Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Mutation Analysis ABCC9 Gene in Japanese Patients with Coronary Spastic Angina

Coronary artery spasm plays an important role in the etiology of coronary spastic angina（CSA）and other acute coronary syndromes. Mice with a targeted disruption of the ATP-binding cassette transporter C9‒ABCC9 gene were developed as an animal model of CSA. Thus, the ABCC9 may be involved in the regulation of coronary artery vasomotility. The aim of this study was to investigate whether mutation in the coding region of the ABCC9 gene is detected in Japanese patients with CSA. The study included 9 Japanese patients with CSA （6 men and 3 women with a mean age of 51±13 years）. Genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood, and Mutation analysis of the coding region of ABCC9 was performed by direct sequencing. In one CSA patient, we found a single base substitution（G to A）at nucleotide position 126 in exon 21 of the coding region, which was heterozygous and did not cause amino acid substitution（T878T, silent mutation）.In the remaining 8 patients, no base substitution was detected in the coding region of the ABCC9 gene. The results indicate that the mutation of the ABCC9 gene may not be involved in the genetic pathogenesis of CSA in humans.弘前医学. 62(1), 2011, p.27-33journal articl

Inhibition of P38 MAP Kinase Attenuates Left Ventricular Hypertrophy and Inhibits Progression of Systolic Dysfunction on Pressure-Overload Induced Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy in Mice

Background: P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase（MAP kinase）plays on important role for progression of pathological cardiac hypertrophy. However, the role of p38 MAP kinase in cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload remains unclear. We investigated the effect of chronic treatment with p38 MAP kinase inhibitor on the development of heart failure induced by transverse aortic constriction（TAC）in mice. Methods and Results: TAC increased left ventricular septal wall thickness（LVSWT）and cross-sectional area（CSA）of cardiomyocyte, and decreased LV fractional shortening（FS）compared with sham operation after 6 weeks. TAC also increased phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase, whereas other hypertrophic signals were unchanged. In another experiment, TAC mice and sham operated mice were treated with subcutaneous injection of p38 MAP kinase inhibitor SB202190（5mg/kg/day）or placebo five times a week for six weeks. Treatment with p38 MAP kinase inhibitor attenuated the increase in LVSWT and CSA, and the decrease in FS in mice with TAC. Conclusions: Inhibition of p38 MAP kinase attenuated left ventricular hypertrophy and inhibited progression of systolic dysfunction in pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. These results suggest that inhibition of p38 MAP kinase has a protective effect for development of heart failure induced by pressure overload.弘前医学. 62(1), 2011, p.18-26journal articl