[Effect of fatty component in ration and coenzyme Q10 on indices of rat lipid metabolism in ontogenesis].

The studies made on rats of 1, 3, 6 and 12 months with fish, palm and linseed oil included in the ration in combination of KoQ10, showed that beginning from young age till 12 months fatty acid composition of liver depended of fat component in the ration. Long-term consumption of fish fat with age results in significant increase in omega 3 fatty acids. In this case the omega 6 fatty acids level remained rather high being indicative of organism adaptation and inclusion of compensatory mechanisms supporting the required level of omega 6. With rat age the content of of KoQ10 in liver of rats of the control group and animals fed by of KoQ10 and palm oil with of KoQ10 decreased by 15-27%, while the consumption of linseed oil and fish fat with tended to increase the content of KoQ10 by 30 and 35%, respectively.

[Amaranths oil: peculiarities of chemical composition and influence on lipid metabolism by rats].

In experiment on rats it was shown a hypocholesterolemic effect of amaranth oil. The decrease of cholesterol lever in rat blood was not accompanied by its increasing in a liver. The turn from a model of hypercholesterolemia to the diet with amaranth oil also prodused decreasing of cholesterol lever in rat plasma and liver as compared with control animals. In the composition of rat liver sterins the increasing of plant sterins was observed that probably was due to squalene presense in amaranth oil.

Integrating genomic homology into gene structure prediction.

TWINSCAN is a new gene-structure prediction system that directly extends the probability model of GENSCAN, allowing it to exploit homology between two related genomes. Separate probability models are used for conservation in exons, introns, splice sites, and UTRs, reflecting the differences among their patterns of evolutionary conservation. TWINSCAN is specifically designed for the analysis of high-throughput genomic sequences containing an unknown number of genes. In experiments on high-throughput mouse sequences, using homologous sequences from the human genome, TWINSCAN shows notable improvement over GENSCAN in exon sensitivity and specificity and dramatic improvement in exact gene sensitivity and specificity. This improvement can be attributed entirely to modeling the patterns of evolutionary conservation in genomic sequence.

The syntenic relationship of the zebrafish and human genomes.

The zebrafish is an important vertebrate model for the mutational analysis of genes effecting developmental processes. Understanding the relationship between zebrafish genes and mutations with those of humans will require understanding the syntenic correspondence between the zebrafish and human genomes. High throughput gene and EST mapping projects in zebrafish are now facilitating this goal. Map positions for 523 zebrafish genes and ESTs with predicted human orthologs reveal extensive contiguous blocks of synteny between the zebrafish and human genomes. Eighty percent of genes and ESTs analyzed belong to conserved synteny groups (two or more genes linked in both zebrafish and human) and 56% of all genes analyzed fall in 118 homology segments (uninterrupted segments containing two or more contiguous genes or ESTs with conserved map order between the zebrafish and human genomes). This work now provides a syntenic relationship to the human genome for the majority of the zebrafish genome.

Comparative genomic sequence analysis of the human and mouse cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator genes.

The identification of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (CFTR) in 1989 represents a landmark accomplishment in human genetics. Since that time, there have been numerous advances in elucidating the function of the encoded protein and the physiological basis of cystic fibrosis. However, numerous areas of cystic fibrosis biology require additional investigation, some of which would be facilitated by information about the long-range sequence context of the CFTR gene. For example, the latter might provide clues about the sequence elements responsible for the temporal and spatial regulation of CFTR expression. We thus sought to establish the sequence of the chromosomal segments encompassing the human CFTR and mouse Cftr genes, with the hope of identifying conserved regions of biologic interest by sequence comparison. Bacterial clone-based physical maps of the relevant human and mouse genomic regions were constructed, and minimally overlapping sets of clones were selected and sequenced, eventually yielding approximately 1.6 Mb and approximately 358 kb of contiguous human and mouse sequence, respectively. These efforts have produced the complete sequence of the approximately 189-kb and approximately 152-kb segments containing the human CFTR and mouse Cftr genes, respectively, as well as significant amounts of flanking DNA. Analyses of the resulting data provide insights about the organization of the CFTR/Cftr genes and potential sequence elements regulating their expression. Furthermore, the generated sequence reveals the precise architecture of genes residing near CFTR/Cftr, including one known gene (WNT2/Wnt2) and two previously unknown genes that immediately flank CFTR/Cftr.

