Bioinformatic analysis of potential candidates for therapy of inflammatory bowel disease.

OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) increased the risk for developing colorectal cancer. However, there is no effective therapy for IBDs. The aim of this study was to identify potential therapeutic targets for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and explore the possible mechanism underlying this disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gene expression profile GSE6731 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database, which included 9 UC samples and 19 CD samples. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between affected colon tissues and non-affected tissues were identified in UC and CD group. Then, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways analysis of DEGs were performed. Modules in the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were identified, and significant node genes were selected. RESULTS: Total 619 DEGs including 285 up-regulated genes and 334 down-regulated genes were identified in UC group and total 1159 DEGs of CD including 585 up-regulated genes and 574 down-regulated genes were selected. Module was selected from PPI network. From the PPI network and module, DEGs of mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAPK3), N-myc downstream regulated 1 (NDRG1) and major histocompatibility complex, class II, DR alpha (HLA-DRA) have high degree. CONCLUSIONS: MAPK3, NDRG1 and HLA-DRA may play key roles in the progression and development of IBD. They may be used as specific therapeutic targets in the treatment of IBD. However, further experiments are still needed to confirm our results.

Experimental change on dopaminergic neurons in striatum of Parkinson disease rats.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by selective and progressive demise of dopamine-containing neurons in the midbrain. In this study, we observe the expression of c-Jun in the striatum of rats with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesions after apomorphine (APO) intraperitoneal injection (ip) in substantia nigra compacta (SNc), and to study the mechanism of the rotations behavior. DESIGN: The 6-OHDA was unilaterally injected into rat right SNC. The APO- induced abnormal rotations were investigated on the 1st, 4th, 7th, 14th, 21st days after lesion, respectively. Meanwhile dopaminergic degeneration and c-Jun expression were observed with microscope. Nissl's body staining and immunohistochemical method (ABC) were employed to study the changes of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and c-Jun in DA neurons. RESULTS: We found that the number of dopaminergic neurons decreased gradually in the lesioned site and those neurons' electron-microscopic structure was severe damaged. There were over 75% of dopaminergic neurons lost, contralateral rotations over 7 turns per minute and c-Jun expressing in the ipsilateral striatum. CONCLUSION: Dopaminergic neurons deletion may be linked to upregulation of c-Jun.

A proteinase inhibitor II of Solanum americanum is expressed in phloem.

Although proteinase inhibitor proteins are known to confer insect resistance in transgenic plants, their endogenous roles remain undefined. Here, we describe the expression of a proteinase inhibitor II (PIN2) protein from Solanum americanum in phloem of stems, roots and leaves suggesting a novel endogenous role for PIN2 in phloem. The phloem consists of parenchyma cells, sieve elements (SE), and companion cells (CC) which are in close association with SE. We isolated two cDNAs encoding PIN2, SaPIN2a and SaPIN2b, from a S. americanum cDNA library using a tomato PIN2 cDNA as hybridization probe. SaPIN2a shows 73.6% identity to SaPIN2b. Southern blot analysis confirmed that two genes occur in S. americanum. Northern blot analysis showed that both are wound-inducible and are expressed in flowers. Unlike SaPIN2b and other previously characterized plant PIN2 proteins, SaPlN2a is abundantly expressed in stems. In situ hybridization studies on stem sections showed that SaPIN2a mRNA is expressed in CC and some SE, likely the immature developing SE. of external and internal phloem. Western blot analysis using SaPIN2a-specific antibodies showed SaPIN2a accumulation in stems, leaf midribs and fruits. Immunohistochemical localization, using these antibodies, revealed SaPIN2a expression in external and internal phloem of stem. Immunoelectron microscopy of stem, root and leaf sections further localized SaPIN2a to the CC and predominantly to the SE, particularly the parietal cytoplasm adjacent to the cell wall, the lumen and the sieve-area pores. These results suggest that, other than a possible role in plant defense, SaPIN2a could be involved in regulating proteolysis in the SE.