DDX5 facilitates HIV-1 replication as a cellular co-factor of Rev.

HIV-1 Rev plays an important role in the late phase of HIV-1 replication, which facilitates export of unspliced viral mRNAs from the nucleus to cytoplasm in infected cells. Recent studies have shown that DDX1 and DDX3 are co-factors of Rev for the export of HIV-1 transcripts. In this report, we have demonstrated that DDX5 (p68), which is a multifunctional DEAD-box RNA helicase, functions as a new cellular co-factor of HIV-1 Rev. We found that DDX5 affects Rev function through the Rev-RRE axis and subsequently enhances HIV-1 replication. Confocal microscopy and co-immunoprecipitation analysis indicated that DDX5 binds to Rev and this interaction is largely dependent on RNA. If the DEAD-box motif of DDX5 is mutated, DDX5 loses almost all of its ability to bind to Rev, indicating that the DEAD-box motif of DDX5 is required for the interaction between DDX5 and Rev. Our data indicate that interference of DDX5-Rev interaction could reduce HIV-1 replication and potentially provide a new molecular target for anti-HIV-1 therapeutics

Imprinting and Promoter Usage of Insulin-Like Growth Factor II in Twin Discordant Placenta

Case reports from infant twins suggest that abnormal genomic imprinting may be one of the important causes of twin discordance, but it is unknown whether abnormal genomic imprinting occurs in the placenta. Therefore, we sought to determine the relationship between the imprinting of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) in placenta and twin discordance. We analyzed the imprinting and promoter usage of IGF-II in placenta of normal twins (T0 group), weight discordance (T1 group), and phenotype discordance (T2 group). We found the incidence of loss of imprinting (LOI) for IGF-II was higher in the T2 group than that in the T0 and T1 groups, while there was no difference between T0 and T1 groups. The transcripts of promoter 3 were lower in the T2 group than in the T0 and T1 groups, and lower in the twin placenta with LOI than in those with normal imprinting. Our findings indicate that the promoter 3 specific LOI of the IGF-II gene may be closely related with phenotype discordance, not weight discordance

Investigation of the morbidity of dry eye among special crowd in Shunde district

AIM: To investigate the morbidity of dry eye in policeman of Shunde district, and to analyze the related factors and proposed methods of preventing and treating dry eye.<p>METHODS:Totally 650 policemen who came for physical examination in Shunde district recived questionnaire survey. The patients with dye eye disease were finally diagnosed through slit lamp examination, Schirmer test, tear film break-up time(BUT)measurement and keratoconjunctival fluorescent staining. The morbidity among different policemen was further analyzed and stasticed.<p>RESULTS:The results showed that 152 in 650 policemen suffered from dry eye disease, the ratio was 23.4%. Comparied with security police and crimanl police, the ratio in traffic police, patrolman,and back office police was significantly higher. The prevalence was higher when the ages were greater than 40.<p>CONCLUSION: Unsuitable working environment, air contamination are high risk factors of dry eye disease

Applications of machine learning in familial hypercholesterolemia

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a common hereditary cholesterol metabolic disease that usually leads to an increase in the level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma and an increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease. The lack of disease screening and diagnosis often results in FH patients being unable to receive early intervention and treatment, which may mean early occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Thus, more requirements for FH identification and management have been proposed. Recently, machine learning (ML) has made great progress in the field of medicine, including many innovative applications in cardiovascular medicine. In this review, we discussed how ML can be used for FH screening, diagnosis and risk assessment based on different data sources, such as electronic health records, plasma lipid profiles and corneal radian images. In the future, research aimed at developing ML models with better performance and accuracy will continue to overcome the limitations of ML, provide better prediction, diagnosis and management tools for FH, and ultimately achieve the goal of early diagnosis and treatment of FH

Inhibition of Src Homology 2 Domain-Containing Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase-2 Facilitates CD31hiEndomucinhi Blood Vessel and Bone Formation in Ovariectomized Mice

