Expression of TLR2, IL-1β, and IL-10 Genes as a Possible Factor of Successful or Pathological Aging in Nonagenarians.

The expression of the gene of pattern recognition receptor TLR2, proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β, and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was analyzed in the peripheral blood of nonagenarians (n=219; mean age 92.1 years, 77 men and 142 women) in comparison with healthy young donors (n=24; mean age 22.5 years, 16 women and 8 men).

Stratified distribution of nutrients and extremophile biota within freshwater ice covering the surface of Lake Baikal.

Biological entities and gradients of selected chemicals within the seemingly barren ice layers covering Lake Baikal were investigated. Ice cores 40-68 cm long were obtained from in shore and offshore sites of Southern Lake Baikal during the cold period of a year (March-April) in 2007 and 2008. In microscopic observations of the melted ice, both algae and bacteria were found in considerable numbers (>10(3) cells/L and >10(4) cells/ml, respectively).

Massive idiosyncratic exon skipping corrects the nonsense mutation in dystrophic mouse muscle and produces functional revertant fibers by clonal expansion.

Conventionally, nonsense mutations within a gene preclude synthesis of a full-length functional protein. Obviation of such a blockage is seen in the mdx mouse, where despite a nonsense mutation in exon 23 of the dystrophin gene, occasional so-called revertant muscle fibers are seen to contain near-normal levels of its protein product. Here, we show that reversion of dystrophin expression in mdx mice muscle involves unprecedented massive loss of up to 30 exons.

Bacterial beta-galactosidase and human dystrophin genes are expressed in mouse skeletal muscle fibers after ballistic transfection.

Ballistic transfection, based on cell and tissue bombardment by the tungsten and gold microparticles covered with the gene DNA, was used for the delivery of a bacterial beta-galactosidase and a full-length cDNA copy of the human dystrophin genes into mouse skeletal muscles. CMV-lacZ, SV40-lacZ, LTR-lacZneo and full-length cDNA dystrophin (pDMD-1, approximately 16 kb) in eukaryotic expression vector pJ OMEGA driven by mouse leukaemia virus promotor (pMLVDy) were used throughout the studies. Musculus glutaeus superficialis of C57BL/6J and quadriceps femoris of mdx male mice were opened surgically under anesthesia and bombarded by means of the gene-gun technique originally developed by us.

Dystrophin gene analysis and prenatal diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in Russia.

Of 126 families referred for counselling of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), DNA analysis has been suggested to 119 families with at least one affected child or with an affected close male relative of the woman at risk of being a DMD carrier. A large proportion (about 80 per cent) of the families were represented by sporadic cases (only one affected individual). By means of multiplex polymerase chain reactions with different sets of oligoprimers providing amplification of 10-11 different exons, altogether 49 dystrophin gene deletions were identified (41 per cent).