Detection of quantitative trait loci for growth- and fatness-related traits in a large-scale White Duroc × Erhualian intercross pig population

Growth and fatness are economically important traits in pigs. In this study, a genome scan was performed to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 14 growth and fatness traits related to body weight, backfat thickness and fat weight in a large-scale White Duroc × Erhualian F(2) intercross. A total of 76 genome-wide significant QTL were mapped to 16 chromosomes. The most significant QTL was found on pig chromosome (SSC) 7 for fatness with unexpectedly small confidence intervals of ∼2 cM, providing an excellent starting point to identify causal variants. Common QTL for both fatness and growth traits were found on SSC4, 5, 7 and 8, and shared QTL for fat deposition were detected on SSC1, 2 and X. Time-series analysis of QTL for body weight at six growth stages revealed the continuously significant effects of the QTL on SSC4 at the fattening period and the temporal-specific expression of the QTL on SSC7 at the foetus and fattening stages. For fatness traits, Chinese Erhualian alleles were associated with increased fat deposition except that at the major QTL on SSC7. For growth traits, most of White Duroc alleles enhanced growth rates except for those at three significant QTL on SSC6, 7 and 9. The results confirmed many previously reported QTL and also detected novel QTL, revealing the complexity of the genetic basis of growth and fatness in pigs.

Does 6% hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 impact differently on blood glucose than 4% gelatin in patients receiving open heart surgery?

Objectives: To investigate whether starch-based colloid may impact differently on blood glucose than a gelatin-based colloid in adult patients receiving open heart surgery.

Methods: 70 adult patients scheduled for elective first-time cardiac surgery were enrolled and randomized into two groups. The circuits were primed with either 6% HES 130/0.4 or 4% gelatin. The peak glucose level, incidence of hyperglycemia, glucose variation and glucose level at different time points during operation were compared between the two groups. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was accepted as significant.

Results: The peak glucose (150±30mg/dl vs 142±27, p=0.236) and glucose variation demonstrated by standard deviation (26±12mg/dl vs 23±11mg/dl, p=0.202) were comparable between the two groups. Repeated measurement ANOVA revealed that the main effect for artificial colloid was not significant (p=0.349).

Conclusions: With the data available, we could not prove that starch-based colloid (HES130) had a different impact on intra-operative blood glucose than a gelatin-based colloid in adult patients receiving open heart surgery.

Domain-based assays of individual antibody concentrations in an oligoclonal combination targeting a single protein

Quantitation of individual monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) within a combined antibody drug product is required for preclinical and clinical drug development, including pharmacokinetic (PK), toxicology, stability, and biochemical characterization studies of such drugs. We have developed an antitoxin, XOMA 3AB, consisting of three recombinant mAbs that potently neutralize the known subtypes of type A botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT/A). The three mAbs bind nonoverlapping BoNT/A epitopes with high affinity. XOMA 3AB is being developed as a treatment for botulism resulting from BoNT/A. To develop antibody-specific assays, we cloned, expressed, and purified BoNT/A domains from Escherichia coli. Each mAb bound only to its specific domain with affinity comparable to the binding to holotoxin. mAb-specific domains were used to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for characterization of the integrity and binding activity of the three mAbs in the drug product. An electrochemiluminescence bridging assay that is robust to interference from components in serum was also developed, and we demonstrate that it can be used for PK assays. This type of antigen engineering to generate mAb-specific domains is a general method allowing quantitation and characterization of individual mAbs in a mAb cocktail that binds the same protein and is superior to anti-idiotype approaches.

