Borrelia duttonii strain Ly, a causative agent of relapsing fever, contains a linear one megabase chromosome and 12 linear plasmid molecules. Here we report that the sequence of the 44-kb linear plasmid of strain Ly is found to contain variable major protein (vmp) genes for antigenic variation of relapsing fever borreliae. The determined sequence is of 44,010 bp except for both ends of the molecule. Of 39 open reading frames (ORFs) found in the sequence, 21 ORFs (named vmpA to U) showed moderate similarities with vmp genes for Borrelia hermsii. However, most of the vmp homologues are apparently nonfunctional because of their frameshifts within the sequence and/or absence of promoter and ribosome-binding signals upstream of their genes. RT-PCR experiments using the specific primer for each vmp gene revealed that vmpE, one of the vmp genes, was expressed at the location of the 44-kb plasmid molecule. The result suggests that the plasmid molecule may play a role in the preservation of the serotype switching of vmp genes in a mammalian host.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1348-0421.2002.tb02681.x | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Harnessing the power of AI in precision medicine: NGS-based therapeutic insights for colorectal cancer cohort.
Front Oncol
October 2024
AI Lab, Ardigen SA, Cracow, Poland.
Purpose: Developing innovative precision and personalized cancer therapeutics is essential to enhance cancer survivability, particularly for prevalent cancer types such as colorectal cancer. This study aims to demonstrate various approaches for discovering new targets for precision therapies using artificial intelligence (AI) on a Polish cohort of colorectal cancer patients.
Methods: We analyzed 71 patients with histopathologically confirmed advanced resectional colorectal adenocarcinoma.
TDP-43 regulates LC3ylation in neural tissue through ATG4B cryptic splicing inhibition.
Acta Neuropathol
September 2024
Metabolic Pathophysiology Research Group, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Lleida (UdL), Lleida Biomedical Research Institute (IRBLleida), 25198, Lleida, Spain.
Article Synopsis
- - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe motor neuron disease with about a three-year average survival time, primarily characterized by TDP-43 protein issues that affect gene stability and autophagy processes.
- - Research on ALS mice revealed that reducing ATG4B worsens survival and autophagy, while an increase in LC3ylation was observed in both ALS patients and mouse models, suggesting a link between these processes.
- - Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) targeting TDP-43 genes have been developed, showing potential for non-invasive treatments that can effectively distribute in the brain after administration.
Schizophrenia is associated with altered DNA methylation variance.
Mol Psychiatry
September 2024
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
Varying combinations of genetic and environmental risk factors are thought to underpin phenotypic heterogeneity between individuals in psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia. While epigenome-wide association studies in schizophrenia have identified extensive alteration of mean DNA methylation levels, less is known about the location and impact of DNA methylation variance, which could contribute to phenotypic and treatment response heterogeneity. To explore this question, we conducted the largest meta-analysis of blood DNA methylation variance in schizophrenia to date, leveraging three cohorts comprising 1036 individuals with schizophrenia and 954 non-psychiatric controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDPYD Genotyping Recommendations: A Joint Consensus Recommendation of the Association for Molecular Pathology, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium, College of American Pathologists, Dutch Pharmacogenetics Working Group of the Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association, European Society for Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Therapy, Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase, and Pharmacogene Variation Consortium.
J Mol Diagn
October 2024
Pharmacogenomics Working Group of the Clinical Practice Committee, Association for Molecular Pathology, Rockville, Maryland; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Article Synopsis
- The Association for Molecular Pathology's Pharmacogenomics Working Group aims to establish key attributes and a standard set of genetic variants for clinical pharmacogenetic testing.
- The document outlines two tiers of recommended genetic variants, which will guide clinical laboratories in creating pharmacogenomics assays.
- Focused on dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD) testing, the recommendations encourage standardization while serving as a flexible reference rather than strict rules.
Other malignancies in the history of CLL: an international multicenter study conducted by ERIC, the European Research Initiative on CLL, in HARMONY.
EClinicalMedicine
November 2023
Institute of Applied Biosciences, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Article Synopsis
- Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have a significantly heightened risk of developing other malignancies (OMs), with a study tracking nearly 20,000 CLL patients revealing 3,513 OMs diagnosed over 129,254 years of follow-up.
- The study found that treatment with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide increased the likelihood of developing myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), while non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and prostate cancer were common solid tumors in treated patients.
- Importantly, patients with CLL who developed OMs had lower overall survival rates, especially those diagnosed with AML and MDS, highlighting that C
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!