Biomarkers and Genomic Medicine最新文献

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is important for placental development. This study aims to determine whether the increased level and expression of HIF could be used to demonstrate failed placentation in women with preeclampsia. The study included 20 pregnant females [10 with and 10 without preeclampsia (the control group)]. Placental tissues were collected and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Immunohistochemical studies for evaluating the expression of HIF-1α by these tissues were then performed. The results demonstrated that placental tissues collected from mothers with preeclampsia showed a variety of histomorphological changes. All the cytotrophoblasts rimming the placental villi in mothers with preeclampsia demonstrated a strong and uniform nuclear staining with HIF-1α. The study results indicated that cytotrophoblasts respond to an ischemic environment by their nuclear expression of HIF-1α, and thus we conclude that this transcription factor has a significant potential as a marker for preeclampsia.

This study aims to investigate whether the protein isolated from bladder cancer in an Indonesian population can produce the polyclonal antibody for clinical markers of bladder cancer. The participants in this study are bladder cancer patients and healthy persons who were approved for midstream portion urine collection. The inclusion criteria included bladder cancer patients who obtained hematuria examination, urine cytology, and initial therapy with transurethral resection of the bladder; a healthy volunteer who was approved for midstream portion urine collection but without hematuria history, bladder stones, and signs or symptoms of tractus urinarius infection. The procedure consisted of tissue preparation, tissue processing, isolation of membrane cell protein, monitoring of protein in membrane cell, production of polyclonal antibodies, and dot blot technique. A protein with 122 kDa molecular weight is present in epithelial cells of bladder cancer and the normal bladder. A protein with 69 kDa molecular weight is only present in the epithelial cell bladder of normal individuals. In addition, a protein with molecular weight of 47 kDa is only present in epithelial cells of bladder cancer. The minimal ratio of polyclonal antibody with antigen is 1:6400 of the antibody and 1:40 of antigen. Subsequently, this concentration was applied to detect proteins with 47 kDa only in several cancer tissues. Positive results in bladder cancer, but negative results in prostate cancer, rectal cancer, and breast cancer were found. The polyclonal antibody produced from 47 kDa protein subunit is sensitive and specific to detect bladder cancer and become an alternative biomarker for diagnosis and surveillance of bladder cancer.

This study aimed to elucidate whether subchronic inhalation of particulate matter (PM10) coal dust induces atherosclerosis in diabetic rats. A total of 32 male Wistar rats, were randomly divided into eight groups including four nondiabetic groups and four groups of diabetic rats. These rats were exposed to doses of coal dust equal to 0 mg/m³, 6.25 mg/m³, 12.5 mg/m³, or 25 mg/m³ for 1 hour/day for 28 days. Plasma levels of lipid peroxides were determined as thiobarbituric acid reactive substance. The levels of circulating endothelial cells were analyzed histologically. Foam cells formation was analyzed in aorta and tail artery with Oil Red O staining. Analysis of variance test was used to compare all parameters. Nondiabetic rats exposed to coal dust had significantly increased oxidative stress compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Diabetic rats exposed to coal dust at dose of 25 mg/m³ had significantly increased oxidative stress compared to that of control diabetic rats (p < 0.05). The levels of endothelial damage were significantly increased in diabetic rats exposed to coal dust at doses of 6.25 mg/m³ and 12.5 mg/m³ (p < 0.05) compared to control diabetic rats. The foam cell counts were significantly increased in the aorta of nondiabetic rats exposed to coal dust at doses of 6.25 mg/m³ and 25 mg/m³ compared to control rats (p < 0.05), also in the tail artery at dose of 25 mg/m³. The foam cell counts were significantly increased in the aorta of diabetic rats exposed to coal dust at doses of 6.25 mg/m³ and 12.5 mg/m³ than that in control diabetic rats (p < 0.05). Subchronic inhalation of PM10 coal dust induces atherosclerosis through oxidative stress and endothelial damage in aorta of nondiabetic and diabetic rats.

