Validating genetic risk associations for ovarian cancer through the international Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium

The search for genetic variants associated with ovarian cancer risk has focused on pathways including sex steroid hormones, DNA repair, and cell cycle control. The Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC) identified 10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes in these pathways, which had been genotyped by Consortium members and a pooled analysis of these data was conducted. Three of the 10 SNPs showed evidence of an association with ovarian cancer at P< or =0.10 in a log-additive model: rs2740574 in CYP3A4 (P=0.011), rs1805386 in LIG4 (P=0.007), and rs3218536 in XRCC2 (P=0.095). Additional genotyping in other OCAC studies was undertaken and only the variant in CYP3A4, rs2740574, continued to show an association in the replication data among homozygous carriers: OR(homozygous(hom))=2.50 (95% CI 0.54-11.57, P=0.24) with 1406 cases and 2827 controls. Overall, in the combined data the odds ratio was 2.81 among carriers of two copies of the minor allele (95% CI 1.20-6.56, P=0.017, p(het) across studies=0.42) with 1969 cases and 3491 controls. There was no association among heterozygous carriers. CYP3A4 encodes a key enzyme in oestrogen metabolism and our finding between rs2740574 and risk of ovarian cancer suggests that this pathway may be involved in ovarian carcinogenesis. Additional follow-up is warranted.

Extracting hysteresis from nonlinear measurement of wavefront-sensorless adaptive optics system

In many scientific and medical applications wavefront-sensorless adaptive optics (AO) systems are used to correct the wavefront aberration by optimizing a certain target parameter, which is nonlinear with respect to the control signal to the deformable mirror (DM). Hysteresis is the most common nonlinearity of DMs, which can be corrected if the information about the hysteresis behavior is present. We report a general approach to extract hysteresis from the nonlinear behavior of the adaptive optical system, with the illustration of a Foucault knife test, where the voltage-intensity relationship consists of both hysteresis and some memoryless nonlinearity. The hysteresis extracted here can be used for modeling and linearization of the AO system.

Proton irradiation of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene for space applications

The effect of low dose proton irradiation on the morphology of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was studied. The integral proton dose was ranging from 900 Gy to 1200 Gy. The experimental data revealed that low dose proton irradiation in the presence of oxygen leads to the formation of intermolecular crosslinks in UHMWPE and that proton irradiation produces morphological changes that involve a reduction in the thickness of the interfacial region and increase in the thickness of the amorphous region. The observed morphological changes depend on the integral dose

Increased expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in rat cardiac allografts

This study was designed to investigate the role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) during chronic cardiac allograft rejection. Wistar rats were used as donors, and SD rats as recipients heterotopic cardiac transplants. Recipients pretreated with inoculation of donor splenocytes (SPC) followed by cyclophosphamide (CP) were divided into 4 groups: (A) untreated group (n = 18) without immunosuppression; (B) SPC plus CP-treated group (n = 18) that were euthanized at 15-120 days posttransplantation; (C) CsA-treated group (n = 18) euthanized at 2-3 months posttransplantation; and (D) tolerance group (n = 18) treated with SPC plus CP and monitored for at least 1 year posttransplantation. Cardiac allografts were harvested at various times for immunohistochemical studies performed to evaluate the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Pretreatment of animals with SPC and CP induced long-term cardiac allograft survival. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated a low level of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression in cardiac allograft muscle and coronary arteries among Groups B and D. In contrast, the expressions of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in cardiac allografts of Groups A and C were significantly higher than those in Groups B and D. Our results suggested that the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 plays an important role during the development of chronic cardiac allograft rejection.

A comparative analysis of mitochondrial genomes in Coleoptera (Arthropoda: Insecta) and genome descriptions of six new beetles

Coleoptera is the most diverse group of insects with over 360,000 described species divided into four suborders: Adephaga, Archostemata, Myxophaga, and Polyphaga. In this study, we present six new complete mitochondrial genome (mtgenome) descriptions, including a representative of each suborder, and analyze the evolution of mtgenomes from a comparative framework using all available coleopteran mtgenomes. We propose a modification of atypical cox1 start codons based on sequence alignment to better reflect the conservation observed across species as well as findings of TTG start codons in other genes. We also analyze tRNA-Ser(AGN) anticodons, usually GCU in arthropods, and report a conserved UCU anticodon as a possible synapomorphy across Polyphaga. We further analyze the secondary structure of tRNA-Ser(AGN) and present a consensus structure and an updated covariance model that allows tRNAscan-SE (via the COVE software package) to locate and fold these atypical tRNAs with much greater consistency. We also report secondary structure predictions for both rRNA genes based on conserved stems. All six species of beetle have the same gene order as the ancestral insect. We report noncoding DNA regions, including a small gap region of about 20 bp between tRNA-Ser(UCN) and nad1 that is present in all six genomes, and present results of a base composition analysis.

