hnRNPU is required for spermatogonial stem cell pool establishment in mice

The continuous regeneration of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) underpins spermatogenesis and lifelong male fertility, but the developmental origins of the SSC pool remain unclear. Here, we document that hnRNPU is essential for establishing the SSC pool. In male mice, conditional loss of hnRNPU in prospermatogonia (ProSG) arrests spermatogenesis and results in sterility. hnRNPU-deficient ProSG fails to differentiate and migrate to the basement membrane to establish SSC pool in infancy. Moreover, hnRNPU deletion leads to the accumulation of ProSG and disrupts the process of T1-ProSG to T2-ProSG transition. Single-cell transcriptional analyses reveal that germ cells are in a mitotically quiescent state and lose their unique identity upon hnRNPU depletion. We further show that hnRNPU could bind to Vrk1, Slx4, and Dazl transcripts that have been identified to suffer aberrant alternative splicing in hnRNPU-deficient testes. These observations offer important insights into SSC pool establishment and may have translational implications for male fertility.

BAG5 regulates HSPA8-mediated protein folding required for sperm head-tail coupling apparatus assembly

Teratozoospermia is a significant cause of male infertility, but the pathogenic mechanism of acephalic spermatozoa syndrome (ASS), one of the most severe teratozoospermia, remains elusive. We previously reported Spermatogenesis Associated 6 (SPATA6) as the component of the sperm head-tail coupling apparatus (HTCA) required for normal assembly of the sperm head-tail conjunction, but the underlying molecular mechanism has not been explored. Here, we find that the co-chaperone protein BAG5, expressed in step 9-16 spermatids, is essential for sperm HTCA assembly. BAG5-deficient male mice show abnormal assembly of HTCA, leading to ASS and male infertility, phenocopying SPATA6-deficient mice. In vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrate that SPATA6, cargo transport-related myosin proteins (MYO5A and MYL6) and dynein proteins (DYNLT1, DCTN1, and DNAL1) are misfolded upon BAG5 depletion. Mechanistically, we find that BAG5 forms a complex with HSPA8 and promotes the folding of SPATA6 by enhancing HSPA8's affinity for substrate proteins. Collectively, our findings reveal a novel protein-regulated network in sperm formation in which BAG5 governs the assembly of the HTCA by activating the protein-folding function of HSPA8.

Transcriptome analysis of meiotic and post-meiotic spermatogenic cells reveals the potential hub genes of aging on the decline of male fertility

Genetic and epigenetic changes in sperm caused by male aging may be essential factors affecting semen parameters, but the effects and specific molecular mechanisms of aging on male reproduction have not been fully clarified. In this study, to explore the effect of aging on male fertility and seek the potential molecular etiology, we performed high-throughput RNA-sequencing in isolated spermatogenic cells, including pachytene spermatocytes (marked by the completion of chromosome synapsis) and round spermatids (produced by the separation of sister chromatids) from the elderly and the young men. Functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in round spermatids between the elderly and young showed that they were significantly enriched in gamete generation, spindle assembly, and cilium movement involved in cell motility. In addition, the expression levels of DEGs in round spermatids (post-meiotic cells) were found to be more susceptible to age. Furthermore, ten genes (AURKA, CCNB1, CDC20, CCNB2, KIF2C, KIAA0101, NR5A1, PLK1, PTTG1, RAD51AP1) were identified to be the hub genes involved in the regulation of sperm quality in the elderly through Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network construction and measuring semantic among GO terms and gene products. Our data provide aging-related molecular alterations in meiotic and post-meiotic spermatogenic cells, and the information gained from this study may explain the abnormal aging-related male fertility decline.

[Identification the key factor of pulmonary fibrosis following silica nanoparticles exposure based on bioinformatics analysis]

Objective: To investigate the main mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis following silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) exposure through constructing the macrophage-fibroblast model in vitro, which simulated the process of pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: In January 2021, human mononuclear leukemia cells (THP-1) were treated with 0, 25, 50, 100 μg/ml SiNPs for 24 h. The supernatant of THP-1 cells was collected and applied to human embryonic lung fibroblast cells (MRC-5) which divided into control and low, medium and high dose groups at the logarithmic growth stage for 24 h. MRC-5 cell viability was detected by CCK8. The hydroxyproline (Hyp), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) expression were detected in the supernatants of MRC-5. The changed proteins were detected by liquid-phase mass spectrometry in high dose group. GeneCard database were applied to identity the differential pulmonary fibrosis proteins in high dose group. Gene Ontology (GO) was performed to identity the key biological process in differential pulmonary fibrosis proteins of high dose group. The String database was used to construct the protein-protein interactions (PPI) network of differential pulmonary fibrosis proteins. The APP of CytoHubba was applied to calculate the key protein of differential pulmonary fibrosis proteins in PPI network. Correlation coefficients between key differential pulmonary fibrosis proteins were calculated using Pearson correlation analysis. Western blotting was applied to detect the expression of key proteins of differential pulmonary fibrosis proteins in different groups. Results: CCK8 results showed that MRC-5 cell viability was increasing in low, medium and high dose groups compared with control group (P<0.05). The expression levels of Hyp and IL-1β in different group were increased compared with control group, the expression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were increased in high dose group compared with control group (P<0.05). GeneCard database identified 26 differential pulmonary fibrosis proteins, which were mainly involved in extracellular matrix hydrolysis, cell inflammatory response, tissue repair, cell proliferation, inflammation response by GO analysis. The APP of CytoHubba was calculated that matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) and tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1) played an important role in PPI network. The results of correlation analysis showed that MMP9 was correlated with the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1), matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3), TIMP1 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) (r=0.97, 0.98, 0.94, 0.93, P<0.05). Western blotting results showed that TIMP1 protein expression was increased in low, medium and high dose groups, while MMP9 protein expression was increased only in high dose group (P<0.05) . Conclusion: Differential expression proteins related with pulmonary fibrosis in MRC-5 cells mainly regulate biological processes of extracellular matrix hydrolysis, tissue repair, and cellular inflammation response following SiNPs exposure. MMP9 and TIMP1 may be the key proteins, which affected the fibrosis process in vitro pulmonary fibrosis model.

ADAD2 interacts with RNF17 in P-bodies to repress the Ping-pong cycle in pachytene piRNA biogenesis

Pachytene piRNA biogenesis is a hallmark of the germline, distinct from another wave of pre-pachytene piRNA biogenesis with regard to the lack of a secondary amplification process known as the Ping-pong cycle. However, the underlying molecular mechanism and the venue for the suppression of the Ping-pong cycle remain elusive. Here, we showed that a testis-specific protein, ADAD2, interacts with a TDRD family member protein RNF17 and is associated with P-bodies. Importantly, ADAD2 directs RNF17 to repress Ping-pong activity in pachytene piRNA biogenesis. The P-body localization of RNF17 requires the intrinsically disordered domain of ADAD2. Deletion of Adad2 or Rnf17 causes the mislocalization of each other and subsequent Ping-pong activity derepression, secondary piRNAs overproduced, and disruption of P-body integrity at the meiotic stage, thereby leading to spermatogenesis arrested at the round spermatid stage. Collectively, by identifying the ADAD2-dependent mechanism, our study reveals a novel function of P-bodies in suppressing Ping-pong activity in pachytene piRNA biogenesis.

hnRNPH1 establishes Sertoli-germ cell crosstalk through cooperation with PTBP1 and AR, and is essential for male fertility in mice

Spermatogenesis depends on the crosstalk of Sertoli cells (SCs) and germ cells. However, the gene regulatory network establishing the communications between SCs and germ cells remains unclear. Here, we report that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H1 (hnRNPH1) in SCs is essential for the establishment of crosstalk between SCs and germ cells. Conditional knockout of hnRNPH1 in mouse SCs leads to compromised blood-testis barrier function, delayed meiotic progression, increased germ cell apoptosis, sloughing of germ cells and, eventually, infertility of mice. Mechanistically, we discovered that hnRNPH1 could interact with the splicing regulator PTBP1 in SCs to regulate the pre-mRNA alternative splicing of the target genes functionally related to cell adhesion. Interestingly, we also found hnRNPH1 could cooperate with the androgen receptor, one of the SC-specific transcription factors, to modulate the transcription level of a group of genes associated with the cell-cell junction and EGFR pathway by directly binding to the gene promoters. Collectively, our findings reveal a crucial role for hnRNPH1 in SCs during spermatogenesis and uncover a potential molecular regulatory network involving hnRNPH1 in establishing Sertoli-germ cell crosstalk.

Association of BMI with erectile dysfunction: A cross-sectional study of men from an andrology clinic

Abnormal body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increased risk of erectile dysfunction (ED). However, the relationship between different BMI categories and the levels of ED severity remains unclear. In the current study, 878 men from the andrology clinic in Central China were recruited. Erectile function was assessed by the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) scores. Questionnaires included questions about demographic characteristics (age, height, weight, educational status), lifestyle habits (drinking, smoking, sleep time), and medical history. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between ED risk and BMI. The incidence of ED was 53.1%. BMI was significantly higher in men from the ED group than in those from the non-ED group (P = 0.01). Compared with the normal weight group, obese men had a higher risk of ED (OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.25-3.14, P = 0.004), even after adjustment for potential confounders (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.10-2.90, P = 0.02). Moreover, the positive correlation between obesity and moderate/severe ED severity was confirmed by logistic regression analysis (moderate/severe ED, OR = 2.71, 95% CI = 1.44-5.04, P = 0.002), even after adjusting for potential confounders (OR = 2.51 95% CI = 1.24-5.09, P = 0.01). Collectively, our findings indicate a positive correlation between obesity and the risk of moderate/severe ED. Clinicians could pay more attention to moderate/severe ED patients to maintain a healthy body weight to improve erectile function.