Postoperative vomiting (POV) is a common complication after general anesthesia. Clarifying the genetic factors that affect POV are important for evaluating a patient's susceptibility to the condition. Although evidence suggests that the 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 3A (HTR3A) gene may be important in the occurrence of POV, associations for HTR3A polymorphisms with POV have not been investigated in a Taiwanese population. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the HTR3A gene were used to study the genetic association with POV in 369 postoperative Taiwanese adults who underwent general anesthesia. Although no significant differences were found at the single-locus level for HTR3A polymorphisms, a significant haplotype-based association was found between HTR3A and POV. In addition, because female sex is associated with a higher risk of PONV (postoperative nausea and vomiting), we separately analyzed the haplotypic associations for both sexes to test whether HTR3A genetic factors interact with female sex and specifically contribute to the etiology of POV. We found that a significant haplotype effect was identified only for females. The CTT haplotype, the most common, showed a significant protective effect (odds ratio: 0.68), and the CTG haplotype was associated with a significantly higher risk (odds ratio: 2.08) for POV in females. Furthermore, p values from an overall comparison of all haplotypes and from permutation tests were still significant. These data suggest that the HTR3A gene may have a sex-specific effect on the etiology of POV in Taiwan. The effects and the biological causal variants related to POV are worth additional investigation.

In this study, detection and characterization of class 1 integron-associated gene cassettes from Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates in southern Taiwan were investigated. The study focused on the association between integron-associated resistance gene cassettes and multidrug resistance in P. aeruginosa isolates. Using polymerase chain reaction amplification, DNA sequencing, and basic local alignment search tool analysis, a total of 22 different types of gene cassette arrays were detected in 162 class 1 integron-positive P. aeruginosa isolates. We first identified 11 different types of new gene cassette arrays within class 1 integron in P. aeruginosa isolates, including aac(6′)-II-catB2-aadA2, aac(6′)-II-aadA2, aac(6′)-II-catB2, aacA4-aadA15, aacC1-orfA-orfB-aadA1, cm1A-aadA1, catB3-bla_OxA-10-aadA15, aacA4-catB8-aadA1, aadB-orfF1-aadA11, dfrB1, and dfrB4a-aacA4-aacA4-aadA1. Of these, aac(6′)-II-catB2-aadA2 was the most frequently found gene cassette. Twenty-one (21/162, 12.9%) strains carrying two different types of gene cassette arrays of catB3-bla_OxA-10-aadA15 and aac(6′)-II-catB2-aadA2 were also simultaneously present in the P. aeruginosa isolates. A novel dfrB4a gene, different from the dfrB4 gene detected in the gene cassette array of dfrB4a-aacA4-aacA4-aadA, was characterized. A metallo-β-lactamaseo gene was also found to be carried on the gene cassette of bla_VIM-3-orf2a-aacA4-aadB-aacA4 inserted in a class 1 integron obtained from meropenem-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates.

India is one the world's five largest producers of livestock and poultry meat. The livestock sector contributes 28% of the country's agriculture gross domestic product and about 5% of the country's overall gross domestic product. Genetic improvement of livestock has been mainly dependent on the selective breeding with superior phenotypes. The use of molecular genetics techniques in association with conventional animal breeding tools are important to balance the process of selection and thus to optimize the animal breeding program. In this regard, the use of molecular markers is significantly important and it certainly has added advantages over conventional breeding techniques. On the basis of techniques used for the detection of molecular markers, two major categories have been identified: hybridization-based and polymerase chain reaction-based markers. Identification and use of markers for milk quality and production traits, disease resistance, and thermo-tolerance will ensure better health and productivity. Also, markers for fertility and carcass quality traits ensure faster and preferred growth in cattle. Apart from these, the use of different markers such as microsatellites for assessment of biodiversity will help the conservation of our indigenous germplasm. The present review deals with molecular markers and their application in versatile aspects that will prove beneficial for researchers and scientists to undertake further research to improve cattle health and production.

