Search

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of mortality in diabetic patients. Because of the diffuse nature of their disease, diabetic patients may be at risk for incomplete revascularization, highlighting a potential role for proangiogenic therapy in this group. This study investigates molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis in diabetic patients. Myocardial tissue was harvested from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting [nondiabetic (ND) 11, type 2 diabetic (DM) 10]. Expression of angiostatin, endostatin, their precursors (plasminogen and collagen XVIII, respectively), enzymes leading to their production [matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-2 and -9, cathepsin L], and an inhibitor of MMPs (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase) was assessed with Western blotting. MMP activity was assessed. Coronary collateralization was graded by Rentrop scoring of angiograms. Plasminogen and collagen XVIII expression were similar between groups. Angiostatin expression trended to increase 1.24-fold (P = 0.07), and endostatin expression increased 2.02-fold in DM patients relative to ND (P = 0.02). MMP-9 expression was no different between groups, whereas MMP-2 expression decreased 1.8-fold in diabetics (P = 0.003). MMP-2 and -9 activity decreased 1.33-fold (P = 0.03) and 1.57-fold (P = 0.04), respectively, in diabetic patients. Cathepsin L expression was 1.38-fold higher in diabetic patients (P = 0.02). Coronary collateralization scores were ND 2.1 [+ or -] 0.37 vs. DM 1.0 [+ or -] 0.4 (P = 0.05). Myocardial endostatin expression correlated strongly with the percentage of hemoglobin [A.sub.1c] (r = 0.742, P = 0.0001). Myocardial expression of angiostatin and endostatin demonstrated significant negative linear correlations with coronary collateralization (angiostatin r = -0.531, P = 0.035, endostatin r = -0.794, P = 0.0002). Diabetic patients with CAD exhibit increased levels of the antiangiogenie proteins angiostatin and endostatin and differential regulation of the enzymes governing their production relative to ND patients. Myocardial levels of these proteins show significant correlation to coronary collateralization. These findings offer potential new therapeutic targets for enhancing proangiogenic therapy and insight into the angiogenic impairments seen in diabetes. matrix metalloprotease; tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease

Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) possess the potentials of self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation toward different lineages of blood cells. These cells not only play a primordial role in hematopoietic development but also have important clinical application. Characterization of the gene expression profile in [CD34.sup.+] HSPCs may lead to a better understanding of the regulation of normal and pathological hematopoiesis. In the present work, genes expressed in human umbilical cord blood [CD34.sup.+] cells were catalogued by partially sequencing a large amount of eDNA clones [or expressed sequence tags (ESTs)] and analyzing these sequences with the tools of bioinformatics. Among 9,866 ESTs thus obtained, 4,697 (47.6%) showed identity to known genes in the GertBank database, 2,603 (26.4%) matched to the ESTs previously deposited in a public domain database, 1,415 (14.3%) were previously undescribed ESTs, and the remaining 1,151 (11.7%) were mitochondrial DNA, ribosomal RNA, or repetitive (Alu or L1) sequences. Integration of ESTs of known genes generated a profile including 855 genes that could be divided into different categories according to their functions. Some (8.2%) of the genes in this profile were considered related to early hematopoiesis. The possible function of ESTs corresponding to so far unknown genes were approached by means of homology and functional motif searches. Moreover, attempts were made to generate libraries enriched for full-length cDNAs, to better explore the genes in HSPCs. Nearly 60% of the eDNA clones of mRNA under 2 kb in our libraries had 5[prime] ends upstream of the first ATG codon of the ORF. With this satisfactory result, we have developed an efficient working system that allowed fast sequencing of 32 full-length cDNAs, 16 of them being mapped to the chromosomes with radiation hybrid panels. This work may lay a basis for the further research on the molecular network of hematopoietic regulation.

