Over-expression of AtPAP2 in Camelina sativa leads to faster plant growth and higher seed yield

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lipids extracted from seeds of <it>Camelina sativa </it>have been successfully used as a reliable source of aviation biofuels. This biofuel is environmentally friendly because the drought resistance, frost tolerance and low fertilizer requirement of <it>Camelina sativa </it>allow it to grow on marginal lands. Improving the species growth and seed yield by genetic engineering is therefore a target for the biofuels industry. In <it>Arabidopsis</it>, overexpression of purple acid phosphatase 2 encoded by <it>Arabidopsis </it>(<it>AtPAP2</it>) promotes plant growth by modulating carbon metabolism. Overexpression lines bolt earlier and produce 50% more seeds per plant than wild type. In this study, we explored the effects of overexpressing AtPAP2 in <it>Camelina sativa</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Under controlled environmental conditions, overexpression of AtPAP2 in <it>Camelina sativa </it>resulted in longer hypocotyls, earlier flowering, faster growth rate, higher photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance, increased seed yield and seed size in comparison with the wild-type line and null-lines. Similar to transgenic <it>Arabidopsis</it>, activity of sucrose phosphate synthase in leaves of transgenic <it>Camelina </it>was also significantly up-regulated. Sucrose produced in photosynthetic tissues supplies the building blocks for cellulose, starch and lipids for growth and fuel for anabolic metabolism. Changes in carbon flow and sink/source activities in transgenic lines may affect floral, architectural, and reproductive traits of plants.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Lipids extracted from the seeds of <it>Camelina sativa </it>have been used as a major constituent of aviation biofuels. The improved growth rate and seed yield of transgenic <it>Camelina </it>under controlled environmental conditions have the potential to boost oil yield on an area basis in field conditions and thus make <it>Camelina</it>-based biofuels more environmentally friendly and economically attractive.</p

Chemotherapy of tuberculosis in Hong Kong: a consensus statement

This consensus statement is prepared primarily as a concise reference for tuberculosis chemotherapy in Hong Kong. Treatment should be tailored to patients individually, expert advice should be sought when necessary, and 'directly observed treatment' should be used where possible. A 6-month regimen is recommended as the initial treatment of uncomplicated pulmonary tuberculosis and a 9-month regimen is recommended for retreatment. Patients with disease that is resistant to isoniazid or rifampicin may require modified regimens. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis should be managed in specialised centres, using multiple drugs as guided by in vitro susceptibility tests. Recommended regimens to treat extrapulmonary tuberculosis are based on limited current evidence, although shorter regimens may be acceptable when better evidence emerges. A longer duration of treatment is required for diabetic, immuno-compromised, or silicotic patients. During pregnancy, streptomycin should be avoided; the safety profiles of second-line drugs have not yet been ascertained. Hepatotoxic drugs should be used with caution in patients with liver dysfunction, and extra caution and dosage reductions are required if streptomycin and ethambutol are used in patients with renal impairment.published_or_final_versio

Associations of maternal retinal vasculature with subsequent fetal growth and birth size

10.1371/journal.pone.0118250PLoS ONE104e0118250GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

Patterns of lung cancer mortality in 23 countries: Application of the Age-Period-Cohort model

BACKGROUND: Smoking habits do not seem to be the main explanation of the epidemiological characteristics of female lung cancer mortality in Asian countries. However, Asian countries are often excluded from studies of geographical differences in trends for lung cancer mortality. We thus examined lung cancer trends from 1971 to 1995 among men and women for 23 countries, including four in Asia. METHODS: International and national data were used to analyze lung cancer mortality from 1971 to 1995 in both sexes. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) were analyzed in five consecutive five-year periods and for each five-year age group in the age range 30 to 79. The age-period-cohort (APC) model was used to estimate the period effect (adjusted for age and cohort effects) for mortality from lung cancer. RESULTS: The sex ratio of the ASMR for lung cancer was lower in Asian countries, while the sex ratio of smoking prevalence was higher in Asian countries. The mean values of the sex ratio of the ASMR from lung cancer in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan for the five 5-year period were 2.10, 2.39, 3.07, and 3.55, respectively. These values not only remained quite constant over each five-year period, but were also lower than seen in the western countries. The period effect, for lung cancer mortality as derived for the 23 countries from the APC model, could be classified into seven patterns. CONCLUSION: Period effects for both men and women in 23 countries, as derived using the APC model, could be classified into seven patterns. Four Asian countries have a relatively low sex ratio in lung cancer mortality and a relatively high sex ratio in smoking prevalence. Factors other than smoking might be important, especially for women in Asian countries

Management of Hepatic Angiomyolipoma

Preoperative diagnosis of hepatic angiomyolipoma is difficult, and the treatment for it remains controversial. The aim of this study is to review our experience in the treatment of hepatic angiomyolipoma and to propose a treatment strategy for this disease. We retrospectively collected the clinical, imaging, and pathological features of patients with hepatic angiomyolipoma. Immunohistochemical studies with antibodies for HMB-45, actin, S-100, cytokeratin, vimentin, and c-kit were performed. Treatment experience and long-term follow-up results are summarized. During a period of 9 years, 10 patients with hepatic angiomyolipoma were treated at our hospital. There was marked female predominance (nine patients). Nine patients received surgical resection without complications. One patient received nonoperative management with biopsy and follow-up. One patient died 11 months after surgery because of recurrent disease. We propose all symptomatic patients should receive surgical resection for hepatic angiomyolipoma. Conservative management with close follow-up is suggested in patients with asymptomatic tumors and meet the following criteria: (1) tumor size smaller than 5 cm, (2) angiomyolipoma proved through fine needle aspiration biopsy, (3) patients with good compliance, and (4) not a hepatitis virus carrier

Clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment outcomes of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach, a rare but unique subtype of gastric cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gastric hepatoid adenocarcinoma (HAC) is a special type of gastric cancer that morphologically mimics hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, we performed an evaluation of clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment outcome, and prognosis in patients with gastric HAC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We consecutively enrolled patients with pathologically proven gastric HAC at Seoul National University Hospital between January 1996 and December 2008 and conducted a retrospective review. Among 15,253 patients with gastric cancer, 26 patients (0.17%) were diagnosed as gastric HAC.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 26 patients, 22 were male and the median age was 63. Stage at diagnosis was stage IB in 3 patients, stage II in 6 patients, stage III in 7 patients, and stage IV in 10 patients. Eight patients out of 18 patients with stage IB, II, III, and IV relapsed after curative surgery. Relapse-free survival for these patients was 16.67 months. The most common metastatic site was intraabdominal lymph nodes (n = 9), followed by the liver (n = 8). Thirteen patients received palliative chemotherapy. The most commonly used regimen was a combination of fluoropyrimidine and platinum. Partial response was observed in one patient and stable disease in 5 patients. Median overall survival and progression free survival of these patients were 8.03 (95% CI: 6.59-9.47) and 3.47 months (95% CI: 0.65-6.29), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Gastric HAC is a very rare but unique type of stomach cancer. Early detection of this type of cancer is of critical importance to patient prognosis. Additional studies to reveal the biology of this tumor are warranted.</p

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Induces Autophagy via Reactive Oxygen Species Generation

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process that maintains cellular homeostasis under stress conditions such as starvation and pathogen infection. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a multifunctional cytokine that plays important roles in inflammation and tumorigenesis. Cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α that are induced by MIF have been shown to be involved in the induction of autophagy. However, the actual role of MIF in autophagy remains unclear. Here, we have demonstrated that incubation of human hepatoma cell line HuH-7 cells with recombinant MIF (rMIF) induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and autophagy formation, including LC3-II expression, LC3 punctae formation, autophagic flux, and mitochondria membrane potential loss. The autophagy induced by rMIF was inhibited in the presence of MIF inhibitor, ISO-1 as well as ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). In addition, serum starvation-induced MIF release and autophagy of HuH-7 cells were partly blocked in the presence of NAC. Moreover, diminished MIF expression by shRNA transfection or inhibition of MIF by ISO-1 decreased serum starvation-induced autophagy of HuH-7 cells. Taken together, these data suggest that cell autophagy was induced by MIF under stress conditions such as inflammation and starvation through ROS generation

Small Interfering RNA Targeting M2 Gene Induces Effective and Long Term Inhibition of Influenza A Virus Replication

RNA interference (RNAi) provides a powerful new means to inhibit viral infection specifically. However, the selection of siRNA-resistant viruses is a major concern in the use of RNAi as antiviral therapeutics. In this study, we conducted a lentiviral vector with a H1-short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression cassette to deliver small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) into mammalian cells. Using this vector that also expresses enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) as surrogate marker, stable shRNA-expressing cell lines were successfully established and the inhibition efficiencies of rationally designed siRNAs targeting to conserved regions of influenza A virus genome were assessed. The results showed that a siRNA targeting influenza M2 gene (siM2) potently inhibited viral replication. The siM2 was not only effective for H1N1 virus but also for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1. In addition to its M2 inhibition, the siM2 also inhibited NP mRNA accumulation and protein expression. A long term inhibition effect of the siM2 was demonstrated and the emergence of siRNA-resistant mutants in influenza quasispecies was not observed. Taken together, our study suggested that M2 gene might be an optimal RNAi target for antiviral therapy. These findings provide useful information for the development of RNAi-based prophylaxis and therapy for human influenza virus infection

Significance of Aurora B overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma. Aurora B Overexpression in HCC

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the significance of Aurora B expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The <it>Aurora B </it>and <it>Aurora A </it>mRNA level was measured in 160 HCCs and the paired nontumorous liver tissues by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Mutations of the <it>p53 </it>and <it>β-catenin </it>genes were analyzed in 134 and 150 tumors, respectively, by direct sequencing of exon 2 to exon 11 of <it>p53 </it>and exon 3 of <it>β-catenin</it>. Anticancer effects of AZD1152-HQPA, an Aurora B kinase selective inhibitor, were examined in Huh-7 and Hep3B cell lines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Aurora B </it>was overexpressed in 98 (61%) of 160 HCCs and in all 7 HCC cell lines examined. The overexpression of <it>Aurora B </it>was associated with <it>Aurora A </it>overexpression (<it>P </it>= 0.0003) and <it>p53 </it>mutation (<it>P </it>= 0.002) and was inversely associated with <it>β</it>-<it>catenin </it>mutation (<it>P </it>= 0.002). <it>Aurora B </it>overexpression correlated with worse clinicopathologic characteristics. Multivariate analysis confirmed that <it>Aurora B </it>overexpression was an independent poor prognostic factor, despite its interaction with Aurora A overexpression and mutations of <it>p53 </it>and <it>β</it>-<it>catenin</it>. In Huh-7 and Hep3B cells, AZD1152-HQPA induced proliferation blockade, histone H3 (Ser10) dephosphorylation, cell cycle disturbance, and apoptosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>Aurora B </it>overexpression is an independent molecular marker predicting tumor invasiveness and poor prognosis of HCC. Aurora B kinase selective inhibitors are potential therapeutic agents for HCC treatment.</p