Given a passage with a context and an answer, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.

[EX Q]: Context: Hypospadias is a common male congenital urethral malformation, defined as the displacement of the urethral meatus ventrally from the tip of the glans penis. The importance of androgen receptor in male external genitalia development has been well recognized. Recently, the presence of active estrogen receptors (ER) in the developing male external genitalia has also been demonstrated. There are two isoforms of the human estrogen receptor, ESR1 and ESR2, which occur, with distinct tissue and cell patterns of expression. We hypothesized that modifications in these nuclear receptors' genes could lead to hypospadias.", 'We screened 60 boys with hypospadias for mutations in the coding regions of ESR1 and ESR2 genes, by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and automated sequence analysis. We also genotyped the CA repeat polymorphism in ESR2 and the TA repeat polymorphism in ESR1.', 'The CA repeat polymorphism in ESR2 is prolonged in hypospadias patients compared to controls (p < 0.05). Prolongation of this CA repeat polymorphism has previously been associated with lower levels of testosterone. Six patients presented the genetic variant 2681-4A > G (rs944050) in the heterozygous form in ESR2, which was a significantly higher frequency than in the control population (p < 0.05). One of these patients also presented a 266_267insC in exon 1 of ESR2, which is also a known single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs3832949). In ESR1, no significant gene alteration was found to be associated with hypospadias.
Answer: Our results suggest that variations in the ESR2 might influence susceptibility to hypospadias.
[EX A]: Are polymorphisms of estrogen receptor beta gene associated with hypospadias?

[EX Q]: Context: Our previous studies suggested that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) axis inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis in myocardial infarction (MI). However, the relationship between BDNF and microRNA (miRNA) in cardiomyocytes are unclear. The present study was performed to investigate the role of miR-195 and the interplay between BDNF and miR-195 in ischemic cardiomyocyte apoptosis.', 'Male Wistar rats were subjected to coronary artery ligation, and primary neonatal rat ventricular myocytes were treated with hypoxia or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). BDNF level in rat ventricles was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). miR-195 mimic, inhibitor or negative control was transfected into the cardiomyocytes. Cell viability and apoptosis were detected by MTT assay and TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, respectively. Cardiac function and apoptosis were detected in MI rats intravenously injected with antagomiR-195. Luciferase assay, Western blot and Real-time RT-PCR were employed to clarify the interplay between miR-195 and BDNF.', 'miR-195 level was dynamically regulated in response to MI and significantly increased in ischemic regions 24 h post-MI as well as in hypoxic or H2O2-treated cardiomyocytes. Meanwhile, BDNF protein level was rapidly increased in MI rats and H2O2-treated cardiomyocytes. Apoptosis in both hypoxic and H2O2-treated cardiomyocytes were markedly reduced and cell viability was increased by miR-195 inhibitor. Moreover, inhibition of miR-195 significantly improved cardiac function of MI rats. Bcl-2 but not BDNF was validated as the direct target of miR-195. Furthermore, BDNF abolished the pro-apoptotic role of miR-195, which was reversed by its scavenger TrkB-Fc.
Answer: Up-regulation of miR-195 in ischemic cardiomyocytes promotes ischemic apoptosis by targeting Bcl-2. BDNF mitigated the pro-apoptotic effect of miR-195 in rat cardiomyocytes. These findings may provide better understanding of the pro-apoptotic role of miR-195 in MI and suggest that BDNF/miR-195/Bcl-2 axis may be beneficial for limiting myocardial ischemic injury.
[EX A]: Does bDNF-mediates Down-regulation of MicroRNA-195 inhibit Ischemic Cardiac Apoptosis in Rats?

[EX Q]: Context: Obese individuals are known to have increased Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 plasma levels and MMP-9 is reported to play an important role in obesity-associated adipose tissue inflammation. Since in obesity, the levels of circulatory saturated free fatty acid (FFA) palmitate (palimitic acid) are increased and modulate the expression of inflammatory mediators, the role of palmitate in the regulation of MMP-9 remains unclear.', 'Human monocytic cell line THP-1 and primary monocytes were stimulated with palmitate and TNF-α (positive control). MMP-9 expression was assessed with real time RT-PCR and ELISA. Signaling pathways were studied by using THP-1-XBlue™ cells, THP-1-XBlue™-defMyD cells, anti-TLR4 mAb and TLR4 siRNA. Phosphorylation of NF-kB and c-Jun was analyzed by Western blotting.', 'Here, we provide the evidence that palmitate induces MMP-9 expression at both mRNA (THP-1: 6.8 ± 1.2 Fold; P = 0.01; Primary monocytes: 5.9 ± 0.7 Fold; P = 0.0003) and protein (THP1: 1116 ±14 pg/ml; P<0.001; Primary monocytes: 1426 ± 13.8; P = 0.0005) levels in human monocytic cells. Palmitate-induced MMP-9 secretion was markedly suppressed by neutralizing anti-TLR-4 antibody (P < 0.05). Furthermore, genetic silencing of TLR4 by siRNA also significantly abrogated the palmitate-induced up-regulation of MMP-9. Additionally, MyD88-/- THP-1 cells did not express MMP-9 in response to palmitate treatment. Increased NF-κB/AP-1 activity (P<0.05) was also observed in palmitate-treated THP-1 cells.
Answer: Altogether, these results show that palmitate induces TLR4-dependent activation of MMP-9 gene expression, which requires the recruitment of MyD88 leading to activation of NF-kB/AP-1 transcription factors. Thus, our findings suggest that the palmitate-induced MMP-9 secretion might be an underlying mechanism of its increased levels in obesity and related metabolic inflammation.
[EX A]:
Is palmitate-Induced MMP-9 Expression in the Human Monocytic Cells Mediated through the TLR4-MyD88 Dependent Mechanism?