Chronic mild stress exacerbates severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in association with altered non-coding RNA and metabolic biomarkers.

The causal factors determining the onset and severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) are not well understood. Here, we investigated the influence of chronic stress on clinical symptoms, metabolic and epigenetic manifestations of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a common animal model of MS. Lewis rats were immunized for monophasic EAE with MBP and were exposed to chronic stress for 37days starting 7days prior to immunization.

Internet-accessible emergency department workload information reduces ambulance diversion.

Objective: To determine the effect of pre-emptive ambulance distribution based on the implementation of a real-time, Internet-accessible emergency department (ED) workload schematic and prehospital Australasian Triage Scale (ATS) allocations on ambulance diversion in Western Australia.

Methods: Comparison of July-December 2002 and July-December 2003 metropolitan Perth ED cubicle occupancy, ambulance diversion, ambulance distribution, and ambulance unloading delays at four inner and four outer metropolitan EDs.

Results: Ambulance diversion fell from 1,788 hours in 2002 to 1,138 hours in 2003 (p < 0.

Physical disability and the experience of chronic pain.

Objectives: To obtain an insider's view about disability-related pain to help rehabilitation clinicians understand the experience and to show how people with disability manage daily living and encounters with other people.

Design: Qualitative methods by using open-ended interviews and thematic analysis.

Setting: Rehabilitation research program.

A novel germ line juxtamembrane Met mutation in human gastric cancer.

Activating mutations in the Met receptor tyrosine kinase, both germline and somatic, have been identified in human papillary renal cancer. Here we report a novel germline missense Met mutation, P1009S, in a patient with primary gastric cancer. The dosage of the mutant Met DNA was elevated in the tumor when compared to its matched normal DNA.

cDNA cloning and mapping of mouse pleckstrin (Plek), a gene upregulated in transformation-resistant cells.

Changes that occur during tumor promotion, the rate-limiting phase of multistep carcinogenesis, may offer the best targets for prevention of cancer or reversal of early disease. The murine epidermal JB6 promotion-sensitive (P+) and -resistant (P-) cell lines provide a cell culture model for tumor promoter-induced neoplastic transformation ideally suited to the identification of molecular events that mediate or inhibit transformation. A differential display comparison of P+ and P- cell mRNAs yielded seven differentially expressed sequences.

Use of denaturing HPLC to map human and murine genes and to validate single-nucleotide polymorphisms.

Linkage mapping has been extensively applied in the murine and human genomes. It remains a powerful approach to mapping genes and identifying genetic variants. As genome efforts identify large numbers of single-nucleotide polymorphisms, it will be critical to validate these polymorphisms and confirm their gene assignment and chromosomal location.

Polymorphisms of the human IFNG gene noncoding regions.

Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) is a multifunctional cytokine that is essential in the development of Th1 cells and in cellular responses to a variety of intracellular pathogens including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). We screened genomic DNA samples from a predominately Caucasian male population of HIV-infected and healthy donors for polymorphisms in the human IFNG gene from -777 to +5608 by single-stranded conformational polymorphism. Surprisingly, the proximal promoter (-777 to transcription start) is invariant as no polymorphisms were found in over 100 samples tested.

Evaluation of the Best disease gene in patients with age-related macular degeneration and other maculopathies.

Vitelliform macular dystrophy (VMD2, Best disease, MIM153700) is an early onset, autosomal, dominant macular degeneration characterized by the deposition of lipofuscin-like material within and below the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE); it is associated with degeneration of the RPE and overlying photoreceptors. Recently, we cloned the gene bestrophin, which is responsible for the disease, and identified a number of causative mutations in families with VMD2. Here, we report that the analysis of bestrophin in a collection of 259 age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients provides evidence that mutations in the Best disease gene do not play a significant role in the predisposition of individuals to AMD.

Novel mutations of the MET proto-oncogene in papillary renal carcinomas.

Hereditary papillary renal carcinoma (HPRC) is characterized by multiple, bilateral papillary renal carcinomas. Previously, we demonstrated missense mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of the MET proto-oncogene in HPRC and a subset of sporadic papillary renal carcinomas. In this study, we screened a large panel of sporadic papillary renal carcinomas and various solid tumors for mutations in the MET proto-oncogene.

Genetic acceleration of AIDS progression by a promoter variant of CCR5.

The CCR5 gene encodes a cell surface chemokine receptor molecule that serves as the principal coreceptor, with CD4, for macrophage-tropic (R5) strains of human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1). Genetic association analysis of five cohorts of people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) revealed that infected individuals homozygous for a multisite haplotype of the CCR5 regulatory region containing the promoter allele, CCR5P1, progress to AIDS more rapidly than those with other CCR5 promoter genotypes, particularly in the early years after infection. Composite genetic epidemiologic analyses of genotypes bearing CCR5P1, CCR5-Delta32, CCR2-64I, and SDF1-3'A affirmed distinct regulatory influences for each gene on AIDS progression.

Dating the origin of the CCR5-Delta32 AIDS-resistance allele by the coalescence of haplotypes.

