Type IIB restriction-modification systems, such as BcgI, feature a single protein with both endonuclease and methyltransferase activities. Type IIB nucleases require two recognition sites and cut both strands on both sides of their unmodified sites. BcgI cuts all eight target phosphodiester bonds before dissociation. The BcgI protein contains A and B polypeptides in a 2:1 ratio: A has one catal...

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are autoimmune diseases characterized by symmetrical proximal muscle weakness. Our aim was to identify a correlation between VDR polymorphisms or haplotypes and myositis. We studied VDR-BsmI, VDR-ApaI, VDR-TaqI, and VDR-FokI polymorphisms and haplotypes in 89 Hungarian poly-/dermatomyositis patients (69 females) and 93 controls (52 females). We did not obtain ...

OBJECTIVE Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms may be associated with the risk of OA, however, evidence for this is controversial. This meta-analysis aims to confirm whether VDR gene polymorphisms are associated with OA. METHODS Meta-analyses on the association between OA and VDR ApaI, BsmI, TaqI and FokI polymorphisms were conducted using allele and homozygote contrast and contrasts i...

Polymorphisms affecting insulin-like growth factors (IGF), their binding proteins (IGFBP), insulin receptor substrates (IRS), and other IGF regulatory molecules may affect growth, obesity, and obesity-related diseases, including cancer. The objective of this study was to better describe the associations between several IGF pathway variants and body size. Hispanic (n = 462) and non-Hispanic Whit...

Aims. Studies on the associations of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms with diabetic retinopathy (DR) susceptibility reported conflicting results. A systematic meta-analysis was undertaken to clarify this topic. Methods. A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and CNKI) was carried out until March 31, 2016. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (C...

Several polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been reported to be associated with the risk of developing type 1 diabetes, yet published findings have been conflicting. In this study, the authors attempted to evaluate the evidence regarding the association. They searched all relevant reports from original papers published from 1997 to December 2005. Predefined criteria were use...

BACKGROUND Vitamin D and its nuclear receptor (VDR) are linked to asthma in a genetic and immunologic basis. Polymorphisms in the VDR gene may alter the actions of vitamin D and then influence the development and the severity of asthma. AIMS We aimed at elucidating the genetic association of VDR gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to asthma in Tunisian children and with serum vitamin D lev...

Much interest has been drawn to possible associations between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and colorectal cancer risk in conjunction with potentially protective effects of calcium and vitamin D. In a study of 685 cases of colorectal cancer and 778 community controls in Japan, we examined the associations of the FokI, BsmI, ApaI, and TaqI polymorphisms with colorectal cancer risk ...

OBJECTIVES Transplanting of pancreatic grafts is an established treatment for diabetes mellitus. Polymorphisms in genes, coding for proteins involved in an immune response, may influence immunologic and nonimmunologic mechanisms that lead to allograft loss. Vitamin D receptor agonists have been shown to increase long-term allograft survival in humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-one pancreat...