Background: Hemoglobin is the major protein found in erythrocytes, where it acts as an oxygen carrier molecule. In recent years, its expression has been reported also in neurons and glial cells, although its role in brain tissue remains still unknown. Altered hemoglobin expression has been associated with various neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we investigated hemoglobin mRNA levels in brain...

Codon 104(-G), a heterozygous frameshift mutation in exon 2 of HBB, resulted in a dominantly inherited beta0-phenotype with mild anemia in a German kindred, and thalassemia intermedia in the index patient. A co-inherited a gene triplication, long-term transfusion therapy, and ineffective erythropoiesis were confounding factors.

It is currently accepted that Hot-Bottom-Burning (HBB) in intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars prevents the formation of C stars. Nevertheless, we present in this paper the results of some detailed evolutionary calculations which show that even with HBB we obtain C stars at the highest luminosities reached on the AGB. This is due to mass-loss reducing the envelope mass so that ...

BACKGROUND Additional instruments have become available since instruments for DNA melting analysis of PCR products for genotyping and mutation scanning were compared. We assessed the performance of these new instruments for genotyping and scanning for mutations. METHODS A 110-bp fragment of the beta-globin gene including the sickle cell anemia locus (HBB c. 20A>T) was amplified by PCR in the ...

Mutations in the HBB gene are responsible for several serious hemoglobinopathies, such as sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia. Sickle cell anemia is one of the most common monogenic diseases worldwide. Due to its prevalence, diverse strategies have been developed for a better understanding of its molecular mechanisms. In silico analysis has been increasingly used to investigate the genotype-ph...

BACKGROUND The Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) program teaches basic newborn resuscitation techniques to birth attendants in low-resource settings. Previous studies have demonstrated a decrease in mortality following training, mostly in large hospitals. However, low-volume clinics in rural regions with no physician immediately available likely experience a greater relative burden of newborn mortal...

BACKGROUND Making the correct choice between transcription elongation and transcription termination is essential to the function of RNA polymerase II, and fundamental to gene expression. This choice can be influenced by factors modifying the transcription complex, factors modifying chromatin, or signals mediated by the template or transcript. To aid in the study of transcription elongation and ...

House mice (genus Mus) harbor extensive allelic variation at two tandemly duplicated genes that encode the β-chain subunits of adult hemoglobin (Hb). Alternative haplotypes differ in the level of sequence divergence between the two β-globin gene duplicates: the Hbb(d) and Hbb(p) haplotypes harbor two structurally distinct β-globin genes, whereas the Hbb(s) haplotype harbors two β-globin duplica...