Molecular characterization, polymorphism of growth differentiation factor 5 gene and association with ultrasound measurement traits in native Chinese cattle breeds

Growth differentiation factor 5 (GDF5), involved in the development and maintenance of bone andcartilage, is a n important candidate gene for growth and carcass traits selection through markerassisted selection (MAS). Genomic structural analysis showed that bovine GDF5 shares much similarity with human GDF5. The latest findings demonstrate that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) T586C in exon 1 is significantly associated with ultrasound marbling score (UMAR) and ultrasound backfat thickness (UBF). Furthermore, the analysis of T586C SNP marker shows there are significant effects on the UBF (P = 0.0498) and on the UMAR (P = 0.0058) in 465 individuals. These results clearly suggest that the GDF5 gene is among target genes for carcass traits in bovine reproduction and breeding.Keywords: Cattle, GDF5 gene, ultrasound measurement, polymorphism, association analysisAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(33), pp. 5269-5273, 16 August, 201

Study of the Effects of Total Flavonoids of Astragalus on Atherosclerosis Formation and Potential Mechanisms

Astragalus mongholicus Bunge has long been used to treat cardiovascular disease in Chinese traditional medicine. However, its mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we explored potential mechanisms and protective effects of total flavonoids of Astragalus (TFA) on cardiovascular disease using in vitro experiments and diet-induced atherosclerotic rabbits. We identified six components and their proportion in TFA. The animal experiments showed that TFA significantly reduced plasma levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (P < 0.05 to 0.01), increased HDL cholesterol levels (P < 0.01), and reduced the aortic fatty streak area by 43.6 to 63.6% (P < 0.01). We also found that TFA scavenged superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and this effect increased with higher TFA concentration. In in vivo experiments, TFA effectively inhibited the free radical spectrum in the ischemia-reperfusion module. In conclusion, TFA was the active component of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, which benefits cardiovascular disease attributing to the potent antioxidant activity to improve the atherosclerosis profile

LncRNA Expression Profiling of Ischemic Stroke During the Transition From the Acute to Subacute Stage

Ischemic stroke induces profound effects on the peripheral immune system, which may participate the infectious complications. However, the exact function and mechanism of immune reaction in stroke development are not well-elucidated. Recently, several long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are reported to affect ischemic stroke process, especially the immunological response after stroke. In the present study, we investigated the profile of LncRNAs in human ischemic stroke during the transition from the acute to subacute stage, when the state of the peripheral immune system changes from activation to systemic immunosuppression. In this study, we analyzed the RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) datasets obtained at two time points (24 h and 7 days) from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of ischemic patients. Vascular risk factor-matched healthy adults were enrolled as controls. A total of 3,009 LncRNAs and 3,982 mRNAs were identified as differentially expressed 24 h after stroke. Furthermore, 2,034 LncRNAs and 1,641 mRNAs were detected to be differentially expressed on day 7. Bioinformatics analyses, including GO, KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, and network analysis, were performed for the identified dysregulated genes. Our study reveals that ischemic stroke can influence the expression of LncRNAs and mRNAs in the peripheral blood at both the acute and subacute stages; the level of LncRNAs in the antigen processing and presentation pathway was clearly upregulated at 24 h and had recovered to normal levels on day 7 after stroke. Moreover, inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels and GABAergic synapses were two specifically downregulated pathways on day 7 after stroke. Our findings provide a valuable resource for further study of the role of LncRNAs in peripheral immune system changes following ischemic stroke

A study of health effects of long-distance ocean voyages on seamen using a data classification approach

Background: Long-distance ocean voyages may have substantial impacts on seamen’s health, possibly causing malnutrition and other illness. Measures can possibly be taken to prevent such problems from happening through preparing special diet and making special precautions prior or during the sailing if a detailed understanding can be gained about what specific health effects such voyages may have on the seamen. Methods: We present a computational study on 200 seamen using 41 chemistry indicators measured on their blood samples collected before and after the sailing. Our computational study is done using a data classification approach with a support vector machine-based classifier in conjunction with feature selections using a recursive feature elimination procedure. Results: Our analysis results suggest that among the 41 blood chemistry measures, nine are most likely to be affected during the sailing, which provide important clues about the specific effects of ocean voyage on seamen’s health. Conclusions: The identification of the nine blood chemistry measures provides important clues about the effects of long-distance voyage on seamen’s health. These findings will prove to be useful to guide in improving the living and working environment, as well as food preparation on ships

