Wild-type p53 restores cell cycle control and inhibits gene amplification in cells with mutant p53 alleles

Loss of cell cycle control and acquisition of chromosomal rearrangements such as gene amplification often occur during tumor progression, suggesting that they may be correlated. We show here that the wild-type p53 allele is lost when fibroblasts from patients with the Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) are passaged in vitro. Normal and LFS cells containing wild-type p53 arrested in G1 when challenged with the uridine biosynthesis inhibitor PALA and did not undergo PALA-selected gene amplification. The converse occurred in cells lacking wild-type p53 expression. Expression of wild-type p53 in transformants of immortal and tumor cells containing mutant p53 alleles restored G1 control and reduced the frequency of gene amplification to undetectable levels. These studies reveal that p53 contributes to a metabolically regulated G1 check-point, and they provide a model for understanding how abnormal cell cycle progression leads to the genetic rearrangements involved in tumor progression.

Template-assisted self-assembly: a practical route to complex aggregates of monodispersed colloids with well-defined sizes, shapes, and structures

This paper describes a strategy that combines physical templating and capillary forces to assemble monodispersed spherical colloids into uniform aggregates with well-controlled sizes, shapes, and structures. When an aqueous dispersion of colloidal particles was allowed to dewet from a solid surface that had been patterned with appropriate relief structures, the particles were trapped by the recessed regions and assembled into aggregates whose structures were determined by the geometric confinement provided by the templates. We have demonstrated the capability and feasibility of this approach by assembling polystyrene beads and silica colloids (> or =150 nm in diameter) into complex aggregates that include polygonal or polyhedral clusters, linear or zigzag chains, and circular rings. We have also been able to generate hybrid aggregates in the shape of HF or H2O molecules that are composed of polymer beads having different diameters, polymer beads labeled with different organic dyes, and a combination of polymeric and inorganic beads. These colloidal aggregates can serve as a useful model system to investigate the hydrodynamic and optical scattering properties of colloidal particles having nonspherical morphologies. They should also find use as the building blocks to generate hierarchically self-assembled systems that may exhibit interesting properties highly valuable to areas ranging from photonics to condensed matter physics.

The effect of nerve-root injections on the need for operative treatment of lumbar radicular pain. A prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of selective nerve-root injections in obviating the need for an operation in patients with lumbar radicular pain who were otherwise considered to be operative candidates. Although selective nerve-root injections are used widely, we are not aware of any prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind studies demonstrating their efficacy.

METHODS

Fifty-five patients who were referred to four spine surgeons because of lumbar radicular pain and who had radiographic confirmation of nerve-root compression were prospectively randomized into the study. All of the patients had to have requested operative intervention and had to be considered operative candidates by the treating surgeon. They then were randomized and referred to a radiologist who performed a selective nerve-root injection with either bupivacaine alone or bupivacaine with betamethasone. The treating physicians and the patients were blinded to the medication. The patients were allowed to choose to receive as many as four injections. The treatment was considered to have failed if the patient proceeded to have the operation, which he or she could opt to do at any point in the study.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine of the fifty-five patients, all of whom had initially requested operative treatment, decided not to have the operation during the follow-up period (range, thirteen to twenty-eight months) after the nerve-root injections. Of the twenty-seven patients who had received bupivacaine alone, nine elected not to have the operation. Of the twenty-eight patients who had received bupivacaine and betamethasone, twenty decided not to have the operation. The difference in the operative rates between the two groups was highly significant (p < 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data demonstrate that selective nerve-root injections of corticosteroids are significantly more effective than those of bupivacaine alone in obviating the need for a decompression for up to thirteen to twenty-eight months following the injections in operative candidates. This finding suggests that patients who have lumbar radicular pain at one or two levels should be considered for treatment with selective nerve-root injections of corticosteroids prior to being considered for operative intervention.

Generation of three-qubit entangled states using superconducting phase qubits

Entanglement is one of the key resources required for quantum computation, so the experimental creation and measurement of entangled states is of crucial importance for various physical implementations of quantum computers. In superconducting devices, two-qubit entangled states have been demonstrated and used to show violations of Bell's inequality and to implement simple quantum algorithms. Unlike the two-qubit case, where all maximally entangled two-qubit states are equivalent up to local changes of basis, three qubits can be entangled in two fundamentally different ways. These are typified by the states |GHZ>= (|000+ |111>)/ sqrt [2] and |W>= (|001> + |010> + |100>)/ sqrt [3]. Here we demonstrate the operation of three coupled superconducting phase qubits and use them to create and measure |GHZ> and |W>states. The states are fully characterized using quantum state tomography and are shown to satisfy entanglement witnesses, confirming that they are indeed examples of three-qubit entanglement and are not separable into mixtures of two-qubit entanglement.

