Rescue from dominant follicle atresia by follicle-stimulating hormone in mice

We investigated the effects of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on atresia of the dominant follicle and changes in relevant apoptosis genes in granulosa cells of dominant follicles regulated by FSH in vivo. Four-week-old mice were administered FSH by intraperitoneal injection to induce follicular maturation. Granulosa cells of dominant follicles were collected at 48, 72, and 96 h after the first FSH injection. Phosphate-buffered saline was injected as a control. The mRNA levels of relevant granulosa cell apoptosis genes were examined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and apoptosis of granulosa cells in dominant ovarian follicles was determined by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Apoptosis in granulosa cells of dominant follicles was almost TUNEL-negative at 48, 72-66, 72, and 96-90 h after the first FSH injection, but granulosa cell apoptosis in dominant follicles was clearly detected at 96, 102, and 102-96 h by TUNEL. The BIM, caspase-3, and caspase-9 mRNA expression levels were significantly lower after FSH treatment at 72-66 and 96-90 h, compared with that at 72 and 96 h (P < 0.05). Caspase-8 and FasL mRNA expressions did not respond to FSH. FSH rescued granulosa cells from apoptosis when the relevant apoptosis genes were upregulated in early atretic follicles. FSH did not rescue granulosa cells from apoptosis if the DNA was cut into fragments by endonucleases. Thus, the rescue by FSH of granulosa cells from apoptosis and dominant follicle atresia may be accomplished by inhibition of apoptosis in mitochondria.

Identification of a surface protective antigen, CSP of Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus

Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus (Streptococcus zooepidemicus, SEZ) is an important pathogen associated with opportunistic infections of a wide range of species, including horses, pigs and humans. The absence of suitable vaccine confounds the control of SEZ infection. Cell surface protein (CSP) has been identified as an immunogenic protein in the previous study but its protective efficacy is not clear. In the present study, the purified recombinant CSP could elicit a significant humoral antibody response and could confer significant protection against challenge with lethal dose of SEZ in mice model. CSP could adhere to the HEp-2 cells confirmed by flow cytometry and inhibit adherence of SEZ to HEp-2 cells in an adherence inhibition assay. In addition, real-time PCR demonstrated that CSP was induced in vivo following infection of mice with SEZ. Our findings suggest that CSP may play a potential role in the pathogenesis of SEZ and could be a target for the development of a novel subunit vaccine against SEZ infection.

Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor A expression in mouse granulosa cells by lentivector-mediated RNAi

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been found responsible for the induction of proliferation and differentiation in granulosa cells. We constructed four short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression plasmids targeting the mouse VEGFA gene, and examined their effect on VEGF expression in mouse granulosa cells (MGC) in vitro. Four different shRNA oligonucleotides targeting the coding sequence of mouse VEGFA mRNA and one negative control (shNC) were designed and cloned into a pGPU6/GFP/Neo siRNA expression vector, and transiently transfected into MGC. At 48 h post-transfection, total RNA was extracted from the cells and subjected to qRT-PCR analysis. The most effective interference vector, shVEGF1487 was chosen for lentiviral construction. The recombinant plasmid was then transfected into 293FT cells via Lipofectamine(TM) 2000-mediated gene transfer, for the production of lentivirus, and then concentrated via ultracentrifugation. This lentiviral vector was then used for the transduction of MGC. VEGFA gene expression, apoptosis genes and VEGFA receptor genes were detected by qRT-PCR, the VEGFA protein level in culture media by ELISA assay and protein levels in MGC by Western blot analysis. The four VEGFA expression plasmids were successfully constructed and the most effective interference vector, shVEGF1487, was chosen for lentiviral production and MGC transduction. There was significant knockdown of the VEGFA gene, receptor genes and apoptosis genes for all the shVEGF constructs, compared with the shNC and Mock controls. The lentiviral vector also gave significant knockdown of the VEGFA gene. Protein levels were lower for most of the shVEGFs based on Western blot analysis with exception of VEGF1359; in this case, it was higher than shNC but lower than for the Mock group. Lentivector-transduced MGC also gave lower levels of protein. We conclude that shVEGF expression plasmids and lentivector carrying RNAi are promising tools for the inhibition of VEGF, the corresponding receptor genes, and apoptosis gene expression in MGC.

