Novel Supramolecular Block Copolymer of Isotactic Polypropylene and Ethylene-<i>co</i>-propylene Connected by Complementary Quadruple Hydrogen Bonding System

Supramolecular block copolymers comprising isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and ethylene–propylene random copolymers (EP) with complementary quadruple hydrogen bonding junctions have been prepared by melt-mixing of iPP having a 2-ureido-4­[1<i>H</i>]-pyrimidinone (UPy) group (iPP-UPy) and elastic EP bearing a 2,7-diamido-1,8-naphthyridine (Napy) group (EP-Napy). Transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis of the iPP-UPy/EP-Napy composite showed that the elastic EP domains were well dispersed in the iPP matrix compared with the traditional iPP/EP impact polypropylene copolymer (IPC). The iPP-UPy/EP-Napy hydrogen-bonded pseudo block copolymer effectively acts as a compatibilizer in the IPC and contributes to improved mechanical properties of the resulting iPP/EP composite. There is good correlation between impact strength of the IPC and EP domain size observed by the TEM analysis. The use of the complementary quadruple hydrogen bonding system for blending two immiscible polymers has been shown to result in smaller domain sizes of the EP-phase in the iPP and consequently improved mechanical properties of the supramolecular iPP/EP blends

Additional file 1: of Analysis of association between circulating miR-122 and histopathological features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients free of hepatocellular carcinoma

Histological scores at the time of the first and second liver biopsies, and serum microRNA-122 ratio. (XLS 306 kb

HLA-DQB1*03 Confers Susceptibility to Chronic Hepatitis C in Japanese: A Genome-Wide Association Study

<div><p>Hepatitis C virus (HCV) establishes a chronic infection in 70-80% of infected individuals. Many researchers have examined the effect of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) on viral persistence because of its critical role in the immune response against exposure to HCV, but almost all studies have proven to be inconclusive. To identify genetic risk factors for chronic HCV infection, we analyzed 458,207 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 481 chronic HCV patients and 2,963 controls in a Japanese cohort. Next, we performed a replication study with an independent panel of 4,358 cases and 1,114 controls. We further confirmed the association in 1,379 cases and 25,817 controls. In the GWAS phase, we found 17 SNPs that showed suggestive association (<i>P</i> < 1 × 10^-5). After the first replication study, we found one intronic SNP in the <i>HLA-DQ</i> locus associated with chronic HCV infection, and when we combined the two studies, the association reached the level of genome-wide significance. In the second replication study, we again confirmed the association (<i>P</i>_combined = 3.59 × 10⁻¹⁶, odds ratio [OR] = 0.79). Subsequent analysis revealed another SNP, rs1130380, with a stronger association (OR=0.72). This nucleotide substitution causes an amino acid substitution (R55P) in the HLA-DQB1 protein specific to the <i>DQB1*03</i> allele, which is common worldwide. In addition, we confirmed an association with the previously reported <i>IFNL3-IFNL4</i> locus and propose that the effect of <i>DQB1*03</i> on HCV persistence might be affected by the <i>IFNL4</i> polymorphism. Our findings suggest that a common amino acid substitution in HLA-DQB1 affects susceptibility to chronic infection with HCV in the Japanese population and may not be independent of the <i>IFNL4</i> genotype.</p> </div

Linkage disequilibrium structure around the HLA-DQ region based on <i>D</i>’ using HapMap-JPT Data.

<p>P-value plot and genomic structure of the GWAS stage. Blue lines represent the LD block containing the <i>HLA-DQA2</i> and <i>HLA-DQB2</i> loci. Black lines represent two LD blocks containing the <i>HLA-DQA1</i> and <i>HLA-DQB1</i> loci, and the black dotted line represents the boundary between them. The red line represents the most strongly associated SNP, rs9275572, which is located within the <i>HLA-DQB1</i> locus. The LD maps were created using HaploView software.</p