Epigenetic regulation mechanism: roles in enamel formation and developmental defects of enamel / 中华口腔医学杂志

Enamel formation is a series of complex physiological processes, which are regulated by critical genes spatially and temporally. These processes involve multiple developmental stages covering ages and are prone to suffer signal interference or gene mutations, ultimately leading to developmental defects of enamel (DDE). Epigenetic modifications have important regulatory roles in gene expression during enarnel development. New technologies including high-throughput sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), and DNA methylation chip are emerging in recent years, making it possible to establish genome-wide epigenetic modification profiles during developmental processes. The regulatory role of epigenetic modification with spatio-temporal pattern, such as DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNA, has significantly expanded our understanding of the regulatory network of enamel formation, providing a new theoretical basis of clinical management and intervention strategy for DDE. The present review briefly describes the enamel formation process of human beings' teeth as well as rodent incisors and summarizes the dynamic characteristics of epigenetic modification during enamel formation. The functions of epigenetic modification in enamel formation and DDE are also emphatically discussed.

Interferon-related gene array in predicting the efficacy of interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis B / 生物医学工程学杂志

This study aims to clarify host factors of IFN treatment in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients by screening the differentially expressed genes of IFN pathway CHB patients with different response to interferon (IFN) therapy. Three cases were randomly selected in IFN-responding CHB patients (Rs), non-responding CHB patients (NRs) and healthy participants, respectively. The human type I IFN response RT 2 profiler PCR array was used to detect the expression levels of IFN-related genes in peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) from healthy participants and CHB patients before and after Peg-IFN-α 2a treatment. The results showed that more differentially expressed genes appeared in Rs group than NRs group after IFN treatment. Comparing with healthy participants, IFNG, IL7R, IRF1, and IRF8 were downregulated in both Rs and NRs group before IFN treatment; CXCL10, IFIT1, and IFITM1 were upregulated in the Rs; IL13RA1 and IFI35 were upregulated in the NRs, while IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1, and ADAR were downregulated. The expression of IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 was downregulated by 4.09 ( t = 10.58, P < 0.001), 5.59 ( t = 3.37, P = 0.028) and 10.83 ( t = 2.8, P = 0.049) fold in the Rs group compared with the NRs group, respectively. In conclusion, IFN-response-related gene array is able to evaluate IFN treatment response by detecting IFN-related genes levels in PBMC. High expression of CXCL10, IFIT1 and IFITM1 before treatment may suggest satisfied IFN efficacy, while high expression of IL13RA1, IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 molecules and low expression of IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1 and ADAR molecules may be associated with poor IFN efficacy.

Visualization analysis of microfluidics research status / 生物医学工程学杂志

Microfluidics is the science and technology to manipulate small amounts of fluids in micro/nano-scale space. Multiple modules could be integrated into microfluidic device, and due to its advantages of microminiaturization and controllability, microfluidics has drawn extensive attention since its birth. In this paper, the literature data related to microfluidics research from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2021 were obtained from Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace 5.8.R3 software was used for bibliometrics analysis, so as to explore the research progress and development trends of microfluidics research at home and abroad. Based on the analysis of 50 129 articles, it could be seen that microfluidics was a hot topic of global concern, and the United States had a certain degree of authority in this field. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University not only had a high number of publications, but also had strong influence and extensive cooperation network. Combined with ultrasonic, surface modification and sensor technology, researchers constructed paper-based microfluidic, droplet microfluidic and digital microfluidic platforms, which were applied in the field of immediate diagnosis, nucleic acid and circulating tumor cell analysis of in vitro diagnosis and organ-on-a-chip. China was one of the countries with a high level of research in the field of microfluidics, while the industrialization of high-end products needed to be improved. As people's demand for disease risk prediction and health management increased, promoting microfluidic technological innovation and achievement transformation is of great significance to safeguard people's life and health.

