To investigate candidate genes that influence the risk of HTLV-I associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), we analyzed 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the interleukin-10 (IL-10) promoter region. METHODS: 280 cases of HAM/TSP patients and 255 HTLV-I seropositive asymptomatic carriers (HCs) from Kagoshima, Japan were studied. All subjects gave written informed conse...

Utilizing the method of P-M hybrid dysgenesis-mediated gene transfer to insert rosy locus DNA into various chromosomal locations, we recovered a transformed strain that carries an ry+ transposon inserted in or near the scalloped locus in polytene section 13F on the X chromosome. The resultant product, when stabilized, behaves as a homozygous and hemizygous viable and fertile extreme scalloped a...

Genetic hitchhiking describes evolution at a neutral locus that is linked to a selected locus. If a beneficial allele rises to fixation at the selected locus, a characteristic polymorphism pattern (so-called selective sweep) emerges at the neutral locus. The classical model assumes that fixation of the beneficial allele occurs from a single copy of this allele that arises by mutation. However, ...

Background: In the previous study, we have shown that the presence of A allele at position -588 in Aγ-globin gene was highly frequent and closely associated with fetal hemoglobin elevation among β-thalassemia intermedia patients. Therefore, we decided to investigate whether this allele (A allele at -588) could result in an increase in Aγ-globin gene expression to ameliorate the severity of the ...

Genetic hitchhiking describes evolution at a neutral locus that is linked to a selected locus. If a beneficial allele rises to fixation at the selected locus, a characteristic polymorphism pattern (socalled selective sweep) emerges at the neutral locus. The classical model assumes that fixation of the beneficial allele occurs from a single copy of this allele that arises by mutation. However, r...

In this study, the correlation between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at rs2910829 and rs918592 in the phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) gene and cerebral infarction in the Uygur and Han ethnic groups of Xinjiang, China were examined. The study population consisted of 373 Uygur and Han patients with cerebral infarction and 377 Uygur and Han control participants with no nervous system dis...

The design and interpretation of genetic association studies depends on the relationship between the genotyped variants and the underlying functional variant, often parameterized as the squared correlation or r(2) measure of linkage disequilibrium between two loci. While it has long been recognized that placing a constraint on ther(2) between two loci also places a constraint on the difference ...