tRNAs is quite similar. In all cases, no hypomodified initiator-tRNA^Met is detected, consistent with the requirement of this modification in stabilizing this tRNA in human cells. siRNA knockdown of either subunit of the m¹A58-methyltransferase results in a slow-growth phenotype, and a marked increase in the amount of m¹A58 hypomodified tRNAs. Most m¹A58 hypomodified tRNAs can associate with polysomes in varying extents. Our results show a distinct pattern for m¹A58 hypomodification in human tRNAs, and are consistent with the notion that this modification fine tunes tRNA functions in different contexts.     

Pulsed Regime of the Diffusive Mode of a Barrier Discharge in Helium

Periodic pulsations of the active current component are revealed experimentally in transversely homogeneous barrier discharges in helium at small values of the parameter Pd (below 500 torr mm) and moderate frequencies of the applied voltage (f < 100 kHz). The frequency of the current pulsations is higher than the frequency of the well-studied pulsations in a transversely inhomogeneous streamer barrier discharge in air by a factor of approximately 100. Numerical calculations show that the physical nature of the observed pulsations can be explained in terms of the negative differential resistance of the cathode fall region, which occupies essentially the entire interelectrode gap in each half-period of the applied voltage.