Kidney Cancer Incidence and Mortality Disparities Involving American Indians/Alaska Natives: An Analysis of the Oklahoma Central Cancer Registry (OCCR).

Purpose: This cohort study describes the differences in kidney cancer age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates between American Indians/Alaskan Natives (AI/ANs) and Whites in Oklahoma. Additionally, rates for the U.S. are updated to establish an epidemiological comparison between Oklahoma and the rest of the country. Materials and Methods: Kidney cancer age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates for Oklahoma were gathered using the Oklahoma Central Cancer Registry since 1999. National rates were obtained from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research database between 1997 and 2017. Rate ratios were used to compare incidence and mortality rates for AI/ANs and Whites within Oklahoma as well as the entire country. Joinpoint regression models were created to illustrate trends in kidney cancer incidence and mortality. Results: The age-adjusted incidence rate of kidney cancer in Oklahoma for AI/ANs and Whites was 32.3 and 15.8 per 100,000, respectively, for an incidence rate ratio of 2.04. The national incidence rate ratio was 0.89. The age-adjusted mortality rate in Oklahoma for AI/ANs and Whites was 9.78 and 4.98 per 100,000, respectively, for a mortality rate ratio of 1.98. Oklahomans, irrespective of race, fare worse in terms of kidney cancer mortality compared to the rest of the country. Conclusions: In Oklahoma, AI/ANs are more likely than Whites to have a kidney cancer diagnosis. AI/ANs are twice as likely to die from kidney cancer than Whites in Oklahoma. AI/AN populations in certain states may benefit from kidney cancer early screening initiatives.

Transcriptional targets of Foxd3 in murine ES cells.

Understanding gene regulatory networks controlling properties of pluripotent stem cells will facilitate development of stem cell-based therapies. The transcription factor Foxd3 is critical for maintenance of self-renewal, survival, and pluripotency in murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Using a conditional deletion of Foxd3 followed by gene expression analyses, we demonstrate that genes required for several developmental processes including embryonic organ development, epithelium development, and epithelial differentiation were misregulated in the absence of Foxd3. Additionally, we identified 6 novel targets of Foxd3 (Sox4, Safb, Sox15, Fosb, Pmaip1 and Smarcd3). Finally, we present data suggesting that Foxd3 functions upstream of genes required for skeletal muscle development. Together, this work provides further evidence that Foxd3 is a critical regulator of murine development through the regulation of lineage specific differentiation.

Ground-state transcriptional requirements for skin-derived precursors.

Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) are an attractive stem cell model for cell-based therapies. SKPs can be readily generated from embryonic and adult mice and adult humans, exhibit a high degree of multipotency, and have the potential to serve as a patient autologous stem cell. The advancement of these cells toward therapeutic use depends on the ability to control precisely the self-renewal and differentiation of SKPs. Here we show that two well-known stem cell factors, Foxd3 and Sox2, are critical regulators of the stem cell properties of SKPs. Deletion of Foxd3 completely abolishes the sphere-forming potential of these cells. In the absence of Sox2, SKP spheres can be formed, but with reduced size and frequency. Our results provide entry points into the gene regulatory networks dictating SKP behavior, and pave the way for future studies on a therapeutically relevant stem cell.

Hoeflea anabaenae sp. nov., an epiphytic symbiont that attaches to the heterocysts of a strain of Anabaena.

The heterotrophic, epiphytic, symbiotic bacterial strain WH2K(T) was previously isolated from a two-member culture in which it was attached to the heterocysts of a strain of Anabaena (SSM-00). Analysis of its 16S rRNA gene sequence demonstrated that the symbiont was most closely related to the type strain of Hoeflea marina (96.9 % similarity), which belongs to the family Phyllobacteriaceae within the order Rhizobiales of the class Alphaproteobacteria. A polyphasic taxonomic study was performed on strain WH2K(T), which consisted of irregular rods (2-5 µm long, 0.2 µm wide) that appeared to be narrower at one pole. Optimal growth was obtained in complex media with 15 g sea salts l(-1), at 18-34 °C (30 °C optimum) and at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum pH 6.5). Unknown growth requirements were provided by small amounts of yeast extract but not by standard vitamin and trace metal solutions. Of the substrates tested, WH2K(T) was able to utilize only acetate, pyruvate, malate and fumarate. Growth was observed only under aerobic and microaerobic conditions, and nitrate was not reduced. No photosynthetic pigments were detected under any of the growth conditions tested. The predominant fatty acids were a summed feature that comprises C(18 : 1)ω7c, C(18 : 1)ω9t, C(18 : 1)ω12t or any combination of these (64.0 %) and an unidentified fatty acid of equivalent chain length 17.603 (13.5 %). The polar lipid profile consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphoglycolipid, unknown lipids and an unidentified aminolipid. The only respiratory ubiquinone detected was Q-10. The DNA G+C content of the strain was 58.1 mol%. The organism can form a site-specific attached symbiotic relationship with a species of Anabaena. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence, it is proposed that strain WH2K(T) be classified within a novel species of the genus Hoeflea, for which the name Hoeflea anabaenae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WH2K(T) ( = CCUG 56626(T)  = NRRL B-59520(T)).