UHRF1 interacts with snRNAs and regulates alternative splicing in mouse spermatogonial stem cells

Life-long male fertility relies on exquisite homeostasis and the development of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs); however, the underlying molecular genetic and epigenetic regulation in this equilibrium process remains unclear. Here, we document that UHRF1 interacts with snRNAs to regulate pre-mRNA alternative splicing in SSCs and is required for the homeostasis of SSCs in mice. Genetic deficiency of UHRF1 in mouse prospermatogonia results in gradual loss of spermatogonial stem cells, eventually leading to Sertoli-cell-only syndrome (SCOS) and male infertility. Comparative RNA-seq data provide evidence that Uhrf1 ablation dysregulates previously reported SSC maintenance- and differentiation-related genes. We further found that UHRF1 could act as an alternative RNA splicing regulator and interact with Tle3 transcripts to regulate its splicing event in spermatogonia. Collectively, our data reveal a multifunctional role for UHRF1 in regulating gene expression programs and alternative splicing during SSC homeostasis, which may provide clues for treating human male infertility.

WDFY1, a WD40 repeat protein, is not essential for spermatogenesis and male fertility in mice

The mouse WD repeat and FYVE domain containing 1 (Wdfy1) gene is located in chromosome 1qC4 and spans over 73.7 kilobases. It encodes a protein of 410-amino acid protein that shares 97.8% amino acid sequence identity with the human WDFY1 protein. However, the expression pattern of WDFY1 in reproductive organs and its function in male fertility remain unknown. In this study, we generated transgenic mice expressing FLAG-Wdfy1-mCherry cDNA driven by the Wdfy1 promoter to clarify the expression of WDFY1. The results showed that WDFY1 is highly expressed in mouse testes and located in the cytoplasm of late pachytene spermatocytes to elongated spermatids. Interestingly, the global Wdfy1 knockout (KO) male mice displayed normal growth, development, and fertility. Further histological analysis of Wdfy1 knockout mouse testes revealed that all spermatogenic cells are present in Wdfy1 KO seminiferous tubules. Together, our data demonstrate that WDFY1 is dispensable for mouse spermatogenesis and male fertility.

UHRF1 is indispensable for meiotic sex chromosome inactivation and interacts with the DNA damage response pathway in mice

During male meiosis, the constitutively unsynapsed XY chromosomes undergo meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI), and the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway is critical for MSCI establishment. Our previous study showed that UHRF1(ubiquitin-like, with PHD and ring finger domains 1) deletion led to meiotic arrest and male infertility; however, the underlying mechanisms of UHRF1 in the regulation of meiosis remain unclear. Here, we report that UHRF1 is required for MSCI and cooperates with the DDR pathway in male meiosis. UHRF1-deficient spermatocytes display aberrant pairing and synapsis of homologous chromosomes during the pachytene stage. In addition, UHRF1 deficiency leads to aberrant recruitment of ATR and FANCD2 on the sex chromosomes and disrupts the diffusion of ATR to the XY chromatin. Furthermore, we show that UHRF1 acts as a cofactor of BRCA1 to facilitate the recruitment of DDR factors onto sex chromosomes for MSCI establishment. Accordingly, deletion of UHRF1 leads to the failure of meiotic silencing on sex chromosomes, resulting in meiotic arrest. In addition to our previous findings, the present study reveals that UHRF1 participates in MSCI, ensuring the progression of male meiosis. This suggests a multifunctional role of UHRF1 in the male germline.

[CART therapy followed by allo-HSCT for patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia relapsing after the first hematopoietic stem cell transplantation]

目的

观察嵌合抗原受体T细胞（CART）序贯二次异基因造血干细胞移植（allo-HSCT）治疗移植后复发急性B淋巴细胞白血病（B-ALL）的疗效。

方法

回顾性分析2015年10月至2020年6月在河北燕达陆道培医院接受二次allo-HSCT的41例B-ALL患者的临床资料，入选患者均为移植后骨髓形态学或髓外复发且二次移植前接受CART治疗。

结果

全部41例患者中男21例、女20例，二次移植时中位年龄为16（3～46）岁。移植后骨髓复发31例（75.6％）、髓外复发5例（12.2％）、骨髓和髓外复发5例（12.2％）。复发后接受CD19-CART治疗35例（85.4％）、CD22-CART治疗2例（4.9％）、CD19-CART联合CD22-CART治疗4例（9.8％）。二次移植后预期3年总生存（OS）率为48.9％（95％ CI 23.0％～70.6％）、无白血病生存（LFS）率为41.8％（95％ CI 17.3％～64.9％），累积复发率（RI）为8.8％（95％ CI 2.9％～26.4％），非复发相关死亡率（NRM）为51.1％（95％ CI 31.2％～83.6％）。首次移植后复发时间≤6个月组（10例）二次移植后1年OS率低于复发时间>6个月组（31例）［45.0％（95％ CI 12.7％～73.5％）对75.0％（95％ CI 51.4％～88.8％），P＝0.017］。

结论

CART序贯二次allo-HSCT可使部分造血干细胞移植后复发B-ALL患者获得长生存，但NRM较高，移植方案有待进一步改进。

[Comparison of the clinical outcomes of haploidentical and matched-sibling donor stem cell transplantation for T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in complete remission]

目的

比较亲缘单倍型造血干细胞移植（HIDT）和同胞相合造血干细胞移植（MSDT）治疗完全缓解期（CR）急性T淋巴细胞白血病（T-ALL）的疗效。

方法

回顾性分析2012年5月至2017年5月间在河北燕达陆道培医院接受HIDT（81例）和MSDT（17例）的CR期T-ALL患者的临床特点和预后。

结果

HIDT组、MSDT组移植后100 d Ⅱ～Ⅳ度急性GVHD发生率分别为51.9％（95％CI42.0％～64.0％）、29.4％（95％CI 14.1％～61.4％）（P＝0.072），Ⅲ/Ⅳ度急性GVHD发生率分别为9.8％（95％CI 5.1％～19.1％）、11.8％（95％CI 3.2％～43.3％）（P＝1.000），巨细胞病毒（CMV）血症发生率分别为53.1％（95％CI 43.3％～65.2％）、29.4％（95％CI 14.1％～61.4％）（P＝0.115），EB病毒（EBV）血症发生率分别为35.8％（95％CI 26.8％～47.9％）、11.8％（95％CI 3.2％～43.3％）（P＝0.048）。HIDT、MSDT两组移植后5年总生存（OS）率分别为60.5％（95％CI 5.4％～49.0％）、68.8％（95％CI 11.8％～40.0％）（P＝0.315），无白血病生存（LFS）率分别为58.0％（95％CI 5.5％～46.5％）、68.8％（95％CI11.8％～40.0％）（P＝0.258），累积复发率分别为16.1％（95％ CI 9.8％～26.4％）、11.8％（95％ CI3.2％～43.3％）（P＝0.643），非复发死亡率（NRM）分别为25.9％（95％CI 17.9％～37.5％）、19.4％（95％CI6.9％～54.4％）（P＝0.386）。

结论

对于CR期T-ALL患者，当缺乏合适供者时，HIDT可作为替代选择。

Maternal UHRF1 Is Essential for Transcription Landscapes and Repression of Repetitive Elements During the Maternal-to-Zygotic Transition

Maternal factors that modulate maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) are essential for the growth from specialized oocytes to totipotent embryos. Despite several studies, the mechanisms regulating epigenetic reprogramming during MZT remain largely elusive. UHRF1 plays a role in maintaining GC methylation in oocytes and early embryos. However, little is known about its role in mouse MZT. Here, we explored the function of maternal UHRF1 in zygotic genome regulation during early embryonic development in mice. We showed that the conditional knockout (cKO) of UHRF1 in either primordial or growing oocytes causes infertility but differentially affects early embryonic development. UHRF1 deficiency in primordial oocytes led to early embryonic developmental arrest at the two-cell stage, accompanied by significant alterations in global DNA and H3K4me3 methylation patterns. In comparison, UHRF1 ablation in growing oocytes significantly reduced developmental competence from two-cell embryos to blastocysts. At the transcriptional level, the absence of maternal UHRF1 led to aberrant transcriptional regulation of the zygotic genome during MZT at the two-cell stage. Furthermore, we observed that retrotransposable elements in UHRF1-deficient oocytes and embryos were not silenced properly; in particular, the LINE-1 and long terminal repeat (LTR) subfamily were activated abnormally. Collectively, the findings of our study reveal that maternal UHRF1 plays a critical role in establishing the correct epigenetic chromatin reprogramming of early embryos, regulating essential genes during MZT, and preserving genome integrity that drives early embryonic development in mice.