Objectives: The origin and differentiation of Austronesian populations and their languages have long fascinated linguists, archeologists, and geneticists. However, the founding process of Austronesians and when they separated from their close relatives, such as the Daic and Austro‐Asiatic populations in the mainland of Asia, remain unclear. In this study, we explored the paternal origin of Malays in Southeast Asia and the early differentiation of Austronesians. Materials and Methods: We generated whole Y‐chromosome sequences of 50 Malays and co‐analyzed 200 sequences from other Austronesians and related populations. We generated a revised phylogenetic tree with time estimation. Results: We identified six founding paternal lineages among the studied Malays samples. These founding lineages showed a surprisingly coincident expansion age at 5000 to 6000 years ago. We also found numerous mostly close related samples of the founding lineages of Malays among populations from Mainland of Asia. Conclusion: Our analyses provided a refined phylogenetic resolution for the dominant paternal lineages of Austronesians found by previous studies. We suggested that the co‐expansion of numerous founding paternal lineages corresponds to the initial differentiation of the most recent common ancestor of modern Austronesians. The splitting time and divergence pattern in perspective of paternal Y‐chromosome evidence are highly consistent with the previous theories of ethnologists, linguists, and archeologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffusion of Tibeto-Burman populations across the Tibetan Plateau led to the largest human community in a high-altitude environment and has long been a focus of research on high-altitude adaptation, archeology, genetics, and linguistics. However, much uncertainty remains regarding the origin, diversification, and expansion of Tibeto-Burman populations. In this study, we analyzed a 7.0M bp region of 285 Y-chromosome sequences, including 81 newly reported ones, from male samples from Tibeto-Burman populations and other related Eastern Asian populations. We identified several paternal lineages specific to Tibeto-Burman populations, and most of these lineages emerged between 6000 and 2500 years ago. A phylogenetic tree and lineage dating both support the hypothesis that the establishment of Tibeto-Burman ancestral groups was triggered by Neolithic expansions from the middle Yellow River Basin and admixtures with local populations on the Tibetan Plateau who survived the Paleolithic Age. Furthermore, according to the geographical distributions of the haplogroups, we propose that there are two Neolithic expansion origins for all modern Tibeto-Burman populations. Our research provides a clear scenario about the sources, admixture process and later diffusion process of the ancestor population of all Tibeto-Burman populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Austronesian diffusion is considered one of the greatest dispersals in human history; it led to the peopling of an extremely vast region, ranging from Madagascar in the Indian Ocean to Easter Island in Remote Oceania. The Y-chromosome haplogroup O3a2b*-P164(xM134), a predominant paternal lineage of Austronesian populations, is found at high frequencies in Polynesian populations. However, the internal phylogeny of this haplogroup remains poorly investigated. In this study, we analyzed -seventeen Y-chromosome sequences of haplogroup O3a2b*-P164(xM134) and generated a revised phylogenetic tree of this lineage based on 310 non-private Y-chromosome polymorphisms. We discovered that all available O3a2b*-P164(xM134) samples belong to the newly defined haplogroup O3a2b2-N6 and samples from Austronesian populations belong to the sublineage O3a2b2a2-F706. Additionally, we genotyped a series of Y-chromosome polymorphisms in a large collection of samples from China. We confirmed that the sublineage O3a2b2a2b-B451 is unique to Austronesian populations. We found that O3a2b2-N6 samples are widely distributed on the eastern coastal regions of Asia, from Korea to Vietnam. Furthermore, we propose- that the O3a2b2a2b-B451 lineage represents a genetic connection between ancestors of Austronesian populations and ancient populations in North China, where foxtail millet was domesticated about 11,000 years ago. The large number of newly defined Y-chromosome polymorphisms and the revised phylogenetic tree of O3a2b2-N6 will be helpful to explore the origin of proto-Austronesians and the early diffusion process of Austronesian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the single stripping auxiliary obviously has many weaknesses and couldn't meet the requirements of actual production in terms of the effect and fiber damage for the wool/polyester blended fabric. Combined with dyeing properties of the blended fabric, the composite stripping auxiliary which consists of stannous chloride dihydrate, sodium dithionite and special stripping healanl can obviously improve the stripping effect as well as reduce the fiber damage through the analyses of its stripping performance under the given condition. The colour stripping-rate can reach to 40. 63%, meanwhile, the strength decrease-rate merely is 8 . 6 % by the method of its optimized formula. Of course, the novel stripping auxiliary really has a certain value for the application of actual production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]