Epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in context of cardiovascular diseases are of considerable interest. So far, our current knowledge of the DNA methylation profiles for atherosclerosis affected and healthy human vascular tissues is still limited. Using the Illumina Infinium Human Methylation27 BeadChip, we performed a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in right coronary artery in the area of advanced atherosclerotic plaques, atherosclerotic-resistant internal mammary arteries, and great saphenous veins obtained from same patients with coronary heart disease. The resulting DNA methylation patterns were markedly different between all the vascular tissues. The genes hypomethylated in athero-prone arteries to compare with atherosclerotic-resistant arteries were predominately involved in regulation of inflammation and immune processes, as well as development. The great saphenous veins exhibited an increase of the DNA methylation age in comparison to the internal mammary arteries. Gene ontology analysis for genes harboring hypermethylated CpG-sites in veins revealed the enrichment for biological processes associated with the development. Four CpG-sites located within the MIR10B gene sequence and about 1 kb upstream of the HOXD4 gene were also confirmed as hypomethylated in the independent dataset of the right coronary arteries in the area of advanced atherosclerotic plaques in comparison with the other vascular tissues. The DNA methylation differences observed in vascular tissues of patients with coronary heart disease can provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying the development of pathology and explanation for the difference in graft patency after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

Purpose: Double-strand breaks (DSB) repair and apoptosis are assumed to be key factors in the determination of individual variability in response to radiation treatment. In this study we investigated tumor protein p53 (TP53) binding protein 1 (53BP1) and phosphorylated histone 2A family member X (γH2AX) foci, γH2AX pan-staining and late apoptosis/necrosis (LAN) in lymphocytes from breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Materials and methods: BC patients were subjected to local radiotherapy with fractionated doses using linear accelerator. Adverse reactions of patients were classified according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG)/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) criteria. Blood samples were collected before treatment, at various time-points during and after radiotherapy. Residual 53BP1 and γH2AX foci, γH2AX pan-staining were analyzed in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) using the Metafer system and confocal laser scanning microscopy. LAN cells were counted by the trypan blue (TB) exclusion assay. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney test, Spearman rank correlation test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).

Results: No statistically significant changes were observed in the levels of γH2AX foci during radiotherapy. In contrast, radiation-induced residual 53BP1 were detected already after the first fraction. Increased individual variability in the 53BP1 focus formation was observed during treatment. The background level of DNA repair foci and its individual variability in response to radiotherapy decreased after the end of radiotherapy indicating successful removal of DNA-damaging effects. A correlation between stage of cancer and 53BP1 focus formation was established which suggests the prognostic value of this test. We show that the fraction of LAN cells negatively correlates with the level of 53BP1 and positively correlates with individual radiosensitivity. Only weak correlation was observed between γH2AX pan-staining and LAN cells. Due to large interindividual variability, both in vivo assays, LAN and focus formation, have shown relatively low predictive power at the individual level.

Conclusions: It is likely that radiosensitive patients have less efficient mechanisms of elimination of apoptotic cells with DNA damage resulting in accumulation of LAN cells and facilitating adverse reactions. Our data suggested that the grade of adverse reaction may positively correlate with LAN cells in PBL before and during radiotherapy.

Predicting tumor radiosensitivity has yet to be routinely integrated into radiotherapy. We analyzed the possibility to assess radiosensitivity of tumor cells based on endogenous and radiation-induced 53BP1 foci which are molecular markers of DNA double strand breaks (DSB). In eleven tumor cell lines of different origin, radiosensitivity was assessed by surviving cell fraction following irradiation with 2 Gy (SF2). 53BP1 foci were measured at 4 and 12 h post-irradiation by confocal laser microscopy and dedicated software. The correlation of 53BP1 foci and their post-irradiation kinetics with SF2 was assessed using Spearman rank test. The SF2 correlated with both excess of radiation-induced 53BP1 foci per cell at 4 h after irradiation and decay in number of 53BP1 foci from 4 to 12 h post-irradiation. The fraction of cells with multiple endogenous 53BP1 foci also correlated with SF2 of tumor cells. We conclude that the radiosensitivity of tumor cells can be predicted by kinetics of formation and decay of 53BP1 foci after irradiation. For the first time we report that the fraction of cells with multiple endogenous 53BP1 foci can be used as a marker of tumor cell radiosensitivity.

Eczema often precedes the development of asthma in a disease course called the 'atopic march'. To unravel the genes underlying this characteristic pattern of allergic disease, we conduct a multi-stage genome-wide association study on infantile eczema followed by childhood asthma in 12 populations including 2,428 cases and 17,034 controls. Here we report two novel loci specific for the combined eczema plus asthma phenotype, which are associated with allergic disease for the first time; rs9357733 located in EFHC1 on chromosome 6p12.3 (OR 1.27; P=2.1 × 10(-8)) and rs993226 between TMTC2 and SLC6A15 on chromosome 12q21.3 (OR 1.58; P=5.3 × 10(-9)). Additional susceptibility loci identified at genome-wide significance are FLG (1q21.3), IL4/KIF3A (5q31.1), AP5B1/OVOL1 (11q13.1), C11orf30/LRRC32 (11q13.5) and IKZF3 (17q21). We show that predominantly eczema loci increase the risk for the atopic march. Our findings suggest that eczema may play an important role in the development of asthma after eczema.

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) is a rare (up to 2%) and aggressive form of breast cancer.1 ,2 IMPC shows high intratumoral morphological diversity, which represents the degree of cell differentiation, as well as the architectural and invasive growth patterns of tumour cells. Morphologically, these tumours are characterised by the presence of hollow-like (tubular) and morula-like (alveolar) structures of cuboidal-to-columnar neoplastic cells, which are surrounded by empty spaces (retraction clefts) and display an inversion of cell polarity, detected by aberrant localisation of glycoprotein MUC-1 at the stromal–basal surface.1 ,3 In addition, micropapillary tumour clusters can be represented by tumour cells arranged in solid patterns (structures), trabecular structures and discrete (small) groups.3–6 It has been suggested that morphological diversity of IMPC is related to chemotherapy resistance,7 whereas the presence of retraction clefts around tumour clusters is associated with increased lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis.8

Considerable intratumour morphological heterogeneity in breast cancer most likely results from genetic and epigenetic instability of the tumour cells.9 ,10 Previously, the relationships between morphologically distinct components and specific chromosome aberrations have been found in metaplastic and invasive ductal breast carcinomas,11 ,12 the latter is now classified as invasive carcinoma of no special type (IC NST), and is the most common histological type of breast cancer.1

IMPC demonstrates a heterogeneous pattern of chromosome aberrations, and tends to be genetically a more complex disease than IC NST.11 ,12 IMPC more often harboured gains of chromosomes 1q, 8q, 17q and 20q, and losses of 1p, 8p, 13q, 16q and 22q,13 ,14 which were emphasised by Marchio and coauthors13 as previously associated with breast tumours of high histological grade. In contrast, concurrent gain of 1q and 16p and deletion of 16q, related to low

Objective: The study was designed to assess the effects of polymorphisms in genes associated with essential hypertension on the variation of erythrocyte membrane proteins (EMPs) in hypertensive patients.

Methods: Major EMPs content was analyzed in blood from 1162 unrelated Russians (235 hypertensive patients, 176 healthy controls, and 751 random individuals from the Central Russia population). Essential hypertension patients were genotyped for 11 polymorphisms of essential hypertension susceptibility genes including ADD1 (rs4961), GNB3 (rs5443, rs16932941), NOS3 (rs1799983, rs2070744), ACE (rs5186), AGTR1 (rs5186), AGT (rs699, rs4762), MR (rs5534), and TGFB1 (rs1800471). EMP contents and their relationship with the genetic loci were analyzed using various statistical tests.

Results: Sex-specific differences in EMP contents between the cases and controls were observed. Regardless of sex, hypertensives exhibited mainly decreased levels of alpha (SPTA1) and beta-spectrin (SPTB) and increased levels of glucose transporter (GLUT1) as compared with healthy subjects (P ≤ 0.001). EMP correlated differently in essential hypertension patients and controls. Almost 70% of the joint variation in the EMP levels is explained by five gender-specific principal components. The essential hypertension susceptibility genes showed considerable effects on the levels of spectrins and glucose transporter. A joint variation of the genes explained about half the total polygenic variance in the GLUT1, SPTA1, and SPTB levels in hypertensives.

Conclusions: The study showed that essential hypertension susceptibility genes are the important factors of the inherited EMP variation, and their pleitropic effects may be mirrored in the altered expression of genes encoding cytoskeletal proteins and those related to intracellular glucose metabolism.

Objectives: Atypical familial mycobacteriosis (AFM, OMIM #209950) is caused by mutations in genes regulating IL12/IFNG pathway. Some of the mutations exhibit incomplete penetrance, and they have been proposed to be involved in the common (polygenic) predisposition to tuberculosis (TB). We set out to test this hypothesis in two populations from Siberian region of Russia with high prevalence of TB.