[Clinical characteristics of 10 patients with uremic tumoral calcinosis]

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with uremic tumoral calcinosis (UTC). Methods: A total of 10 patients with UTC were enrolled in this study, who were admitted in the Department of Nephrology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Beijing Chuiyangliu Hospital from March 2013 to February 2019. Results: The average age of 4 male and 6 female patients on regular hemodialysis was (39.90±8.57) years. The average dialysis duration was(5.90±2.57) years. Three patients presented as single lesion of one joint, the other 7 patients as involvement of multiple large joints. Serum calcium was elevated in 2 patients,both over 2.75 mmol/L. Serum hyperphosphatemia was seen in all patients with average level 2.22 (1.94,2.44) mmol/L. Serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) was remarkably increased in 9 patients with average level 1 348.0(854.8,1 800.0) ng/L, while only 1 patient reported slight elevation (92.4 ng/L).High-sensitivity C-reactive protein increased in all 10 patients with average 35.81 (17.60,74.20) mg/L. The imaging findings before treatment suggested that a large number of irregular masses of calcification shadows deposited in the soft tissue adjacent to the joints. The outlines of calcification were clear without significant bone absorption. Nine patients with severe secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) were treated with parathyroidectomy, resulting in lesions diminishing or even disappearing. A total of 32 parathyroid glands were resected, and pathological results showed that 7 parathyroids were diffuse hyperplasia, 11 as diffuse/nodular hyperplasia, the rest 14 as nodular hyperplasia. At least one hyperplastic parathyroid gland was seen in each patient. Only 1 patient received medical therapy yet no obvious improvement was observed. Conclusion: UTC is a rare complication in patients on regular hemodialysis, which is usually associated with severe SHPT. Parathyroid surgery may improve the clinical outcome.

[Prognostic analysis of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in complete remission in the era of tyrosine kinase inhibitors]

目的

探讨在酪氨酸激酶抑制剂（TKI）时代Ph染色体阳性急性淋巴细胞白血病（Ph⁺ALL）在完全缓解（CR）状态下行异基因造血干细胞移植（allo-HSCT）的预后和影响因素。

方法

回顾性分析2012年5月至2017年5月河北燕达陆道培医院收治的116例在CR状态下行allo-HSCT的Ph⁺ALL患者的预后及其影响因素。

结果

116例患者中男72例，女44例。中位年龄20（4～64）岁。同胞全相合移植21例，亲缘单倍型移植77例，非血缘移植18例。5年总生存（OS）率为73.2％（95％CI 63.8％～80.5％），其中诊断至移植间隔时间<180 d的亚组5年OS率为87.5％。5年无病生存（DFS）率为61.4％（95％CI 51.8％～69.7％）。5年细胞形态及分子学水平复发累积发生率为18.5％（95％CI 12.6％～27.3％）。5年移植相关死亡率（TRM）为19.9％（95％CI 13.8％～28.7％）。多因素分析显示，15～39岁（HR＝2.730，P＝0.044）、诊断至移植间隔时间≥180 d（HR＝4.534，P＝0.010）、发生Ⅲ～Ⅳ度急性移植物抗宿主病（aGVHD）（HR＝7.558，P＝0.000）是影响患者OS的不利因素；发生局限型慢性移植物抗宿主病（cGVHD）是影响患者OS的有利因素（HR＝0.300，P＝0.034）。而性别、起病时WBC（<30×10⁹/L，≥30×10⁹/L）、BCR-ABL融合基因类型、体细胞突变类型、移植前状态（CR₁，>CR₁）、移植前微小残留病（MRD）水平（MRD阴性，MRD阳性）、预处理方案（全身照射方案，白消安为基础方案）、预处理方案强度、移植类型、GVHD预防方案（环孢素A，他克莫司）、抗胸腺细胞免疫球蛋白的种类、巨细胞病毒和EB病毒血症的有无对OS的影响无统计学意义。

结论

TKI时代Ph⁺ALL在CR状态下行allo-HSCT时，影响生存的因素有年龄、诊断至移植间隔时间和发生重度aGVHD。

A common variant rs2272804 in the 5'UTR of RIBC2 inhibits downstream gene expression by creating an upstream open reading frame

OBJECTIVE

The RIB43A domain with coiled-coils 2 (RIBC2) encodes an uncharacterized vertebrate protein exhibiting similarity with Chlamydomonas protofilament ribbon proteins, required for ciliary motility. To date, no functional variants capable of triggering a change in the expression of RIBC2 have been reported.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The genotypes of rs2272804 in 30 individuals were identified with Sanger sequencing to estimate allele frequencies. Dual-Luciferase and mutagenesis assays were carried out to investigate the impact of rs2272804 on transcriptional and translational levels. The microarray data of 7 types of cancer were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to explore the role of rs2272804 in those diseases.

RESULTS

In this study, we identified a common variant in the 5'UTR of RIBC2, rs2272804, which can create an upstream open reading frame (uORF) in the 5'UTR significantly inhibiting the expression of its host gene. Using Dual-Luciferase constructs, we found that this variant leads to an 85% reduction in translational efficiency, but only a 20% decrease was observed at the transcriptional level. In terms of population studies, mRNA levels of RIBC2 varied according to their rs2272804 genotypes. The "A" allele homozygotes, which created a uORF, showed the lowest transcriptional levels while the transcriptional activity of the "C" allele homozygotes without an uORF was the highest, consistent with the in-vitro studies. Furthermore, we explored its role in 7 types of cancer and identified RIBC2 as a significantly differentially expressed gene (DEG) in breast cancer (BRCA), ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma (OV), and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). Finally, we showed that the overexpression of RIBC2 enhanced the expression of TRIM37 and down-regulated TRAF2. TRIM37 is a member of the tripartite motif (TRIM) family involved in developmental patterning and oncogenesis while TRAF2 is associated with the signal transduction from members of the TNF receptor superfamily.

CONCLUSIONS

Our reports identified a common variant that exerts a dramatic impact on expression efficiency and provides further functional insight into RIBC2.

Rapamycin-mediated mTOR inhibition impairs silencing of sex chromosomes and the pachytene piRNA pathway in the mouse testis

Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) controls cell growth and metabolism in response to environmental and metabolic signals. Rapamycin robustly extends the lifespan in mammals and has clinical relevance in organ transplantation and cancer therapy but side effects include male infertility. Here, we report that chronic rapamycin treatment causes spermatogenic arrest in adult male mice due to defects in sex body formation and meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI). Many sex chromosome-linked genes were up-regulated in isolated pachytene spermatocytes from rapamycin-treated mice. RNA-Seq analysis also identified mRNAs encoding the core piRNA pathway components were decreased. Furthermore, rapamycin treatment was associated with a drastic reduction in pachytene piRNA populations. The inhibitory effects of rapamycin on spermatogenesis were partially reversible, with restoration of testis mass and sperm motility within 2 months of treatment cessation. Collectively, we have defined an essential role of mTOR in MSCI and identified a novel function as a regulator of small RNA homeostasis in male germ cells.

MicroRNA-24 attenuates vascular remodeling in diabetic rats through PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The vascular remodeling plays a crucial role in pathogenesis of diabetic cardiovascular complications. In this study, we intended to explore the effects and potential mechanisms of microRNA-24 (miR-24) on vascular remodeling under diabetic conditions.

METHODS AND RESULTS

MiR-24 recombinant adenovirus (Ad-miR-24-GFP) was used to induce miR-24 overexpression either in carotid arteries or high glucose (HG)-induced vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Cell proliferation was analyzed using CCK-8 method. Cell migration was examined using wound-healing and transwell assay. mRNA and protein expressions of critical factors were, respectively, measured by real-time PCR and western blot as follows: qRT-PCR for the levels of miR-24, PIK3R1; western blot for the protein levels of PI3K (p85α), Akt, p-Akt, mTOR, p-mTOR, 4E-BP1, p-4E-BP1, p70s6k, p-p70s6k, MMP 2, MMP 9, collagen Ⅰ, as well as collagen Ⅲ. Carotid arteries in diabetic rats suffered balloon injury were harvested and examined by HE, immunohistochemical and Masson trichrome staining. The expression of miR-24 was decreased in HG-stimulated VSMCs and balloon-injured carotid arteries of diabetic rats, accompanied by increased mRNA expression of PIK3R1. The up-regulation of miR-24 suppressed VSMCs proliferation, migration, collagen deposition not only induced by HG in vitro, but also in balloon-injured diabetic rats, which were related to inactivation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

The up-regulation of miR-24 significantly attenuated vascular remodeling both in balloon-injured diabetic rats and HG-stimulated VSMCs via suppression of proliferation, migration and collagen deposition by acting on PIK3R1 gene that modulated the PI3K/Akt/mTOR axes.

[Comparison of three different types of donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for intermediate and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome]

目的

比较半相合移植（Haplo-HSCT）、无关供者移植（MUD-HSCT）及同胞相合移植（MSD-HSCT）治疗中高危骨髓增生异常综合征（MDS）的疗效及其预后影响因素。

方法

回顾性分析2001年8月至2015年5月接受异基因造血干细胞移植（allo-HSCT）治疗的167例中高危MDS患者病例资料，比较不同移植方式下患者的预后特征及预后影响因素。

结果

存活患者中位随访60（12~177）个月。5年实际累积无病生存（DFS）率为67.8%（95% CI 60.0%~75.6%），其中MSD-HSCT组为68.0%（95% CI 54.1%~81.9%），MUD-HSCT组为77.4%（95% CI 62.1%~92.7%），Haplo-HSCT组为64.0%（95% CI 52.4%~75.6%），三组比较差异无统计学意义（P=0.632）。单因素分析结果显示移植前病程>12个月者累积DFS率明显低于≤12个月者（P=0.018）。5年累积复发死亡率和移植相关死亡率（TRM）与上面危险因素均无明显相关性。

结论

Haplo-HSCT治疗MDS疗效显著，可以作为重要的替代供者，特别是在缺乏MSD而病情紧急没有时间去等待搜索MUD的情况下，可以主动选择；移植前病程是影响DFS的重要因素。

Crohn's disease with positive Ziehl-Neelsen stain: Three case reports

Because of the similarity of the clinical symptoms, endoscopic, and pathological features, the differential diagnosis between Crohn's disease (CD) and intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) remains difficult, especially in a high-incidence area of tuberculosis (TB). Here we reported three patients with positive Ziehl-Neelsen stain in endoscopic mucosal biopsy specimens. They had a poor response to anti-TB therapy but a good response to immunosuppresses, infliximab, or surgery, and were finally diagnosed as CD. It was not clear that they were CD concomitant with mycobacteria infection or CD induced by mycobacteria infection. Further studies including more clinical cases and related animal models are needed. Our cases highlight the importance of considering the presence of CD in patients with positive Ziehl-Neelsen stain, which were failure to respond to anti-TB treatment.

