Background: Eastern Finnic populations, including Karelians, Veps, Votes, Ingrians, and Ingrian Finns, are a significant component of the history of Finnic populations, which have developed over ~3 kya. Yet, these groups remain understudied from a genetic point of view. Methods: In this work, we explore the gene pools of Karelians (Northern, Tver, Ludic, and Livvi), Veps, Ingrians, Votes, and Ingrian Finns using Y-chromosome markers (N = 357) and genome-wide autosomes (N = 67) and in comparison with selected Russians populations of the area (N = 763). The data are analyzed using statistical, bioinformatic, and cartographic methods. Results: The autosomal gene pool of Eastern Finnic populations can be divided into two large categories based on the results of the PCA and ADMIXTURE modeling: (a) “Karelia”: Veps, Northern, Ludic, Livvi, and Tver Karelians; (b) “Ingria”: Ingrians, Votes, Ingrian Finns. The Y-chromosomal gene pool of Baltic Finns is more diverse and is composed of four genetic components. The “Northern” component prevails in Northern Karelians and Ingrian Finns, the “Karelian” in Livvi, Ludic, and Tver Karelians, the “Ingrian-Veps” in Ingrians and Veps (a heterogeneous cluster occupying an intermediate position between the “Northern” and the “Karelian” ones), and the “Southern” in Votes. Moreover, our phylogeographic analysis has found that the Y-haplogroup N3a4-Z1927 carriers are frequent among most Eastern Finnic populations, as well as among some Northern Russian and Central Russian populations. Conclusions: The autosomal clustering reflects the major areal groupings of the populations in question, while the Y-chromosomal gene pool correlates with the known history of these groups. The overlap of the four Y-chromosomal patterns may reflect the eastern part of the homeland of the Proto-Finnic gene pool. The carriers of the Y-haplogroup N3a4-Z1927, frequent in the sample, had a common ancestor at ~2.4 kya, but the active spread of N3a4-Z1927 happened only at ~1.7–2 kya, during the “golden” age of the Proto-Finnic culture (the archaeological period of the “typical” Tarand graves). A heterogeneous Y-chromosomal cluster containing Ingrians, Veps, and Northern Russian populations, should be further studied.

This study provides new data on the whole-exome sequencing of a cohort of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) from an underexplored Russian population. Using both a cross-sectional approach involving a control cohort of the same ancestry and an annotation-based approach involving relevant public databases, we explored exonic single nucleotide variants and copy-number variation potentially involved in the manifestation of ASD. The study results reveal new potential ASD candidate-variants found in the studied Russian cohort and show a high prevalence of common ASD-associated genomic variants, especially those in the genes known to be associated with the manifestation of intellectual disabilities. Our screening of an ASD cohort from a previously understudied population allowed us to flag at least a few novel genes (IGLJ2, FAM21A, OR11H12, HIP1, PRAMEF10, and ZNF717) regarding their potential involvement in ASD.

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most common non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In this work, comparative analysis was carried out of transcriptomes of tumor tissue samples from patients with FL in comparison with control samples of lymph nodes with reactive follicular hyperplasia in order to search for intracellular signaling pathways of the immune response, the functioning of which is altered in the tumor and its microenvironment. Nine hundred and ninety-seven genes were found, the expression of which differs in tumor and control samples. Of these, 430 genes are overexpressed in FL, while 567 genes exhibit decreased expression. Signaling pathways for the regulation of the cell cycle, cell response to stress and DNA damage, chromosome organization, and RNA processing have been activated. Among genes with reduced expression, genes associated with signaling pathways that control the immune response predominate. One of the most suppressed signaling pathways in FL controls the activation of T-lymphocytes. Of the 29 genes involved in the activation of T cells, the expression of which is suppressed in FL, three genes ( CD28 , LAT , and ZAP70 ) are involved in signal transduction in anti-PD-1 therapy. Thus, the level of expression of these genes in a patient can potentially be a biomarker of predictive value in anti-PD-1 therapy in FL.

The adoptive transfer of allogeneic CAR NK cells holds great promise as an anticancer modality due to the relative ease of manufacturing and genetic modification of NK cells, which translates into affordable pricing. Compared to the pronounced efficacy of CAR T cell therapy in the treatment of B cell malignancies, rigorous clinical and preclinical assessment of the antitumor properties of CAR NK cells has been lagging behind. In this brief review, we summarize the biological features of NK cells that may help define the therapeutic niche of CAR NK cells as well as create more potent NK cell-based anticancer products. In addition, we compare T cells and NK cells as the carriers of CARs using the data of single-cell transcriptomic analysis.

Although there have been many studies of gene variant association with different stages of HIV/AIDS progression in United States and European cohorts, few gene-association studies have assessed genic determinants in sub-Saharan African populations, which have the highest density of HIV infections worldwide. We carried out genome-wide association studies on 766 study participants at risk for HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C) infection in Botswana. Three gene associations (AP3B1, PTPRA, and NEO1) were shown to have significant association with HIV-1C acquisition. Each gene association was replicated within Botswana or in the United States-African American or United States-European American AIDS cohorts or in both. Each associated gene has a prior reported influence on HIV/ AIDS pathogenesis. Thirteen previously discovered AIDS restriction genes were further replicated in the Botswana cohorts, extending our confidence in these prior AIDS restriction gene reports. This work presents an early step toward the identification of genetic variants associated with and affecting HIV acquisition or AIDS progression in the understudied HIV-1C afflicted Botswana population.

An effective regulation of quiescence plays a key role in the differentiation, plasticity, and prevention of stem cells from becoming malignant. The state of quiescence is being controlled by the pRb family proteins which show overlapping functions in cell cycle regulation; however, their roles in controlling the proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) remain to be understood. This study investigated the regulation of transient quiescence using growth curves, proliferation assay, the cytometric evaluation of cell cycle, Western blotting, and the electromobility gel shift assay (EMSA) on synchronized MSCs of the C3H10Т1/2 and control cells with different statuses of pRb proteins. It has been found that functional steady-state level of p130 but not pRb plays a critical role for entering, exiting, and maintenance of transient quiescence in multipotent mesenchymal stem cells.

The Russian Federation is the largest and one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, however no centralized reference database of genetic variation exists to date. Such data are crucial for medical genetics and essential for studying population history. The Genome Russia Project aims at filling this gap by performing whole genome sequencing and analysis of peoples of the Russian Federation. Here we report the characterization of genome-wide variation of 264 healthy adults, including 60 newly sequenced samples. People of Russia carry known and novel genetic variants of adaptive, clinical and functional consequence that in many cases show allele frequency divergence from neighboring populations. Population genetics analyses revealed six phylogeographic partitions among indigenous ethnicities corresponding to their geographic locales. This study presents a characterization of population-specific genomic variation in Russia with results important for medical genetics and for understanding the dynamic population history of the world's largest country.

The pharmacokinetics of two substances containing recombinant insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) as an active substance was considered. The first substance (IGF1) contains the actual recombinant IGF1, and the second (IGF2) contains IGF1, which is translated from plasmid DNA encoding the IGF-1 gene for this protein. It was established that, with intramuscular administration of IGF1, the delay time for its entry into the bloodstream is 1.5–2 h, while that with IGF2 is 24–25 h. This indicates the presence of various mechanisms of accumulation of these substances in the systemic circulation. The maximum concentration of IGF1 in the blood was determined 5 h after administration and that of IGF2 was determined 125 h after administration. The maximum concentrations of these substances are comparable to each other. The concentration of IGF1 in the blood decreases to its initial value 12 h after its administration, and the concentration of IGF2 does so after 216 h. The clearance parameters (Cl) and elimination constants (Kel) of the considered substances also had significant differences, which confirms the presence of fast and slow dynamics of the decrease of their maximum concentrations after intramuscular injection. The different dynamics of the accumulation of substances in the blood and their elimination from the bloodstream after administration, as well as the different values ​​of the area parameters under the pharmacokinetic curve (AUCt, AUC∞) demonstrate that IGF2 has been in the systemic circulation for a longer time than IGF1. This is essential for the appearance and severity of pharmacodynamic effects.

A comparative analysis of whole genome sequencing (WGS) and genotype calling was initiated for ten human genome samples sequenced by St. Petersburg State University Peterhof Sequencing Center and by three commercial sequencing centers outside of Russia. The sequence quality, efficiency of DNA variant and genotype calling were compared with each other and with DNA microarrays for each of ten study subjects. We assessed calling of SNPs, indels, copy number variation, and the speed of WGS throughput promised. Twenty separate QC analyses showed high similarities among the sequence quality and called genotypes. The ten genomes tested by the centers included eight American patients afflicted with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), plus one case’s unaffected parents, in a prelude to discovering genetic influences in this rare disease of unknown etiology. The detailed internal replication and parallel analyses allowed the observation of two of eight AIH cases carrying a rare allele genotype for a previously described AIH-associated gene (FTCD), plus multiple occurrences of known HLA-DRB1 alleles associated with AIH (HLA-DRB1-03:01:01, 13:01:01 and 7:01:01). We also list putative SNVs in other genes as suggestive in AIH influence.

