Adolescent social capital: An intergenerational resource?

Introduction: There is abundant literature about the benefits of social capital in youth, but less is known of the origins of social capital. This study explores whether adolescents' social capital is shaped by their parents' social capital, their family's socioeconomic status (SES), and the socioeconomic profile of their neighborhood.

Methods: The study uses cross-sectional survey data gathered from 12 to 13-year-old adolescents and their parents (n = 163) in Southwest Finland.

Tissue-specific reduction in MLH1 expression induces microsatellite instability in intestine of Mlh1 mice.

Tumors of Lynch syndrome (LS) patients display high levels of microsatellite instability (MSI), which results from complete loss of DNA mismatch repair (MMR), in line with Knudson's two-hit hypothesis. Why some organs, in particular those of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, are prone to tumorigenesis in LS remains unknown. We hypothesized that MMR is haploinsufficient in certain tissues, compromising microsatellite stability in a tissue-specific manner before tumorigenesis.

Mlh1 heterozygosity and promoter methylation associates with microsatellite instability in mouse sperm.

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins play an important role in maintaining genome stability, both in somatic and in germline cells. Loss of MLH1, a central MMR protein, leads to infertility and to microsatellite instability (MSI) in spermatocytes, however, the effect of Mlh1 heterozygosity on germline genome stability remains unexplored. To test the effect of Mlh1 heterozygosity on MSI in mature sperm, we combined mouse genetics with single-molecule PCR that detects allelic changes at unstable microsatellites.

Transcription Factor USF1 Is Required for Maintenance of Germline Stem Cells in Male Mice.

A prerequisite for lifelong sperm production is that spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) balance self-renewal and differentiation, yet factors required for this balance remain largely undefined. Using mouse genetics, we now demonstrate that the ubiquitously expressed transcription factor upstream stimulatory factor (USF)1 is critical for the maintenance of SSCs. We show that USF1 is not only detected in Sertoli cells as previously reported, but also in SSCs.

A Functional Homologous Recombination Assay Predicts Primary Chemotherapy Response and Long-Term Survival in Ovarian Cancer Patients.

Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) correlates with platinum sensitivity in patients with ovarian cancer, which clinically is the most useful predictor of sensitivity to PARPi. To date, there are no reliable diagnostic tools to anticipate response to platinum-based chemotherapy, thus we aimed to develop an functional HRD detection test that could predict both platinum-sensitivity and patient eligibility to targeted drug treatments. We obtained a functional HR score by quantifying homologous recombination (HR) repair after ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage in primary ovarian cancer samples ( = 32).