Direct measurement of B-cell receptor repertoire's composition and variation in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease that is known to be associated with polyclonal B-cell hyper-reactivity. B-cell receptor (BCR) has a central role in B-cell development, activation, survival and apoptosis, and thus is a critical component of the regulation of both protective and autoreactive B cells. In this study, we applied multiplex PCR and Illumina high-throughput sequencing to study the composition and variation of the BCRs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from SLE patients and healthy donors (NC).

Expression and Significance of RANTES and MCP-1 in Renal Tissue With Chronic Renal Allograft Dysfunction.

Background: To investigate the expression of RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T-cell-expressed and -secreted) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in renal allografts with chronic renal allograft dysfunction (CRAD), and explore its relationship with interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF/TA).

Methods: An immunohistochemical assay and computer-assisted, genuine colored image analysis system were used to detect the expression of RANTES and MCP-1 in renal allografts with CRAD. The relationship among the expression level of MCP-1, RANTES, and the grade of inflammatory cell infiltration, interstitial fibrosis, and tubular atrophy in renal allografts were analyzed.

Study on 3'-UTR length polymorphism in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of uremia patient.

Objective: The objective of this study was to measure the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) polymorphism lengths in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from uremia patients.

Method: We sequenced the alternative polyadenylation sites in the 3'-UTR of PBMCs from 10 uremic patients and 10 healthy people to detect different gene expression levels between uremia patients and healthy controls. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used as validation.

Composition and variation analysis of the TCR β-chain CDR3 repertoire in systemic lupus erythematosus using high-throughput sequencing.

The ability of T lymphocytes to mount an immune response against a diverse array of pathogens is primarily conveyed by the amino acid (aa) sequence of the hypervariable complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) segments of the T cell receptor (TCR). In this study, we used a combination of multiplex-PCR, Illumina sequencing and IMGT/HighV-QUEST for a standardized analysis of the characteristics and polymorphisms of the T-cell receptor BV complementarity-determining region 3 (TCR BV CDR3) gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE patients and healthy donors (NC). We found the distributions of CDR3, VD indel, and DJ indel lengths to be comparable between the SLE and NC groups.

Current status and recent advances in liver transplant using organs donated after cardiac death.

There are increasing numbers of patients on liver transplant waiting lists, and there is a continuing organ shortage crisis. Therefore, more centers and organ procurement organizations are developing protocols for donation after cardiac death. However, the effect of donation after cardiac death allografts on overall patient survival remains controversial, with some centers reporting equivalent patient posttransplant survival but many others indicating increased rates of complications, retransplant, use of resources, and death.

Quantitative proteomic analysis of Down syndrome in the umbilical cord blood using iTRAQ.

Down sydrome (DS) is a relatively frequent chromosomal disorder, which has no safe and effective method of prenatal diagnosis to date. The present study was designed to identify DS biomarkers. We quantified the changes in the umbilical cord blood protein levels between DS-affected and healthy (control) pregnant females using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis.

Comparative analyses of histone H3K9 trimethylations in the heart and spleen of normal humans.

The global features of trimethylations of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me3) have been well studied in recent years; however, most of these studies were performed in mammalian cell lines. In this study, we generated genome-wide maps of H3K9me3 of the human heart and spleen using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) technology. We examined the global patterns of H3K9me3 in both tissues and found that modifications were closely associated with tissue-specific expression, function, and development.

Hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for severe and refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that is characterized by multi-organ involvement leading to significant morbidity and mortality in predominantly young women. The underlying pathogenesis involves the emergence of autoreactive T and B lymphocytes, production of autoantibodies, formation and deposition of immune complexes in various tissues leading to inflammation and organ damage. Recently, growing evidence suggests that the functions of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are disrupted in SLE pathology.