Increased insulin sensitivity and hypoglycaemia in mice lacking the p85 alpha subunit of phosphoinositide 3-kinase

The hallmark of type 2 diabetes, the most common metabolic disorder, is a defect in insulin-stimulated glucose transport in peripheral tissues. Although a role for phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) activity in insulin-stimulated glucose transport and glucose transporter isoform 4 (Glut4) translocation has been suggested in vitro, its role in vivo and the molecular link between activation of PI3K and translocation has not yet been elucidated. To determine the role of PI3K in glucose homeostasis, we generated mice with a targeted disruption of the gene encoding the p85alpha regulatory subunit of PI3K (Pik3r1; refs 3-5). Pik3r1-/- mice showed increased insulin sensitivity and hypoglycaemia due to increased glucose transport in skeletal muscle and adipocytes. Insulin-stimulated PI3K activity associated with insulin receptor substrates (IRSs) was mediated via full-length p85 alpha in wild-type mice, but via the p50 alpha alternative splicing isoform of the same gene in Pik3r1-/- mice. This isoform switch was associated with an increase in insulin-induced generation of phosphatidylinositol(3,4,5)triphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3) in Pik3r1-/- adipocytes and facilitation of Glut4 translocation from the low-density microsome (LDM) fraction to the plasma membrane (PM). This mechanism seems to be responsible for the phenotype of Pik3r1-/- mice, namely increased glucose transport and hypoglycaemia. Our work provides the first direct evidence that PI3K and its regulatory subunit have a role in glucose homeostasis in vivo.

Non-invasive prenatal testing for trisomies 21, 18 and 13: clinical experience from 146,958 pregnancies

OBJECTIVES

To report the clinical performance of massively parallel sequencing-based non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in detecting trisomies 21, 18 and 13 in over 140,000 clinical samples and to compare its performance in low-risk and high-risk pregnancies.

METHODS

Between 1 January 2012 and 31 August 2013, 147,314 NIPT requests to screen for fetal trisomies 21, 18 and 13 using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA were received. The results were validated by karyotyping or follow-up of clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

NIPT was performed and results obtained in 146,958 samples, for which outcome data were available in 112,669 (76.7%). Repeat blood sampling was required in 3213 cases and 145 had test failure. Aneuploidy was confirmed in 720/781 cases positive for trisomy 21, 167/218 cases positive for trisomy 18 and 22/67 cases positive for trisomy 13 on NIPT. Nine false negatives were identified, including six cases of trisomy 21 and three of trisomy 18. The overall sensitivity of NIPT was 99.17%, 98.24% and 100% for trisomies 21, 18 and 13, respectively, and specificity was 99.95%, 99.95% and 99.96% for trisomies 21, 18 and 13, respectively. There was no significant difference in test performance between the 72,382 high-risk and 40,287 low-risk subjects (sensitivity, 99.21% vs. 98.97% (P = 0.82); specificity, 99.95% vs. 99.95% (P = 0.98)). The major factors contributing to false-positive and false-negative NIPT results were maternal copy number variant and fetal/placental mosaicism, but fetal fraction had no effect.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a stringent protocol, the good performance of NIPT shown by early validation studies can be maintained in large clinical samples. This technique can provide equally high sensitivity and specificity in screening for trisomy 21 in a low-risk, as compared to high-risk, population.

TLS (FUS) binds RNA in vivo and engages in nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling

TLS, the product of a gene commonly translocated in liposarcomas (TLS), is prototypical of a newly identified class of nuclear proteins that contain a C-terminal domain with a distinct RNA recognition motif (RRM) surrounded by Arg-Gly-Gly (RGG) repeats. Its unique N terminus serves as an essential transforming domain for a number of fusion oncoproteins in human sarcomas and leukemias. In this study we use an in vivo UV crosslinking procedure to probe the interactions of TLS with RNA. TLS is found to bind RNA in vivo and the association of TLS with RNA is rapidly diminished by treating cells with transcriptional inhibitors. This suggests that the species bound by TLS turns over rapidly. Surprisingly, the RRM was found to be dispensable for RNA binding by TLS in vivo, suggesting that at any one time most of the interactions between TLS and RNA in the cell are not sequence specific. Analysis of inter specific heterokaryons formed between human and mouse or Xenopus cells revealed that TLS engages in rapid nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, a finding confirmed by the ability of anti-TLS antibodies to trap TLS when injected into the cytoplasm of HeLa cells. Cellular fractionation experiments suggest that TLS binds to RNA in both the nucleus and cytoplasm and support the hypothesis that TLS functions as a heterogeneous ribonuclear protein (hnRNP)-like chaperone of RNA. These findings are discussed in the context of the role altered forms of TLS play in cellular transformation.

