Characterization and functional analysis of a chitin synthase gene (HcCS1) identified from the freshwater pearlmussel Hyriopsis cumingii.

The triangle sail mussel, Hyriopsis cumingii, is the most important freshwater pearl mussel in China. However, the mechanisms underlying its chitin-mediated shell and nacre formation remain largely unknown. Here, we characterized a chitin synthase (CS) gene (HcCS1) in H. cumingii, and analyzed its possible physiological function. The complete ORF sequence of HcCS1 contained 6903 bp, encoding a 2300-amino acid protein (theoretical molecular mass = 264 kDa; isoelectric point = 6.22), and no putative signal peptide was predicted. A myosin motor head domain, a CS domain, and 12 transmembrane domains were found. The predicted spatial structures of the myosin head and CS domains were similar to the electron microscopic structure of the heavy meromyosin subfragment of chicken smooth muscle myosin and the crystal structure of bacterial cellulose synthase, respectively. This structural similarity indicates that the functions of these two domains might be conserved. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR results showed that HcCS1 was present in all detected tissues, with the highest expression levels detected in the mantle. The HcCS1 transcripts in the mantle were upregulated following shell damage from 12 to 24 h post-damage, and they peaked (approximately 1.5-fold increase) at 12 h after shell damage. These findings suggest that HcCS1 was involved in shell regeneration, and that it might participate in shell and nacre formation in this species via chitin synthesis. HcCS1 might also dynamically regulate chitin deposition during the process of shell and nacre formation with the help of its conserved myosin head domain.

The effect of overweight and obesity on psoriasis patients in Chinese Han population: a hospital-based study.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates that psoriasis is associated with increased risk of overweight and obesity. However, few studies have investigated this relationship in Chinese Han population. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between overweight/obesity and psoriasis and to evaluate the overweight/obesity effect on the clinical features of psoriasis in Chinese Han population. METHODS: A hospital-based study was conducted, which involved in 4452 patients and 1166 controls of Chinese Han through epidemiological investigation. Controls used in the study were individuals without psoriasis from health examination centre, and other skin disease patients from outpatient department. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, a significantly greater prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed in psoriasis patients. The estimated ORs were 1.301 (95% CI, 1.105-1.531) and 1.680 (95% CI, 1.134-2.491) respectively. The disease severity of psoriasis measured by psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) was statistically correlated with body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.184, P < 0.01). Moreover, a high proportion of overweight patients had affected hands or/and feet, buttocks, trunk, legs, arms and arthritis (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that psoriatic patients have a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity compared with non-psoriatic patients in Chinese Han population. Overweight and obesity has different risk effect on severity and manifestations of psoriasis and might be useful for better evaluating psoriasis clinically.

TNIP1, SLC15A4, ETS1, RasGRP3 and IKZF1 are associated with clinical features of systemic lupus erythematosus in a Chinese Han population.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with heterogeneous clinical manifestations influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Five novel susceptibility genes (TNIP1, SLC15A4, ETS1, RasGRP3 and IKZF1) for SLE have been identified in a recent genome-wide association study of a Chinese Han population. This study investigated their relationships with disease subphenotypes, including renal nephritis, photosensitivity, antinuclear antibody (ANA), age at diagnosis, malar rash, discoid rash, immunological disorder, oral ulcer, hematological disorder, neurological disorder, serositis, arthritis and vasculitis. Significant associations were found for the single nucleotide polymorphism rs10036748 of TNIP1 with photosensitivity (odds ratio (OR) = 0.87, p = 0.01) and vasculitis (OR = 1.18, p = 0.04); rs10847697 of SLC15A4 with discoid rash (OR = 1.18, p = 0.02); rs6590330 of ETS1 with SLE of age at diagnosis <20 years (OR = 1.24, p = 8.91 x 10(-5)); rs13385731 of RasGRP3 with malar rash (OR = 1.20, p = 0.01), discoid rash (OR = 0.78, p = 0.02) and ANA (OR = 0.72, p = 0.004); rs4917014 of IKZF1 with renal nephritis (OR = 1.13, p = 0.02) and malar rash (OR = 0.83, p = 0.00038), respectively. The study suggested that these susceptibility genes might not only play important roles in the development of SLE, but also contribute to the complex phenotypes of SLE.

MiRNA-488-3p suppresses acute myocardial infarction-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis via targeting ZNF791.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to elucidate the potential function of microRNA-488-3p (miRNA-488-3p) in the pathogenesis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: AMI mice constructed by ligation of the anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) were administrated with miRNA-488-3p mimics or negative control, respectively. Infarct size and risk region of AMI mice were determined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. The serum level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in mice was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Subsequently, primary cardiomyocytes were isolated from AMI mice administrated with miRNA-488-3p mimics or negative control. LDH release in both hypoxia-preconditioning primary cardiomyocytes and MCM cells was detected. Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay was used to verify the potential target of miRNA-488-3p. Furthermore, the regulatory effects of miRNA-488-3p and its target ZNF791 on AMI-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis were evaluated. RESULTS: MiRNA-488-3p was lowly expressed in AMI mice. Meanwhile, miRNA-488-3p expression decreased in hypoxia-preconditioning primary cardiomyocytes or MCM cells in a time-dependent manner. AMI mice overexpressing miRNA-488-3p showed significantly smaller infarct size and risk region, as well as lower LHD release in serum. Overexpression of miRNA-488-3p markedly down-regulated the protein level of caspase3 in MCM cells. ZNF791 was predicted as the direct target of miRNA-488-3p, which was negatively regulated by miRNA-488-3p. Overexpression of ZNF791 reversed the protective role of miRNA-488-3p in AMI-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: MiRNA-488-3p is down-regulated in AMI mice, which alleviates AMI-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis via down-regulating ZNF791.

