Transcriptome variation in banded newt (Ommatotriton vittatus) during its life cycle and habitat transition.

Israel represents the southern limit of the distribution of the banded newt (Ommatotriton vittatus). The life cycle of O. vittatus includes several distinct phases: eggs, aquatic larvae, a terrestrial phase and an aquatic reproductive phase.

Inversely Regulated Inflammation-Related Processes Mediate Anxiety-Obesity Links in Zebrafish Larvae and Adults.

Anxiety and metabolic impairments are often inter-related, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. To seek RNAs involved in the anxiety disorder-metabolic disorder link, we subjected zebrafish larvae to caffeine-induced anxiety or high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity followed by RNA sequencing and analyses. Notably, differentially expressed (DE) transcripts in these larval models and an adult zebrafish caffeine-induced anxiety model, as well as the transcript profiles of inherently anxious versus less anxious zebrafish strains and high-fat diet-fed versus standard diet-fed adult zebrafish, revealed inversely regulated DE transcripts.

Whole-Genome Inter-Sex Variation in Russian Sturgeon ().

The Russian sturgeon (, AG) is an endangered fish species increasingly raised on fish farms for black caviar. Understanding the process of sex determination in AG is, therefore, of scientific and commercial importance. AG lacks sexual dimorphism until sexual maturation and has a predominantly octoploid genome without a definite sex chromosome.

Cross-species conservation of a transposase-linked element enables genetic sexing of commercial populations of Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii).

All-female culture of sturgeon is essential for efficient caviar production. However, Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) does not exhibit external sexual dimorphism, and therefore, commercial farms apply gonadal endoscopy or ultrasound at the earliest age of 4-5 years to separate the sexes, with ~90% accuracy. Recently, a dominant genomic marker (AllWSEX2) has been found with association to femaleness in sturgeons.

Natural Products Targeting Cancer Stem Cells for Augmenting Cancer Therapeutics.

Cancer stem cells (CSC) have been identified in several types of solid tumors. In some cases, CSC may be the source of all the tumor cells, the cause of the tumor's resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, and the source of metastatic cells. Thus, a combination therapy targeting non-CSC tumor cells as well as specifically targeting CSCs holds the potential to be highly effective.

Markers of Genetic Variation in Blue Gourami () as a Model for Labyrinth Fish.

Markers of genetic variation between species are important for both applied and basic research. Here, various genes of the blue gourami (, suborder Anabantoidei, a model labyrinth fish), many of them involved in growth and reproduction, are reviewed as markers of genetic variation. The genes encoding the following hormones are described: kisspeptins 1 and 2, gonadotropin-releasing hormones 1, 2, and 3, growth hormone, somatolactin, prolactin, follicle- stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, as well as mitochondrial genes encoding cytochrome b and 12S rRNA.

Leptin-Responsive MiR-4443 Is a Small Regulatory RNA Independent of the Canonic MicroRNA Biogenesis Pathway.

The human small RNA miR-4443 is functionally involved in several types of cancer and in the biology of the immune system, downstream of insulin and leptin signaling. Next generation sequencing evidence and structural prediction suggest that miR-4443 is not produced via the canonical Drosha-Exportin 5-Dicer pathway of microRNA biogenesis. We tested this hypothesis by using qRT-PCR to measure miR-4443 and other microRNA levels in HCT-116 cells with Drosha, Exportin 5, and Dicer knockouts, as well as in the parental cell line.

MicroRNA-423 may regulate diabetic vasculopathy.

To test the hypothesis that microRNAs may play a role in diabetic retinopathy, we measured the levels of different markers [microRNAs, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), nitric oxide (NO), and total antioxidant capacity (TAO)] in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and microvascular complications. Sixty-nine patients were recruited: 22 healthy subjects, ten T2DM patients without retinopathy, 22 with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, and 15 with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Serum levels of NO, VEGF, TAO and 16 candidate microRNAs were measured.

Sex Differences in Plasma MicroRNA Biomarkers of Early and Complicated Diabetes Mellitus in Israeli Arab and Jewish Patients.

MicroRNAs play functional roles in the etiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and complications, and extracellular microRNAs have attracted interest as potential biomarkers of these conditions. We aimed to identify a set of plasma microRNAs, which could serve as biomarkers of T2DM and complications in a mixed Israeli Arab/Jewish patient sample. Subjects included 30 healthy volunteers, 29 early-stage T2DM patients, and 29 late-stage T2DM patients with renal and/or vascular complications.

Serum miR-122 levels correlate with diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy is the most severe ocular complication of diabetes and may lead to visual disability and blindness. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is characterized by ischemia-induced neovascularization with associated complications. An association was established between the presence of PDR, cardiovascular disease, and mortality among patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus in epidemiological studies.

Obesity impacts the regulation of miR-10b and its targets in primary breast tumors.

Background: Obesity increases breast cancer (BC) risk in post-menopausal women by mostly unknown molecular mechanisms which may partly be regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs).

Methods: We isolated RNA from paired benign and malignant biopsies from 83 BC patients and determined miRNA profiles in samples from 12 women at the extremes of the BMI distribution by RNA-seq. Candidates were validated in all samples.

Effects of alkaline-electrolyzed and hydrogen-rich water, in a high-fat-diet nonalcoholic fatty liver disease mouse model.

