Regulation of the CNC and small MAF transcription factors in placental and myometrial cells

Members of the MAF (proto-) oncogene and CNC families of basic leucine zipper transcription factors (bZIP) play important roles in development, differentiation, mammalian gene expression and stress signalling. We analyzed the regulation of the human small MAF transcription factor family members, MAFF, MAFG and MAFK, as well as two CNC family members, NRF2 and NRF3, in human reproductive tissue. We found that MAFF expression was induced by the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin 1 beta (IL1B) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in PHM1-31 myometrial cells. It was particularly interesting that the proinflammatory cytokine Interleukin 6 not affect the expression of MAFF. Additionally, the transcript and protein levels of the highly homologous MAFG and MAFK genes were not modulated by these cytokines. Using electromobility shift assays (EMSA)s we showed that MAFF is capable of heterodimerzing with NRF3, and since they are both highly expressed in the placenta we investigated their role in more detail in this tissue. We found that MAFF and NRF3 are expressed in the anchoring villi from 12 weeks to term. Furthermore, we demonstrated that MAFF and NRF3 are highly expressed in primary placental cytotrophoblasts, but not in placental fibroblasts. This led us to examine whether NRF3 is also regulated by proinflammatory cytokines and we showed that NRF3, is also modulated by TNF in the human JAR placental cell line.Parallel studies investigated the role NRF2 plays in the antioxidant response of placental cells due to exposure to arsenic. We provided evidence for the involvement of NRF2 by confirming the increase in binding of endogenous NRF2/small MAF heterodimers to Stress Response Element (StRE), and the upregulation of heme oxygenase-1 (HOI) expression, upon exposure of JAR cells to arsenic. Our results suggest a role for MAFF, NRF3 and NRF2 in proinflammatory cytokine control of myometrial and placental gene expression as well as arsenic mediated stress in placental cells

Intricate Correlation between Body Posture, Personality Trait and Incidence of Body Pain: A Cross-Referential Study Report

OBJECTIVE: Occupational back pain is a disorder that commonly affects the working population, resulting in disability, health-care utilization, and a heavy socioeconomic burden. Although the etiology of occupational pain remains largely unsolved, anecdotal evidence exists for the contribution of personality and posture to long-term pain management, pointing to a direct contribution of the mind-body axis. In the current study, we have conducted an extensive evaluation into the relationships between posture and personality. METHOD: We have sampled a random population of 100 subjects (50 men and 50 women) in the age range of 13-82 years based on their personality and biomechanical profiles. All subjects were French-Canadian, living in Canada between the Québec and Sorel-Tracy areas. The Biotonix analyses and report were used on the subjects being tested in order to distinguish postural deviations. Personality was determined by using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire. RESULTS: We establish a correlation between ideal and kyphosis-lordosis postures and extraverted personalities. Conversely, our studies establish a correlative relationship between flat back and sway-back postures with introverted personalities. CONCLUSION: Overall, our studies establish a novel correlative relationship between personality, posture and pain

Graph of Adaptable Extraverts and Decisive Introverts.

<p>Further analysis indicated that there is a relationship between posture and the Adaptable Extraverts: ESTP, ESFP, ENFP, ENTP (E_ _P) as well as the Decisive Introverts: ISTJ, ISFJ, INFJ, INTJ (I_ _J) (<i>Extraversion-Introversion (E-I), Sensing-Intuition (S-N), Thinking-Feeling (T-F), and Judging- Perceiving (J-P) </i><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0037450#pone.0037450-BriggsMyers1" target="_blank">[<i>16</i>]</a><i>. Sensing-Intuition (S-N) and Thinking-Feeling (T-F) describe mental functions and reflect basic preferences for use of perception and judgment, whereas Extraversion-Introversion (E-I) and Judging- Perceiving (J-P) reflect attitudes or orientations</i>).</p

Distribution of the 16 different personality types, based on the MBTI Manual, and the observed number of subjects from each posture group (A, B, C, or D) that falls under each personality type.

<p>Posture A – Ideal; Posture B – Kyphosis-Lordosis; Posture C – Flat Back; Posture D – Sway-back.</p

Distribution of age and weight classification of the study group.

<p>The graphs depict a non-biased age (<i>A</i>) and weight distribution (<i>B</i>) for the subjects evaluated for the study.</p

The average score of preference for each of the one hundred subjects tested.

<p>It is the score for each of the eight possible preferences and the posture category the subjects are classified into.</p

Subjects with ideal posture (A) reported the least amount of pain in the lumbar region.

<p>Subjects were asked to rate pain in the cervical, lumbar and thoracic regions on a scale of 0–10, with 10 signifying the most painful condition. There was no significant correlation between cervical and thoracic pain with posture. All other subjects, except for those in ideal posture, experienced more pain in all the observed areas. (<i>A, Ideal posture; B, Kyphosis-lordosis posture; C, Flat back posture; D, Sway-back posture</i>).</p

Correlation of personality types and the four different posture types.

<p>In ideal posture (A), there were 96% of Extraverted subjects, kyphosis-lordosis posture (B) had 83% of Extraverted preference, flat back posture (C) had 42% and sway-back posture (D) had 26% (<i>A</i>). Percentage of Sensing and Intuitive Preferences did not differ by posture category (<i>B</i>). There was no significant relationship between Thinking (T) and Feeling (F) preferences, and posture (<i>C</i>). However, Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) preferences significantly varied with the posture types (<i>D</i>).</p

Relative position of subject and digital camera for the Biotonix platform evaluation.

<p>Four images were obtained per subject as shown; two lateral views, 1 anterior and one posterior using a digital camera on a tripod at a distance of 9 feet from a calibrated backdrop.</p

Functional and Placental Expression Analysis of the Human NRF3 Transcription Factor

International audienceMembers of the Maf protooncogene and cap'n' collar families of basic-leucine zipper transcription factors play important roles in development, differentiation , oncogenesis, and stress signaling. In this study, we performed an in vivo protein-protein interaction screen to search for novel partners of the small Maf proteins. Using full-length human MAFG protein as bait, we identified the human basic-leucine zipper protein NRF3 [NF-E2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2)-related factor 3] as an interaction partner. Transfection studies confirmed that NRF3 is able to dimerize with MAFG. The resulting NRF3/ MAFG heterodimer recognizes nuclear factor-erythroid 2/Maf recognition element-type DNA-binding motifs. Functional analysis revealed the presence of a strong transcriptional activation domain in the center region of the NRF3 protein. We found that NRF3 transcripts are present in placen-tal chorionic villi from at least week 12 of gestation on through term. In particular, NRF3 is highly expressed in primary placental cytotrophoblasts, but not in placental fibroblasts. The human choriocar-cinoma cell lines BeWo and JAR, derived from tro-phoblastic tumors of the placenta, also strongly express NRF3 transcripts. We generated a NRF3-specific antiserum and identified NRF3 protein in placental choriocarcinoma cells. Furthermore, we showed that NRF3 transcript and protein levels are induced by TNF-in JAR cells. Our functional studies suggest that human NRF3 is a potent transcrip-tional activator. Finally, our expression and induction analyses hint at a possible role of Nrf3 in placental gene expression and development. (Mo-lecular Endocrinology 19: 125-137, 2005