Twin study: genotype-dependent epigenetic factors affecting free thyroxine levels in the normal range.

To explore the clinical application of DNA methylation affecting thyroid function, we evaluated the association of DNA methylation with free thyroxine (FT4) and TSH measurements in monozygotic twins. Discordant pairs for FT4 or TSH levels were examined for the relationship between the within-pair difference of each measurement and the DNA methylation levels using epigenome-wide association studies. The contribution of polymorphisms to the methylation sensitivity was also examined.

Deletion of the Transcription Factor Gene and a Point Mutation in the F-Box Protein Gene Confer Sorbose Resistance in .

L-Sorbose induces hyperbranching of hyphae, which results in colonial growth in The gene, which encodes a glucose sensor that acts in carbon catabolite repression (CCR), has been identified as a sorbose resistance gene. In this study, we found that the deletion mutant of , which encodes an AmyR-like transcription factor that acts in CCR, displayed sorbose resistance. In contrast, the deletion mutants of other CCR genes, such as a hexokinase (), an AMP-activated S/T protein kinase (), and a transcription factor (), showed no sorbose resistance.

Suppression of Cortical Microtubule Reorientation and Stimulation of Cell Elongation in Arabidopsis Hypocotyls under Microgravity Conditions in Space.

How microgravity in space influences plant cell growth is an important issue for plant cell biology as well as space biology. We investigated the role of cortical microtubules in the stimulation of elongation growth in Arabidopsis () hypocotyls under microgravity conditions with the Resist Tubule space experiment. The epidermal cells in the lower half of the hypocotyls of wild-type Columbia were longer in microgravity than at on-orbit 1 , which precipitated an increase in the entire hypocotyl length.

Impaired neural reward processing in children and adolescents with reactive attachment disorder: A pilot study.

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is characterized by markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate social relatedness due to parental maltreatment. RAD patients often display a high number of comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and certain RAD symptoms are difficult to discriminate from ADHD. One of the core characteristics of ADHD is a decrease in neural reward processing due to dopamine dysfunction.

Effects of long-term continuous use of immune-enhancing enteral formula on nutritional and immunologic status in non-surgical patients.

Objective: Although the perioperative use of immune-enhancing enteral formula (IEEF) effectively reduces the rate of infectious complications, whether chronic use of IEEF is beneficial is unknown. A prospective randomized clinical trial was performed to examine the safety and effectiveness of long-term IEEF on nutritional and immunologic status in non-surgical patients receiving total enteral nutrition through the gastrostomy access route.

Methods: A total of 30 patients were randomly assigned to two groups in which they received total enteral nutrition, an IEEF (n = 15) or a regular polymeric enteral formula (control group; n = 15) for 12 wk.

Horizontal transfer of nonconjugative plasmids in a colony biofilm of Escherichia coli.

We tested the possibility of nonconjugative lateral DNA transfer in a colony biofilm of mixed Escherichia coli strains. By simply coculturing a plasmid-free F(-) strain and another F(-) strain harboring a nonconjugative plasmid in a colony biofilm on antibiotic-free agar media, transformed cells were produced within 24-48 h at the frequency of 10(-10)-10(-9) per recipient cell. PCR analysis of the transformed cells demonstrated the occurrence of lateral plasmid transfer.