Polymorphisms of coagulation factor genes--a review

cDNA microarray analysis of rat alveolar epithelial cells following exposure to organic extract of diesel exhaust particles

Diesel exhaust particles (DEP) induce pulmonary diseases including asthma and chronic bronchitis. Comprehensive evaluation is required to know the mechanisms underlying the effects of air pollutants including DEP on lung diseases. Using a cDNA microarray, we examined changes in gene expression in SV40T2 cells, a rat alveolar type II epithelial cell line, following exposure to an organic extract of DEP. We identified candidate sensitive genes that were up- or down-regulated in response to DEP. The cDNA microarray analysis revealed that a 6-h exposure to the DEP extract (30 microg/ml) increased (>2-fold) the expression of 51 genes associated with drug metabolism, antioxidation, cell cycle/proliferation/apoptosis, coagulation/fibrinolysis, and expressed sequence tags (ESTs), and decreased (<0.5-fold) that of 20 genes. In the present study, heme oxygenase (HO)-1, an antioxidative enzyme, showed the maximum increase in gene expression; and type II transglutaminase (TGM-2), a regulator of coagulation, showed the most prominent decrease among the genes. We confirmed the change in the HO-1 protein level by Western blot analysis and that in the enzyme activity of TGM-2. The organic extract of DEP increased the expression of HO-1 protein and decreased the enzyme activity of TGM-2. Furthermore, these effects of DEP on either HO-1 or TGM-2 were reduced by N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), thus suggesting that oxidative stress caused by this organic fraction of DEP may have induced these cellular responses. Therefore, an increase in HO-1 and a decrease in TGM-2 might be good markers of the biological response to organic compounds of airborne particulate substances.

No association of the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 promoter 4G/5G polymorphism with inhibitor level during basal transcription in vitro

Plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) has been shown to be an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and cerebrovascular events. Previous studies on variations in plasma PAI-1 levels and associations between PAI-1 levels and PAI-1 genotypes have suggested that PAI-1 expression maybe regulated in a genotype-specific manner by insulin, hypertriglyceridemic very low-density lipoprotein, and lipoprotein. We investigated whether basal transcription of the PAI-1 gene also is regulated in a genotype-specific manner. Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments containing a 4G/5G polymorphism of the PAI-1 gene promoter were ligated into the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene. The constructs of p4G-CAT or pSG-CAT and pSV-beta-galactosidase as an internal control were transiently cotransfected into human HepG2 hepatoma cells. Electrophoresis mobility shift assays (EMSA) employed a fragment from positions -687 to -664 (4G allele) or from -688 to -664 (5G allele) labeled with adenosine triphosphate tagged with phosphorous 32 in the gamma position and used nuclear extracts of HepG2 cells. Analysis of CAT produced by constructs containing the PAI-1 4G or 5G allele showed similar 3-fold increases in CAT activity in the PAI-1 4G/4G and PAI-1 5G/5G constructs, compared with the CAT activity in the pCAT3-Basic construct. Analyses using the probes containing the 4G or 5G allele site in the EMSA assay revealed no difference in the binding of nuclear protein. Our in vitro assay of basal transcription suggests no difference in the transcriptional activities of the alleles of the PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism.

[Role of host response during severe bacterial infection]

Explosion of knowledge both in human genomics and in host inflammatory response explains the increasing interest in infectious disease genetics over the last 5 years. However, twin and adoptee studies have suggested more than 15 years ago, that host genetic factors are major determinants of susceptibility to infectious diseases in humans. Recently, candidate gene studies (association studies) and human genomewide analysis have been used to identify infectious diseases susceptibility and resistance genes. Rarely, a single gene defect has been directly related to devastating consequences such as interferon-gamma receptor mutations leading to fatal infections with ubiquitous mycobacteria. For clinical practice, gene polymorphisms of specific host immune defence elements appear to be of major importance. These genetic variants, which modify the regulation or function of the mediators, have been associated with susceptibility and/or outcome of severe sepsis and septic shock. All steps of the host response to bacteria may be affected by genetic factors. For example, Fc gamma receptor, Toll like receptor or mannose binding protein mutations have been shown to modify the detection of pathogens leading to pneumococcal severe infections, Gram-negative bacteria septic shock, and meningococcal disease, respectively. Polymorphisms of cytokine genes (TNF-alpha, TNF-beta, IL-1-ra) have been reported to influence the level of secreted mediators and to unbalance the inflammatory cascade. Coagulation response to sepsis may also be affected by gene variants such as the plaminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) common functional polymorphism which increases the risk of death from meningococcal infection or severe trauma. The impact of these findings on the understanding of infectious disease pathogenesis and on the design of future preventive and therapeutic strategies should be considerable.