Growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and somatolactin (SL) are members of GH/PRL superfamily. These hormones are involved in the regulation of an array of physiological processes, including growth, lactation, and osmoregulation. While recent evidence has shown the GH, PRL, and SL gene transcripts and protein products are expressed during early zebraWsh development, their functions at this time...

A mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in which glycoprotein H (gH) coding sequences were deleted and replaced by the Escherichia coli lacZ gene under the control of the human cytomegalovirus IE-1 gene promoter was constructed. The mutant was propagated in Vero cells which contained multiple copies of the HSV-1 gH gene under the control of the HSV-1 gD promoter and which therefore prov...

introduction the accumulation of improperly folded forms of host-encoded cellular prion protein (prpc) in the central nervous system (cns) lead to a fatal neurodegenerative disease in sheep and goats, namely scrapie. the application of genetic breeding programs to eradicate transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in goats is an important aim for reasons of animal welfare as well as human food...

The article by Untergasser et al. in this issue describes a novel growth hormone variant (GH-V) transcript in the testis (1). GH-V is a product of the growth hormone (GH) gene family, a 50 kb cluster of five highly conserved genes. These genes are 91–99% identical to each other and are located on human chromosome 17 (2). In 5-3 order these genes are: GH-normal (GH-N), placental lactogen-like (P...

Mechanical overloading of the spine is associated with low back pain and intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. How excessive loading elicits degenerative changes in the IVD is poorly understood. Comprehensive knowledge of the interaction between mechanical loading, cell responses and changes in the extracellular matrix of the disc is needed in order to successfully intervene in this process. ...

Acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase α (ACC-alpha) is considered as the key regulatory enzyme in fatty acid biosynthesis. ACC-alpha gene is located on Caprine chromosome 11 and is polymorphic in many goat breeds. In the current study, we aimed to find possible single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the exon 1 region of the ACC-alpha gene in Iranian Mahabadi goat breed. Genomic DNA was extracted fro...

Previous studies have shown that the locus control region (LCR) and the promoter of the growth hormone (GH) gene can control the expression of GH. Therefore, lenti- and retro-viral vectors with these elements might be useful to monitor the activation of the GH gene and the development of newborn somatotrophs. To test this, we first constructed a lentiviral vector, which expresses green fluoresc...

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential association between growth hormone GH/AluI and growth hormone receptor GHR/AluI polymorphisms with milk yield and reproductive performances in Holstein dairy cows in Iran. Blood samples of 150 Holstein cows were collected and their genomic DNA was extracted using Gene-Fanavaran DNA extracting kit. Fragments of the 428 bp of exon 5 growth ho...

The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL75 gene product is the homologue of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein H (gH), a virion glycoprotein that is essential for infectivity and which is conserved among members of the alpha-, beta- and gamma-herpesviruses. It has previously been shown that HSV-1 gH forms a stable complex with HSV-1 gL, the product of the UL1 gene, and the formation of...

Turtles grow slowly and have a long lifespan. Ultrastructural studies of the pituitary gland in Reeves' turtle (Chinemys reevesii) have revealed that the species possesses a higher nucleoplasmic ratio and fewer secretory granules in growth hormone (GH) cells than other animal species in summer and winter. C. reevesii GH gene was cloned and species-specific similarities and differences were inve...