Significant interaction between LRP2 rs2544390 in intron 1 and alcohol drinking for serum uric acid levels among a Japanese population

A genome-wide association study identified that LRP2 rs2544390 in intron 1 was associated with serum uric acid (SUA) levels among Japanese, as well as polymorphisms of SLC22A12, ABCG2, and SLC2A9. This study aimed to confirm the association of rs2544390 C/T with SUA, as well as another LRP2 polymorphism (rs3755166 G/A) in the promoter. Subjects were 5016 health checkup examinees (3409 males and 1607 females) aged 35 to 69years with creatinine<2.0mg/dL. The subjects with SLC22A12 258WW, SLC2A9 rs11722228C allele, ABCG2 126QQ and 141Q allele (2546 males and 1199 females) were selected for analysis. Mean SUA was 6.03mg/dL for CC, 6.18mg/dL for CT, and 6.19mg/dL for TT among males (p=0.012), and 4.49mg/dL, 4.45mg/dL, and 4.42mg/dL among females (not significant), respectively. No association was observed for rs3755166. The association with rs2544390 was stronger among male drinkers. The odds ratio of drinking ≥5/week relative to no drinking for hyperuricemia (SUA≥7mg/dL and/or under medication for hyperuricemia) was 1.11 (95% confidence interval, 0.67-1.84) among CC males, 1.75 (1.22-2.51) among CT males, and 3.13 (1.80-5.43) among TT males. The interaction terms with drinking ≥5/week were 1.56 (p=0.156) for CT and 2.87 (p=0.005) for TT. This was the first report on the interaction between LRP2 genotype and alcohol drinking for SUA. Since the low density lipoprotein-related protein 2 (megalin) encoded by LRP2 is a multi-ligand endocytic receptor expressed in many tissues including the kidney proximal tubules, the association/interaction remained to be confirmed both epidemiologically and biologically.     

A review on directional information in neural signals for brain-machine interfaces

Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) can be characterized by the technique used to measure brain activity and by the way different brain signals are translated into commands that control an effector. We give an overview of different approaches and focus on a particular BMI approach: the movement of an artificial effector (e.g. arm prosthesis to the right) by those motor cortical signals that control the equivalent movement of a corresponding body part (e.g. arm movement to the right). This approach has been successfully applied in monkeys and humans by accurately extracting parameters of movements from the spiking activity of multiple single-units. Here, we review recent findings showing that analog neuronal population signals, ranging from intracortical local field potentials over epicortical ECoG to non-invasive EEG and MEG, can also be used to decode movement direction and continuous movement trajectories. Therefore, these signals might provide additional or alternative control for this BMI approach, with possible advantages due to reduced invasiveness.     

非布司他对急性痛风性关节炎患者血清SUA水平及氧化应激的影响

目的:研究非布司他治疗急性痛风性关节炎(AGA)患者的临床疗效及对血清尿酸(SUA)水平及氧化应激的影响。方法:研究对象选取我院2014年6月到2016年10月收治的200例AGA患者,采用随机数字法将其分为对照组和观察组,每组各100例。对照组患者口服别嘌呤醇治疗,观察组患者口服非布司他治疗,均连续治疗24周。比较两组患者治疗前后各时间点的血清SUA、8-羟基脱氧鸟苷(8-OHdG)、3-硝基络氨酸修饰蛋白(3-NT)、甘油三酯(TG)、总胆固醇(TC)、低密度脂蛋白(LDL)、高密度脂蛋白(HDL)水平的变化。结果:治疗后,观察组各时间点的血清SUA、8-OHdG和3-NT水平均明显低于对照组(P0.01)。治疗后,对照组患者的血清TG、TC、HDL、LDL水平较治疗前无明显变化(P0.05),观察组患者的血清TG水平明显低于治疗前(P0.01),血清HDL水平明显高于治疗前(P0.01),而血清TC和LDL水平比较无明显差异(P0.05)。结论:非布司他治疗AGA的疗效明显,能有效降低血清SUA水平,抑制氧化应激状态,并能改善血脂代谢。     

SUA41蛋白表达和纯化及其多克隆抗体制备

旨在制备特异性SUA41多克隆抗体,为深入研究其在植物生长发育中的功能提供有力的分子生物学和生物化学的工具。PCR扩增拟南芥SUA41基因中编码280个氨基酸(401-680位氨基酸)的特异片段,经过GATEWAY的DNA重组技术构建了原核表达载体pDEST17-SUA41,用热休克法转化到E.coliBL21(DE3)star感受态细胞,以异丙基β-D-硫代半乳糖苷(IPTG)诱导表达出6×His-SUA41融合蛋白,用8 mol/L尿素缓冲液溶解包涵体并且经过水逐级去除尿素获得提纯的融合蛋白,并利用Western blotting鉴定确认。融合蛋白经Ni金属螯合柱亲和层析得以纯化,用SDS-PAGE进一步纯化。纯化的融合蛋白经过SDS-PAGE后切胶回收,免疫小白兔,制备多抗血清,然后用Western blotting进行检测,鉴定血清特异性和效价。结果显示,融合蛋白6×His-SUA41免疫兔,产生特异性的SUA41兔抗血清,可以检测到细菌和拟南芥组织中SUA41蛋白。用水提纯变性剂尿素溶解的包涵体蛋白具有可行性。制备的特异性SUA41兔抗血清效价高,能够有效地识别大肠杆菌表达的和拟南芥的SUA41蛋白。在有合适的对照情况下,该兔抗血清可以用于分析植物中SUA41蛋白的功能。