Genome-wide identification and expression pattern analysis of quinoa BBX family.

BBX is a transcription factor encoding zinc finger protein that plays a key role in plant growth and development as well as in responding to abiotic stresses. However, in quinoa, which is known as a "super grain" and has extremely high nutritional value, this gene family has not yet been thoroughly studied. In this study, in order to fully understand the family function of the BBX in quinoa, a total of 31 BBX members were identified by bioinformatics methods. These BBX members were mainly acidic proteins, and most of their secondary structures were random coil s, 31 CqBBX members were unevenly distributed on 17 chromosomes, and the analysis of replication events found that quinoa BBX genes produced a total of 14 pairs of gene replication. The BBX genes were divided into five subfamilies according to phylogenetics, and its gene structure and conserved motif were basically consistent with the classification of its phylogenetic tree. In addition, a total of 43 light response elements, hormone response elements, tissue-specific expression response elements, and abiotic stress response elements were found in the promoter region, involving stress elements such as drought and low temperature. Finally, the expression patterns of CqBBX genes in different tissues and abiotic stresses were studied by combining transcriptome data and qRT-PCR , and all 13 genes responded to drought, salt, and low-temperature stress to varying degrees. This study is the first comprehensive study of the BBX family of quinoa, and its results provide important clues for further analysis of the function of the abiotic stress response.

Effect of autologous whole blood injections on expression of FcεRI and CD63 on basophils in patients with refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria and positive autologous serum skin test / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of autologous whole blood injections (AWBI) combined with antihistamines for the treatment of patients with refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria and positive autologous serum skin test (ASST),to evaluate its effect on the expression of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcεR Ⅰ) and CD63 on basophils,and to analyze the possible mechanism underlying the treatment of ASST-positive chronic urticaria with AWBI.Methods Eighty patients with ASST-positive chronic intractable urticaria were enrolled from Department of Dermatology,The First Hospital Affiliated to Army Medical University between November 2017 and June 2018,and randomly and equally divided into two groups by a random number table:AWBI group and control group were both conventionally treated with oral loratadine and ebastine,and AWBI group were additionally treated with AWBI once a week for 12 sessions.Before the treatment and after 12-week treatment,urticaria activity score of 7 days (UAS7) and dermatology life quality index (DLQI) in the two groups were evaluated.Among 30 patients in the AWBI group,flow cytometry was performed to determine the expression of FcεRⅠ and CD63 on the basophils in the peripheral blood at the baseline,weeks 4,8 and 12 after the initial treatment.Statistical analysis was carried out with GraphPad Prism 7.00 software by t test for the comparison of UAS7 or DLQI scores,Mann-Whitney U test for the comparison of FcεR Ⅰ α expression,paired Wilcoxon signed rank test for comparing FceR Ⅰ α or CD63 expression between two different time points,and Spearman correlation analysis for analyzing the correlation between FcεR Ⅰ α and CD63 expression.Results Before the treatment,no significant differences in UAS7 or DLQI scores were observed between the AWBI group and control group (UAS7:27.15 ± 4.53 vs.26.90 ± 5.22;DLQI:16.88 ± 6.01 vs.17.08 ± 6.79;both P ＞ 0.05).After 12-week treatment,UAS7 and DLQI scores both significantly decreased in the two groups compared with those before the treatment (all P ＜ 0.01),and were significantly lower in the AWBI group than in the control group (UAS7:14.25 ± 7.56 vs.19.93 ± 6.32;DLQI:8.48 ± 4.15 vs.13.93 ± 5.43;both P ＜ 0.01).At the baseline,weeks 4,8 and 12 after the initial treatment,the fluorescence intensities of FcεR Ⅰα on basophils (M [P25,P75]) in the AWBI group were 22 532 (16 740,29 220),16 911 (10 240,21 816),13 282 (7 600,16 848) and 11 466 (7 161,14 578) respectively,and the proportions of CD63+ basophils induced by ASST-positive serum (M [P25,P75]) in the AWBI group were 35.25％ (26.75％,49.13％),25.95％ (19.37％,37.54％),13.57％ (7.79％,19.57％) and 9.87％ (6.43％,16.52％) respectively.At week 4 after the initial treatment,the expression of FcεR Ⅰα and CD63 on basophils in the AWBI group both significantly decreased compared with those at the baseline (both P ＜ 0.01),but significantly increased compared with those at week 8 (both P ＜ 0.01).The changes in FcεR Ⅰ α expression from baseline to week 4,from week 4 to week 8,and from week 8 to week 12 were positively correlated with the changes in CD63 expression induced by ASST-positive serum (r =0.364,0.422,0.455,respectively,all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion AWBI combined with antihistamines can improve the clinical symptoms of ASST-positive refractory chronic urticaria,likely by affecting the expression of FcεR Ⅰ and CD63 on basophils.