Expression of aquaporin 1 and 4 in rats with acute hypoxic lung injury and its significance.

Aquaporin (AQP)-1 and AQP-4 expression in lung tissues of SD rats during high altitude hypoxic lung injury, and the relationship between AQP-1 and AQP-4 expression, and acute hypoxic lung injury was analyzed. Thirty six healthy SD rats were divided into hypoxia 1d, 2d, 3d, 5d, and 7d groups and control group (N = 6). Pathological changes in lung tissue were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining; lung injury was scored, and ultrastructural changes in lung tissue were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Changes in moisture content in lung tissues were determined by analyzing the wet/dry weight ratio (W/D). Localization of AQP-1 and AQP-4 was determined by immunohistochemistry. AQP-1 and AQP-4 expression were detected by western blot. Lung W/D was lower in hypoxia groups than in control group, and the highest in 3d group (P < 0.05). Light microscopy revealed a thickening alveolar wall and outstretched and congestive alveolar wall in hypoxia group; electron microscopy revealed the presence of abnormal alveolar type II epithelial cells, cavitation in cytoplasm, microvillus-like protrusions, and a reduced lamellar body. AQP- 1 and AQP-4 were mainly distributed in the capillaries and lymphatic and alveolar epithelial cells and airway epithelial cells, respectively. AQP-1 protein expression was decreased (western blot) in hypoxia 1d group (the lowest in 3d group; P < 0.05); there were no significant changes about AQP- 4 expression. Therefore, AQP-1 may be involved in abnormal transport of liquid ALI and pathogenesis of lung edema. AQP-4 may not be involved in the formation of ALI lung edema.

Branches of NF-κb signaling pathway regulate hepatocyte proliferation in rat liver regeneration.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway is involved in promoting cell proliferation. To further explore the regulatory branches and their sequence in the NF-κB pathway in the promotion of hepatocyte proliferation at the transcriptional level during rat liver regeneration, Rat Genome 230 2.0 array was used to detect the expression changes of the isolated hepatocytes. We found that many genes involved in the NF-κB pathway (including 73 known genes and 19 homologous genes) and cell proliferation (including 484 genes and 104 homologous genes) were associated with liver regeneration. Expression profile function (Ep) was used to analyze the biological processes. It was revealed that the NF-κB pathway promoted hepatocyte proliferation through three branches. Several methods of integrated statistics were applied to extract and screen key genes in liver regeneration, and it indicated that eight genes may play a vital role in rat liver regeneration. To confirm the above predicted results, Ccnd1, Jun and Myc were analyzed using qRT-PCR, and the results were generally consistent with that of microarray data. It is concluded that 3 branches and 8 key genes involved in the NF-κB pathway regulate hepatocyte proliferation during rat liver regeneration.

Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers from Coilia ectenes.

Coilia ectenes (Jordan and Seale 1905) is an important anadromous species that is an important resource at risk of extinction because of over-fishing, pollution, and coastal construction. To evaluate the genetic diversity of C. ectenes for use in breeding programs, elite microsatellite-enriched libraries were constructed and novel microsatellite markers were developed, and applied to genetically detect wild populations. Out of 92 randomly selected and sequenced clones, 89 contained a CA or GA repeat motif. Twenty-two pairs of primers were designed to investigate the polymorphism and genetic structure of a wild population collected from the Yellow River estuary, China. It was found that 2 loci were monomorphic and 20 loci were polymorphic. The number of alleles per polymorphic loci ranged from 3 to 13, with an average of 7.9. The expected heterozygosity per locus ranged from 0.05 to 0.89, with an average of 0.68. The isolated polymorphic markers are expected to be of use in future genetic breeding programs for C. ectenes, and in the assessment of genetic variation within this species.

A novel genetic variant of the goat Six6 gene and its association with production traits in Chinese goat breeds.

We looked for novel genetic variations within the Six6 gene by PCR-SSCP, DNA sequencing and forced RFLP-PCR and estimated their associations with production traits in 2132 goats of eight indigenous Chinese breeds. A novel single nucleotide polymorphism (NM_001104993.1: g.232T>C) within the goat Six6 gene was identified. The frequencies of allele "C" varied from 0.8621 to 1.000, which were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Genotype and allele frequencies were found to be significantly different in the breeds. Association analysis revealed a significant relationship between genotypes and cannon circumference in Hainan black goats (P = 0.047); adult individuals with genotype CT showed higher cannon circumference than those with genotype CC. Another significant association of genotypes with five-year-old fiber length was found in Inner Mongolia white cashmere goats (P = 0.002). In addition, individuals with genotype CT had longer fiber length than those with genotype CC. The data revealed that the Six6 gene positively affects growth traits and cashmere traits. Polymorphism of Six6-PstI could be useful as a DNA marker for goat breeding and genetics via marker-assisted selection.