Associations between the orexin (hypocretin) receptor 2 gene polymorphism Val308Ile and nicotine dependence in genome-wide and subsequent association studies

Impact of the HCRTR2 gene risk variant on schizotypal personality traits (mean ± SD). (DOC 54 kb

Multi-tissue integrative analysis of personal epigenomes

Evaluating the impact of genetic variants on transcriptional regulation is a central goal in biological science that has been constrained by reliance on a single reference genome. To address this, we constructed phased, diploid genomes for four cadaveric donors (using long-read sequencing) and systematically charted noncoding regulatory elements and transcriptional activity across more than 25 tissues from these donors. Integrative analysis revealed over a million variants with allele-specific activity, coordinated, locus-scale allelic imbalances, and structural variants impacting proximal chromatin structure. We relate the personal genome analysis to the ENCODE encyclopedia, annotating allele- and tissue-specific elements that are strongly enriched for variants impacting expression and disease phenotypes. These experimental and statistical approaches, and the corresponding EN-TEx resource, provide a framework for personalized functional genomics

Decreased CXCL14 expression in psoriasis recovered by narrow‐band ultraviolet B therapy

Abstract Background CXCL14 is a member of CXC chemokine family, constitutively expressed in various normal tissues unlike many other chemokines. Other than the capacity to recruit natural killer cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells, CXCL14 suppresses CXCL12‐CXCR4 interactions by inducing CXCR4 internalization. Thus, CXCL14 can both promote and hinder immune responses. Psoriasis is a chronic skin inflammatory disorder in which various chemokines play an important role. Methods To investigate possible roles of CXCL14 in psoriasis, we examined CXCL14 expression in lesional skin by immunohistochemistry and measured serum CXCL14 levels in psoriasis. We also assessed the effect of ultraviolet irradiation, one of the main therapies for psoriasis, on CXCL14 expression by HaCaT cells. Results CXCL14 expression was decreased in epidermal keratinocytes in lesional skin and serum CXCL14 levels were negatively correlated with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index scores in psoriasis patients. Serum CXCL14 levels were increased in nbUVB‐treated psoriasis patients and UVB irradiation induced CXCL14 mRNA expression from HaCaT cells. Conclusion Our results suggest that decreased CXCL14 expression may contribute to the exacerbation of psoriasis and that the amplification of CXCL14 can be a therapeutic option for psoriasis. One of the mechanisms of the efficacy of nbUVB therapy in psoriasis may be the upregulation of CXCL14

Structure-changeable luminescent Eu(III) complex as a human cancer grade probing system for brain tumor diagnosis

Abstract Accurate determination of human tumor malignancy is important for choosing efficient and safe therapies. Bioimaging technologies based on luminescent molecules are widely used to localize and distinguish active tumor cells. Here, we report a human cancer grade probing system (GPS) using a water-soluble and structure-changeable Eu(III) complex for the continuous detection of early human brain tumors of different malignancy grades. Time-dependent emission spectra of the Eu(III) complexes in various types of tumor cells were recorded. The radiative rate constants (k r), which depend on the geometry of the Eu(III) complex, were calculated from the emission spectra. The tendency of the k r values to vary depended on the tumor cells at different malignancy grades. Between T = 0 and T = 3 h of invasion, the k r values exhibited an increase of 4% in NHA/TS (benign grade II gliomas), 7% in NHA/TSR (malignant grade III gliomas), and 27% in NHA/TSRA (malignant grade IV gliomas). Tumor cells with high-grade malignancy exhibited a rapid upward trend in k r values. The cancer GPS employs Eu(III) emissions to provide a new diagnostic method for determining human brain tumor malignancy