Cloning and characterization of ifitm1 and ifitm3 expression during early zebrafish development.

The family of interferon-inducible transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) plays a crucial role in inhibiting proliferation, promoting homotypic cell adhesion and mediating germ cell development. In the present study, the full-length cDNAs of zebrafish ifitm1 (744 bp) and ifitm3 (702 bp) were obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed that ifitm1 mRNA was expressed in the ovary, testis, brain, muscle, liver and kidney, while ifitm3 mRNA was only detected in the ovary. Based on in situ hybridization, ifitm1 mRNA was found to be strongly expressed in the ooplasm from stage I to stage II and ifitm3 mRNA was also strongly expressed in the ooplasm from stage I to stage II, furthermore ifitm3 expression ultimately localized to the cortex region beneath the plasma membrane of stage IV oocytes. During development, ifitm1 expression was initially detected in the enveloping layer cells and deep layer cells of shield stage embryos. Then, throughout the segmentation phase (10.25-24 hours post-fertilization (hpf)), ifitm1 expression was mainly detected in the head, trunk and tail regions. Unlike ifitm1, ifitm3 expression was initially detected in sphere stage embryos and was then broadly expressed throughout the embryo from the 70% epiboly stage to 24 hpf. Interestingly, ifitm3 was also expressed in primordial germ cells (PGCs) from the bud stage to 24 hpf. This expression analysis indicates that zebrafish ifitm1 may play a critical role in early organogenesis and may perform immune or hematopoietic functions and ifitm3 might be necessary for PGC migration and the formation of female germ cells.

Cloning and Characterization of ifitm1 and ifitm3 Expression During Early Zebrafish Development - CORRIGENDUM.

The authors apologise for errors in the corresponding authors details given on page 1 of the article. Below is the correct information of the corresponding author and email address : 1) Wei-Wei Xue, Huan-Nan Wang, Zhi-Meng Wang, Meng-Xi Qiu, Jing Che, Feng-Jiao Deng* and Jiang-Dong Liu* 2) *All correspondence to: Feng-Jiao Deng and Jiang-Dong Liu. e-mail: fish4@whu.edu.cn 3) All authors are from the same one laboratory. The second laboratory was superfluous and should be deleted.

Predictive efficacy of the 2014 International Society of Urological Pathology Gleason grading system in initially diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer.

We compared the predictive ability of the 2014 and 2005 Gleason grading systems in 568 patients initially diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). Outcomes included the duration of castration-resistant prostate cancer-free survival (CFS) and overall survival (OS). Univariate analyses and log-rank tests were used to identify prognosis indicators and assess univariable differences in CFS and OS in Gleason score (GS) groups. Cox proportional hazards and area under the curves of receiver operator characteristics methods were used to evaluate the predictive efficacy of the 2005 and 2014 ISUP grading systems. Univariate analyses showed that the 2005 and 2014 grading systems were prognosticators for CFS and OS; both systems could distinguish the clinical outcome of patients with GS 6, GS 7, and GS 8-10. Using the 2014 criteria, no statistical differences in patient survival were observed between GS 3 + 4 and GS 4 + 3 or GS 8 and GS 9-10. The predictive ability of the 2014 and 2005 grading systems was comparable for CFS and OS (P = 0.321). However, the 2014 grading system did not exhibit superior predictive efficacy in patients initially diagnosed with PCa and bone metastasis; trials using larger cohorts are required to confirm its predictive value. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first study to compare the 2005 and 2014 grading systems in initially diagnosed PCa with bone metastasis. At present, we recommend that both systems should be used to predict the prognosis of patients with metastatic PCa.

[Advanced methods of preparing pachytene bivalents and high resolution multiple bands of zebrafish (Danio rerio)].

The pachytene bivalents with high-resolution multiple G bands of zebrafish were obtained after the treatment with alkaline hypotonic solution and high concentration of chloroform fixative solution. When comparing six group chromosomes from different pachytene specimens, the characteristic and the number of bands were well matched. In order to systematize this technique and get stable result, we summarize the preparation procedure of the zebrafish bivalents. The 6-month-old to one-year-old zebrafish whose spermary appears ivory-white and opaque, is good material. The whole testis should be treated with hypotonic solution for 1.5 approximately 2 h at room temperature. Then, the testes were fixed for 20 min in high chloroform fixative solution (chloroform: methanol: acetic acid, 3: 6:1), and fixed in Carnoy's solution (methanol: acetic acid, 3:1) for two times. In addition, with the treatment of restriction endonuclease Alu I directed in situ nick translation, we successfully obtained well-resolved restrictive endonuclease banding of zebrafish bivalents, which was considered as G-like band patterns. The aging of the specimen is also important factor, should let them dry at room temperature for one week. The application of these methods in cytogenetics research of zebrafish and other fish can be expected. Construction of the steady technique system to prepare high resolution banding bivalents and idiogram of zebrafish is the basement to found stable and accurate framework for physical map.

[Chromosomal localization of rice field eel Hox genes by PRINS].

The genome duplication and chromosome rearrangement are two kinds of evolution models at the chromosome level during the evolution of vertebrate genome. And Hox genes are the powerful proves to support the evolution theory of genome duplication, which has been found recently. In this study, the chromosomal localization of rice field eel Hox genes has been carried out by PRINS. The mapping results indicated that 6 Hox clusters might exist in rice field eel genome, and these clusters were localized on chromosome 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 and at the position of 28.24 +/- 2.88, 4.55 +/- 1.39, 13.89 +/- 2.03, 74.32 +/- 1.86, 38.03 +/- 2.41, 58.18 +/- 2.05 from the centromere respectively. The mapping results that Hox genes were localized on chromosome 1, 3, 6 and 10 in the study are corresponding to that by chromosome microdissection. The chromosomal localization of rice field eel Hox genes will help us to discover the origin and evolution of rice field eel chromosomes, and provide cellular genetic proves of this special species to support the evolution theory of genome duplication.