Selection, both natural and artificial, leaves patterns on the genome during domestication of animals and leads to changes in allele frequencies among populations. Detecting genomic regions influenced Show more
Selection, both natural and artificial, leaves patterns on the genome during domestication of animals and leads to changes in allele frequencies among populations. Detecting genomic regions influenced by selection in livestock may assist in understanding the processes involved in genome evolution and discovering genomic regions related to traits of economic and ecological interests. In the current study, genetic diversity analyses were conducted on 34,206 quality-filtered SNP positions from 450 individuals in 15 sheep breeds, including six indigenous breeds from the Middle East, namely Iranian Balouchi, Afshari, Moghani, Qezel, Karakas and Norduz, and nine breeds from Europe, namely East Friesian Sheep, Ile de France, Mourerous, Romane, Swiss Mirror, Spaelsau, Suffolk, Comisana and Engadine Red Sheep. The SNP genotype data generated by the Illumina OvineSNP50 Genotyping BeadChip array were used in this analysis. We applied two complementary statistical analyses, F Show less
Detachment and the formation of spheroids under microgravity conditions can be observed with various types of intrinsically adherent human cells. In particular, for cancer cells this process mimics me Show more
Detachment and the formation of spheroids under microgravity conditions can be observed with various types of intrinsically adherent human cells. In particular, for cancer cells this process mimics metastasis and may provide insights into cancer biology and progression that can be used to identify new drug/target combinations for future therapies. By using the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone (DEX), we were able to suppress spheroid formation in a culture of follicular thyroid cancer (FTC)-133 cells that were exposed to altered gravity conditions on a random positioning machine. DEX inhibited the growth of three-dimensional cell aggregates in a dose-dependent manner. In the first approach, we analyzed the expression of several factors that are known to be involved in key processes of cancer progression such as autocrine signaling, proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and anoikis. Wnt/β-catenin signaling and expression patterns of important genes in cancer cell growth and survival, which were further suggested to play a role in three-dimensional aggregation, such as Show less