Solution structure of the tetrameric minimum transforming domain of p53

We report the solution structure of the minimum transforming domain (residues 303-366) of human p53 (p53tet) determined by multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. This domain contains a number of important functions associated with p53 activity including transformation, oligomerization, nuclear localization and a phosphorylation site for p34/cdc2 kinase. p53tet forms a symmetric dimer of dimers that is significantly different from a recent structure reported for a shorter construct of this domain. Phosphorylation of Ser 315 has only minor structural consequences, as this region of the protein is unstructured. Modelling based on the p53tet structure suggests possible modes of interaction between adjacent domains in full-length p53 as well as modes of interaction with DNA.

Deficiency of retinoblastoma protein leads to inappropriate S-phase entry, activation of E2F-responsive genes, and apoptosis

The retinoblastoma susceptibility gene (Rb) participates in controlling the G1/S-phase transition, presumably by binding and inactivating E2F transcription activator family members. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) with no, one, or two inactivated Rb genes were used to determine the specific contributions of Rb protein to cell cycle progression and gene expression. MEFs lacking both Rb alleles (Rb-/-) entered S phase in the presence of the dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor methotrexate. Two E2F target genes, dihydrofolate reductase and thymidylate synthase, displayed elevated mRNA and protein levels in Rb- MEFs. Since absence of functional Rb protein in MEFs is sufficient for S-phase entry under growth-limiting conditions, these data indicate that the E2F complexes containing Rb protein, and not the Rb-related proteins p107 and p130, may be rate limiting for the G1/S transition. Antineoplastic drugs caused accumulation of p53 in the nuclei of both Rb+/+ and Rb-/- MEFs. While p53 induction led to apoptosis in Rb-/- MEFs, Rb+/- and Rb+/+ MEFs underwent cell cycle arrest without apoptosis. These results reveal that diverse growth signals work through Rb to regulate entry into S phase, and they indicate that absence of Rb protein produces a constitutive DNA replication signal capable of activating a p53-associated apoptotic response.

Risk of stroke in male cigarette smokers

From 1965 to 1968, the Honolulu Heart Program began following 8006 men of Japanese ancestry in a prospective study of cardiovascular disease. Of the subjects who had not had a stroke by the time of study entry, 3435 were cigarette smokers and 4437 were nonsmokers. In 12 years of follow-up, 171 smokers and 117 nonsmokers had a stroke. As compared with nonsmokers, cigarette smokers had two to three times the risk of thromboembolic or hemorrhagic stroke, after control for age, diastolic blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and other risk factors (P less than 0.001). Subjects who continued to smoke in the course of follow-up had the highest risk of stroke. When these subjects were compared with those who never smoked, their risk of hemorrhagic events was increased four- to six-fold (P less than 0.001). Subjects who were smokers at study entry but stopped smoking in the course of follow-up had a slight excess risk of stroke. When these subjects were compared with those who continued to smoke, however, their risk was reduced by more than half after adjustment for risk factors (P less than 0.05), indicating that stopping smoking had significant benefits.

Characterization of isolated fractions of dissolved organic matter from natural waters and a wastewater effluent

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) was concentrated from natural waters and the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant using a portable reverse osmosis (RO) system. The humic acid (HA), fulvic acid (FA) and hydrophilic (HyI) fractions were isolated and purified by the XAD-8 resin combined with the cation exchange resin method. The FA fractions predominated in natural waters and accounted for 54-68% of the total amount of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), whereas the HA and HyI fractions constituted, respectively, 13-29 and 9-30% of the total DOC. The effluent of wastewater was almost devoid of HA and the HyI fraction exceeded FA. The elemental compositions of HA and FA were in the ranges typical for natural humic materials, but the HyI fractions did not exhibit humic character. 1H NMR spectra revealed that the HyI fractions were almost devoid of aromatic protons and the aliphatic region featured more sharp signals than HA and FA fractions, indicating that HyI fractions were consisted of more simple compounds and less complex mixtures. The aliphatic functional groups in these fractions of DOM samples followed the order HA < FA <HyI. Proton titrations indicated that HA. FA and HyI fractions of DOM samples from different sources had similar total acidity whose range was 9.0-11.6 meq/g C. This similarity may be due to the sample fractionation method. The copper titration results showed that the number of total Cu binding sites for the three fractions of different DOM samples were quite similar (1.46-1.60 mmol/g C), which was consistent with the similarity in total acidity from proton titrations. The affinity of copper with each isolated fraction followed the order HA approximately = FA > HyI. The rate of Cu complexation with the HyI fraction was faster than the rate with the HA or FA fraction of the Suwannee River DOM, implying that copper reacted with relatively weak ligands faster than with strong ligands.

