Genetic influence of Apolipoprotein E gene ε2/ε3/ε4 isoforms on odds of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: The potential correlation between the ε2/ε3/ε4 variants of the ApoE (Apolipoprotein E) gene and the odds of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy was investigated. METHODS: The database searching for eligible studies was performed in October 2020. A series of pooling analyses were conducted. RESULTS: We enrolled a total of twelve case-control studies for pooling. Within the pooling analysis of ε4, there was an increased risk of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy in cases under the models of carrier ε4 vs. ε3, ε3ε4 vs. ε3ε3, and ε3ε4+ε4ε4 vs. ε3ε3 [P < 0.05, odds ratio (OR) > 1], compared with controls. Moreover, we observed similar positive results in the subgroup analyses of "China" and "Population-based control" under the genetic models of ε4 (P < 0.05, OR > 1). Nevertheless, we did not detect the significant difference between the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy cases and controls in the pooling analyses of ε2 (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The ε3ε4 genotype of ApoE seems to be linked to the risk of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy for patients in China. More sample sizes are required to confirm the potential role of ApoE isoforms in the susceptibility to diverse types of epilepsy from different origins.

Drought resistance of ten ground cover seedling species during roof greening.

Roof greening is an important national policy for maintaining the hydrological balance in China; however, plant growth is limited by drought stress. This study aims to identify strong drought resistant plant species for roof greening from ten common species: Paeonia lactiflora, Hemerocallis dumortieri, Meehania urticifolia, Iris lactea var. chinensis, Hylotelephium erythrostictum, Sedum lineare, Iris germanica, Cosmos bipinnata, Hosta plantaginea, and Dianthus barbatus. By controlling the soil relative water content (RWC), we designed three treatments: moderate drought stress (40±2% < RWC < 45±2%), severe drought stress (RWC < 30±2%) and well-watered control (RWC > 75±2%). After the seedlings were provided different levels of water, their membrane permeability (MP), chlorophyll concentration (Chl), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity were measured. Finally, the membership function method was used to assess the drought resistance of these species. The results showed that C. bipinnata and M. urticifolia were not suitable for moderate or severe drought stress and did not survive. The other species presented variations in physiological and biochemical parameters. The MP of He. dumortieri, I. lactea and Ho. plantaginea showed minor changes between the well-watered control and drought stress. Most of the species showed reduced SOD activity under moderate drought stress but increased activity under severe stress. All of the plant species showed decreases in the protective enzymes POD and APX with increasing drought stress. The membership function method was applied to calculate the plant species' drought resistance, and the following order of priority of the roof-greening plant species was suggested: He. dumortieri > I. germanica > I. lactea > D. barbatus > Hy. erythrostictum > S. lineare > Ho. plantaginea > P. lactiflora.

Regulatory Roles of Peroxisomal Metabolic Pathways Involved in Musk Secretion in Muskrats.

In this study, we analyzed the main components of muskrat musk by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, the results showed that muskrat musk contained fatty acids (29.32%), esters (31.89%), cholesterol (4.38%), cyclic ketones (16.31%), alcohols (6.42%) and other compounds, among which 9-octadecenoic acid accounted for 4.89%. We also analyzed the genes of the metabolic pathway in the scent gland at the transcriptomic level during musk-secreting and non-secreting seasons by RNA-seq (RNA sequencing). We detected 21 genes in the peroxisomal metabolic pathways, including PEX14(peroxin-14) and ACOX3(acyl-CoA oxidase), which exhibited significant differential expression between the musk-secreting season and the non-secreting season (p < 0.05). The RNA-seq results for these genes were validated by reverse transcription PCR(RT-PCR) for both seasons. In addition, we examined changes in the composition of muskrat musk from the glandular cells of scent glands cultured in vitro after RNA interference-mediated silencing of 2 differentially expressed genes, ACOX3 and HSD17B4(D-bifunctional protein, DBP). The 9-Octadecenoic acid content in muskrat musk decreased significantly following the silencing of ACOX3 and HSD17B4(D-bifunctional protein, DBP). These results suggest that peroxisomal metabolic pathways play important roles in the regulation of musk secretion in scent glands in the muskrat.

Type 1 Metallothionein (ZjMT) Is Responsible for Heavy Metal Tolerance in Ziziphus jujuba.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are a family of low molecular weight, cysteine-rich, metal-binding proteins that are able to make cells to uptake heavy metals from the environment. Molecular and functional characterization of this gene family improves understanding of the mechanisms underlying heavy metal tolerance in higher organisms. In this study, a cDNA clone, encoding 74-a.a. metallothionein type 1 protein (ZjMT), was isolated from the cDNA library of Ziziphus jujuba. At the N- and C-terminals of the deduced amino acid sequence of ZjMT, six cysteine residues were arranged in a CXCXXXCXCXXXCXC and CXCXXXCXCXXCXC structure, respectively, indicating that ZjMT is a type 1 MT. Quantitative PCR analysis of plants subjected to cadmium stress showed enhanced expression of ZjMT gene in Z. jujuba within 24 h upon Cd exposure. Escherichia coli cells expressing ZjMT exhibited enhanced metal tolerance and higher accumulation of metal ions compared with control cells. The results indicate that ZjMT contributes to the detoxification of metal ions and provides marked tolerance against metal stresses. Therefore, ZjMT may be a potential candidate for tolerance enhancement in vulnerable plants to heavy metal stress and E. coli cells containing the ZjMT gene may be applied to adsorb heavy metals in polluted wastewater.

Selection of housekeeping genes for gene expression studies on the development of fruit bearing shoots in Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujube Mill.).

Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujube Mill.) is important economically for its fruit and also bears attractive medical value. Its flower development concurs with the growth of current fruit bearing shoots (FBSs). However, events involved in current FBSs, including FBS differentiation, flower development, and reliable housekeeping gene are still unknown. In this study, the morphology of FBS development and floral formation were examined and expression profiles of several potential internal control genes was determined. These included genes encoding proteins involved in protein translation (translation elongation factor 1alpha, ZjEF1), protein folding (cyclophilin, ZjCyP) or degradation (ubiquitin extension protein, ZjUBQ), and proteins involved in the structure of the cytoskeleton (beta-actin, ZjACT) or nucleosome (histone3, ZjH3). Our results showed that the floral development in early growing FBSs (less than 20 mm in length) or shoot apices was not complete. Among ZjACT, ZjEF1, ZjCyP, ZjUBQ, and ZjH3, ZjH3 was the most suitable housekeeping gene to evaluate FBS development, based on their expression in early growing FBSs, shoot apices, and different organs. These results will be useful for further molecular mechanism study about FBS development in Chinese jujube.