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Genomic expression for rat model of damp obstruction in Chinese medicine: application of microarray technology.

Damp obstruction refers to the stagnation of vital energy (qi) caused by dampness resulting in dysfunction of body and limbs movement, as well as impairment of spleen and stomach digestive function. Damp obstruction is the dampness-induced imbalance of five elements; thus it serves as an ideal model for genomic study using cDNA microarray. We have performed microarray analyses to major organs of damp-obstructed rats. Cluster analysis for the expression profiles of major organs indicated that spleen, stomach, and kidney respond to dampness differently from heart, liver, lung, and brain. Gene expression profile specific to each element or group of elements was also identified. Our results are consistent with the philosophy of Chinese medicine that the five elements, metal (lung), wood (liver), water (kidney), fire (heart), and earth (spleen and stomach) coordinate by subjugation or restriction to maintain a healthy, physiological state. This is the first time that a powerful genomic tool was applied to probe the ancient theory of Chinese medicine.

Alanine Transaminase↗

'Genetics home reference': helping patients understand the role of genetics in health and disease.

The surge of information generated by the Human Genome Project has left many health professionals and their patients struggling to understand the role of genetics in health and disease. To aid the lay public and health professionals, the US National Library of Medicine developed an online resource called 'Genetics Home Reference' (GHR), located at http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/. Launched in April 2003, GHR's goal is to help the public interpret the health implications of the Human Genome Project. It bridges the clinical questions of consumers and the rich technical data emerging from the sequenced human genome. The GHR web site is designed for easy navigation among summaries for genetic conditions and the related gene(s) and chromosome(s). This design strategy enhances the user's appreciation of how genes, chromosomes, and conditions are interrelated.

Genetic Diseases, Inborn↗

Diversity and differential distribution of IS231, IS232 and IS240 among Bacillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus mycoides.

Bacillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus mycoides are very closely related bacteria, generally considered as subspecies of B. cereus sensu lato. Different transposable elements have been isolated from B. thuringiensis, including IS231, IS232 and IS240 and their variants. The distribution of these three insertion sequences (IS) within the B. cereus group has been investigated in 90 strains of B. thuringiensis (representing 61 serovars), in 30 reference strains of B. cereus and in 33 strains of B. mycoides. Since these IS elements are delimited by well-conserved and specific inverted repeats, the use of primers corresponding to these ends allowed their amplification by PCR. The results showed that IS231 is the most abundant element in the three taxa, whereas IS232 is apparently exclusively associated with B. thuringiensis. Hybridization and Dral RFLP analysis of the PCR products confirmed and extended knowledge of the heterogeneity previously observed among iso-IS231 elements. Moreover, a similar diversity was observed among iso-IS240 elements. This contrasted with the relative homogeneity displayed by iso-IS232 elements. No specific association appeared to exist between any particular iso-element and a specific strain or serotype.

Bacillus↗

Normality: the unreachable star?

The concept of reference values is widely accepted, but their application has been quite lax over the years. This is due primarily to the difficulty of properly selecting and documenting samples from a reference population. In the absence of a clear description of reference individuals, reference values lose their meaning, are ambiguous at best, and are often confused with decision limits. The clinical medicine perspective of reference values is to rule out diseases and to define health, while that of preventive medicine is to appreciate the state of health. Defining reference limits and normality in this context is a great challenge. Advances in the fields of genomics and proteomics and the rapid pace of technological advances help highlight the biological diversity among individuals. However, there is a great need for reference values that are representative of healthy humans and presented in a manner that they can be utilized by all laboratories. In addition, as secure information technology becomes available, the goal of using an individual as their own reference during a lifetime is now possible, provided that consistency of databases is ensured.

Clinical Chemistry Tests↗

Genotyping of Mycoplasma pneumoniae clinical isolates reveals eight P1 subtypes within two genomic groups.

