Biomedical subjects

Yumin Mao

Publications and source records attributed to Yumin Mao.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2005

Isolation and expression pattern of RGS21 gene, a novel RGS member.

Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins are known for the RGS domain that is composed of a conserved stretch of 120 amino acids, which binds directly to activated G-protein alpha subunits and acts as a GTPase-activating protein (GAP), leading to their deactivation and termination of downstream signals. In this study, a novel human RGS cDNA (RGS21), 1795 bp long and encoding a 152-amino acid polypeptide, was isolated by large-scale sequencing analysis of a human fetal brain cDNA library. Unlike other RGS family members, RGS21 gene has no additional domain/motif and may represent the smallest known member of RGS family. It may belong to the B/R4 subfamily, which suggests that it may serve exclusively as a negative regulator of alphai/o family members and/or alphaq/11. PCR analysis showed that RGS21 mRNA was expressed ubiquitously in the 16 tissues examined, implying general physiological roles.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Finding dominant sets in microarray data.

Clustering allows us to extract groups of genes that are tightly coexpressed from Microarray data. In this paper, a new method DSF_Clust is developed to find dominant sets (clusters). We have preformed DSF_Clust on several gene expression datasets and given the evaluation with some criteria. The results showed that this approach could cluster dominant sets of good quality compared to kmeans method. DSF_Clust deals with three issues that have bedeviled clustering, some dominant sets being statistically determined in a significance level, predefining cluster structure being not required, and the quality of a dominant set being ensured. We have also applied this approach to analyze published data of yeast cell cycle gene expression and found some biologically meaningful gene groups to be dug out. Furthermore, DSF_Clust is a potentially good tool to search for putative regulatory signals.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2005

Meta-analysis of the association of CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G polymorphism with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is a highly suspected candidate gene for RA susceptibility. However, association studies on the polymorphism of CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G in RA have shown conflicting results. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to better assess the purported association. In order to look for ethnic effect, we performed subgroup meta-analysis in populations of European descent and Asian descent. Meta-regression analysis was also performed to explore the possible heterogeneity between the two subgroups. Ten studies (11 comparisons) with the CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G genotyping on 2,315 patients with RA and 2,536 controls were selected for our meta-analysis. Overall, the fixed-effects odds ratio (OR) for the G versus A allele was 1.11 (P=0.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.21), with no between-study heterogeneity. Subgroup and meta-regression analysis according to the ethnicity (European or Asian) demonstrated different scenarios concerning the CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G polymorphism's role in RA susceptibility for the two different subgroups. No effect of G on susceptibility was seen in European descent (five comparisons; OR=1.04, P=0.30, 95% CI 0.95-1.19; no significant between-study heterogeneity). However, there is a significant association in Asian descent under both fixed [OR=1.21, 95% CI (1.06-1.39), P=0.005] and random-effect models [OR=1.19, 95% CI (1.01-1.42), P=0.04]. Meta-regression analysis also supports the heterogeneity between the two subgroups (P=0.082). We also explored the role of this polymorphism on RA risk under other various interested genetic contrasts. These results further support that this polymorphism could not be a risk factor for Europeans. Interestingly, we find that in Asians the G allele has a greater tendency to cause RA in a recessive genetic model. However, sensitivity analysis showed that the combined result of Asian populations was unstable. In conclusion, our meta-analysis results suggest that CTLA-4 exon-1 +49G allele would not be a risk factor for RA in Europeans but might play a role in RA susceptibility for Asians.

Alleles↗

PubMed2005

Cloning and characterization of a novel RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain phosphatase.

Reversible phosphorylation of RNA polymerase (RNAP) II's largest subunit C-terminal domain (CTD) is a key event during mRNA metabolism. The CTD phosphatase, FCP1, catalyzes the dephosphorylation of RNAP II and is thought to play a major role in polymerase recycling. In this study, we isolated a novel phosphatase gene by large-scale sequencing analysis of a human fetal brain cDNA library. Its cDNA is 2215 bp in length, encoding a 318-amino acid polypeptide that contains a ubiquitin-like domain and a CTD phosphatase domain. Therefore, it was termed ubiquitin-like domain containing CTD phosphatase 1 (UBLCP1). Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) revealed that UBLCP1 was expressed with relatively lower levels in most adult normal tissues and higher levels in fast growing or tumor tissues. Transient transfection experiment suggested that UBLCP1 was localized in the nucleus of COS-7 cells. Significantly, UBLCP1 could dephosphorylate GST-CTD in vitro. Accordingly, UBLCP1 may play a role in the regulation of phosphorylation state of RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Analysis of the factors affecting the accuracy of detection for single base alterations by oligonucleotide microarray.

