The effect of sleep on motor skill learning in young badminton players aged 6–9 years

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of sleep on the acquisition of motor skills in young badminton players. Thirteen badminton players, aged 6–9 years (8.0 ± 0.3 years; mean ± SE), practiced the shuttle bouncing drill, and a skill none of the players had prior experience with. After practice sessions, shuttle bouncing performance was immediately tested and then retested 1 week later. We evaluated sleep parameters for 7 consecutive days using actigraphy. Using the median value of sleep efficiency, subjects were divided into two groups: good sleepers and poor sleepers. Good sleepers had shorter sleep latency (p < 0.05), longer wake after sleep onset (p < 0.001), longer total sleep time (p < 0.005), and higher sleep efficiency (p < 0.001) than the poor sleepers. Interestingly, improvement in shuttle bouncing performance was significantly greater in the good sleeper group than that in the poor sleeper group (p < 0.05). In addition, we found that changes in the shuttle bouncing performance positively correlated with sleep efficiency (β = 0.765, p < 0.01) and total sleep time (β = 0.588, p < 0.05) after adjusting for their badminton career. These data suggest that sleep may affect the acquisition of motor skills in young players.

     

Q-omics: Smart Software for Assisting Oncology and Cancer Research

The rapid increase in collateral omics and phenotypic data has enabled data-driven studies for the fast discovery of cancer targets and biomarkers. Thus, it is necessary to develop convenient tools for general oncologists and cancer scientists to carry out customized data mining without computational expertise. For this purpose, we developed innovative software that enables user-driven analyses assisted by knowledge-based smart systems. Publicly available data on mutations, gene expression, patient survival, immune score, drug screening and RNAi screening were integrated from the TCGA, GDSC, CCLE, NCI, and DepMap databases. The optimal selection of samples and other filtering options were guided by the smart function of the software for data mining and visualization on Kaplan-Meier plots, box plots and scatter plots of publication quality. We implemented unique algorithms for both data mining and visualization, thus simplifying and accelerating user-driven discovery activities on large multiomics datasets. The present Q-omics software program (v0.95) is available at http://qomics.sookmyung.ac.kr.     

Creation of Resveratrol-Enriched Rice for the Treatment of Metabolic Syndrome and Related Diseases

Resveratrol has been clinically shown to possess a number of human health benefits. As a result, many attempts have been made to engineer resveratrol production in major cereal grains but have been largely unsuccessful. In this study, we report the creation of a transgenic rice plant that accumulates 1.9 µg resveratrol/g in its grain, surpassing the previously reported anti-metabolic syndrome activity of resveratrol through a synergistic interaction between the transgenic resveratrol and the endogenous properties of the rice. Consumption of our transgenic resveratrol-enriched rice significantly improved all aspects of metabolic syndrome and related diseases in animals fed a high-fat diet. Compared with the control animals, the resveratrol-enriched rice reduced body weight, blood glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol by 24.7%, 22%, 37.4%, 27%, and 59.6%, respectively. The resveratrol-enriched rice from our study may thus provide a safe and convenient means of preventing metabolic syndrome and related diseases without major lifestyle changes or the need for daily medications. These results also suggest that future transgenic plants could be improved if the synergistic interactions of the transgene with endogenous traits of the plant are considered in the experimental design.     

Circadian rhythm gene expression and daily melatonin levels vary in athletes and sedentary males

The circadian rhythm is a 24-h cycle in which cells control metabolic and physiological processes throughout the day. In this study, we compared the expression patterns of major circadian rhythm-related genes: from blood of Bmal1, Ror-α, Cry1, Per2, Per1, and Nr1d1. In addition, changes in patterns of melatonin levels were observed in 16 subjects, eight males rugby players and eight males who did not exercise regularly. Blood was collected at 6:00, 10:00, 18:00, and 22:00. Bmal1, Ror-α, Cry1, Per2 (p < 0.001), Per1 (p < 0.01), and Nr1d1 (p < 0.05) genes related to circadian rhythm was higher in rugby players than in sedentary males. However, melatonin levels were higher in sedentary males than in rugby players (p < 0.05). These results indicate that long-term exercise in athletes can increase the expression of genes related to circadian rhythm and these may have an effect on daily melatonin levels as well.     

Regulation of ERK1/2 by the C. elegans muscarinic acetylcholine receptor GAR-3 in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Three G-protein-linked acetylcholine receptors (GARs) exist in the nematode C. elegans. GAR-3 is pharmacologically most similar to mammalian muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs). We observed that carbachol stimulated ERK1/2 activation in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably expressing GAR-3b, the predominant alternatively spliced isoform of GAR-3. This effect was substantially reduced by the phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor U73122 and the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor GF109203X, implying that PLC and PKC are involved in this process. On the other hand, GAR-3b-mediated ERK1/2 activation was inhibited by treatment with forskolin, an adenylate cyclase (AC) activator. This inhibitory effect was blocked by H89, an inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA). These results suggest that GAR-3b-mediated ERK1/2 activation is negatively regulated by cAMP through PKA. Together our data show that GAR-3b mediates ERK1/2 activation in CHO cells and that GAR-3b can couple to both stimulatory and inhibitory pathways to modulate ERK1/2.     

The effects of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors on adipogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells

The molecular mechanisms that couple growth arrest and cell differentiation were examined during adipogenesis. Here, to understand the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CKI) genes involved in the progression of adipogenic differentiation, we examined changes in the protein and mRNA expression levels of CKI genes in vitro. During the onset of growth arrest associated with adipogenic differentiation, two independent families of CKI genes, p27Kip1 and p18INK4c, were significantly increased. The expressions of p27Kip1 and p18INK4c, regulated at the level of protein and mRNA accumulation, were directly coupled to adipogenic differentiation. This finding was supported by the inhibition of adipogenic differentiation caused by short interfering RNA (siRNA). In this study, we investigated the regulatory effects of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFβ-1) on CKI genes involved in adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Only the up-regulation of p18INK4c during adipogenic differentiation, and not that of the p27Kip1 gene was prevented by treatment with TGFβ-1, one of the factors that inhibit adipogenesis in vitro. This finding indicates a close correlation between adipogenic differentiation and p18INK4c induction in hMSCs. Thus, these data demonstrate a role for the differentiation-dependent cascade expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors in regulating adipogenic differentiation, thereby providing a molecular mechanism that couples growth arrest and differentiation.