Three methods for genotyping of Mycoplasma pneumoniae clinical isolates were applied to 2 reference strains and 21 clinical isolates. By a modified restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of PCR products of the M. pneumoniae cytadhesin P1 gene, 5 subtypes were discriminated among 13 P1 type 1 strains and 3 subtypes were discriminated among 8 P1 type 2 strains. Sequence analysis of the 16S-23S rRNA gene spacer region and part of the 23S rRNA gene revealed one nucleotide difference in the intergenic spacer region in 3 of the 21 isolates. In the 23S rRNA gene sequence of the 8 P1 type 2 strains an extra adenosine was present, but it was absent from the 13 P1 type 1 strains. On the basis of M. pneumoniae genome sequence data, primers were designed to amplify large interrepeat fragments by long PCR, and these fragments were subsequently analyzed by RFLP analysis. Only two types, long PCR types 1 and 2, could be discriminated among the M. pneumoniae isolates. All P1 type 1 strains were assigned to long PCR type 1, and all P1 type 2 strains were assigned to long PCR type 2. These data obtained by three independent typing methods thus confirm the existence of two distinct M. pneumoniae genomic groups but expand the possibility of strain typing on the basis of variations within their P1 genes.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗

Integrating cancer genomics and proteomics in the post-genome era.

The dawn of the post-genome era is leading to extraordinary opportunities in biomedicine. Our group has embarked on a major effort to integrate genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics for the profiling of tumor tissues, an approach we refer to as operomics. Our major goals are the molecular classification of tumors and the identification of markers for the early detection of cancer. Molecular analyses of tumors rely on microdissected tissues, which are simultaneously investigated for genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic changes. Genomic alterations in tumor cells being investigated include deletions, amplifications and methylation changes across the entire genome as well as point mutations in specific genes. Expression analysis at the RNA level is being undertaken using oligonucleotide and cDNA based microarrays. An important aspect of our approach is the large-scale identification and quantitative analysis of tumor proteins in whole cell lysates as well as in protein compartments. Protein separation strategies include two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography. Specific protein subsets, of interest include membrane proteins, secreted proteins and antigenic proteins as sources of biomarkers for early detection of cancer. Our current approach is illustrated with findings stemming from our studies of human gliomas.

Brain Neoplasms↗

Determination of gene dosage by a quantitative adaptation of the polymerase chain reaction (gd-PCR): rapid detection of deletions and duplications of gene sequences.

Screening methods based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, single-stranded conformational polymorphism, and heteroduplex analysis, are powerful tools for the detection of point mutations as well as small deletions and insertions, but are unable to detect heterozygous deletions or duplications of exons, genes, or chromosomes. We now report a PCR-based approach, designated gene dosage-PCR (gd-PCR), that allows rapid screening for heterozygous deletions and duplications of genes or exons. Gene dosage-PCR is a quantitative method in which two in vitro synthesized DNA internal standards are coamplified with the genomic DNA sample, one corresponding to the gene of interest (test sequence) and the other to a reference (disomic) gene (reference sequence). Both internal standards are designed to be amplified with the same primer pairs and with efficiencies similar to those of their genomic DNA counterparts, yielding PCR products slightly smaller than those derived from genomic DNA. Amplification of approximately equimolar amounts of the two internal standards and genomic DNA, in the presence of [32P]dCTP, results in four radiolabeled PCR products; after electrophoresis and quantification of the products, gene dosage is easily calculated. For validation, genomic DNA from 56 subjects, 28 with cytogenetically documented Down syndrome (trisomy 21) and 28 controls that were disomic for chromosome 21, was assayed. Using the beta-amyloid precursor protein gene (APP: chromosome 21q21) as the test sequence, control subjects had an adjusted mean gene dose of 2.00 +/- 0.29, while subjects with Down syndrome had a mean gene dose of 3.05 +/- 0.27.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amnion↗

Reconstruction of a functional human gene network, with an application for prioritizing positional candidate genes.

Most common genetic disorders have a complex inheritance and may result from variants in many genes, each contributing only weak effects to the disease. Pinpointing these disease genes within the myriad of susceptibility loci identified in linkage studies is difficult because these loci may contain hundreds of genes. However, in any disorder, most of the disease genes will be involved in only a few different molecular pathways. If we know something about the relationships between the genes, we can assess whether some genes (which may reside in different loci) functionally interact with each other, indicating a joint basis for the disease etiology. There are various repositories of information on pathway relationships. To consolidate this information, we developed a functional human gene network that integrates information on genes and the functional relationships between genes, based on data from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, the Biomolecular Interaction Network Database, Reactome, the Human Protein Reference Database, the Gene Ontology database, predicted protein-protein interactions, human yeast two-hybrid interactions, and microarray co-expressions. We applied this network to interrelate positional candidate genes from different disease loci and then tested 96 heritable disorders for which the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database reported at least three disease genes. Artificial susceptibility loci, each containing 100 genes, were constructed around each disease gene, and we used the network to rank these genes on the basis of their functional interactions. By following up the top five genes per artificial locus, we were able to detect at least one known disease gene in 54% of the loci studied, representing a 2.8-fold increase over random selection. This suggests that our method can significantly reduce the cost and effort of pinpointing true disease genes in analyses of disorders for which numerous loci have been reported but for which most of the genes are unknown.

