Humans ; Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors/genetics* ; Mutation, Missense ; Proline Oxidase/genetics*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the serological characteristics and molecular biological mechanism of an a_el subtype specimen. METHODS: The ABO blood typing was identified by routine blood group serological and absorption/elution methods; PCR-SBT method for ABO genotyping: 7 exons of ABO gene were amplified by PCR, the amplified products were purified, and then sequencing primers were designed and the amplified products were sequenced directly for analysis; 3D molecular model was constructed and the difference of free energy (ΔΔG) was used to predict the GTA mutant stability. RESULTS: A antigen was not detected on erythrocytes through absorption and elution tests, which was not consistent with the serological characteristics of a_el, and the serological typing results were ambiguous. The ABO genotype was ABO*AEL.02/O.01.01, and there were two mutations in exon 7 of the gene, c.467C>T and c.646T>A, which could lead to the replacement of proline with leucine at position 156 (p.Pro156Leu) and phenylalanine with isoleucine at position 216 on the GTA, respectively. The 3D model predicts that the mutations do not introduce new hydrogen bonds to the GTA mutant and do not form a new secondary structure, but can lead to an increase in the ΔΔG value of the GTA mutant, suggesting a decrease in protein stability. CONCLUSION The serological characteristics alone is not reliable to determine the a_el subype; the a_el phenotype may be due to the GTA mutant that reduces enzyme stability.
ABO Blood-Group System/genetics* ; Alleles ; Genotype ; Isoleucine/genetics* ; Leucine/genetics* ; Phenotype ; Phenylalanine/genetics* ; Proline/genetics*

