Computational Refinement of Functional Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated with ATM Gene

gene are the most common forms of genetic variations that account for various forms of cancer. However, the extent to which SNPs interferes with the gene regulation and affects cancer susceptibility remains largely unknown. gene. gene function can aid in better understanding of genetic differences in disease susceptibility

Probing the Functional Impact of Sequence Variation on p53-DNA Interactions Using a Novel Microsphere Assay for Protein-DNA Binding with Human Cell Extracts

The p53 tumor suppressor regulates its target genes through sequence-specific binding to DNA response elements (REs). Although numerous p53 REs are established, the thousands more identified by bioinformatics are not easily subjected to comparative functional evaluation. To examine the relationship between RE sequence variation—including polymorphisms—and p53 binding, we have developed a multiplex format microsphere assay of protein-DNA binding (MAPD) for p53 in nuclear extracts. Using MAPD we measured sequence-specific p53 binding of doxorubicin-activated or transiently expressed p53 to REs from established p53 target genes and p53 consensus REs. To assess the sensitivity and scalability of the assay, we tested 16 variants of the p21 target sequence and a 62-multiplex set of single nucleotide (nt) variants of the p53 consensus sequence and found many changes in p53 binding that are not captured by current computational binding models. A group of eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was examined and binding profiles closely matched transactivation capability tested in luciferase constructs. The in vitro binding characteristics of p53 in nuclear extracts recapitulated the cellular in vivo transactivation capabilities for eight well-established human REs measured by luciferase assay. Using a set of 26 bona fide REs, we observed distinct binding patterns characteristic of transiently expressed wild type and mutant p53s. This microsphere assay system utilizes biologically meaningful cell extracts in a multiplexed, quantitative, in vitro format that provides a powerful experimental tool for elucidating the functional impact of sequence polymorphism and protein variation on protein/DNA binding in transcriptional networks

Biyi Bandele’s Theatre of the Afropolitan Absurd

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Palgrave via the DOI in this record.This chapter initiates an overdue discussion of Bandele’s early plays Marching for Fausa (Royal Court, 1993), Two Horsemen (The Gate, 1994), and Resurrections in the Season of the Longest Drought (Cochrane, 1994). It examines these plays through two distinct but related lenses. For classification purposes, the plays are situated within the tradition of the African Absurd. They are then analysed through the transnational concept of Afropolitanism. Although the plays predate the term Afropolitan, this chapter demonstrates how the concept’s articulation of globalised African identities and cultures provides an ideal framework through which to comprehend the complex conditions of their production and the political and cultural issues with which they engage

Reading New Black Fiction of South East Asia: An ex-centric approach to transnational literary studies

Responding to critiques of the status quo in transnational literary studies, this essay models an alternative approach, particularly for the field of African–Asian studies. The transnational turn in literary studies has often been less global than we might desire: postcolonial texts are frequently read in terms of predetermined features or ideologies, and comparative studies often posit the USA as their locus for comparison. Following Ato Quayson’s call for attention to the “ex-centric” in postcolonial and transnational literature, this essay demonstrates how the figures of gui and Eshu emerge as interpretative keys in two recent African–Asian works, by Ken Kamoche and Biyi Bandele. The essay argues that these figures point up the complexities inherent in transnational relations, which the texts explore. The essay invites us to read with greater alertness to the “ex-centric” in transnational texts in order to unpack their full implications

Clinical trial of Roxithromychin in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and other health facilities in Lagos

No Abstract. NQJHM Vol. 8 (2) 1998: pp. 248-25