Generation and analysis of 10 000 ESTs from the half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis and identification of microsatellite and SNP markers

Three normalized cDNA libraries were constructed, two of which were constructed from reproductive tissues ovary and testis, and the other one from pooled immune tissues including head kidney, intestine, liver and spleen. A total of 10 542 clones were sequenced generating 10 128 expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Cluster analysis indicated a total of 5808 unique sequences including 1712 contigs and 4096 singletons. A total of 4249 (73%) of the unique ESTs had significant hits to the non-redundant protein database, 2253 of which were annotated using Gene Ontology (GO) terms. A total of 311 microsatellites (with 246 having sufficient flanking sequences for primer design) and 6294 putative SNPs were identified. These genome resources provide the material basis for future microarray development, marker validation and genetic linkage and QTL analysis.

Professionalism: the major factor influencing job satisfaction among Korean and Chinese nurses

BACKGROUND

The nursing shortage has become an internationally important issue. Nurses' professionalism and job satisfaction have been recognized as strong factors influencing their turnover. As international interchanges in nursing education are growing between Korea and China, understanding the commonalities and differences in factors associated with job satisfaction is critical to improving nurses' job retention.

AIM

To compare the factors influencing job satisfaction among Korean and Chinese nurses.

METHOD

A cross-sectional survey was conducted. The participants were comprised of 693 nurses at three general hospitals in Jinan, People's Republic of China and 593 nurses at two general hospitals in Seoul, Korea. A questionnaire was designed to measure the nurses' professionalism and job satisfaction. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to identify factors related to job satisfaction.

RESULTS

Professionalism was the common factor influencing job satisfaction in Korean and Chinese nurses. Professionalism was positively related to job satisfaction in both groups. Additional factors associated with job satisfaction were demographics and job characteristics such as age, job position and department of work, which were significant only in Korean nurses.

CONCLUSIONS

Professionalism was the most important factor influencing job satisfaction in both Korean and Chinese nurses. Enhancing nursing professionalism is recommended as a common strategy to improve nurses' job retention across different healthcare systems.

Structural and energetic mechanisms of cooperative autoinhibition and activation of Vav1

Vav proteins are guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for Rho family GTPases. They control processes including T cell activation, phagocytosis, and migration of normal and transformed cells. We report the structure and biophysical and cellular analyses of the five-domain autoinhibitory element of Vav1. The catalytic Dbl homology (DH) domain of Vav1 is controlled by two energetically coupled processes. The DH active site is directly, but weakly, inhibited by a helix from the adjacent Acidic domain. This core interaction is strengthened 10-fold by contacts of the calponin homology (CH) domain with the Acidic, pleckstrin homology, and DH domains. This construction enables efficient, stepwise relief of autoinhibition: initial phosphorylation events disrupt the modulatory CH contacts, facilitating phosphorylation of the inhibitory helix and consequent GEF activation. Our findings illustrate how the opposing requirements of strong suppression of activity and rapid kinetics of activation can be achieved in multidomain systems.

c-Abl and Arg tyrosine kinases regulate lysosomal degradation of the oncoprotein Galectin-3

Galectin-3 (Gal3) has important roles in tumor transformation and metastasis. This study shows that c-Abl and Abl-related gene (Arg) associate with and phosphorylate Gal3. The SH (Src homology)3 domains of c-Abl/Arg bind to a P(80)GPPSGP motif of Gal3, and Tyr79 and Tyr118 are the major tyrosine phosphorylation sites. A consequence of this interaction and phosphorylation is the significant impairment of chaperone-mediated autophagy of Gal3. Cells expressing Gal3 and treated with the c-Abl/Arg inhibitor STI571, Gal3-depleted cells, and Gal3-depleted cells expressing Gal3 phosphorylation mutants all display an increased sensitivity to apoptosis-inducing agents. In addition, tumor cells expressing the phosphorylation mutants show impaired tumorigenicity. These results partially explain the antiapoptotic effect of Abl and Arg. As tumors frequently overexpress Gal3, a c-Abl/Arg-specific inhibitor may potentially be applied along with other antitumor drugs to target the lysosomal degradation of Gal3 in tumor therapy.

Detection of PCR products using self-reporting duplex mutation primers

A novel oligonucleotide probe, with duplex mutation primers, which comprised a normal reverse primer labelled with a fluorophore at its 5'-end and a single-base mismatched complementary oligonucleotide labelled with a quencher at its 3'-end, was designed. Its application in the detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA of serum was investigated; results were compared with those obtained using a commercial TaqMan kit. There was a good linear correlation in the range of 10(2) approximately 10(7) copies/ml (r(2) = 0.999) with the method. Intra-experimental coefficients of variation (CVs) were 0.70% approximately 7.80%, and inter-experimental CVs were 0.78% approximately 9.02%, respectively. There was no significant difference of HBV genome number tested by the two methods (p<0.05) in 132 hepatitis B patients; HBV DNA was not detected in any serum samples of 20 healthy volunteers by the two methods.

