METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism were carried out on DNA isolated from 135 volunteers.

RESULTS: The number of PPMS patients without the epsilon 2 allele was found to be remarkably high, whilst the epsilon 2 allele was overrepresented in the RRMS group. A markedly high frequency of the epsilon 4 allele was found LOXO-101 ic50 in the PPMS group and a very low frequency in the HC group. With regards to the clinical parameters, significant differences were observed between the RRMS and PPMS groups.

Differences were also detected regarding the EDSS and MSSS scores when the patients were grouped by the presence or absence of the epsilon 2 allele. All of the observed differences in the clinical parameters disappeared when the patients were further stratified by the type of MS.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the presence of the epsilon 2 and epsilon 4 alleles may play a role in the development of the disease. However, if any type of the disease has already selleck compound developed the alleles show no association with the clinical parameters.”
“MIKC-type MADS domain proteins are key regulators of flower development in angiosperms. B-sister genes constitute a clade with a close relationship to class B floral homeotic genes, and

have been conserved for more than 300 million years. The loss-of-function phenotype of the A. thaliana B-sister gene ABS is mild: mutants show reduced seed coloration and defects in endothelium development. This study focuses on GORDITA (GOA, formerly known as AGL63), the most closely related paralog of ABS in A. thaliana, which is thought to act redundantly with ABS. Phylogenetic trees reveal that the duplication leading to ABS and GOA occurred during diversification of the Brassicaceae, and further analyses selleck inhibitor show that GOA has evolved under relaxed selection pressure. The knockdown phenotype of GOA suggests a role for this gene in fruit longitudinal growth, while over-expression of GOA results in disorganized floral structure

and addition of carpel-like features to sepals. Given the phylogeny and function of other B-sister genes, our data suggest that GOA has evolved a new function as compared to ABS. Protein analysis reveals that the GOA-specific ‘deviant’ domain is required for protein dimerization, in contrast to other MIKC-type proteins that require the K domain for dimerization. Moreover, no shared protein interaction partners for ABS and GOA could be identified. Our experiments indicate that modification of a protein domain and a shift in expression pattern can lead to a novel gene function in a relatively short time, and highlight the molecular mechanism by which neofunctionalization following gene duplication can be achieved.