ABO Blood Group Genotyping by Real-time PCR in Kazakh Population

Introduction. ABO blood group genotyping is a new technology in hematology that helps prevent adverse transfusion reactions in patients. Identification of antigens on the surface of red blood cells is based on serology; however, genotyping employs a different strategy and is aimed directly at genes that determine the surface proteins. ABO blood group genotyping by real-time PCR has several crucial advantages over other PCR-based techniques, such as high rapidity and reliability of analysis. The purpose of this study was to examine nucleotide substitutions differences by blood types using a PCR-based method on Kazakh blood donors.Methods. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the National Center for Biotechnology. Venous blood samples from 369 healthy Kazakh blood donors, whose blood types had been determined by serological methods, were collected after obtaining informed consent. The phenotypes of the samples included blood group A (n = 99), B (n = 93), O (n = 132), and AB (n = 45). Genomic DNA was extracted using a salting-out method. PCR products of ABO gene were sequenced on an ABI 3730xl DNA analyzer (Applied Biosystems). The resulting nucleotide sequences were compared and aligned against reference sequence NM_020469.2. Real-time PCR analysis was performed on CFX96 Touch™ Real-Time PCR Detection System (BioRad).Results. Direct sequencing of ABO gene in 369 samples revealed that the vast majority of nucleotide substitutions that change the ABO phenotype were limited to exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene at positions 261, 467, 657, 796, 803, 930 and 1,060. However, genotyping of only three of them (261, 796 and 803) resulted in identification of major ABO genotypes in the Kazakh population. As a result, TaqMan probe based real-time PCR assay for the specific detection of genotypes 261, 796 and 803 was developed. The assay did not take into account several other mutations that may affect the determination of blood group, because they have a low occurrence rate and therefore have not been found in the population sample.Conclusion. Real-time PCR based method for fast and reliable ABO genotyping was developed. This assay may be used as a complement to classic serological blood typing

Proximity Utilizing Biotinylation of Nuclear Proteins in vivo

Introduction. The human genome consists of roughly 30,000 genes coding for over 500,000 different proteins, of which more than 10,000 proteins can be produced by the cell at any given time (the cellular “proteome”). It has been estimated that over 80% of proteins do not operate alone, but in complexes. These protein-protein interactions (PPI) are regulated by several mechanisms. For example, post-translational modifications (methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation, or ubiquitination) or metal-binding can lead to conformational changes that alter the affinity and kinetic parameters of the interaction. Many PPIs are part of larger cellular networks of interactions or interactomes. Indeed, these interactions are at the core of the entire interactomics system of any living cell, and so, aberrant PPIs are the basis of multiple diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The objective of this study was to develop a method of monitoring protein-protein interactions and proximity dependence in vivo.Methods. The biotin ligase BirA was fused to the protein of interest, and the Biotin Acceptor Peptide (BAP) was fused to an interacting partner to make the detection of its biotinylation possible by western blot or mass spectrometry.Results. Using several experimental systems (BirA.A + BAP.B), we showed that the biotinylation is interaction/proximity dependent. Here, A and B are the next nuclear proteins used in the experiments – 3 paralogues of heterochromatin protein HP1a (CBX5), HP1b (CBX1), HP1g (CBX3), wild type and transcription mutant factor Kap1, translesion DNA polymerase PolH and E3, ubiquitin ligase RAD18, Proliferative Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA), ubiquitin Ub, SUMO-2/3, different types and isoforms of histones H2A, H2Az, H3.1, H3.3, CenpA, H2A.BBD, and macroH2A. The variant of this approach is termed PUB-NChIP (Proximity Utilizing Biotinylation with Native Chromatin Immuno-precipitation) and is designed to purify and study the protein composition of chromatin in proximity to the nuclear protein of interest. Using the RAD18 protein as a model, we demonstrated that the RAD18-proximal chromatin is enriched in some H4 acetylated species. Moreover, the RAD18-proximal chromatin containing a replacement histone H2Az has a different pattern of H4 acetylation.Conclusion. Progress in the last decade in cancer drug therapy has led us to the conclusion that the nucleus of eukaryotic cells is an active site for many cellular processes important to the development of cancer. These processes include changes in genetic and epigenetic landscape (e. g. methylation of DNA, modification of histones) and the expression levels of transcription factors, which regulates gene products (e.g. hypoxia-inducible factor 1? (HIF-1?) in chronic anemia, etc.) where protein-protein interactions play important role. Understanding the nature of protein-protein interactions may improve design strategies for small-molecule PPI modulators. PPI assay technologies that closely reflect physiological conditions hold the key to developing specific anti-cancer drugs.

