Systematic variation in mRNA 3'-processing signals during mouse spermatogenesis.

Gene expression and processing during mouse male germ cell maturation (spermatogenesis) is highly specialized. Previous reports have suggested that there is a high incidence of alternative 3'-processing in male germ cell mRNAs, including reduced usage of the canonical polyadenylation signal, AAUAAA. We used EST libraries generated from mouse testicular cells to identify 3'-processing sites used at various stages of spermatogenesis (spermatogonia, spermatocytes and round spermatids) and testicular somatic Sertoli cells.

Cracking the egg: molecular dynamics and evolutionary aspects of the transition from the fully grown oocyte to embryo.

Fully grown oocytes (FGOs) contain all the necessary transcripts to activate molecular pathways underlying the oocyte-to-embryo transition (OET). To elucidate this critical period of development, an extensive survey of the FGO transcriptome was performed by analyzing 19,000 expressed sequence tags of the Mus musculus FGO cDNA library. Expression of 5400 genes and transposable elements is reported.

Patterns and mechanisms of genome organization in the mouse.

The physical and functional organizations of a genome are correlated outcomes of evolution. Inbred strains of mice provide a unique opportunity for exploring these relationships, representing as they do, diverse genomes originally separated by millions of generations that were then scrambled in the laboratory and subjected to intense selection during inbreeding to homozygosity. Here we show that the resulting pattern of chromosome organization includes regional domains of functionally related elements that promote the co-inheritance and survival of compatible sets of alleles.

Surgical necrotizing enterocolitis and intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants below 1000 g.

Background/purpose: Infants with very low birth weight are at increased risk for both intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). IVH often progresses in severity after initial diagnosis and causes severe neurological morbidity and mortality. The authors examined the role of NEC in the progression of IVH in these infants.

Memory lineage relationships in HTLV-1-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cells.

Cytotoxic memory T cells play a critical role in combating viral infections; however, in some diseases they may contribute to tissue damage. In HAM/TSP, HTLV-1 Tax 11-19+ cells proliferate spontaneously in vitro and can be tracked using the Tax 11-19 MHC Class I tetramer. Immediately ex vivo, these cells were a mix of CD45RA-/CCR7- TEM and CD45RA+/CCR7- TDiff memory CTL.

Ways to say no: refusal skill strategies among urban adolescents.

Objectives: To examine associations among adolescents' generated verbal strategies (ie, Simple No, Declarative Statements, Excuse, Alternatives) and underlying nonverbal assertiveness in 2 refusal situations: smoking and shoplifting.

Methods: Sixth-grade urban minority students (N = 454) participated in videotaped role-play assessments of peer refusal skills.

Results: Differences were found by situation with students demonstrating greater use of Simple No in the smoking refusal and Alternatives in the shoplifting refusal.

A multispecies comparison of the metazoan 3'-processing downstream elements and the CstF-64 RNA recognition motif.

Background: The Cleavage Stimulation Factor (CstF) is a required protein complex for eukaryotic mRNA 3'-processing. CstF interacts with 3'-processing downstream elements (DSEs) through its 64-kDa subunit, CstF-64; however, the exact nature of this interaction has remained unclear. We used EST-to-genome alignments to identify and extract large sets of putative 3'-processing sites for mRNA from ten metazoan species, including Homo sapiens, Canis familiaris, Rattus norvegicus, Mus musculus, Gallus gallus, Danio rerio, Takifugu rubripes, Drosophila melanogaster, Anopheles gambiae, and Caenorhabditis elegans.

Quantitative comparison of EST libraries requires compensation for systematic biases in cDNA generation.

Background: Publicly accessible EST libraries contain valuable information that can be utilized for studies of tissue-specific gene expression and processing of individual genes. This information is, however, confounded by multiple systematic effects arising from the procedures used to generate these libraries.

Results: We used alignment of ESTs against a reference set of transcripts to estimate the size distributions of the cDNA inserts and sampled mRNA transcripts in individual EST libraries and show how these measurements can be used to inform quantitative comparisons of libraries.

Evidence of a large-scale functional organization of mammalian chromosomes.

Evidence from inbred strains of mice indicates that a quarter or more of the mammalian genome consists of chromosome regions containing clusters of functionally related genes. The intense selection pressures during inbreeding favor the coinheritance of optimal sets of alleles among these genetically linked, functionally related genes, resulting in extensive domains of linkage disequilibrium (LD) among a set of 60 genetically diverse inbred strains. Recombination that disrupts the preferred combinations of alleles reduces the ability of offspring to survive further inbreeding.

Recurrent transverse myelitis following neurobrucellosis: immunologic features and beneficial response to immunosuppression.

The authors report the clinical course and immune system response of a patient with disease-associated recurrent transverse myelitis (TM) following cerebral infection with Brucellosis melitensis. The patient suffered four recurrences of his TM (each at a distinct spinal cord level) over the course of 2 years following his initial presentation, which ultimately progressed to quadriplegia. He had progressively declining cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) brucella antibody titers, suggesting a postinfectious, rather than an infectious, etiology.

PACdb: PolyA Cleavage Site and 3'-UTR Database.

Unlabelled: The PolyA Cleavage Site and 3'-UTR Database (PACdb) is a web-accessible database that catalogs putative 3'-processing sites and 3'-UTR sequences for multiple organisms. Sites have been identified primarily via expressed sequence tag-genome alignments, enabling delineation of both the specificities and heterogeneity of 3'-processing events.

