Pioglitazone administration alters ovarian gene expression in aging obese lethal yellow mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are often treated with insulin-sensitizing agents, e.g. thiazolidinediones (TZD), which have been shown to reduce androgen levels and improved ovulatory function. Acting via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma, TZD alter the expression of a large variety of genes. Lethal yellow (LY; C57BL/6J Ay/a) mice, possessing a mutation (Ay) in the agouti gene locus, exhibit progressive obesity, reproductive dysfunction, and altered metabolic regulation similar to women with PCOS. The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that prolonged treatment of aging LY mice with the TZD, pioglitazone, alters the ovarian expression of genes that may impact reproduction.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Female LY mice received daily oral doses of either 0.01 mg pioglitazone (n = 4) or an equal volume of vehicle (DMSO; n = 4) for 8 weeks. At the end of treatment, ovaries were removed and DNA microarrays were used to analyze differential gene expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-seven genes showed at least a two-fold difference in ovarian expression with pioglitazone treatment. These included leptin, angiopoietin, angiopoietin-like 4, Foxa3, PGE1 receptor, resistin-like molecule-alpha (RELM), and actin-related protein 6 homolog (ARP6). For most altered genes, pioglitazone changed levels of expression to those seen in untreated C57BL/6J(a/a) non-mutant lean mice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>TZD administration may influence ovarian function via numerous diverse mechanisms that may or may not be directly related to insulin/IGF signaling.</p

Selected isotope ratio measurements of light metallic elements (Li, Mg, Ca, and Cu) by multiple collector ICP-MS

The unique capabilities of multiple collector inductively coupled mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) for high precision isotope ratio measurements in light elements as Li, Mg, Ca, and Cu are reviewed in this paper. These elements have been intensively studied at the Geological Survey of Israel (GSI) and other laboratories over the past few years, and the methods used to obtain high precision isotope analyses are discussed in detail. The scientific study of isotopic fractionation of these elements is significant for achieving a better understanding of geochemical and biochemical processes in nature and the environment

Identification of linkage disequilibrium SNPs from a Kidney-yang deficiency syndrome pedigree

In order to probe the genetic traits of Kidney-yang Deficiency Syndrome (KDS), we employed a national standard of KDS diagnosis for the collection of KDS subjects. Each candidate KDS subject from a typical family was diagnosed by 5 independent physicians of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and repeated for 3 years, all on the first Saturday of December. Fifteen samples of genomic DNA were isolated and genotyped by Affymetrix 100 K arrays of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Then appropriate tools were used for the analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD) and bioinformatic mining of LD SNPs. The results indicated that our procedure of TCM diagnosis can effectively collect KDS subjects and therefore provide substantial basis for the linkage analysis of KDS. Five SNPs (i.e. rs514207, rs1054020, rs7685923, rs10515889 and rs10516202) were identified as LD SNPs from this KDS family, representing an unprecedented set of LD SNPs derived from TCM syndrome. These SNPs demonstrate midrange linkage disequilibrium within the KDS family. Two genes with established functions were identified within 100 bp of these SNPs. One is Homo sapiens double cortin domain containing 5, which interacts selectively with mono-, di- or tri-saccharide carbohydrate and involves certain signaling cascades. Another one, leucyl-tRNA synthetase, is also a pleiotropic gene response to cysteinyl-tRNA aminoacylation and protein biosynthesis. In conclusion, KDS is involved in special SNP linkage disequilibrium in the intragenic level, and genes within the flanks of these SNPs suggest some essential symptoms of KDS. However, definitive evidence to confirm or exclude these loci and to establish their biological activities will be required. © 2009 World Scientific Publishing Company.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

MagicViewer: integrated solution for next-generation sequencing data visualization and genetic variation detection and annotation.

New sequencing technologies, such as Roche 454, ABI SOLiD and Illumina, have been increasingly developed at an astounding pace with the advantages of high throughput, reduced time and cost. To satisfy the impending need for deciphering the large-scale data generated from next-generation sequencing, an integrated software MagicViewer is developed to easily visualize short read mapping, identify and annotate genetic variation based on the reference genome. MagicViewer provides a user-friendly environment in which large-scale short reads can be displayed in a zoomable interface under user-defined color scheme through an operating system-independent manner. Meanwhile, it also holds a versatile computational pipeline for genetic variation detection, filtration, annotation and visualization, providing details of search option, functional classification, subset selection, sequence association and primer design. In conclusion, MagicViewer is a sophisticated assembly visualization and genetic variation annotation tool for next-generation sequencing data, which can be widely used in a variety of sequencing-based researches, including genome re-sequencing and transcriptome studies. MagicViewer is freely available at http://bioinformatics.zj.cn/magicviewer/

A novel spermatogenesis-specific uPAR gene expressed in human and mouse testis

The urokinase receptor, uPAR, which binds to the Urinary-type plasminogen activator, controls matrix degradation in the processes of tissue remodeling, cell migration, and invasion. In the present study, we found a new urokinase receptor gene that encodes a 249-amino acid putative protein. Northern blot analysis showed specific expression in the testis of this gene, which we named the spermatogenesis-related gene (SGRG). In situ hybridization revealed a strong expression signal for SGRG in spermatogonia, but not in spermatocytes. Therefore, we conjecture that SGRG may regulate spermatocyte migration through breakdown of extracellular matrix protein barriers in spermatogenesis. Since SGRG is specifically expressed in spermatogonia, it provides an attractive candidate for development of it contraceptive vaccine. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved