Project description:The aim of this study is to identify alterations induced in gastric mucosa of mice exposed to Pteridium aquilinum and/or infected with Helicobacter pylori, in order to identify genes that are induced by bracken fern exerts exacerbating effects on gastric lesions associated to the infection. Six groups of C57Bl/6 mice were be used: 1) control, 2) infected Helicobacter pylori, 3) treated with Bracken fern extract orogastrically, 4) treated with Bracken fern extract in drinking water, 5) infected Helicobacter pylori + treated with Bracken fern extract orogastrically, 6) infected Helicobacter pylori + treated with Bracken fern extract in drinking water. The infection procedure was performed using an orogastric inoculation of H.pylori (strain SS1) twice in the first week. The RNA isolation was done in triplicate (3 mice per each condition). Further evaluation of morphological alterations on gastric mucosa, proliferative index and induction of DNA strand breaks will be performed in the mice stomach exposed to Pteridium aquilinum infected or not with Helicobacter pylori. Alterations of glycosylation in gastric tissues will also evaluated.
Project description:The aim of this study is to identify alterations induced in gastric mucosa of mice exposed to Pteridium aquilinum and/or infected with Helicobacter pylori, in order to identify genes that are induced by bracken fern exerts exacerbating effects on gastric lesions associated to the infection.
Project description:Osteoarthritis is a common joint disorder that causes debilitating conditions among the elderly. Risk factors of osteoarthritis include age, which is often associated with the thinning of articular cartilage. We generated conditional knockout mice that lack salt-inducible kinase 3 (Sik3) specifically in chondrocytes after birth by tamoxifen administration. Deletion of Sik3 at 2 or 8 weeks after birth increased the thickness of articular cartilage by increasing the chondrocyte population. Additionally, Sik3 deletion protected cartilage against osteoarthritis development. We identified the edible Pteridium aquilinum ingredient, pterosin B, as a compound that inhibits the Sik3 pathway. Intraarticular injection of pterosin B protected cartilage against osteoarthritis development. Sik3 deletion or pterosin B treatment inhibited activation of the hypertrophic program through the histone deacetylase 4 (Hdac4) pathway, increased Prg4 expression in chondrocytes, and protected cartilage against osteoarthritic attack. Collectively, our results suggest Sik3 is a regulator that regulates homeostasis of articular cartilage thickness and a target for treatment of osteoarthritis, and that pterosin B can be the lead compound for relevant drugs.
Project description:We have employed the Zebrafish gene expression microarray (MZH_Zebrafish_16k_v1.0) as a discovery platform to analyze the trancriptome of 108hpf (hours post fertilization) embryos exposed from the 96hpf to 108hpf to 100µM of diethylmaleate (DEM).