Duodenal enteroglucagonoma revealed by differential comparison of serum and tissue glucagon reactivity with Siemens' Double Glucagon Antibody and DakoCytomation's Polyclonal Rabbit Anti-Human Glucagon: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>This case report demonstrates that the differential immunohistochemical reactivities of Siemens' <it>Double Antibody Glucagon </it>compared to DakoCytomation's <it>Polyclonal Rabbit Anti-Human Glucagon </it>allow for pathologic distinction of enteral versus pancreatic glucagonoma.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 64-year-old Caucasian man was diagnosed with a duodenal enteroglucagonoma following presentation with obstructive jaundice. He had a low serum glucagon level using Siemens' <it>Double Antibody Glucagon</it>, a clinical syndrome consistent with glucagon hypersecretion. A periampullary mass biopsy proved to be a neuroendocrine tumor, with positive immunohistochemical reactivity to DakoCytomation's <it>Polyclonal Rabbit Anti-Human Glucagon</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Differential comparison of the immunohistochemical reactivities of Siemens' <it>Double Antibody Glucagon </it>and DakoCytomation's <it>Polyclonal Rabbit Anti-Human Glucagon </it>discerns enteroglucagon from pancreatic glucagon.</p

Transcriptome Analysis of Female and Male Xiphophorus maculatus Jp 163 A

Background: Xiphophorus models are important for melanoma, sex determination and differentiation, ovoviviparity and evolution. To gain a global view of the molecular mechanism(s) whereby gene expression may influence sexual dimorphism in Xiphophorus and to develop a database for future studies, we performed a large-scale transcriptome study. Methodology/Principal Findings: The 454-FLX massively parallel DNA sequencing platform was employed to obtain 742,771 and 721,543 reads from 2 normalized cDNA libraries generated from whole adult female and male X. maculatus Jp 163 A, respectively. The reads assembled into 45,538 contigs (here, a "contig" is a set of contiguous sequences), of which, 11,918 shared homology to existing protein sequences. These numbers estimate that the contigs may cover 53% of the total number of Xiphophorus transcriptome. Putative translations were obtained for 11,918 cDNA contigs, of which, 3,049 amino acid sequences contain Pfam domains and 11,064 contigs encode secretory proteins. A total of 3,898 contigs were associated with 2,781 InterPro (IPR) entries and 5,411 contigs with 132 KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways. There were 10,446 contigs annotated with 69,778 gene ontology (GO) terms and the three corresponding organizing principles. Fifty-four potential sex differentially expressed genes have been identified from these contigs. Eight and nine of these contigs were confirmed by real-time PCR as female and male predominantly expressed genes respectively. Based on annotation results, 34 contigs were predicted to be differentially expressed in male and female and 17 of them were also confirmed by real-time PCR. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first report of an annotated overview of the transcriptome of X. maculatus and identification of sex differentially expressed genes. These data will be of interest to researchers using the Xiphophorus model. This work also provides an archive for future studies in molecular mechanisms of sexual dimorphism and evolution, and can be used in comparative studies of other fish

Duox, Flotillin-2, and Src42A Are Required to Activate or Delimit the Spread of the Transcriptional Response to Epidermal Wounds in Drosophila

The epidermis is the largest organ of the body for most animals, and the first line of defense against invading pathogens. A breach in the epidermal cell layer triggers a variety of localized responses that in favorable circumstances result in the repair of the wound. Many cellular and genetic responses must be limited to epidermal cells that are close to wounds, but how this is regulated is still poorly understood. The order and hierarchy of epidermal wound signaling factors are also still obscure. The Drosophila embryonic epidermis provides an excellent system to study genes that regulate wound healing processes. We have developed a variety of fluorescent reporters that provide a visible readout of wound-dependent transcriptional activation near epidermal wound sites. A large screen for mutants that alter the activity of these wound reporters has identified seven new genes required to activate or delimit wound-induced transcriptional responses to a narrow zone of cells surrounding wound sites. Among the genes required to delimit the spread of wound responses are Drosophila Flotillin-2 and Src42A, both of which are transcriptionally activated around wound sites. Flotillin-2 and constitutively active Src42A are also sufficient, when overexpressed at high levels, to inhibit wound-induced transcription in epidermal cells. One gene required to activate epidermal wound reporters encodes Dual oxidase, an enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide. We also find that four biochemical treatments (a serine protease, a Src kinase inhibitor, methyl-ß-cyclodextrin, and hydrogen peroxide) are sufficient to globally activate epidermal wound response genes in Drosophila embryos. We explore the epistatic relationships among the factors that induce or delimit the spread of epidermal wound signals. Our results define new genetic functions that interact to instruct only a limited number of cells around puncture wounds to mount a transcriptional response, mediating local repair and regeneration

