Project description:Newcastle disease (ND) affects a few hundred avian species including chicken, and the clinical outcome of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection ranges from mild to severe fatal disease depending on the NDV pathotype and the host species involved. Japanese quails serve as natural reservoirs of NDV and play important role in NDV epidemiology. While infection of chicken with velogenic NDV results in severe often fatal illness, the same infection in Japanese quails is results in in apparent infection. The molecular basis of this contrasting clinical outcomes of NDV infection is not yet known. We compared global gene expression in spleens of chicken and Japanese quails infected with a lentogenic or velogenic NDVs. We found contrasting regulation of key genes associated with NF-κB pathway and T-cell activation between chicken and Japanese quails. Our data suggests association of NDV resistance in Japanese quails to activation of NF-κB pathway and T cell proliferation.
Project description:MicroRNAs, a class of small non-coding RNAs, play an important role as gene regulators in an array of biological pathways and physiological functions across animal species including Japanese quails. In this study, we profiled and cataloged microRNAs derived from ileum mucosa of Japanese quails with different Phosphorus (P) utility. The aims of this study were to identify differentially expressed miRNAs between high- and low-P utilization groups and to determine candidate microRNAs, target genes and pathways related to P utility in Quail.
Project description:Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed in 120 patient-parents trio samples from Japanese schizophrenia pedigrees ABSTRACT: Schizophrenia is a devastating neuropsychiatric disorder with genetically complex traits. Genetic variants should explain a considerable portion of the risk for schizophrenia, and genome-wide association study (GWAS) is a potentially powerful tool for identifying the risk variants that underlie the disease. Here, we report the results of a three-stage analysis of three independent cohorts consisting of a total of 2,535 samples from Japanese and Chinese populations for searching schizophrenia susceptibility genes using a GWAS approach. Firstly, we examined 115,770 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 120 patient-parents trio samples from Japanese schizophrenia pedigrees. In stage II, we evaluated 1,632 SNPs (1,159 SNPs of p < 0.01 and 473 SNPs of p < 0.05 that located in previously reported linkage regions). The second sample consisted of 1,012 case-control samples of Japanese origin. The most significant p value was obtained for the SNP in the ELAVL2 [(embryonic lethal, abnormal vision, Drosophila)-like 2] gene located on 9p21.3 (p = 0.00087). In stage III, we scrutinized the ELAVL2 gene by genotyping gene-centric tagSNPs in the third sample set of 293 family samples (1,163 individuals) of Chinese descent and the SNP in the gene showed a nominal association with schizophrenia in Chinese population (p = 0.026). The current data in Asian population would be helpful for deciphering ethnic diversity of schizophrenia etiology.
Project description:Transcriptomic analysis of cancer samples helps to identify the mechanism and molecular markers of cancer. However, transcriptomic analyses of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from the Japanese population are lacking. We performed RNA sequencing of flesh or frozen pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissues and adjacent normal pancreatic tissue from 12 Japanese patients to identify genes critical for the clinical pathology of pancreatic cancer among the Japanese population.
Project description:In human volunteers, we evaluated changes in gene expression profiles, immunological indices, and intestinal microbiota of blood cells in subjects consuming a S.reticulata extract. Thirty healthy Japanese males were split randomly into a group ingesting 240 mg/day of S.reticulata extract -containing tablets for 4 weeks and a control group ingesting placebo tablets. Ingestion of the S.reticulata extract improved T cell proliferation and other immunological indices, and changed intestinal microbiota, increasing Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillales and decreasing Clostridium bacteria. Expression levels of many immuno-relevant genes were altered. We have shown the S.reticulata extract to enhance human immune functions.
Project description:The link between the gut microbiota of a human being (a complex group of microorganism including not only bacteria but also fungi, viruses, etc.,) that form an ecosystem in his gastrointestinal tract and his physiological state is nowadays unquestionable. Metaproteomics has emerged as a useful technique to characterize this microbial community, not just taxonomically, but also focusing on specific biological processes carried out by gut microbiota that may have an effect in the host health or pathological state. In order to characterize this host-microbiota inter-relation, we carried out the metaproteomic study of 6 stool samples from 6 healthy adults. A total of 37 080 peptide sequences and 10 686 protein groups were identified in this study. Regarding taxonomic information, we found a total of 247 taxa among 105 were species. Interesting contributions of microbiota metabolism to human host physiology has also been described.