Association between polymorphism of the G-protein ß3 subunit C825T and essential hypertension: an updated meta-analysis involving 36,802 subjects.

PURPOSE: The G-protein ß3-subunit gene C825T polymorphism (GNB3-C825T) has been reported to be associated with essential hypertension (EH), but results from previous studies are conflicting. The present study aimed at investigating the association between this polymorphism and risk of EH using a meta-analysis on the published studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, Embase, CBM (China Biological Medicine Database), Wanfang and VIP databases were searched to identify eligible studies published in English and Chinese before March 2013. Data were extracted using standardized methods. The association was assessed by the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Begg's test was used to measure publication bias. RESULTS: A total of 40 case-control studies containing 16,518 EH patients and 20,284 controls were involved in this meta-analysis. Overall, a significant association was found between GNB3 C825T polymorphism and risk of EH when all studies were pooled with a random-effects model for T versus C (OR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.04-1.19). In the subgroup analysis, the same association was found in overall Caucasian (T versus C, OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.08-1.24) and Chinese populations (TT versus CC, OR=1.23, 95% CI 1.06-1.57). No associations were detected between GNB3-C825T and the risk of EH overall in Asian and Japanese people. CONCLUSIONS: Meta-analysis results suggest that the GNB3-C825T polymorphism is associated with risk of EH in the overall population, the Caucasians and the Chinese. The effect of the variants on the expression levels and the possible functional role of the variants in EH should be addressed in further studies.

Association between polymorphism of the G-protein β3 subunit C825T and essential hypertension: an updated meta-analysis involving 36,802 subjects

Purpose: The G-protein β3-subunit gene C825T polymorphism (GNB3-C825T) has been reported to be associated with essential hypertension (EH), but results from previous studies are conflicting. The present study aimed at investigating the association between this polymorphism and risk of EH using a meta-analysis on the published studies. Materials and Methods: PubMed, Embase, CBM (China Biological Medicine Database), Wanfang and VIP databases were searched to identify eligible studies published in English and Chinese before March 2013. Data were extracted using standardized methods. The association was assessed by the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Begg's test was used to measure publication bias. Results: A total of 40 case-control studies containing 16,518 EH patients and 20,284 controls were involved in this meta-analysis. Overall, a significant association was found between GNB3 C825T polymorphism and risk of EH when all studies were pooled with a random-effects model for T versus C (OR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.04-1.19). In the subgroup analysis, the same association was found in overall Caucasian (T versus C, OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.08-1.24) and Chinese populations (TT versus CC, OR=1.23, 95% CI 1.06-1.57). No associations were detected between GNB3-C825T and the risk of EH overall in Asian and Japanese people. Conclusions: Meta-analysis results suggest that the GNB3-C825T polymorphism is associated with risk of EH in the overall population, the Caucasians and the Chinese. The effect of the variants on the expression levels and the possible functional role of the variants in EH should be addressed in further studies.

Polycomb group gene function in sexual and asexual seed development in angiosperms.

In sexually reproducing angiosperms, double fertilization initiates seed development, giving rise to two fertilization products, the embryo and the endosperm. In the endosperm, a terminal nutritive tissue that supports embryo growth, certain genes are expressed differentially depending on their parental origin, and this genomic imbalance is required for proper seed formation. This parent-of-origin effect on gene expression, called genomic imprinting, is controlled epigenetically through histone modifications and DNA methylation. In the sexual model plant Arabidopsis, the Polycomb group (PcG) genes of the plant Fertilization Independent Seed (FIS)-class control genomic imprinting by specifically silencing maternal or paternal target alleles through histone modifications. Mutations in FIS genes can lead to a bypass in the requirement of fertilization for the initiation of endosperm development and seed abortion. In this review, we discuss the role of the FIS complex in establishing and maintaining genomic imprinting, focusing on recent advances in elucidating the expression and function of FIS-related genes in maize, rice, and Hieracium, and particularly including apomictic Hieracium species that do not require paternal contribution and thus form seeds asexually. Surprisingly, not all FIS-mediated functions described in Arabidopsis are conserved. However, the function of some PcG components are required for viable seed formation in seeds formed via sexual and asexual processes (apomixis) in Hieracium, suggesting a conservation of the seed viability function in some eudicots.