Myostatin coordinating the proliferation and differentiation of adipose and skeletal muscle cells and energy metabolism balance based on gene chip technology / A miostatina na coordenação da proliferação e diferenciação de células musculares adiposas e esqueléticas e no equilíbrio do metabolismo energético com base na tecnologia de chips genéticos / Msrn, basado en la tecnología de chips genéticos, coordina la fertilización y el metabolismo de las células musculares grasas y óseas

ABSTRACT Myoblasts fuse into multinucleated muscle fibers to form and promote the growth of skeletal muscle. In order to analyze the role of myostatin (MSTN) in body fat, skeletal muscle cell proliferation and differentiation and energy metabolism, this study will use the antisense RNA technology of gene chip technology to study it. The results showed that the MSTN gene regulated the growth and proliferation of myoblasts and affected the development of skeletal muscle by affecting the expression of Cdc42, bnip2, p38 and other genes; knockout or overexpression of the MSTN gene would lead to a trend of fat-related genes from fat synthesis to fat decomposition; after the MSTN gene was knocked down, the expression levels of cpti-b, PPARG and other genes in the cells were corresponding after MSTN overexpression, the relative expression of the PPARG gene decreased. It is suggested that the knockout or overexpression of MSTN may affect lipid accumulation, and cpti-b and PPARG may directly regulate lipid level. It is hoped that this experiment can provide a reference for the study of MSTN effect on fat deposition.

RESUMO Os mioblastos se fundem eM fibras musculares multinucleadas para formar e promover o crescimento do músculo esquelético. A fim de analisar o papel da miostatina (MSTN) na gordura corporal, proliferação de células musculares esqueléticas e diferenciação e metabolismo energético, este estudo utilizará a tecnologia anti-RNA de chips genéticos para estudá-la. Os resultados mostraram que o gene MSTN regulava o crescimento e a proliferação de mioblastos e afetava o desenvolvimento do músculo esquelético, afetando a expressão de Cdc42, bnip2, p38 e outros genes; a eliminação ou sobrexpressão do gene MSTN conduziria a uma tendência de os genes adiposos sintetizarem a gordura até sua decomposição; após a eliminação do gene MSTN, os níveis de expressão de cpti-b, PPARG e outros genes nas células mostraram-se correspondentes após a sobrexpressão do gene MSTN, e a expressão relativa do gene PPARG diminuiu. Sugere-se que a eliminação ou sobrexpressão da MSTN possa afetar a acumulação de lipídeos, e o cpti-b e o PPARG podem regular diretamente o nível lipídico. Espera-se que esta experiência possa fornecer uma referência para o estudo do efeito da MSTN sobre a deposição de gordura.

RESUMEN Los mioblastos se funden en fibras musculares multinucleadas para formar y promover el crecimiento del músculo esquelético. A fin de analizar el papel de la miostatina (MSTN) en la grasa corporal, proliferación de células musculares esqueléticas y diferenciación y metabolismo energético, este estudio utilizará la tecnología anti-RNA de chips genéticos para estudiarla. Los resultados mostraron que el gen MSTN regulaba el crecimiento y la proliferación de mioblastos y afectaba el desarrollo del músculo esquelético, afectando la expresión de Cdc42, bnip2, p38 y otros genes; la eliminación o sobreexpresión del gen MSTN conduciría a una tendencia de que los genes adiposos sinteticen la grasa hasta su descomposición; después de la eliminación del gen MSTN, los niveles de expresión de cpti-b, PPARG y otros genes en las células se mostraron correspondientes después de la sobreexpresión del gen MSTN, y la expresión relativa del gen PPARG disminuyó. Se sugiere que la eliminación o sobreexpresión de la MSTN pueda afectar la acumulación de lipídos, y el cpti-b y el PPARG pueden regular directamente el nivel lipídico. Se espera que esta experiencia pueda proveer una referencia para el estudio del efecto de la MSTN sobre el depósito de grasa.

