Polymorphic markers Ala455Val of the THBD gene and Arg353Gln of the F7 gene and association with unfavorable outcomes of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with a history of acute ischemic heart disease

The polymorphic markers Ala455Val of the THBD gene and Arg353Gln of the F7 gene were tested for association with the frequency of unfavorable outcomes in patients with a history of acute ischemic heart disease. The study involved 1145 patients hospitalized in cardiology clinics of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Stavropol, and Rostov-on-Don because of acute ischemic heart disease. The patients were followed up for up to 62.5 months. None of the markers displayed a significant association with the time to an endpoint. The patients were then grouped by sex. In females, the frequency of unfavorable outcomes (fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction and fatal or nonfatal stroke) was higher in carriers of allele Val of the Ala344Val polymorphic marker of the THBD gene and carriers of genotype Arg/Arg of the Arg353Gln polymorphic marker of the F7 gene, but the difference was not statistically significant. Such an increase in frequency was not observed in males. To study the combined effect of the polymorphic markers of the THBD and F7 genes, the course of ischemic heart disease was compared for two female subgroups. One included carriers of allele Val of the Ala344Val polymorphic marker of the THBD gene and genotype Arg/Arg of the Arg353Gln polymorphic marker of the F7 gene; the other subgroup included carriers ofgenotype Ala/Ala of the Ala455Val polymorphic marker of the THBD gene and allele Gln of the Arg353Gln polymorphic marker of the F7 gene. The frequency of unfavorable outcomes in the first subgroup was higher than in the second one. The time to an endpoin was 40.5 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 33.5-47.6) in the first subgroup and 51.6 months (95% CI 45.0-58.1) in the second subgroup (chi2 = 4.15, P = 0.042). The results made it possible to assume that the F7 and THBD genes play an important role in genetic predisposition to unfavorable outcomes in patients with a history of acute ischemic heart disease.     

Association of the polymorphic markers G(−455)A in the FGB gene and C(−1654)T in the PROC gene with hereditary predisposition to unfavourable outcome in patients with history of acute coronary syndrome

Associations of polymorphisms of genes FGB G(?455)A and PROC C(?1654)T with the frequency of poor outcomes in patients with the history of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were studied in the Russian population. A total of 1145 patients admitted to cardiological hospitals of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Stavropol, and Rostov-on-Don with ischemic heart disease exacerbation were examined. The mean follow-up time was 1.14 ± 0.33 years, and the maximum follow-up time was 3.2 years. The risk of poor outcome did not depend on the carriership of genotypes of the polymorphic G(?455)A marker in the FGB gene. However, the PROC C(?1654)T polymorphism patients with ACS history and allele T of the PROC gene had a poor outcome more often than patients homozygous for allele C. The survival time to the endpoint for carriers of the TT and CT genotypes of the PROC gene was 2.19 ± 0.18 years vs. 2.46 ± 0.16 years for carriers of the CC genotype. On the base of these results it is suggested that hemostasis-related genes play an important role in early failures in patients with ACS history.     

Larvae of related Diptera species from thermally contrasting habitats exhibit continuous up-regulation of heat shock proteins and high thermotolerance

A population of Stratiomys japonica, a species belonging to the family Stratiomyidae (Diptera), common name ‘soldier flies’, occurs in a hot volcanic spring, which is apparently among the most inhospitable environments for animals because of chemical and thermal conditions. Larvae of this species, which naturally often experience temperatures more than 40 °C, have constitutively high concentrations of the normally inducible heat-shock protein Hsp70, but very low level of corresponding mRNA. Larvae of three other species of the same family, Stratiomys singularior, Nemotelus bipunctatus and Oxycera pardalina, are confined to different type semi-aquatic habitats with contrasting thermal regime. However, all of them shared the same pattern of Hsp70 expression. Interestingly, heat-shock treatment of S. japonica larvae activates heat-shock factor and significantly induces Hsp70 synthesis, whereas larvae of O. pardalina, a species from constant cold environment, produce significantly less Hsp70 in response to heat shock. Adults of the four species also exhibit lower, but detectable levels of Hsp70 without heat shock. Larvae of all species studied have very high tolerance to temperature stress in comparison with other Diptera species investigated, probably representing an inherent adaptive feature of all Stratiomyidae enabling successful colonization of highly variable and extreme habitats.     

Molecular phylogeny of fungus gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) revisited: position of Manotinae,Metanepsiini, and other enigmatic taxa as inferred from multigene analysis

The phylogeny of selected genera from four subfamilies of fungus gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) – Manotinae, Leiinae, Sciophilinae and Gnoristinae (including Metanepsiini) – is reconstructed based on the combined analysis of five mitochondrial (12S, 16S, COI, COII, cytB) and two nuclear (28S, ITS2) gene markers. Results of the different analyses all support Manotinae as a monophyletic group, with Leiinae as the sister group. Allactoneura DeMeijere is nested in the monophyletic and strongly supported clade of Leiinae. The tribe Metanepsiini is revealed as paraphyletic and the genera Metanepsia Edwards and Chalastonepsia Søli do not appear to be closely related. The genera Docosia Winnertz, Ectrepesthoneura Enderlein, Novakia Strobl and Syntemna Winnertz were placed with a group of genera included traditionally in the Gnoristinae. The monophyly of Dziedzickia Johannsen and Phthinia Winnertz is not supported. The genera of Sciophilinae (excluding Paratinia Mik but including Eudicrana Loew) form a monophyletic group in the Bayesian model.     

A genomic walking method for screening sequence length polymorphism

We adapted a recently developed nonrestrictional, nonligational genome walking method, Universal Fast Walking (UFW), for detection of length polymorphism in the proximal promoter region of genes. We demonstrate its efficacy at discovering naturally occurring transposition into heat‐shock genes of wild Drosophila and show that it surmounts limitations of simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approaches. We further present modifications to the standard UFW protocol and provide some guidelines to improve specificity. Although the resultant banding pattern of a standard UFW can be regarded as a DNA fingerprint, many amplicons result from false priming and not real polymorphisms. We describe ways to distinguish between UFW amplicons and false priming products in a high‐throughput assay.     

The composition of the gut microbiota shapes the colon mucus barrier

Two C57BL/6 mice colonies maintained in two rooms of the same specific pathogen-free (SPF) facility were found to have different gut microbiota and a mucus phenotype that was specific for each colony. The thickness and growth of the colon mucus were similar in the two colonies. However, one colony had mucus that was impenetrable to bacteria or beads the size of bacteria—which is comparable to what we observed in free-living wild mice—whereas the other colony had an inner mucus layer penetrable to bacteria and beads. The different properties of the mucus depended on the microbiota, as they were transmissible by transfer of caecal microbiota to germ-free mice. Mice with an impenetrable mucus layer had increased amounts of Erysipelotrichi, whereas mice with a penetrable mucus layer had higher levels of Proteobacteria and TM7 bacteria in the distal colon mucus. Thus, our study shows that bacteria and their community structure affect mucus barrier properties in ways that can have implications for health and disease. It also highlights that genetically identical animals housed in the same facility can have rather distinct microbiotas and barrier structures.