Fiber Confocal Back-Scattering Micro-Spectral Analysis for Single Cell

A fiber confocal back scattering micro-spectrometer (FCBS) was established, which combined fiber confocal microscopy with light scattering spectroscopy (LSS) for early diagnosis of the cancer cell at cellular level. An adherent monolayer human normal gastric epithelium line GES-1 and a carcinoma cell line NCI-N87 as well as a normal liver cell line L02 and a high-metastatic-potential hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HCC-LM3 were measured respectively. The spectral results showed that micro-back-scattering intensity from GES-1 cell and L02 cell possessed interesting oscillations in contrast to NCI-N87 and HCC-LM3 cells. There was significant difference between the spectra of the normal and the cancer cells (p < 0.001). This demonstrates that the FCBS system here is able to distinguish dysplastic cells from normal cells at cellular level.

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B compromises the immune tolerant status in the airway mucosa

BACKGROUND

The breakdown of immune tolerance plays a critical role in allergic disorders; the mechanism of breaching immune tolerance remains largely unknown.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to investigate the role of Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) in the interference of the immune tolerance in the nasal mucosa.

METHODS

The immune tolerant components, tolerogenic dendritic cells (TolDC) and regulatory T cells (Treg), were assessed in the surgically removed nasal mucosa from patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) or non-AR chronic rhinitis. The contents of SEB and integrin alphavbeta6 (avb6) in the nasal epithelium were assessed using enzyme-linked immunoassay. The ability of avb6 on TolDC induction and the effect of SEB on suppression of avb6 in nasal epithelial cells were observed in cell culture.

RESULTS

Compared with that in the non-AR nasal mucosa, the frequencies of TolDCs/Tregs were lower, the contents of SEB were higher and the contents of avb6 were lower in the AR nasal mucosa. Avb6 had the ability to induce the development of TolDCs in vitro; the latter had the ability to induce Treg development. The expression of avb6 was detected in nasal epithelial cells in culture that could be suppressed by SEB.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The components of immune tolerance machinery, TolDCs and Tregs were suppressed in the AR nasal mucosa. The increases in SEB and decreases in avb6 in nasal epithelium are associated with the compromises of immune tolerance in the nasal mucosa. SEB has the ability to suppress the expression of avb6 in nasal epithelial cells.

Heritable alteration in DNA methylation induced by nitrogen-deficiency stress accompanies enhanced tolerance by progenies to the stress in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Cytosine methylation is responsive to various biotic- and abiotic-stresses, which may produce heritable epialleles. Nitrogen (N)-deficiency is an abiotic stress being repeatedly experienced by plants. To address possible epigenetic consequences of N-deficiency-stress, we investigated the stability of cytosine methylation in rice (Oryza sativa L.) subsequent to a chronic (a whole-generation) N-deficiency at two levels, moderate (20mg/L) and severe (10mg/L), under hydroponic culture. MSAP analysis revealed that locus-specific methylation alteration occurred in leaf-tissue of the stressed plants (S(0)) experiencing either level of N-deficiency, which was validated by gel-blotting. Analysis on three non-stressed self-fed progenies (S(1), S(2) and S(3)) by gel-blotting indicated that ca. 50% of the altered methylation patterns in somatic cells (leaf) of the stressed S(0) plants were recaptured in S(1), which were then stably inherited to S(2) and S(3). Bisulfite sequencing of two variant MSAP loci with homology to low-copy retrotransposons on one stressed plant (S(0)) and its non-stressed progenies (S(1) and S(2)) showed that whereas one locus exhibited limited and non-heritable CHH methylation alteration, the other locus manifested dramatic heritable hypermethylation at nearly all cytosine sites within the assayed region. Intriguingly, when two groups of S(2) plants descended from the same N-deficiency-stressed S(0) plant were re-subjected to the stress, the group inheriting the modified methylation patterns showed enhanced tolerance to the N-deficiency-stress compared with the group bearing the original patterns. Our results thus demonstrate heritability of an acquired adaptive trait in rice, which was accompanied by epigenetic inheritance of modified cytosine methylation patterns, implicating an epigenetic basis underlying the inheritance of an acquired trait in plants.

