cdx4 mutants fail to specify blood progenitors and can be rescued by multiple hox genes

Organogenesis is dependent on the formation of distinct cell types within the embryo. Important to this process are the hox genes, which are believed to confer positional identities to cells along the anteroposterior axis. Here, we have identified the caudal-related gene cdx4 as the locus mutated in kugelig (kgg), a zebrafish mutant with an early defect in haematopoiesis that is associated with abnormal anteroposterior patterning and aberrant hox gene expression. The blood deficiency in kgg embryos can be rescued by overexpressing hoxb7a or hoxa9a but not hoxb8a, indicating that the haematopoietic defect results from perturbations in specific hox genes. Furthermore, the haematopoietic defect in kgg mutants is not rescued by scl overexpression, suggesting that cdx4 and hox genes act to make the posterior mesoderm competent for blood development. Overexpression of cdx4 during zebrafish development or in mouse embryonic stem cells induces blood formation and alters hox gene expression. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that cdx4 regulates hox genes and is necessary for the specification of haematopoietic cell fate during vertebrate embryogenesis.     

异源双链DNA体外错配修复功能分析模型的构建

DNA错配修复(mismatch repair, MMR)功能缺失是确认的肿瘤发病机制之一. 随着研究的深入以及临床诊断治疗的要求, 有必要从整体上对肿瘤的错配修复功能状态作出评价. 以M13mp2噬菌体及其衍生株和E. coli大肠杆菌为材料, 以lacZα为报告基因, 构建含有错配碱基的异源双链DNA分子. 提取错配修复功能完整细胞株(TK6)和错配修复功能缺陷细胞株(Lovo)的全细胞蛋白, 经大T抗原依赖性SV-40 DNA复制检测, 证实其生物学功能保持完整后与构建成功的异源双链DNA分子共同作用, 发现TK6对双碱基缺失del(2)的修复效率超过60%, 对单碱基错配G·G的修复效率超过50%; 而Lovo对双碱基缺失del(2)的修复效率低于20%, 对单碱基错配G·G的修复效率低于10%. 以异源双链DNA为待修复模板, 以细胞株TK6和Lovo分别作为MMR功能完善和缺陷表型的参照, 建立体外错配修复功能分析模型. 应用该模型检测1例具有微卫星不稳定性表型的HNPCC病人肿瘤组织, 发现其MMR功能丧失; 而检测1例微卫星稳定的散发性直肠癌病人肿瘤组织, 发现其具有MMR功能. 结果表明该模型可用于体外检测各种肿瘤细胞和/或组织的错配修复功能. 为肿瘤发病机制的研究提供了可靠的方法, 对进一步了解错配修复功能状态在各种类型肿瘤中的作用有非常重要的意义.     

The geometry of knowledge: Lewis, Becker, Carnap and the formalization of philosophy in the 1920s

On an ordinary view of the relation of philosophy of science to science, science serves only as a topic for philosophical reflection, reflection that proceeds by its own methods and according to its own standards. This ordinary view suggests a way of writing a global history of philosophy of science that finds substantially the same philosophical projects being pursued across widely divergent scientific eras. While not denying that this view is of some use regarding certain themes of and particular time periods, this essay argues that much of the epistemology and philosophy of science in the early twentieth century in a variety of projects (neo-Kantianism, logical empiricism, pragmatism, phenomenology) looked to the then current context of the exact sciences, especially geometry and physics, not merely for its topics but also for its conceptual resources and technical tools. This suggests a more variable project of philosophy of science, a deeper connection between early twentieth-century philosophy of science and its contemporary science, and a more interesting and richer history of philosophy of science than is ordinarily offered.     

Newly identified loci that influence lipid concentrations and risk of coronary artery disease

To identify genetic variants influencing plasma lipid concentrations, we first used genotype imputation and meta-analysis to combine three genome-wide scans totaling 8,816 individuals and comprising 6,068 individuals specific to our study (1,874 individuals from the FUSION study of type 2 diabetes and 4,184 individuals from the SardiNIA study of aging-associated variables) and 2,758 individuals from the Diabetes Genetics Initiative, reported in a companion study in this issue. We subsequently examined promising signals in 11,569 additional individuals. Overall, we identify strongly associated variants in eleven loci previously implicated in lipid metabolism (ABCA1, the APOA5-APOA4-APOC3-APOA1 and APOE-APOC clusters, APOB, CETP, GCKR, LDLR, LPL, LIPC, LIPG and PCSK9) and also in several newly identified loci (near MVK-MMAB and GALNT2, with variants primarily associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol; near SORT1, with variants primarily associated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol; near TRIB1, MLXIPL and ANGPTL3, with variants primarily associated with triglycerides; and a locus encompassing several genes near NCAN, with variants strongly associated with both triglycerides and LDL cholesterol). Notably, the 11 independent variants associated with increased LDL cholesterol concentrations in our study also showed increased frequency in a sample of coronary artery disease cases versus controls.     

Evidence for two independent prostate cancer risk-associated loci in the HNF1B gene at 17q12

We carried out a fine-mapping study in the HNF1B gene at 17q12 in two study populations and identified a second locus associated with prostate cancer risk, approximately 26 kb centromeric to the first known locus (rs4430796); these loci are separated by a recombination hot spot. We confirmed the association with a SNP in the second locus (rs11649743) in five additional populations, with P = 1.7 x 10(-9) for an allelic test of the seven studies combined. The association at each SNP remained significant after adjustment for the other SNP.     

Genetic determinants of ulcerative colitis include the ECM1 locus and five loci implicated in Crohn's disease

We report results of a nonsynonymous SNP scan for ulcerative colitis and identify a previously unknown susceptibility locus at ECM1. We also show that several risk loci are common to ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (IL23R, IL12B, HLA, NKX2-3 and MST1), whereas autophagy genes ATG16L1 and IRGM, along with NOD2 (also known as CARD15), are specific for Crohn's disease. These data provide the first detailed illustration of the genetic relationship between these common inflammatory bowel diseases.