Identification of blood-derived candidate gene markers and a new 7-gene diagnostic model for multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system disease with a high disability rate. Modern molecular biology techniques have identified a number of key genes and diagnostic markers to MS, but the etiology and pathogenesis of MS remain unknown. RESULTS: In this study, the integration of three peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) microarray datasets and one peripheral blood T cells microarray dataset allowed comprehensive network and pathway analyses of the biological functions of MS-related genes. Differential expression analysis identified 78 significantly aberrantly expressed genes in MS, and further functional enrichment analysis showed that these genes were associated with innate immune response-activating signal transduction (p = 0.0017), neutrophil mediated immunity (p = 0.002), positive regulation of innate immune response (p = 0.004), IL-17 signaling pathway (p < 0.035) and other immune-related signaling pathways. In addition, a network of MS-specific protein-protein interactions (PPI) was constructed based on differential genes. Subsequent analysis of network topology properties identified the up-regulated CXCR4, ITGAM, ACTB, RHOA, RPS27A, UBA52, and RPL8 genes as the hub genes of the network, and they were also potential biomarkers of MS through Rap1 signaling pathway or leukocyte transendothelial migration. RT-qPCR results demonstrated that CXCR4 was obviously up-regulated, while ACTB, RHOA, and ITGAM were down-regulated in MS patient PBMC in comparison with normal samples. Finally, support vector machine was employed to establish a diagnostic model of MS with a high prediction performance in internal and external datasets (mean AUC = 0.97) and in different chip platform datasets (AUC = (0.93). CONCLUSION: This study provides new understanding for the etiology/pathogenesis of MS, facilitating an early identification and prediction of MS.

Housekeeping genes involved in non-malignant breast phenotypes are widely expressed in multiple cancers and provide novel biomarkers of tumor classification

Clinically relevant biomarkers are useful to determine cancer patients' prognosis and treatments. To discover new putative biomarkers, we performed in silico analysis of a 325-gene panel previously associated with breast epithelial cell biology and clinical outcomes. Sixteen public datasets of microarray samples representing 8 cancer types and a total of 3,663 patients' samples were used for the analyses. Feature selection was used to identify the best subsets of the 325 genes for each classification, and linear discriminant analysis was used to quantify the accuracy of the classifications. A subset of 102 of the 325 genes were found to be housekeeping (HK) genes, and the classifications were repeated using only the 102 HK subset. The 325-gene panel and 102 HK subset were able to distinguish colon, gastric, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate tumors and leukemia from normal adjacent tissue, and classify disease subtypes of breast and lung cancers and leukemia with 70% or higher accuracy. HK genes have been overlooked as potential biomarkers due to their relative stability. This study describes a set of HK genes as putative biomarkers applicable to multiple cancer types worth following in subsequent validation studies.

Application of chromosomal microarray analysis in prenatal diagnosis of pregnant women with advanced age / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To assess the value of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for the detection of fetal anomalies among pregnant women with advanced age.@*METHODS@#CMA results of 562 cases, in addition with the outcome of pregnancy and neonatal follow-up were reviewed.@*RESULTS@#Among the 562 amniotic fluid samples, 73 cases (12.99%) of fetal chromosomal abnormalities were detected, which included 21 cases (3.73%) of chromosomal aneuploidies and 52 cases (9.25%) of copy number variations (CNVs). The latters included 27 cases of pathological CNVs (4.80%), 4 cases of possible pathogenic CNVs (0.71%) and 42 cases of variants with unknown clinical significance (7.47%). Compared with those under 35, the detection rate of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies for women with advanced age was higher under the indications of voluntary test, abnormal ultrasonic structures, abnormal ultrasonic soft index and risks indicated by non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). No significant difference was found in the detection rate of CNVs between those ≥35 and 0.05). 552 cases (98.22%) of pregnant women have completed the followed up. Among 31 women with pathological and possible pathogenic fetal CNVs detected by CMA, 25 had terminated the pregnancy, 6 (19.35%) have delivered without obvious abnormality. 41 pregnant women with fetal CNVs of unknown clinical significance have completed the follow up, among whom 3 had terminated the pregnancy, 1 newborn was found with malformation after birth, which yielded an abnormal pregnancy rate of 9.76%. 480 pregnant women with negative CMA results have completed the follow up, among whom 5 (1.04%) had abnormal pregnancy or delivered a child with birth defect.@*CONCLUSION@#There is a certain difference between the outcome of pregnancy predicted by CMA testing and the actual outcome. The pregnancies with fetal CNVs with unknown clinical significance detected by CMA have a high adverse rate, which should attract clinical attention. CMA testing should be recommended for pregnant women with advanced age regardless of whether they have other symptoms. CMA combined with other detection methods is the trend for prenatal diagnosis.

