Association between TNFSF4 tagSNPs and myocardial infarction in a Chinese Han population.

Tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 4 (TNFSF4) plays an important role in atherosclerosis development. However, the biological significance of TNFSF4 variants on myocardial infarction (MI) pathogenesis remains poorly understood. We investigated the influence of 5 TNFSF4 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs3861950, rs17346501, rs7518045, rs1234313, and rs3850641) on individual susceptibility to MI in a Chinese population of 285 MI patients and 645 controls. Genotyping was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-ligase detection reaction method. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, only the TNFSF4 tagging single nucleotide polymorphism rs7518045 exhibited a significant effect on MI risk; A allele (odds ratio = 0.68, 95% confidence interval = 0.46-1.00, P = 0.048) and AA genotype (odds ratio = 0.64, 95% confidence interval = 0.42-0.97, P = 0.036) were associated with a decreased risk of MI compared with the G allele and the combined AG/GG genotype, respectively. Moreover, the haplotype rs3861950C-rs17346501C-rs7518045A-rs1234313G containing the rs7518045 A allele also exhibited a significant association with a decreased risk for MI (odds ratio = 0.42, 95% confidence interval = 0.21-0.84, P = 0.011). Our study showed that the A allele of the rs7518045 and haplotype rs3861950C-rs17346501C-rs7518045A-rs1234313G in the TNFSF4 gene were associated with decreased MI risk in a Chinese Han population. Further studies using larger sample sizes and in diverse ethnic populations are needed to confirm the general validity of our findings.

Proteomic analysis identifies differentially expressed proteins participating in forming Type III brush hair in Yangtze River Delta white goat.

The Yangtze River Delta white goat is a goat breed that can produce high quality brush hair (Type III hair) around the world. This study aimed to compare Type III hair and non-Type III hair goat skin tissues using differentially expressed proteins based on 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis technology. The differentially expressed protein spots were analyzed using the PDquest 8.0 software. Ten protein spots were detected as positive for mass spectrometric analysis based on a threshold of 2-fold change. Through matching based on Ultraflex III TOF/TOF and MASCOT database, four differentially expressed proteins were identified. Fibrinogen beta chain isoform 1 and ATP synthase beta subunit were upregulated in Type III hair, while succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid-coenzyme A transferase 1-mitochondrial-like and actin-cytoplasmic 1 were upregulated in non-Type III hair. The 4 proteins play important roles in different aspects of hair follicle development. These findings could pave a good foundation for explaining the mechanism of forming Type III hair.