ABSTRACT
Skeletal muscle development is regulated by Six1, an important myogenic transcription factor. However, the functional analysis of duck Six1 has not been reported. Here, we cloned the coding domain sequence (CDS) region of the duck Six1 gene using RT-PCR and RACE methods. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that duck Six1 CDS region comprised of 849 bp and encoded 282 amino acids and had a high degree of homology with other species, suggesting that the functions of duck Six1 gene are conserved among other animals. Real-time PCR used to determine the mRNA expression profiles of duck Six1 in different tissues and different developmental stages showed that Six1 was highly expressed in skeletal muscle and the embryonic stage. Furthermore, the eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-duSix1 was constructed and transfected into the duck myoblasts; the MTT assay revealed an obvious increase of cell proliferation after transfection. The expression profiles of Six1, Myf5 and MyoD showed that their expression levels were significantly increased. These results together suggested that pEGFP-duSix1 vector was constructed successfully and overexpression of duck Six1 in the myoblasts could promote cell proliferation activity and significant up-regulate expression of Myf5 and MyoD.
Subject(s)
Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Base Sequence , Cloning, Molecular , DNA Primers , Ducks , Genetic Vectors , Homeodomain Proteins/chemistry , Homeodomain Proteins/genetics , Myoblasts/metabolism , Phylogeny , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sequence Homology, Amino AcidABSTRACT
Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome (ARS) is characterized by anomalies of the anterior segment of the eye and systemic abnormalities. Mutations in the FOXC1 and PITX2 genes are underlying causes of ARS, but there has been few reports on genetically confirmed ARS in Korea. We identified a novel PITX2 mutation (c.300_301delinsT) in 2 Korean patients from a family with ARS. We expand the spectrum of PITX2 mutations and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first confirmed family of PITX2-related ARS in Korea.
Subject(s)
Adult , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Anterior Eye Segment/abnormalities , Base Sequence , Eye Abnormalities/genetics , Heterozygote , Homeodomain Proteins/chemistry , Mutation , Pedigree , Republic of Korea , Transcription Factors/chemistryABSTRACT
In an attempt to determine a cold defense mechanism in plants, we have attempted to characterize changes occurring in the expression of cold-regulated transcript levels in the hot pepper (Capsicum annum), using cDNA microarray analysis, combined with Northern blot analysis. After analysing a 3.1 K hot pepper cDNA microarray, we isolated a total of 317 cold inducible genes. We selected 42 genes which were up-regulated and three genes which were down-regulated due to cold treatment, for further analysis. Among the 45 genes which appeared to be up-regulated by cold, 19 genes appeared to be simultaneously regulated by salt stress. Among the up-regulated cold-stress genes, we identified a variety of transcription factors, including: a family of 4 ethylene-responsive element binding protein (EREBP, designated CaEREBP-C1 to C4) genes, a bZIP protein (CaBZ1), RVA1, Ring domain protein, HSF1, and the WRKY (CaWRKY1) protein. As mentioned earlier, several genes appeared to be induced not only by cold stress, but also simultaneously by salt stress. These genes included: CaEREBP-C3, CaBZ1, putative trans-activator factor, NtPRp27, malate dehydrogenase, putative auxin-repressed protein, protein phosphatase (CaTPP1), SAR8.2 protein precursor, late-embryogenesis abundant protein 5 (LEA5), DNAJ protein homologue, xyloglucanendo-1,4-beta-D-gucanase precursor, PR10, and the putative non-specific lipid transfer protein StnsLTP.
Subject(s)
Amino Acid Sequence , Blotting, Northern/methods , Capsicum/genetics , Cold Temperature , Consensus Sequence , DNA-Binding Proteins/chemistry , Dehydration/genetics , Down-Regulation , Freezing , Gene Expression/genetics , Gene Expression Profiling , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant/genetics , Homeodomain Proteins/chemistry , Molecular Sequence Data , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/methods , Phylogeny , Plant Proteins/chemistry , Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid , Sodium Chloride , Transcription Factors/chemistry , Up-RegulationABSTRACT
Nanog, a homeodomain (HD) transcription factor, plays a critical role in the maintenance of embryonic stem (ES) cell self-renewal. Here, we report the identification of an alternatively-spliced variant of nanog. This variant lacked a stretch of amino acids (residues 168-183) located between the HD and tryptophan-repeat (WR) of the previously-reported full length sequence, suggesting that the deleted sequence functions as a linker and possibly affects the flexibility of the C-terminal transactivation domain relative to the DNA binding domain. Expression of mRNA encoding the splice variant, designated as nanog-delta 48, was much lower than that of the full length version in human ES cells. The ratio of nanog-delta 48 transcript to full length transcript increased, however, in multipotent adult progenitor cells. EMSA analysis revealed that both forms of Nanog were able to bind a nanog binding sequence with roughly the same affinity. A reporter plasmid assay also showed that both variants of nanog modestly repressed transactivation of gata-4, whose expression is proposed to be inhibited by nanog, with comparable potency. We conclude that, despite the difference in primary structure and expression pattern in various stem cells, the alternatively-spliced variant of Nanog has similar activity to that of the full length version.