Development of a novel high throughput brain-on-chip with 3D structure and its application in evaluation of pesticide-induced-neurotoxicity / 生物工程学报

We designed and fabricated a novel high throughput brain-on-chip with three dimensional structure with the aim to simulate the in vivo three-dimensional growth environment for brain tissues. The chip consists of a porous filter and 3D brain cell particles, and is loaded into a conventional 96-well plate for use. The filter and the particle molds were fabricated by using computer modeling, 3D printing of positive mold and agarose-PDMS double reversal mold. The 3D cell particles were made by pouring and solidifying a suspension of mouse embryonic brain cells with sodium alginate into a cell particle mold, and then cutting the resulting hydrogel into pieces. The loaded brain-on-chip was used to determine the neurotoxicity of pesticides. The cell particles were exposed to 0, 10, 30, 50, 100 and 200 µmol/L of chlorpyrifos or imidacloprid, separated conveniently from the medium by removing the porous filter after cultivation. Subsequently, cell proliferation, acetylcholinesterase activity and lactate dehydrogenase release were determined for toxicity evaluation. The embryonic brain cells were able to grow and proliferate normally in the hydrogel particles loaded into the filter in a 96-well plate. Pesticide neurotoxicity test showed that both chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid presented dose-dependent inhibition on cell growth and proliferation. Moreover, the pesticides showed inhibition on acetylcholinesterase activity and increase release of lactate dehydrogenase. However, the effect of imidacloprid was significantly weaker than that of chlorpyrifos. In conclusion, a novel brain-on-chip was developed in this study, which can be used to efficiently assess the drug neurotoxicity, pharmacodynamics, and disease mechanism by combining with a microtiterplate reader.

Analysis of the Differential Expression of circRNA in Acute Myeloid Leukemia by GEO Database / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the difference expression of circular RNA (circRNA) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by using bioinformatics method.@*METHODS@#The microarray chip data of AML was searched and downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) of the National Center for Bioinformatics (NCBI). The differences between AML samples and control samples were analyzed by R software. The interaction between deregulated circRNA, miRNA and mRNA were predicted by miranda software and miRTarBase software. The circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed by using the cytoHubba plugin based on the Cytoscape software.@*RESULTS@#A total of 203 differential expression of circRNAs were finally collected, including down-regulated 161 circRNAs and up-regulated 42 circRNAs. CircRNA/miRNA/mRNA interaction network was constructed through software prediction. hsa_circ_0001080, hsa_circ_0004511, hsa_circ_0054211, hsa_circ_0001944 may be positively regulated the gene expression in AML.@*CONCLUSION@#Abnormal expression of circRNA in AML may become a new target for AML treatment.

Application of DNA Microarray in Genetic Mutation Detection in Patients with Thalassemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To perform dried blood spots thalassemia gene detection in patients with positive blood phenotypes by microarray technology, and evaluate its value in clinical detection.@*METHODS@#DNA samples were extracted from dried blood spots of 410 patients. Microarray technology was used to detect 3 deletion and 3 non-deletion types of α-thalassemia and 19 β-thalassemia point mutations which were common gene mutions in China.@*RESULTS@#There were 357 positive cases in all the 410 tested samples with the positive rate 87.07%, among which 299 cases (72.93%) carried deletion or point mutations of α-thalassemia, 29 cases (7.07%) carried point mutations of β-thalassemia and 29 cases (7.07%) carried gene mutations of complex αβ-thalassemia syndrome. The mutations of α-thalassemia were involved with --@*CONCLUSION@#The most common genetic mutations are --

Methodological Evaluation of Microarray in the Detection of α-Thalassemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To proceed the clinical evaluation of DNA microarray for thalassemia gene detection.@*METHODS@#Peripheral blood samples of 166 thalassemia gene test subjects were collected and tested for thalassemia genes by microarray chip method and Gap-PCR method combined with PCR-reverse dot blot hybridization method according to double-blind control test. The specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and total coincidence rate of the microarray chip method were evaluated. When the two methods were inconsistent, multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA) was used to verify the deletional α-thalassemia.@*RESULTS@#Compared with Gap-PCR method, specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, Youden index, and total coincidence rate of microarray chip method was 100% (70/70), 96.88% (93/96), 100% (93/93), 95.89% (70/73), 0.969, and 97.59% (162/166), respectively, while compared with PCR-reverse dot blot hybridization method was 100% (125/125), 100% (41/41), 100% (41/41), 100% (125/125), 1, and 100% (166/166), respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#The microarray chip method for α-thalassemia gene detection shows the advantages of high specificity, sensitivity, and throughput.