[Effect of NCCN (2015) risk stratification on prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation]

Objective: To analyze the effect of NCCN (2015) risk stratification on prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) . Methods: Retrospective analysis of 258 patients with AML in CR (186 cases in CR(1), 72 cases in CR(2)) who underwent allogeneic HSCT in our hospital between April 2012 and March 2015 according to NCCN (2015) risk stratification. Of them, 63 cases were classified as low risk, 112 cases intermediate risk and 83 cases high risk. Results: ①With the median follow up of 18 (5-41) months, two-year disease free surviva (DFS) in 258 patients was 78.0% (95% CI 60.4%-96.6%) . Two-year DFS in AML after transplantation was 78.6% (95% CI 61.0%-96.2%) in low risk, 76.0% (95% CI 84.0%-93.6%) in intermediate risk and 80.3% (95% CI 62.7%-97.9%) (P=0.886) in high risk groups respectively. ②Univariate analysis showed that DFS has no significant difference in patient age, the median disease course before HSCT, the WBC number at the beginning of the disease, blood routine and chromosomes examination before transplantation, extramedullary disease before transplantation, disease status before transplantation, conditioning regimen, donor type, donor and recipient sex, recipient blood type, transfused MNC number, transfused CD34(+) cell number and transfused CD3(+) cell number. DFS was significant lower in primary AML than that in secondary AML (P=0.006) and also lower in MRD positive than that in MRD negative (P=0.003) . The accumulative relapse was significant higher in CR(2) compared to that in CR(1) (P=0.046) . Accumulative non-relapse mortality (NRM) was significanlyt higher in secondary AML compared to that in primary AML (P=0.004) and also higher in MRD positive compared to that in MRD negative (P=0.010) . ③Multivariate analysis showed that MRD positive was the only significant factor in DFS and NRM. Conclusion: Allo-HSCT treatment of AML CR patients could achieve a high efficacy, which is similar between CR(1) and CR(2) patients. There is no significant correlation between NCCN (2015) risk stratification and the prognosis of AML patients with allo-HSCT treatment. Pre-conditioning MRD status monitored by multiparameter flow cytometry was the only impact factor on DFS and NRM in allo-HSCT for CR-AML patients.

[Effect of minimal residual disease monitoring by multiparameter flow cytometry pre-conditioning on prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation]

目的

分析预处理前多参数流式细胞术（MFC）监测的骨髓微小残留病（MRD）对急性髓系白血病（AML）异基因造血干细胞移植（allo-HSCT）预后的影响，探讨MFC监测MRD在AML allo-HSCT预后评估中的价值。

方法

回顾性分析2012年4月至2015年3月行allo-HSCT的186例AML患者，预处理前骨髓细胞形态学均达第1次完全缓解（CR₁）。采用8色MFC对预处理前骨髓进行MRD检测，任何水平异常均定义为MRD阳性。

结果

①186例AML患者中151例MRD阴性；35例MRD阳性，其中25例MRD<1%，10例MRD为1%~3%。②2年总体无病生存（DFS）率为80.0%（95% CI 68.5%~92.3%）。与MRD阴性组比较，MRD阳性组DFS率低[62.9%（95% CI 50.6%~75.2%）对88.9%（95%CI 76.6%~100.0%），P<0.001]、复发率高[11.4%（95%CI 4.1%~29.0%）对3.3%（95%CI 0.6%~20.9%），P=0.003]、非复发死亡率（NRM）高[25.7%（95%CI 8.1%~43.3%）对7.9%（95%CI 1.3%~26.5%），P=0.001]。继发性AML组DFS率低（P=0.004），NRM高（P=0.003）。③多因素分析结果显示预处理前MFC检测的MRD阳性是DFS[HR=4.565（95%CI 2.918~9.482），P<0.001]、复发[HR=5.854（95% CI 1.538~22.288），P=0.010]及非复发死亡[HR=3.379（95%CI 1.361~8.391），P=0.009]的独立危险因素。

结论

预处理前MFC监测的MRD阳性是影响allo-HSCT治疗CR₁-AML独立危险因素，MFC监测MRD可用于AML allo-HSCT的预后评估。

High Expression of Nuclear Factor of Activated T Cells in Chinese Primary Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Tissues

Purpose

Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) has been reported to be involved in the development of various types of cancer including adenocarcinoma of the breast. This research was the first to investigate NFAT protein expression in primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues from Chinese patients.

Methods

NFAT protein expression was determined in 130 surgically resected primary NSCLC and matched normal tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. The association between NFAT expression and clinical categorical variables was further analyzed with the SPSS software.

Results

We found that NFAT expression was much higher in 85 tumor tissues (65.4%) and lower in 45 tumor tissues (34.6%) compared with the matched normal tissues. Further statistical analysis by the chi-square test showed that high expression of NFAT proteins was significantly associated with tumor differentiation (p=0.045), invasion (p=0.031), histology (p<0.0001), tumor size (p=0.038) and cigarette smoking history (p=0.024). However, there was no correlation between the expression of NFAT proteins and pTNM classification, and no difference in 5-year survival rate between patients with high or low expression of NFAT proteins. Multivariate logistic regression analysis for the correlation between NFAT protein expression levels and various characteristics showed a significant association with histology (p=0.008, OR=0.273).

Conclusion

Our results revealed that high NFAT expression was present in Chinese NSCLCs and that NFAT expression might be involved in the process of human lung cancer development.

Medium density fibreboard production by hot pressing without adhesive using Triarrhena sacchariflora residue bio-pretreated by white-rot fungus Coriolus versicolor

AIMS

To produce fibreboard with Triarrhena sacchariflora residue (TSR) without adhesive and understand the relationship between bio-pretreatment and mechanical property of fibreboard.

METHODS AND RESULTS

White-rot fungus Coriolus versicolor was used to pretreat TSR, and biochemical and physical analysis were investigated by ultraviolet spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy method.

CONCLUSIONS

TSR was suitable to produce fibreboard without adhesive by bio-pretreatment with C. versicolor. The property of fibreboard became stronger by optimization of bio-pretreatment parameters, and the moduli of rupture and elasticity of fibreboard were increased to 18·12 MPa and 4·3 GPa, respectively, which were close to national standard of medium-density fibreboard with adhesive. Bio-pretreated TSR increased the mechanical properties of fibreboard because of 1·4-fold content of polysaccharide and 1·15 U g(-1) laccase, more hydroxyl group and more porous surface structure than that of untreated TSR.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

TSR-based fibreboard production without adhesive eliminated potential formaldehyde gas emission.