Induction of apoptosis by c-Fos protein

The role of c-Fos in apoptosis was examined in two Syrian hamster embryo cell lines (sup+I and sup-II) and a human colorectal carcinoma cell line (RKO), using the chimeric Fos-estrogen receptor fusion protein c-FosER. As previously reported, contrasting responses were observed when these two cell lines were placed under growth factor deprivation conditions; sup+I cells were highly susceptible to apoptosis, whereas sup-II cells were resistant. In this report, we show that the activated c-FosER protein induces apoptosis in sup-II preneoplastic cells in serum-free medium, indicating that c-Fos protein can induce apoptotic cell death in these cells. c-Fos-induced apoptosis was not blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, suggesting that the c-Fos transcriptional activation activity is not involved. This conclusion was further supported by the observation that overexpression of v-Fos, which is highly proficient in transcriptional activation but deficient in the transcriptional repression activity associated with c-Fos, did not induce apoptosis. Constitutively expressed Bcl-2 delayed the onset of low-serum-induced apoptosis in sup+I cells and enhanced survival in sup-II cells. Further, coexpression of Bcl-2 and c-FosER in sup+I or sup-II cells protected the cells from c-FosER-induced apoptosis. The possibility that c-FosER-induced apoptosis requires a p53 function was examined. Colorectal carcinoma RKOp53+/+ cells, which do not normally undergo apoptosis in serum-free medium, showed apoptotic DNA fragmentation upon expression and activation of c-FosER. Further, when the wild-type p53 protein was diminished in the RKO cells by infection with the papillomavirus E6 gene, subsequent c-FosER-induced apoptosis was blocked. The data suggest that c-Fos protein plays a causal role in the activation of apoptosis in a p53-dependent manner. This activity does not require new protein synthesis and is blocked by overexpression of Bcl-2 protein.

Male sterility and enhanced radiation sensitivity in TLS(-/-) mice

TLS (also known as FUS) is an RNA-binding protein that contributes the N-terminal half of fusion oncoproteins implicated in the development of human liposarcomas and leukemias. Here we report that male mice homozygous for an induced mutation in TLS are sterile with a marked increase in the number of unpaired and mispaired chromosomal axes in pre-meiotic spermatocytes. Nuclear extracts from TLS(-/-) testes lack an activity capable of promoting pairing between homologous DNA sequences in vitro, and TLS(-/-) mice and embryonic fibroblasts exhibit increased sensitivity to ionizing irradiation. These results are consistent with a role for TLS in homologous DNA pairing and recombination.

Inflammasomes are differentially expressed in cardiovascular and other tissues

To determine the expression of components in Toll-like receptors (TLRs)/Nod-like receptors (NLRs)/inflammasome/caspase-1/interleukin (IL-1)-beta pathway, we examined the expression profiles of those genes by analyzing the data from expression sequence tag cDNA cloning and sequencing. We made several important findings: firstly, among 11 tissues examined, vascular tissues and heart express fewer types of TLRs and NLRs than immune and defense tissues including blood, lymph nodes, thymus and trachea; secondly, brain, lymph nodes and thymus do not express proinflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and IL-18 constitutively, suggesting that these two cytokines need to be upregulated in the tissues; and thirdly, based on the expression data of three characterized inflammasomes (NALP1, NALP3 and IPAF inflammasome), the examined tissues can be classified into three tiers: the first tier tissues including brain, placenta, blood and thymus express inflammasome(s) in constitutive status; the second tier tissues have inflammasome(s) in nearly-ready expression status (with the requirement of upregulation of one component); the third tier tissues, like heart and bone marrow, require upregulation of at least two components in order to assemble functional inflammasomes. Our original model of three-tier expression of inflammasomes would suggest a new concept of tissue inflammation privilege, and provides an insight to the differences among tissues in initiating acute inflammation in response to stimuli.