MaskerAid: a performance enhancement to RepeatMasker.

UNLABELLED: Identifying and masking repetitive elements is usually the first step when analyzing vertebrate genomic sequence. Current repeat identification software is sensitive but slow, creating a costly bottleneck in large-scale analyses. We have developed MaskerAid, a software enhancement to RepeatMasker that increased the speed of masking more than 30-fold at the most sensitive setting. AVAILABILITY: On request from the authors (see http://sapiens.wustl.edu/MaskerAid). CONTACT: maskeraid@watson.wustl.edu

MPBLAST : improved BLAST performance with multiplexed queries.

UNLABELLED: We have developed a program, MPBLAST, that increases the throughput of batch BLASTN searches by multiplexing (concatenating) query sequences and thereby reducing the number of actual database searches performed. Throughput was observed to increase in reciprocal proportion to the component sequence length. For sequencing read-sized queries of 500 bp, an order of magnitude speed-up was seen. AVAILABILITY: Free (see http://blast.wustl.edu) CONTACT: [ikorf, gish]@watson.wustl.edu

A general approach to single-nucleotide polymorphism discovery.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most abundant form of human genetic variation and a resource for mapping complex genetic traits. The large volume of data produced by high-throughput sequencing projects is a rich and largely untapped source of SNPs (refs 2, 3, 4, 5). We present here a unified approach to the discovery of variations in genetic sequence data of arbitrary DNA sources. We propose to use the rapidly emerging genomic sequence as a template on which to layer often unmapped, fragmentary sequence data and to use base quality values to discern true allelic variations from sequencing errors. By taking advantage of the genomic sequence we are able to use simpler yet more accurate methods for sequence organization: fragment clustering, paralogue identification and multiple alignment. We analyse these sequences with a novel, Bayesian inference engine, POLYBAYES, to calculate the probability that a given site is polymorphic. Rigorous treatment of base quality permits completely automated evaluation of the full length of all sequences, without limitations on alignment depth. We demonstrate this approach by accurate SNP predictions in human ESTs aligned to finished and working-draft quality genomic sequences, a data set representative of the typical challenges of sequence-based SNP discovery.

The Polycomb group in Caenorhabditis elegans and maternal control of germline development.

Four Caenorhabditis elegans genes, mes-2, mes-3, mes-4 and mes-6, are essential for normal proliferation and viability of the germline. Mutations in these genes cause a maternal-effect sterile (i.e. mes) or grandchildless phenotype. We report that the mes-6 gene is in an unusual operon, the second example of this type of operon in C. elegans, and encodes the nematode homolog of Extra sex combs, a WD-40 protein in the Polycomb group in Drosophila. mes-2 encodes another Polycomb group protein (see paper by Holdeman, R., Nehrt, S. and Strome, S. (1998). Development 125, 2457-2467). Consistent with the known role of Polycomb group proteins in regulating gene expression, MES-6 is a nuclear protein. It is enriched in the germline of larvae and adults and is present in all nuclei of early embryos. Molecular epistasis results predict that the MES proteins, like Polycomb group proteins in Drosophila, function as a complex to regulate gene expression. Database searches reveal that there are considerably fewer Polycomb group genes in C. elegans than in Drosophila or vertebrates, and our studies suggest that their primary function is in controlling gene expression in the germline and ensuring the survival and proliferation of that tissue.

[Use of the fish oil "Polyen" in pediatric practice]. / Opyt primeneniia ryb'ego zhira "polien" v pediatricheskoi praktike.

The effects of supplementation of basic diets with 'Polyen' in daily doses of 2.5-4.0 g during 30-40 days together with antioxidants were studied in patients with kidney diseases (diet No7, n = 14), different allergies (hypoallergenic diet, n = 37) and in control children (n = 12). It was shown positive dynamics in fatty acid contents in plasma and red blood cell membranes, in humoral and cell immunity indicators and in improving of clinical symptoms of diseases. 'Polyen' is recommended for wide use in pediatric practice.