Common variants in mismatch repair genes and risk of colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The mismatch repair (MMR) genes are in charge of maintaining genomic integrity. Mutations in the MMR genes are at the origin of a familial form of colorectal cancer (CRC). This syndrome accounts for only a small proportion of the excess familial risk of CRC. The characteristics of the alleles that account for the remainder of cases are unknown. To assess the putative associations between common variants in MMR genes and CRC, we performed a genetic case-control study using a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) tagging approach.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 2299 cases and 2284 unrelated controls were genotyped for 68 tagging SNPs in seven MMR genes (MLH1, MLH3, MSH2, MSH3, MSH6, PMS1 and PMS2). Genotype frequencies were measured in cases and controls and analysed using univariate analysis. Haplotypes were constructed and analysed using logistic regression. We also carried out a two-locus interaction analysis and a global test analysis.

RESULTS

Genotype frequencies were found to be marginally different in cases and controls for MSH3 rs26279 with a rare homozygote OR = 1.31 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05 to 1.62], p(trend) = 0.04. We found a rare MLH1 (frequency <5%) haplotype, increasing the risk of colorectal cancer: (OR = 9.76; 95% CI, 1.25 to 76.29; p = 0.03). The two-locus interaction analysis has exhibited signs of interaction between SNPs located in genes MSH6 and MSH2. Global testing has showed no evidence of interaction.

CONCLUSION

It is unlikely that common variants in MMR genes contribute significantly to colorectal cancer.

Poster - Thurs Eve-11: Quantitative imaging of 213Bi alpha-emitter with a beta-imager

Targeted alpha-particle emitter therapy is emerging as a promising approach for treating metastatic cancer. An understanding of the biodistribution of targeted alpha-emitters at the cell level is important in evaluating potential efficacy and toxicity. This is best accomplished by autoradiography of tissue samples, ex vivo. We have investigated the feasibility of using a high resolution, quantitative beta-imager (Biospace Mesures β-Imager) to detect the short-lived alpha-particle emitter, Bismuth-213 (213Bi). The advantages of this detector include: shorter acquisition time than film-based autoradiography, which is critical for an isotope with such a short half-life; high resolution; and data acquisition in list mode. While our interest in 213Bi lies in the α, the decay chain includes high energy β^- particles, enabling this study. Published studies using the β-Imager show predominantly qualitative results, with the quantitative depending on long exposure time or direct comparisons. At low count rate the detector auto-regulates by varying the HV, directly affecting the results. We imaged a phantom prepared from 213Bi in 5% gelatin. We plot only the results in a narrow HV range and fit an exponential decay function to obtain a half-life close to the expected value. We plot the ratio of the exponential fit to the measured count rate value against HV for all count rates and find a functional correlation between HV and count rate. A similar correction for gas flow ratio variations is also applied. As the remaining fluctuations conform to Gaussian statistics, this suggests that we have successfully calibrated 213Bi for future studies.

Cell-based interventions for neurologic conditions: ethical challenges for early human trials

BACKGROUND

Attempts to translate basic stem cell research into treatments for neurologic diseases and injury are well under way. With a clinical trial for one such treatment approved and in progress in the United States, and additional proposals under review, we must begin to address the ethical issues raised by such early forays into human clinical trials for cell-based interventions for neurologic conditions.

METHODS

An interdisciplinary working group composed of experts in neuroscience, cell biology, bioethics, law, and transplantation, along with leading disease researchers, was convened twice over 2 years to identify and deliberate on the scientific and ethical issues raised by the transition from preclinical to clinical research of cell-based interventions for neurologic conditions.

RESULTS

While the relevant ethical issues are in many respects standard challenges of human subjects research, they are heightened in complexity by the novelty of the science, the focus on the CNS, and the political climate in which the science is proceeding.

CONCLUSIONS

Distinctive challenges confronting US scientists, administrators, institutional review boards, stem cell research oversight committees, and others who will need to make decisions about work involving stem cells and their derivatives and evaluate the ethics of early human trials include evaluating the risks, safety, and benefits of these trials, determining and evaluating cell line provenance, and determining inclusion criteria, informed consent, and the ethics of conducting early human trials in the public spotlight. Further study and deliberation by stakeholders is required to move toward professional and institutional policies and practices governing this research.

Stable microwave coaxial cavity plasma system at atmospheric pressure

We present a systematic study of the development of a novel atmospheric microwave plasma system for material processing in the pressure range up to 760 torr and the microwave input power up to 6 kW. Atmospheric microwave plasma was reliably produced and sustained by using a cylindrical resonator with the TM(011) cavity mode. The applicator and the microwave cavity, which is a cylindrical resonator, are carefully designed and optimized with the time dependent finite element Maxwell equation solver. The azimuthal apertures are placed at the maximum magnetic field positions between the cavity and the applicator to maximize the coupling efficiency into the microwave plasma at a resonant frequency of 2.45 GHz. The system consists of a magnetron power supply, a circulator, a directional coupler, a three-stub tuner, a dummy load, a coaxial cavity, and a central cavity. Design and construction of the resonant structures and diagnostics of atmospheric plasma using optical experiments are discussed in various ranges of pressure and microwave input power for different types of gases.