Simultaneous measurement of electro-optical and converse-piezoelectric coefficients of PMN-PT ceramics

A new scheme is proposed to measure the electro-optical (EO) and converse-piezoelectric (CPE) coefficients of the PMN-PT ceramics simultaneously, in which the PMN-PT ceramics acts as the guiding layer of a symmetrical metal-cladding waveguide. As the applied electric field exerts on the waveguide, the effective refractive index (RI) (or synchronous angle) can be effectively tuned from a selected mode to another adjacent mode owing to the high sensitivity and the small spacing of the ultra-high order modes. Subsequently, a correlation between EO and CPE coefficients is established. With this correlation and the measurement of the effective RI change to the applied voltage, the quadratic EO and CPE coefficients of PMN-PT ceramics are obtained simultaneously. The obtained results are further checked by fitting the variations of effective RI to a quadratic function. Our measurement method can be extended to a wide range of other materials.

Identification of Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus surface associated proteins by enzymatic shaving

Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus (Streptococcus zooepidemicus, SEZ) is responsible for a wide variety of infections in many species. Attempts to control the infection caused by this agent are hampered by a lack of effective vaccines and useful diagnostic kits. Surface proteins of bacterial species are usually involved in interaction with host and hopefully act as biomarkers for serodiagnosis and subunit vaccine components. In this study, the surface proteins of SEZ C55138 strain were systematically identified by surface shaving with trypsin and a total of 20 surface associated proteins were found. Further analysis of five selected novel proteins (SzM, FBP, SAP, CSP and 5'-Nu) revealed that they all expressed in vivo and their recombinant derived proteins could be reactive with convalescent sera. These identified immunogenic surface proteins have potential as SEZ vaccine candidates and diagnostic markers.

Increased circulating immunosuppressive CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells correlate with clinical cancer stage and pathological grade in patients with bladder carcinoma

This study investigated CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 64 patients with bladder carcinoma (BC) and 14 healthy controls. Cell phenotypes were determined and CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells, CD14(+)HLA-DR(+) cells and PBMCs depleted of CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells were isolated. Proliferation of stimulated PBMCs and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production after addition of CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) and CD14(+)HLA-DR(+) cells at different ratios were measured. IFN-γ production was also measured after addition of L-arginine and/or antitransforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) neutralizing monoclonal antibody, and in PBMCs depleted of CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells. The proportion of CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells in BC patients was significantly higher than in controls. CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells significantly decreased T-cell proliferation and IFN-γ production in a dose-dependent manner. This suppressive activity was partially reversed by L-arginine or anti-TGF-β. Enhanced IFN-γ secretion was also seen in PBMCs depleted of CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells. The level of CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells was associated with gender, tumour size, number of tumours, cancer pathological grade and clinical stage. CD14(+)HLA-DR(-/low) cells may represent a subpopulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in BC patients.

Prognostic significance of cyclinD1 amplification and the co-alteration of cyclinD1/pRb/ppRb in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