[Optimization of dietary fat composition in erosive and ulcerative diseases of the gastroduodenal area]. / Optimizatsiia zhirovoi chasti ratsiona pri érozivno-iazvennykh porazheniiakh gastroduodenal'noi zony.

Fish oil preparation "Polyen" was used for treatment 21 patients with ulcerative diseases of the stomach or duodenum. The cicatrization of ulcer was diagnosed in 85% of patients treated by "Polyen" and in 60% of those who did not take fish oil. "Polyen" influenced fatty acid composition of erythrocyte membranes and lipid peroxidation. Authors draw a conclusion that omega-3 PUFA's can stimulate the reparative processes.

[The effect of the omega 6/omega 3 PUFA ratios in the rations of rats on the eicosanoid content in the blood plasma and liver]. / Vliianie sootonoshenii PNZhK omega 6/omega 3 v ratsionakh krys na soderzhanie éikozanoidov v plazme krovi i pecheni.

Purified diets for rats contained 24% fat, with presented with the mixture of sunflower and fish oils whose combination yielded ratios of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids equal to 99 0, 49 0, 5 2, 1.9 and 0.12. The alterations in fatty acid composition of blood plasma and the liver were noticed, which manifested in increased omega 3 fatty acid levels in proportion to their dietary content. The elevation of PUFA proportion in the diet increased TBA-reactive substances in the liver. Using radioimmunoassay the levels of PGF2 alpha, TxA2 and PGI2 were determined. The decrease of arachidonic acid as part of tissue lipids caused an inhibition of PGF2 alpha formation in the liver, TxA2 and PGI2 in blood plasma, that showed a possibility of influence the ratio omega 6/omega 3 PUFA in a diet on eicosanoid synthesis by substrate regulation. These results suggest that for characteristics of dietary fat the ratio omega 6/omega 3 PUFA as a criterion reflecting the biological action of two families of essential fatty acids should not be used.

[Clinico-metabolic effects of fish oil in patients with ischemic heart disease, familial hyperlipoproteinemia and hypertension]. / Izuchenie kliniko-metabolicheskikh éffektov ikhtienovogo masla u bol'nykh ishemicheskoi bolezn'iu serdtsa, semeinoi giperlipoproteidemiei, gipertonicheskoi bolezn'iu.

Fifty-five patients with ischemic heart disease, familial hyperlipoproteinemia type IIb and essential hypertension kept anti-atherosclerosis diet incorporating 20 g of ichthyenic oil for 4 weeks. The diet resulted in positive shifts in clinical manifestations, a fall in blood levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, atherogenic coefficient. The clotting time and duration of hemorrhage proved longer. As to fatty acid composition of red cell and platelet membranes, proportion of omega-6 reduced, while the share of omega-3 rose. This may underly inhibited synthesis of PGE2 and PGF2 alpha noted in the examinees.

[The effect of diets containing omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on biochemical indicators and the fatty acid composition of the cell membranes in patients with ischemic heart disease and hereditary hyperlipidemia]. / Vliianie diety, soderzhashchei polinenasyshchennye zhirnye kisloty semeistva omega3, na biokhimicheskie pokazateli i zhirno-kislotnyi sostav kletochnykh membran bol'nykh ishemicheskoi bolezn'iu serdtsa i semeinoi giperlipidemiei.

A decrease in content of total cholesterol, triglycerides, fibrinogen, and atherogeneity index as well as increase in fibrinolytic activity and prolongation of the hemorrhage time were observed in blood serum of 20 patients with ischemic heart disease and hyperlipidemia of the IIa and IIb types maintained on anti-atherosclerotic diet containing 20 g of ichthyenic oil within 4 weeks. Relative content of polyunsaturated fatty acids omega 6 was decreased while the content of omega 3 fatty acids was distinctly increased in erythrocytes and blood platelets membranes, thus demonstrating the high efficiency of ichthyenic oil.

[Lipid peroxidation upon the use of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the treatment of hypertension and ischemic heart disease]. / Perekisnoe okislenie lipidov pri ispol'zovanii v lechenii gipertonii i ishemicheskoi bolezni serdtsa polinenasyshchennykh zhirnykh kislot semeistva omega3.