Computational Biology↗

A Genome-wide view of the Escherichia coli BasS-BasR two-component system implicated in iron-responses.

Histidine-to-aspartate (His-->Asp) phosphorelay (or two-component) systems are very common signal transduction mechanisms that are implicated in a wide variety of cellular responses to environmental stimuli in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Determination of the entire genomic sequence of Escherichia coli revealed that this gram-negative bacterium has 29 His-kinases and 32 response regulators. Of the 29 His-kinases, 23 have already been experimentally characterized at least to some extent in terms of their physiological functions. No physiological stimulus has yet been identified for each of the remaining 6 His-kinases (BasS, CreC, RstB, YfhK, YehU, and YpdA). Here we characterized the BasS-BasR two-component system with reference to its physiological function, taking genetic approaches together with genome-wide transcriptome profiling. First we showed that the hypothetical yfbE operon that appears to be implicated in the modification of lipopolysaccharides is regulated at the level of transcription in response to external iron, and then we showed that the BasS-BasR system is essential for this iron-dependent induction of yfbE. Another PhoQ-PhoP two-component system was also implicated in the full induction of yfbE in response to iron, but it was not essential. To gain more insight into the BasS-BasR system, we conducted genome-wide transcriptome analysis by microarray, finding that many of the uncovered putative iron-induced and BasS-BasR-dependent genes are somehow associated with acidic and/or anaerobic growth conditions. In this respect, it was found that mutant cells defective in the BasS-BasR system were sensitive to mild-acid growth conditions in the presence of a relatively high concentration of iron. These results are discussed with regard to a comprehensive picture of the His-->Asp phosphorelay signaling network in E. coli.

Aspartic Acid↗

Efficient discovery of DNA polymorphisms in natural populations by Ecotilling.

We have adapted the mutation detection technology used in Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING) to the discovery of polymorphisms in natural populations. The genomic DNA of a queried individual is mixed with a reference DNA and used to amplify a target 1-kbp region of DNA with asymmetrically labeled fluorescent primers. After heating and annealing, heteroduplexes are nicked at mismatched sites by the endonuclease CEL I and cut strands are visualized using Li-cor gel analyzers. Putative polymorphisms detected in one fluorescence channel can be verified by appearance of the opposite cut strand in the other channel. We demonstrated the efficiency of this technology, called Ecotilling, by the discovery in 150+ individuals of 55 haplotypes in five genes, ranging from sequences differing by a single nucleotide polymorphism to those representing complex haplotypes. The discovered polymorphisms were confirmed by sequencing and included base-pair changes, small insertions and deletions, and variation in microsatellite repeat number. Ecotilling allows the rapid detection of variation in many individuals and is cost effective because only one individual for each haplotype needs to be sequenced. The technology is applicable to any organism including those that are heterozygous and polyploid.

DNA, Plant↗

On the design of genome mapping experiments using short synthetic oligonucleotides.

The DNA of an organism can be digested into smaller fragments, stored individually as clones in phage, for example, to create a clone library, and retrieved later, when needed. The original ordering of fragments is lost in the process of creating the library. Hence, it is important to be able to place clones in order according to their position along chromosome(s), and this process is referred to as "in vitro reconstruction" or "contig mapping" of an organismal genome. Clones in the phage library can be assigned binary call numbers by scoring each clone for hybridization (0 or 1) with a battery of short manufactured DNA sequences called synthetic oligonucleotides or with restriction enzyme digests of each clone. Those clones with similar call numbers are placed close together in the ordered library. We address the design question of how many clones and probes to use to carry out in vitro reconstruction of an organism's chromosomes. This physical mapping problem is placed in the context of coverage problems in geometrical probability. Various statistics are developed to summarize how an ordered library covers a chromosome, the extent of clone overlap, and the similarity between clone call numbers. Several tests for whether clones overlap are given, together with their power properties. A simulation study is used to determine how robust some of the tests for clone overlap are to model violations. Tables are presented for researchers to choose the number of clones and probes on the basis of both power and technical considerations surrounding the hybridization experiments.