Effects of fumigants on microbial diversity and persistence of E. coli O15:H7 in contrasting soil microcosms

Persistence of E. coli O157 in the environment is a serious public health concern. However, little is known about the persistence of this pathogen after exposure to chemical compounds like fumigants in the environment. In this study, the persistence behavior of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 was investigated after fumigation with methyl bromide (MeBr; CH(3)Br) and methyl iodide (MeI, iodomethane; CH(3)I) in soil microcosms under laboratory conditions. Our goal was to assess changes in soil microbial community structure and persistence of E. coli O157:H7 in microcosm soils after fumigation. PCR was used to amplify 16S rRNA genes from total bacterial community composition, and the products were subjected to denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Microbial diversity as determined by DGGE was significantly higher in clay soil than sandy soil. Real-time PCR and plate counts were used to quantify the survival of E. coli O157:H7 in the two soils after fumigation with MeBr and MeI. The survival of the pathogen was higher in the non fumigated controls than the fumigated treatments when determined using plate counts. These results were confirmed by real time PCR analysis targeting the stx1, stx2, and the eae genes. E. coli O157:H7 survived for about 35 days when determined using the plate count method but continued to be detected at about the detection limit of 10(2) by real time PCR for more than 86 days. Our results showed that there was a fast inactivation of the pathogen during the first 35 days. After this period, a small proportion of the pathogen continued to survive in the soil microcosms. Subsequent enrichment of soil samples and immunomagnetic separation revealed the continuous presence of viable cells after 86 days of incubation. The data presented contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of E. coli O157:H7 in soil, and showed the need for more investigation of the role of dormant cells in soil that may be a source for recontamination of the environment.

Cryoprotective effect of an insect antifreeze protein MpAFP 698 and its mutants from the desert beetle Microdera punctipennis

An insect antifreeze protein, MpAFP698, from the desert beetle Microdera punctipennis, shares 77% similarity with TmTHP (YL-3) from Tenebrio molitor. The predicted tertiary structure for MpAFP698 was modeled as a regular A-helix with TCT motifs arrayed to form the putative ice-binding surface. This model was validated via site-directed mutagenesis. The results suggest that the desert beetle in central Asia has evolved antifreeze proteins similar to those from North America continent. In an additional study, the recombinant MpAFP698 and its mutants were expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3). The thermal hysteresis activity of MpAFP698 was 1.73 degree C at 1.0 mg/ml. MpAFP698 was also tested by in vitro antifreeze activity assay to evaluate its cryoprotective effect at -20 degree C. MpAFP698 displays high cryoprotective effect on bacteria cells at freezing temperatures.

Be alert to tuberculosis-mediated glomerulonephritis: a retrospective study

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection causing glomerulonephritis is a rare disorder. This retrospective study analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis-mediated glomerulonephritis (TB-GN) between 2002 and 2009, as well as the diagnostic tools used. These findings were then compared with those of patients with primary glomerulonephritis (P-GN). The records of all patients were reviewed. The diagnosis of TB-GN was based on renal hematuria and/or proteinuria and cure after antituberculosis therapy alone plus urine culture positive for M. tuberculosis, demonstration of typical tubercle granulomas on renal biopsy specimens, or the detection of M. tuberculosis DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on renal specimens. Forty-six patients with TB-GN and 49 patients with P-GN were included. Compared with patients in the P-GN group, most (76%) patients with TB-GN had a history of TB. Systemic symptoms were much more frequent in patients with TB-GN than local genitourinary symptoms. Serological testing showed a statistical difference between the two groups. Immunoglobulin A nephropathy was found in the majority (72%) of patients with TB-GN. M. tuberculosis DNA detection was positive in 39 (84.8%) patients, a much higher positive rate of diagnosis than that with urine culture for M. tuberculosis. The manifestation of TB-GN is atypical and nonspecific. It warrants a high index of suspicion when patients with renal hematuria and proteinuria fail to respond to standard treatments for P-GN. Clinicians should pay close attention to the medical history and results of special laboratory tests. M. tuberculosis DNA detection on renal biopsy specimens should be considered in order to confirm the diagnosis of TB-GN.