The Influence of Polyploidy and Genome Composition on Genomic Imprinting in Mice

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic mechanism that switches the expression of imprinted genes involved in normal embryonic growth and development in a parent-of-origin-specific manner. Changes inDNAmethylation statuses from polyploidization are a well characterized epigenetic modification in plants. However, how changes in ploidy affect both imprinted gene expression and methylation status in mammals remains unclear. To address this, we used quantitative real time PCR to analyze expression levels of imprinted genes in mouse tetraploid fetuses. We used bisulfite sequencing to assess the methylation statuses of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) that regulate imprinted gene expression in triploid and tetraploid fetuses. The nine imprinted genes H19, Gtl2, Dlk1, Igf2r, Grb10, Zim1, Peg3, Ndn, and Ipw were all unregulated; in particular, the expression of Zim1 was more than 10-fold higher, and the expression of Ipw was repressed in tetraploid fetuses. The methylation statuses of four DMRs H19, intergenic (IG), Igf2r, and Snrpn in tetraploid and triploid fetuses were similar to those in diploid fetuses. We also performed allele-specific RT-PCR sequencing to determine the alleles expressing the three imprinted genes Igf2, Gtl2, and Dlk1 in tetraploid fetuses. These three imprinted genes showed monoallelic expression in a parent-of-origin-specific manner. Expression of non-imprinted genes regulating neural cell development significantly decreased in tetraploid fetuses, which might have been associated with unregulated imprinted gene expression. This study provides the first detailed analysis of genomic imprinting in tetraploid fetuses, suggesting that imprinted gene expression is disrupted, but DNA methylation statuses of DMRs are stable following changes in ploidy in mammals

A transcription frame-based analysis of the genomic DNA sequence of a hyper-thermophilic archaeon for the identification of genes, pseudo-genes and operon structures

AbstractAn algorithm for identifying transcription units, independently regulated genes and operons, and pseudo-genes that are not expected to be expressed, has been developed by combining a system for predicting transcription and translation signals, and a system for scoring the triplet periodicity in ORF candidates. By using the algorithm, the 1.09 Mb sequence that covers approximately 60% of the genome of Pyrococcus sp. OT3 has been analyzed. The identified ORFs show the expected biological and physical characteristics, while the rejected ORF candidates do not. Frequent use of operon structures for transcription, and gene duplication followed by mutation or termination of the duplicated genes, are discussed

Serious hazards of transfusion: evaluating the dangers of a wrong patient autologous salvaged blood in cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: The past half century has seen the near eradication of transfusion-associated hazards. Intraoperative cell salvage while widely used still poses significant risks and hazards due to human error. We report on a case in which blood collected from a patient with lung cancer was mistakenly administered to a patient undergoing cardiac surgery who should have received his own collected blood. The initial investigation found that the cause of the patient harm was violations of procedures by hospital personnel. A detailed investigation revealed that not only violations were the cause, but also that the underlying causes included haphazard organizational policies, poor communication, workload and staffing deficiencies, human factors and cultural challenges. CASE PRESENTATION: On August 14, 2019, a 72-year-old male was admitted to our hospital for angina pectoris and multivessel coronary artery disease. Cardiac surgery was performed using an autologous salvage blood collection system, and there were no major problems other than the prolonged operation time. During the night after the surgery, when the patient\u27s blood pressure dropped, a nurse retrieved a blood bag from the ICU refrigerator that had been collected during the surgery and administered it at the physician\u27s direction, but at this time neither the physician nor the nurse performed the required checking procedures. The blood administered was another patient\u27s blood taken from another surgery the day before; an ABO mismatch transfusion occurred and the patient was diagnosed with DIC. The patient was discharged 65 days later after numerous interventions to support the patient. An accident investigation committee was convened to analyze the root causes and develop countermeasures to prevent a recurrence. CONCLUSION: This adverse event occurred because the protocol for intraoperative blood salvage management was not clearly defined, and the procedure was different from the standard transfusion practices. We developed a new workflow based on a human factors grounded, systems-wide improvement strategy in which intraoperative blood collection would be administered before the patient leaves the operating room to completely prevent recurrence, instead of simply requiring front-line staff to do a double-check. Implementing strong systems processes can reduce the risk of errors, improve the reliability of the work processes and reduce the likelihood of patient harm occurring in the future

Robotic Renal Autotransplantation: First Case Outside of North America

A 38-year-old woman with a 2.7-cm left ureteral stenosis requiring chronic ureteral stent exchange elected to undergo robotic renal autotransplantation. Left ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) was also suspected. Robotic donor nephrectomy contributed to the fine dissection for desmoplastic changes. The kidney was removed through a Gelport and examined on ice. UPJO was not seen. An end-to-side robotic anastomosis was created between the renal and external iliac vessels. The console time was 507 min, and the warm ischemia time was 4 min 5 sec. She became stent-free. Robotic renal autotransplantation is a new, minimally invasive approach to renal preservation

Anti-tumor effects of interferon-beta cell therapy in murine model of melanoma

Purpose: Recombinant interferon beta (IFN-β) has been used for a treatment of cancers. However, the efficacy of recombinant IFN-β is limited because of its short half-life and side effects. To overcome these problems, we focused on the efficacy of cell-based therapy (cell therapy) using IFN-β-producing cells in the treatment of melanoma.Methods: IFN-β-producing therapeutic cells were constructed by gene transduction using retrovirus vector. Anti-tumor effects of the cell therapy were investigated by a murine melanoma model.Results: IFN-β cell therapy significantly suppressed the proliferation of B16 melanoma in vitro and the growth of B16-derived tumor in vivo, accompanied with the activation of natural killer (NK) cells. IFN-β cell therapy did not show any systemic side-effects concerning hepatic dysfunction and bone marrow suppression.Conclusion: IFN-β cell therapy could be a candidate as a novel cancer treatment.

Regular-Triangle Trimer and Charge Order Preserving the Anderson Condition in the Pyrochlore Structure of CsW2_2O6_6

Since the discovery of the Verwey transition in magnetite, transition metal compounds with pyrochlore structures have been intensively studied as a platform for realizing remarkable electronic phase transitions. We report the discovery of a unique phase transition that preserves the cubic symmetry of the beta-pyrochlore oxide CsW$_2$O$_6$, where each of W 5d electrons are confined in regular-triangle W3 trimers. This trimer formation is an unprecedented self-organization of d electrons, which can be resolved into a charge order satisfying the Anderson condition in a nontrivial way, orbital order caused by the distortion of WO6 octahedra, and the formation of a spin-singlet pair in a regular-triangle trimer. Electronic instability due to the unusual three-dimensional nesting of Fermi surfaces and the localized nature of the 5d electrons characteristic of the pyrochlore oxides were found to play important roles in this unique charge-orbital-spin coupled phenomenon.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Alveolar Echinococcosis Mimicking a Hepatic Neoplasm with Lymph Node Metastasis: A Case Report

A 37-year-old man had an asymptomatic 17-mm mass in the liver by health check with ultrasonography. Five years later, he was referred to our hospital because the mass was slightly enlarged with a peripancreatic lymph node. We performed endoscopic ultrasonography fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) to evaluate a lymph node, but it showed amorphous eosinophilic material and eosinophilic infiltrate in necrotic tissue of toothpaste-like white specimen. However, we diagnosed as potentially malignant liver mass with lymph node metastasis because of 2-deoxy-2-(fluorine-18) fluorodeoxyglucose uptake. We then performed hepatectomy and enucleation of the pancreas. DNA polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed Echinococcus multilocularis infection. Retrospectively, we could find a part of Echinococcus in the specimens of EUS-FNA