| 1. |
- Jelenkovic, A., et al.
(författare)
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Genetic and environmental influences on adult human height across birth cohorts from 1886 to 1994
- 2016
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Ingår i: eLIFE. - Cambridge, United Kingdom : eLife Sciences Publications. - 2050-084X. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human height variation is determined by genetic and environmental factors, but it remains unclear whether their influences differ across birth-year cohorts. We conducted an individual-based pooled analysis of 40 twin cohorts including 143,390 complete twin pairs born 1886-1994. Although genetic variance showed a generally increasing trend across the birth-year cohorts, heritability estimates (0.69-0.84 in men and 0.53-0.78 in women) did not present any clear pattern of secular changes. Comparing geographic-cultural regions (Europe, North America and Australia, and East Asia), total height variance was greatest in North America and Australia and lowest in East Asia, but no clear pattern in the heritability estimates across the birth-year cohorts emerged. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that heritability of height is lower in populations with low living standards than in affluent populations, nor that heritability of height will increase within a population as living standards improve.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Hedelin, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Pain associated with the chronic pelvic pain syndrome is strongly related to the ambient temperature
- 2012
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology. - : Informa Healthcare. - 0036-5599 .- 1651-2065. ; 46:4, s. 279-283
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective. There are indications suggesting that the pain associated with the chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) may be related to cold. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate how the symptom intensity reported by the patient relates to the time of the year in a temperate climate, i.e. to the ambient temperature and to weather changes. Material and methods. Thirty-one patients, mean age 51 years (range 35–66 years), with CPPS for 17 ± 10 years (3–42 years) were asked to complete a set of questionnaires including questions concerning how they experienced their symptom intensity during the different seasons using the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) questionnaire. Results. The total NIH-CPSI score was 22.2 ± 8.2. There was a highly marked relationship between season and pain intensity as reported by the informants: it was experienced to be three times more intense during the winter months. All subjects reported that a temperature drop was associated with deterioration. Conclusion. The strong relationship between the ambient temperature, a drop in temperature and the pain experienced by men with CPPS confirms the association between cold and symptom intensity in the Scandinavian countries, where the seasonal temperature variation spans a long range and the winters are long. The cause of this relationship is still to be established. Muscular spasm/stiffness is a possibility that remains to be explored.
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| 4. |
- Alatalo, Juha M., et al.
(författare)
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Dominance hierarchies, diversity and species richness of vascular plants in an alpine meadow: Contrasting short and medium termresponses to simulated global change
- 2014
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Ingår i: PeerJ. - : PeerJ Inc.. - 2167-8359. ; 2014:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We studied the impact of simulated global change on a high alpine meadow plant community. Specifically, we examined whether short-term (5 years) responses are good predictors for medium-term (7 years) changes in the system by applying a factorial warming and nutrient manipulation to 20 plots in Latnjajaure, subarctic Sweden. Seven years of experimental warming and nutrient enhancement caused dramatic shifts in dominance hierarchies in response to the nutrient and the combined warming and nutrient enhancement treatments. Dominance hierarchies in the meadow moved from a community being dominated by cushion plants, deciduous, and evergreen shrubs to a community being dominated by grasses, sedges, and forbs. Short-termresponses were shown to be inconsistent in their ability to predict medium-term responses for most functional groups, however, grasses showed a consistent and very substantial increase in response to nutrient addition over the seven years. The non-linear responses over time point out the importance of longer-term studies with repeated measurements to be able to better predict future changes. Forecasted changes to temperature and nutrient availability have implications for trophic interactions, and may ultimately influence the access to and palatability of the forage for grazers. Depending on what anthropogenic change will be most pronounced in the future (increase in nutrient deposits, warming, or a combination of them both), different shifts in community dominance hierarchies may occur. Generally, this study supports the productivity-diversity relationship found across arctic habitats, with community diversity peaking in mid-productivity systems and degrading as nutrient availability increases further. This is likely due the increasing competition in plant-plant interactions and the shifting dominance structure with grasses taking over the experimental plots, suggesting that global change could have high costs to biodiversity in the Arctic. © 2014 Alatalo et al.
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| 5. |
- Holmén, Jonathan, et al.
(författare)
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A Kinetic Overview of the Receptors Involved in 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 and 24,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Signaling : A Systems Biology Approach
- 2009
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Ingår i: Critical Reviews in Eukaryotic Gene Expression. - : Begell House. - 1045-4403 .- 2162-6502. ; 19:3, s. 181-196
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The vitamin D endocrine system modulates an arsenal of important biological functions in more than 30 different tissues in short- and long-term perspectives. Two membrane receptors and one nuclear receptor are suggested to be involved in the vitamin D signaling system, but the function and physiological relevance of the receptors are debated. The complexity of the vitamin D endocrine system makes it necessary to combine experimental data with in silico simulations to get a holistic view of vitamin D-dependent regulation of tissue and cell physiology. This review focus on binding characteristics for the three putative vitamin D receptors and proposes a future systems biology approach including mathematical modeling that will be helpful together with experimental methods in depicting antitumoral and other biological effects promoted by the vitamin D endocrine system.