Objective: To screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), and to perform functional analysis and clinical validation of them, intending to lay a theoretical foundation for epigenetic therapy of chronic refractory wounds. Methods: An observational study was conducted. The gene expression profile dataset GSE80178 of DFU patients in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) was selected, and the DEG between three normal skin tissue samples and six DFU tissue samples in the dataset was analyzed and screened using the GEO2R tool. For the screened DEG, ClusterProfiler, org.Hs.eg.db, GOplot, and ggplot2 in the R language packages were used for Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, respectively. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis was performed using STRING database to screen key genes in the DEG, and GO enrichment analysis of key genes was performed using Cytohubba plug-in in Cytoscape 3.9.1 software. DFU tissue and normal skin tissue discarded after surgery were collected respectively from 15 DFU patients (7 males and 8 females, aged 55-87 years) and 15 acute wound patients (6 males and 9 females, aged 8-52 years) who were admitted to Xiang'an Hospital of Xiamen University from September 2018 to March 2021. The mRNA and protein expressions of small proline-rich repeat protein 1A (SPRR1A) and late cornified envelope protein 3C (LCE3C) were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Data were statistically analyzed with independent sample t test. Results: Compared with normal skin tissue, 492 statistically differentially expressed DEGs were screened from DFU tissue of DFU patients (corrected P<0.05 or corrected P<0.01), including 363 up-regulated DEGs and 129 down-regulated DEGs. GO terminology analysis showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in the aspects of skin development, keratinocyte (KC) differentiation, keratinization, epidermal development, and epidermal cell differentiation, etc. (corrected P values all <0.01). KEGG pathway analysis showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in the aspects of tumor-associated microRNA, Ras related protein 1 signaling pathway, and pluripotent stem cell regulatory signaling pathway, etc. (corrected P values all <0.01). PPI analysis showed that endophial protein, SPRR1A, SPRR1B, SPRR2B, SPRR2E, SPRR2F, LCE3C, LCE3E, keratin 16 (all down-regulated DEGs), and filoprotein (up-regulated DEG) were key genes of DEGs screened from DFU tissue of DFU patients, which were significantly enriched in GO terms of keratinization, KC differentiation, epidermal cell differentiation, skin development, epidermis development, and peptide cross-linking, etc. (corrected P values all <0.01). The mRNA expressions of SPRR1A and LCE3C in DFU tissue of DFU patients were 0.588±0.082 and 0.659±0.098, respectively, and the protein expressions were 0.22±0.05 and 0.24±0.04, respectively, which were significantly lower than 1.069±0.025 and 1.053±0.044 (with t values of 20.91 and 13.66, respectively, P values all <0.01) and 0.38±0.04 and 0.45±0.05 (with t values of 9.69 and 12.46, respectively, P values all <0.01) in normal skin tissue of acute wound patients. Conclusions: Compared with normal skin tissue, there is DEG profile in DFU tissue of DFU patients, with DEGs being significantly enriched in the aspects of KC differentiation and keratin function. Key DEGs are related to the biological function of KC, and their low expressions in DFU tissue of DFU patients may impede ulcer healing.
Female ; Humans ; Male ; Computational Biology ; Diabetes Mellitus/genetics* ; Diabetic Foot/genetics* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Keratin-16 ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Proline ; RNA, Messenger ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Wound Healing/genetics*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of the microbiota in drug naïve first-onset schizophrenia patients and to seek evidence from multidimensional longitudinal analyses of the intestinal microbiome and clinical phenotype with antipsychotic drugs (APDs) therapy. METHODS: In this study, 28 drug naïve first onset schizophrenia patients and age-, gender- and education-matched 29 healthy controls were included, and the patients were treated with APDs. We collected fecal and serum samples at baseline and after 6 weeks of treatment to identify the different microbiota strains and analyse their correlation with clinical symptoms and serum metabolites. The 16S rRNA genes of the gut microbiota were sequenced, and the diversity and relative abundance at the phylum and genus levels were analyzsed in detail. The PANSS score, BMI changed value, and serum metabolome were included in the data analyses. RESULTS: A multiomics study found a potential connection among the clinical phenotype, microbiota and metabolome. The species diversity analyses revealed that the alpha diversity index (chao1, ACE, and goods_coverage) in the schizophrenia APDs group was significantly lower than that in the control group, and the schizophrenia group had clear demarcation from the control group. The microbiota composition analysis results showed that the relative abundance of the genera of Bacteroides, Streptococcus, Romboutsia, and Eubacterium ruminantium group significantly changed after APDs treatment in the schizophrenia patients. These strains could reflect the APDs treatment effect. More genera had differences between the patient and control groups. The LEfSe analysis showed that Prevotella_9 and Bacteroides were enriched in schizophrenia, while Blautia, Dialister, and Roseburia were enriched in the control group. The correlation analysis between microbiota and clinical symptoms showed that Bifidobacterium in schizophrenia was positively correlated with the PANSS reduction rate of the general psychopathology scale. The BMI changed value was positively correlated with the alteration of Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 during treatment and the baseline abundance of Bacteroides. Moreover, metabolomic data analysis revealed a significant correlation between specific genera and metabolites, such as L-methionine, L-proline, homovanillic acid, N-acetylserotonin, and vitamin B6. CONCLUSION Our study found some microbiota features in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls, and several strains were correlated with APDs effects. Furthermore, the multiomics analysis implies the intermediate role of microbiota between antipsychotic effects and serum metabolites and provides new evidence to interpret the difference from multiple levels in the pathogenesis and pharmacological mechanism of schizophrenia.
Humans ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Homovanillic Acid ; Metabolomics/methods* ; Methionine ; Microbiota ; Proline ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics* ; Schizophrenia ; Vitamin B 6 ; Feces

Psoriasis (Ps) is an inflammatory skin disease caused by genetic and environmental factors. Previous studies on DNA methylation (DNAm) found genetic markers that are closely associated with Ps, and evidence has shown that DNAm mediates genetic risk in Ps. In this study, Consensus Clustering was used to analyze DNAm data, and 114 Ps patients were divided into three subclassifications. Investigation of the clinical characteristics and copy number variations (CNVs) of DEFB4, IL22, and LCE3C in the three subclassifications revealed no significant differences in gender ratio and in Ps area and severity index (PASI) score. The proportion of late-onset ( ≥ 40 years) Ps patients was significantly higher in type I than in types II and III (P = 0.035). Type III contained the smallest proportion of smokers and the largest proportion of non-smoking Ps patients (P = 0.086). The CNVs of DEFB4 and LCE3C showed no significant differences but the CNV of IL22 significantly differed among the three subclassifications (P = 0.044). This study is the first to profile Ps subclassifications based on DNAm data in the Chinese Han population. These results are useful in the treatment and management of Ps from the molecular and genetic perspectives.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; China ; Cornified Envelope Proline-Rich Proteins ; genetics ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Interleukins ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Psoriasis ; classification ; genetics ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult ; beta-Defensins ; genetics

OBJECTIVEIn Corynebacterium crenatum, the adjacent D311 and D312 of N-acetyl-L-glutamate kinase (NAGK), as a key rate-limiting enzyme of L-arginine biosynthesis under substrate regulatory control by arginine, were initially replaced with two arginine residues to investigate the L-arginine feedback inhibition for NAGK.

