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The solute carrier 6 (SLC6) gene family, initially known as the neurotransmitter transporters, plays vital roles in the regulation of neurotransmitter signaling, nutrient absorption and motor behavior. In this study, a total of 16 candidate genes were identified as SLC6 family gene homologs in the silkworm (Bombyx mori) genome. Spatio-temporal expression patterns of silkworm SLC6 gene transcripts indicated that these genes were highly and specifically expressed in midgut, brain and gonads; moreover, these genes were expressed primarily at the feeding stage or adult stage. Levels of expression for most midgut-specific and midgut-enriched gene transcripts were down-regulated after starvation but up-regulated after re-feeding. In addition, we observed that expression levels of these genes except for BmSLC6-15 and BmGT1 were markedly up-regulated by a juvenile hormone analog. Moreover, brain-enriched genes showed differential expression patterns during wandering and mating processes, suggesting that these genes may be involved in modulating wandering and mating behaviors. Our results improve our understanding of the expression patterns and potential physiological functions of the SLC6 gene family, and provide valuable information for the comprehensive functional analysis of the SLC6 gene family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclins play important roles in cell division and cell expansion. They also interact with cyclin-dependent kinases to control cell cycle progression in plants. Our genome-wide analysis identified 52 expressed cyclin genes in tomato. Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino sequences of tomato and Arabidopsis cyclin genes divided them into 10 types, A-, B-, C-, D-, H-, L-, T-, U-, SDS- and J18. Pfam analysis indicated that most tomato cyclins contain a cyclin-N domain. C-, H- and J18 types only contain a cyclin-C domain, and U-type cyclins contain another potential cyclin domain. All of the cyclin genes are distributed throughout the tomato genome except for chromosome 8, and 30 of them were found to be segmentally duplicated; they are found on the duplicate segments of chromosome 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 12, suggesting that tomato cyclin genes experienced a mass of segmental duplication. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis indicates that the expression patterns of tomato cyclin genes were significantly different in vegetative and reproductive stages. Transcription of most cyclin genes can be enhanced or repressed by exogenous application of gibberellin, which implies that gibberellin maybe a direct regulator of cyclin genes. The study presented here may be useful as a guide for further functional research on tomato cyclins. (Z.Y.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is now well known that some diseased areas, such as cancer nests, inflammation loci, and infarction areas, are acidified, little is known about cellular signal transduction, gene expression, and cellular functions under acidic conditions. Our group showed that different signal proteins were activated under acidic conditions compared with those observed in a typical medium of around pH 7.4 that has been used until now. Investigations of gene expression under acidic conditions may be crucial to our understanding of signal transduction in acidic diseased areas. In this study, we investigated gene expression in mesothelioma cells cultured at an acidic pH using a DNA microarray technique. After 24 h culture at pH 6.7, expressions of 379 genes were increased more than twofold compared with those in cells cultured at pH 7.5. Genes encoding receptors, signal proteins including transcription factors, and cytokines including growth factors numbered 35, 32, and 17 among the 379 genes, respectively. Since the functions of 78 genes are unknown, it can be argued that cells may have other genes for signaling under acidic conditions. The expressions of 37 of the 379 genes were observed to increase after as little as 2 h. After 24 h culture at pH 6.7, expressions of 412 genes were repressed more than twofold compared with those in cells cultured at pH 7.5, and the 412 genes contained 35, 76, and 7 genes encoding receptors, signal proteins including transcription factors, and cytokines including growth factors, respectively. These results suggest that the signal pathways in acidic diseased areas are different, at least in part, from those examined with cells cultured at a pH of around 7.4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is increasingly recognized as a major cause of acute respiratory tract infections. Today, macrolides are used in the primary treatment of M. pneumoniae infection. However, with the increasing prevalence of strains resistant to macrolides, as well as reports of toxicity and adverse side effects, it is necessary to develop an alternative therapeutic agent. A compound recipe--Qinbaiqingfei pellets (Qinbai)--have already been approved in China as the first effective traditional Chinese medicine to be used against M. pneumoniae. Herein, we characterize the mechanism by which Qinbai interacts with M. pneumoniae and lung epithelial cells. The fact that Baicalin is the key component of Qingbai leads us to believe its study is important to elucidating the mechanism of the action of Qinbai. In this study, we describe the complex impact of Baicalin on the adhesin protein P1 of M. pneumoniae and on the expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in BALB/c mice and A549 cells infected with M. pneumonia. We draw the conclusion that Baicalin not only cured M. pneumoniae infection by inhibiting P1 expression, but also enhanced the repair of lung epithelial cells by upregulating EGF. Finally, we demonstrate that Baicalin plays a role in Qinbai treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]