Abstract-Nitric oxide (NO) derived from endothelial cells is profoundly related to the maintenance of physiological vascular tone. Impairment of endothelial NO generation brought about by gene polymorphism is considered the major deterioration factor for progressive renal disease, including diabetic nephropathy. The present study aimed to elucidate the Glu298Asp polymorphism of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and its role as a predisposing factor for cardiovascular complications. Glu298Asp in exon 7 of the eNOS gene was determined by polymerase chain reaction, followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, in ESRD patients (nϭ185) and compared with that of unrelated healthy individuals (nϭ304). Key Words: polymorphism Ⅲ polymerase chain reaction Ⅲ nitric oxide synthase Ⅲ diabetes mellitus T he endothelial isoform of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS, NOSIII) is a constitutively expressed 135 kDa protein predominantly associated with the particulated specific structures in the plasmalemmal membrane, caveolae, of vascular endothelial cells. 1,2 NO is produced from L-arginine and diffuses to vascular smooth muscle cells, where it increases the concentration of cGMP by stimulating soluble guanylate cyclase, leading to vascular relaxation. It also inhibits platelet and/or leukocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium. Therefore, the impairment of eNOS expression has been considered a primary factor for diseases such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, thromboembolic diseases, and atherosclerosis. Indeed, knocking out the gene encoding eNOS in mice resulted in significant hypertension, and aortic rings from these animals studied ex vivo displayed no relaxation in response to acetylcholine. 3 Patients with endstage renal disease (ESRD) derived from diabetes mellitus (DM) nephropathy have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular complications than those with non-DM ESRD, and this limits their 5-year survival rate to less than 50%. Therefore, polymorphism in eNOS is considered one of the major predisposing factors for endothelial dysfunction.The gene polymorphisms of eNOS have been detected at 4b/4a variable number of tandem repeats in intron 4, Glu298Asp in exon 7, CA repeat in intron 13, A27 to C (A to C nucleotide conversion) in intron 18, and G10 to T in intron 23. A part of candidate variations (4b/4a tandem repeats in intron 4) has been investigated in glomerulonephritis and/or ESRD patients, but no conclusive results have been obtained so far. Recently, the G/T polymorphism in exon 7 coding for Glu298Asp was detected and reported to have a remarkable association with coronary spasm, acute myocardial infarction, 4 and hypertension. 5 To date, this is the only known eNOS polymorphism associated with an altered protein sequence, though recent expression studies have demonstrated no functional difference between 298Glu and 298Asp despite the accumulating clinical evidence. 6,7
Members of the miR-200 family of micro RNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT of tubular epithelial cells is the mechanism by which renal fibroblasts are generated. Here we show that miR-200 family members inhibit transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)-induced EMT of tubular cells. Unilateral ureter obstruction (UUO) is a common model of EMT of tubular cells and subsequent tubulointerstitial fibrosis. In order to examine the role of miR-200 family members in tubulointerstitial fibrosis, their expression was investigated in the kidneys of UUO mice. The expression of miR-200 family miRNAs was increased in a time-dependent manner, with induction of miR-200b most pronounced. To clarify the effect of miR-200b on tubulointerstitial fibrosis, we injected miR-200b precursor intravenously. A single injection of 0.5 nM miR-200b precursor was sufficient to inhibit the increase of collagen types I, III and fibronectin in obstructed kidneys, and amelioration of fibrosis was confirmed by observation of the kidneys with Azan staining. miR-200 family members have been previously shown to inhibit EMT by reducing the expression of ZEB-1 and ZEB-2 which are known repressors of E-cadherin. We demonstrated that expression of ZEB-1 and ZEB-2 was increased after ureter obstruction and that administration of the miR-200b precursor reversed this effect. In summary, these results indicate that miR-200 family is up-regulated after ureter obstruction, miR-200b being strongly induced, and that miR-200b ameliorates tubulointerstitial fibrosis in obstructed kidneys. We suggest that members of the miR-200 family, and miR-200b specifically, might constitute novel therapeutic targets in kidney disease.
Enteric caliciviruses, noroviruses, and sapoviruses are emerging pathogens responsible for diarrhea or gastroenteritis in their respective hosts. In this study, swine enteric caliciviruses were detected in ten samples of intestinal contents from 24 piglets in Japan by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using a broadly reactive primer pair (P290/289) that targeted the highly conserved RNA polymerase regions of the enteric caliciviruses. From the positive samples, the entire viral genome of strain K7/JP and 3'-end parts of the genomes of strains K5/JP and K10/JP were cloned and sequenced. K7/JP had an RNA genome of 7144 bases, excluding its 3' poly (A) tail. The K7/JP genome possessed two open reading frames and characteristics common to sapoviruses. In phylogenetic analysis using amino acid sequences of VP1, K5/JP was demonstrated to be close to the noroviruses previously detected in pigs, and K7/JP and K10/JP were considered to be classified as a new genogroup of sapoviruses.
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