Epigenetic Regulation of Cell Type–Specific Expression Patterns in the Human Mammary Epithelium

Differentiation is an epigenetic program that involves the gradual loss of pluripotency and acquisition of cell type–specific features. Understanding these processes requires genome-wide analysis of epigenetic and gene expression profiles, which have been challenging in primary tissue samples due to limited numbers of cells available. Here we describe the application of high-throughput sequencing technology for profiling histone and DNA methylation, as well as gene expression patterns of normal human mammary progenitor-enriched and luminal lineage-committed cells. We observed significant differences in histone H3 lysine 27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3) enrichment and DNA methylation of genes expressed in a cell type–specific manner, suggesting their regulation by epigenetic mechanisms and a dynamic interplay between the two processes that together define developmental potential. The technologies we developed and the epigenetically regulated genes we identified will accelerate the characterization of primary cell epigenomes and the dissection of human mammary epithelial lineage-commitment and luminal differentiation

Assessing the performance of the pilot national parks in China

The continuous decline of global biodiversity highlights the need for the expansion and improved performance of protected areas (PAs) to achieve the Post-2020 Biodiversity Targets and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. China proposed the establishment of a national park (NP) system and carried out transformative explorations in 10 pilot NPs, however, it is unclear to what extent the pilot NPs represent China’s biodiversity and resolve management issues. To answer this question, we assessed the performance of the pilot NPs by analyzing the representativeness across typical ecosystems, biodiversity priority areas, and ecosystem services, and by analyzing the management effectiveness of reorganizing the existing PAs and improving the management intensity and man-land relationships. We found that China’s pilot NPs achieved improved representativeness and management effectiveness through range expansion and optimization, institution streamlining, and cohesive management. Compared with the existing PAs, the area of protected typical ecosystems, biodiversity priority areas, and key areas of ecosystem services in the 10 pilot NPs increased by 59.6%, 59.6%, and 54.1% on average, respectively, with a similar land cost overall. The 10 pilot NPs integrated 142 existing PAs of seven categories. The protected areas expanded by 19.4%, and the area under strict protection increased by 42.1%. Additionally, the pilot NPs effectively reduced human disturbance and improved management effectiveness through necessary relocation and enhanced land management. Moving forward, the boundaries and zoning of the NPs should be further optimized, and efforts should be directed to strengthen the governing capacity building, improve the legislation system, increase the financing investment, and promote the value realization of ecological products

Soil respiration of four forests along elevation gradient in northern subtropical China

Background and aims Soil respiration is the second-largest terrestrial carbon (C) flux, and soil temperature and soil moisture are the main drivers of temporal variation in soil respiration and its components. Here, we quantified the contribution of soil temperature, soil moisture, and their intersection on the variation in soil respiration and its components of the evergreen broad-leaved forests (EBF), mixed evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forests (MF), deciduous broad-leaved forests (DBF), and subalpine coniferous forests (CF) along an elevation gradient. Methods We measured soil respiration of four types of forests along the elevation gradient in Shennongjia, Hubei China based on the trenching experiments. We parameterized the relationships between soil respiration and soil temperature, soil moisture, and quantified the intersection of temperature and moisture on soil respiration and its components. Results Total soil respiration (R-S), heterotrophic respiration (R-H), and autotrophic respiration (R-A) were significantly correlated with soil temperature in all four forests. The Q(10) value of soil respiration significantly differed among the four types of forest, and the Q(10) was 3.06 for EBF, 3.75 for MF, 4.05 for DBF, and 4.49 for CF, respectively. The soil temperature explained 62%-81% of the variation in respiration, while soil temperature and soil moisture together explained 91%-97% of soil respiration variation for the four types of forests. The variation from the intersection of soil temperature and moisture were 12.1%-25.0% in R-S, 1.0%-7.0% in R-H,R- and 17.1%-19.6% in R-A,R- respectively. Conclusions Our results show that the temperature sensitivity (Q(10)) of soil respiration increased with elevation. The intersection between soil temperature and soil moisture had strong effects on soil respiration, especially in R-H. We demonstrated that the intersection effects between soil temperature and soil moisture on soil respiration were essential to understand the response of soil respiration and its components to climate change

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses of mRNA expression in human corneal endothelial cells at various ages

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Expression of senescence-related genes in human corneal endothelial cells"</p><p></p><p>Molecular Vision 2008;14():161-170.</p><p>Published online 29 Jan 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2254959.</p><p></p> Total RNA was isolated from HCECs of each group, and the first-strand cDNA were aynthesized from equal amounts of total RNA. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to analyze mRNA expression. shows the expression of from the eight age groups normalized to mRNA. demonstrates fold change in expression relative to the calibrator of the 20-year-old group. is the comparison of the average level of mRNA expressed in HCECs between the young (≤ 30 years) and old (≥ 50 years). Data are presented as mean±standard deviation, and a

Immunohistochemical staining of and Representative fresh-frozen sections of human corneas from donors at various ages (: p16, 18 years; : p21, 33 years; : p27, 54 years; : p53, 18 years; : control, 68 years) are shown

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Expression of senescence-related genes in human corneal endothelial cells"</p><p></p><p>Molecular Vision 2008;14():161-170.</p><p>Published online 29 Jan 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2254959.</p><p></p> Positive staining for all four senescence-related genes are clearly visible in the endothelial nuclei. Magnification; 400×