The Effect of ACACB cis-Variants on Gene Expression and Metabolic Traits

Acetyl Coenzyme A carboxylase β (ACACB) is the rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid oxidation, and continuous fatty acid oxidation in Acacb knock-out mice increases insulin sensitivity. Systematic human studies have not been performed to evaluate whether ACACB variants regulate gene expression and insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues. We sought to determine whether ACACB transcribed variants were associated with ACACB gene expression and insulin sensitivity in non-diabetic African American (AA) and European American (EA) adults.ACACB transcribed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 105 EAs and 46 AAs whose body mass index (BMI), lipid profiles and ACACB gene expression in subcutaneous adipose and skeletal muscle had been measured. Allelic expression imbalance (AEI) was assessed in lymphoblast cell lines from heterozygous subjects in an additional EA sample (n = 95). Selected SNPs were further examined for association with insulin sensitivity in a cohort of 417 EAs and 153 AAs.ACACB transcribed SNP rs2075260 (A/G) was associated with adipose ACACB messenger RNA expression in EAs and AAs (p = 3.8×10(-5), dominant model in meta-analysis, Stouffer method), with the (A) allele representing lower gene expression in adipose and higher insulin sensitivity in EAs (p = 0.04). In EAs, adipose ACACB expression was negatively associated with age and sex-adjusted BMI (r = -0.35, p = 0.0002).Common variants within the ACACB locus appear to regulate adipose gene expression in humans. Body fat (represented by BMI) may further regulate adipose ACACB gene expression in the EA population

Age-dependent effects of protein restriction on dopamine release

FUNDING AND DISCLOSURE This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [grant # BB/M007391/1 to J.E.M.], the European Commission [grant # GA 631404 to J.E.M.], The Leverhulme Trust [grant # RPG-2017-417 to J.E.M.] and the Tromsø Research Foundation [grant # 19-SG-JMcC to J. E. M.). The authors declare no conflict of interest. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge the help and support from the staff of the Division of Biomedical Services, Preclinical Research Facility, University of Leicester, for technical support and the care of experimental animals.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Array data extractor (ADE): a LabVIEW program to extract and merge gene array data

BACKGROUND: Large data sets from gene expression array studies are publicly available offering information highly valuable for research across many disciplines ranging from fundamental to clinical research. Highly advanced bioinformatics tools have been made available to researchers, but a demand for user-friendly software allowing researchers to quickly extract expression information for multiple genes from multiple studies persists. FINDINGS: Here, we present a user-friendly LabVIEW program to automatically extract gene expression data for a list of genes from multiple normalized microarray datasets. Functionality was tested for 288 class A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and expression data from 12 studies comparing normal and diseased human hearts. Results confirmed known regulation of a beta 1 adrenergic receptor and further indicate novel research targets. CONCLUSIONS: Although existing software allows for complex data analyses, the LabVIEW based program presented here, “Array Data Extractor (ADE)”, provides users with a tool to retrieve meaningful information from multiple normalized gene expression datasets in a fast and easy way. Further, the graphical programming language used in LabVIEW allows applying changes to the program without the need of advanced programming knowledge

Beyond equilibrium climate sensitivity

ISSN:1752-0908ISSN:1752-089

Persistence of Social Exclusion in Tanzania

Social exclusion can be defined as a practice where individuals are fully or partially excluded from social, economic and cultural networks. Hence, the concept of social exclusion is multidimensional and associated with economic, social, political and cultural aspects. This paper analyses the causes of social exclusion. It specifically explores the reasons why an individual experiences social exclusion today on the assumption that this may lead to similar experiences in the future. Literature suggests that there are two underlying processes that lead to the persistence of social exclusion. One, individuals are heterogeneous in terms of observed and unobserved adverse characteristics which are important for someone to experience social exclusion over time. Second, individuals may experience social exclusion due to state dependency, that is, the experience of social exclusion in one period may itself incite the chances of experiencing it in subsequent periods. Differentiating the two processes is important because policy options for addressing the two social exclusion processes are also different. Using data from the Tanzania National Panel Survey (TZNPS), this paper provides new evidence on the state of social exclusion in Tanzania. </p

Religious intolerance and Euroscepticism

Research on Euroscepticism focuses increasingly on the role of group identities: national identities and attitudes towards multiculturalism. Yet hardly any attention has been paid to the way in which religious intolerance shapes Euroscepticism. We argue that religious intolerance influences not only diffuse Euroscepticism, but also more specifically opposition to enlargement of the European Union with Turkey. To examine the relationship between religious intolerance and Euroscepticism, this article analyses unique data from two representative surveys conducted in Ireland and the Netherlands. Our findings show that religious intolerance is indeed a powerful determinant of attitudes towards the European Union and that it particularly shapes people’s attitudes towards future Turkish enlargement. This study therefore contributes to the literature by demonstrating that social identities are strong determinants of Euroscepticism