Killing of Escherichia coli using the gas diffusion electrode system

To be best of our knowledge, this study is one of the first investigations to be performed into the potential benefits of gas diffusion electrode (GDE) system in controlling inactivation of E. coli. This study mainly focused on the dual electrodes disinfection with gas diffusion cathode, using Escherichia coli as the indicator microorganisms. The effects of Pt load W(Pt) and the pore-forming agent content W(NH(4)HCO(3)) in GDE, operating conditions such as pH value, oxygen flow rate Q(O(2)), salt content and current density on the disinfection were investigated, respectively. The experimental results showed that the disinfection improved with increasing Pt load W(Pt), but its efficiency at Pt load of 3 per thousand was equivalent to that at Pt load of 4 per thousand. Addition of the pore-forming agent in the appropriate amount improved the disinfection while drop of pH value resulted in the rapid rise of the germicidal efficacy and the disinfection shortened with increasing oxygen flow rate Q(O(2)). The system is more suitable for highly salt water. The germicidal efficacy increased with current density. However, the accelerating rate was different: it first increased with the current density, then decreased, and reached a maximum at current density of 6.7-8.3 mA/cm(2). The germicidal efficacy in the cathode compartment was about the same as in the anode compartment indicating the contribution of direct oxidation and indirect treatment of E. coli by the hydroxyl radical was similar to the oxidative indirect effect of the generated H(2)O(2). This technology is expensive in operating cost, further research is required to advance the understanding and reduce the operating cost of this technology.

66 ISOLATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND NUCLEAR REPROGRAMMING OF STEM CELLS DERIVED FROM ADULT PORCINE LIVER AND FAT

Genetic manipulation of the porcine genome to produce genetically modified pigs for various biomedical and agriculture applications has been hampered by the lack of an ideal cell type that can grow in culture for a long period of time and is amenable to various genetic manipulations with high efficiency. The cell type currently used for various genetic manipulations is fetal fibroblast. These cells have very limited life span in culture and the efficiency of gene targeting is very low. There is no report of isolation of functional embryonic stem cells (ESC) from pig that would have been used to produce transgenic pigs with high efficiency as has been possible in mice. Recently, porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) have been reported by 3 groups. However, they have yet to be tested for genetic manipulations and production of transgenic pigs. In this study, we developed a simple but novel strategy to recover stem cells from adult porcine liver and adipose tissues. Small colonies with few cells became visible as early as 2 to 3 days under reduced oxygen conditions on collagen-coated plates, and a full-grown colony with a fibroblast-like morphology took 10 to 14 days to form. Ten single colonies per tissue were isolated, subcultured, and monitored for growth and gene expression. Both of these cell types maintained steady growth through 70 population doublings (at the time of writing) and are still growing without any change in their morphology. Reverse transcription PCR was used to monitor gene expression. Both cell types show strong expression of c-Myc and KLF4. Moreover, low expression of Oct-4 and Lin28, 2 important genes related to pluripotency, was also detected in cells derived from adipose tissues, indicating that these cells could be easily reprogrammed to pluripotent state. These cells maintained a normal karyotype after long-term culture. Cell lines with stable genetic modifications and extended expression of transgene were obtained when these cells were transfected with a plasmid containing the neomycin resistance gene and selected under G418. Further, these 2 cell types, liver stem cells (LSC) and fat stem cells (FSC), and fetal fibroblasts (FF) as a control were used as nuclear donors to produce somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. The average fusion rates were 87, 81, and 89% for LSC, FSC, and FF, respectively. Of 2 recipients receiving nuclear transfer embryos produced with each cell type, one established pregnancy at Day 30 (50%). Efficiencies were 5% (11 fetuses/223 embryos transferred), 1.8% (4 fetuses/228 embryos transferred),and 5% (11 fetuses/219 embryos transferred) for LSC, FSC, and FF, respectively. Thus, these adult liver and fat stem cells are attractive cell types for cloning valuable adult animals with high efficiency and for SCNT transgenesis.

GCC signaling in colorectal cancer: Is colorectal cancer a paracrine deficiency syndrome?

