Project description:Combination therapy with estrogen and a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) is a promising approach to safely alleviate important side effects related to estrogen deficiency in women at high risk for breast cancer. Data related to endometrial safety of estrogen+SERM co-therapies are limited, however. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the endometrial profile of low-dose E2 and Tam alone and in combination. In this study 16 postmenopausal female cynomolgus macaques were randomized to receive placebo, low-dose micronized estradiol (E2, 0.25 mg/1800 kcal), the SERM tamoxifen (Tam, 20 mg/1800 kcal), or E2+Tam in a parallel-arm design. Endometrial samples were collected after 4 months of treatment and used for microarray analysis.
Project description:Combination therapy with estrogen and a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) is a promising approach to safely alleviate important side effects related to estrogen deficiency in women at high risk for breast cancer. Data related to endometrial safety of estrogen+SERM co-therapies are limited, however. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the endometrial profile of low-dose E2 and Tam alone and in combination.
Project description:Preimplantational estrogen exposure to pregnant gilts has been associated with implantation failure, embryonic losses and changes in endometrial mRNA expression. Small non-coding RNAs (ncRNA), especially miRNAs, play a key role in regulation of gene expression. Effects of estrogens on endometrial microRNAs (miRNA), however, have not been investigated in this context so far. Thus, we studied the influence of estradiol-17β (E2) on the endometrial expression profile of miRNAs in the pig at gestational day 10. E2 administered early during pregnancy resulted in significantly higher endometrial estrogen concentrations even at a low dose, but did not disrupt the expression profile of endometrial miRNAs.
Project description:The phylogenetic relationships of long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis fascicularis) populations distributed in Peninsular Malaysia in relation to other regions remain unknown. The aim of this study was to reveal the phylogeography and population genetics of Peninsular Malaysia's M. f. fascicularis based on the D-loop region of mitochondrial DNA. Sixty-five haplotypes were detected in all populations, with only Vietnam and Cambodia sharing four haplotypes. The minimum-spanning network projected a distant relationship between Peninsular Malaysian and insular populations. Genetic differentiation (F(ST), Nst) results suggested that the gene flow among Peninsular Malaysian and the other populations is very low. Phylogenetic tree reconstructions indicated a monophyletic clade of Malaysia's population with continental populations (NJ = 97%, MP = 76%, and Bayesian = 1.00 posterior probabilities). The results demonstrate that Peninsular Malaysia's M. f. fascicularis belonged to Indochinese populations as opposed to the previously claimed Sundaic populations. M. f. fascicularis groups are estimated to have colonized Peninsular Malaysia ~0.47 million years ago (MYA) directly from Indochina through seaways, by means of natural sea rafting, or through terrestrial radiation during continental shelf emersion. Here, the Isthmus of Kra played a central part as biogeographical barriers that then separated it from the remaining continental populations.
Project description:Treatment with the breast cancer drug tamoxifen confers a risk of developing uterine tumors or other endometrial pathologies. Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor modulator, which demonstrates tissue-specific activity although the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Both estradiol and tamoxifen act as estrogen agonists on the human uterus, and therefore have the potential to promote carcinogenicity. Estradiol and tamoxifen elicit cellular responses via the estrogen receptors (ER), which are involved in multiple signalling pathways. The effects at the molecular level are further influenced by the differential recruitment of co-factors and the presence of specific promoter motifs in target genes. In this study, ER positive (+) Ishikawa cells are used as a model to investigate the overall effect of treatment with either 17b-estradiol or 4-hydroxytamoxifen on the gene expression profiles. Keywords: Comparison of estradiol and tamoxifen on Ishikawa human uterine cells after 24h or 48h
Project description:Primates have evolved a variety of restriction factors that prevent retroviral replication. One such factor, TRIM5alpha, mediates a postentry restriction in many Old World primates. Among New World primates, Aotus trivirgatus exerts a similar early restriction mediated by TRIMCyp, a TRIM5-cyclophilin A (CypA) chimera resulting from a CypA retrotransposition between exons 7 and 8 of the TRIM5 gene. Macaca nemestrina do not express TRIM5alpha; therefore, we asked whether these animals and related Old World primates express TRIMCyp. RT-PCR of total RNA from M. nemestrina and Macaca fascicularis yielded three TRIMCyp amplification products, one of which is predicted to encode a TRIMCyp chimera containing a full-length CypA. Unlike A. trivirgatus, genomic sequencing of M. nemestrina and M. fascicularis identifies a CypA retrotransposition in the 3' untranslated region of the TRIM5 locus. There is approximately 78% homology between the predicted protein sequences of Old World and New World primate TRIMCyp, with most of the differences found in the TRIM5-derived sequence. Notably, exon 7 is absent from both M. nemestrina and M. fascicularis TRIMCyp. Neither M. nemestrina nor M. fascicularis TRIMCyp could restrict HIV-1 or simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac in an in vitro infectivity assay. The discovery of TRIMCyp in both M. nemestrina and M. fascicularis indicates that TRIMCyp expression may be more common among Old World primates than previously believed. Convergent evolution of TRIMCyp in both Old World and New World primates suggests that TRIMCyp may have provided evolutionary advantages.
Project description:We identified a Bartonella quintana strain by polymerase chain reaction amplification, cloning, and sequencing of DNA extracted from lysed erythrocytes and cultured colonies grown from peripheral blood collected from a captive-bred cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis). This report describes naturally acquired B. quintana infection in a nonhuman primate.
Project description:RNA samples from brain, cerebellum, liver, and testis of 3-year-old make Macaca fascicularis was hybridized to the M.fascicularis GeneChip, which was designed by the Laboratory of Genetic Resources, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation. Keywords: Control study