RESUMO
Glycine betaine is an important quaternary ammonium compound that is produced in response to several abiotic stresses in many organisms. The synthesis of glycine betaine requires the catalysis of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH), which can convert betaine aldehyde into glycine betaine in plants, especially in halotolerant plants. In this study, we isolated the full-length cDNA of BADH from Suaeda corniculata (ScBADH) using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Next, we analyzed the expression profile of ScBADH using real-time PCR. The results showed that ScBADH expression was induced in the roots, stems, and leaves of S. corniculata seedlings under salt and drought stress. Next, ScBADH was overexpressed in Arabidopsis, resulting in the transgenic plants exhibiting enhanced tolerance over wild-type plants under salt and drought stress. We then analyzed the levels of glycine betaine and proline, as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, during salt stress in WT and transgenic Arabidopsis. The results indicated that overexpression of ScBADH produced more glycine betaine and proline, and increased SOD activity under NaCl treatment. Our results suggest that ScBADH might be a positive regulator in plants during the response to NaCl.
Assuntos
Betaína-Aldeído Desidrogenase/genética , Chenopodiaceae/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Betaína/metabolismo , Betaína-Aldeído Desidrogenase/metabolismo , Chenopodiaceae/enzimologia , Clonagem Molecular , Secas , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas , Glicina/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Prolina/metabolismo , Salinidade , Estresse Fisiológico , Superóxido Dismutase/metabolismoRESUMO
Plasma membrane proteolipid 3 (PMP3) is a class of small hydrophobic proteins found in many organisms including higher plants. Some plant PMP3 genes have been shown to respond to abiotic stresses and to participate in the processes of plant stress tolerance. In this study, we isolated the cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) MePMP3-2 gene and functionally characterized its role in tolerance to abiotic stress by expressing it in rice (Oryza sativa L.). MePMP3-2 encodes a 77-amino acid protein belonging to a subgroup of plant PMP3s that have long hydrophylic C-terminal tails of unknown function. In silico analysis and co-localization studies indicated that MePMP3-2 is a plasma membrane protein with two transmembrane domains, similar to other PMP3s. In cassava leaves, MePMP3-2 expression was up-regulated by salt and drought stresses. Heterologous constitutive expression of MePMP3-2 in rice did not alter plant growth and development but increased tolerance to salt and drought stresses. In addition, under stress conditions MePMP3-2 transgenic plants accumulated less malondialdehyde, had increased levels of proline, and exhibited greater up-regulation of the stress-related genes OsProT and OsP5CS, but led to only minor changes in OsDREB2A and OsLEA3 expression. These findings indicate that MePMP3-2 may play an important role in salt and drought stress tolerance in transgenic rice.
Assuntos
Adaptação Fisiológica , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas , Manihot/fisiologia , Proteínas de Membrana/fisiologia , Oryza/fisiologia , Proteínas de Plantas/fisiologia , Plantas Geneticamente Modificadas , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Simulação por Computador , Secas , Manihot/genética , Manihot/metabolismo , Proteínas de Membrana/química , Proteínas de Membrana/genética , Proteínas de Membrana/metabolismo , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Oryza/genética , Oryza/metabolismo , Filogenia , Proteínas de Plantas/química , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Proteolipídeos/fisiologia , Tolerância ao Sal , Alinhamento de Sequência , Regulação para CimaRESUMO
The expression of CK19, LUNX, and KS1/4 mRNA biomarkers was detected in the peripheral blood of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients to investigate the feasibility of indicating lung cancer micrometastases. Micrometastases were identified in the peripheral blood of 32 NSCLC patients, 15 benign pulmonary disease (BPD) patients, and 10 healthy volunteers by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The detection rates of CK19, LUNX, and KS1/4 mRNA-positive cells in the peripheral blood obtained from the NSCLC group were 34.4% (11/32), 37.5% (12/32), and 25% (8/32), respectively. CK19, LUNX, and KS1/4 mRNA-positive cells were detected in 6.6% (1/15), 0.0% (0/15), and 13.3% (2/15) of the patients with BPD, respectively. However, the healthy group did not express any of the three markers. The expression of CK19, LUNX, and KS1/4 mRNA was significantly higher in the NSCLC group than that in the healthy and BPD groups (P < 0.05). CK19 and LUNX mRNA may be ideal biomarkers indicating micrometastases in patients with NSCLC; however, the diagnostic applicability of KS1/4 mRNA remains uncertain. The rate of expression of CK19 was not correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics (P > 0.05). The rate of expression of LUNX and KS1/4 was closely related to the clinical stage (P < 0.05), and not related to the clinical characteristics of the disease (age, gender, smoking history, pathological type, histologic classification, and differentiation; P > 0.05).