METHODSNAGK enzyme expression was evaluated using a plasmid-based method. Homologous recombination was employed to eliminate the proB.

RESULTSThe IC50 and enzyme activity of NAGK M4, in which the D311R and D312R amino acid substitutions were combined with the previously reported E19R and H26E substitutions, were 3.7-fold and 14.6% higher, respectively, than those of the wild-type NAGK. NAGK M4 was successfully introduced into the C. crenatum MT genome without any genetic markers; the L-arginine yield of C. crenatum MT-M4 was 26.2% higher than that of C. crenatum MT. To further improve upon the L-arginine yield, we constructed the mutant C. crenatum MT-M4 proB. The optimum concentration of L-proline was also investigated in order to determine its contribution to L-arginine yield. After L-proline was added to the medium at 10 mmol/L, the L-arginine yield reached 16.5 g/L after 108 h of shake-flask fermentation, approximately 70.1% higher than the yield attained using C. crenatum MT.

CONCLUSIONFeedback inhibition of L-arginine on NAGK in C. crenatum is clearly alleviated by the M4 mutation of NAGK, and deletion of the proB in C. crenatum from MT to M4 results in a significant increase in arginine production.

Animals ; Arginine ; biosynthesis ; Corynebacterium ; genetics ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; Feedback, Physiological ; Gene Deletion ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; Phosphotransferases (Carboxyl Group Acceptor) ; genetics ; Proline ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study possible immunobiological potential of Osmunda japonica Thunb.

METHODSImmunomodulatory effects of ethanol extracts prepared from rhizomes of O. japonica and phenolic compounds isolated from the extracts were investigated under the in vitro conditions using the rat peritoneal cells (2×10(6)/mL; 24 h culture). Biosynthesis of nitric oxide (NO) was assayed by Griess reagent, production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and secretion of cytokines were determined by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay.

RESULTSThe extracts activated dose dependently, with the onset at 2.5-5 μmol/L concentrations, the high output NO production, and secretion of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Mild enhancement of NO was produced by the aldehyde-type phenolics 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 3,4-hydroxybenzaldehyde. In contrasts, the acetone-type phenolics 4-hydroxybenzalacetone and 3,4-hydroxybenzalacetone inhibited production of immune mediators including cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6), NO, and PGE2. The 3,4-hydroxybenzalacetone was more effective than 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde. The IC50s estimates ranged within the interval of 5-10 μmol/L. No signs of cytotoxicity were observed up to the 50 μmol/L concentration of the compounds.

CONCLUSIONPhenolic compounds contained in medicinal herb Osmunda japonica possess distinct immunomodulatory activity.

Animals ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Dinoprostone ; biosynthesis ; Female ; Ferns ; chemistry ; Immunologic Factors ; pharmacology ; Interferon-gamma ; pharmacology ; Lipopolysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Nitric Oxide ; biosynthesis ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; genetics ; metabolism ; Peritoneum ; cytology ; drug effects ; Phenols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Polymyxin B ; pharmacology ; Proline ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Thiocarbamates ; pharmacology

Apert syndrome (AS) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder characterised by craniosynostosis and limb malformations, and is associated with congenital heart disease and other systemic malformations, including intellectual disability. We report two Indonesian patients with AS, in whom molecular analysis detected p.Ser252Trp (c.755C>G) and p.Pro253Arg (c.758C>G) mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) gene, respectively. Although the syndrome has been frequently described, this is the first clinical report of AS confirmed by molecular analysis in Indonesia. The difference in severity of clinical features in the two patients may be consistent with a genotype-phenotype correlation of the FGFR2mutation. The management of individuals with AS is best achieved within a multidisciplinary setting. However, in most developing countries, early intervention may be delayed due to late diagnosis, a lack of facilities and financial constraints. This report underpins the benefits of early diagnosis for AS management.
Acrocephalosyndactylia ; diagnosis ; ethnology ; genetics ; Arginine ; analysis ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Fatal Outcome ; Genetic Association Studies ; Humans ; Indonesia ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Mutation ; Proline ; analysis ; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 2 ; genetics ; Serine ; analysis ; Tryptophan ; analysis