The oligonucleotide microarray, a high-throughput polymorphism detection technology, holds great promise for the characterization of complex genetic variance. To achieve greater sensitivity and specificity for it to be an effective platform technology we present results and discuss some of the factors influencing signal intensities and single-mismatch discrimination in array-based mutation/SNP detection. Probes with a series of concentrations were spotted onto the slide in order to find the optimal concentration with the identifiable satisfying signals and the stable ratios between matched and mismatched probes. It was found that under our experimental conditions, when the initial probe concentration is higher than the maximum immobilization capability of the slide (7.5 microM), the hybridization signal will be saturated and the ratio between matched and mismatched probes will be more stable than at a lower probe concentration. Considering the cost of probes and the systematic stability, a constant spotting concentration of 10 microM was selected. The stability of different types of mismatched oligo-DNA duplexes on the glass surface was also confirmed. The results show that the order of stability of mismatched oligo-DNA duplexes on a glass surface is in general agreement with previous reports conducted using liquid and polyacrylamide gel pads. This suggests that the influence of the mismatched base pair on the stability of the duplex in a solid hybridization system is similar to that in the solution hybridization environment.

Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes↗

PubMed2005

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel human C4orf13 gene, tentatively a member of the sodium bile acid cotransporter family.

By large-scale sequencing analysis of a human fetal brain cDNA library, we isolated a novel human cDNA (C4orf13). This cDNA is 2706 bp in length, encoding a 340-amino-acid polypeptide that contains a typical SBF (sodium bile acid cotransporter family) domain and ten possible transmembrane segments. The putative protein C4orf13 shows high similarity with its orthologs in Mus musculus and Xenopus laevis. Human C4orf13 is mapped to chromosome 4q31.2 and contains 12 exons. RT-PCR analysis shows that human C4orf13 is widely expressed in human tissues, and the expression levels in liver and lung are relatively high, expression levels in placenta, kidney, spleen, and thymus are moderate, low levels of expression are detected in heart, prostate, and testis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

A novel zinc finger gene ZNF468 with two co-expressional splice variants, ZNF468.1 and ZNF468.2.

A novel human zinc finger protein encoding gene ZNF468 was obtained from a fetal brain cDNA library. By BLAST-N analysis we found two different splice variants. We termed the two splice variants ZNF468.1 and ZNF468.2. By BLAST search against the human genome database, ZNF468 was mapped to 19q13.4. The ZNF468.1 cDNA has four exons, and the ZNF468.2 cDNA has one more, between the third and fourth exon. This extra exon creates a difference between the deduced protein N-termini of the two splice variants. The ZNF468.1 cDNA is 3906 bp in length, encoding a 522a a protein, and ZNF468.2 is 4024 bp, encoding a 469-aa-protein. Both proteins contain 11 C2H2-type zinc finger motifs at their C-termini. The N-terminus of the deduced protein of ZNF468.1 has a well-conserved Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) domain that consists of KRAB boxes A and B, whereas the protein of ZNF468.2 does not have the KRAB domain. Tissue distribution of the ZNF468 gene indicates that the two splice variants are widely expressed in normal human tissues, except in heart and brain, and they are also co-expressional.

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2005

Cloning and characterization of a novel human phosphatidic acid phosphatase type 2, PAP2d, with two different transcripts PAP2d_v1 and PAP2d_v2.

This study reports the cloning and characterization of a novel human phosphatidic acid phosphatase type 2 isoform cDNAs (PAP2d) from the foetal brain cDNA library. The PAP2d gene is localized on chromosome 1p21.3. It contains six exons and spans 112 kb of the genomic DNA. By large-scale cDNA sequencing we found two splice variants of PAP2d, PAP2d_v1 and PAP2d_v2. The PAP2d_v1 cDNA is 1722 bp in length and spans an open reading frame from nucleotide 56 to 1021, encoding a 321aa protein. The PAP2d_v2 cDNA is 1707 bp in length encoding a 316aa protein from nucleotide 56-1006. The PAP2d_v1 cDNA is 15 bp longer than the PAP2d_v2 cDNA in the terminal of the fifth exon and it creates different ORF. Both of the proteins contain a well-conserved PAP2 motif. The PAP2d_v1 is mainly expressed in human brain, lung, kidney, testis and colon, while PAP2d_v2 is restricted to human placenta, skeletal muscle, and kidney. The two splice variants are co-expressed only in kidney.

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2005

Cloning and characterization of a novel human homolog* of mouse U26, a putative PQQ-dependent AAS dehydrogenase.