Human genome meeting 2016 : Houston, TX, USA. 28 February - 2 March 2016

O1 The metabolomics approach to autism: identification of biomarkers for early detection of autism spectrum disorder A. K. Srivastava, Y. Wang, R. Huang, C. Skinner, T. Thompson, L. Pollard, T. Wood, F. Luo, R. Stevenson O2 Phenome-wide association study for smoking- and drinking-associated genes in 26,394 American women with African, Asian, European, and Hispanic descents R. Polimanti, J. Gelernter O3 Effects of prenatal environment, genotype and DNA methylation on birth weight and subsequent postnatal outcomes: findings from GUSTO, an Asian birth cohort X. Lin, I. Y. Lim, Y. Wu, A. L. Teh, L. Chen, I. M. Aris, S. E. Soh, M. T. Tint, J. L. MacIsaac, F. Yap, K. Kwek, S. M. Saw, M. S. Kobor, M. J. Meaney, K. M. Godfrey, Y. S. Chong, J. D. Holbrook, Y. S. Lee, P. D. Gluckman, N. Karnani, GUSTO study group O4 High-throughput identification of specific qt interval modulating enhancers at the SCN5A locus A. Kapoor, D. Lee, A. Chakravarti O5 Identification of extracellular matrix components inducing cancer cell migration in the supernatant of cultivated mesenchymal stem cells C. Maercker, F. Graf, M. Boutros O6 Single cell allele specific expression (ASE) IN T21 and common trisomies: a novel approach to understand DOWN syndrome and other aneuploidies G. Stamoulis, F. Santoni, P. Makrythanasis, A. Letourneau, M. Guipponi, N. Panousis, M. Garieri, P. Ribaux, E. Falconnet, C. Borel, S. E. Antonarakis O7 Role of microRNA in LCL to IPSC reprogramming S. Kumar, J. Curran, J. Blangero O8 Multiple enhancer variants disrupt gene regulatory network in Hirschsprung disease S. Chatterjee, A. Kapoor, J. Akiyama, D. Auer, C. Berrios, L. Pennacchio, A. Chakravarti O9 Metabolomic profiling for the diagnosis of neurometabolic disorders T. R. Donti, G. Cappuccio, M. Miller, P. Atwal, A. Kennedy, A. Cardon, C. Bacino, L. Emrick, J. Hertecant, F. Baumer, B. Porter, M. Bainbridge, P. Bonnen, B. Graham, R. Sutton, Q. Sun, S. Elsea O10 A novel causal methylation network approach to Alzheimer’s disease Z. Hu, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, M. Xiong, David A Bennett O11 A microRNA signature identifies subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer and reveals MIR-342-3P as regulator of a lactate metabolic pathway A. Hidalgo-Miranda, S. Romero-Cordoba, S. Rodriguez-Cuevas, R. Rebollar-Vega, E. Tagliabue, M. Iorio, E. D’Ippolito, S. Baroni O12 Transcriptome analysis identifies genes, enhancer RNAs and repetitive elements that are recurrently deregulated across multiple cancer types B. Kaczkowski, Y. Tanaka, H. Kawaji, A. Sandelin, R. Andersson, M. Itoh, T. Lassmann, the FANTOM5 consortium, Y. Hayashizaki, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest O13 Elevated mutation and widespread loss of constraint at regulatory and architectural binding sites across 11 tumour types C. A. Semple O14 Exome sequencing provides evidence of pathogenicity for genes implicated in colorectal cancer E. A. Rosenthal, B. Shirts, L. Amendola, C. Gallego, M. Horike-Pyne, A. Burt, P. Robertson, P. Beyers, C. Nefcy, D. Veenstra, F. Hisama, R. Bennett, M. Dorschner, D. Nickerson, J. Smith, K. Patterson, D. Crosslin, R. Nassir, N. Zubair, T. Harrison, U. Peters, G. Jarvik, NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project O15 The tandem duplicator phenotype as a distinct genomic configuration in cancer F. Menghi, K. Inaki, X. Woo, P. Kumar, K. Grzeda, A. Malhotra, H. Kim, D. Ucar, P. Shreckengast, K. Karuturi, J. Keck, J. Chuang, E. T. Liu O16 Modeling genetic interactions associated with molecular subtypes of breast cancer B. Ji, A. Tyler, G. Ananda, G. Carter O17 Recurrent somatic mutation in the MYC associated factor X in brain tumors H. Nikbakht, M. Montagne, M. Zeinieh, A. Harutyunyan, M. Mcconechy, N. Jabado, P. Lavigne, J. Majewski O18 Predictive biomarkers to metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment J. B. Goldstein, M. Overman, G. Varadhachary, R. Shroff, R. Wolff, M. Javle, A. Futreal, D. Fogelman O19 DDIT4 gene expression as a prognostic marker in several malignant tumors L. Bravo, W. Fajardo, H. Gomez, C. Castaneda, C. Rolfo, J. A. Pinto O20 Spatial organization of the genome and genomic alterations in human cancers K. C. Akdemir, L. Chin, A. Futreal, ICGC PCAWG Structural Alterations Group O21 Landscape of targeted therapies in solid tumors S. Patterson, C. Statz, S. Mockus O22 Genomic analysis reveals novel drivers and progression pathways in skin basal cell carcinoma S. N. Nikolaev, X. I. Bonilla, L. Parmentier, B. King, F. Bezrukov, G. Kaya, V. Zoete, V. Seplyarskiy, H. Sharpe, T. McKee, A. Letourneau, P. Ribaux, K. Popadin, N. Basset-Seguin, R. Ben Chaabene, F. Santoni, M. Andrianova, M. Guipponi, M. Garieri, C. Verdan, K. Grosdemange, O. Sumara, M. Eilers, I. Aifantis, O. Michielin, F. de Sauvage, S. Antonarakis O23 Identification of differential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma via transcriptome microarray meta-analysis S. Likhitrattanapisal O24 Clinical validity and actionability of multigene tests for hereditary cancers in a large multi-center study S. Lincoln, A. Kurian, A. Desmond, S. Yang, Y. Kobayashi, J. Ford, L. Ellisen O25 Correlation with tumor ploidy status is essential for correct determination of genome-wide copy number changes by SNP array T. L. Peters, K. R. Alvarez, E. F. Hollingsworth, D. H. Lopez-Terrada O26 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for interrogation of clinically relevant structural variation A. Hastie, Z. Dzakula, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Anantharaman, M. Saghbini, H. Cao, BioNano Genomics O27 Mutation spectrum in a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cohort and identification of associated truncating mutations in TBX4 C. Gonzaga-Jauregui, L. Ma, A. King, E. Berman Rosenzweig, U. Krishnan, J. G. Reid, J. D. Overton, F. Dewey, W. K. Chung O28 NORTH CAROLINA macular dystrophy (MCDR1): mutations found affecting PRDM13 K. Small, A. DeLuca, F. Cremers, R. A. Lewis, V. Puech, B. Bakall, R. Silva-Garcia, K. Rohrschneider, M. Leys, F. S. Shaya, E. Stone O29 PhenoDB and genematcher, solving unsolved whole exome sequencing data N. L. Sobreira, F. Schiettecatte, H. Ling, E. Pugh, D. Witmer, K. Hetrick, P. Zhang, K. Doheny, D. Valle, A. Hamosh O30 Baylor-Johns Hopkins Center for Mendelian genomics: a four year review S. N. Jhangiani, Z. Coban Akdemir, M. N. Bainbridge, W. Charng, W. Wiszniewski, T. Gambin, E. Karaca, Y. Bayram, M. K. Eldomery, J. Posey, H. Doddapaneni, J. Hu, V. R. Sutton, D. M. Muzny, E. A. Boerwinkle, D. Valle, J. R. Lupski, R. A. Gibbs O31 Using read overlap assembly to accurately identify structural genetic differences in an ashkenazi jewish trio S. Shekar, W. Salerno, A. English, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle O32 Legal interoperability: a sine qua non for international data sharing A. Thorogood, B. M. Knoppers, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health - Regulatory and Ethics Working Group O33 High throughput screening platform of competent sineups: that can enhance translation activities of therapeutic target H. Takahashi, K. R. Nitta, A. Kozhuharova, A. M. Suzuki, H. Sharma, D. Cotella, C. Santoro, S. Zucchelli, S. Gustincich, P. Carninci O34 The undiagnosed diseases network international (UDNI): clinical and laboratory research to meet patient needs J. J. Mulvihill, G. Baynam, W. Gahl, S. C. Groft, K. Kosaki, P. Lasko, B. Melegh, D. Taruscio O36 Performance of computational algorithms in pathogenicity predictions for activating variants in oncogenes versus loss of function mutations in tumor suppressor genes R. Ghosh, S. Plon O37 Identification and electronic health record incorporation of clinically actionable pharmacogenomic variants using prospective targeted sequencing S. Scherer, X. Qin, R. Sanghvi, K. Walker, T. Chiang, D. Muzny, L. Wang, J. Black, E. Boerwinkle, R. Weinshilboum, R. Gibbs O38 Melanoma reprogramming state correlates with response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma T. Karpinets, T. Calderone, K. Wani, X. Yu, C. Creasy, C. Haymaker, M. Forget, V. Nanda, J. Roszik, J. Wargo, L. Haydu, X. Song, A. Lazar, J. Gershenwald, M. Davies, C. Bernatchez, J. Zhang, A. Futreal, S. Woodman O39 Data-driven refinement of complex disease classification from integration of heterogeneous functional genomics data in GeneWeaver E. J. Chesler, T. Reynolds, J. A. Bubier, C. Phillips, M. A. Langston, E. J. Baker O40 A general statistic framework for genome-based disease risk prediction M. Xiong, L. Ma, N. Lin, C. Amos O41 Integrative large-scale causal network analysis of imaging and genomic data and its application in schizophrenia studies N. Lin, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, V. Calhoun, M. Xiong O42 Big data and NGS data analysis: the cloud to the rescue O. Dobretsberger, M. Egger, F. Leimgruber O43 Cpipe: a convergent clinical exome pipeline specialised for targeted sequencing S. Sadedin, A. Oshlack, Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance O44 A Bayesian classification of biomedical images using feature extraction from deep neural networks implemented on lung cancer data V. A. A. Antonio, N. Ono, Clark Kendrick C. Go O45 MAV-SEQ: an interactive platform for the Management, Analysis, and Visualization of sequence data Z. Ahmed, M. Bolisetty, S. Zeeshan, E. Anguiano, D. Ucar O47 Allele specific enhancer in EPAS1 intronic regions may contribute to high altitude adaptation of Tibetans C. Zeng, J. Shao O48 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for structural variation detection and comparison in trios and populations H. Cao, A. Hastie, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Liang, K. Pham, M. Saghbini, Z. Dzakula O49 Archaic introgression in indigenous populations of Malaysia revealed by whole genome sequencing Y. Chee-Wei, L. Dongsheng, W. Lai-Ping, D. Lian, R. O. Twee Hee, Y. Yunus, F. Aghakhanian, S. S. Mokhtar, C. V. Lok-Yung, J. Bhak, M. Phipps, X. Shuhua, T. Yik-Ying, V. Kumar, H. Boon-Peng O50 Breast and ovarian cancer prevention: is it time for population-based mutation screening of high risk genes? I. Campbell, M.