Aortoenteric fistulas (AEFs) are a rare but fatal cause of massive, life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding and require emergent intervention. The clinical signs of AEF are nonspecific and non-prevalent. The classic triad of AEF (abdominal pain, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and a pulsatile abdominal mass) exhibit only in 23% of patients with AEF, which makes diagnosis of AEF difficult. Gastroduodenoscopy and abdominal computed tomography are the mainstay studies for AEF in the emergency setting. However, proving the existence of the AEF remains a difficult issue. AEF could be managed either by endovascular stent or open surgery. Herein, we report a case of primary aortojejunal fistula on which a successful surgical aortic reconstruction was performed.

Mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) of gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE have been characterized among the 232 isolates of ciprofloxacin (CIP)-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. As expected, no mutations in the QRDRs of four target genes were detected in the CIP-susceptible isolates of P. aeruginosa. It was noted that P. aeruginosa showing no mutation in the QRDRs of target genes were frequently found in isolates with a CIP in minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 2 μg/mL than those of isolates with a CIP in MIC ≥4 μg/mL. The prevalence of P. aeruginosa with no mutations in the QRDRs of target genes is higher in isolates only resistant to CIP than in isolates resistant to CIP and other drugs. Double mutations occurring in gyrA and parC genes associated with a high-level resistance to CIP in MICs ≥4 μg/mL were found in 101 out of 176 isolates. Furthermore, mutations in parC and parE joined with mutation in gyrA were commonly found in P. aeruginosa highly resistant to CIP.

Metastasis is a major cause of cancer deaths. Seeking alternative prognostic biomarkers may enable oncologists to make accurate therapeutic decisions to benefit cancer patients. Cumulated evidence reveals that fibronectin (FN) is highly correlated with cancer metastasis but has not been deemed as a prognostic biomarker due to its broad tissue distribution patterns and complicated physiological and pathological functionalities that significantly interfere with the judgmental accuracy. Combining other FN-related factors may make FN possible as a useful prognostic biomarker. Clathrin, a highly protease-susceptible cytoplasmic molecule, is known to affect pericellular FN (periFN) assembly via regulating cell surface FN receptors or FN matrix turnover by coating the endocytic vesicles. Researching our previously published proteomics database of 660 differential secretome proteins expressed in human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines and performing double immunofluorescent staining for periFN and clathrin, we recognized an inverse relationship between them. However, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) data contradicted this relationship, which could be corrected by the addition of a mixture of protease inhibitors into nonmetastatic cancer cell lysates. These results suggested that nonmetastatic cells express either higher levels of cellular proteases or less amounts of protease inhibitors. By examining our proteomic database and reviewing the literature, we conclude that clathrin expression and assembly is inversely correlated with metastatic potential of FN^high cancer cells mainly related to the expression of protease inhibitors, instead of proteases. It is worth investigating whether such an inverse relationship between FN/protease inhibitors and clathrin in human cancers could clinically be incorporated into the prognostic strategy for various cancer types.

Hypoxia is an intricate microenvironment associated with aggressiveness and chemoresistance of a variety of solid tumors. Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) regulate downstream target genes that render cancer cells capacity to adapt to the hostile, low-oxygen stress for survival. HIF has been estimated to regulate more than 5% of total human genes. The HIF-regulated gene network has been shown to be associated with resistance to chemotherapy, metastasis, tumor recurrence, and reduced overall survival rate. With the increasing findings that microRNAs (miRNAs) are aberrantly expressed under hypoxia, which participate positively or negatively in regulating hypoxia-related genes, the signaling pathway of hypoxia becomes more and more complicated. Based on the roles of miRNAs in tumor development and drug resistance, the potential of targeting miRNAs as a therapeutic regimen has been emphasized recently. Therefore, understanding the regulation and functions of miRNAs in cancer cells will provide us with useful information for designing more efficacious treatment regimens. In this article, we will review the biological kinship of hypoxia and hypoxia-regulated miRNAs in cancer malignancy and drug resistance.