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Although morphology and grain size are important to rice growth and yield, the identity of abundant natural allelic variations that determine agronomically important differences in crops is unknown. Here, we characterized the function of mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 from Oryza officinalis Wall. ex Watt encoded by OrMKK3. Different alternative splicing variants occurred in OrMKK3. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)–OrMKK3 fusion proteins localized to the cell membrane and nuclei of rice protoplasts. Overexpression of OrMKK3 influenced the expression levels of the grain size-related genes SMG1, GW8, GL3, GW2, and DEP3. Phylogenetic analysis showed that OrMKK3 is well conserved in plants while showing large amounts of variation between indica, japonica, and wild rice. In addition, OrMKK3 slightly influenced brassinosteroid (BR) responses and the expression levels of BR-related genes. Our findings thus identify a new gene, OrMKK3, influencing morphology and grain size and that represents a possible link between mitogen-activated protein kinase and BR response pathways in grain growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NB-ARC (nucleotide-binding adaptor shared by APAF-1, R proteins, and CED-4) gene family plays a critical role in plant development. However, our understanding of the mechanisms of how NB-ARC genes regulate plant development in the plant panicle is still limited. Here, we subjected 258 NB-ARC genes in rice to genome-wide analysis to characterize their structure, function, and expression patterns. The NB-ARC genes were classified into three major groups, and group II included nine subgroups. Evolutionary analysis of NB-ARC genes in a dicotyledon plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) and two monocotyledonous plants (Oryza sativa L. and Triticum aestivum) indicated that homologous genome segments were conserved in monocotyledons and subjected to weak positive selective pressure during evolution. Dispersed and proximal replication events were detected. Expression analysis showed expression of most NB-ARC genes in roots, panicles, and leaves, and regulation at the panicle development stage in rice Ce253. The GNP12 gene encodes RGH1A protein, which regulates rice yield according to panicle length, grain number of panicle, and grain length, with eight major haplotypes. Most members of NB-ARC protein family are predicted to contain P-loop conserved domains and localize on the membrane. The results of this study will provide insight into the characteristics and evolution of NB-ARC family and suggest that GNP12 positively regulates panicle development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Establishment of cohesion 1 homolog 2 (ESCO2) plays important roles in the regulation of cohesion and genomic stability and has been implicated in human cancers. Yet, its clinical significance and biological function in colorectal cancer (CRC) are unknown.Methods: The expression of ESCO2 was examined by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. The role of ESCO2 in the tumor metastasis of CRC and the related mechanisms were investigated using in vitro and in vivo models.Results: In this study, we show that low expression of ESCO2 in CRC was closely correlated with lymphatic and distant metastasis. Patients with low ESCO2 expression experienced shorter overall survival and disease-free survival in two independent cohorts containing a total of 587 CRC cases. ESCO2 overexpression suppressed, whereas ESCO2 knockdown promoted cell migration in vitro and tumor metastasis in vivo via modulation of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. Mechanistically, ESCO2 inhibited the transcriptional activity of MMP2 promoter to downregulate its expression. Reexpression of MMP2 partially attenuated the ESCO2-mediated malignant phenotypes.Conclusion: Collectively, our data suggest that ESCO2 serves as a potential prognostic factor and exerts antimetastatic activity in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2S (UBE2S) plays pivotal roles in the progression of human cancers. However, its clinical significance and role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unknown. Here, we show that UBE2S is upregulated in HCC and exhibits oncogenic activities via enhancing the ubiquitination of p53. Increased expression of UBE2S was significantly correlated with higher serum AFP level, higher pathological grade, advanced TNM stage, larger tumor size, vascular invasion and unfavorable patient survivals in two independent cohorts containing a total of 845 patients with HCC. Multivariate analyses by cox regression model suggested UBE2S as an independent factor for overall survival. In vitro experiments demonstrated that UBE2S overexpression promoted, whereas UBE2S knockdown suppressed cell proliferation and migration via modulation of p53 signaling pathway. Ectopic expression of UBE2S upregulated the expression of p53 and its downstream effectors, such as p21 and Cyclin D1. Mechanistically, UBE2S enhanced the ubiquitination of p53 protein to facilitate its degradation in HCC cells. Re-expression of p53 partially attenuated the UBE2S-promoted malignant phenotypes. Collectively, our study provides compelling evidence that UBE2S is a potential prognostic factor and functions as an oncogene in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiment and lattice simulation show that the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) system displays strong interaction between constituents at temperature a few times the critical temperature Tc. This QGP picture can be explained by assuming that the QGP matter above Tc is rich in different kinds of bound states, namely resonance-like QGP (RQGP). The chemical composition of the QGP system produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions can be investigated through a general charge balance function which describes two-wave quark production during expansion afterward. In this paper, we investigate the signals of this RQGP through general charge balance functions. We find that the quasiparticles in QGP contribute a little to the balance functions because of their heavy masses. The balance functions reduce to the situation discussed before where only one-wave charge production is involved if only the quasiparticles in QGP are considered. However, the baryonic bound states in QGP have a significant effect on the balance function Bpp̄(∆y), causing a dip in the pp̄ balance function at small Δy. The existence of the binary and baryonic bound states amplify the negative dip of the balance function BpK-(Δy) at Δy ∽ 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]