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| 6. |
- Karlsson, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
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Vitamin D and prostate cancer : The role of membrane initiated signaling pathways in prostate cancer progression
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. - : Elsevier. - 0960-0760 .- 1879-1220. ; 121:1-2, s. 413-416
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) has been demonstrated to mediate both genomic and non-genomic responses in prostate cancer (CaP) cells. Here, we give an overview of membrane initiated 1,25(OH)2D3 signaling in prostate cancer cell progression. The presence of PDIA3 was investigated and homologous modeling of the putative PDIA3 receptor complex was conducted. Furthermore, the cellular distribution of nVDR was analyzed. We could show that both nVDR and PDIA3 are expressed in the prostate cancer cell lines investigated. The homologous modeling of PDIA3 showed that the receptor complex exists in a trimer formation, which suggests for allosteric activity. Our findings support previous reports and suggest that 1,25(OH)2D3 is an important therapeutic agent in inhibiting prostate cancer progression. Furthermore, our data show that 1,25(OH)2D3 regulate prostate cell biology via multiple pathways and targeting specific pathways for 1,25(OH)2D3 might provide more effective therapies compared to the vitamin D therapies currently clinically tested.
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| 7. |
- Lundh, Dan, et al.
(författare)
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Arsenic accumulation in plants - Outlining strategies for developing improved variety of crops for avoiding arsenic toxicity in foods
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of biological systems. - : World Scientific Publishing. - 0218-3390. ; 18:1, s. 223-241
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Contamination of food with arsenics is a potential health risk for both humans and animals in many regions of the world, especially in Asia. Arsenics can be accumulated in humans, animals and plants for a longer period and a long-term exposure of humans to arsenics results in severe damage of kidney, lever, heart etc. and many other vascular diseases. Arsenic contamination in human may also lead to development of cancer. In this paper we report our results on data mining approach (an in silico analysis based on searching of the existing genomic databases) for identification and characterization of genes that might be responsible for uptake, accumulation or metabolism of arsenics. For these in silico analyses we have involved the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in our investigation. By employing a system biology model (a kinetic model) we have studied the molecular mechanisms of these processes in this plant. This model contains equations for uptake, metabolism and sequestration of different types of arsenic; As(V), As(III), MMAA and DMAA. The model was then implemented in the software XPP. The model was also validated against the data existing in the literatures. Based on the results of these in silico studies we have developed some strategies that can be used for reducing arsenic contents in different parts of the plant. Data mining experiments resulted in identification of two candidate genes (ACR2, arsenate reductase 2 and PCS1, phytochelatin synthase 1) that are involved either in uptake, transport or cellular localization of arsenic in A. thaliana. However, our system biology model revealed that by increasing the level of arsenate reductase together with an increased rate of arsenite sequestration in the vacuoles (by involving an arsenite efflux pump MRP1/2), it is possible to reduce the amount of arsenics in the shoots of A. thaliana to 11–12%.
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| 8. |
- Sogaard, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial Insulin Signalling in Isolated Skeletal Muscle Preparations
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. - : Wiley-Liss, Inc.. - 0730-2312 .- 1097-4644. ; 109:5, s. 943-949
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During in vitro incubation in the absence or presence of insulin, glycogen depletion occurs in the inner core of the muscle specimen, concomitant with increased staining of hypoxia-induced-factor-1-alpha and caspase-3, markers of hypoxia and apoptosis, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine whether insulin is able to diffuse across the entire muscle specimen in sufficient amounts to activate signalling cascades to promote glucose uptake and glycogenesis within isolated mouse skeletal muscle. Phosphoprotein multiplex assay on lysates from muscle preparation was performed to detect phosphorylation of insulin-receptor on Tyr1146, Akt on Ser473 and glycogen-synthases-kinase-3 on Ser21/Ser9. To address the spatial resolution of insulin signalling, immunohistochemistry studies on cryosections were performed. Our results provide evidence to suggest that during the in vitro incubation, insulin sufficiently diffuses into the centre of tubular mouse muscles to promote phosphorylation of these signalling events. Interestingly, increased insulin signalling was observed in the core of the incubated muscle specimens, correlating with the location of oxidative fibres. In conclusion, insulin action was not restricted due to insufficient diffusion of the hormone during in vitro incubation in either extensor digitorum longus or soleus muscles from mouse under the specific experimental settings employed in this study. Hence, we suggest that the glycogen depleted core as earlier observed is not due to insufficient insulin action.
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| 9. |
- Sögaard, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of fibre type and diffusion distance on mouse skeletal muscle glycogen content in vitro
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0730-2312 .- 1097-4644. ; 107:6, s. 1189-1197
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In vitro incubation of isolated rodent skeletal muscle is a widely used procedure in metabolic research. One concern with this method is the development of an anoxic state during the incubation period that can cause muscle glycogen depletion. Our aim was to investigate whether in vitro incubation conditions influence glycogen concentration in glycolytic extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and oxidative soleus mouse muscle. Quantitative immunohistochemistry was applied to assess glycogen content in incubated skeletal muscle. Glycogen concentration was depleted, independent of insulin-stimulation in the incubated skeletal muscle. The extent of glycogen depletion was correlated with the oxidative fibre distribution and with the induction of hypoxia-induced-factor-1-alpha. Insulin exposure partially prevented glycogen depletion in soleus, but not in EDL muscle, providing evidence that glucose diffusion is not a limiting step to maintain glycogen content. Our results provide evidence to suggest that the anoxic milieu and the intrinsic characteristics of the skeletal muscle fibre type play a major role in inducing glycogen depletion in during in vitro incubations.
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| 10. |
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