Guanylyl cyclase C (GCC) is the receptor expressed by intestinal cells for the paracrine hormones guanylin and uroguanylin that coordinate mucosal homeostasis and its silencing contributes to intestinal transformation. It orchestrates proliferative and metabolic circuits by limiting the cell cycle and programming metabolic transitions central to regeneration along the crypt-villus axis. Mice deficient in GCC are more susceptible to colon cancer induced by germline mutations or carcinogens. Moreover, guanylin and uroguanylin are the most commonly lost gene products in colon cancer. The role of GCC as a tumor suppressor and the universal loss of its hormones in transformation suggest a paradigm in which colorectal cancer is a disease of paracrine hormone insufficiency. Indeed, GCC signaling reverses the tumorigenic phenotype of human colon cancer cells by regulating proliferation and metabolism. These data suggest a pathophysiological hypothesis in which GCC is a tumor suppressor coordinating proliferative homeostasis whose silencing through hormone loss initiates transformation. The correlative therapeutic hypothesis suggests that colorectal cancer is a disease of hormone insufficiency that can be prevented or treated by oral hormone replacement therapy employing GCC ligands.

Psychological stress induces eosinophils to produce corticotrophin releasing hormone in the intestine

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Psychological stress plays an important role in an array of intestinal disorders. Corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) is involved in the pathogenic process induced by psychological stress. The peripheral sources of CRH remain to be further understood. This paper aims to identify the sources of CRH in the intestine.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Mice were treated with chronic restraint stress. A double-labelling approach was taken to localise CRH expression in immune cells (including dendritic cells, mast cells, lymphocytes, enterochromaffin cells and eosinophils) in the intestine by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. As CRH was identified in eosinophils, a cell line of eosinophil, EoL-1 cells were treated with an array of putative stress mediators. The results showed that substance P (SP) induced the expression/release of CRH in eosinophils via neurokinin receptor 1 and 2. Co-culturing SP-primed eosinophils with the mast cell line, HMC-1 cells, we found that HMC-1 cells were activated by eosinophil-derived CRH that further induced T84 monolayer barrier dysfunction, which was further confirmed by a mouse model study.

CONCLUSION

Eosinophils express CRH in the jejunum in response to psychological stress. SP and its receptors mediate the effect of stress in the CRH expression in eosinophils. Eosinophil-derived CRH activates mast cells to induce the jejunum epithelial barrier dysfunction.

Intravenous fentanyl is exhaled and the concentration fluctuates with time

Previous studies have reported that fentanyl is eliminated predominantly by hepatic biotransformation, and that some is eliminated unchanged in urine and stools. No reports have described the elimination of fentanyl via the lungs. In this study, exhaled gas samples from eight anaesthetized patients undergoing cardiac surgery were analysed using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results confirmed that fentanyl was exhaled by patients after intravenous administration, that the concentration of exhaled fentanyl fluctuated with time and peak concentrations were reached approximately 15 - 20 min after intravenous fentanyl administration. Thus, in addition to hepatic biotrans formation and elimination via urine and faeces, fentanyl is also eliminated unchanged by the lungs. The potential risk to operating theatre personnel from long-term exposure to low levels of exhaled anaesthetic agents following intravenous administration to patients during surgery warrants further research.

Investigation of Propofol Concentrations in Human Breath by Solid-Phase Microextraction Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Propofol has been detected in human breath after being used as an intravenous anaesthetic, and this could provide a noninvasive method for monitoring propofol anaesthesia. The physicochemical properties of propofol allow it to diffuse across the alveolocapillary membrane and to be prepared as a calibration gas. In this study, headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC–MS), coupled with an external standard, was applied to assess propofol levels in the breath and plasma from three subjects under intravenous anaesthesia. Lower quantitation limits were 3.6 ng/l and 0.2 mg/l for propofol analysis in breath and arterial plasma, respectively. Intraday precision and recovery percentages for propofol detection in breath were 4.3-6.7% and 98-108%, respectively, and in plasma they were 3.8-6.1% and 90.1-125.1%, respectively. Propofol concentrations were 4.3-33.5 ng/l in breath and 3.2-6.8 mg/l in arterial plasma. A correlation was shown between propofol concentration in breath and plasma. Thus, HS-SPME-GC–MS, coupled with an external standard, could be a reliable and sensitive analytical technique for detecting propofol in breath during anaesthesia.

Mercury pollution in Asia: a review of the contaminated sites

This article describes the mercury contaminated sites in Asia. Among the various regions, Asia has become the largest contributor of anthropogenic atmospheric mercury (Hg), responsible for over half of the global emission. Based on different emission source categories, the mercury contaminated sites in Asia were divided into various types, such as Hg pollution from Hg mining, gold mining, chemical industry, metal smelting, coal combustion, metropolitan cities, natural resources and agricultural sources. By the review of a large number of studies, serious Hg pollutions to the local environment were found in the area influenced by chemical industry, mercury mining and gold mining. With the probable effects of a unique combination of climatic (e.g. subtropical climate), environmental (e.g. acid rain), economic (e.g. swift growth) and social factors (e.g. high population density), more effort is still needed to understand the biogeochemistry cycle of Hg and associated health effects in Asia. Safer alternatives and cleaner technologies must be developed and effectively implemented to reduce mercury emission; remedial techniques are also required to restore the historical mercury pollution in Asia.