Animals↗

Development of a simple restriction fragment length polymorphism assay for subtyping of coxsackie B viruses.

Coxsackie B viruses (genus, Enterovirus; family, Picornaviridae) can cause aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, pleurodynia, myocarditis and are implicated in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy. The differentiation of the group B coxsackieviruses into their subtypes has potential clinical and epidemiological implications. In the present study, a simple restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay was developed for typing of group B coxsackieviruses into subtypes 1-6. It is a two step process, first, virus isolation and identification by virus neutralization assay, using pools of polyclonal antisera, second, the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using a single primer pair selected from the conserved 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of enterovirus genome followed by RFLP. A 440 bp product was amplified from the reference strains of each subtype of group B coxsackievirus and 29 clinical isolates (positive for group B coxsackieviruses by neutralization assay). The amplified products were subjected to restriction endonuclease digestion by enzyme BsaJI. The assay was able to distinguish all six serotypes of coxsackie B viruses. The results were comparable to serotyping and showed that due to the relatively conserved nature of 5'-UTR in enterovirus genome, this region can be used for subgeneric molecular identification of enteroviruses.

5' Untranslated Regions↗

Phasmids: hybrids between ColE1 plasmids and E. coli bacteriophage lambda.

Plasmids carrying cloned lambda att sites may be integrated into the bacteriophage genome by the site-specific recombination mechanism of lambda. The cross, referred to as "lifting" the plasmid, requires mixed infection of an Escherichia coli strain carrying the plasmid with two appropriately constructed "lifting" lambda phages. One phage donates a short left arm and the other donates a short right arm. These two short arms are of insufficient length to produce a viable phage genome and yield no recombinants when crossed on standard bacteria. However, viable recombinants are obtained when the genome length is extended by integration of one or more plasmids. We call these recombinants phasmids. They contain multiple att sites introduced at the ends of the integrated plasmids, and in the presence of integrase, recombination between these att sites can be exploited to effect release of the plasmid components. These novel genetic elements can be used in a variety of ways as vectors in genetic manipulation experiments. Sequences cloned in phasmids may be studied as a component of either a plasmid and or of a phage, and easily interconverted between the two states.

Attachment Sites, Microbiological↗

Nucleotide excision repair disorders and the balance between cancer and aging.

Cancer incidence increases with age and is driven by accumulation of mutations in the DNA. In many so-called premature aging disorders, cancer appears earlier and at elevated rates. These diseases are predominantly caused by genome instability and present with symptoms, including cancer, resembling "segments" of aging and are thus often referred to as "segmental progerias". Two related segmental progerias, Cockayne syndrome (CS) and trichothiodystrophy (TTD), don't fit this pattern. Although caused by defects in genome maintenance via the nucleotide excision DNA repair (NER) pathway and displaying severe progeroid symptoms, CS and TTD patients appear to lack any cancer predisposition. More strikingly, genetic defects in the same NER pathway, and in some cases even within the same gene, XPD, can also give rise to disorders with greatly elevated cancer rates but without progeria (xeroderma pigmentosum). In this review, we will discuss the connection between genome maintenance, aging and cancer in light of a new mouse model of XPD disease.

Aging↗

[Cloning and sequence analysis of human genomic DNA of augmenter of liver regeneration hepatitis].

OBJECTIVE: To clone the human genomic DNA of augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) and specify the intron-exon structure. METHODS: Using human ALR cDNA sequence as a reference and BLAST path as a nucleotide homology search tool, GenBank has been searched for ALR homologous genomic DNA sequence. The intron-exon sequences were defined by the Breathnath-Chambon rule. RESULTS: The coding sequence of human ALR consists of 3 exons, and is similar to murine ALR genomic DNA structure. The human ALR genomic DNA is 1813 nt long and codes a protein of 125 amino acid residues. CONCLUSION: Human genomic DNA of ALR consists of 3 exons and 2 introns.

Base Sequence↗

Salmonella typhimurium LT2 possesses three distinct 23S rRNA intervening sequences.