Mouse U26 has been defined as a 2-aminoadipic 6-semialdehyde dehydrogenase. It was speculated to be a PQQ-dependent AAS dehydrogenase due to the research of demonstrating PQQ as a new B vitamin. We isolated a novel human cDNA from the human fetal brain cDNA library we constructed. Its deduced protein was most related to mouse U26. Thus, we termed it human U26. This putative protein contains an AMP-binding domain, a Phosphopantetheine-binding domain and six PQQ-binding motifs. Human U26 mRNA is ubiquitously expressed in adult tissues and is highly expressed in colon adenocarcinoma (CX-1) and colon adenocarcinoma (GI-112) cell lines. Further study should be made to clarify the precise function of human U26.

Aldehyde Dehydrogenase↗

PubMed2005

Molecular cloning and characterization of AAAS-V2, a novel splice variant of human AAAS.

Triple-A syndrome (MIM 231550; also known as Allgrove syndrome) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH)-resistant adrenal insufficiency, achalasia of the oesophageal cardia and alacrima. Much initial molecular analysis supported that Triple-A syndrome was caused by mutations in AAAS, a WD-repeat protein gene. Here we report cloning and characterization of a novel splice variant of human AAAS, which we named AAAS-v2, which is located on the human chromosome 12p13. The cDNA is 1703 bp, encoding a 513-amino acid polypeptide, which contains three WD40 domains, one less than the original which we called AAAS-v1 (Gen Bank: NM_015665.3). RT-PCR analysis in our work revealed that AAAS-v2 and AAAS-v1 were ubiquitously detected in human multiple tissue cDNA (MTC) panels (CLONTECH).

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2005

Isolation and characterization of ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1-domain containing 1, UBE1DC1.

Ubiquitin and other ubiquitin-like proteins play important roles in post-translational modification. They are phylogenetically well-conserved in eukaryotes. Activated by other proteins, ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins can covalently modify target proteins. The enzymes responsible for the activation of this modification have been known to include UBA1, SAE2, UBA3, SAE1 and ULA1. Here we report a new ubiquitin activating enzyme like cDNA, named ubiquitin activating enzyme E1-domain containing 1 (UBE1DC1), whose cDNA is 2654 base pairs in length and contains an open reading frame encoding 404 amino acids. The UBE1DC1 gene consists of 12 exons and is located at human chromosome 3q22. The result of RT-PCR showed that UBE1DC1 is expressed in most of human tissues.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

A novel splice variant of human gene NPL, mainly expressed in human liver, kidney and peripheral blood leukocyte.

From the human fetal brain cDNA library constructed by our lab, a novel variant cDNA of a human gene was successfully cloned and identified. Because the gene has been named N-acetylneuraminate pyruvate lyase (NPL), accordingly we term our splice variant NPL_v2. The cDNA of NPL_v2 has a full-length open reading frame (ORF) from the nucleotide position 320 to 1225 that encodes a protein comprising 301 amino acids. SMART analysis showed that our hypothetical protein has one dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS) domain. Phosphorylation analysis of the deduced protein show that there are five phosphorylation sites including three "serine" and two "threonine" at the region that are not found in other splice variant. RT-PCR experiment revealed that our splice variant of the gene is mainly expressed in human placenta, liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, thymus, ovary, small intestine and peripheral blood leukocyte.

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2005

Cloning and characterization of a novel splice variant of human Rab18 gene (RAB18).

Rab GTPase proteins are a kind of small GTP-binding proteins, which functions mainly focus on regulating interacellular trafficking pathways during vesicular transport. To date, 60 distinct human RAB proteins have been identified. RAB18 gene is discovered from endothelial cells. Its function is considered as endosomes and plasma membrane recycling. Research indicates RAB18 may relate to inflammation and some kinds of tumor. Here we report a splice variant of RAB18, which is 2571 bp in length and has an open reading frame coding a predicted 235 amino-acids protein. RT-PCR shows that the cDNA has different expression pattern with RAB18 and is highly expressed in testis.

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2005

A novel splice variant of human XRN2 gene is mainly expressed in blood leukocyte.

The XRN2 gene (XRN2a) is the human homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAT1 gene, which encodes a nuclear 5'-->3' exoribonuclease, and is essential for RNA metabolism and cell viability. Xrn2p/Rat1p, product of XRN2/RAT1 gene, functions in the mRNA degradation and processing of rRNAs and small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) in the nucleus. Here we describe the cloning and characterization of a novel splice variant of the human XRN2 gene (XRN2b). The 3271-bp cDNA encodes a putative protein with 907 amino acid residues, which shares high homology with mouse DHM1 protein. RT-PCR analysis showed that XRN2b was mainly expressed in blood leukocyte tissue, while XRN2a was detected in several human tissues and in human tumor tissues.