-A. Young, P. James, Lifepool O53 Comprehensive coverage from low DNA input using novel NGS library preparation methods for WGS and WGBS C. Schumacher, S. Sandhu, T. Harkins, V. Makarov O54 Methods for large scale construction of robust PCR-free libraries for sequencing on Illumina HiSeqX platform H. DoddapaneniR. Glenn, Z. Momin, B. Dilrukshi, H. Chao, Q. Meng, B. Gudenkauf, R. Kshitij, J. Jayaseelan, C. Nessner, S. Lee, K. Blankenberg, L. Lewis, J. Hu, Y. Han, H. Dinh, S. Jireh, K. Walker, E. Boerwinkle, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O55 Rapid capture methods for clinical sequencing J. Hu, K. Walker, C. Buhay, X. Liu, Q. Wang, R. Sanghvi, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Ding, N. Veeraraghavan, Y. Yang, E. Boerwinkle, A. L. Beaudet, C. M. Eng, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O56 A diploid personal human genome model for better genomes from diverse sequence data K. C. C. Worley, Y. Liu, D. S. T. Hughes, S. C. Murali, R. A. Harris, A. C. English, X. Qin, O. A. Hampton, P. Larsen, C. Beck, Y. Han, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, C. L. Kovar, W. J. Salerno, A. Yoder, S. Richards, J. Rogers, J. R. Lupski, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O57 Development of PacBio long range capture for detection of pathogenic structural variants Q. Meng, M. Bainbridge, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Han, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O58 Rhesus macaques exhibit more non-synonymous variation but greater impact of purifying selection than humans R. A. Harris, M. Raveenedran, C. Xue, M. Dahdouli, L. Cox, G. Fan, B. Ferguson, J. Hovarth, Z. Johnson, S. Kanthaswamy, M. Kubisch, M. Platt, D. Smith, E. Vallender, R. Wiseman, X. Liu, J. Below, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs, F. Yu, J. Rogers O59 Assessing RNA structure disruption induced by single-nucleotide variation J. Lin, Y. Zhang, Z. Ouyang P1 A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of mitochondrial dna copy number A. Moore, Z. Wang, J. Hofmann, M. Purdue, R. Stolzenberg-Solomon, S. Weinstein, D. Albanes, C.-S. Liu, W.-L. Cheng, T.-T. Lin, Q. Lan, N. Rothman, S. Berndt P2 Missense polymorphic genetic combinations underlying down syndrome susceptibility E. S. Chen P4 The evaluation of alteration of ELAM-1 expression in the endometriosis patients H. Bahrami, A. Khoshzaban, S. Heidari Keshal P5 Obesity and the incidence of apolipoprotein E polymorphisms in an assorted population from Saudi Arabia population K. K. R. Alharbi P6 Genome-associated personalized antithrombotical therapy for patients with high risk of thrombosis and bleeding M. Zhalbinova, A. Akilzhanova, S. Rakhimova, M. Bekbosynova, S. Myrzakhmetova P7 Frequency of Xmn1 polymorphism among sickle cell carrier cases in UAE population M. Matar P8 Differentiating inflammatory bowel diseases by using genomic data: dimension of the problem and network organization N. Mili, R. Molinari, Y. Ma, S. Guerrier P9 Vulnerability of genetic variants to the risk of autism among Saudi children N. Elhawary, M. Tayeb, N. Bogari, N. Qotb P10 Chromatin profiles from ex vivo purified dopaminergic neurons establish a promising model to support studies of neurological function and dysfunction S. A. McClymont, P. W. Hook, L. A. Goff, A. McCallion P11 Utilization of a sensitized chemical mutagenesis screen to identify genetic modifiers of retinal dysplasia in homozygous Nr2e3^rd7 mice Y. Kong, J. R. Charette, W. L. Hicks, J. K. Naggert, L. Zhao, P. M. Nishina P12 Ion torrent next generation sequencing of recessive polycystic kidney disease in Saudi patients B. M. Edrees, M. Athar, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. M. Taher, W. Khan, A. Bouazzaoui, N. A. Harbi, R. Safar, H. Al-Edressi, A. Anazi, N. Altayeb, M. A. Ahmed, K. Alansary, Z. Abduljaleel P13 Digital expression profiling of Purkinje neurons and dendrites in different subcellular compartments A. Kratz, P. Beguin, S. Poulain, M. Kaneko, C. Takahiko, A. Matsunaga, S. Kato, A. M. Suzuki, N. Bertin, T. Lassmann, R. Vigot, P. Carninci, C. Plessy, T. Launey P14 The evolution of imperfection and imperfection of evolution: the functional and functionless fractions of the human genome D. Graur P16 Species-independent identification of known and novel recurrent genomic entities in multiple cancer patients J. Friis-Nielsen, J. M. Izarzugaza, S. Brunak P18 Discovery of active gene modules which are densely conserved across multiple cancer types reveal their prognostic power and mutually exclusive mutation patterns B. S. Soibam P19 Whole exome sequencing of dysplastic leukoplakia tissue indicates sequential accumulation of somatic mutations from oral precancer to cancer D. Das, N. Biswas, S. Das, S. Sarkar, A. Maitra, C. Panda, P. Majumder P21 Epigenetic mechanisms of carcinogensis by hereditary breast cancer genes J. J. Gruber, N. Jaeger, M. Snyder P22 RNA direct: a novel RNA enrichment strategy applied to transcripts associated with solid tumors K. Patel, S. Bowman, T. Davis, D. Kraushaar, A. Emerman, S. Russello, N. Henig, C. Hendrickson P23 RNA sequencing identifies gene mutations for neuroblastoma K. Zhang P24 Participation of SFRP1 in the modulation of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene in prostate cancer cell lines M. Rodriguez-Dorantes, C. D. Cruz-Hernandez, C. D. P. Garcia-Tobilla, S. Solorzano-Rosales P25 Targeted Methylation Sequencing of Prostate Cancer N. Jäger, J. Chen, R. Haile, M. Hitchins, J. D. Brooks, M. Snyder P26 Mutant TPMT alleles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia from México City and Yucatán, Mexico S. Jiménez-Morales, M. Ramírez, J. Nuñez, V. Bekker, Y. Leal, E. Jiménez, A. Medina, A. Hidalgo, J. Mejía P28 Genetic modifiers of Alström syndrome J. Naggert, G. B. Collin, K. DeMauro, R. Hanusek, P. M. Nishina P31 Association of genomic variants with the occurrence of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-induced coughing among Filipinos E. M. Cutiongco De La Paz, R. Sy, J. Nevado, P. Reganit, L. Santos, J. D. Magno, F. E. Punzalan , D. Ona , E. Llanes, R. L. Santos-Cortes , R. Tiongco, J. Aherrera, L. Abrahan, P. Pagauitan-Alan; Philippine Cardiogenomics Study Group P32 The use of “humanized” mouse models to validate disease association of a de novo GARS variant and to test a novel gene therapy strategy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D K. H. Morelli, J. S. Domire, N. Pyne, S. Harper, R. Burgess P34 Molecular regulation of chondrogenic human induced pluripotent stem cells M. A. Gari, A. Dallol, H. Alsehli, A. Gari, M. Gari, A. Abuzenadah P35 Molecular profiling of hematologic malignancies: implementation of a variant assessment algorithm for next generation sequencing data analysis and clinical reporting M. Thomas, M. Sukhai, S. Garg, M. Misyura, T. Zhang, A. Schuh, T. Stockley, S. Kamel-Reid P36 Accessing genomic evidence for clinical variants at NCBI S. Sherry, C. Xiao, D. Slotta, K. Rodarmer, M. Feolo, M. Kimelman, G. Godynskiy, C. O’Sullivan, E. Yaschenko P37 NGS-SWIFT: a cloud-based variant analysis framework using control-accessed sequencing data from DBGAP/SRA C. Xiao, E. Yaschenko, S. Sherry P38 Computational assessment of drug induced hepatotoxicity through gene expression profiling C. Rangel-Escareño, H. Rueda-Zarate P40 Flowr: robust and efficient pipelines using a simple language-agnostic approach;ultraseq; fast modular pipeline for somatic variation calling using flowr S. Seth, S. Amin, X. Song, X. Mao, H. Sun, R. G. Verhaak, A. Futreal, J. Zhang P41 Applying “Big data” technologies to the rapid analysis of heterogenous large cohort data S. J. Whiite, T. Chiang, A. English, J. Farek, Z. Kahn, W. Salerno, N. Veeraraghavan, E. Boerwinkle, R. Gibbs P42 FANTOM5 web resource for the large-scale genome-wide transcription start site activity profiles of wide-range of mammalian cells T. Kasukawa, M. Lizio, J. Harshbarger, S. Hisashi, J. Severin, A. Imad, S. Sahin, T. C. Freeman, K. Baillie, A. Sandelin, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest, H. Kawaji, The FANTOM Consortium P43 Rapid and scalable typing of structural variants for disease cohorts W. Salerno, A. English, S. N. Shekar, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle, E. Boerwinkle, R. A. Gibbs P44 Polymorphism of glutathione S-transferases and sulphotransferases genes in an Arab population A. H. Salem, M. Ali, A. Ibrahim, M. Ibrahim P46 Genetic divergence of CYP3A5*3 pharmacogenomic marker for native and admixed Mexican populations J. C. Fernandez-Lopez, V. Bonifaz-Peña, C. Rangel-Escareño, A. Hidalgo-Miranda, A. V. Contreras P47 Whole exome sequence meta-analysis of 13 white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet traits L. Polfus, CHARGE and NHLBI Exome Sequence Project Working Groups P48 Association of adipoq gene with type 2 diabetes and related phenotypes in african american men and women: The jackson heart study S. Davis, R. Xu, S. Gebeab, P Riestra, A Gaye, R. Khan, J. Wilson, A. Bidulescu P49 Common variants in casr gene are associated with serum calcium levels in koreans S. H. Jung, N. Vinayagamoorthy, S. H. Yim, Y. J. Chung P50 Inference of multiple-wave population admixture by modeling decay of linkage disequilibrium with multiple exponential functions Y. Zhou, S. Xu P51 A Bayesian framework for generalized linear mixed models in genome-wide association studies X. Wang, V. Philip, G. Carter P52 Targeted sequencing approach for the identification of the genetic causes of hereditary hearing impairment A. A. Abuzenadah, M. Gari, R. Turki, A. Dallol P53 Identification of enhancer sequences by ATAC-seq open chromatin profiling A. Uyar, A. Kaygun, S. Zaman, E. Marquez, J. George, D. Ucar P54 Direct enrichment for the rapid preparation of targeted NGS libraries C. L. Hendrickson, A. Emerman, D. Kraushaar, S. Bowman, N. Henig, T. Davis, S. Russello, K. Patel P56 Performance of the Agilent D5000 and High Sensitivity D5000 ScreenTape assays for the Agilent 4200 Tapestation System R. Nitsche, L. Prieto-Lafuente P57 ClinVar: a multi-source archive for variant interpretation M. Landrum, J. Lee, W. Rubinstein, D. Maglott P59 Association of functional variants and protein physical interactions of human MUTY homolog linked with familial adenomatous polyposis and colorectal cancer syndrome Z. Abduljaleel, W. Khan, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. Athar , M. M. Taher, N. Shahzad P60 Modification of the microbiom constitution in the gut using chicken IgY antibodies resulted in a reduction of acute graft-versus-host disease after experimental bone marrow transplantation A. Bouazzaoui, E. Huber, A. Dan, F. A. Al-Allaf, W. Herr, G. Sprotte, J. Köstler, A. Hiergeist, A. Gessner, R. Andreesen, E. Holler P61 Compound heterozygous mutation in the LDLR gene in Saudi patients suffering severe hypercholesterolemia F. Al-Allaf, A. Alashwal, Z. Abduljaleel, M. Taher, A. Bouazzaoui, H. Abalkhail, A. Al-Allaf, R. Bamardadh, M. Athar

Therapeutic efficacy of percutaneous microwave coagulation versus liver resection for single hepatocellular carcinoma ≤3 cm with Child-Pugh A cirrhosis

AIMS

This study aimed to compare the therapeutic efficacy of liver resection (LR) and percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy (PMCT) for single hepatocellular carcinoma ≤3 cm (HCC) in cirrhotic livers.

METHODS

In this study, 190 patients with single HCC ≤3 cm and Child-Pugh A cirrhosis were retrospectively reviewed. Among these patients, 122 patients underwent LR, and 68 patients received PMCT. The therapeutic efficacy and complications were compared between the two procedures.

RESULTS

There was no treatment-related hospital mortality in either group. Major complications were significantly more frequent in the LR group compared to the PMCT group (22.1% vs 5.9%, p = 0.004). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates for the LR group and PMCT group were 98.4%, 93.6%, 55.2% and 97.1%, 87.7%, 51%, respectively. There was no significant difference in OS rates between the LR group and PMCT group (p = 0.153). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS rates were 96.7%, 70.5% and 43.7%, respectively, in the LR group, which were significantly higher compared to the PMCT group (92.6%, 50.5% and 26.3%, p = 0.006). Subgroup analyses revealed that HCC patients with portal hypertension (PH), OS and DFS were similar between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

LR may provide better DFS and lower recurrence rates than PMCT for single HCC ≤3 cm and Child-Pugh A cirrhosis. For HCC patients with PH, PMCT may provide therapeutic effects that are similar to LR.

Lack of association between endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms with vasculitis: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

We carried out this meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between eNOS polymorphisms (G894T, T-786C, and intron-4ba) and vasculitis.

METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library for related genetic association studies. The associations between the G894T, T-786C and intron 4ba polymorphisms of eNOS and vasculitis were conducted using the recessive model and the dominant model. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) of each study were calculated. Cochran's Q test was used to evaluate the between-study heterogeneity.

RESULTS

A total of 17 studies were included in our study. Twelve studies with 1213 cases and 1499 controls were included in the G894T association study. The pooled OR of T allele compared to C allele in recessive model was 1.19 (95%CI: 0.76-1.87, p=0.44) in dominant model and was 1.25 (95%CI: 0.70-2.23, p=0.56) in recessive model, respectively. Nine studies with 910 cases and 1062 controls were included in the intron -4ba association study. The pooled OR of b allele compared with intron-4a allele was 1.02 (95%CI: 0.60-1.72, p=0.95) in dominant model and was 0.84 (95%CI: 0.58-1.21, p=0.35) in recessive model. No association was found between T-786C and vasculitis in both the dominant 0.81(95% CI: 0.59-1.11, p=0.19) and recessive model 0.87 (95%CI: 0.55-1.36, p=0.53).

CONCLUSIONS

The eNOS G894T, T-786C and intron4ba polymorphisms are not associated with vasculitis.

A rechargeable aluminum-ion battery utilizing a copper hexacyanoferrate cathode in an organic electrolyte

Reversible aluminum intercalation/deintercalation from an organic electrolyte into copper hexacyanoferrate is presented.

Ensemble downscaling in coupled solar wind-magnetosphere modeling for space weather forecasting

Advanced forecasting of space weather requires simulation of the whole Sun-to-Earth system, which necessitates driving magnetospheric models with the outputs from solar wind models. This presents a fundamental difficulty, as the magnetosphere is sensitive to both large-scale solar wind structures, which can be captured by solar wind models, and small-scale solar wind "noise," which is far below typical solar wind model resolution and results primarily from stochastic processes. Following similar approaches in terrestrial climate modeling, we propose statistical "downscaling" of solar wind model results prior to their use as input to a magnetospheric model. As magnetospheric response can be highly nonlinear, this is preferable to downscaling the results of magnetospheric modeling. To demonstrate the benefit of this approach, we first approximate solar wind model output by smoothing solar wind observations with an 8 h filter, then add small-scale structure back in through the addition of random noise with the observed spectral characteristics. Here we use a very simple parameterization of noise based upon the observed probability distribution functions of solar wind parameters, but more sophisticated methods will be developed in the future. An ensemble of results from the simple downscaling scheme are tested using a model-independent method and shown to add value to the magnetospheric forecast, both improving the best estimate and quantifying the uncertainty. We suggest a number of features desirable in an operational solar wind downscaling scheme.

KEY POINTS

Solar wind models must be downscaled in order to drive magnetospheric models Ensemble downscaling is more effective than deterministic downscaling The magnetosphere responds nonlinearly to small-scale solar wind fluctuations.

Trend of dissolved inorganic nitrogen at stations downstream from the Three-Gorges Dam of Yangtze River

The TRAMO/SEATS program, combined with the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter, was used to detect trends and potential change points in time series of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) at three stations along the Yangtze River. The trend components were extracted, and two change points were successfully detected. The components revealed that DIN has been increasing at all the stations since the 1990s, although variations exist. Changes visible before 2002 illustrate the differences in agriculture development among regions upstream from the stations. The Three-Gorges Dam (TGD), which began to impound in 2003, led to years of different trends. The DIN concentration, which had been trending upward prior to that date, began a slightly downward trend because of NH4(+) depletion. Readings at the Yichang station revealed this trend most strongly; those at the Hankou station less so. The Datong station was far enough away from the TGD so that no obvious effects were seen.

The association between RhEPO and FN expression in glomerular mesangial cells

AIM

Erythropoietin (rhEPO) is increasingly being used in the treatment of anemia caused by miscellaneous reasons. The aim of our research is to investigate the effects of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) on cellular growth and fibronectin (FN) expression in glomerular mesangial cells.

METHODS

Western blot was used to detect the expression of FN induced by rhEPO (1, 10, 100 and 1000U/mL). In vivo studies, male CD-1 mice were administered rhEPO subcutaneously at a single dose of 1000U/Kg. The cellular hypertrophy was quantified by counting cell number and calculating the ratio of cell protein to cell number.

RESULTS

1) Compared with the control group, the results of mesangial cells' growth stimulated by rhEPO were not significantly different; 2) RhEPO lead to hypertrophy of mesangial cells; 3) rhEPO induced FN expression of mesangial cell in a dose-dependent way. Compared to control, 100U/mL rhEPO enhanced the expression of FN significantly; 4) indirect immunofluorescence showed that rhEPO induced large amount deposition of FN in the intercellular space of mesangial cells; 5) in vivo studies, there were markedly increase of FN expression in mice received the injection of rhEPO.

CONCLUSION

RhEPO could up-regulated the expression of FN and induced glomerular mesangial cells hypertrophy. These results suggested rhEPO could induce dysfunction of renal glomerulus through its influence on the function of mesangial cells.