CyclinD1/pRb/ppRb is one of the most important pathways regulating the cell cycle, and related with the development of many cancers. However, the co-alteration of CyclinD1/pRb/ppRb in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas is less understood. This study aims to analyze the combined prognostic significance of cyclinD1 (CCND1) DNA amplification and the co-alteration of CCND1/pRb/ppRB in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. CCND1 DNA amplification and the protein expression of CCND1, pRb, and ppRb on 100 tumor specimens and 11 normal tissues were detected using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Their prognosis significance was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. We found that 41% of the patients had CCND1 DNA amplification, which had a short survival time compared with the patients without CCND1 amplification (25.63 months vs. not reached, P=0.007). The patients with the co-alternation of CCND1(+) /pRb(-) /ppRb(+) protein expression levels have a poorer overall survival than the others (11.4 vs. 43.4 months, P=0.001). Cox regression analysis showed that the co-alternation of CCND1/pRb/ppRb and CyclinD1 amplification were the two most independent prognosis factors of patients with esophageal cancer. These findings suggested that CCND1 amplification and co-alternation of CCND1(+) /pRb(-) /ppRb(+) may play a crucial role in the prognostic evaluation of patients with esophageal cancer, and the patients with CCND1(+) /pRb(-) /ppRb(+) have the worst prognosis in all the patients. The results also indicated that the patients with CCND1 amplification or co-alternation of CyclinD1(+) /pRb(-) /ppRb(+) might be the preponderant people for therapy targeting the CCND1/pRb/ppRb pathway in the future.

Ultrafine optical-frequency tunable Brillouin fiber laser based on fiber strain

We present an ultrafine tunable single-frequency Brillouin fiber laser in which the fiber Brillouin gain also acts as a high-precision tunable filter. Controlling the strain on the fiber, the Stokes frequency shift may be precisely changed, and thus the lasing frequency can be tuned. Assisted by the frequency pulling effect, this method provides continuous ultrafine tuning ability for ~30% of the free spectral range without mode hopping, and can cover 271 MHz. The experiments showed that the laser achieves tuning step of 60 kHz.

Detection of type III secretion gene as an indicator for pathogenic Edwardsiella tarda

AIMS

To differentiate pathogenic and nonpathogenic Edwardsiella tarda strains based on the detection of type III secretion system (T3SS) gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Primers were designed to amplify Edw. tarda T3SS component gene esaV, catalase gene katB, haemolysin gene hlyA and 16S rRNA gene as an internal positive control. Genomic DNAs were extracted using a commercial isolation kit from 36 Edw. tarda strains consisting of 18 pathogenic and 18 nonpathogenic strains, and 50 ng of each DNA was used as the template for PCR amplification. PCR was performed with a thermocycler (TaKaRa TP600) in a 25-μl volume. Products of esaV were detected in all pathogenic strains, but not in nonpathogenic strains; katB was detected in all pathogenic strains and one of nonpathogenic strains; hlyA was not detected in any strains.

CONCLUSIONS

The detection of esaV gene can be used for the assessment of pathogenic Edw. tarda strains.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The strategy using T3SS gene as the virulence indicator provides a useful tool for the clinical assessment of pathogenic Edw. tarda strains and prediction of edwardsiellosis risk in fish culture environments.

Tunable polarization beam splitting based on a symmetrical metal-cladding waveguide structure

Electrical tuning of polarization beam splitting is demonstrated in the structure of symmetrical metal-cladding waveguide by introducing optically nonlinear material into both the coupling prism and the guiding layer. Due to the anisotropy of the coupling material, different excitation conditions for TE and TM modes are obtained, which results in polarization-dependent reflections and transmissions. And the splitting effect of the two orthogonally polarized beams can be manipulated through an electrical modulation of the guiding layer properties.

Comparison of whole genome linkage scans in premenopausal and postmenopausal women: no bone-loss-specific QTLs were implicated

This study was conducted to investigate if there exist bone-loss-specific quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for females. Genome-wide linkage scans were conducted in total, premenopausal, and postmenopausal women, respectively. No QTLs exclusively were found in postmenopausal women, suggesting that no bone-loss-specific QTL was implicated independent of BMD in our sample.

INTRODUCTION

Bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly women is determined jointly by peak bone mass achieved before menopause and by subsequent bone loss upon and after menopause. Peak bone mass is under strong genetic control, but whether bone loss has genetic determination independent of peak BMD is unknown.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

To investigate if there exist bone-loss-specific quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for females, we conducted genome-wide linkage scans in 2,582 Caucasian females from 451 pedigrees including 1,486 premenopausal and 1,096 postmenopausal women. Linkage analyses were performed in the total sample and premenopausal and postmenopausal women subgroups, respectively, and the results were compared.

RESULTS

No linkage evidence was found exclusively in postmenopausal women. Linkage signals identified are largely consistent in the total, premenopausal, and postmenopausal samples. For example, for spine BMD, for the total sample, a significant linkage was obtained on 15q13 (LOD = 3.67), and LOD scores of 1.52 and 2.49 were achieved on 15q13 in premenopausal and postmenopausal women, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We did not find any QTLs exclusively in postmenopausal women; hence, no specific QTL for bone loss was implicated independent of BMD in our female sample.

Closed-chamber transepidermal water loss measurement: microclimate, calibration and performance

The importance of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) as a measure of the skin barrier is well recognized. Currently, the open-chamber method is dominant, but it is increasingly challenged by newer closed-chamber technologies. Whilst there is familiarity with open-chamber characteristics, there is uncertainty about the capabilities of the challengers. The main issues are related to how microclimate affects TEWL measurements. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework for understanding the effects of microclimate on TEWL measurement. Part of the problem is that TEWL measurement is indirect. TEWL is the diffusion of condensed water through the stratum corneum (SC), whereas TEWL methods measure water vapour flux in the air above the SC. This vapour flux depends on (i) the rate of supply of water to the skin surface and (ii) the rate of evaporation of water from the skin surface. Rate (i) is a skin property (TEWL), rate (ii) is a microclimate property. The controlling rate for the combined process is the lower of the above two rates. Therefore, TEWL instruments measure TEWL only when TEWL is the rate-limiting process. Another problem is that SC barrier property and SC hydration are affected by the microclimate adjacent to the skin surface. This is discussed insofar as it affects the measurement of TEWL. The conclusion is that such changes occur on a timescale that is long compared with TEWL measurement times. An important aspect of TEWL measurement is calibration. We present an analysis of the traditional wet-cup method and a new droplet method that is traceable and has been independently verified by a standards laboratory. Finally, we review performance indicators of commercial closed-chamber instruments with reference to open-chamber instruments. The main findings are that TEWL readings correlate well, but there are significant differences in the other aspects of performance.

A whole genome linkage scan for QTLs underlying peak bone mineral density

We conducted a whole genome linkage scan for quantitative trait loci (QTLs) underlying peak bone mineral density (PBMD). Our efforts identified several potential genomic regions for PBMD and highlighted the importance of epistatic interaction and sex-specific analyses in identifying genetic regions underlying PBMD variation.

INTRODUCTION

Peak bone mineral density (PBMD) is an important clinical risk predictor of osteoporosis and explains a large part of bone mineral density (BMD) variation.

METHODS

To detect susceptive quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for PBMD variation including consideration of epistatic and sex-specific effects, we conducted a whole genome linkage scan (WGLS) for PBMD using 2,200 Caucasians from 207 pedigrees, aged 20-50 years. All the individuals were genotyped with 410 microsatellite markers. In addition to WGLS in the total combined sample of males and females, we conducted epistatic interaction analyses, and sex-specific subgroup linkage analyses.

RESULTS

We identified several potential genomic regions that met the criteria for suggestive linkage. The most impressing region is 12p12 for hip PBMD (LOD = 2.79) in the total sample. Epistatic interaction analyses found a significant epistatic interaction between 12p12 and 22q13 (p = 0.0021) for hip PBMD. Additionally, we detected suggestive linkage evidence at 15q26 (LOD = 2.93), 2p13 (LOD = 2.64), and Xq27 (LOD = 2.64). Sex-specific analyses suggested the presence of sex-specific QTLs for PBMD variation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our efforts identified several potential regions for PBMD and highlighted the importance of epistatic interaction and sex-specific analyses in identifying genetic regions underlying PBMD variation.