RESUMO
Unfixed tissue specimens most frequently are stored for long term research uses at either -80° C or in vapor phase liquid nitrogen (VPLN). There is little information concerning the effects such long term storage on tissue RNA or protein available for extraction. Aliquots of 49 specimens were stored for 5-12 years at -80° C or in VPLN. Twelve additional paired specimens were stored for 1 year under identical conditions. RNA was isolated from all tissues and assessed for RNA yield, total RNA integrity and mRNA integrity. Protein stability was analyzed by surface-enhanced or matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS, MALDI-TOF-MS) and nano-liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (nLC-ESI-MS/MS). RNA yield and total RNA integrity showed significantly better results for -80° C storage compared to VPLN storage; the transcripts that were preferentially degraded during VPLN storage were these involved in antigen presentation and processing. No consistent differences were found in the SELDI-TOF-MS, MALDI-TOF-MS or nLC-ESI-MS/MS analyses of specimens stored for more than 8 years at -80° C compared to those stored in VPLN. Long term storage of human research tissues at -80° C provides at least the same quality of RNA and protein as storage in VPLN.
Assuntos
Congelamento , Proteínas/química , RNA/química , Preservação de Tecido/métodos , Temperatura Baixa , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Análise em Microsséries , Neoplasias/patologia , Proteômica/métodos , RNA Mensageiro/química , Espectrometria de Massas por Ionização e Dessorção a Laser Assistida por MatrizRESUMO
Antimicrobial peptides are widely distributed mediators of innate host defense in animals and plants. A 36 amino acid antimicrobial peptide belonging to the defensin family, and named human beta-defensin-1 (HBD-1), was purified recently from hemodialysate fluid, but its tissue sources were not identified. By Northern blotting, we found the highest concentrations of HBD-1 mRNA in the kidney and the female reproductive tract. In situ hybridization localized the HBD-1 mRNA in the epithelial layers of the loops of Henle, distal tubules, and the collecting ducts of the kidney and the epithelial layers of the vagina, ectocervix, endocervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes in the female reproductive tract. Using a novel technique designed to detect cationic peptides in urine, we recovered several forms of HBD-1 ranging in length from 36 to 47 amino acid (aa) residues and differing from each other by amino terminal truncation. The total concentration of HBD-1 forms in voided urine was estimated at 10-100 microg/liter, with individual variations in the total amount of HBD-1 peptides and the relative proportion of HBD-1 forms. Multiple forms of HBD-1 (size 36-47 aa) were also found in the blood plasma, bound to carrier macromolecules that released the peptide under acid conditions, and in vaginal mucosal secretions (39, 40, and 44 aa). By immunostaining, HBD-1 was located in the kidney within the lumen of the loops of Henle, but no intracellular storage sites were identified in renal or female reproductive tissues. Recombinant HBD-1 forms (36, 39, and 42 aa) and natural HBD-1 forms were antimicrobial to laboratory and clinical strains of Escherichia coli at micromolar concentrations. HBD-1 activity was not changed appreciably by low pH, but was inhibited by high salt conditions. Some of the HBD-1 peptides retained their activity against E. coli in unconcentrated (low conductance) urine, and the 36 aa form was microbicidal even in normal (high conductance) urine. Production of HBD-1 in the urogenital tract could contribute to local antimicrobial defense.
Assuntos
Anti-Infecciosos/metabolismo , Proteínas Sanguíneas/metabolismo , Sistema Urogenital/metabolismo , beta-Defensinas , Adulto , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Anti-Infecciosos/isolamento & purificação , Sequência de Bases , Proteínas Sanguíneas/genética , Proteínas Sanguíneas/isolamento & purificação , DNA Complementar/genética , Defensinas , Feminino , Doenças Urogenitais Femininas/prevenção & controle , Genitália Feminina/metabolismo , Humanos , Hibridização In Situ , Rim/metabolismo , Masculino , Doenças Urogenitais Masculinas , Dados de Sequência Molecular , RNA Mensageiro/genética , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Proteínas Recombinantes/genética , Distribuição TecidualRESUMO
Fasioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) has recently been localized to 4q35. We have studied four families with FSHD. Linkage to the 4q35 probes D4S163, D4S139, and D4S171 was confirmed. We found no recombinants helpful in detailed localization of the FSHD gene. Two of our families include males with a rapidly progressive muscle disease that had been diagnosed, on the basis of clinical features, as Duchenne muscular dystrophy. One of these males is available for linkage study and shares the haplotype of his FSHD-affected aunt and cousin.