The CCR5-Delta32 deletion obliterates the CCR5 chemokine and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 coreceptor on lymphoid cells, leading to strong resistance against HIV-1 infection and AIDS. A genotype survey of 4,166 individuals revealed a cline of CCR5-Delta32 allele frequencies of 0%-14% across Eurasia, whereas the variant is absent among native African, American Indian, and East Asian ethnic groups. Haplotype analysis of 192 Caucasian chromosomes revealed strong linkage disequilibrium between CCR5 and two microsatellite loci.

Novel alleles of the chemokine-receptor gene CCR5.

The CCR5 gene encodes a cell-surface chemokine-receptor molecule that serves as a coreceptor for macrophage-tropic strains of HIV-1. Mutations in this gene may alter expression or function of the protein product, thereby altering chemokine binding/signaling or HIV-1 infection of cells that normally express CCR5 protein. Indeed, homozygotes for a 32-bp deletion allele of CCR5 (CCR5-delta 32), which causes a frameshift at amino acid 185, are relatively resistant to HIV-1 infection.

Characterization of a YAC contig containing the NBCCS locus and a novel Kruppel-type zinc finger sequence on chromosome segment 9q22.3.

Gorlin's syndrome or nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by a familial or hereditary predisposition to basal cell carcinomas (generally multiple and of early onset), odontogenic keratocysts (jaw cysts), palmar and plantar pits, a wide variety of developmental defects, as well as cancers such as medulloblastomas and ovarian fibromas. The gene for NBCCS has been mapped to human chromosome region 9q22.1-q31 by linkage analysis and by cytogenetic evidence of deletions in this region in patients with the syndrome.

A photoreceptor cell-specific ATP-binding transporter gene (ABCR) is mutated in recessive Stargardt macular dystrophy.

Stargardt disease (STGD, also known as fundus flavimaculatus; FFM) is an autosomal recessive retinal disorder characterized by a juvenile-onset macular dystrophy, alterations of the peripheral retina, and subretinal deposition of lipofuscin-like material. A gene encoding an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter was mapped to the 2-cM (centiMorgan) interval at 1p13-p21 previously shown by linkage analysis to harbour the STGD gene. This gene, ABCR, is expressed exclusively and at high levels in the retina, in rod but not cone photoreceptors, as detected by in situ hybridization.

Homologues of the human multidrug resistance genes MRP and MDR contribute to heavy metal resistance in the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Acquired resistance of mammalian cells to multiple chemotherapeutic drugs can result from enhanced expression of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP), which belongs to the ABC transporter superfamily. ABC transporters play a role in the protection of organisms against exogenous toxins by cellular detoxification processes. We have identified four MRP homologues in the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and we have studied one member, mrp-1, in detail.

Mutations in the human homologue of the Drosophila patched gene in Caucasian and African-American nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome patients.

The nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS), or Gorlin syndrome, is a multisystem autosomal dominant disorder. The salient features of this syndrome include multiple basal cell carcinomas, palmar and/or plantar pits, odontogenic keratocysts, skeletal and developmental anomalies, and ectopic calcification. Other features include such tumors as ovarian fibromas and medulloblastomas.

Characterization of the human ABC superfamily: isolation and mapping of 21 new genes using the expressed sequence tags database.

As an approach to characterizing all human ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily genes, a search of the human expressed sequence tag (EST) database was performed using sequences from known ABC genes. A total of 105 clones, containing sequences of potential ABC genes, were identified, representing 21 distinct genes. This brings the total number of characterized human ABC genes from 12 to 33.

Mutations of the human homolog of Drosophila patched in the nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome.

The nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by multiple basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), pits of the palms and soles, jaw keratocysts, a variety of other tumors, and developmental abnormalities. NBCCS maps to chromosome 9q22.3.

A mammalian patched homolog is expressed in target tissues of sonic hedgehog and maps to a region associated with developmental abnormalities.

Drosophila patched is a segment polarity gene required for the correct patterning of larval segments and imaginal discs during fly development and has a close functional relationship with hedgehog. We have isolated a complete human PATCHED cDNA sequence, which encodes a putative protein of 1296 amino acids, and displays 39% identity and 60% similarity to the Drosophila PATCHED protein. Hydropathy analysis suggests that human PATCHED is an integral membrane protein with a pattern of hydrophobic and hydrophilic stretches nearly identical to that of Drosophila patched.

Characterization and mapping of three new mammalian ATP-binding transporter genes from an EST database.

Analysis of the human expressed sequence tag (EST) database identified four clones that contain sequences of previously uncharacterized genes, members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily. Two new ABC genes (EST20237, 31252) are located at Chromosome (Chr) 1q42 and 1q25 respectively in humans, as determined by FISH; at locations distinct from previously mapped genes of this superfamily. Two additional clones, EST 600 and EST 1596, were found to represent different ATP-binding domains of the same gene, ABC2.

Mapping and sequencing of two yeast genes belonging to the ATP-binding cassette superfamily.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters share significant sequence identity within their ATP-binding domains. Degenerate oligonucleotides based on highly conserved portions of the ATP-binding domain genes were used to clone portions of two members of the ABC gene superfamily from Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA. These genes were designated MDL1 and MDL2 (for multidrug resistance-like).