Biomarkers and Genomic Medicine最新文献

Prolactin (PRL) and beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) are two important candidate genes well known to be associated with milk production traits as well as somatic cell count (SCC) among dairy cattle breeds. In the present study, the intron 3 of PRL and the spanning region between exon IV and intron IV of the BLG gene were chosen for genotyping and their association with milk production traits as well as SCC among HF crossbred cattle (i.e., Frieswal) that originated from India. We observed that the AA genotype frequency of PRL among Frieswal cows is higher than that of AB and BB. Our findings showed that cows with AA and BB genotypes had significantly (p < 0.05) higher total milk yield and peak yield than AB genotype cows. Comparing SCC with various genotypic groups, we observed that BB genotype cows had significantly (p < 0.05) lower SCC than those with AB and AA genotypes. In the case of BLG, the genotypic frequency of BB was higher than that of AB and AA. The AB and BB genotypes of BLG had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on total milk yield and peak yield compared with AA. The SCC of the AA genotype of BLG is significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that of AB and BB. This study thus indicates that AA and BB genotypes in PRL as well as AB and BB genotypes in BLG may be more suitable for better milk production; however, cows having BB genotype in PRL and AA genotype in BLG may show more resistance to mastitis than those with other genotypes among HF crossbred cattle.

We investigated the concentrations of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and α smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in the urine of a group of patients with lupus nephritis with renal fibrosis (LNF) and a group of patients with lupus nephritis without renal fibrosis (LN). Forty-five patients in the group with LNF, 13 patients in the group with LN, and 32 healthy controls took part in the study. The diagnosis of lupus nephritis was made according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria and the histopathology. A renal biopsy sample was taken from all patients with lupus to measure the chronicity index and the percentage of fibrosis. The concentrations of TGF-β1 and α-SMA were measured in urine samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The percentage of patients with a chronicity index ≥4 was higher in the group with LNF (31.0%) than in the group with LN (0%). The percentage of patients with fibrosis ≥5% was higher in the group with LNF (44.3%). The concentration of TGF-β1 was significantly lower in patients with a chronicity index <4 than in patients with a chronicity index ≥4 (p < 0.05). In addition, the concentration of TGF-β1 in urine samples was significantly higher in the group with fibrosis ≥5% than the group with fibrosis <5% (p < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the concentration of TGF-β1 in urine samples and the chronicity index (r = 0.606; p < 0.05) and the percentage of fibrosis (r = 0.602; p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the concentration of α-SMA in the urine of patients with a chronicity index <4 or those with a chronicity index ≥4 (p > 0.05) or in patients with a percentage of fibrosis ≥5% and those with fibrosis <5% (p > 0.05). In addition, there was no significant correlation between α-SMA concentrations and the chronicity index (r = 0.073; p > 0.05) or the percentage of fibrosis (r = 0.091; p > 0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value of TGF-β1 were higher than those of α-SMA. In conclusion, the concentration of TGF-β1 in urine samples was a better biomarker of renal fibrosis in patients in the group with LN than the concentration of α-SMA.

For 2 decades, lung cancer has been the most deadly of all malignant neoplasms in Taiwan. Novel strategies for the discovery and treatment of lung cancers are becoming a particularly important research topic in the field of biomedicine. Gefitinib (trade name Iressa; AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE, USA) is a biologic agent used to treat lung cancer. The clinical antitumor action of gefitinib is primarily the inhibition of the epidermal growth factor receptor. Gefitinib is indicated as a first-line therapy for lung cancer, although the occurrence of chemoresistance limits the longterm results of this drug. This study was divided into two research directions. The first part is to generate the drug-resistant cancer cell line as a platform to understand the mechanism of drug inactivation of gefitinib for lung cancer. The second part is to collect cell secretomes to find potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer by using minimally invasive assays. Therefore, the non-small-cell lung carcinoma line PC9 and gefitinib-resistant cancer cell line PC9/gef were used in this study. With the analysis of secretomics, differentially expressed extracellular secreted proteins were identified to study the desired biomarkers for molecular diagnostics and gefitinib-resistance. These cell lines provide a useful tool for the further study of the biologic properties in lung cancer in vitro.

Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is the leading cause of death after transfusion therapy. The pathogenesis of TRALI is associated with neutrophil activation in the lungs, causing endothelial damage and capillary leakage, and thus neutrophil extravasation. Heme-related molecules derived from the hemolysis of red blood cell components have been recognized as a stimulator, inducing neutrophil activation at TRALI. To investigate post-transcriptional changes of the neutrophil at TRALI, we performed heme-related molecules induced reactive oxygen species production in the neutrophil as a model. Neutrophils were isolated from heparinized peripheral blood and stimulated with heme-related molecules. After stimulation, reactive oxygen species production, degranulation, phagocytosis activity, and miRNA expression profile of neutrophil were analyzed by luminol assay, flow cytometry, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The expression of miRNA targeting NADPH oxidase and autophagy in the neutrophil activation of TRALI was explored. The expression profile of miRNAs will be a useful predictor of disease severity and for the grading of patients for transfusion.

As chemotherapy causes severe and harmful drug reactions in most of the colorectal cancer patients, predictive biomarkers for treatment efficacy are needed for these patients. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of single nucleotide polymorphisms related to genes associated with chemotherapeutic agents, 5-fluorouracil plus oxaliplatin or irinotecan, in 255 colorectal cancer patients in southern Taiwan. EGFR codon 497G>A, GSTP1 codon 105 A>G, XPD codon 751 A>C, DPD IVS14 + 1G>A, ERCC1 codon 118 C>T, and UTG1A1 3156 G>A were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and then sequenced. The prevalence of genotypes EGFR codon 497 A/A, GSTP1 codon 105 G/G, XPD codon 751 C/C, DPD IVS14 + 1 A/A, ERCC1 codon 118 T/T, and UGT1A1 3156 AA was 33.73%, 3.01%, 0.39%, 0%, 2.88%, and 1.18%, respectively. However, the correlation between the results of 5-fluorouracil plus oxaliplatin or irinotecan therapy and the frequencies of these single nucleotide polymorphisms needs further investigation.

Since 1987, cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan. However, chemotherapy resistance in metastatic cancer is the major obstacle to effectively treat cancers. To solve this problem, understanding the mechanism of metastasis is critical. In this study, we used a transwell system to select a metastatic subpopulation from the human lung cancer cell line A549. The invasive and migratory activities of this cell line were analyzed with transwell selection and wound healing assay, respectively. Moreover, migration-stimulating factors, such as SNAI-1 and mPR, were detected with Western blotting. In comparison to A549, enhanced invasiveness, motility, and migration-stimulating factor expression were observed in the invasive lung cancer cell line A549-I5. These cell lines provide a useful tool for the further study of the biologic properties of lung cancer in vitro.