Assuntos
Biomarcadores Tumorais/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/diagnóstico , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Micrometástase de Neoplasia/diagnóstico , Idoso , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/genética , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/genética , Feminino , Glicoproteínas/genética , Humanos , Queratina-19/genética , Metástase Linfática , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Micrometástase de Neoplasia/genética , Fosfoproteínas/genética , RNA Mensageiro/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/genéticaRESUMO
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health problem worldwide. This virus and its hosts are often fated to continual co-evolutionary interactions. Codon usage analysis has significance for studies of co-evolution between viruses, their hosts, and mRNA translation. Adaptation of the overall codon usage pattern of HBV to that of humans is estimated using the synonymous codon usage value (RSCU), and the synonymous codon usage biases for the translation initiation region (TIR) of HBV are analyzed by calculation of the usage fluctuation of each synonymous codon along the TIR (the first 50 codon sites of the whole coding sequence of HBV). With respect to synonymous codon usage, our results demonstrated that HBV had no significant tendency to select over-represented codons, but had a significant tendency to select certain under-represented codons in the viral genome. Within the three common HBV hosts, 14 of 59 codons had a similar usage pattern, suggesting that mutation pressure from this DNA virus played an important role in the formation of virus synonymous codon usage. In addition, there was no obvious trend for the codons with relatively low energy to be highly selected in the TIR of HBV, suggesting that the synonymous codon usage patterns for the TIR might not be affected by the nucleotide sequence secondary structure; however, synonymous codon usage in the TIR of HBV was influenced by the overall codon usage patterns of the hosts to some degree. Our results suggest that mutation pressure from HBV plays an important role in the formation of synonymous codon usage of the viral genome, while translation selection from the hosts contributes to virus translational fine-tuning.
Assuntos
Códon , Vírus da Hepatite B/genética , Iniciação Traducional da Cadeia Peptídica , Sequência de Bases , Evolução Biológica , Evolução Molecular , Genoma Viral , Interações Hospedeiro-Patógeno , Humanos , Mutação , Fases de Leitura Aberta , Mutação SilenciosaRESUMO
Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a systemic illness in children and is usually caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71). To provide new insights into the genetic features of EV71 and the relationship between the overall codon usage pattern of this virus and that of humans, values for relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU), effective number of codons (ENC), codon adaptation index (CAI), and nucleotide composition were calculated and analyzed. The relationship between ENC values and (G+C)3% suggests that, although nucleotide composition plays an important role in shaping the overall codon usage pattern of this virus, other factors also affect this pattern. In addition, the negative correlation between the CAI value and (G+C)3% suggests that the secondary structure of the EV71 coding sequence caused by its nucleotide composition can affect gene expression. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between ENC and CAI, suggesting that gene expression does not play a role in shaping the overall codon usage pattern of EV71. The overall codon usage pattern of the EV71 virus is only partly similar to the general codon pattern of human, suggesting that, although EV71 has co-evolved with humans for extended periods, mutation pressure played an important role in shaping the virus's overall codon usage pattern. These results revealed that the EV71 virus has developed a subtle strategy during evolution for adapting to environmental changes in its host cells solely by means of mutation pressure.
