Centrosomal protein FOR20 knockout mice display embryonic lethality and left-right patterning defects.

Centrosomal protein FOR20 has been reported to be crucial for essential cellular processes, including ciliogenesis, cell migration, and cell cycle in vertebrates. However, the function of FOR20 during mammalian embryonic development remains unknown. To investigate the in vivo function of the For20 gene in mammals, we generated For20 homozygous knockout mice by gene targeting. Our data reveal that homozygous knockout of For20 results in significant embryonic growth arrest and lethality during gestation, while the heterozygotes show no obvious defects. The absence of For20 leads to impaired left-right patterning of embryos and reduced cilia in the embryonic node. Deletion of For20 also disrupts angiogenesis in yolk sacs and embryos. These results highlight a critical role of For20 in early mammalian embryogenesis.

Serum differential protein identification of Xinjiang Kazakh esophageal cancer patients based on the two-dimensional liquid-phase chromatography and LTQ MS.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of chemo-radiotherapy on serum protein expression of the esophageal cancer patients and discover potential biomarkers by detecting serum proteins mass spectrometry of the healthy Kazakh people in Xinjiang as well as the patients before and after their chemo-radiotherapy. In order to separate and compare the three serum samples (the healthy group's, the patients' before and after chemo-radiotherapy) with two-dimensional protein liquid chromatography system (Proteome LabTM PF-2D), then detect the differential protein spots with linear trap quadruple mass spectrometer (LTQ MS/MS). (1) The Kazakh esophageal cancer patients got 21 expressed protein spots peaks with significant difference after chemo-radiotherapy compared with before; before the treatment there were 10 different expressed protein spots compared with the healthy group, and after it there were four peaks in the expression of protein spots compared with the healthy group. (2) After LTQ mass spectrometric detection, 22 proteins were up-regulated in serum samples of the healthy group, 22 were up-regulated of the patients before medical treatment and 5 were up-regulated after chemo-radiotherapy. (3) 8 proteins including APOA1 can be served as serum markers in Kazakh esophageal cancer diagnosis, and proteins like CLU can be served as serum markers in judging the resistance and sensitivity towards chemo-radiotherapy. (4) The abnormal expressions of APOC2, APOC3, Antithrombin-III in esophageal cancer were discovered for the first time. Specific protein spots related to Xinjiang Kazakh esophageal cancer diagnosis and chemo-radiotherapy can be identified in the serum, which will probably become a maker in Kazakh esophageal cancer diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation.