Luan Wang
Johns Hopkins University, Neurology, Post-Doc
ceg1 gene was a novel human gene, which was cloned by bioinformatics research and RT-PCR. It was a single exon gene and located on human chromosome 14. The length of the cDNA was 2050 bp. Bioinformatics analysis predicted a 1340 bp... more
ceg1 gene was a novel human gene, which was cloned by bioinformatics research and RT-PCR. It was a single exon gene and located on human chromosome 14. The length of the cDNA was 2050 bp. Bioinformatics analysis predicted a 1340 bp complete open reading frame (ORF) which encoded a 446 amino acid protein, containing an EGF-like and CLECT domain. We found that the homologous genes of ceg1 in mouse embryo and chicken embryo were specifically expressed in the brain by in-situ hybridization. The result of RT-PCR of the mature mouse organs showed it was widely expressed in many organs. The result indicates that ceg1 gene may have an essential role in the development of brain and the maintenance of the organs' normal function. The analysis of expression and function profile of ceg1 gene may provide valuable insights into the functions of ceg1 in the development and function of human body.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Endocrinology, Skeletal muscle biology, Breeding, Animal Production, Western blotting, and 20 moreBlood Glucose, Insulin, Mice, Cholesterol, Pancreas, Female, Animals, Male, Phenotype, Triglycerides, Clinical Sciences, Glucose Transport, Mouse Model, Time Factors, Body Weight, Veterinary Sciences, Glucose Tolerance Test, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Glucose Uptake, and Glucose Intolerance
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Ecology, Drosophila melanogaster, Software, and 3 moreAnimals, Male, and Fly
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In a recent perspective in this journal, Herb (2014) discussed how epigenetics is a possible mechanism to circumvent Charles... more
In a recent perspective in this journal, Herb (2014) discussed how epigenetics is a possible mechanism to circumvent Charles Darwin's "special difficulty" in using natural selection to explain the existence of the sterile-fertile dimorphism in eusocial insects. Darwin's classic book "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" explains how natural selection of the fittest individuals in a population can allow a species to adapt to a novel or changing environment. However, in bees and other eusocial insects, such as ants and termites, there exist two or more castes of genetically similar females, from fertile queens to multiple sub-castes of sterile workers, with vastly different phenotypes, lifespans, and behaviors. This necessitates the selection of groups (or kin) rather than individuals in the evolution of honeybee hives, but group and kin selection theories of evolution are controversial and mechanistically uncertain. Also, group selection would seem to be prohibitively inefficient because the effective population size of a colony is reduced from thousands to a single breeding queen. In this follow-up perspective, we elaborate on possible mechanisms for how a combination of both epigenetics, specifically, the selection of metastable epialleles, and genetics, the selection of mutations generated by the selected metastable epialleles, allows for a combined means for selection amongst the fertile members of a species to increase colony fitness. This "intra-caste evolution" hypothesis is a variation of the epigenetic directed genetic error hypothesis, which proposes that selected metastable epialleles increase genetic variability by directing mutations specifically to the epialleles. Natural selection of random metastable epialleles followed by a second round of natural selection of random mutations generated by the metastable epialleles would allow a way around the small effective population size of eusocial insects.