Restricted and shared patterns of TCR beta-chain gene expression in silicone breast implant capsules and remote sites of tissue inflammation

The Food and Drug Administration Office of Women's Health: Impact of Science on Regulatory Policy

In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration Office of Women's Health (FDA-OWH) was created to provide leadership and policy direction for the Agency regarding issues of women's health. Within its first year, the FDA-OWH established a science program for women's health research, promoting the development of sound policy and regulation. In a little over a decade, the program has provided approximately 14 million dollars to fund more than 100 women's health research studies covering a broad range of health topics affecting women across their lifespan. Some studies, such as those elucidating drug effects on QT prolongation in women and drug-dietary supplement interaction, have had significant influence on regulatory decisions. Other studies have provided sound scientific data on sex and gender differences supporting FDA guidelines to protect women's health. This paper describes the science program at the FDA-OWH, providing examples of how funded research impacts regulatory policy.

Genomic organization, transcriptional mapping, and evolutionary implications of the human bi-directional histidyl-tRNA synthetase locus (HARS/HARSL)

Histidyl-tRNA synthetase catalyses the covalent ligation of histidine to its cognate tRNA as an early step in protein biosynthesis. In humans, the histidyl-tRNA synthetase gene (HARS) is oriented opposite of a synthetase-like gene (HARSL) that bears striking homology to HARS. In this report, we describe the genomic organization of the HARS/HARSL locus and map multiple transcripts originating from a bi-directional promoter controlling the differential expression of these genes. The HARS and HARSL genes each contain 13 exons with strong structural and sequence homology over exons 3-12. HARS transcripts originate from two distinct promoters; a cluster of short transcripts map 15-65 bp upstream of the HARS ORF while a single, longer transcript (352 bp 5(')-UTR) maps to a distal promoter. Similarly, multiple HARSL transcripts (mapping 10-198 bp upstream of its ORF) are produced by the shared bi-directional promoter. Human and rodent HARS/HARSL loci are homologous and support a model of inverted gene duplication to explain the emergence of HARSL during mammalian evolution.