Long Non-Coding RNAs and Their "Discrete" Contribution to IBD and Johne's Disease-What Stands out in the Current Picture? A Comprehensive Review.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNA) have paved the way to new perspectives on the regulation of gene expression, not only in biology and medicine, but also in associated fields and technologies, ensuring advances in diagnostic means and therapeutic modalities. Critical in this multistep approach are the associations of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) with diseases and their causal genes in their networks of interactions, gene enrichment and expression analysis, associated pathways, the monitoring of the involved genes and their functional roles during disease progression from one stage to another. Studies have shown that Johne's Disease (JD), caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies partuberculosis (MAP), shares common lncRNAs, clinical findings, and other molecular entities with Crohn's Disease (CD).

Microbial Profile Antibacterial Properties and Chemical Composition of Raw Donkey Milk.

The human interest in donkey milk is growing due to its nutritional, functional properties and excellent microbiological quality according to published reports. However, more research needs to be conducted to assess the above variables from various breeds. In the present study, milk samples were collected from 17 Cypriot and six Arcadian healthy Greek donkeys.

Structural characterization and molecular dynamics simulations of the caprine and bovine solute carrier family 11 A1 (SLC11A1).

Natural Resistance-Associated Macrophage Proteins are a family of transmembrane divalent metal ion transporters, with important implications in life of both bacteria and mammals. Among them, the Solute Carrier family 11 member A1 (SLC11A1) has been implicated with susceptibility to infection by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), potentially causing Crohn's disease in humans and paratuberculosis (PTB) in ruminants. Our previous research had focused on sequencing the mRNA of the caprine slc11a1 gene and pinpointed polymorphisms that contribute to caprine SLC11A1's susceptibility to infection by MAP in PTB.

Epigenetics and inheritance of phenotype variation in livestock.

Epigenetic inheritance plays a crucial role in many biological processes, such as gene expression in early embryo development, imprinting and the silencing of transposons. It has recently been established that epigenetic effects can be inherited from one generation to the next. Here, we review examples of epigenetic mechanisms governing animal phenotype and behaviour, and we discuss the importance of these findings in respect to animal studies, and livestock in general.

Energy balance-dependent regulation of ovine glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase protein isoform expression.

G6PDH is the rate-limiting enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway and one of the principal source of NADPH, a major cellular reductant. Importantly, in ruminant's metabolism the aforementioned NADPH provided, is utilized for de novo fatty acid synthesis. Previous work of cloning the ovine (Ovis aries) og6pdh gene has revealed the presence of two cDNA transcripts (og6pda and og6pdb), og6pdb being a product of alternative splicing not similar to any other previously reported.

Oxidative stress-induced antibodies to carbonyl-modified protein correlate with severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Rationale: There is increasing evidence for the presence of autoantibodies in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Chronic oxidative stress is an essential component in COPD pathogenesis and can lead to increased levels of highly reactive carbonyls in the lung, which could result in the formation of highly immunogenic carbonyl adducts on "self" proteins.

Objectives: To determine the presence of autoantibodies to carbonyl-modified protein in patients with COPD and in a murine model of chronic ozone exposure.

A model of chronic inflammation and pulmonary emphysema after multiple ozone exposures in mice.

Oxidative stress plays a role in the pathophysiology of emphysema through the activation of tissue proteases and apoptosis. We examined the effects of ozone exposure by exposing BALB/c mice to either a single 3-h exposure or multiple exposures over 3 or 6 wk, with two 3-h exposures per week. Compared with air-exposed mice, the increase in neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung inflammation index was greatest in mice exposed for 3 and 6 wk.

Chromatin structure and DNA methylation of the IL-4 gene in human T(H)2 cells.

Human T(H)2 cell differentiation results in the selective demethylation of several specific CpG dinucleotides in the IL-4 and IL-13 genes, which are expressed in activated T(H)2, but not T(H)1, cells. This demethylation is accompanied by the appearance of six DNase I hypersensitive sites within 1.4 kb at the 5'-end of the IL-4 gene.

The human desmin locus: gene organization and LCR-mediated transcriptional control.

Locus control regions (LCRs) are defined by their ability to confer reproducible physiological levels of transgene expression in mice and therefore thought to possess the ability to generate dominantly a transcriptionally active chromatin structure. We report the first characterization of a muscle-cell-specific LCR, which is linked to the human desmin gene (DES). The DES LCR consists of five regions of muscle-specific DNase I hypersensitivity (HS) localized between -9 and -18 kb 5' of DES and reproducibly drives full physiological levels of expression in all muscle cell types.