Associations of the growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene polymorphisms with adiposity and IGF-I activity in adolescents.

Objective: To explore the genetic effect of the GH receptor (GHR) on obesity and related metabolic parameters in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents.

Context: Obesity is a growing global epidemic. Increasing evidence suggests that the GH-IGF-I axis plays an important role in regulating adiposity and insulin sensitivity.

Molecular coordinated regulation of gene expression during ovarian development in the penaeid shrimp.

To understand the molecular events of ovarian development in penaeid shrimp, RNA arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (RAP-PCR) was used to identify differentially expressed genes during ovarian maturation in Metapenaeus ensis. From a screening of 700 clones in a cDNA library of the shrimp ovary by the products of RAP-PCR of different maturation stages, 91 fragments with differentially expressed pattern as revealed by dot-blot hybridization were isolated and sequenced. Forty-two of these fragments show significant sequence similarity to known gene products and the differentially expressed pattern of 10 putative genes were further characterized via Northern hybridization.