Establishment of a blue light damage model of human retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro.

To establish a blue-light damage model of human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Fourth-generation human RPE cells were randomly divided into two groups. In group A, cells were exposed to blue light (2000 ± 500 lux) for 0 (control), 3, 6, 9, and 12 h, and cell culture was stopped after 12 h. In group B, cells were exposed to blue light at the same intensity and time periods, but cell culture was stopped after 24 h. TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay was performed to determine the most suitable illuminating time with apoptotic index. Flow cytometry was used to determine apoptotic ratio of RPEs. In group A, the apoptotic index of cells that received 6, 9 and 12 h of blue light was higher than that of control. The apoptotic index of cells receiving 9 and 12 h was higher than that of 6 h (P = 0.000). In group B, the apoptotic index and RPE cell apoptosis ratio of cells exposed to 6, 9 and 12 h of blue light were higher than that of 3 h (P = 0.000); and cells receiving 9 and 12 h had higher values than that of 6 h. This study demonstrated that the best conditions to establish a blue light damage model of human retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro are 2000 ± 500 lux light intensity for 6 h, with 24 h of cell culture post-exposure.

Correlation between adiponectin and hemorrhagic shock in mice.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between adiponectin (ADPN) and hemorrhagic shock (HS) and the recovery after HS. This is significant for further understanding of the pathophysiological processes of HS and the development of better treatments. In total, 72 male C57BL/6 mice were assigned randomly to three groups: control, HS, and recovery (N = 24). The HS mouse model was constructed by hemorrhage of the carotid artery and recovery was achieved by tail vein injection of Ringer's solution. The level of ADPN in the peripheral blood of mice before and after recovery was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared to control, HS mice showed significantly decreased ADPN levels with the extension of HS time while the level of ADPN in recovery mice increased significantly and remained high. The variation of ADPN levels was closely associated with the occurrence of HS in mice and their recovery, suggesting that ADPN might act as a biomarker of inflammation and have potential for the treatment of HS.

Mining topological structures of protein-protein interaction networks for human brain-specific genes.

Compared to other placental mammals, humans have unique thinking and cognitive abilities because of their developed cerebral cortex composed of billions of neurons and synaptic connections. As the primary effectors of the mechanisms of life, proteins and their interactions form the basis of cellular and molecular functions in the living body. In this paper, we developed a pipeline for mining topological structures, identifying functional modules, and analyzing their functions from publically available datasets. A human brain-specific protein-protein interaction network with 1482 nodes and 3105 edges was built using a MapReduce based shortest path algorithm. Within this, 7 functional cliques were identified using a network clustering method, 98 hub proteins were obtained by the calculation of betweenness and connectivity, and 5 closest relationship to clique connector proteins were recognized by the combination scores of topological distance and gene ontology similarity. Furthermore, we discovered functional modules interacting with TP53 protein, which involves several fragmented research study conclusions and might be an important clue for further in vivo or in silico experiments to confirm these associations.

A Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase from Jatropha curcas enhances salt tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are involved in protecting plants against diverse biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study, a novel Cu/Zn-SOD gene (JcCu/Zn-SOD) was cloned from Jatropha curcas L. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that JcCu/Zn-SOD is constitutively expressed in different tissues of J. curcas and induced under NaCl treatment. To characterize the function of this gene with respect to salt tolerance, the construct p35S:JcCu/Zn-SOD was developed and transformed into Arabidopsis using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Compared with wild-type, transgenic plants over-expressing JcCu/Zn-SOD showed enhanced tolerance to salt stress during germination, seedling establishment, and growth in terms of longer root, larger rosette area, and a larger number of leaves in addition to higher SOD activity levels under NaCl stress. In addition, over-expression of JcCu/Zn-SOD resulted in lower monodialdehyde content in transgenic Arabidopsis compared to wild-type plants under the same NaCl stress. Therefore, JcCu/Zn-SOD can increase a plant salt stress tolerance potentially by reducing oxidant injury.

Genetic evidence for panmixia of Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) populations in China.

The Japanese eel population has dramatically declined since the 1970s. In order to conserve this species, the background genetic structure affecting these populations should be well documented. Previous genetic studies of this species have produced seemingly conflicting results, ranging from no detectable heterogeneity to small, but statistically significant variance. This study investigates the population structure of Japanese glass eels collected from 10 localities in China in 2009 using a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and 19 polymorphic microsatellite loci. Results revealed evidence of low genetic differentiation using both mtDNA (FST = 0.001, P = 0.291) and microsatellite data (FST = 0.003, P = 0.008). Pairwise F-statistic values generated from mtDNA and microsatellite DNA were similar, showing little evidence of significant genetic differentiation. The minimum spanning haplotype network constructed using mtDNA control regions produced no clear phylogeographic structure. The Mantel test revealed no significant correlation with distances for both mtDNA and microsatellite DNA. Therefore, our results suggest a panmictic population of Japanese eels in China, which should be conserved as a single management unit.

Effects of common polymorphisms rs2910164 in miR-146a and rs11614913 in miR-196a2 on susceptibility to colorectal cancer: a systematic review meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Emerging evidence has shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms occurred in microRNAs may contribute to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). rs2910164 in miR-146a and rs11614913 in miR-196a2 are suggested to be associated with the susceptibility to CRC, but individually published studies revealed inconclusive results. To systematically summarize the possible correlationship between these polymorphisms and CRC risk, we performed this meta-analysis. METHODS: We retrieved the relevant articles of the associations between these two microRNA polymorphisms and susceptibility to CRC for the period up to July 1, 2013. A total of seven articles were identified with 2,143 cases and 2,457 controls for miR-146a rs2910164, 1,594 cases and 2,252 controls for miR-196a2 rs11614913. Odds ratio and 95 % confidence interval were calculated to investigate the strength of the association. RESULTS: The pooled analysis showed that miR-146a rs2910164 did not reveal any correlation with CRC susceptibility. However, a decreased risk was observed between miR-196a2 rs11614913 and CRC in all genetic models. CONCLUSION: Our current meta-analysis demonstrates that miR-196a2 rs11614913 most likely contributes to decreased risk of CRC, whereas miR-146a rs2910164 may not be associated with the susceptibility to CRC.

Evolutive and structural characterization of Nostoc commune iron-superoxide dismutase that is fit for modification.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) has extensive clinical applications for protecting organisms from toxic oxidation. In this study, the integrated iron-superoxide dismutase gene (fe-sod) coding sequence of Nostoc commune stain CHEN was cloned from genomic DNA and compared to sods from other reported algae. These analyses of immunology and phylogenetics indicated that this Fe-SOD is considerably homologous with SODs from lower prokaryotes (Fe-SOD or Mn-SOD) but not those from higher animals (Cu/Zn-SOD). In addition, the N. commune Fe-SOD shows 67 to 93% protein sequence identity to 10 other algal Fe-SODs (or Mn-SODs) and 69 to 93% gene sequence identity. Rare nonsynonymous substitutions imply that algal SODs are being subjected to strong natural selection. Interestingly, the N. commune Fe-SOD enzyme molecule has a compact active center that is highly conserved (38.1% of residues are absolutely conserved), and 2 loose ends localized outside the molecule and inclined to mutate (only 11.5% of residues are absolutely conserved). Based on associative analyses of evolution, structure, and function, this special phenomenon is attributed to function-dependent evolution through negative natural selection. Under strong natural selection, although the mutation is random on the gene level, the exterior region is inclined to mutate on the protein level owing to more nonsynonymous substitutions in the exterior region, which demonstrates the theoretical feasibility of modifying Fe-SOD on its ends to overcome its disadvantages in clinical applications.