Size-dependent electrical transport properties in Co nanocluster-assembled granular films.

A series of Co nanocluster-assembled films with cluster sizes ranging from 4.5 nm to 14.7 nm were prepared by the plasma-gas-condensation method. The size-dependent electrical transport properties were systematically investigated. Both of the longitudinal resistivity ([Formula: see text]) and saturated anomalous Hall resistivity ([Formula: see text]) continuously increased with the decrease of the cluster sizes (d). The [Formula: see text] firstly increased and then decreased with increasing the temperature for all samples, which could be well described by involving the thermally fluctuation-induced tunneling (FIT) process and scattering. The tunneling effect was verified to result in the invalidation of classical anomalous Hall effect (AHE) scaling relation. After deducting the contribution from tunneling effect to [Formula: see text], the AHE scaling relation between [Formula: see text] and the scattering resistivity ([Formula: see text]) by varying the temperature was reconstructed. The value of scaling exponent γ increased with increasing Co cluster sizes. The size dependence of γ might be qualitatively interpreted by the interface and surface-induced spin flip scattering. We also determined the scaling relation between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] at 5 K by changing the Co cluster sizes, and a large value of γ = 3.6 was obtained which might be ascribed to the surface and interfacial scattering.

In situ Raman spectroscopic study of the dissociation of methane hydrate at high pressure.

The dissociation of methane hydrate at high pressure is studied by in situ Raman spectroscopy in a diamond-anvil cell. As for the Raman spectrum of sI methane hydrate, the v(1) band of CH(4) is split into two peaks v'(1) and v''(1), indicating the partitioning of CH(4) between the large (5(12)6(2)) and small (5(12)) cavities, respectively. With increasing temperature, the intensity ratio of Iv'(1)/Iv''(1) decreases obviously, and the d(Iv'(1)/Iv''(1))/dT is -0.079 K(-1). Additionally, the v(1) band of the dissolved CH(4) is close to v''(1) of the CH(4) molecule engaged in the small 5(12) cavity. This implies that, in the initial stage of hydrate formation, the abundance of small 5(12) cavities is greater than that of large 5(12)6(2) cavities.

[The roles of serum free light chain ratio in the diagnosis and prognosis of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma].

OBJECTIVE: The roles of serum free light chain ratio (sFLCR) in the diagnosis and prognosis of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) patients were analyzed. METHODS: The clinical data was retrospectively analyzed for 82 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) patients in the first affiliated hospital of Soochow University from September 28, 2012 to July 18, 2105. The serum free light chain levels were measured and κ/λ ratios were calculated, so we could analyze the roles of sFLCR in the diagnosis and prognosis of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) patients. RESULTS: It was 85.5% (70/82) positive of M protein by serum protein electrophoresis (SFE) and 93.9%(77/82) by serum immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE). Both sFLC and sFLCR abnormalities were 96.3% (79/82). The estimated 40-months overall survival was 87% for the high free light chain ratio group (sFLCR ≥100 or≤0.01) and 61% for the low free light chain ratio group (0.01

Omentin-1 plasma levels and omentin-1 expression are decreased in psoriatic lesions of psoriasis patients.

Previous studies have suggested that psoriasis is associated with individuals who are overweight or obese. Omentin is a recently discovered adipokine that is involved in chronic inflammatory processes. This study evaluated the relationship between omentin and psoriasis, focusing on omentin-1 serum levels, skin expression of omentin-1, and omentin-1 gene polymorphism (rs2274907; Val109Asp). Levels of omentin-1 in serum samples from 44 patients with psoriasis and 38 healthy controls were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expressions of omentin-1 were measured by immunohistochemistry in 3 psoriasis affected skins and 3 normal skins. The rs2274907 variant was typed using a SNaPshot assay in 354 cases and 214 controls. We found significantly lower serum levels of omentin-1 in psoriasis patients compared with healthy controls (p < 0.001) with an inverse correlation with the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (p < 0.01). The comparison of genotype and allele distribution revealed no significant difference in genotype frequency between psoriasis patients and controls. Therefore, omentin-1 may have a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and might be a potential biological marker for psoriasis severity.

A new approach to kinetics study of the anhydrite crystallization at 373 K using a diamond anvil cell with Raman spectroscopy.

A new approach to the kinetics study of anhydrite (CaSO4) crystallization has been performed in situ using a hydrothermal diamond anvil cell with Raman spectroscopy in the pressure range 896-1322 MPa and a constant temperature of 373 K. Transformed volume fraction X(t) was determined from Raman peak intensity of the sulfate ion in aqueous solution. The transformation-time plots display a sigmoidal shape with time, which indicates that the reaction rate is different at each stage of anhydrite crystallization. At 373 K, the rate constant k increases from 1.14 × 10(-4) s(-1) to 1.86 × 10(-3) s(-1), demonstrating a positive effect of pressure on the overall rate at isothermal condition. We first achieved the molar volume change (ΔVm) equal to -1.82 × 10(-5) m(3)∕mol in the course of anhydrite crystallization through Avrami kinetic theory, showing a process of reduction in volume at high pressure and high temperature. According to the exponent n derived from our experiments, a grain-boundary nucleation and diffusion-controlled growth kinetically dominates the crystallization of anhydrite.