Gfi-1 is the transcriptional repressor of SOCS1 in acute myeloid leukemia cells

ABSTRACT Silencing of SOCS1, a TSG, has been detected in various malignancies, including AML. However, the underlying mechanism of SOCS1 inactivation remains elusive. In this study, we explored the role of histone methylation in SOCS1 expression in AML cells. By ChIP assay, we demonstrated that G9a and SUV39H1, two enzymes catalyzing H3K9 methylation, were physically associated with the SOCS1 promoter, and treatment with chaetocin, a histone methyltransferase inhibitor, suppressed H3K9 methylation on the SOCS1 promoter and enhanced SOCS1 expression. Furthermore, knockdown of G9a and SUV39H1 by siRNA could also induce SOCS1 expression. On the other hand, SOCS1 knockdown by shRNA eliminated chaetocin-induced cell apoptosis. To investigate further whether any transcription factor was involved in H3K9 methylation-related SOCS1 repression, we scanned the sequences of the SOCS1 gene promoter and found two binding sites for Gfi-1, a transcription repressor. By DNA pull-down and ChIP assays, we showed that Gfi-1 directly bound the SOCS1 promoter, and ectopic Gfi-1 expression suppressed STAT5-induced SOCS1 promoter activation. In contrast, Gfi-1 knockdown by shRNA enhanced SOCS1 expression and inhibited STAT5 expression. Moreover, the knockdown of G9a completely rescued the repressive effect of Gfi-1 on STAT5A-induced SOCS1 promoter activation. Collectively, our study indicates that the expression of Gfi-1 contributes to SOCS1 silencing in AML cells through epigenetic modification, and suppression of histone methyltransferase can provide new insight in AML therapy. J. Leukoc. Biol. 95: 000 -000; 2014

High Serum Adipocyte Fatty Acid Binding Protein Is Associated with Metabolic Syndrome in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) is a key mediator of obesity-related metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between A-FABP concentration and MetS in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. Fasting blood samples were obtained from 165 type 2 DM volunteers. MetS and its components were defined using diagnostic criteria from the International Diabetes Federation. Among 165 DM patients, 113 patients (68.5%) had MetS. Diabetic persons who had MetS had significantly higher A-FABP levels ( < 0.001) than those without MetS. Female DM persons had higher A-FABP level than man ( < 0.001). No statistically significant differences in A-FABP levels were found in use of statin, fibrate, or antidiabetic drugs. Multivariate forward stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that body fat mass ( < 0.001), logarithmically transformed creatinine (log-creatinine; < 0.001), female DM patients ( < 0.001), and logarithmically transformed high sensitive C-reactive protein (log-hs-CRP; = 0.013) were positively correlated, while albumin ( = 0.004) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR; = 0.043) were negatively correlated with serum A-FABP levels in type 2 DM patients. In this study, higher serum A-FABP level was positively associated with MetS in type 2 DM patients

Integration, Launch, and First Results from IDEASSat/INSPIRESat-2 - A 3U CubeSat for Ionospheric Physics and Multi-National Capacity Building

The Ionospheric Dynamics and Attitude Subsystem Satellite (IDEASSat) is a 3U CubeSat carrying a Compact Ionospheric Probe (CIP) to detect ionospheric irregularities that can impact the usability and accuracy of global satellite navigation systems (GNSS), as well as satellite and terrestrial over the horizon communications. The spacecraft was developed by National Central University (NCU) in Taiwan, with additional development and operational support from partners in the International Satellite Program in Science and Education (INSPIRE) consortium. The spacecraft system needed to accommodate these mission objectives required three axis attitude control, dual band communications capable of supporting both tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) and science data downlink, as well as flight software and ground systems capable of supporting the autonomous operation and short contact times inherent to a low Earth orbit mission developed on a limited university budget with funding agency-imposed constraints. As the first spacecraft developed at NCU, lessons learned during the development, integration, and operation of IDEASSat have proven to be crucial to the objective of developing a sustainable small satellite program. IDEASSat was launched successfully on January 24, 2021 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter 1 flight. and successfully began operations, demonstrating power, thermal, and structural margins, as well as validation of uplink and downlink communications functionality, and autonomous operation. A serious anomaly occurred after 22 days on orbit when communication with the spacecraft were abruptly lost. Communication was re-established after 1.5 months for sufficient time to downlink stored flight data, which allowed the cause of the blackout to be identified to a high level of confidence and precision. In this paper, we will report on experiences and anomalies encountered during the final flight model integration and delivery, commissioning, and operations. The agile support from the international amateur radio community and INSPIRE partners were extremely helpful in this process, especially during the initial commissioning phase following launch. It is hoped that the lessons learned reported here will be helpful for other university teams working to develop spaceflight capacity

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data