Visible DNA microarray and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for the identification of Cryptococcus species recovered from culture medium and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with meningitis

Cryptococcal meningitis affects normal hosts and immunocompromised patients exhibiting high mortality rates. The objective of this study was to design two molecular assays, visible microarray platforms and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), to identify Cryptococcus spp. and the species neoformans and gattii from the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). To identify Cryptococcus and the two species, we designed two microarrays DNA platforms based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and CAP59 gene and LAMP assays specific for Cryptococcus species. The assays were tested using CSF from patients with cryptococcal meningitis. CSF from patients with cryptococcal meningitis was cultured in Sabouraud culture medium, and the Cryptococcus spp. grown in the culture medium were also tested for LAMP and microarray platforms. The results were compared to DNA sequencing of the same genetic regions. A total of 133 CSF samples were studied. Eleven CSFs were positive for Cryptococcus (9 C. neoformans and 2 C. gattii), 15 were positive for bacteria, and 107 were negative. The CAP59 platform correctly identified 73% of the CSF samples, while the ITS platform identified 45.5%. CAP59 platform correctly identified 100% of the Cryptococcus isolates, and ITS platform identified 70%. The two sets of LAMP primers correctly identified 100% of the Cryptococcus isolates. However, for CSF samples, the amplification occurred only in 55.5% of C. neoformans. The methodologies were reliable in the identification of Cryptococcus species, mainly for isolates from culture medium, and they might be applied as adjunctive tests to identify Cryptococcus species.

Result of Sanger sequencing for newborn carriers of single heterozygous variants of GJB2 or SLC26A4 gene by genechip analysis / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To detect additional variants for newborn carriers of single heterozygous variants of the GJB2 or SLC26A4 gene by genechip analysis in Changsha area, and explore the variation spectrum of deafness-related genes in this region.@*METHODS@#For 462 newborns carrying single heterozygous variants of the GJB2 or SLC26A4 gene, all exons of the genes were subjected to Sanger sequencing. The pathogenicity of the variants was analyzed by database and literature search.@*RESULTS@#For 305 newborns carrying a heterozygous GJB2 variant, 143 (46.49%) were found to carry additional variants, including 29 (9.51%) with c.109G>A likely pathogenic variant, and 1 (6.48%) with c.551G>A pathogenic variant. Among 153 newborns carrying single heterozygous variant of the SLC26A4 gene, 2 (1.31%) were found with a c.281C>T variant, and 1 (0.65%) with a c.1547_1548ins pathogenic variant. Among 4 newborns simultaneously carrying GJB2 and SLC26A4 variants, two were found to carry c.109G>A and c.844T>C variants (clinical significance unknown), respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#For newborns carrying single heterozygous variants of the GJB2 or SLC26A4 gene by genechip analysis, the detection rate for other variants is quite high. Sanger sequencing can significantly improve the detection rate of high-risk newborns and enrich the variant spectrum of deafness genes.

Identification and validation of differential expression of miR-455-5p in plasma of children with Kawasaki disease / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVES@#To provide clues for further study of the relationship between miRNAs and Kawasaki disease (KD) development, and to provide molecular markers for ultimately improve the rate of early diagnosis for KD.@*METHODS@#We collected acute, recovery KD children's plasma and normal samples, then used the miRNAs Assay Chip to screen the differentially expressed miRNAs in the plasma from KD children. Subsequently, miR-455-5p, which had identified via miRNAs assay chip, was validated by quantitative real-time PCR via independent cohort.@*RESULTS@#According to the results of miRNAs Assay chip, we identified a miRNAs panel including 5 miRNAs significantly up-regulated and 5 miRNAs remarkably down-regulated in the plasma from KD children compared to the normal control; miR-455-5p in both of acute and recovery KD children's plasma was remarkably lower than that in the normal control (<0.001, =0.013, respectively), and miR-455-5p was also significantly lower than that in the recovery of KD children (=0.007) by independent cohort validation.@*CONCLUSIONS@#There are significantly differentially expressed circulating miRNAs between the KD children and normal control. We identified 10 miRNAs dysregulation in the KD children's plasma compared with the normal group. Circulating miR-455-5p in both of acute and recovery KD children's plasma is remarkably lower than that in the normal control, and miR-455-5p may considered as a marker to show the recovery process of KD children. Plasma specific circulating miRNAs play an important role in the early diagnosis of KD and become the new molecular marker of KD in the future.

