The monotony of transferrin and esterase electrophoretic patterns in pirarucu, Arapaima gigas (Schinz, 1822) from Santa Cruz Lake, Tefé River, Amazonas, Brazil

Starch gel electrophoresis was used for examining the transferrin gene locus (Tf) and two esterase gene loci (Est-1 and Est-D1) of a pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) population sample collected from Santa Cruz Lake, Tefé River, Amazonas, Brazil. The Tf locus was tentatively classified as being polymorphic, showing two double-banded patterns (Tf 12 and Tf 22) of the three theoretically expected ones (Tf 11, Tf 12 and Tf 22), presumably controlled by two co-dominant alleles, Tf 1 and Tf 2. The monotony detected in pirarucu Tf locus genotypes showing a very high proportion of the double-banded heterozygote pattern Tf 12 (95% of the sampled individuals) may indicate the possibility of their having come from representatives of the same brood begotten by a pair of fish, where a single-banded Tf 11 homozygote pattern male would have crossed with a single-banded Tf 22 homozygote pattern female, or vice versa. One zone of electrophoretic activity was detected in esterase, presumably controlled by a monomorphic Est-1 locus with the fixed allele Est-11 where all individuals showed the single-banded Est-111 homozygote pattern. Esterase-D also displayed one zone of electrophoretic activity, presumably controlled by a monomorphic Est-D1 locus with a fixed allele Est-D11 where all individuals revealed the single-banded Est-D111 genotype pattern. The monotony comprised by single-banded genotype patterns in both esterase systems tested may also indicate the possibility of the individuals from the sample examined having come from representatives of the same brood begotten by a pair of fish with both the male and female having the same genotypes.

Synthesis and secretion of transferrin by a bovine trabecular meshwork cell line

The trabecular meshwork (TM) is the main outflow pathway in the mammalian eye. Oxidative damage to TM cells has been suggested to be an important cause of impairment of TM functions, leading to deficient drainage of aqueous humor, with deleterious consequences to the eye. Transferrin, a metalloprotein involved in iron transport, has been characterized as an intrinsic eye protein. Since transferrin is implicated in the control of oxidative stress, the objective of the present study was to determine if a bovine TM cell line (CTOB) synthesizes and secretes transferrin. The CTOB cell line was cultured in the presence of 35S-methionine and the incubation medium was submitted to immunoprecipitation. Total RNAs from CTOB and isolated bovine TM (freshly isolated, incubated or not) were subjected to the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and the amplification products were sequenced. Also, both CTOB and histological TM preparations were processed for transferrin immunolocalization. A labeled peptide of about 80 kDa, the expected size for transferrin, was immunopurified from CTOB samples obtained from the incubation assays. The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and sequencing experiments detected the presence of transferrin mRNA in CTOB and isolated bovine TM. Reactivity to antibodies against transferrin was observed both in CTOB and TM. The results obtained in all of these experiments indicated that the TM is capable of synthesizing and secreting transferrin. The possible implications for the physiology of the eye are discussed.

Transferrin polymorphism in Central Amazon populations of pescada, Plagioscion squamosissimus

Blood plasma of 253 specimens from eight population samples of the sciaenid fish, pescada (Plagioscion squamosissimus), caught from four sites in the Central Amazon, was tested for molecular variants of transferrin. Starch gel electrophoresis was used to distinguish six species of transferrin molecules; 12 of the 21 theoretically possible genotypes were found. There were highly significant departures from genetic equilibrium in seven of the eight population samples (chi-square (c2) test for Hardy-Weinberg expectations) due to an excess of homozygotes and a corresponding deficiency of heterozygotes. A dendrogram based on UPGMA cluster analysis of genetic distances at the transferrin gene locus, estimated among the population samples and statistical analyses of the distribution of Tf allele frequencies, indicated three genetically discreet sub-populations of P. squamosissimus. The three sub- populations, ôCareiro/Irandubaö, ôCoariö and ôTefeö, were found to have high frequencies of alleles Tf 2, Tf 4 and Tf 3, respectively. This genetic instability may be attributed to genetically discreet ôallopatric stockletsö, which diverged during past isolation.

Genetic Polymorphism of the Serum Proteins of Horses in Jeju

The study was carried out to investigate the genetic polymorphism of the serum proteins of horses in Cheju. They were assigned to three groups; 45 Cheju native horses(CNH), 60 Cheju racing horses(CRH) and 60 Thoroughbreds(TB). We analyzed the phenotypes and gene frequencies of serum proteins which were albumin (Alb), vitamin-D binding protein(GC), esterase (ES), A1B glycoprotein(A1B) and transferrin(TF) loci using horizontal polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (HPAGE).All of the loci, except A1B in TB, showed polymorphisms and different allelic and phenotypic frequencies in all three groups. ESS and TFF1 were not observed in CNH. Allelic frequencies of AlbB, ESI, TFD and TFF1 were high in TB. All of the loci, except ES locus in CRH, appeared to be in a state of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium from goodness-of-fit test in all three groups Heterozygosity estimates at Alb, ES and TF loci were high, but GC and A1B loci were low in all three groups. Average heterozygosities in CNH, CRH and TB were 0.3535, 0.3555 and 0.2726, respectively. Results showed differences in the frequencies of alleles and phenotypes of several serum protein loci between CNH and CRH, suggested that CRH might be crossed with other breeds of horses in some degree.

Association of genetic markers with coronary heart disease (myocardial infarction)--a case-control study.

A case-control study was carried out on patients of myocardial infarction selected from coronary care unit of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi. The study was carried out to determine the association of haptoglobin (Hp), transferrin (Tf) and complement component 3 (C3) polymorphism with myocardial infarction. The frequency of allele Hp1 was found to be 0.159 in cases studied and 0.058 in controls. The frequency of gene TfC was found to be 0.987 in cases of study and 0.992 in controls. Similarly, frequency of CS3 gene was found to be 0.985 and 0.990 in cases studied and controls respectively. The comparison between cases studied and controls with respect to TfC and CS3 polymorphism was found to be statistically non-significant while the comparison between cases studied and controls for Hp polymorphism was found to be statistically significant (chi 2 = 21.88, p < 0.01).

Serum protein polymorphisms and malaria in Madya Pradesh, India.

The relationship of serum protein polymorphisms to the presence of malaria antibodies was studied in 473 muria gond tribal subjects from Bastar district, Central India, an area endemic for both P. falciparum and P. vivax infection. A control group of 100 subjects in Delhi, which has a low prevalence of malaria, was also studied. Serum proteins (transferrin, haptoglobin and albumin) were analyzed for polymorphic variants by starch gel electrophoresis. Malarial antibodies were assayed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while thin blood films were screened for the presence of malaria parasites. Among serum proteins transferrin CD variant showed significant correlation with malarial infection. There were no significant differences observed between Hp1 and Hp2 variants of haptoglobin in relation to presence of malarial antibodies. Statistical analysis for albumin variants was not attempted because the number of individuals showing abnormal bands was small.