Alternative Splicing↗

PubMed2005

Co-evolution analysis on endocrine research: a methodological approach.

The rapid growth of different kinds of biological information allows a good opportunity to analyze the co-evolutionary characteristics in endocrine regulatory pathways. Data ranging from kinds of species' genome, gene sequence, protein structure, and expression profile of different organisms can reveal the inner co-evolutionary relationship of ligands, receptors, and other related molecules. In return, these co-evolutionary characteristics can help us determine uncharacterized ligands and receptors, annotate gene functions, highlight amino acid residues with biochemical significance, and identify regulated genes in the endocrine process. Encouraging examples in this field, although at their starting stage, have emerged. Here we focus on recent progress in endocrine-related co-evolution research from a methodological approach.

Endocrine System↗

PubMed2005

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel human gene containing 4 ankyrin repeat domains.

Ankyrin repeat, one of the most important protein motifs, plays a wide variety of roles in protein-protein interactions and in the signal pathways. Via large-scale sequencing, a novel 941-bp gene was isolated from an 18-week old human fetal brain cDNA library. It encodes a putative protein of 158 amino acid residues with four conserved ankyrin repeat domains. It displays a high degree of homology with rat low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 2-binding protein (Lrp2bp), and was therefore was named hLrp2bp (human Lrp2bp). The hLrp2bp gene was located in chromosome 4q35 and the conserved ankyrin repeat domains were located between amino acid residues 10 and 116. RT-PCR revealed that hLrp2bp was mainly expressed in the human testis, small intestine, colon and blood leukocytes, and in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells. A HEK293 cell was transfected with the ORF of hLrp2bp, and analyses showed that the protein was distributed both in the cytoplasm and nucleus.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

PubMed2005

Cloning, expression and characterization of human glutathione S-transferase Omega 2.

The class of Omega glutathione transferases is newly identified with novel structural and functional characteristics. Human GSTO 1-1 (glutathione S-transferase Omega 1) is the first member of the GST Omega class. It was found to play a role in apoptosis and be in association with age-at-onset of AD and PD. In order to improve the understanding of the properties of other Omega class members, we screened a human fetal brain cDNA library and obtained the human GSTO2 (glutathione S-transferase Omega 2) cDNA. The full-length cDNA of human GSTO2 is 1179 bp long and encodes a protein of 243 amino acid residues. Expression pattern analysis revealed that GSTO2 was ubiquitously expressed at a low level, with a higher expression in pancreas and prostate. Enzyme assays showed that GSTO2 protein had activities similar to Omega class GSTs. It has detectable glutathione-dependent thiol transferase activity and glutathione-dependent dehydroascorbate reductase activity. But different from GSTO1-1, GSTO2 exhibits a high catalytic activity with CDNB. Subcellular localization analysis of GSTO2-EGFP fusion protein revealed that GSTO2 distributed to cytoplasm of COS-7 cells and both cytoplasm and nucleus of L-02, QGY-7703 and SMMC-7721 cells. Overexpression of GSTO2 induced apoptosis of L-02 cells detected by Annexin V-PE staining. The results suggest that GSTO2 may play an important role in cellular signaling.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Expression pattern and subcellular localization of five splice isoforms of human PXK.

Phox homology (PX) domains specifically bind to phosphoinositides, and this interaction is crucial for their cellular function. A full-length cDNA of human PX domain containing serine/threonine kinase gene (PXK) that we termed PXK_v1 had previously been cloned. PXK_v1 consists of a S_TKc domain (serine/threonine kinases, catalytic domain), but lacks several residues that are indispensable for intrinsic catalytic activity. Evidence obtained in the present study demonstrated the existence of four other splice isoforms of human PXK in fetal brain, designated as PXK_v2, PXK_v3, PXK_v4 and PXK_v5. The results of RT-PCR indicated that human PXK_v1, PXK_v2 and PXK_v4 transcripts were widely expressed in human adult tissue, except heart tissue. In contrast, PXK_v3 transcripts were only expressed in peripheral blood leukocytes at a low level and PXK_v5 transcripts were not detectable in any of the tissue analyzed. Subcellular localization analysis of EGFP-PXK fusion proteins in COS7 cells indicated that EGFP-PXK_v3 had a different subcellular localization compared to other EGFP-PXK fusion proteins. Mutation analysis of EGFP-PXK_v1 showed that PXK_v1-Tyr56 and Arg92 are essential for subcellular localization of the protein in the cytoplasm.

Alternative Splicing↗