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Relationships between rape myths, revictimization, and postassault well-being were examined in a sample of adult victims of sexual assault ( n  = 88). Correlation, multiple regression, and path analyses investigated whether conformity to stereotypes of "real rape" or "real victim" was associated with revictimization and well-being. A possible mediating effect of revictimization on the relationship between rape myth conformity and well-being was assessed. The relationship between specific revictimization behaviors and emotions was also analyzed. Questioning victims' resistance to the assault was correlated with revictimization emotions. "Real victim" characteristics were associated with well-being, but no mediating effect of revictimization was observed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Rapid cellular responses to environmental stimuli are fundamental for development and maturation. Immediate early genes can be transcriptionally induced within minutes in response to a variety of signals. How their induction levels are regulated and their untimely activation by spurious signals prevented during development is poorly understood. We found that in developing sensory neurons, before perinatal sensory-activity-dependent induction, immediate early genes are embedded into a unique bipartite Polycomb chromatin signature, carrying active H3K27ac on promoters but repressive Ezh2-dependent H3K27me3 on gene bodies. This bipartite signature is widely present in developing cell types, including embryonic stem cells. Polycomb marking of gene bodies inhibits mRNA elongation, dampening productive transcription, while still allowing for fast stimulus-dependent mark removal and bipartite gene induction. We reveal a developmental epigenetic mechanism regulating the rapidity and amplitude of the transcriptional response to relevant stimuli, while preventing inappropriate activation of stimulus-response genes.

Crigler-Najjar syndrome types I and II (CN1 and CN2) are usually inherited as autosomal recessive conditions and are characterized by non-hemolytic unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia. CN1 is the most severe form, associated with the absence of hepatic bilirubin-uridinediphosphoglucuronate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT1A1) activity. CN2 presents intermediate levels of hyperbilirubinaemia as a result of an incomplete deficiency of hepatic UGT1A1 activity. Here, we present the analysis of UGT1A1 gene in 31 unrelated Crigler-Najjar (CN) syndrome patients. This analysis allowed us to identify 22 mutations, 12 of which were not previously described, expanding the spectrum of known UGT1 mutations to 77. Novel mutations, considered pathogenic, including one nonsense mutation, two altered splice sites, one single base deletion and nine missense mutations were identified in coding exons of the UGT1A1gene and flanking introns. Several novel missense mutations localize in critical domain of UGT1A1 enzyme. In addition, the evaluation of Gilbert-type promoter of UGT1A1in Crigler-Najjar (CN) syndrome patients was performed. The polymorphisms of the promoter region can modify the UGT1A1 mutation phenotype. This study represents the molecular characterization of the largest cohort of Italian Crigler-Najjar Gilbert syndrome patients studied so far; increase the mutational spectrum of UGT1A1 allelic variants worldwide and provide a new insight useful for clinical diagnosis and genetic counseling., ((c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background and Objectives: Interferon alpha2a (IFNalpha2a) mediates important antiviral, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory responses and is employed in the treatment of human diseases, including chronic myelogenous leukemia. Here, we report the IFNalpha2a-dependent expression profiles of three malignant cell lines derived from liver, lymphocytes and muscle., Design and Methods: The experiments were performed in the presence of cycloheximide, thus our results exclusively reflect direct transcriptional modulation. The short exposure time i.e. 5 hours evidences only the early events, excluding the effects of complex phenotypic changes on the expression., Results: Our findings indicate that IFNalpha2a rapidly up-regulates the expression of STAT1, STAT2 and ISGF3G genes. This activity should result in the amplification of the cellular response to the cytokine. Moreover, IFNalpha2a directly modulates the expression of: (i) important transcriptional factors, e.g. IRF1 and IRF7 which control pivotal cellular events, and (ii) enzymes involved in the IFNalpha2a-dependent antiviral and apoptotic response. Interestingly, we showed that the cytokine induces transcriptional expression of Sjögren's syndrome antigen A1, a protein involved in several autoimmune diseases., Interpretation and Conclusions: The observed changes induced by IFNalpha2a could be related to the development of autoimmune syndromes observed during IFNalpha2a treatment. A number of genes transcriptionally regulated by the cytokine have been identified for the first time; these might represent additional effectors of IFNalpha2a activity.

Rat apolipoprotein AIV (apo AIV) is a 43-kDa intestinal apolipoprotein that is important in lipid metabolism and the suppression of food intake. In this study, a full-length rat apo AIV was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified in a bioactive form. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and mass spectrometric analysis revealed that the isolated recombinant protein has a molecular mass of approximately 43 kDa, similar to that of natural rat apo AIV. Immunoblot analysis and N-terminal amino acid sequencing confirmed the identity of the recombinant apo AIV protein as natural rat apo AIV. The recombinant protein was functional in lipoprotein binding assays. Biological activity was assessed behaviorally in that the recombinant protein suppressed food intake of fasted rats comparably to natural rat apo AIV. Neither native nor recombinant apo AIV elicited a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) at doses that suppress feeding. These results indicate that the recombinant apo AIV is structurally and functionally indistinguishable from rat natural apo AIV, making this overexpression and purification scheme a powerful tool for future structure and function studies.

Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) is abundant in bone and is an important regulator of the osteoclastic-osteoblastic interaction (coupling). The sequence variation, 713-8delC in the TGF-beta1 gene has previously been found to be associated with very low bone mass in osteoporotic women and with increased bone turnover in both osteoporotic and normal women. The possible association of this polymorphism with bone mass and bone turnover has now been investigated in 256 postmenopausal Italian women. A significant association of TGF-beta1 with bone mass was detected in the populations. Subjects carrying the sequence variation 713-8delC (Tt) genotype showed a significantly lower bone mineral density (BMD) at the hip than those without sequence variation in the genotype (TT). Individuals carrying the tt genotype have a more severe osteoporosis (P=0.0001 vs. TT and Tt genotypes). The frequency of the fragility fractures was significantly lower in individuals with TT genotype than in those with the Tt and tt genotypes (X2=21.9; P=0.006). Furthermore a significant association was found between 713-8delC and bone turnover. The results suggest a strong evidence for an association among the 713-8delC allele of the TGF-beta1 gene and the femoral BMD, the prevalence of osteoporotic fractures, and finally a high bone turnover in a sample of Italian postmenopausal women.