Since Alzheimer's disease was first described in 1907, many attempts have been made to reveal its main cause. Nowadays, two forms of the disease are known, and while the hereditary form of the disease is clearly caused by mutations in one of several genes, the etiology of the sporadic form remains a mystery. Both forms share similar sets of neuropathological and molecular manifestations, including extracellular deposition of amyloid-beta, intracellular accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, disturbances in both the structure and functions of mitochondria, oxidative stress, metal ion metabolism disorders, impairment of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-related signaling pathways, abnormalities of lipid metabolism, and aberrant cell cycle reentry in some neurons. Such a diversity of symptoms led to proposition of various hypotheses for explaining the development of Alzheimer's disease, the amyloid hypothesis, which postulates the key role of amyloid-beta in Alzheimer's disease development, being the most prominent. However, this hypothesis does not fully explain all of the molecular abnormalities and is therefore heavily criticized. In this review, we propose a hypothetical model of Alzheimer's disease progression, assuming a key role of age-related mitochondrial dysfunction, as was postulated in the mitochondrial cascade hypothesis. Our model explains the connections between all the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, with particular attention to autophagy, metal metabolism disorders, and aberrant cell cycle re-entry in neurons. Progression of the Alzheimer's disease appears to be a complex process involving aging and too many protective mechanisms affecting one another, thereby leading to even greater deleterious effects.

Сarcinoembryonic antigen (CEA, CEACAM5, CD66) is a promoter of metastasis in epithelial cancers that is widely used as a prognostic clinical marker of metastasis. The aim of this study is to identify the network of genes that are associated with CEA-induced colorectal cancer liver metastasis. We compared the genome-wide transcriptomic profiles of CEA positive (MIP101 clone 8) and CEA negative (MIP 101) colorectal cancer cell lines with different metastatic potential in vivo. The CEA-producing cells displayed quantitative changes in the level of expression for 100 genes (over-expressed or down-regulated). They were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR. The KEGG pathway analysis identified 4 significantly enriched pathways: cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, MAPK signaling pathway, TGF-beta signaling pathway and pyrimidine metabolism. Our results suggest that CEA production by colorectal cancer cells triggers colorectal cancer progression by inducing the epithelial- mesenchymal transition, increasing tumor cell invasiveness into the surrounding tissues and suppressing stress and apoptotic signaling. The novel gene expression distinctions establish the relationships between the existing cancer markers and implicate new potential biomarkers for colorectal cancer hepatic metastasis.

Tumor markers play an important role in the identification of human malignancies. It has been shown that the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA, CEACAM5) is a promoter of metastasis in epithelial cancers that is widely used as a clinical marker. The aim of this study is to elucidate the network of genes that are involved in the CEA-induced liver metastasis. Previously, we have shown that CEA is accumulated in the lungs and livers of rats by interacting with their macrophages. We identified and cloned a new gene (CEAR) for the CEA-binding protein, which is located on the surface of fixed liver macrophages, Kupffer cells (Bajenova et al, 2001). It has been shown that the interaction of CEA and CEAR proteins increases the production of IL-1, IL-10, IL-6, TNF-α cytokines (Thomas et al, 2011). This interaction changes the expression of liver adhesion molecules that enhances the survival of cancer cells to the liver. We also suggested that CEA synthesis by cancer cells may influence the E-cadherin adhesion junction complexes and have shown that CEA production violates the functional relationship between Ecadherin and its partners α-, β- and p120 catenin. A new type of interaction was discovered between the CEA and β-catenin and the increased amount of β-catenin in the nuclei of CEA producing cells. The data show that CEA production can cause the dissociation of cancer cells and trigger cancer progression. The CEA synthesis also alters splicing of p120 catenin protein and causes the release of soluble E-cadherin. Previously, CEA and epithelial E-cadherin were considered as independent tumor markers. Our data explain the correlation between the elevated levels of CEA and the increase in soluble E-cadherin in the progression of colorectal cancer (Bajenova et al, 2014). We carried out a comparative transcriptome analysis of CEA-producing cell lines. The RNA transcriptome libraries were obtained and sequenced. By pairwise comparisons of CEA producing and non-producing cell lines using Cummerband program, we selected the set of genes (90 total genes) whose expression have been changed in the CEA-producing cell lines (overexpressed or downregulated). The biological processes that are linked to this differential gene expression were identified by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). In total, 8 significantly enriched GO terms related to the cellular components and biological processes were identified. Using KEGG and GO databases, we also identified the signaling pathways involved in the response to CEA. These findings have direct medical application, since they allow not only to establish the relationships between the existing biomarkers but also to discover the new ones. These biomarkers can be used for diagnosis and monitoring of metastatic carcinomas and for the drug development.