Birth oxidative stress and the development of an antioxidant system in newborn piglets

Birth oxidative stress is an oxidative response to a sudden transition process from maternal mediated respiration in uterus to autonomous pulmonary respiration outside the uterus. Meanwhile, oxidative stress has been demonstrated to be associated with various pathologies recorded in newborns. So, this research aimed to study the oxidative stress and the development of antioxidant system in newborn piglets. The measured variables include plasma lipid, protein and DNA oxidant injury, the activities of plasma antioxidant enzymes and the jejunal and ileal antioxidant gene expressions at 1, 7, 14, and 21 days after birth. Meanwhile, the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), transcription factor p65, and tumor protein 53 (p53) were determined by western blot. The results showed that newborn piglets suffered seriously from birth oxidative stress because of the naive antioxidant system. In addition, oxidant injury activated Nrf2 signaling pathway, resulting in the expression of antioxidant genes and release of antioxidant enzymes. With the development of antioxidant system, the oxidative balance gradually recovered on Day 7 after birth. In conclusion, birth caused oxidative stress and the oxidative balance gradually recovered with the development of antioxidant system.

GDF10 is a signal for axonal sprouting and functional recovery after stroke

Stroke produces a limited process of neural repair. Axonal sprouting in cortex adjacent to the infarct is part of this recovery process, but the signal that initiates axonal sprouting is not known. Growth and differentiation factor 10 (GDF10) is induced in peri-infarct neurons in mice, non-human primates and humans. GDF10 promotes axonal outgrowth in vitro in mouse, rat and human neurons through TGFβRI and TGFβRII signaling. Using pharmacogenetic gain- and loss-of-function studies, we found that GDF10 produced axonal sprouting and enhanced functional recovery after stroke; knocking down GDF10 blocked axonal sprouting and reduced recovery. RNA sequencing from peri-infarct cortical neurons revealed that GDF10 downregulated PTEN, upregulated PI3 kinase signaling and induced specific axonal guidance molecules. Using unsupervised genome-wide association analysis of the GDF10 transcriptome, we found that it was not related to neurodevelopment, but may partially overlap with other CNS injury patterns. Thus, GDF10 is a stroke-induced signal for axonal sprouting and functional recovery.

Involvement of p85 in p53-dependent apoptotic response to oxidative stress

Reactive oxygen species have damaging effects on cellular components and so trigger defensive responses by the cell and even programmed cell death, although the mechanisms by which mammalian cells transmit signals in response to oxidative damage are unknown. We report here that the protein p85, a regulator of the signalling protein phosphatidyl-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K), participates in the cell death process that is induced in response to oxidative stress and that this role of p85 in apoptosis does not involve PI(3)K. We show that disruption of p85 by homologous recombination impairs the cellular apoptotic response to oxidative stress. Because the protein p53 is required for cell death induced by oxidative damage, we examined the relation between p85 and p53. Using a chimaeric p53 fusion protein with the oestrogen receptor (p53ER) to supply p53 (p53 is induced upon binding of p53ER to oestradiol) in a p53-deficient cell line, we found that p85 is upregulated by p53 and that its involvement in p53-mediated apoptosis is independent of PI(3)K. We propose that p85 acts as a signal transducer in the cellular response to oxidative stress, mediating cell death regulated by p53.

Coherent Josephson qubit suitable for scalable quantum integrated circuits

We demonstrate a planar, tunable superconducting qubit with energy relaxation times up to 44 μs. This is achieved by using a geometry designed to both minimize radiative loss and reduce coupling to materials-related defects. At these levels of coherence, we find a fine structure in the qubit energy lifetime as a function of frequency, indicating the presence of a sparse population of incoherent, weakly coupled two-level defects. We elucidate this defect physics by experimentally varying the geometry and by a model analysis. Our "Xmon" qubit combines facile fabrication, straightforward connectivity, fast control, and long coherence, opening a viable route to constructing a chip-based quantum computer.

Wrist fractures: what the clinician wants to know

With the recent improvements in diagnosis and treatment of distal radius and carpal injuries, the hand surgeons' expectations of relevant radiologic interpretation of imaging studies are heightened. Conventional radiographic examinations, as well as more sophisticated and invasive studies, have important roles in the evaluation of wrist fractures and dislocations. On the basis of physical examination results and the mechanism of injury, the onus is on the examining surgeon to pinpoint potential sites of bone or ligament disruption. After this evaluation, appropriate imaging studies appropriately performed and interpreted will help direct treatment and improve outcome with greater clarity and certainty.

