Genetic variants in epoxyeicosatrienoic acid processing and degradation pathways are associated with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Aim: To explore the genetic effects of CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2J2, and EPHX2, the key genes involved in epoxyeicosatrienoic acid processing and degradation pathways in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and metabolic traits in Chinese pregnant women.

Methods: A total of 2548 unrelated pregnant women were included, of which 938 had GDM and 1610 were considered as controls. Common variants were genotyped using the Infinium Asian Screening Array.

The mediating role of maternal metabolites between lipids and adverse pregnancy outcomes of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common complications of pregnancy, and the demographics of pregnant women have changed in recent decades. GDM is a metabolic disease with short- and long-term adverse effects on both pregnant women and newborns. The metabolic changes and corresponding risk factors should be of great significance in understanding the pathological mechanism of GDM and reducing the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with GDM.

Common single-nucleotide polymorphisms combined with a genetic risk score provide new insights regarding the etiology of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Aims: Few studies have constructed a genetic risk score (GRS) to predict the risk of gestaional diabetes mellitus (GDM). We tested the hypothesis that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) confirmed for diabetes and obesity and the GRS are associated with GDM.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study comprising 971 GDM cases and 1682 controls from the University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital.

Discovery of metabolic biomarkers for gestational diabetes mellitus in a Chinese population.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), one of the most common pregnancy complications, can lead to morbidity and mortality in both the mother and the infant. Metabolomics has provided new insights into the pathology of GDM and systemic analysis of GDM with metabolites is required for providing more clues for GDM diagnosis and mechanism research. This study aims to reveal metabolic differences between normal pregnant women and GDM patients in the second- and third-trimester stages and to confirm the clinical relevance of these new findings.

Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy and Associated Adverse Maternal and Fetal Outcomes: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

Objective: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a common pregnancy-related liver disease and is associated with an increased risk of adverse neonatal outcomes. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is the most effective treatment. This study was aimed at investigating the adverse outcomes of ICP and evaluating the effects of treatment with UDCA in patients with ICP.

Nerve growth factor is closely related to glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in the second trimester: a case-control study in Chinese.

Objective: Inflammation-related factors have been shown to play a significant role throughout pregnancy. In this study, we aimed to explore the relationships between selected inflammatory cytokines and gestational diabetes (GDM) in Chinese pregnant women.

Design And Methods: This was a 1:1 matched case-control study that included 200 pairs of subjects in the second trimester and 130 pairs of subjects in the third trimester.

Serum growth differentiation factor 15 is associated with glucose metabolism in the third trimester in Chinese pregnant women.

Objective: Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) has been demonstrated to increase in diabetes as a protective factor. However, studies assessing relationships between GDF15 levels and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether GDF15 levels are related to GDM in Chinese subjects.

11β-HSD1 inhibition reduces atherosclerosis in mice by altering proinflammatory gene expression in the vasculature.

11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) is implicated in the etiology of metabolic syndrome. We previously showed that pharmacological inhibition of 11β-HSD1 ameliorated multiple facets of metabolic syndrome and attenuated atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the atheroprotective effect was not clear.

Systems analysis of eleven rodent disease models reveals an inflammatome signature and key drivers.

Common inflammatome gene signatures as well as disease-specific signatures were identified by analyzing 12 expression profiling data sets derived from 9 different tissues isolated from 11 rodent inflammatory disease models. The inflammatome signature significantly overlaps with known drug targets and co-expressed gene modules linked to metabolic disorders and cancer. A large proportion of genes in this signature are tightly connected in tissue-specific Bayesian networks (BNs) built from multiple independent mouse and human cohorts.

Pharmacological activation and genetic manipulation of cystathionine beta-synthase alter circulating levels of homocysteine and hydrogen sulfide in mice.

Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) is a recently discovered gasotransmitter found in mammalian tissues and blood. Treatment with H(2)S donor molecules has shown promising results in preclinical models of inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases. Augmentation of H(2)S levels thus holds promise as a novel therapeutic approach for treatment of disease in man.

Label-free high-throughput screening via mass spectrometry: a single cystathionine quantitative method for multiple applications.

Label-free mass spectrometric (MS) technologies are particularly useful for enzyme assay design for drug discovery screens. MS permits the selective detection of enzyme substrates or products in a wide range of biological matrices without need for derivatization, labeling, or capture technologies. As part of a cardiovascular drug discovery effort aimed at finding modulators of cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), we used the RapidFire((R)) label-free high-throughput MS (HTMS) technology to develop a high-throughput screening (HTS) assay for CBS activity.

[The effect of calorie restriction on the expression of liver's gluconeogenesis genes of rats fed a high fat diet].

Objective: To observe the effect of calorie restriction on the high fat diet rats mRNA expressions of liver forkhead box O1(FoxO1), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-P) and to explore the possible mechanisms.

Methods: 24 normal 6-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal chow group (NC, n = 7), high fat diet group (HF, n = 9) and calorie restriction group (CR, n = 8). They were fed for 12 weeks.

Identification of RNA binding proteins by UV cross-linking.

One of the major focuses of modern biology is to understand the dynamics of RNA-protein interactions, including factors that interact with mRNA, rRNA, tRNA, snRNA, hnRNA, siRNA, and viral RNA. Identification the direct interactions between proteins and RNA has greatly advanced our knowledge about the function of RNA-protein machines. UV crosslinking is a straightforward and powerful tool in this endeavor.

A nuclear translation-like factor eIF4AIII is recruited to the mRNA during splicing and functions in nonsense-mediated decay.

In eukaryotes, a surveillance mechanism known as nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) degrades the mRNA when a premature-termination codon (PTC) is present. NMD requires translation to read the frame of the mRNA and detect the PTC. During pre-mRNA splicing, the exon-exon junction complex (EJC) is recruited to a region 20-24 nt upstream of the exon junction on the mature mRNA.

Cotranscriptional recruitment of the serine-arginine-rich (SR)-like proteins Gbp2 and Hrb1 to nascent mRNA via the TREX complex.

The TREX (transcription/export) complex couples transcription elongation to the nuclear export of mRNAs. In this article, we show that the poly(A)(+) RNA-binding proteins Gbp2 and Hrb1, which resemble the serine-arginine-rich (SR) family of splicing factors found in higher eukaryotes, are specifically associated with the yeast TREX complex. We also show that Gbp2 and Hrb1 interact with Ctk1, a kinase that phosphorylates the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II during transcription elongation.

Sus1, a functional component of the SAGA histone acetylase complex and the nuclear pore-associated mRNA export machinery.

Gene expression is a coordinated multistep process that begins with transcription and RNA processing in the nucleus followed by mRNA export to the cytoplasm for translation. Here we report the identification of a protein, Sus1, which functions in both transcription and mRNA export. Sus1 is a nuclear protein with a concentration at the nuclear pores.

Studies on the Function of Disulfide Bond Cys(112)-Cys(115) in Arrowhead Proteinase Inhibitors.

Two cysteine residues which compose the disulfide bond Cys(112)-Cys(115) in the arrowhead inhibitor were replaced by Ala and Ser respectively, using site-directed mutagenesis. The mutant has similar inhibitory activities as that of the wild type. The result suggests that the disulfide bond of Cys(112)-Cys(115) in the arrowhead inhibitor is not indispensable to its inhibitory activity.