Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases are autosomal recessive neurodegenerative
diseases resulting from the inability to catabolize GM2 ganglioside by
beta-hexosaminidase A (Hex A) due to mutations of the alpha subunit
(Tay-Sachs disease) or beta subunit (Sandhoff disease) of Hex A. Hex B
(beta beta homodimer) is also defective in Sandhoff disease. We previously
developed mouse models of both diseases and showed that Hexa-/- (Tay-Sachs)
mice remain asymptomatic to at least 1 year of age while Hexb-/- (Sandhoff)
mice succumb to a profound neurodegenerative disease by 4-6 months of age.
Here we find that neuron death in Hexb-/- mice is associated with apoptosis
occurring throughout the CNS, while Hexa-/- mice were minimally involved at
the same age. Studies of autopsy samples of brain and spinal cord from
human Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases revealed apoptosis in both instances,
in keeping with the severe expression of both diseases. We suggest that
neuron death is caused by unscheduled apoptosis, implicating accumulated
GM2 ganglioside or a derivative in triggering of the apoptotic cascade.
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The bias favoring deletion over inversion in DH-JH rearrangement has been
known for years, but the underlying mechanism has yet to be fully defined.
It has been suggested that the ratio of deletion/inversion is determined by
the combined effect of two factors: (i) the relative strengths of 5' and 3'
recombination signal sequences (RSS) of a DH segment, and (ii) the
efficiency with which the deletional product (one joint) forms relative to
the inversional product (two joints). In this study, we analyzed for the
first time the effect of factor 1 alone on the biased 3' RSS utilization in
DH-JH joining by using deletional plasmids in an extrachromosomal substrate
V(D)J recombination assay. It was found that the 3' RSS and associated
coding end (12 bp) mediate recombination more efficiently than the 5'
RSS/coding end DH-JH plasmids. These results demonstrate that the effect of
the RSS/coding end alone can account, at least partially, for the
predominant deletion in DH-JH recombination. The potential effect of the
relative strength of RSS and associated coding end on the ordered
rearrangement of DH-JH followed by VH to DH-JH was also assessed. When
recombination frequencies of D-->J (3' DH to J3) were compared with
frequencies of V-- >D (VHPJ14 to 3' DH or VHOX2 to 3' DH), it was found
that V-->D joining was, if anything, more efficient than D-->J
joining. Therefore, if all three segments were accessible, RSS/coding end
effects would not contribute to the ordered rearrangement of the IgH locus.
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Atopy — a T helper 2 cell driven hypersensitivity to innocuous antigens (allergens) which causes most cases of asthma — is of complex genetic and environmental origins. There is compelling epidemiological evidence for a rise in atopic disease in ‘westernised’ communities. The changing pattern of microbial exposure in early childhood is suggested to be the principal candidate mechanism for this rise. 相似文献
The tumour suppressor gene PTEN , which maps to 10q23.3 and encodes a 403
amino acid dual specificity phosphatase (protein tyrosine phosphatase;
PTPase), was shown recently to play a broad role in human malignancy.
Somatic PTEN deletions and mutations were observed in sporadic breast,
brain, prostate and kidney cancer cell lines and in several primary tumours
such as endometrial carcinomas, malignant melanoma and thyroid tumours. In
addition, PTEN was identified as the susceptibility gene for two hamartoma
syndromes: Cowden disease (CD; MIM 158350) and Bannayan-Zonana (BZS) or
Ruvalcaba-Riley-Smith syndrome (MIM 153480). Constitutive DNA from 37 CD
families and seven BZS families was screened for germline PTEN mutations.
PTEN mutations were identified in 30 of 37 (81%) CD families, including
missense and nonsense point mutations, deletions, insertions, a
deletion/insertion and splice site mutations. These mutations were
scattered over the entire length of PTEN , with the exception of the first,
fourth and last exons. A 'hot spot' for PTEN mutation in CD was identified
in exon 5 that contains the PTPase core motif, with 13 of 30 (43%) CD
mutations identified in this exon. Seven of 30 (23%) were within the core
motif, the majority (five of seven) of which were missense mutations,
possibly pointing to the functional significance of this region. Germline
PTEN mutations were identified in four of seven (57%) BZS families studied.
Interestingly, none of these mutations was observed in the PTPase core
motif. It is also worthy of note that a single nonsense point mutation,
R233X, was observed in the germline DNA from two unrelated CD families and
one BZS family. Genotype-phenotype studies were not performed on this small
group of BZS families. However, genotype-phenotype analysis inthe group of
CD families revealed two possible associations worthy of follow-up in
independent analyses. The first was an association noted in the group of CD
families with breast disease. A correlation was observed between the
presence/absence of a PTEN mutation and the type of breast involvement
(unaffected versus benign versus malignant). Specifically and more
directly, an association was also observed between the presence of a PTEN
mutation and malignant breast disease. Secondly, there appeared to be an
interdependent association between mutations upstream and within the PTPase
core motif, the core motif containing the majority of missense mutations,
and the involvement of all major organ systems (central nervous system,
thyroid, breast, skin and gastrointestinal tract). However, these
observations would need to be confirmed by studying a larger number of CD
families.
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The purpose of the present investigation was to determine if the salivary counts of 40 common oral bacteria in subjects with
an oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) lesion would differ from those found in cancer-free (OSCC-free) controls. 相似文献
Summary: Novel temperature sensitive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐acryloyl beta‐cyclodextrin) (P(NIPA‐co‐A‐CD)) hydrogels with fast shrinking rates were prepared by radical polymerization of NIPA, A‐CD and crosslinker in a mixture of water/1,4‐dioxane as solvent. Because the mixed solvent was a poor solvent for the copolymers, phase separation occurred during the polymerization, which resulted in a heterogeneous, porous structure of the hydrogels. In contrast to the normal PNIPA hydrogel and the homo P(NIPA‐co‐A‐CD) gel prepared in water, the P(NIPA‐co‐A‐CD) hydrogels synthesized in water/1,4‐dioxane as solvent exhibited higher swelling ratios at the temperature below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and shrunk rapidly to equilibrium within shorter time when the temperature was increased above LCST. Increasing the acryloyl beta‐cyclodextrin content in the gels led to a slight decrease of the swelling ratio at lower temperature and had no marked influence on the shrinking kinetics. The gels prepared in water/1,4‐dioxane, at different v/v ratios of 1.0/0.2, 0.8/0.4 and 0.6/0.6, showed similar properties.
SEM photos of the heterogeneous P(NIPA‐co‐A‐CD) hydrogel prepared in water/1,4‐dioxane. 相似文献