Background/Aims: Recently, we and others showed that the relative abundance of a specific vessel subtype, strongly positive for CD31 and Endomucin (CD31hiEmcnhi), is associated with bone formation and bone loss, and platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) secreted by preosteoclasts induces the formation of the specific vessels and thereby stimulates osteogenesis. Inhibition of Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 (SHP-2) has been shown to block the fusion of preosteoclasts into mature osteoclasts. However, it is unclear whether inhibition of SHP-2 could promote preosteoclast-induced angiogenesis and then enhance bone formation. This study aimed to determine the effects of a specific SHP-2 inhibitor (NSC-87877) on CD31 hiEmcnhi vessel and bone formation. Methods: 3-month-old C57BL/6 mice were subjected to either ovariectomy (OVX) or sham operation. OVX mice were intraperitoneally injected with NSC-87877 and the control (sham) mice were treated with an equal volume of diluents (PBS). Two months later, bone samples from mice were collected for µCT, histological, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent analyses to assess bone mass, osteogenic and osteoclastic acitivities, as well as the densities of CD31hiEmcnhi vessels. A series of angiogenesis- related assays were performed to test the effects of NSC-87877 on the pro-angiogenic activities of preosteoclasts in vitro. Results: We found that NSC-87877 is sufficient to induce bone-sparing effects in OVX-induced osteoporotic mouse model. We also found that NSC-87877 induces higher numbers of preosteoclasts and CD31hiEmcnhi vessels and higher levels of PDGF-BB in bone marrow of osteoporotic mice. In vitro assays showed that NSC-87877 prevents preosteoclast fusion, increases PDGF-BB production, and augments the pro-angiogenic abilities of preosteoclasts. Conclusion: Our results suggest that NSC-87877 can be used as a promising therapeutic agent for osteoporosis by inhibiting osteoclast formation and promoting preosteoclast-induced angiogenesis

Longitudinal associations between triglycerides and metabolic syndrome components in a Beijing adult population, 2007-2012

Background: Longitudinal associations between triglycerides (TG) and other metabolic syndrome (MetS) components have rarely been reported. The purpose was to investigate the longitudinal association between TG and other MetS components with time. Methods: The longitudinal study was established in 2007 on individuals who attended health check-ups at Beijing Tongren Hospital and Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital. Data used in this study was based on 7489 participants who had at least three health check-ups over a period of 5-year follow up. Joint model was used to explore longitudinal associations between TG and other MetS components after adjusted for age. Results: There were positive correlations between TG and other MetS components except for high density lipoprotein (HDL), and the correlations increased with time. A negative correlation was displayed between TG and HDL, and the correlation also increased with time. Among all five pairs of TG and other MetS components, the marginal correlation between TG and body mass index (BMI) was the largest for both men and women. The marginal correlation between TG and fasting plasma glucose was the smallest for men, while the marginal correlation between TG and diastolic blood pressure was the smallest for women. Conclusions: The longitudinal association between TG and other MetS components increased with time. Among five pairs of TG and other MetS components, the longitudinal correlation between TG and BMI was the largest. It is important to closely monitor subjects with high levels of TG and BMI in health check-up population especially for women, because these two components are closely associated with development of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other metabolic diseases

Selection of Pru p 3 hypoallergenic peach and nectarine varieties

To the Editor, Peach is an important fruit consumed worldwide. However, it is also one of the most frequently reported allergenic fruits.1 Component diagnosis of peach allergy indicates Pru p 1, Pru p 2, Pru p 3, Pru p 4, Pru p 7, and Pru p 9 are involved.2, 3 Pru p 3 is the dominant allergen responsible for severe allergic reaction,4 and it is considered to be the primary sensitizer to other LTPs in Mediterranean and Central Europe.5 The levels of Pru p 3 differ between varieties.6 To date, measurement of Pru p 3 in a limited number of peach and nectarines from Spain, United States, and Italy has been reported.7 Significant variation of allergen concentration in processed foods containing peach has also been observed.8 The content of Pru p 3 of peach/nectarine determines the potential risk for peach allergic patients. China is the origin of peach with representative genetic diversity to be explored for hypoallergenic varieties.9 A core collection of 103 varieties cultivated in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province were selected to represent this diversity, including 23 nectarines and 80 peach varieties (with fruit hair, round or flat, 77 cultivated, three wild) (Table S1). The soluble solid content (SSC), ripening date, and peach aroma intensity were recorded. Specific methods are detailed in the Supporting Information. Pru p 3 was quantified by ELISA based on our previous research.6info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Association of hematological parameters with metabolic syndrome in Beijing adult population: a longitudinal study

