Itm2a, a Target Gene of GATA-3, Plays a Minimal Role in Regulating the Development and Function of T Cells

The integral membrane protein 2a (Itm2a) is one of the BRICHOS domain-containing proteins and is structurally related to Itm2b and Itm2c. It is expressed preferentially in the T lineage among hematopoietic cells and is induced by MHC-mediated positive selection. However, its transcriptional regulation and function are poorly understood. Here we showed Itm2a to be a target gene of GATA-3, a T cell-specific transcription factor. Deficiency of Itm2a had little impact on the development and function of polyclonal T cells but resulted in a partial defect in the development of thymocytes bearing a MHC class I-restricted TCR, OT-I. In addition, Itm2a-deficient mice displayed an attenuated T helper cell-dependent immune response in vivo. We further demonstrated that Itm2b but not Itm2c was also expressed in T cells, and was induced upon activation, albeit following a kinetic different from that of Itm2a. Thus, functional redundancy between Itm2a and Itm2b may explain the minimal phenotype of Itm2a deficiency

Monitoring trends in socioeconomic health inequalities: it matters how you measure

Background: Odds ratio (OR), a relative measure for health inequality, has frequently been used in prior studies for presenting inequality trends in health and health behaviors. Since OR is not a good approximation of prevalence ratio (PR) when the outcome prevalence is quite high, an important problem may arise when OR trends are used in data in which the outcome variable (e.g., smoking or ill-health) is of relatively high prevalence and varies significantly over time. This study is to compare time trends of odds ratio (OR) and prevalence ratio (PR) for examining time trends in socioeconomic inequality in smoking. Methods: A total of 147,805 subjects (71,793 men and 76,017 women) aged 25–64 from three Social Statistics Surveys of Korea from 1999 to 2006 were analyzed. Socioeconomic position indicators were occupational class and education. Results: While there were no significant p values for trend in ORs of occupational class among men, trends for PRs were significant. In women, p values for OR trends were similar to those for PR trends. In males, RII by log-binomial regression showed a significant increasing tendency while RII by logistic regression was stable between years. In females, trends of RIIs by logistic regression and log-binomial regression produced a similar level of p values. Conclusion: Different methods of measuring trends in socioeconomic health inequalities may lead to different conclusions about whether relative inequalities are increasing or decreasing. Trends in ORs may overstate or understate trends in relative inequality in health when the outcome is of relatively high prevalence and that prevalence varies significantly with time.Young-Ho Khang, Sung-Cheol Yun and John W Lync

Stability of a Jensen type equation in the space of generalized functions

AbstractWe reformulate and solve the stability problem of a Jensen type functional equation3f(x+y+z3)+f(x)+f(y)+f(z)−2f(x+y2)−2f(y+z2)−2f(z+x2)=0, in the spaces of some generalized functions such as tempered distributions and Fourier hyperfunctions

Učinci prenatalne i postnatalne izloženosti perfluorooktanskoj kiselini na ekspresiju glavnih gena povezanih s reprodukcijom u mišjem hipotalamusu i spolnim žlijezdama