Anti-atherosclerotic diet containing 10 or 20 g of ichthyenic oil, used for treatment of 29 patients with cardiovascular diseases, caused an increase in content of polyunsaturated omega 3 fatty acids species in the patients erythrocyte membranes; this pattern may be used as a sensitive criterion of evaluation of the diet fatty component effect. Despite an increase of oxidation potential substrates in tissues, elevation of malonyl dialdehyde in blood plasma and hemolysis of erythrocytes in presence of H2O2 were not observed. This suggests absence of lipid peroxidation induction in adequate consumption of antioxidants.

[Effect of nutrition on the structural and functional organization of thrombocytes]. / Vliianie pitaniia na strukturno-funktsional'nuiu organizatsiiu trombotsitov.

Measurements were made of the composition of fatty acids contained by platelet lipids in practically healthy persons depending on the diets. Both the amount of essential fatty acids in the diet and their appurtenance to the omega-6 or omega-3 families were established to influence the composition of platelet fatty acids. The conclusion is drawn about the necessity of taking into consideration that diet influence while using platelet as a test system for estimating physiological and pathological conditions of the body.

[Effects of anti-atherosclerosis diet containing omega 3 fatty acids on the lipid spectrum of blood and cell membranes in patients with ischemic heart disease and essential hypertension]. / Vliianie protivoateroskleroticheskoi diety, soderzhashchei zhirnye kisloty semeistva omega 3, na lipidnyi spektr syvorotki krovi i kletochnykh membran u bol'nykh ishemicheskoi bolezn'iu serdtsa i gipertonicheskoi bolezn'iu.

A total of 27 patients received an anti-atherosclerotic diet containing fatty fish Greenland halibut, 100 g/day. Significant reduction of the total cholesterol level, cholesterol levels of very low and low density proteins, triglycerides, atherogenic index, elevation of blood fibrinolytic activity in the presence of lowered levels of arachidonic acid and an increased relative content of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were recorded in membranes of red blood cells and platelets. The results of the investigations conducted have shown that even rather low doses of omega 3 PUFA introduced in the presence of the hypolipidemic diet are conductive to the alimentary correction of the blood serum lipid spectrum of the fatty-acid content in cellular membrane structural lipids.

[Changes in fatty acid composition of the plasma and erythrocytes in osteochondrosis]. / Izmenenie sostava zhirnykh kislot plazmy krovi i éritrotsitov pri osteokhondroze.

Alteration of fatty acid composition was studied in blood plasma and erythrocytes of 14 patients with osteochondrosis under conditions of relief-diet therapy. During the period of full starvation distinct decrease in content of linoleic and eicosatrienic acids as well as an increase in content of palmitic, oleic and arachidonic acids were detected in blood plasma. Shifts in the ratio linoleic/arachidonic acids towards an increase in content of arachidonic acid appear to occur as a result of adaptation to stress caused by hunger. These alterations in the fatty acid spectrum of blood plasma, observed during starvation, were normalized within two weeks of recreative diet therapy. Deficiency in polyunsaturated fatty acids was not found in erythrocyte membranes under conditions of the relief-diet therapy course used.

[Changes in the fatty acid composition of erythrocyte and platelet membranes after diet therapy in patients with hyperlipoproteinemia type II]. / Izmenenie sostava zhirnykh kislot membran éritrotsitov i trombotsitov pod vliianiem dietoterapii u bol'nykh giperlipoproteidemiei II tipa.

Fatty acid spectrum of blood plasma, erythrocyte, and thrombocyte membranes as well as its alterations after diet therapy, containing polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acids at the ratio of I and less than 350 mg of cholesterol per a day, was studied in patients with hereditary hypercholesterolemia using gas chromatography. Content of linoleic acid was increased and that of oleic and arachidonic acids--decreased in lipids of the patients blood plasma as compared with healthy persons; an increase of linoleic acid was also detected in thrombocyte lipids. Alterations in fatty acid spectrum of erythrocyte membranes were less pronounced. After the course of diet therapy within I month a further increase in content of linoleic acid was observed in blood plasma. Under these conditions efficiency of essential fatty acids incorporation into lipid structures of thrombocyte membranes was higher and of erythrocytes--lower in the patients as compared with healthy persons. Possible alimentary correction of fatty acid spectrum in blood lipids is discussed.