The purposes of the study were to estimate the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and to systematically evaluate the relationship between hematological parameters and MetS in a 5-year follow-up of Beijing adult population. The longitudinal study included 3,180 adults, aged 20–65 years, who attended health check-ups in Beijing Tongren Hospital in 2007 and 2012. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to explore the associations between hematological parameters and MetS. The 5-year cumulative incidence of MetS in this sample was 10.82 % (14.22 % for males and 7.59 % for females). Among all the hematological parameters, white blood cell count (WBC) was positively associated with MetS for 20–35-year-old (male OR 1.482, 95 % CI 1.169–2.974; female OR 1.398, 95 % CI 1.145–3.011), and 36–50-year-old (male OR 2.012, 95 % CI 1.290–4.010; female OR 3.400, 95 % CI 1.818–4.528) male and female subjects. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was significantly associated with the incidence of MetS for males (20–35-year-old OR 2.080, 95 % CI 1.371–3.159; 36–50-year-old OR 2.421, 95 % CI 1.335–3.412; 51–65-year-old OR 4.267, 95 % CI 1.161–6.781). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was positively associated with MetS for 51–65-year-old (male OR 3.078, 95 % CI 2.468–5.131; female OR 2.140, 95 %CI 1.524–4.359) for male and female subjects. WBC is positively associated with MetS for young adults, while LDL-C is positively associated with MetS for elderly people. ALT is positively associated with MetS for males. Our findings provide further evidence in support of using hematological markers for early detection of individuals at risk for MetS

Mechanisms of the enhanced DDT removal from soils by earthworms: identification of DDT degraders in drilosphere and non-drilosphere matrices

The remediation of soil contaminated by 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) remains an important issue in environmental research. Although our previous studies demonstrated that earthworms could enhance the degradation of DDT in soils, the underlying mechanisms and microorganisms involved in these transformation processes are still not clear. Here we studied the transformation of DDT in sterilized/non-sterilized drilosphere and non-drilosphere matrices and identified DDT degraders using the technique of DNA-stable isotope probing. The results show that DDT degradation in non-sterilized drilosphere was quicker than that in their non-drilosphere counterparts. Earthworms enhance DDT removal mainly by improving soil properties, thus stimulating indigenous microorganisms rather than abiotic degradation or tissue accumulating. Ten new genera, including Streptomyces, Streptacidiphilus, Dermacoccus, Brevibacterium, Bacillus, Virgibacillus, were identified as DDT ring cleavage degrading bacteria in the five matrices tested. Bacillus and Dermacoccus may also play vital roles in the dechlorination of DDTs as they were highly enriched during the incubations. The results of this study provide robust evidence for the application of earthworms in remediating soils polluted with DDT and highlight the importance of using combinations of cultivation-independent techniques together with process-based measurements to examine the function of microbes degrading organic pollutants in drilosphere matrices

Interaction between Maternal Passive Smoking during Pregnancy and CYP1A1 and GSTs Polymorphisms on Spontaneous Preterm Delivery

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the association between maternal passive smoking during pregnancy and the risk of spontaneous PTD and to explore the potential interaction of the single or joint gene polymorphism of CYP1A1 and GSTs with maternal passive smoking on the risk of spontaneous PTD. Method: We investigated whether the association between maternal passive smoking and PTD can be modified by 2 metabolic genes, i.e. cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), in a case-control study with 198 spontaneous preterm and 524 term deliveries in Shenzhen and Foshan, China. We used logistic regression to test gene-passive smoking interaction, adjusting for maternal socio-demographics and prepregnancy body mass index. Results: Overall, maternal passive smoking during pregnancy was associated with higher risk of PTD (adjusted odds ratio = 2.20 [95% confidence interval: 1.56–3.12]). This association was modified by CYP1A1 and GSTs together, but not by any single genotype. For cross-categories of CYP1A1 Msp I and GSTs, maternal passive smoking was associated with higher risk of PTD among those women with CYP1A1 “TC/CC”+ GSTs “null”, but not among women with other genotypes; and this interaction was significant (OR = 2.66 [95% CI: 1.19–5.97]; P-value: 0.017). For cross-categories of CYP1A1 BsrD I and GSTs, maternal passive smoking was associated with higher risk of PTD only among those women with CYP1A1“AG/GG”+ GSTs “null”, but not among women with other genotypes; and this interaction was significant (OR = 3.00 [95% CI: 1.17–7.74]; P-value: 0.023). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the combined genotypes of CYP1A1 and GSTs can help to identify vulnerable pregnant women who are subject to high risk of spontaneous PTD due to passive smoking