RF2a, a bZIP transcriptional activator of the phloem-specific rice tungro bacilliform virus promoter, functions in vascular development

Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) replicates only in phloem cells in infected rice plants and its promoter drives strong phloem-specific reporter gene expression in transgenic rice plants. We isolated a cDNA encoding a basic leucine zipper (bZIP) protein, RF2a, which binds to the Box II cis element that is important for expression from the promoter. RF2a, which stimulates Box II-dependent transcription in a homologous in vitro transcription system, accumulates in nuclei of phloem and certain other cell types in shoots, but is found at only very low levels in roots. Transgenic antisense plants in which RF2a accumulation was suppressed had normal roots but stunted, twisted leaves with small, disorganized vascular bundles, an enlarged sclerenchyma and large air spaces. We propose that the RTBV promoter exploits a host transcription factor that is critical for leaf tissue differentiation and vascular development for its expression.

Experimental cryptorchidism induces testicular germ cell apoptosis by p53-dependent and -independent pathways in mice

Cryptorchidism is associated with male infertility: germ cell loss occurs by apoptosis in response to elevated temperature. Since the tumor suppressor p53 is highly expressed in the testis and is known to induce apoptosis, an investigation was undertaken to establish whether heat stress causes p53-mediated germ cell apoptosis. Using a mouse model of experimental unilateral cryptorchidism, it was observed that testicular weight reduction, germ cell loss, and DNA fragmentation all began in the cryptorchid testes on Day 6-7 in wild-type mice. In contrast, these changes were delayed by 3 days in p53-/- mice. These results suggest that abdominal heat stress induces germ cell loss through two apoptotic pathways: a p53-dependent pathway responsible for the initial phase of germ cell apoptosis, and a p53-independent pathway that accounts for subsequent apoptosis.

Mapping and characterization of a novel cochlear gene in human and in mouse: a positional candidate gene for a deafness disorder, DFNA9

Previously we identified a partial human cDNA for a novel cochlear transcript, hCoch-5B2 (HGMW-approved symbol D14S564E), using subtractive hybridization techniques. Herein we report isolation and characterization of both human and mouse (D12H14S564E) cDNAs for Coch-5B2. Full-length Coch5B2 deduced amino acid sequences reveal a very high degree of conservation in the coding region (89% nucleotide and 94% amino acid identity and a potential signal peptide and two regions of extensive homology to the collagen-binding type A domains of von Willebrand factor, also present in other secreted proteins, including extracellular matrix components. High levels of hCoch-5B2 expression are seen only in human fetal inner ear structures, cochlea, and vestibule, among a large panel of human fetal and adult tissues. Coch-5B2 expression in the mouse is more widespread than in the human, with message detected in mouse adult spleen, cerebrum, cerebellum/medulla, and thymus. In both species very low level expression is detected in total eye. More specifically, mouse retina shows a higher level of mCoch-5B2 message than sclera and choroid. We have mapped hCoch-5B2 to human 14q11.2-q13 by somatic cell hybrid analysis and FISH and, more precisely, using radiation hybrids to a region of markers linked to DFNA9, a nonsyndromic autosomal dominant sensorineural hearing loss with vestibular defects. Furthermore, we detect hCoch-5B2 on three overlapping YACs, two of which also contain one of the markers linked to DFNA9. mCoch-5B2 was genetically mapped in the mouse to chromosome 12, in a region of homologous synteny with human 14q11.2-q13, which contains the asp1 (audiogenic seizure prone) locus in the mouse.

Stability of family interaction from ages 6 to 18

Research has demonstrated the stability of juvenile offending during childhood and adolescence but generally has not focused on the continuity of family interactions associated with juvenile offending. The present report focused on the stability of several family interaction events and attributes (i.e., physical punishment, communication, supervision, positive parenting, and parent-child relationship) for a large sample of male adolescents and their primary caretakers, drawn from a multiyear longitudinal study that represented middle childhood through late adolescence (ages 6-18). We also assessed the impact of ethnicity, family composition, teenage motherhood, and youth delinquency on these interactions. Test-retest correlations and growth-curve analyses were used to assess relative and absolute stability of the interactions, respectively. As predicted, relative stability of family interaction was high. There was an absolute change in scores of physical punishment (decreased) compared to poor supervision and low positive parenting (both increased), whereas poor communication and bad relationship with the caretaker did not measurably change with age. Single-parent families and families with teenage mothers experienced significantly worse interactions over time than did families consisting of two biological parents present in the household. These findings are discussed in relation to the development of juvenile offending.