Alterations and Mechanism of Gut Microbiota in Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

To explore the role of gut microbiota in Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Seventy fecal samples were collected, including 27 patients with GD, 27 with HT, and 16 samples from healthy volunteers. Chemiluminescence was used to detect thyroid function and autoantibodies (FT3, FT4, TSH, TRAb, TGAb, and TPOAb); thyroid ultrasound and 16S sequencing were used to analyze the bacteria in fecal samples; KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) and COG (Clusters of Orthologous Groups) were used to analyze the functional prediction and pathogenesis. The overall structure of gut microbiota in the GD and HT groups was significantly different from the healthy control group. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria contents were the highest in the HT group. Compared to the control group, the GD and HT groups had a higher abundance of Erysipelotrichia, Cyanobacteria, and Ruminococcus_2 and lower levels of Bacillaceae and Megamonas. Further analysis of KEGG found that the “ABC transporter” metabolic pathway was highly correlated with the occurrence of GD and HT. COG analysis showed that the GD and HT groups were enriched in carbohydrate transport and metabolism compared to the healthy control group but not in amino acid transport and metabolism. Our data suggested that Bacillus, Blautia, and Ornithinimicrobium could be used as potential markers to distinguish GD and HT from the healthy population and that “ABC transporter” metabolic pathway may be involved in the pathogenesis of GD and HT.     

野葛藤茎的异黄酮类化学成分

从野葛Pueraria lobata(Willd.)Ohwi藤茎中分离得到5个异黄酮类化合物,分别鉴定为:大豆甙元(daidzein),芒柄花异黄酮(formononetin),6,7-二甲氧基-3’,4’-次甲二氧基异黄酮(6,7-dimethoxy-3’,4’-methlenedioxyisoflavone),大豆甙(daidzin)和葛根素(puerarin).     

SCFFbxw15 Mediates Histone Acetyltransferase Binding to Origin Recognition Complex (HBO1) Ubiquitin-Proteasomal Degradation to Regulate Cell Proliferation

Histone acetyltransferase binding to origin recognition complex (HBO1) plays a crucial role in DNA replication licensing and cell proliferation, yet its molecular regulation in cells is relatively unknown. Here an uncharacterized protein, Fbxw15, directly interacts with HBO1, a labile protein (t_½ = ∼3 h), to mediate its ubiquitination (Lys³³⁸) and degradation in the cytoplasm. Fbxw15-mediated HBO1 depletion required mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (Mek1), which was sufficient to trigger HBO1 phosphorylation and degradation in cells. Mek1 ability to produce HBO1 degradation was blocked by Fbxw15 silencing. Lipopolysaccharide induced HBO1 degradation, an effect abrogated by Fbxw15 or Mek1 cellular depletion. Modulation of Fbxw15 levels was able to differentially regulate histone H3K14 acetylation and cellular proliferation by altering HBO1 levels. These studies authenticate Fbxw15 as a ubiquitin E3 ligase subunit that mediates endotoxin-induced HBO1 depletion in cells, thereby controlling cell replicative capacity.     

Rhizobium qilianshanense sp. nov., a novel species isolated from root nodule of Oxytropis ochrocephala Bunge in China

During a study of the diversity and phylogeny of rhizobia isolated from root nodules of Oxytropis ochrocephala grown in the northwest of China, four strains were classified in the genus Rhizobium on the basis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. These strains have identical 16S rRNA gene sequences, which showed a mean similarity of 94.4 % with the most closely related species, Rhizobium oryzae. Analysis of recA and glnA sequences showed that these strains have less than 88.1 and 88.7 % similarity with the defined species of Rhizobium, respectively. The genetic diversity revealed by ERIC-PCR fingerprinting indicated that the isolates correspond to different strains. Strain CCNWQLS01^T contains Q-10 as the predominant ubiquinone. The major fatty acids were identified as feature 8 (C18: 1ω7c and/or C18: 1ω6c; 67.2 %). Therefore, a novel species Rhizobium qilianshanense sp. nov. is proposed, and CCNWQLS01^T (= ACCC 05747^T = JCM 18337^T) is designated as the type strain.     