Effects of Water Quality Adjusted by Submerged Macrophytes on the Richness of the Epiphytic Algal Community

Submerged macrophytes and epiphytic algae play significant roles in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Submerged macrophytes can influence the epiphytic algal community by directly or indirectly modifying environmental conditions (nutrients, light, etc.). From December to June of the following year, we investigated the dynamics of the dominant winter species Potamogeton crispus, its epiphytic algae, and water quality parameters in the shallow Liangzi Lake in China. The richness of epiphytic algae had a trend similar to that of P. crispus coverage, which increased in the first four months and then decreased in the following three months. The structural equation model (SEM) showed that P. crispus affected the richness of epiphytic algae by reducing nutrient concentrations (reduction in total organic carbon, total nitrogen and chemical oxygen demand) and enhancing water transparency (reduction in turbidity and total suspend solids) to enhance the richness of epiphytic algae. The results indicated that high amounts of submerged macrophyte cover can increase the richness of the epiphytic algal community by changing water quality

Functional Surface Coating on Cellulosic Flexible Substrates with Improved Water-Resistant and Antimicrobial Properties by Use of ZnO Nanoparticles

It is of significant interest to create functional flexible surfaces that simultaneously exhibit high water-resistance and antimicrobial performances for medical or packaging applications. This study reported a synthesis of functional surface coating on flexible cellulose materials (filter papers) with ZnO nanoparticles and binds of renewable soybean oil-based polymers. Self-aggregation of ZnO nanoparticles could form ZnO particles with two regular morphological patterns. Rather than a rod-like morphology, a flower-like ZnO benefited a promotion of surface hydrophobicity. Moreover, surface with the flower-like ZnO showed a 51.6% promotion on antimicrobial activities against Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli) than the rod-like ZnO. A low binder/ZnO ratio of 0.2 led to a remarkable improvement on water repelling performances without negative effects on a coating adhesion of ZnO. Under this condition, a hydrophobic surface was achieved with a large static contact angle of 138° when applying ZnO nanoparticles at a dosage of 3 g m−2

Novel characterization discoveries of ferroptosis-associated molecules in COAD microenvironment based TCGA data

Background and Objective: One of the most recent forms of programmed cell death, ferroptosis, is crucial in tumorigenesis. Ferroptosis is characterized by iron-dependent oxidative destruction of cellular membranes following the antioxidant system’s failure. However, it is unknown whether ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) are associated with colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) metastasis, immune cell infiltration, and oxidative stress in COAD. The current study concentrated on FRGs expression in colon cancer metastasis, their relationship to immune cell infiltration (ICI), and potential pathological pathways in COAD.Methods and Results: Clinical information and mRNA expression patterns for patients with COAD metastasis were obtained from the public TCGA database. Patients with low mRNA levels showed good overall survival than patients with high mRNA levels. The genomic-clinicopathologic nomogram was subsequently created by combining risk score and clinicopathological features. Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator have shown a 4 gene signature that can stratify cancer patients into high-risk versus low-risk. These four FRGs were found to be significantly linked to the overall survival of COAD patients and predicted high risk score. Next, age, stage, and PTNM were combined in univariate and multivariate cox regression models to perform a filtering procedure. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and calibration curves indicated that constructed signature model exhibited high prediction accuracy and clinical relevance in COAD. ARID3A showed a strong negative correlation with a wide range of immune tumour-infiltrating cells in COAD microenvironment. According to the single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) results, FRGs are involved in variety of pathological pathways including PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway, reactive oxygen species (ROS) pathway, response to hypoxia pathway, and other inflammation related pathways. Moreover, dysregulation of FRGs in COAD patients showed a significance correlation with wide range of miRNAs and transcription factors (TFs).Conclusion: We identified new diagnostic biomarkers and established prognostic models for ferroptosis related programmed cell death in COAD metastasis. FRGs may improve tumor cell survival by activating the TGFB pathway, which can stimulate ROS production, accelerates ECM breakdown, and promote tumor progression and invasion. Genes implicated in ferroptosis, as revealed by the Kaplan Meier and a genomic-clinicopathologic nomogram, are potential therapeutic targets and prognosis indications for metastasis COAD patients