In vivo Biotinylation Based Method for the Study of Protein-Protein Proximity in Eukaryotic Cells

Introduction: The spatiotemporal order plays an important role in cell functioning and is affected in many pathologies such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. One of the ultimate goals of molecular biology is reconstruction of the spatiotemporal structure of a living cell at the molecular level. This task includes determination of proximities between different molecular components in the cell and monitoring their time- and physiological state-dependent changes. In many cases, proximity between macromolecules arises due to their interactions; however, the contribution of dynamic self-organization in generation of spatiotemporal order is emerging as another viable possibility. Specifically, in proteomics, this implies that the detection of protein-protein proximity is a more general task than gaining information about physical interactions between proteins, as it could detail aspects of spatial order in vivo that are challenging to reconstitute in binding experiments in vitro.Methods: In this work, we have developed a method of monitoring protein-protein proximity in vivo. For this purpose, the BirA was fused to one of the interaction partners, whereas the BAP was modified to make the detection of its biotinylation possible by mass spectrometry.Results: Using several experimental systems, we showed that the biotinylation is interaction dependent. In addition, we demonstrated that BAP domains with different primary amino acid structures and thus with different molecular weights can be used in the same experiment, providing the possibility of multiplexing. Alternatively to the changes in primary amino acid structure, the stable isotope format can also be used, providing another way to perform multiplexing experiments. Finally, we also demonstrated that our system could help to overcome another limitation of current methodologies to detect protein-protein proximity. For example, one can follow the state of a protein of interest at a defined time after its interaction with another protein has occurred. This application should be particularly useful for studying multistep intracellular processes, where the proximities between proteins and protein properties typically changed in a sequential manner.Conclusion: This approach has promised in adding temporal dimension in addition to helping reconstruct cell topology in space

Wearable Communications in 5G: Challenges and Enabling Technologies

As wearable devices become more ingrained in our daily lives, traditional communication networks primarily designed for human being-oriented applications are facing tremendous challenges. The upcoming 5G wireless system aims to support unprecedented high capacity, low latency, and massive connectivity. In this article, we evaluate key challenges in wearable communications. A cloud/edge communication architecture that integrates the cloud radio access network, software defined network, device to device communications, and cloud/edge technologies is presented. Computation offloading enabled by this multi-layer communications architecture can offload computation-excessive and latency-stringent applications to nearby devices through device to device communications or to nearby edge nodes through cellular or other wireless technologies. Critical issues faced by wearable communications such as short battery life, limited computing capability, and stringent latency can be greatly alleviated by this cloud/edge architecture. Together with the presented architecture, current transmission and networking technologies, including non-orthogonal multiple access, mobile edge computing, and energy harvesting, can greatly enhance the performance of wearable communication in terms of spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, latency, and connectivity.Comment: This work has been accepted by IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazin

Development of a technology for expression of recombinant human erythropoietin in cultured mammalian cells using alphavirus expression system

Currently there are no industrial eukaryotic expression systems other than transient expression from plasmids or expression from genes integrated into host genome. Both approaches (use of eukaryotic plasmids or chromosomal integration) suffer from poor scalability and often from poor yields. Although, in laboratory settings, effective means for transducing of cultured cells to express foreign proteins and for high-level transient expression were developed based on viral genomes. We thought to develop a scalable and suitable for industrial application technology for the production of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) in mammalian cell cultures using an expression vector based on the genome of RNA virus

Pharmacogenetic research in Kazakhstan

Introduction: Pharmacogenomics is an emerging field of medicine that combines genetics and pharmacology. Pharmacogenomic research is relatively new in Kazahkstan, but, in recent years, significant progress has been made in this field. The National Scientific Laboratory for Biotechnology has launched several government-funded research projects focused on finding genetic markers that determine susceptibility to various drugs. Another goal of pharmacogenetic research in the laboratory is to find the pharmacogenomic markers that target cardiovascular diseases, accounting for allelic frequencies in selected genes in the Kazakh population. In addition, pharmacogenomic testing kits allow patients to choose the drug dosage. For example, the drug Warfarin has been developed within the framework of the "Technology Commercialization Project,” funded jointly by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the World Bank.Material and methods: The pharmacogenomic studies were conducted using the real-time PCR and direct DNA sequencing. DNA was isolated from venous blood or buccal cells, collected from patients.Results: To date, we have identified the most promising areas of research in the field of pharmacogenomics in Kazakhstan. The allelic frequencies of a number of polymorphisms in the Kazakh population have been calculated (CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP3A4, VKORC1, CYP4F2, GGCX, CYP2D6, CYP1A2, NAT2, GSTP1, SLC47A1). A unique repository of DNA samples was established and is being replenished during the implementation of aforementioned projects. Development of the testing kit for individual selection of Warfarin dosage is nearing completion. A patent, named "Method of Selection Based Dose Warfarin Genotyping for the Kazakh Population" has been recently obtained. An application for another patent, titled "Express Method of Correction of Warfarin Dosing, Based on Real-time PCR" has received positive evaluation. The results of domestic pharmacogenomic studies will allow a more rational selection of drugs and their dosage regimens specific to the Kazakh population