Application of Next-Generation Sequencing in Screening of Thalassemia Gene in 11212 Pregnant Women in Suxian and Beihu Districts of Chenzhou City, Hunan Province / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To understand the carrying rate, gene mutation frequency and composition ratio of thalassemia in pregnant women in Suxian and Beihu districts of Chenzhou, Hunan Province.@*METHODS@#Thalassemia gene in 11 212 samples was analyzed by using Next-Generation Sequencing.@*RESULTS@#Among the 11 212 samples, 938 were diagnosed as thalassemia, in which 618 (5.51%) were diagnosed as α-thalassemia, 268 (2.39%) as β-thalassemia, 29（0.26%）as abnormal hemoglobin and 23 (0.21%) as αβ-thalassemia. The gene mutations of --SEA /αα(40.29%) and -α3.7/αα(37.7%) in α-thalassemia were the most common, while for β- thalassemia, the most commonly gene mutation were β41-42M/βN(24.26%) and β654M/βN(23.88%). The detection rate of rare type α,β-thalassemia gene was 0.19%(21/11 212）, 0.53%（59/11 212）, respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#The carrying rate of thalassemia in pregnant women is 8.37% in Suxian and Beihu districts of Chenzhou city, and the genotypes are complex. Next-Generation Sequencing can detect rare thalassemia genes and new gene mutations effectively.

Identification of high-affinity VEGFR3-binding peptides through a phage-displayed random peptide library / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) interaction with its receptor, VEGFR-3/Flt-4, regulates lymphangiogenesis. VEGFR-3/Flt-4 expression in cancer cells has been correlated with clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and lymphatic invasion. The objective of this study is to identify a VEGFR-3/Flt-4-interacting peptide that could be used to inhibit VEGFR-3 for ovarian cancer therapy. METHODS: The extracellular fragment of recombinant human VEGFR-3/Flt-4 (rhVEGFR-3/Flt-4) fused with coat protein pIII was screened against a phage-displayed random peptide library. Using affinity enrichment and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening, positive clones of phages were amplified. Three phage clones were selected after four rounds of biopanning, and the specific binding of the peptides to rhVEGFR-3 was detected by ELISA and compared with that of VEGF-D. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence analyses of ovarian cancer tissue sections was undertaken to demonstrate the specificity of the peptides. RESULTS: After four rounds of biopanning, ELISA confirmed the specificity of the enriched bound phage clones for rhVEGFR-3. Sequencing and translation identified three different peptides. Non-competitive ELISA revealed that peptides I, II, and III had binding affinities for VEGFR-3 with Kaff (affinity constant) of 16.4+/-8.6 microg/mL (n=3), 9.2+/-2.1 microg/mL (n=3), and 174.8+/-31.1 microg/mL (n=3), respectively. In ovarian carcinoma tissue sections, peptide III (WHWLPNLRHYAS), which had the greatest binding affinity, also co-localized with VEGFR-3 in endothelial cells lining lymphatic vessels; its labeling of ovarian tumors in vivo was also confirmed. CONCLUSION: These finding showed that peptide III has high specificity and activity and, therefore, may represent a potential therapeutic approach to target VEGF-VEGFR-3 signaling for the treatment or diagnosis of ovarian cancer.