Aim: To identify the effect of hydrogen-rich water (HRW) and electrolyzed-alkaline water (EAW) on high-fat-induced non-alcoholic fatty acid disease in mice.

Methods: Mice were divided into four groups: (1) Regular diet (RD)/regular water (RW); (2) high-fat diet (HFD)/RW; (3) RD/EAW; and (4) HFD/EAW. Weight and body composition were measured.

Sex-related gonadal gene expression differences in the Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) grown in stable aquaculture conditions.

The Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) is a primitive freshwater fish and a source of caviar. In the present study, the gonadal transcriptomes of male and female Russian sturgeons grown in stable aquaculture conditions were analyzed. RNA sequencing of whole-gonad transcriptomes from pools of 4-year old fish (five females, four males), resulted in the identification of 28,170 unique transcripts.

Evaluating Azoxystrobin Seed Coating Against Maize Late Wilt Disease Using a Sensitive qPCR-Based Method.

Harpophora maydis, a phytopathogenic fungus, causes late wilt, a severe vascular maize disease characterized by relatively rapid wilting of maize plants near fertilization. The disease is currently controlled using resistant varieties. Here, we evaluated seed coating efficiency with azoxystrobin against H.

Elevated Levels of miR-122 in Serum May Contribute to Improved Endothelial Function and Lower Oncologic Risk Following Bariatric Surgery.

Background: Weight loss surgery is the most effective treatment for obesity, and it reduces cardiovascular and cancer risk through poorly understood mechanisms. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNA molecules that regulate the stability and translation of many mRNAs. We hypothesized that levels of specific circulating miRNAs are altered following surgery and may contribute to lower cancer risk.

Assessment of six commercial plasma small RNA isolation kits using qRT-PCR and electrophoretic separation: higher recovery of microRNA following ultracentrifugation.

Growing interest in blood-borne microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers has led to the introduction of a number of commercial kits for isolating small RNAs from plasma/serum. We sought to compare the efficacy of six such kits in isolating miRNAs from either whole plasma or a plasma-derived ultracentrifugation (UC) fraction from 2 healthy volunteers with some of the results being validated in 10 additional subjects. To assess the overall yield and concentration of isolated small RNAs, we measured the levels of one spiked-in and four endogenous miRNAs by quantitative reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

Leptin and insulin up-regulate miR-4443 to suppress NCOA1 and TRAF4, and decrease the invasiveness of human colon cancer cells.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). Normal and tumor cells respond to metabolic hormones, such as leptin and insulin. Thus, obesity-associated resistance to these hormones likely leads to changes in gene expression and behavior of tumor cells.

MicroRNA-132 potentiates cholinergic anti-inflammatory signaling by targeting acetylcholinesterase.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to both neuronal and immune cell fate, but their involvement in intertissue communication remained unexplored. The brain, via vagal secretion of acetylcholine (ACh), suppresses peripheral inflammation by intercepting cytokine production; therefore, we predicted that microRNAs targeting acetylcholinesterase (AChE) can attenuate inflammation. Here, we report that inflammatory stimuli induced leukocyte overexpression of the AChE-targeting miR-132.

Changes in brain MicroRNAs contribute to cholinergic stress reactions.

Mental stress modifies both cholinergic neurotransmission and alternative splicing in the brain, via incompletely understood mechanisms. Here, we report that stress changes brain microRNA (miR) expression and that some of these stress-regulated miRs regulate alternative splicing. Acute and chronic immobilization stress differentially altered the expression of numerous miRs in two stress-responsive regions of the rat brain, the hippocampal CA1 region and the central nucleus of the amygdala.

MicroRNA modulation of megakaryoblast fate involves cholinergic signaling.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are abundant small regulatory RNAs with multiple roles in cell fate determination. The processes regulating cellular miRNA levels are still unclear and experimental oligonucleotide tools to readily mimic their effects are not yet available. Here, we report that thapsigargin-induced intracellular Ca(++) release suppressed pre-miR-181a levels in human promegakaryotic Meg-01 cells, induced differentiation-associated nuclear endoreduplication and caspase-3 activation and replaced the acetylcholinesterase 3' splice variant AChE-S with AChE-R.

Modulation of N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor activity upon amino acid deprivation.

Adaptation of eukaryotic cells to changing environmental conditions entails rapid regulation of protein targeting and transport to specific organelles. Such adaptation is well exemplified in mammalian cells exposed to nitrogen starvation that are triggered to form and transport autophagosomes to lysosomes, thus constituting an inducible intracellular trafficking pathway. Here we investigated the relationship between the general secretory machinery and the autophagic pathway in Chinese hamster ovary cells grown in the absence of amino acid.

Prolonged culture of telomerase-immortalized human fibroblasts leads to a premalignant phenotype.

Telomere shortening in primary human fibroblasts results in replicative senescence, which can be overcome by telomerase (hTERT) overexpression. However, because immortalization is one of the hallmarks of malignant transformation, careful analysis of hTERT-immortalized cells is of crucial importance for understanding both processes. To this end, we infected WI-38 fibroblasts with a retrovirus carrying the hTERT cDNA and analyzed their proliferative behavior during 600 days [ approximately 500 population doublings (PDLs)] of continuous culture.