Chinese Central Government, the Ministry of Science and Technology of The People's Republic of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

As a candidate gene related to egg production, prolactin plays a crucial role in the reproduction of birds. In this study, polymorphism of the prolactin gene was screened in six Chinese native duck breeds (Shanma, Shaoxing, Youma, Jinyun, Jingjiang and the F 2 resource population of white Liancheng X white Kaiya) using PCR-SSCP and direct sequencing. The results showed that 12 SNPs were detected: C-213T in the 5 flanking region, A-1842G in exon 2, A-3869G in exon 4 and C-5961T in exon 5, T-295C, C-381A and A-412G in intron 1, T-2231C in intron 2, C-3949T, T-3988G and T-4009C in intron 4 and T-6052A in the 3 flanking region. The C-381A site and C-5961T site can be detected by XbaI and Pst1 PCR-RFLP, respectively. Furthermore, the C-5961T mutation results in an amino acid conversion (Cys to Arg) in the functional domain and affects the existence of a heparin binding site (L-R-R-D-S-H-K). In the F 2 resource population, association analysis demonstrated that the C-5961T polymorphism was significantly associated with egg production and egg weight, with the CC genotype associated with higher egg production and bigger egg weight than the CT genotype.

No abstract

Our data demonstrate that antisense HIF-1alpha inhibits expressions of survivin and beta1 integrin, enhancing apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells and restraining the progression and metastasis of pancreatic cancer. Therefore, HIF-1alpha may play a very important role in progression, metastasis, and chemosensitivity of human pancreatic cancer. Blocking HIF-1alpha in pancreatic cancer cells may offer an avenue for gene therapy.