Availability: By web browser or CGI: PACdb: http://harlequin.

In vitro HgCl2 exposure of immune cells at different stages of maturation: effects on phenotype and function.

This is the first study to investigate the hypothesis that the immunotoxic effects of inorganic mercury may be modulated by inherent differences in the responsiveness of immune cells related to the age of the donor. We exposed cells from lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus, collected from 7- and 10-day-old CD.1 pups, as well as from adult CD.

Underestimation of cardiovascular disease mortality among Maine American Indians: the role of procedural and data errors.

We collaborated with Maine American Indian tribes to evaluate racial coding on death certificates and the effects of coding errors on estimation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Lists of tribal decedents were matched to death certificates; 38.5% were misclassified (17.

Folate cross-feeding supports symbiotic homoacetogenic spirochetes.

Treponema primitia, an H2-consuming CO2-reducing homoacetogenic spirochete in termite hindguts, requires an exogenous source of folate for growth. Tetrahydrofolate (THF) acts as a C1 carrier in CO2-reductive acetogenesis, a microbially mediated process important to the carbon and energy requirements of termites. To examine the hypothesis that other termite gut microbes probably supply some form of folate to T.

Interferon-beta-1a induces increases in vascular cell adhesion molecule: implications for its mode of action in multiple sclerosis.

We investigated soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM) levels and MRI lesions over 24 weeks in 15 Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS) patients randomized prospectively to receive once-weekly (qw) IFN-beta-1a 30 mug intramuscularly (IM) (Group I, 8 patients) or three-times-weekly (tiw) IFN-beta-1a 44 mug subcutaneously (SC) (Group II, 7 patients). Both groups demonstrated a significant increase in sVCAM during treatment when compared to pre-treatment levels. Patients on IFN-beta-1a 44 mug SC tiw had a significant (p<0.

It's not what you say, it's how many different ways you can say it: links between divergent peer resistance skills and delinquency a year later.

Purpose: To examine whether generation of 'socially appropriate' responses or divergent responses to continued peer pressure is a more effective deterrent of actual delinquency.

Methods: The sample of 129 urban adolescents included both boys and girls (51.9% male) and was predominantly black (48.

Retrotransposons regulate host genes in mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos.

A comprehensive analysis of transposable element (TE) expression in mammalian full-grown oocytes reveals that LTR class III retrotransposons make an unexpectedly high contribution to the maternal mRNA pool, which persists in cleavage stage embryos. The most abundant transcripts in the mouse oocyte are from the mouse transcript (MT) retrotransposon family, and expression of this and other TE families is developmentally regulated. Furthermore, TEs act as alternative promoters and first exons for a subset of host genes, regulating their expression in full-grown oocytes and cleavage stage embryos.

Is pubertal timing associated with psychopathology in young adulthood.

Objective: This investigation tested whether the timing of puberty continued to be associated with experiences of psychopathology (symptoms and disorders) from mid-adolescence into young adulthood.

Method: At age 24, 931 participants from a large community sample, who had been interviewed twice during adolescence, completed a telephone interview (assessing Axis I disorders and elevated antisocial and borderline personality traits) and a mailed questionnaire battery.

Results: Analyses tested whether pubertal timing was associated with lifetime and current history of mental disorders and psychosocial functioning in young adulthood.

Description of Treponema azotonutricium sp. nov. and Treponema primitia sp. nov., the first spirochetes isolated from termite guts.

Long after their original discovery, termite gut spirochetes were recently isolated in pure culture for the first time. They revealed metabolic capabilities hitherto unknown in the Spirochaetes division of the Bacteria, i.e.

Physiology and nutrition of Treponema primitia, an H2/CO2-acetogenic spirochete from termite hindguts.

Treponema primitia strains ZAS-1 and ZAS-2, the first spirochetes to be isolated from termite hindguts (J. R. Leadbetter, T.

Epidemiology of recurrent genital herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2.

Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of type specific recurrent genital herpes, and to compare the duration of recurrent genital lesions caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2.

Methods: Participants were enrolled at clinics across the United States. Adults suspected of having active genital herpes were eligible.

Variations in yeast 3'-processing cis-elements correlate with transcript stability.

A large set of yeast mRNA 3'-processing regulatory sequences was analyzed statistically, revealing a systematic variation that correlates with measured mRNA stability. Transcripts with relatively short half-lives have a high frequency of inclusion of 3'-processing elements that include the core sequence of binding sites for the PUF proteins, which enhance mRNA turnover. These results suggest that regulatory sequence variation, typically modeled as random, could arise instead from the necessity or advantage of specifying multiple functions in a common sequence element.

Laparoscopic gastric fundoplication for treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Results from 150 consecutive cases.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common and often not adequately managed with lifestyle changes and medication. Laparoscopic gastric fundoplication has widely been accepted as the mainstay in surgical treatment for patients who fail medical management. We present a review of 150 consecutive patients with symptoms of failed medical management of GERD who were operated on at a community hospital.

On the normalization of RNA equilibrium free energy to the length of the sequence.

There is no universal definition of stability for RNA secondary structures. Here we present an approach that is based on normalization of the equilibrium free energy to the length of the sequence: a segment of RNA is said to be stable if the ratio of the equilibrium free energy to the length of the segment is greater than a certain threshold value. Discarding the segments whose normalized equilibrium free energies are smaller than the threshold allows us to view the secondary structure at different levels of stability.