Exploring the impact of user involvement on health and social care services for cancer in the UK.

This report presents the findings from a study of cancer network partnership groups in the UK. Cancer network partnership groups are regional organisations set up to enable joint working between people affected by cancer and health professionals, with the aim of improving cancer care

Comparative genomics and concerted evolution of β-tubulin paralogs in Leishmania spp

BACKGROUND: Tubulin isotypes and expression patterns are highly regulated in diverse organisms. The genome sequence of the protozoan parasite Leishmania major contains three distinct β-tubulin loci. To investigate the diversity of β-tubulin genes, we have compared the published genome sequence to draft genome sequences of two further species L. infantum and L. braziliensis. Untranscribed regions and coding sequences for each isoform were compared within and between species in relation to the known diversity of β-tubulin transcripts in Leishmania spp. RESULTS: All three β-tubulin loci were present in L. infantum and L. braziliensis, showing conserved synteny with the L. major sequence, hence confirming that these loci are paralogous. Flanking regions suggested that the chromosome 21 locus is an amastigote-specific isoform and more closely related (either structurally or functionally) to the chromosome 33 'array' locus than the chromosome 8 locus. A phylogenetic network of all isoforms indicated that paralogs from L. braziliensis and L. mexicana were monophyletic, rather than clustering by locus. CONCLUSION: L. braziliensis and L. mexicana sequences appeared more similar to each other than each did to its closest relative in another species; this indicates that these sequences have evolved convergently in each species, perhaps through ectopic gene conversion; a process not yet evident among the more recently derived L. major and L. infantum isoforms. The distinctive non-coding regions of each β-tubulin locus showed that it is the regulatory regions of these loci that have evolved most during the diversification of these genes in Leishmania, while the coding regions have been conserved and concerted. The various loci in Leishmania satisfy a need for innovative expression of β-tubulin, rather than elaboration of its structural role

Volume 13, Number 1, March 1993 OLAC Newsletter

Digitized March 1993 issue of the OLAC Newsletter

Volume 16, Number 2, June 1996 OLAC Newsletter

Digitized June 1996 issue of the OLAC Newsletter

Volume 16, Number 3, September 1996 OLAC Newsletter

Digitized September 1996 issue of the OLAC Newsletter

Volume 14, Number 3, March 1994 OLAC Newsletter

Digitized March 1994 issue of the OLAC Newsletter

Volume 15, Number 1, March 1995 OLAC Newsletter

Digitized March 1995 issue of the OLAC Newsletter

Volume 14, Number 3, June 1994 OLAC Newsletter

Digitized June 1994 issue of the OLAC Newsletter