Restoration of the inflammatory gene expression by horse oil in DNCB-treated mice skin

Gene expression analysis identifies hypothetical genes that may be critical during the infection process of Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri

Background: Gene expression analysis via microarray is widely used in phytobacteria to validate differential gene expression associated with virulence or to compare biological profiles of wild type and mutant strains. Here, we employed DNA microarrays to study the early stages of the infection process (24, 72 and 120 h post-inoculation) of Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xac) infecting Citrus sinensis to interrogate the expression profiles of hypothetical genes. Results: Under infective conditions, 446 genes were up- and 306 downregulated. Outstanding among genes upregulated during infection were those involved in synthesizing the Type 3 Secretion System and effectors, xanthan gum and quorum-sensing induction, and flagellum synthesis and regulation. Additionally, 161 hypothetical genes were up- and 100 were downregulated, 49 of which are known to have a significant biological role. To understand hypothetical gene co-regulation or -expression, nine expression profiles including 158 genes were identified during the three infection phases. Of these, 47 hypothetical genes were identified as having expression profiles associated with at least one connected to a gene associated with adaptation and virulence. Conclusions: Expression patterns of six differentially expressed genes were validated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of this tool in global gene expression analysis in Xac.

Whole sequencing of the mitochondrial genome of breast cancer tissue in Mexican-mestizo postmenopausal women with different body mass index

Abstract Background Mitochondrial and oxidative stress has been related to obesity and breast cancer being this cancer more frequent and more aggressive in postmenopausal women with obesity. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate whether Mexican-Mestizo postmenopausal women with breast cancer and obesity present different somatic mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) when compared to women with normal body mass index (BMI). Subjects and Methods We included six Mexican-Mestizo postmenopausal women bearing breast cancer and who underwent mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery. BMI was determined in each case. Patients’ genomic DNA was isolated from blood leukocytes and tumor tissue samples. Whole mtDNA sequence was determined by MitoChip v2.0 mitochondrial resequencing array, and data were analyzed using the GeneChip Sequence Analysis Software. Tumor mtDNA sequence was compared with matched leukocyte mtDNA sequence. Results Three women had a normal BMI and three presented obesity. Overall, we found 64 genetic variants: 53.1% were somatic mutations and 46.9% were polymorphisms; 44.1% were in the non-coding region and 55.9% were in genes that encode for mitochondrial proteins. Among the somatic mutations, 67.7% were in patients with normal BMI and 32.3% in patients with obesity. Conclusions We did not find a higher frequency of mitochondrial somatic mutations in postmenopausal women with breast cancer and obesity compared to those with normal BMI. However, results could be due to the small number of women studied.

Transcriptional profiling of uterine leiomyoma rats treated by a traditional herb pair, Curcumae rhizoma and Sparganii rhizoma

The aim of this study was to elucidate the concise effects of a traditional herb pair, Curcumae rhizoma-Sparganii rhizoma (CRSR), on uterine leiomyoma (UL) by analyzing transcriptional profiling. The UL rat model was made by intramuscular injection of progesterone and gavage administration of diethylstilbestrol. From 11 weeks of the establishment of the model, rats of the UL+CRSR group were gavaged daily with CRSR (6.67 g/kg). The serum concentrations of progesterone (P) and estradiol (E2) were determined by radioimmunoassay, the uterine index was measured by caliper measurement, and the pathological status was observed by hematoxylin and eosin stain. Gene expression profiling was checked by NimbleGen Rat Gene Expression Microarrays. The results indicated that the uterine mass of UL+CRSR rats was significantly shrunk and serum P and E2 levels significantly reduced compared to UL animals and nearly to the level of normal rats. Results of microarrays displayed the extensive inhibition of CRSR upon the expression of proliferation and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM)-related genes, and significantly regulated a wide range of metabolism disorders. Furthermore, CRSR extensively regulated key pathways of the UL process, such as MAPK, PPAR, Notch, and TGF-β/Smad. Regulation of the crucial pathways for the UL process and ECM metabolism may be the underlying mechanisms of CRSR treatment. Further studies will provide clear clues for effectively treating UL with CRSR.

Role of miR-106b-5p in the regulation of gene profiles in endothelial cells / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the role of miR-106b-5p in the regulation of gene expression in endothelial cells.@*METHODS@#The Taqman low-density microRNAs (miRNAs) array (TLDA) was used to identify miRNA expression profiles in the plasma of patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) (atherosclerosis group, n=9) and individuals without atherosclerotic CAD disease (control group, n=9). A weighed and undirected miRNA coexpression network analysis was performed to investigate the interactions among miRNAs in the two groups. MiR-106b-5p, whose coexpression pattern in atherosclerosis group was most different from that of control group, was further studied. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were transfected with miR-106b-5p mimic or negative control mimic, and Affymetrix GeneChip Human Transcriptome Array 2.0 was used to screen the differential gene expression profiles after transfection. And the signal transduction pathway of differential gene profiles was further analyzed in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signal pathway database. After parsing the whole KEGG database, all differentially expressed genes involved pathways were extracted, and the hypergeometric distribution was used to calculate the pathway enrichment.@*RESULTS@#The coexpression pattern of the patients with atherosclerosis (140 nodes, 1 154 edges) differed from that of the non-atherosclerosis control group (140 nodes, 612 edges). The analysis of array data with significant analysis of microarray (SAM) identified 746 significantly deregulated genes (fold change ≥ 1.5 and false discovery rate < 0.01) altered by overexpression of miR-106b-5p with miR-106b-5p mimic in HUVEC. By calculating the pathway enrichment, we found that multiple signaling pathways enriched in differential gene profiles were closely related to the process of formation and rupture of atherosclerotic plaque, including phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (PKB, also called Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), janus kinase / signal transducer and activator of transcription (Jak-STAT), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), toll like receptor (TLR) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and other signal pathways.@*CONCLUSION@#The coexpression pattern of miRNAs in plasma of patients with atherosclerosis is more significantly changed than that of individuals without atherosclerotic disease. MiR-106b-5p, which shows the most significant difference between groups, targets multiple signal pathways in vascular endothelial cells, and might play an important role in the regulatory network of atherosclerotic gene expression.

In vitro fertilization-embryo transfer affects focal adhension kinase signaling pathway in early placenta / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To study the effects of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) technique on gene expression of focal adhension kinase (FAK) signaling pathway in early placental trophoblast cells, and to explore the effects of IVF-ET technology on the development and function of early placenta.@*METHODS@#We collected 7-8 weeks of gestation placenta tissue as a study group by ultrasound guided reduction of fetal from double embryo transfer under IVF-ET technology. In the control group, placenta tissues were obtained from the spontaneous abortion of natural pregnancy twin 7-8 weeks. Microarray hybridization analysis was performed on the placenta tissue of the two groups using the Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 gene chip. Eight differentially expressed genes were identified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and unsupervised clustering analysis and functional bioinformatics analysis were performed for the differentially expressed genes.@*RESULTS@#Twenty-eight cases of IVF-ET reduced fetal villi and 8 cases of spontaneous abortion villi were collected. A total of 8 placental villi were detected by the gene chip. Compared with the natural pregnancy control group, 32 differentially expressed genes in the placental FAK signaling pathway were expressed in IVF-ET. The differential expression was greater than or equal to 2 times, of which 12 genes were up-regulated and 20 were down-regulated. The qRT-PCR showed that the expression of the 8 genes in FAK signaling pathways of IVF-ET was significantly different from that in the placenta of natural pregnancy, which was consistent with the result of the gene chip detection. The FAK signal pathway gene localization showed that the FAK gene was mainly located in the upstream of the signal pathway in the placenta of IVF-ET. The placental trophoblast cells maintained the FAK signaling pathway function through gene expression compensation.@*CONCLUSION@#There are gene expression differences in the FAK signaling pathway between the IVF-ET derived early placenta and the natural pregnancy placenta. The differentially expressed genes are involved in many key functions of the FAK signaling pathway and affect the early development and function of the IVF-ET placenta, while the placental trophoblast cells change gene expression for interference to compensate for IVF-ET technology itself, maintain normal function of the FAK signaling pathway, and satisfy the need for placental and fetal development.