Chin-Fu Chen

Mice of the genus Peromyscus are found in nearly every habitat from Alaska to Central America and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They provide an evolutionary outgroup to the Mus/Rattus lineage and serve as an intermediary between that lineage and humans. Although Peromyscus has been studied extensively under both field and laboratory conditions, research has been limited by the lack of molecular resources. Genes associated with reproduction typically evolve rapidly and thus are excellent sources of evolutionary information. In this study we describe the generation of two cDNA libraries, one from placenta and one from testis, characterize the resulting ESTs, and describe their utility for mapping the Peromyscus genome.

The herb feverfew is a folk remedy for various conditions, including inflammation, fever, psoriasis, rheumatism, and asthma. Like many herbal medicines, feverfew's mechanisms of action in the human body are largely unknown and its active ingredients remain elusive. Very often, different extraction methods of herb material produce different physical and biochemical properties and variation in clinical efficacy. We identified 3 major methods of extraction for feverfew aerial parts and used microarray technology to test the hypothesis that extracts produced by different methods elicit different gene expression profiles. We have identified approximately 200 genes that are consistently regulated by the 2 presumptive active antimigraine feverfew extracts but not associated with the inactive extract. Our results suggest that the presumptive active feverfew extracts potently stimulate more genes in human cells than the inactive extracts. We also identified several genes as unique signatures for these active extracts. All 3 feverfew extracts exhibited similar blockades on lipopolysaccharide-mediated TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) release, implicating that TNF-α is not responsible for the differences in the effects of the 3 feverfew extracts in human cells. In contrast, the active extracts more effectively suppressed CCL2 (also known as monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, MCP-1) than the inactive extracts, suggesting that CCL2 is a potential cellular target for feverfew’s antimigraine effects.

The herb feverfew is a folk remedy for various symptoms including inflammation. Inflammation has recently been implicated in the genesis of many diseases including cancers, atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The mechanisms of action of feverfew in the human body are largely unknown. To determine the cellular targets of feverfew extracts, we have utilized oligo microarrays to study the gene expression profiles elicited by feverfew extracts in human monocytic THP‐1 cells. We have identified 400 genes that are consistently regulated by feverfew extracts. Most of the genes are involved in cellular metabolism. However, the genes undergoing the highest degree of change by feverfew treatment are involved in other pathways including chemokine function, water homeostasis and heme‐mediated signaling. Our results also suggest that feverfew extracts effectively reduce Lipopolysaccharides (LPS)‐mediated TNF‐α and CCL2 (MCP‐1) releases by THP‐1 cells. We hypothesize that feverfew components mediate metabolism, cell migration and cytokine production in human monocytes/macrophages.