West Nile virus outbreak among horses in New York State, 1999 and 2000.

West Nile (WN) virus was identified in the Western Hemisphere in 1999. Along with human encephalitis cases, 20 equine cases of WN virus were detected in 1999 and 23 equine cases in 2000 in New York. During both years, the equine cases occurred after human cases in New York had been identified

Candidate target genes for loss of heterozygosity on human chromosome 17q21

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 17q21 has been detected in 30% of primary human breast tumours. The smallest common region deleted occurred in an interval between the D17S746 and D17S846 polymorphic sequences tagged sites that are located on two recombinant PI-bacteriophage clones of chromosome 17q21: 122F4 and 50H1, respectively. To identify the target gene for LOH, we defined a map of this chromosomal region. We found the following genes: JUP, FK506BP10, SC65, Gastrin (GAS) and HAP1. Of the genes that have been identified in this study, only JUP is located between D17S746 and D17S846. This was of interest since earlier studies have shown that JUP expression is altered in breast, lung and thyroid tumours as well as cell lines having LOH in chromosome 17q21. However, no mutations were detected in JUP using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis of primary breast tumour DNAs having LOH at 17q21. We could find no evidence that the transcription promoter for JUP is methylated in tumour DNAs having LOH at 17q21. We suspect that the target gene for LOH in primary human breast tumours on chromosome 17q21 is either JUP and results in a haploinsufficiency for expression or may be an unidentified gene located in the interval between D17S846 and JUP. © 2004 Cancer Research UK

West Nile virus in overwintering Culex mosquitoes, New York City, 2000.

After the 1999 West Nile (WN) encephalitis outbreak in New York, 2,300 overwintering adult mosquitoes were tested for WN virus by cell culture and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. WN viral RNA and live virus were found in pools of Culex mosquitoes. Persistence in overwintering Cx. pipiens may be important in the maintenance of WN virus in the northeastern United States

Immunohistochemical detection of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in fetal and adult bovine epididymis: Release by the apocrine secretion mode?

Originally defined as a lymphokine inhibiting the random migration of macrophages, the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an important mediator of the host response to infection. Beyond its function as a classical cytokine, MIF is currently portrayed as a multifunctional protein with growth-regulating properties present in organ systems beyond immune cells. In previous studies, we detected substantial amounts of MIF in the rat epididymis and epididymal spermatozoa, where it appears to play a role during post-testicular sperm maturation and the acquisition of fertilization ability. To explore its presence in other species not yet examined in this respect, we extended the range of studies to the bull. Using a polyclonal antibody raised against MIF purified from bovine eye lenses, we detected MIF in the epithelium of the adult bovine epididymis with the basal cells representing a prominently stained cell type. A distinct accumulation of MIF at the apical cell pole of the epithelial cells and in membranous vesicles localized in the lumen of the epididynnal duct was obvious. In the fetal bovine epididymis, we also detected MIF in the epithelium, whereas MIF accumulation was evident at the apical cell surface and in apical protrusions. By immuno-electron microscopy of the adult bovine epididymis, we localized MIF in apical protrusions of the epithelial cells and in luminal membrane-bound vesicles that were found in close proximity to sperm cells. Although the precise origin of the MIF-containing vesicles remains to be delineated, our morphological observations support the hypothesis that they become detached from the apical surface of the epididymal epithelial cells. Additionally, an association of MIF with the outer dense fibers of luminal spermatozoa was demonstrated. Data obtained in this study suggest MIF release by an apocrine secretion mode in the bovine epididymis. Furthermore, MIF localized in the basal cells of the epithelium and in the connective tissue could be responsible for regulating the migration of macrophages in order to avoid contact of immune cells with spermatozoa that carry a wide range of potent antigens. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

Comparison of results from tests of association in unrelated individuals with uncollapsed and collapsed sequence variants using tiled regression

Tiled regression is an approach designed to determine the set of independent genetic variants that contribute to the variation of a quantitative trait in the presence of many highly correlated variants. In this study, we evaluate the statistical properties of the tiled regression method using the Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 data in unrelated individuals for traits Q1, Q2, and Q4. To increase the power to detect rare variants, we use two methods to collapse rare variants and compare the results with those from the uncollapsed data. In addition, we compare the tiled regression method to traditional tests of association with and without collapsed rare variants. The results show that collapsing rare variants generally improves the power to detect associations regardless of method, although only variants with the largest allelic effects could be detected. However, for traditional simple linear regression, the average estimated type I error is dependent on the trait and varies by about three orders of magnitude. The estimated type I error rate is stable for tiled regression across traits