Novel genes and functional relationships in the adult mouse gastrointestinal tract identified by microarray analysis.

Background & Aims: A genome-level understanding of the molecular basis of segmental gene expression along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis of the mammalian gastrointestinal (GI) tract is lacking. We hypothesized that functional patterning along the A-P axis of the GI tract could be defined at the molecular level by analyzing expression profiles of large numbers of genes.

Methods: Incyte GEM1 microarrays containing 8638 complementary DNAs (cDNAs) were used to define expression profiles in adult mouse stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, proximal colon, and distal colon.

Two CCAAT boxes in a novel inverted repeat motif are required for Hlx homeobox gene expression.

Hlx is a homeobox transcription factor gene required for normal intestinal and hepatic growth in development. We previously found high sequence identity and 17 conserved consensus cis-regulatory/transcription factor binding elements in the mouse and human Hlx 5' regions. A 594 bp sequence in the Hlx 5' region possessing the same activity in driving luciferase expression as larger Hlx 5' sequences had three segments each necessary but not sufficient for luciferase expression in NIH 3T3 cells (which express Hlx).

Structural and functional characterization of the mouse Hlx homeobox gene.

Hlx is a mesenchymally expressed homeobox transcription factor gene that is essential for normal intestinal and hepatic development in the mouse. Here we report further characterization of the mouse Hlx gene, including an additional 3.7 kb of 5' sequence as well as the sequence of the three introns.

The mundane ailment and the physical self: analysis of the social psychology of health and illness.

Using interview data from adult men and women who participated in an ongoing study of self-care, the research focused on the experience of mundane ailments as a promising topic for research in the social psychology of health and illness. Phenomenological analysis of respondents' accounts of everyday ailments generated concepts of 'the physical self', which expands interactive or dramaturgical concepts, and 'the health biography'. These concepts, when linked to analysis of interaction lead to a more dynamic sociology of health, illness, care and cure.