Objective To study the in vivo expression patterns of caspase-3 in normally aged primate brain. Methods Fresh brain tissue was taken from 4-year-old and 20-year-old female rhesus monkeys,4 for each age group. In vivo distribution of caspase-3-positive cells and its protein levels in different brain regions were investigated by immunohistochemical and immunoblot means,respectively. Results In the frontal cortex,most neurons lacked detectable caspase-3 immunoreactivity,whereas low to moderate caspase-3 immunostaining was found mainly in pyramidal cells in CA1,CA3 and CA4 subdivisions of hippocampus. And in the cerebellum,a small number of Purkinje cells were strongly stained in their cytosol and dendrites,while their nuclei lacked staining. Age-related changes in caspase-3 expression pattern were not found. Immunostaining of motor cortex in aged monkeys localized strong caspase-3 immunoreactivity to a limited number of large pyramidal cells in layer V. Immunoblotting revealed the 32 000 caspase-3 progenitor in all three brain regions. There were no differences in caspase-3 expression levels as a function of either brain region or age of animals. Conclusions These results suggest that caspase-3 is constitutively expressed in matured primate brain and there is no significant age-related change in its expression.

BACKGROUND: Caspase-3 is well recognized as the key caspase carrying out apoptosis in animal and human brain. To date, a few studies revealed the expression of caspase-3 protein in brains of normal persons and Alzheimer patients but data obtained from rodents exhibited much discrepancy.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the different expression patterns of caspase-3in rodent and monkey brain, and the different expression of caspase-3 in different brain regions and during aging in monkeys.DESIGN: Parallel comparison between means of single variable.SETTING: Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital and Department of Anatomy, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.MATERIALS: The experiment was carried out from August, 2003 to February, 2005 in Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital and Department of Anatomy, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sprague Dawley rats, ICR mice and senescence-accelerated mice (SAM) with ages ranging from postnatal 2, 12, 24 to 48 weeks(n=5 for each age group of different rodents) were included in the present study. All of these animals were supplied by Laboratory Animal Services Center, the hinese University of Hong Kong. Totally 8 rhesus monkeys aged 4 years (n=4) or 20 years (n=4) were selected from the Laboratory Animal Center in Chinese PLA General Hospital [SCXK-(Beijing)2003-002]. Both ro dents and monkeys were female and were raised under standard conditions without any experimental interventions. METHODS: ①Brain tissue samples were taken freshly from both rodents and monkeys and made into homogenate. The expression of caspase-3 pro tein in brains of both rodents and monkeys was investigated with im munoblot. ② The expression levels in monkey brains were exhibited quantitatively with the same method in three brain regions, such as the frontal cortex, hippocampus and cerebellar cortex, for the two age-groups. In vivo distribution patterns of caspase-3-immunoreactive cells were further presented in 3 brain regions of monkeys through immunohistochemistry. MAIN OUTCOME MEATURES: ①Detection of caspase-3 protein with immunoblot in the brain of rodents and monkeys; ② Distribution patterns of caspase-3-immunoreactive cells in 3 brain regions of monkeys. RESULTS: ① Result of detection with immunoblot: The same pattern of caspase-3 protein expression in brain of three kinds of 2-week-old rodents. But the expression was not seen in any other brains of older ages. Caspase 3 was expressed in a relatively high level inboth adult and aged monkey brains, and the amount did not attain to the level in 2-week-old rodents. Caspase-3 Was expressed in the pattern of zymogen (Mr 32 000). The ex pressions of caspase-3 in brains of monkey were not different in ages and brain regions. ②Result of Immunohistochemistry: It was showed that most neurons in the frontal cortex lack detectable caspase-3 immunoreactivity, whereas low to moderate caspase-3 immunostaining be found mainly in pyramidal cells in CA1, CA3 and CA4 subfields of hippocampus. And in the cerebellum, a small number of Purkinje cells were strongly stained in their cytosol and dendrites. Age-related expression pattern of caspase-3 were not found except that in the motor cortex of aged monkeys in which there were a limited number of large pyramidal cells in layer Ⅴ that were strongly stained with caspase-3 antibody.③ Immunoblot procedure revealed that the caspase-3 protein expressed in monkey brains is in the form of zymogen (Mr 32 000) and there is no significant difference in caspase-3 expression level as a function of either brain region or age of animals.CONCLUSION: Unlike rodents in which caspase-3 protein rapidly drops to an undetectable level since animals grow up, the primate expresses caspase-3 constitutively in brain until the late period of lifetime. But there are no significant brain region- or age-related differences in the protein levels in monkey brain.

Objective To establish a luciferase labeled McA-RH7777 hepatoma rat model,which could be used for gross observation to further observe the effect of selective ligation of the portal vein and bile duct on tumor growth and metastasis.Methods The luciferase gene was transfected into rat McA-RH7777 hepatoma cells with pCDH-puromycin-CMV as the carrier,which were subcutaneously inoculated into Buffalo rats.Tumor pieces were then heterotransplanted into the left lateral lobe of the allogenic rat liver to observe the tumor growth in vivo.After the successful hepatoma modeling,the rats were randomly divided into three groups,namely the implanted portal vein group with combined portal vein and bile duct ligation,the implanted portal vein group with single portal vein ligation and sham operation group.The rats were executed at the 1 st week and 2nd week after ligation,and the livers were dissected to record the tumor growth and metastasis inside and outside the liver,respectively.Results The tumor formation rates of Buffalo rats after subcutaneous and intrahepatic implantation were both 100％.The fluorescence signal implanted into the liver lobe could be observed in vivo after the intrahepatic implantation of luciferase transfected Luc-McA-RH7777 at 2nd week,the range and intensity of which increased over time.Only local tumor growth could be found at the 4th week,without obvious intrahepatic and lung metastasis.However,both an increased in situ tumor volume and the pulmonary metastasis could be observed in the implanted portal vein group with combined portal vein and bile duct ligation at 2nd week after the ligation.Immunohistochemistry showed AFP positive immunoreactions in the vast majority of intrahepatic tumor cells and Luc positive immunoreactions in part of tumor cells.Conclusion Luc-McA-RH7777 cells could be used to establish the heptoma rat model and the in vivo analysis within the Buffalo rat liver demonstrated that the combined ligation of the portal vein and bile duct can accelerate the development and metastasis of liver cancer.

Fifty five patients with alcohol induced-mental disorder (study group) and 43 local inhabitants without history of alcohol abuse (control group) were surveyed with family environment scale (FES-CV) and generic quality of life inventory-74 (GQOLI-74). The total score and the scores of all dimensions except material life in GQOLI-74 of study group were significantly lower than those of control group(P ＜0. 05). Compared with control group, the scores in FES of study group were lower for factors of cohesion, expressiveness, active-recreational orientation, moral-religious emphasis and organization in the patient's family, while the scores for conflict and control were higher( P ＜ 0. 05 or P ＜ 0. 01 ). The results indicate that family environment is closely correlated with quality of life in patients with alcohol-induced mental disorder, and family therapy would improve their quality of life.