Assuntos
Códon/genética , DNA Viral/genética , Enterovirus Humano A/genética , Composição de Bases , DNA Viral/química , Enterovirus Humano A/química , Evolução Molecular , Mutação , Conformação de Ácido NucleicoRESUMO
Recent evidence has shown that the microRNA polymorphism may play an important role in the susceptibility to congenital heart disease (CHD). A potentially functional SNP rs4938723 (T>C) in the promoter region of pri-miR-34b/c might affect transcription factor GATA binding and therefore pri-miR-34b/c expression. We genotyped the pri-miR-34b/c polymorphism in a case-control study of 590 patients and 672 controls in a Han Chinese population and assessed the effects of the pri-miR-34b/c polymorphism on CHD susceptibility by TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. There was no association between the pri-miR-34b/c polymorphism and the risk of CHD in both genotype and allelic frequency. In a subsequent analysis of the association between this polymorphism and CHD classification, there was still no significant difference in both genotype and allelic frequency. Our results suggest that the pri-miR-34b/c polymorphism rs4938723 is not associated with susceptibility to sporadic CHD in the Han Chinese population.
Assuntos
Estudos de Associação Genética , Predisposição Genética para Doença , Cardiopatias Congênitas/genética , MicroRNAs/genética , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Criança , Pré-Escolar , China , Feminino , Genótipo , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo ÚnicoRESUMO
PURPOSE: This randomized phase II study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of paclitaxel with S-1 (PS) vs. S-1 in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). METHODS: Eighty-two (82) patients were 1:1 randomly assigned to oral S-1 (daily for 2 weeks, every 4 weeks' cycle) or S-1 (daily for 2 weeks, every 4 weeks' cycle) plus paclitaxel (on day 1, 8 and 15 of a 4 weeks' cycle). S-1 was orally administered with a fixed quantity according to body surface area (BSA), while paclitaxel was given 60 mg/m(2) i.v. daily through an implanted catheter. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall responsible rates and safety. RESULTS: The median OS with PS versus S-1 monotherapy was 14.0 versus 11.0 months (P = 0.02), survival at 12 months was 61.0 % in the PS group and 46.3 % in the S-1 group. Median PFS was also significantly longer in the PS group (6.0 months) than in the S-1 group (4.0 months). The overall response rate was determined in 82 evaluable patients, and was significantly higher (P = 0.04) with PS (19 patients, 46.3 %) than with S-1 monotherapy (10 patients, 24.4 %). PS was well tolerated with no treatment-related deaths, all were grade 3-4 gastrointestinal toxicities, including anorexia, nausea, and diarrhea developed in less than 10 % of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Combination chemotherapy of paclitaxel with S-1 is well tolerated and active in AGC patients. Further investigation with comparative trials is needed for confirmation.
Assuntos
Adenocarcinoma/mortalidade , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/uso terapêutico , Neoplasias Hepáticas/mortalidade , Neoplasias Peritoneais/mortalidade , Neoplasias Gástricas/mortalidade , Adenocarcinoma/tratamento farmacológico , Adenocarcinoma/patologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Combinação de Medicamentos , Estudos de Viabilidade , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Neoplasias Hepáticas/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias Hepáticas/secundário , Metástase Linfática , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Estadiamento de Neoplasias , Ácido Oxônico/administração & dosagem , Paclitaxel/administração & dosagem , Neoplasias Peritoneais/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias Peritoneais/secundário , Prognóstico , Neoplasias Gástricas/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias Gástricas/patologia , Taxa de Sobrevida , Tegafur/administração & dosagem , Adulto JovemRESUMO
The functional polymorphism Ser326Cys (rs1052133) in the human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (hOGG1) gene has been implicated in bladder cancer risk. However, reports of this association between the Ser326Cys polymorphism and bladder cancer risk are conflicting. In order to help clarify this relationship, we made a meta-analysis of seven case-control studies, summing 2521 cases and 2408 controls. We used odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) to assess the strength of the association. Overall, no significant association between the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism and bladder cancer risk was found for Cys/Cys vs Ser/Ser (OR = 1.10, 95%CI = 0.74-1.65), Ser/Cys vs Ser/Ser (OR = 1.07, 95%CI = 0.81-1.42), Cys/Cys + Ser/Cys vs Ser/Ser (OR = 1.08, 95%CI = 0.87-1.33), and Cys/Cys vs Ser/Cys + Ser/Ser (OR = 1.04, 95%CI = 0.65-1.69). Even when stratified by ethnicity, no significant association was observed. We concluded that the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism does not contribute to susceptibility to bladder cancer.