An intergenic non-coding RNA promoter required for histone modifications in the human β-globin chromatin domain.

Transcriptome analyses show a surprisingly large proportion of the mammalian genome is transcribed; much more than can be accounted for by genes and introns alone. Most of this transcription is non-coding in nature and arises from intergenic regions, often overlapping known protein-coding genes in sense or antisense orientation. The functional relevance of this widespread transcription is unknown.

Advances in production of sheep embryos.

Sheep is an important livestock in the world providing meat, milk and wool for human beings. With increasing human population, the worldwide needs of production of sheep have elevated. To meet the needs, the assistant reproductive technology including ovine embryo production (ovine IVP) is urgently required to enhance the effective production of sheep in the world.

Production of inbred offspring by intracytoplasmic sperm injection of oocytes from juvenile female mice.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether the use of oocytes from juvenile female mice would improve the efficiency of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In the present study, 15 adult and 14 juvenile C57BL6/J female mice were superovulated, with 17.8 oocytes per mouse harvested from adults, significantly lower than the 40.

[Establishment of cell culture system of rough-legged buzzard and biological characteristic analysis on different tissue cells cultured in vitro].

In total, three different tissues from the rough-legged buzzard were obtained by culture and successfully cryopreserved and then recovered. During the subculture process, biological characteristics including as cell morphology, growth curve, cell adhesion rate, and karyotype were analyzed and compared, and overall all three kinds of tissue cells exhibited fibroblast-like growth. Oviduct-derived cells had the strongest adherent ability, followed by lung-derived cells and trachea-derived cells.

CAPRI and RASAL impose different modes of information processing on Ras due to contrasting temporal filtering of Ca2+.

The versatility of Ca2+ as a second messenger lies in the complex manner in which Ca2+ signals are generated. How information contained within the Ca2+ code is interpreted underlies cell function. Recently, we identified CAPRI and RASAL as related Ca2+-triggered Ras GTPase-activating proteins.

The Corfu deltabeta thalassemia deletion disrupts gamma-globin gene silencing and reveals post-transcriptional regulation of HbF expression.

The 7.2 kilobase (kb) Corfu deltabeta thalassemia mutation is the smallest known deletion encompassing a region upstream of the human delta gene that has been suggested to account for the vastly different phenotypes in hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) versus beta thalassemia. Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) expression in Corfu heterozygotes and homozygotes is paradoxically dissimilar, suggesting conflicting theories as to the function of the region on globin gene regulation.

Long-range chromatin regulatory interactions in vivo.

Communication between distal chromosomal elements is essential for control of many nuclear processes. For example, genes in higher eukaryotes often require distant enhancer sequences for high-level expression. The mechanisms proposed for long-range enhancer action fall into two basic categories.