Freeze-thawing as the factor of spontaneous activation of spermatozoa motility in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

In the present study, we investigated the possibility of spontaneous carp spermatozoa activation by freeze-thawing. To evaluate this, the parameters of spermatozoa motility percentage, velocity, ATP content level and fertility rate of sperm were used. The motility and velocity of spermatozoa activated by freeze-thawing were characterized by motile spermatozoa with a median value of 16% and a velocity of 98 microm/s. In addition, the motility and velocity of sperm from the thawed samples were significantly lower than in the control (median value of 100% for sperm motility and 175 microm/s for sperm velocity). Furthermore, a spontaneously activated spermatozoa motility terminated within five minutes post-thaw time. After freeze-thawing the ATP level significantly decreased with post-thaw time (46 nmol ATP/10(9) and 10 nmol ATP/10(9) at 25s and 10 min after thawing, respectively). Fertility of spermatozoa was not significantly affected within 10 min post-thaw. On the other hand, the fertility of frozen-thawed sperm was significantly lower if compared to fresh sperm. We conclude that the freeze-thawing procedure spontaneously activated spermatozoa motility in common carp. However, this activation did not negatively affect the fertility of frozen-thawed sperm.

Expression of cyclooxygenase-1/-2, microsomal prostaglandin-E synthase-1 and E-prostanoid receptor 2 and regulation of inflammatory mediators by PGE(2) in the amoeboid microglia in hypoxic postnatal rats and murine BV-2 cells

This study aimed to investigate the effect of hypoxia on the expression of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), microsomal prostaglandin-E synthase (mPGES-1), E-prostanoid receptor 2 (EP2) in microglia; and the roles of EP2-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathway in the prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) regulation of inflammatory mediators released by hypoxic BV-2 cells. Immunoexpression of COX-1, COX-2, mPGES-1 and EP2 was localized in the amoeboid microglial cells (AMC), a nascent brain macrophage in the developing brain, as confirmed by double labeling with OX-42 and lectin, specific markers of microglia. AMC emitted a more intense immunofluorescence in hypoxic rats when compared with the matching controls. In postnatal rats subjected to hypoxia, mRNA and protein expression levels of COX-1, COX-2 and mPGES-1 along with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS) and PGE(2) product in the callosal tissue were significantly increased. The results were shared in the BV-2 cells except for COX-1 mRNA and protein whose levels remained unaltered. Interestingly, treatment with EP2 antagonist AH-6809 resulted in suppression of hypoxia induced EP2, IL-1beta and iNOS mRNA and protein expression, TNF-alpha protein expression and intracellular cAMP level in BV-2 cells. It is suggested that PGE(2) may regulate above inflammatory mediators in the activated microglia via EP2-cAMP signaling pathway in hypoxic conditions.

Vector prime protein boost vaccination in the setting of myeloablative-induced lymphopenia suppresses growth of leukemia and solid tumors

We have developed a vaccine, which is designed to induce tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-specific T cells and antibodies in the setting of profound lymphopenia induced by myeloablative therapy and T-cell-depleted bone marrow transplantation. Test mice were injected subcutaneously (sc) with the 32DP210Bcr-Abl cell line, which is positive for the p210Bcr-Abl protein (Group 1). In Group 2, 7 days after injection of the 32DP210Bcr-Abl positive cell line, the mice received 900 cGy total body irradiation (TBI) followed in 1 h by the intravenous infusion of 10 million T-cell-depleted syngeneic bone marrow cells (TCDBMT) (Group 2). The leukemia-bearing group received an intravenous injection of 10 million spleen cells (donor lymphocyte infusions) from unvaccinated (Group 3) and TAA/ecdCD40L-vaccinated (Group 4) syngeneic mice 3 days after completion of the TBI and TCDBMT. Groups 3 and 4 mice received three additional sc vaccinations at 7-day intervals with the TAA/ecdCD40L vaccine, in which the TAA was taken from the junctional peptide of the P210bcr-Abl protein. The survival of Groups 3 and 4 mice was significantly longer than that in Groups 1 and 2 mice. Vaccinated mice from Group 4, which developed complete responses, survived up to 350 days post-injection of the leukemia cells without any evidence of leukemia regrowth.