Cancer Biomarker Discovery: The Entropic Hallmark

Background: It is a commonly accepted belief that cancer cells modify their transcriptional state during the progression of the disease. We propose that the progression of cancer cells towards malignant phenotypes can be efficiently tracked using high-throughput technologies that follow the gradual changes observed in the gene expression profiles by employing Shannon's mathematical theory of communication. Methods based on Information Theory can then quantify the divergence of cancer cells' transcriptional profiles from those of normally appearing cells of the originating tissues. The relevance of the proposed methods can be evaluated using microarray datasets available in the public domain but the method is in principle applicable to other high-throughput methods. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using melanoma and prostate cancer datasets we illustrate how it is possible to employ Shannon Entropy and the Jensen-Shannon divergence to trace the transcriptional changes progression of the disease. We establish how the variations of these two measures correlate with established biomarkers of cancer progression. The Information Theory measures allow us to identify novel biomarkers for both progressive and relatively more sudden transcriptional changes leading to malignant phenotypes. At the same time, the methodology was able to validate a large number of genes and processes that seem to be implicated in the progression of melanoma and prostate cancer. Conclusions/Significance: We thus present a quantitative guiding rule, a new unifying hallmark of cancer: the cancer cell's transcriptome changes lead to measurable observed transitions of Normalized Shannon Entropy values (as measured by high-throughput technologies). At the same time, tumor cells increment their divergence from the normal tissue profile increasing their disorder via creation of states that we might not directly measure. This unifying hallmark allows, via the the Jensen-Shannon divergence, to identify the arrow of time of the processes from the gene expression profiles, and helps to map the phenotypical and molecular hallmarks of specific cancer subtypes. The deep mathematical basis of the approach allows us to suggest that this principle is, hopefully, of general applicability for other diseases

Wild fish consumption can balance nutrient retention in farmed fish.

Acknowledgements: D.F.W. was funded by a Henslow Fellowship at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. J.P.W.R was funded by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship. The study of A.L. and B.d.R. is supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the paper.Funder: D.F.W. was funded by a Henslow Fellowship at Murray Edwards College, University of CambridgeFunder: The research of A.L. and B.d.R is supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS)Funder: J.P.W.R was funded by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and a Leverhulme Trust Early Career FellowshipWild fish used as aquafeeds could be redirected towards human consumption to support sustainable marine resource use. Here we use mass-balance fish-in/fish-out ratio approaches to assess nutrient retention in salmon farming and identify scenarios that provide more nutrient-rich food to people. Using data on Norway's salmon farms, our study revealed that six of nine dietary nutrients had higher yields in wild fish used for feeds, such as anchovies and mackerel, than in farmed salmon production. Reallocating one-third of food-grade wild feed fish towards direct human consumption would increase seafood production, while also retaining by-products for use as aquafeeds, thus maximizing nutrient utilization of marine resources.D.F.W. was funded by a Henslow Fellowship at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. J.P.W.R was funded by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship. The research of A.L. and B.d.R is supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Wild fish consumption can balance nutrient retention in farmed fish.

Wild fish used as aquafeeds could be redirected towards human consumption to support sustainable marine resource use. Here we use mass-balance fish-in/fish-out ratio approaches to assess nutrient retention in salmon farming and identify scenarios that provide more nutrient-rich food to people. Using data on Norway's salmon farms, our study revealed that six of nine dietary nutrients had higher yields in wild fish used for feeds, such as anchovies and mackerel, than in farmed salmon production. Reallocating one-third of food-grade wild feed fish towards direct human consumption would increase seafood production, while also retaining by-products for use as aquafeeds, thus maximizing nutrient utilization of marine resources.D.F.W. was funded by a Henslow Fellowship at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. J.P.W.R was funded by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship. The research of A.L. and B.d.R is supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript