NAC Transcription Factor TwNAC01 Positively Regulates Drought Stress Responses in Arabidopsis and Triticale.

The NAC transcription factors play important roles in regulating plant growth, development, and senescence, and responding to biotic and abiotic stressors in plants. A novel coding sequence (1,059 bp) was cloned from hexaploid triticale in this study. The putative protein (352 amino acids) encoded by this sequence was over 95% similar to the amino acid sequence of a NAC protein from Aegilops tauschii (XP020161331), and it formed a clade with Ae. tauschii, durum wheat, and barley. The putative protein contained a conserved nature actomyosin (NAM) domain (129 consecutive amino acids) between the 20th and 148th amino acids at the N-terminus and three transcription activation regions at the C-terminus. The novel gene was identified as a triticale NAC gene localized in the nucleus and designated as TwNAC01 (GenBank accession MG736919). The expression levels of TwNAC01 were the highest in roots, followed by leaves and stems when triticale lines were exposed to drought, polyethylene glycol 6,000 (PEG6000), NaCl, cold, methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and abscisic acid (ABA). Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana overexpressing TwNAC01 had significantly lower leaf water loss rates and longer roots than wild-type (WT) A. thaliana. Virus-induced silencing of the TwNAC01 gene in triticale delayed root development and decreased length of primary root. Under drought stress, leaves of TwNAC01-silenced triticale had higher levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), but lower relative water content (RWC), net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration, and transpiration rate than the leaves of the WT. Gene overexpression and silencing experiments suggested that TwNAC01 improves plant stress tolerance by increasing root length, regulating the water content of plant leaves by reducing MDA and H2O2 content, and adjusting respiration rate. The results suggest that TwNAC01 is a novel NAC transcription factor gene that can be exploited for triticale and cereal improvement.

ß-defensin 1 expression in HCV infected liver/liver cancer: an important role in protecting HCV progression and liver cancer development.

ß-defensin family plays a role in host defense against viral infection, however its role in HCV infection is still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that ß-defensin 1 was significantly reduced in HCV-infected liver specimens. Treatment with interferon and ribavirin upregulated ß-defensin-1, but not other ß-defensin tested, with the extent and duration of upregulation associated with treatment response. We investigated ß-defensin family expression in liver cancer in publicly available datasets and found that among all the ß-defensins tested, only ß-defensin 1 was significantly downregulated, suggesting ß-defensin 1 plays a crucial role in liver cancer development. Further analysis identified E-cadherin as the top positive correlated gene, while hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate as the top negative correlated gene. Expression of two proteoglycans were also positively correlated with that of ß-defensin 1. We have also identified small molecules as potential therapeutic agents to reverse ß-defensin 1-associated gene signature. Furthermore, the downregulation of ß-defensin 1 and E-cadherin, and upregulation of hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate, were further confirmed in liver cancer and adjacent normal tissue collected from in-house Chinese liver cancer patients. Together, our results suggest ß-defensin 1 plays an important role in protecting HCV progression and liver cancer development.

Malignant angiomyolipoma in the liver: a case report with pathological and molecular analysis.

Malignant angiomyolipoma (AML) of the liver is rare. We report a case of AML with malignant transformation and metastases. A 30-year-old man had developed giant hepatic masses. Microscopically, the periphery of the tumor showed components of classic hepatic AML, but the central region contained atypical epithelioid components with extremely pleomorphic and hyperchromatic nuclei with frequent mitotic figures. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the epithelioid cells were positive for HMB-45 and smooth muscle actin. Furthermore, the atypical epithelioid cells displayed P53 immunoreactivity and mutation at exon 7 for p53. The tumor showed a typical monoclonal pattern but no loss of heterozygosity or microsatellite instability. Markedly atypical epithelioid cells with vascular invasion, distant metastasis, and fatal outcome were interpreted as malignant characteristics of hepatic AML. It is suggested that large tumor size, pleomorphic nuclei with high proliferation activity, and P53 immunoreactivity may predict the existence of malignant transformation of hepatic AML.