Vol 53, No 6 (2019)

The members of the casein kinase 1 (CK1) subfamily are distinguished by interspecific conservatism and an extensive set of phosphorylation substrates. Recently, appeared strong evidence that CK1 are able to phosphorylate tubulin directly. Thus, CK1 contribute to the tubulin code and functional specialization of microtubules. In this work, we present the results of studying the response of plant tubulin cytoskeleton to the treatment with the CK1-specific inhibitor D4476. It was demonstrated that D4476 shows a strong dose-dependent effect on Arabidopsis thaliana root growth and morphology. The experiments on the plants expressing chimeric gfp-map4 gene construct proved the relation of the observed morphological reactions with the spatial organization of microtubules caused by a selective inhibition of protein kinases CK1.

The genus Quercus (oak) is a widespread and economically important genus of tree plants. The intrageneric taxonomy of this group remains controversial due to widely distributed interspecific hybridization and convergent similarity of morphological traits. Further progress in this problem requires application of molecular methods. Taking into account that the comparison of 5S rDNA was successfully used in the molecular taxonomy of plants, we cloned and sequenced this genomic region for representatives of three taxo-nomically distant Quercus species: Q. acutissima (sect. Cerris) and Q. glauca (sect. Cyclobalanopsis) from East Asia and Q. texana (sect. Lobatae) from North America. We also identified 5S rDNA in the genome sequences available in the Genbank database for North American species Q. lobata (sect. Quercus) and for the related genus Castanea. It was found that the 5S rDNA repeated units demonstrate a high level of intragenomic sequence similarity in representatives of genus Quercus. The potential external elements of the 5S rDNA promoter differ from those in other families of dicotyledonous plants. The results of the comparative sequence analysis of the 5S rDNA intergenic spacer region support the existing taxonomy of the genus and indicate the isolated position of section Cyclobalanopsis, which can be considered as a separate subgenus.

In this work, the genetic diversity of silver (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Val.) and bighead (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis Rich.) carps bred on the territory of the Republic of Belarus was estimated according to genotyping of 11 STR loci (Hmo11, Hmo13, Hmo15, Hmo25, Hmo26, Hmo31, Hmo33, Hmo34, Hmo36, Hmo37, Hmo40). The following indices were calculated: average number of alleles per locus, effective number of alleles, levels of expected and observed heterozygosity, Shannon’s information index value, and F_IS fixation index. The results obtained indicate a moderate (for bighead carp) and sufficiently high (for silver carp) genetic diversity of the studied samples, up to the possibility to allocate several groups for subsequent work on obtaining linear material and further reproduction. To achieve these goals, special attention should be paid to the selection of pairs of producers taking into account the results of molecular-genetic analysis. The estimation of genetic diversity of these species of herbivorous fishes bred in the Republic of Belarus as compared with the results of other studies indicates a significant genetic resource of domestic producers.

The aim of the present work was to determine the insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) content in blood in association with the activity of the end components of the PI3K/Akt/mTORC1/p70S6K signaling cascade in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cancer. Insulin and IGF-1 levels in blood and Akt (Ser473) and p70S6K (Thr389) phosphorylation in PBMC were studied by enzyme immunoassay in the following groups: 1—control group—age-representative group of healthy individuals; 2—T2D patients; 3—cancer patients; 4—patients with both cancer and T2D. It has been demonstrated that the insulin level is significantly increased in the blood of T2D patients and the patients with T2D and cancer (group 4). The IGF-1 level is substantially increased in cancer patients. Akt and p70S6K phosphorylation is enhanced in cancer patients, which indicates the activation of these protein kinases. The mechanisms linking Akt and p70S6K activation in PBMC and insulin and IGF-1 levels in the blood of patients with cancer and diabetes are discussed.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) also known as diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, with multiple genetic and environmental factors involving in its etiology. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene is considered to have an important role in the development and progression of DKD. In this case-control study, we investigated the role of ACE T3892C (rs1800764) polymorphism in the development of DKD in Saudi Arabian population. We recruited 150 type 2 diabetic cases with DKD and 150 type 2 diabetic controls without DKD. The differences in age, sex, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), duration of diabetes, fasting blood glucose, urinary albumin, albumin/creatinine ratio, serum urea and serum-creatinine between the two groups were analyzed. The genotyping of ACE T3892C polymorphism was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Genotype and allele frequencies were calculated by direct counting. Deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) were tested using the Chi-square (χ2) test in both of studied groups. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI were used to evaluate the relationship of ACE T3892C polymorphism with DKD susceptibility. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (version 21.0) software and Medcalc software (version 16.4.3). The frequency distribution of ACE T3892C polymorphism was found to be different between case and control groups significantly indicating ACE gene could play an important role in the pathogenesis of DKD in Saudi Arabian population.