Biomedical subjects

Yow-Ling Shiue

Publications and source records attributed to Yow-Ling Shiue.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

EST-based identification of genes expressed in the hypothalamus of adult tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus.

The hypothalamus is involved in many physiological functions in teleosts. To accelerate the molecular analysis of hypothalamic functions, a list of transcripts expressed in the hypothalamus of adult tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, was compiled using the expressed sequence tag (EST) strategy. Of 161 clones, 130 clones were unique genes and 31 clones were found to be redundant. Of 130 unique genes, 32.3% (42/130 ESTs) were identified as known genes and 67.7% (88/130 ESTs) as unknown genes. The functional categorization of the known genes was analyzed. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that 62 of 88 unknown genes (62/130 ESTs, 47.7%) showed a significant homology to neither nucleotide nor translated peptide sequences in the public database. These genes might be particularly expressed in the tilapia hypothalamus.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

Primer design using genetic algorithm.

MOTIVATION: Before performing a polymerase chain reaction experiment, a pair of primers to clip the target DNA subsequence is required. However, this is a tedious task as too many constraints need to be satisfied. Various kinds of approaches for designing a primer have been proposed in the last few decades, but most of them do not have restriction sites on the designed primers and do not satisfy the specificity constraint. RESULTS: The proposed algorithm imitates nature's process of evolution and genetic operations on chromosomes in order to achieve optimal solutions, and is a best fit for DNA behavior. Experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm can find a pair of primers that not only obeys the design properties but also has a specific restriction site and specificity. Gel electrophoresis verifies that the proposed method really can clip out the target sequence. AVAILABILITY: A public version of the software is available on request from the authors.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2004

Synchronous bilateral primary transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tracts: ten patients with more than five years of follow-up.

Primary transitional cell carcinoma of synchronous bilateral upper urinary tracts is rare. In our patients, end-stage renal disease and renal insufficiency were frequently associated with bilateral upper tract transitional cell carcinoma. The clinical presentations of these patients were similar to that of those with Chinese-herb nephropathy and Balkan endemic nephropathy. Renal-sparing surgery should be performed for patients with adequate renal function preoperatively. Renal autotransplantation combined with pyeloneocystostomy was a good method for 1 patient who was at a high risk of developing recurrent transitional cell carcinoma.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms of transforming growth factor-beta1 gene in Taiwanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is involved in the generation of CD8+ T suppressor cells, natural killer (NK) cells and regulatory T (Th3) cells for down-regulatory effects on antibody production. We studied TGF-beta1 activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to try to clarify whether the dysregulation by TGF-beta1 is genetically determined. Sera from 55 patients with clinically inactive SLE, who were taking minimal steroids and/or hydroxychloroquine, and 40 healthy controls, along with supernatants from concanavalin A-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures from 18 patients with SLE and 10 controls were subjected to TGF-beta1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A total of 138 patients with SLE and 182 controls were genotyped for 5 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of TGF-beta1: -988C/A, -800G/A, -509C/T, Leu10/Pro10 and Arg25/Pro25. Patients with SLE had lower serum levels of TGF-beta1 compared with controls (p=0.052). The unstimulated and stimulated TGF-beta1 production of PBMCs in patients with SLE was higher than in controls, although these differences did not reach significance (p=0.073 and 0.074, respectively). None of the TGF-beta1 SNPs was strongly associated with SLE in Taiwanese patients or had any prognostic significance in lupus nephritis. Hence these polymorphisms do not represent a genetic predisposition to SLE. The intrinsic capability of immunoregulation for spontaneous B cell hyperactivity through PBMC TGF-beta1 production was presumed to be intact in clinically stable SLE in Taiwanese. Whether the lower serum TGF-beta1 level that causes the defective immune regulation in SLE is primarily under genetic control or secondary to the influence of ongoing cellular interactions in the cytokine context needs to be elucidated.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The development of bladder tumors and contralateral upper urinary tract tumors after primary transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract.

BACKGROUND: Contralateral, metachronous upper urinary tract (UUT) tumors after primary transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the UUT are reported rarely, and to the authors' knowledge the risk factors have not been determined to date. In addition, few reports have described the characteristics of recurrent bladder tumors and contralateral UUT tumors and any relation between theses tumor types. METHODS: Statistical analysis of data from 223 patients with documented primary UUT-TCC was undertaken. After excluding bilateral involvement and distant metastases, 12 variables were analyzed by multivariate analysis in 189 patients to determine the risk factors for recurrent urothelial tumors. RESULTS: The incidence rates of recurrent bladder tumors and contralateral UUT tumors were 31.2% and 5.8%, respectively. Multiplicity was determined as a risk factor for recurrent bladder tumors. Renal insufficiency, uremia, and concurrent bladder tumors significantly predisposed patients to develop contralateral UUT tumors after primary UUT-TCC. The time intervals and stage distributions differed significantly between recurrent bladder tumors and contralateral UTT tumors. Patients who had recurrent bladder tumors had earlier stage tumors and had a shorter time to recur compared with patients who had contralateral, metachronous UUT tumors. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with primary UUT-TCC, regular follow-up by cystoscopy is necessary to detect recurrent bladder tumors. Intravenous urography or retrograde pyelography should be performed for patients who have a high risk of developing contralateral UUT tumors.

Adult↗