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a ubiquitous environmental pollutant reported to be an endocrine disruptor, is used in many industrial and consumer products. Although the adverse effects of PFOA on the reproductive health of animals and humans have been widely reported, most studies have focused on assessing the anatomical features and conventional histology of adult gonads. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms activated in the hypothalamus and gonads following PFOA exposure during the pre- and postnatal periods are not clear. This study used a mouse model to evaluate the effects of PFOA exposure on the alteration of molecular mechanisms in the hypothalamus and gonads during the prenatal and postpartum periods. Changes in gene and protein expression following PFOA exposure were evaluated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively. Kisspeptin 1 and gonadotropin-releasing hormone expression in the hypothalamus of female and male mouse pups was significantly decreased. Additionally, Cyp17a1 expression was upregulated in male offspring testes, while Cyp17a1 and Cyp19a1 expression was downregulated in female offspring ovaries. Changes at the molecular level due to PFOA exposure in the early stages of development did not show sex-related differences in the hypothalamus; however, such differences were confirmed in the gonads. These results could be used as basic data to study the molecular mechanisms underlying the reproductive dysfunction caused by PFOA exposure in the early stages of embryonic development.Perfluorooktanska kiselina (PFOA) sveprisutna je onečišćujuća tvar za okoliš, za koju je zabilježeno da uzrokuje i endokrinopatije, a upotrebljava se u mnogim industrijskim proizvodima. Bez obzira na poznate i zabilježene nuspojave PFOA-e na reproduktivno zdravlje životinja i ljudi, većina se istraživanja usredotočuje na procjenu anatomskih histoloških značajki u spolnim žlijezdama odraslih jedinki. Molekularni mehanizmi koji se aktiviraju u hipotalamusu i spolnim žlijezdama nakon izlaganja PFOA-i stoga nisu razjašnjeni. U ovom je istraživanju upotrijebljen mišji model za procjenu učinaka izlaganja PFOA-i na promjenu molekularnih mehanizama u hipotalamusu i spolnim žlijezdama za vrijeme prijeporođajnog i poslijeporođajnog razdoblja. Promjene u ekspresiji gena i proteina nakon izloženosti PFOA-i analizirane su kvantitativnom PCR metodom i metodom Western blotting. Ekspresija kispeptina 1 i hormona koji oslobađa gonadotropin u hipotalamusu ženske i muške mladunčadi bila je znakovito smanjena. Osim toga ekpresija Cyp17a1 bila je pojačana u testisima muških potomaka, dok je ekspresija Cyp17a1 i Cyp19a1 u jajnicima ženskih potomaka bila smanjena. Kod promjena na molekularnoj razini u hipotalamusu u ranim razvojnim stadijima nije bilo razlike među spolovima, dok je kod promjena u spolnim žlijezdama povrđena razlika među spolovima. Rezultati ovog istraživanja mogli bi biti korisni kao osnovni podaci u proučavanju molekularnih mehanizama podležeće reproduktivne disfunkcije uzrokovane izloženošću PFOA-i u ranim stadijima embrionalnog razvoja

Cyclophilin A Cpr1 Protein Modulates the Response of Antioxidant Molecules to Menadione-induced Oxidative Stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae KNU5377Y

AbstractObjectivesThe cellular function of cyclophilin A (CypA) differs between organisms, even though CypA is conserved in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role of activated CypA isoform CPR1 in the antioxidative mechanisms of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under menadione (MD)-induced oxidative stress.MethodsFour S. cerevisiae strains, KNU5377Y (kwt) and BY4741 (bwt), and their isogenic cpr1Δ mutant strains (kc1 and bc1), were treated with MD, at a concentration ranging between 0.25 and 0.4 mM. Cpr1-mediated antioxidative effects were analyzed by measuring the levels of cellular glutathione (GSH) and ascorbate (AsA)-like molecules in yeast.ResultsGSH and AsA-like reductant molecule concentrations were more reduced in the presence of MD in the kc1 strain than in the kwt strain; whereas, there was no significant difference between the bwt and bc1 strains under the same conditions. In kc1 strain samples, we observed a reduction in the expression of proteins related both to GSH synthesis and the recycling system, and simultaneously, downregulation of GSH synthetase and GSH reductase activities were also evident. Oxidative stress in the kc1 strain was alleviated by the application of the GSH and AsA analog.ConclusionThese results indicate that activated Cpr1 modulates the response of antioxidant molecules involved in cellular redox homeostasis of KNU5377Y during oxidative stress induced by MD

Arithmetic properties of orders in imaginary quadratic fields

Let $K$ be an imaginary quadratic field. For an order $\mathcal{O}$ in $K$ and a positive integer $N$, let $K_{\mathcal{O},\,N}$ be the ray class field of $\mathcal{O}$ modulo $N\mathcal{O}$. We deal with various subjects related to $K_{\mathcal{O},\,N}$, mainly about Galois representations attached to elliptic curves with complex multiplication, form class groups and $L$-functions for orders