Mean hemoglobin (Hb) concentration of about 3 500 subjects derived from 17 studies of Himalayan highlanders (Tibetans, Sherpas, and Ladakhis) was compared with lowlanders (Chinese Han, Indian Tamils) lived in the Himalayas, and European climbers during Everest expeditions as well as Andean natives. The results found that Hb concentration in Himalayan highlanders was systemically lower than those reported for Andean natives and lowland immigrants. These comparative data demonstrated that a healthy native population may successfully reside at high altitude without a significant elevation in Hb, and the lower Hb levels of Himalayan highlanders than those of migrated lowlanders and Andean natives are an example of favourable adaptation over the generations. In addition, excessive polycythemia has frequently been used as a marker of chronic mountain sickness (CMS). Altitude populations who have a higher Hb concentration also have a higher incidence of CMS. The low Hb in Himalayans suggested as showing adaptation over many generations in Tibetan stock. Recent work in Tibet, suggested that Tibetans there may have adapted to high altitude as a result of evolutionary pressure selecting for genes which give an advantage at altitude. All of the population genomic and statistical analysis indicated that EPAS1 and EGLN1 are mostly likely responsible for high altitude adaptation and closely related to low Hb concentration in Tibetans. These data supported the hypothesis that Himalayan highlanders have evolved a genetically different erythropoietic response to chronic hypoxia by virtue of their much longer exposure to high altitude.
Adaptation, Physiological ; Altitude ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Evolution, Molecular ; Hemoglobins ; genetics ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-Proline Dioxygenases ; genetics ; Tibet

OBJECTIVETo observe the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-lalpha subunit (HIF-1alpha), HIF prolyl hydroxylase domain-containing protein(PHDs) and factor inhibiting HIF-1(FIH) in pulmonary arteries of patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

METHODSPulmonary specimens were obtained from patients undergoing lobectomy for lung cancer, 12 had concurrent COPD (COPD group) and 14 without COPD (control group). The ratio of vascular wall area to total vascular area (WA%) and pulmonary artery media thickness (PAMT) was observed, and HIF-1alpha and its hydroxylases(PHD1, PHD2, PHD3, FIH) mRNA and protein were detected by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry respectively.

RESULTSWA% and PAMT of COPD patients(50 microm +/- 9 microm, 40% +/- 5%, were statistically different from those of the control subjects (39 microm +/- 6 microm, 31% +/- 4%, P < 0.01). Relative quantification of mRNA and protein levels (absorbance, A) showed that HIF-lalpha mRNA and protein levels in COPD group (0.230 +/- 0.036,0.275 +/- 0.039) were statistically higher than those of the control subjects (0.174 +/- 0.029, 0.102 +/- 0.015, P < 0.01 ), and that the protein level increased more markedly. PHD1 mRNA in COPD subjects (0.180 +/- 0.030) was comparable to that in control group (0.191 +/- 0.029, P > 0.05); PHD2 and PHD3 mRNA levels in COPD (0.245 +/- 0.044, 0.252 +/- 0.023) were significantly higher than those in control group(0.182 +/- 0.028, 0.127 +/- 0.017, P < 0.01). On the other hand, in COPD subjects PHD1 protein (0.104 +/- 0.015) was significantly lower(P < 0.01), whereas PHD2 protein (0.274 +/- 0.044) was significantly higher(P < 0.01) than those in control group(0.209 +/- 0.023, 0.219+/- 0.043). As for PHD3 protein, no significant changes were observed between the two groups (0.161+/- 0.023 in COPD, 0.146 +/- 0.021 in control, P > 0.05). FIH mRNA and protein both showed no differences between the two groups. Linear correlation analysis showed that HIF1alpha protein was positively correlated with WA%, PAMT, PHD2 mRNA and protein, PHD3 mRNA, and that HIF1alpha protein was negatively correlated with PHD1 protein.

CONCLUSIONPHDs may be involved in the process of hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling in COPD via regulation of HIF-1alpha gene expression

Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; metabolism ; Lung ; blood supply ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mixed Function Oxygenases ; metabolism ; Procollagen-Proline Dioxygenase ; metabolism ; Pulmonary Artery ; metabolism ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Repressor Proteins ; metabolism