Entropy-based information gain approaches to detect and to characterize gene-gene and gene-environment interactions/correlations of complex diseases

For complex diseases, the relationship between genotypes, environment factors, and phenotype is usually complex and nonlinear. Our understanding of the genetic architecture of diseases has considerably increased over the last years. However, both conceptually and methodologically, detecting gene-gene and gene-environment interactions remains a challenge, despite the existence of a number of efficient methods. One method that offers great promises but has not yet been widely applied to genomic data is the entropy-based approach of information theory. In this article, we first develop entropy-based test statistics to identify two-way and higher order gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. We then apply these methods to a bladder cancer data set and thereby test their power and identify strengths and weaknesses. For two-way interactions, we propose an information gain (IG) approach based on mutual information. For three-ways and higher order interactions, an interaction IG approach is used. In both cases, we develop one-dimensional test statistics to analyze sparse data. Compared to the naive chi-square test, the test statistics we develop have similar or higher power and is robust. Applying it to the bladder cancer data set allowed to investigate the complex interactions between DNA repair gene single nucleotide polymorphisms, smoking status, and bladder cancer susceptibility. Although not yet widely applied, entropy-based approaches appear as a useful tool for detecting gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. The test statistics we develop add to a growing body methodologies that will gradually shed light on the complex architecture of common diseases.

Adipogenesis in ducks interfered by small interfering ribonucleic acids of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma gene

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) participates in adipocyte differentiation and maintenance, including the promotion of lipid storage in mammals. In the present study, 3 duck PPARγ small interfering RNA (siRNA) expression plasmids were constructed to investigate the effect of downregulating the expression of PPARγ on adipogenesis and fat accumulation in ducks. The results indicate that the 3 siRNA specific for conserved regions of PPARγ can effectively inhibit expression of PPARγ. It was demonstrated that the expression of lipoprotein lipase and adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein in duck adipose tissue is repressed when the expression of PPARγ is downregulated by siRNA. At the same time, the weight of abdominal fat at 21 and 35 d of age is decreased significantly (P < 0.05) compared with the control. However, the triglyceride levels in serum and muscle are not affected when the mRNA of PPARγ is repressed. The current study indicates that the suppression of PPARγ reduces abdominal fat deposition and regulates adipogenesis in ducks.

Polymorphisms in the interleukin 3 gene show strong association with susceptibility to Graves' disease in Chinese population

Graves' disease (GD) is a common organ-specific autoimmune disorder, which is multifactorial and develops in genetically susceptible individuals. We had earlier mapped a susceptibility locus for GD to chromosome 5q31-33 in a linkage study. Here we used tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to search for genetic variants associated with GD, and examined 19 functional candidate genes in this chromosomal region. We identified 192 polymorphisms by re-sequencing the candidate genes, and selected 51 tagSNPs to genotype in a case-control collection of 1118 south Han Chinese subjects (428 cases and 690 controls). Initial analysis suggested that a non-synonymous SNP rs40401 (P27S) of interleukin 3 (IL3) was associated with GD, and further fine-mapping showed that rs40401, or its perfect proxy SNP rs31480 in the 5' flanking region of IL3, fully accounted for the association signal at this locus. We replicated significant association of rs40401 with GD in an independent sample collection of 839 north Han Chinese subjects. A combined analysis revealed strong validation of this association (odds ratio (OR(common))=1.63, combined P (P(comb))=4 x 10(-6) in the Recessive disease model). This study provides convincing evidence that the IL3 gene is a susceptibility locus for GD in the Chinese population.

Protective role of tretinoin and N-acetyl-L-cysteine from antiproliferative action of cigarette smoke extract on alveolar epithelial cells

To investigate the mechanisms by which tretinoin and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) reverse the growth inhibition of alveolar epithelial cells induced by cigarette smoke extract (CSE), MTT assay was used to evaluate cell viability. It was observed that both tretinoin and NAC could restore the viability of CSE-inhibited A549 cells. By incubation with fluorescent indicator H2DCFDA, it was documented that CSE-stimulated accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was obviously decreased by tretinoin or NAC. Furthermore, using semi-quantitative and real-time quantitative RT-PCR as well as western blot methods, high expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) in A549 cells treated with CSE was found at both transcriptional and protein levels, and concomitant with the restoration of cell growth after treatment with tretinoin or NAC, down regulation of IGFBP-2 was observed. From the present study, it is concluded that both RA and NAC can antagonize CSE-induced growth arrest of alveolar epithelial cells and that down regulation of IGFBP-2 may play an important role in the process.

Effects of DDPH on HECCM-induced proliferation and immunophenotypes of the pulmonary vascular pericytes

In order to study the effects of 1-(2, 6-dimethylphenoxy)-2-(3, 4-dimethoxyphenylethylamino) propane hydrochloride (DDPH) on proliferation and immunophenotypes of newborn rat pulmonary vascular pericytes induced by hypoxic endothelial cell conditioned medium (HECCM) from porcine pulmonary arteries, the cultured pericytes were divided into 4 groups according to the endothelial cell conditioned medium (ECCM) used: normoxic ECCM (NECCM) group, NECCM + DDPH group, HECCM group and HECCM + DDPH group. Cell culture, immunocytochemical staining, image analysis and flow cytometric method were used to investigate the effects of HECCM and DDPH on the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SM-Actin) antigen, CD34 antigen, S-100 antigen and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cell cycle in pericytes. The results showed that the alpha-SM-Actin antigen in the pericytes in HECCM group was stronger positively expressed than in the other three groups, but CD34 antigen and S-100 antigen were negatively expressed. The expression of alpha-SM-Actin antigen, CD34 antigen and S-100 antigen was positive in the groups of NECCM, NECCM + DDPH and HECCM + DDPH; The expression of alpha-SM-Actin and PCNA in HECCM group was 1.32 times (P < 0.01) and 1.24 times (P < 0.05) that in NECCM group, 1.30 times (P < 0.01) and 1.21 times (P < 0.05) that in HECCM + DDPH group, respectively. The percentage of the cells in the GO-G1 phase in the HECCM group was lower by 11.7% and 9.1%, in S phase higher by 5.6% and 4.2%, in G2-M phase higher by 6.1% and 4.9% than in the groups of NECCM, HECCM + DDPH, respectively. The inhibitory rate of DDPH on the increased alpha-SM-Actin and PCNA syntheses in pericytes induced by HECCM were 23.4% and 17.1% respectively. The inhibitory rate on the increased pericytes from GO-G1 phase to S phase was 8.3%. These results suggest that DDPH can directly inhibit pericytes from proliferation and immunophenotypical transformation of smooth muscle-like cells induced by HECCM.

Establishment of the culture technique of pulmonary vascular pericytes and its identification in rats

In order to study the cellular origin of muscularization in non-muscular arterioles of the lung, the pulmonary vascular pericytes-culture was established. The terminal lung tissue of the rat was taken out and minced. Then 0.5% of type IV collagenase solution was added for digestion and the microvascular segments were obtained by screening. The targeted cells were cultured by "selective conditioned media". Under phase-contrast microscope, the cultured cells were large in size with ragged margin and numerous pseudopodia, which imparted tubule-like structure. There was no contact inhibition in growing cells, so multiple layers developed. When they were confluent, there were morphologically no "hillock and dale" growth pattern as in smooth muscle cells or "weave-like" pattern as in fibroblasts. The ultrastructure of cultured cells showed numerous digital processes, moderate amount of rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, rich Golgi's apparatus, microfilaments, few lysosomes without myofilaments and dense bodies. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the cultured pericytes had same kind of cellular skeletal protein, alpha-SM-actin, like smooth muscle cells. The cultured cells also exhibited positive reaction to CD34 antigen and S-100 antigen, which were negative in smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. The cell growth pattern, ultrastructure and immunological phenotype suggested that the cultured cells had characteristics of vascular pericytes. Pericytes are one of the components of microvascular cells, and the establishment of in vitro culture technique of pericytes is of significance for further exploration of the muscularization of non-muscular arterioles in lung and the mechanism of structural remodeling of pulmonary vessels.

Models and tests of linkage and association studies of quantitative trait locus for multi-allele marker Loci

In this paper, we explore models and tests for association and linkage studies of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) linked to a multi-allele marker locus. Based on the difference between an offspring's conditional trait means of receiving and not receiving an allele from a parent at marker locus, we propose three statistics T(m), T(m,row) and T(m,col) to test association or linkage disequilibrium between the marker locus and the QTL. These tests are composite tests, and use the offspring marginal sample means including offspring data of both homozygous and heterozygous parents. For the linkage study, we calculate the offspring's conditional trait mean given the allele transmission status of a heterozygous parent at the marker locus. Based on the difference between the conditional means of a transmitted and a nontransmitted allele from a heterozygous parent, we propose statistics T(parsi), T(satur), T(gen) and T(m,het) to perform composite tests of linkage between the marker locus and the quantitative trait locus in the presence of association. These tests only use the offspring data that are related to the heterozygous parents at the marker locus. T(parsi) is a parsimonious or allele-wise statistic, T(satur) and T(gen )are satured or genotype-wise statistics, and T(m,het) compares the row and column sample means for offspring data of heterozygous parents. After comparing the powers and the sample sizes, we conclude that T(parsi) has higher power than those of the bi-allele tests, T(satur), T(gen), and T(m,het). If there is tight linkage between the marker and the trait locus, T(parsi) is powerful in detecting linkage between the marker and the trait locus in the presence of association. By investigating the goodness-of-fit of T(parsi), we find that T(satur) does not gain much power compared to that of T(parsi). Moreover, T(parsi) takes into account the pattern of the data that is consistent with linkage and linkage disequilibrium. As the number of alleles at the marker locus increases, T(parsi) is very conservative, and can be useful even for sparse data. To illustrate the usefulness and the power of the methods proposed in this paper, we analyze the chromosome 6 data of the Oxford asthma data, Genetic Analysis Workshop 12.