17 research outputs found
Recombinant expression of marine shrimp lysozyme in Escherichia coli
Shrimp Lysozyme (Lyz) is a key component of the antibacterial response
as part of the innate defense in Crustacea; however, it has not been
possible to purify this protein because of the very low amount present
in the shrimp blood cells (hemocytes). In an effort to produce enough
protein to study its function and biochemical properties we have
overexpressed Lysozyme from marine shrimp ( Penaeus vannamei ) in E.
coli. A bacterial protein expression system based on the T7 polymerase
promoter was used. Although Lyz was produced as insoluble protein in
inclusion bodies, its refolding led to an active protein with a yield
of ~10%. Details of the protein recombinant expression techniques
applied to this shrimp protein are presented
Use of AFLP markers to estimate molecular diversity of Phakopsora pachyrhizi
Background: Asian soybean rust (SBR) caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi
Syd. & Syd., is one of the main diseases affecting soybean and
has been reported as one of the most economically important fungal
pathogens worldwide. Knowledge of the genetic diversity of this fungus
should be considered when developing resistance breeding strategies. We
aimed to analyze the genetic diversity of P. pachyrhizi combining
simple sampling with a powerful and reproducible molecular technique.
Results: We employed Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP)
technique for the amplification of P. pachyrhizi DNA extracted from
naturally SBR-infected plants from 23 production fields. From a total
of 1919 markers obtained, 77% were polymorphic. The high percentage of
polymorphism and the Nei's genetic diversity coefficient (0.22)
indicated high pathogen diversity. Analysis of molecular variance
showed higher genetic variation within countries than among them.
Temporal analysis showed a higher genetic variation within a year than
between years. Cluster, phylogenetic and principal co-ordinate analysis
showed that samples group by year of collection and then by country
sampled. Conclusions: The study proposed combining a simple
collection of urediniospore with a subsequent analysis by AFLP was
useful to examine the molecular polymorphism of samples of P.
pachyrhizi collected and might have a significant contribution to the
knowledge of its genetic diversity. Also, AFLP analysis is an important
and potent molecular tool for the study of genetic diversity and could
be useful to carry out wider genetic diversity studies
Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial
Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials.
Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure.
Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen.
Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049
Confirmation of CCR6 as a risk factor for anti-topoisomerase I antibodies in systemic sclerosis
The current knowledge of the influence of systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk loci in the clinical sub-phenotypes is still limited. The main limitation lies in the low frequency of some sub-phenotypes which could be solved by replication studies in independent cohorts and meta-analysis between studies. In this regard, CCR6 gene variants have been recently associated with anti-topoisomerase I positive (ATA+) production in SSc patients in a candidate gene study. This gene has been proposed to have a critical role in IL-17-driven autoimmunity in human diseases
Reduced Cancer Incidence in Huntington's Disease: Analysis in the Registry Study
Background: People with Huntington's disease (HD) have been observed to have lower rates of cancers. Objective: To investigate the relationship between age of onset of HD, CAG repeat length, and cancer diagnosis. Methods: Data were obtained from the European Huntington's disease network REGISTRY study for 6540 subjects. Population cancer incidence was ascertained from the GLOBOCAN database to obtain standardised incidence ratios of cancers in the REGISTRY subjects. Results: 173/6528 HD REGISTRY subjects had had a cancer diagnosis. The age-standardised incidence rate of all cancers in the REGISTRY HD population was 0.26 (CI 0.22-0.30). Individual cancers showed a lower age-standardised incidence rate compared with the control population with prostate and colorectal cancers showing the lowest rates. There was no effect of CAG length on the likelihood of cancer, but a cancer diagnosis within the last year was associated with a greatly increased rate of HD onset (Hazard Ratio 18.94, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Cancer is less common than expected in the HD population, confirming previous reports. However, this does not appear to be related to CAG length in HTT. A recent diagnosis of cancer increases the risk of HD onset at any age, likely due to increased investigation following a cancer diagnosis