A Meta-Analysis of Parental Smoking and the Risk of Childhood Brain Tumors

Objective

Previous studies regarding the association between parental smoking and the risk of childhood brain tumors (CBT) have reported inconsistent results. We performed a meta-analysis to summarize evidence on this association and to quantify the potential dose-response relationship.

Methods

A systematic literature search was conducted in the Medline and Embase databases. The summary relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Dose–response meta-analysis was also performed for studies that reported categorical risk estimates for a series of smoking exposure levels.

Results

A total of 17 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In the meta-analyses, the summary RRs (95% CIs) of CBT for maternal smoking during pregnancy, paternal smoking during pregnancy, maternal smoking before pregnancy, and paternal smoking before pregnancy were 0.96 (0.86–1.07), 1.09 (0.97–1.22), 0.93 (0.85–1.00), and 1.09 (1.00–1.20), respectively. Dose-response meta-analysis also showed no significant association between parental smoking and the risk of CBT.

Conclusions

Findings from our meta-analysis indicate that parental smoking may not be associated with a risk of CBT.     

Estimating incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and their confidence intervals with differentially censored data

With medical costs escalating over recent years, cost analysis is being conducted more and more to assess economic impact of new treatment options. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is a measure that assesses the additional cost for a new treatment for each additional unit of effectiveness, such as saving 1 year of life. In this article, we consider cost-effectiveness analysis for new treatments evaluated in a randomized clinical trial setting with staggered entries. In particular, the censoring times are different for cost and survival data. We propose a method for estimating the ICER and obtaining its confidence interval when differential censoring exists. Simulation experiments are conducted to evaluate our proposed method. We also apply our methods to a clinical trial example comparing the cost-effectiveness of implanted defibrillators with conventional therapy for individuals with reduced left ventricular function after myocardial infarction.     

Comparative Proteomics of Milk Fat Globule Membrane Proteins from Transgenic Cloned Cattle

The use of transgenic livestock is providing new methods for obtaining pharmaceutically useful proteins. However, the protein expression profiles of the transgenic animals, including expression of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) proteins, have not been well characterized. In this study, we compared the MFGM protein expression profile of the colostrum and mature milk from three lines of transgenic cloned (TC) cattle, i.e., expressing recombinant human α-lactalbumin (TC-LA), lactoferrin (TC-LF) or lysozyme (TC-LZ) in the mammary gland, with those from cloned non-transgenic (C) and conventionally bred normal animals (N). We identified 1, 225 proteins in milk MFGM, 166 of which were specifically expressed only in the TC-LA group, 265 only in the TC-LF group, and 184 only in the TC-LZ group. There were 43 proteins expressed only in the transgenic cloned animals, but the concentrations of these proteins were below the detection limit of silver staining. Functional analysis also showed that the 43 proteins had no obvious influence on the bovine mammary gland. Quantitative comparison revealed that MFGM proteins were up- or down-regulated more than twofold in the TC and C groups compared to N group: 126 in colostrum and 77 in mature milk of the TC-LA group; 157 in colostrum and 222 in mature milk of the TC-LF group; 49 in colostrum and 98 in mature milk of the TC-LZ group; 98 in colostrum and 132 in mature milk in the C group. These up- and down-regulated proteins in the transgenic animals were not associated with a particular biological function or pathway, which appears that expression of certain exogenous proteins has no general deleterious effects on the cattle mammary gland.     

Case of a stronger capability of maize seedlings to use ammonium being responsible for the higher 15N recovery efficiency of ammonium compared with nitrate

Plant and Soil - Biocrusts are important functional units in dryland ecosystems. Regarded as ecosystem engineers, cyanobacteria in biocrusts contribute several major physico-chemical and biological...     

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Thomas A. Steitz and the structure of the ribosome

Over the past 200 years, there have been countless groundbreaking discoveries in biology and medicine at Yale University. However, one particularly noteworthy discovery with profoundly important and broad consequences happened here in just the past two decades. In 2009, Thomas Steitz, the Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "studies of the structure and function of the ribosome," along with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science. This article covers the historical context of Steitz's important discovery, the techniques his laboratory used to study the ribosome, and the impact that this research has had, and will have, on the future of biological and medical research.