The rrl genes for 23S rRNA of Salmonella typhimurium LT2 are known to carry intervening sequences (IVSs) at two sites, helix-25 and helix-45, which are excised by RNase III during rRNA maturation, resulting in rRNA which is fragmented but nevertheless functional. We isolated DNA fragments containing the seven rrl genes from BlnI, I-CeuI, and SpeI genomic digests following pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and used these DNA fragments as templates for PCRs utilizing primers upstream and downstream of helix-25 and helix-45. Variance in amplicon length and cycle sequencing indicated that rrlG and rrlH have IVSs in helix-25 of approximately 110 bp which are only 56% identical. rrnA, rrnB, rrnC, rrnD, rrnE, and rrnH have IVSs of approximately 90 bp in helix-45, and all have the same nucleotide sequence. Twenty-one independent wild-type strains of S. typhimurium from Salmonella Reference Collection A were analyzed for IVSs by using PCRs with genomic DNAs and by denaturing agarose electrophoresis of RNAs. Many strains resemble LT2, but some have no IVSs in helix-25 and others have IVSs in helix-45 in all seven rrl genes. However, the IVSs in individual wild-type lines are relatively stable, for several LT2 isolates separated over many years by many single-colony isolations are indistinguishable from one another, with the exception of line LB5010, which differs by one helix-25 IVS. We postulate that IVSs have entered strain LT2 by three independent lateral-transfer events and that the IVS in helix-45 was dispersed to and maintained in the same sequence in six of the seven rrl genes by the mechanism of gene conversion.

Base Sequence↗

Development of a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the diagnosis of human herpesvirus-6 infection and application to bone marrow transplant patients.

A quantitative real-time PCR assay was developed for human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) genome based on TaqMan technology. After choosing a region of interest into the U65-U66 genes of HHV-6 genome, its nucleotide sequence was determined among four HHV-6 strains (one variant A and three variants B) to exclude a variability of sensitivity due to interstrain sequence differences. A plasmid containing HHV-6 target sequences identical to those of reference type viruses was constructed with the aim of standardisation. This HHV-6 genomic quantitation assay has a threshold sensitivity of ten copy equivalents (EqCop) per reaction. In order to test the feasibility of this assay directly on human samples, the technique was applied to the quantitation of HHV-6 genome in 30 blood samples from healthy subjects as well as 31 blood samples and three samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 21 bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients and four patients with a haematological disease but not treated by bone marrow transplantation. HHV-6 load ranged between 0.00015 and 0.0008 equivalent DNA copy number (EqCop) per 100 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in healthy subjects whereas it ranged from <10 to 7500 EqCop per 100 PBMCs, and from <10 to 415,820 EqCop per 100 microl of whole CSF in patients. The efficacy of treatment with antiherpetic drug was associated with a decrease of the viral load in the CSF of one patient. This method leads to relevant results in term of range of quantitation, sensitivity, and safety against contamination by amplicons, and might constitute a useful tool for the follow-up of BMT recipients particularly in the presence of antiherpetic therapy.

Adult↗

Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and plasmid profile of soil and clinical isolates of Nocardia.

The aim of this study was to develop a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay for generic and species-specific differentiation of Nocardia from other morphologically similar bacterial pathogens. To examine the utility of the PCR-RFLP approach in species identification, genomic DNA was prepared from 40 soil isolates, 10 clinical isolates and 8 reference strains of Nocardia. A set of oligonucleotide primers was designed from the consensus sequence of the highly conserved groEL gene that encodes the 65-kDa heat shock protein (hsp 65). The primers selectively amplified 422 bp DNA from the genomic DNA of all Nocardia species and isolates. The digestion of the amplicons with the restriction enzyme MspI produced DNA fragments that could differentiate between different Nocardia species regardless of their origin. Additionally, the RFLP patterns obtained with restriction enzymes MspI and BsaHI resulted in the differentiation of six Nocardia species which were earlier identified by biochemical tests. Apart from soil isolates of N. asteroides, which had shown some degree of genotypic polymorphism with BsaHI, the remaining taxa yielded more consistent results. Our results on the isolation of plasmids indicated that their occurrence is not a consistent feature in Nocardia species. It is neither related to the source of origin (clinical versus saprobic), nor to virulence, anti-microbial resistance or species specificity.

Humans↗