Direct detection of circulating free DNA extracted from serum samples of breast cancer using locked nucleic acid molecular beacon.

As an emerging noninvasive blood biomarker, circulating free DNA (cfDNA) can be utilized to assess diagnosis, progression and evaluate prognosis of cancer. However, cfDNAs are not "naked", they can be part of complexes, or are bound to the surface of the cells via proteins, which make the detection more challenging. Here, a simple method for the detection of Ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 1 (UHRF1) DNA exacted from serum of breast cancer (BC) has been developed using a novel locked nucleic acid molecular beacon (LNA-MB). In order to enhance the stability and detection efficiency of the probe in biofluids, we design a shared-stem molecular beacon containing a 27-mer loop and a 4-mer stem with DNA/LNA alternating bases. The fluorescence is released in the presence of target. The detection procedure is simple and can be completed within 1h. This method shows a sensitive response to UHRF1 DNA with a dynamic range of 3 orders of magnitude. The limit of detection is 11nM (S/N=3) with excellent selectivity. It can discriminate UHRF1 DNA from three-base mismatched DNA with a high specificity. More importantly, this method can distinguish the expression of serum UHRF1 DNA among 5 breast cancer patients and 5 healthy controls. The mentioned superiority may suggest that this assay can be served as a promising noninvasive detection tool for early BC diagnosis and monitoring.

A Common Polymorphism of Upstream Transcription Factor 1 Gene is associated with Lipid Profile: A Study in Chinese Type 2 Diabetes Families.

Upstream transcription factor 1 (USF1) is capable of controlling various members in glucose and lipid metabolism pathways. Much evidence suggests that the rs3737787 polymorphism in the USF1 gene may lead to alteration of lipid metabolism. The objective of this study was to test the association between rs3737787 and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its related lipid metabolic traits in the Chinese population. A total of 287 eligible T2DM families were chosen in Beijing. A set of questionnaires was administered to obtain information on demographic characteristics. Physical measurements were recorded. DNA was extracted from blood samples and genotyped using PCR-RFLP method. Statistical analyses including linkage analysis and family-based association test were performed to detect the relationship between rs3737787 and T2DM related traits. In the non-parametric linkage analysis, it was observed that rs3737787 is potentially linked with triglyceride and apolipoprotein E levels, where the logarithm of the odds scores were 0.87 (p=0.02) and 1.96 (p=0.001), respectively. Similar results were obtained in the multi-factorial generalized estimating equation analysis. Using different statistical approaches, in this study, we have confirmed that the single nucleotide polymorphism rs3737787 is related to triglyceride and apolipoprotein E levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus families.