Material and methods: The prevalence of twelve mutations in IL12/IFNG pathway genes of were analysed in 331 Russians and 238 Tuvinians TB patients and in 279 healthy Russians and 265 healthy Tuvinians. A screening for new mutations and rare polymorphisms was carried out in 10 children with severe generalized TB and severe BCG-vaccine complications using Sanger's bidirectional sequencing.

Results: Twelve mutations most commonly identified in AFM patients appeared to be ""wild-type"" monomorphic in the studied groups. No new mutations or rare polymorphisms were identified by sequencing. However, 15 common single nucleotide polymorphisms were found, none of which was associated with TB after correction for multiple testing.

Conclusion: The results of the study contradict with a hypothesis that mutations underlying AFM syndrome are involved in the predisposition to TB.

В публикации приведены данные официальной статистики о репродуктивном здоровье населения Республики Бурятия и некоторые сведения о факторах, определяющих уровень репродуктивного здоровья населения Республики Бурятия (отдельные аспекты бесплодного брака, осложнения беременности, гендерное поведение, генетические маркеры). Совокупная оценка этих параметров необходима для прогноза здоровья и разработки индивидуальных рекомендаций по профилактике нарушений в репродуктивной сфере с учетом этнической принадлежности.

Исследования полиморфизма главного комплекса тканевой совместимости человека (HLA-система) в мире проводятся с середины 60-х годов, когда методами серологического типирования было выявлено, что в разных популяциях определяются разные наборы вариантов HLA-антигенов. Гены II класса HLA-системы определяют значительную часть генетической предрасположенности к развитию большинства заболеваний, связанных с иммунной системой. При анализе аллельного полиморфизма генов HLA-DQA1, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DRB1 установлено, что среди здоровых доноров г. Краснодара в абсолютном значении чаще встречаются аллели DQA1*0501, DQA1*0201, DQВ1*0201, DQВ1*0301, DQВ1*0601/8, DRВ1*01, DRВ1*15. Провели сравнение результатов анализа частот аллелей полиморфных генов HLA 151 донора Краснодарского края с наибольшей этнической группой русских выборкой в количестве 300 человек г. Москвы и Московской области. Сравниваемые группы русских не имеют значимых различий и могут быть использованы в качестве контрольных в исследованиях, направленных на изучение вклада генов HLA II класса в развитие заболеваний, ассоциированных с HLA-антигенами.

Представлена динамика структуры браков в сельских районах Бурятии. Показано, что за период с 60-х годов прошлого столетия до начала XXI века при преобладании однонациональных браков над межнациональными к концу сорокалетнего интервала наблюдения отмечен некоторый рост межэтнических браков у представителей основных национальностей республики (русских и бурят).

Проведен анализ статуса метилирования промоторов и первых экзонов генов CDKN2A (p16INK4a, p14ARF), CDKN2B (p15INK4b) и RB1 в 120 образцах сонных артерий с применением двух различных технологий: метилчувствительной полимеразной цепной реакции (МЧ-ПЦР) и метилспецифичной ПЦР (МС-ПЦР). Метилирование ДНК не было выявлено в выраженных атеросклеротических бляшках или прилежащих макроскопически неизменённых тканях сосудистой стенки тех же самых больных. Установлено, что статус метилирования генов CDKN2A, CDKN2B и RB1 не может быть использован в качестве маркера атеросклероза в сонных артериях человека.

В настоящее время методы классической цитогенетики не могут удовлетворить все возрастающие требования клинической медицины. Развитие флуоресцентных методов исследования (FISH, CGH) сделало возможным выявление многих субмикроскопических хромосомных аномалий. Дальнейшее развитие технологий привело к возникновению нового высокотехнологичного метода - сравнительной геномной гибридизации на микрочипах (array-CGH, a-CGH). Данный метод применяется во многих направлениях клинической генетики, репродуктивной медицины, онкологии. Кроме практического применения, a-CGH используется в фундаментальной медицине, в особенности в изучении причин врожденных пороков развития и недифференцированной умственной отсталости, а также в фундаментальной онкологии.

В настоящее время доминирующие механизмы формирования терапевтической резистентности при астме пока не определены. Целью нашего исследования была оценка профилей генной экспрессии при тяжелой терапевтически резистентной астме. Проведено проспективное интервенционное исследование в параллельных группах с продолжительностью лечебного периода 24 недели. Апостериорно в соответствии с критериями ATS группа пациентов с тяжелой астмой была разделена на терапевтически чувствительных и резистентных пациентов. Глобальный уровень экспрессии генов определен в лимфоцитах периферической крови с помощью микрочипа Affymetrix HuGene ST1.0.