scholarly journals Replication of GWAS-identified neuroblastoma risk loci strengthens the role of BARD1 and affirms the cumulative effect of genetic variations on disease susceptibility

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Capasso ◽  
Sharon J. Diskin ◽  
Francesca Totaro ◽  
Luca Longo ◽  
Marilena De Mariano ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Beata Zagórska-Marek ◽  
Magdalena Turzańska ◽  
Klaudia Chmiel

AbstractPhyllotactic diversity and developmental transitions between phyllotactic patterns are not fully understood. The plants studied so far, such as Magnolia, Torreya or Abies, are not suitable for experimental work, and the most popular model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, does not show sufficient phyllotactic variability. It has been found that in common verbena (Verbena officinalis L.), a perennial, cosmopolitan plant, phyllotaxis differs not only between growth phases in primary transitions but also along the indeterminate inflorescence axis in a series of multiple secondary transitions. The latter are no longer associated with the change in lateral organ identity, and the sequence of phyllotactic patterns is puzzling from a theoretical point of view. Data from the experiments in silico, confronted with empirical observations, suggest that secondary transitions might be triggered by the cumulative effect of fluctuations in the continuously decreasing bract primordia size. The most important finding is that the changes in the primary vascular system, associated with phyllotactic transitions, precede those taking place at the apical meristem. This raises the question of the role of the vascular system in determining primordia initiation sites, and possibly challenges the autonomy of the apex. The results of this study highlight the complex relationships between various systems that have to coordinate their growth and differentiation in the developing plant shoot. Common verbena emerges from this research as a plant that may become a new model suitable for further studies on the causes of phyllotactic transitions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (17) ◽  
pp. 9460
Author(s):  
Helmut Segner ◽  
Christyn Bailey ◽  
Carolina Tafalla ◽  
Jun Bo

The impact of anthropogenic contaminants on the immune system of fishes is an issue of growing concern. An important xenobiotic receptor that mediates effects of chemicals, such as halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (HAHs) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Fish toxicological research has focused on the role of this receptor in xenobiotic biotransformation as well as in causing developmental, cardiac, and reproductive toxicity. However, biomedical research has unraveled an important physiological role of the AhR in the immune system, what suggests that this receptor could be involved in immunotoxic effects of environmental contaminants. The aims of the present review are to critically discuss the available knowledge on (i) the expression and possible function of the AhR in the immune systems of teleost fishes; and (ii) the impact of AhR-activating xenobiotics on the immune systems of fish at the levels of immune gene expression, immune cell proliferation and immune cell function, immune pathology, and resistance to infectious disease. The existing information indicates that the AhR is expressed in the fish immune system, but currently, we have little understanding of its physiological role. Exposure to AhR-activating contaminants results in the modulation of numerous immune structural and functional parameters of fish. Despite the diversity of fish species studied and the experimental conditions investigated, the published findings rather uniformly point to immunosuppressive actions of xenobiotic AhR ligands in fish. These effects are often associated with increased disease susceptibility. The fact that fish populations from HAH- and PAH-contaminated environments suffer immune disturbances and elevated disease susceptibility highlights that the immunotoxic effects of AhR-activating xenobiotics bear environmental relevance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 138-148
Author(s):  
Avad Zhaber Mahmud Zhaber ◽  
E. S Snarskaya

In recent decades, interest in the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) has been steadily increasing, which can be attributed both to the evolution of molecular genetic detection methods and to the widespread of this viral infection in the population. Epidemiological and molecular biological data suggest that HPV genus beta can cause the development of a number of epithelial non-melanocytic neoplasms of the skin. However, this relationship has not yet been fully studied. Possibly, human papillomavirus infection should be considered from the perspective of co-carcinogenesis with the cumulative effect of UV irradiation, which is indirectly indicated by the predominant localization of elements in open areas of the skin and the high risks of their malignant transformation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 390 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achim Krüger

Abstract Knockout mice are the gold standard to probe for the role of a specific protease within the interacting network of proteases, substrates, and inhibitors. This proteolytic network, or protease web, determines cell signaling and organ homeostasis. Therefore, protease deficiency or inhibition is intrinsically tied to alterations within this network, always leading to new molecular phenotypes, which define susceptibility of an organ to disease. Furthermore, recent hints, mainly from research on matrix metalloproteinases, about the impact of the protease web on inter-organ signaling molecules suggest the existence of a proteolytic internet of communicating local organ- or molecular polymorphism-specific networks, thereby defining homeostasis and disease susceptibility in the whole organism.


Author(s):  
Fuzhong Nian ◽  
Xin Guo ◽  
JinZhou Li

Inspired by infectious disease dynamics and modern psychology, this paper aims at constructing a multi-dimensional function to get the model of information dissemination on social networks under epidemic-related panic base on the characteristics of individual differences and global characteristics, like emotional cumulative effect, herd effect, time-sensitive decline effect, cognitive level, intimacy, personal influence, etc. The results show that the psychological effect has a significant effect on the increase of the spread of panic news; When netizens are in an emotional atmosphere, their emotional self-regulation ability is limited; when the infection rate is relatively low, the characteristics of individual differences play a leading role in affecting the spreading process. When the infection rate is high enough, the herd effect and emotional cumulative effect play a major role in promoting information dissemination; In a society with a higher rate of emotional contact, it is easier to form a kind of collective wisdom, which can help the collective quickly identify rumors. Moreover, in this kind of society, the role of opinion leaders is limited, and timely refutation of rumors can significantly reduce the spread of panic news.


2003 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darryl A. Knight ◽  
Matthias Ernst ◽  
Gary P. Anderson ◽  
Yuben P. Moodley ◽  
Steven E. Mutsaers

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