Objective To investigate the methods and clinical significance of breast cancer treated with photodynamic.Methods From June to December in 2005,photodynamic therapy was used in 12 cases confirmed intramammary lymph node metastasis before operation and 15 cases confirmed chest wall recur- rences by means of lymph node imaging.Results The intramammary lymph node metastasis whose diameter between 0.5～1.0cm measured by lymph node imaging preoperatively completely disappeared when rechecked 3 months postoperatively.Chest wall recurrence regions of breast cancer whose diameter less than 1.0 cm completely remitted.Conclusion Photodynamic therapy is helpful to eliminate the intramammary lymph node metastasis and to cure the postoperative chest wall recurrence of breast cancer.

BACKGROUNDComputer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of lung cancer is the subject of many current researches. Statistical methods and artificial neural networks have been applied to more quantitatively characterize solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). In this study, we developed a CAD scheme based on an artificial neural network to distinguish malignant from benign SPNs on thin-section computed tomography (CT) images, and investigated how the CAD scheme can help radiologists with different levels of experience make diagnostic decisions.

METHODSTwo hundred thin-section CT images of SPNs with proven diagnoses (135 small peripheral lung cancers and 65 benign nodules) were analyzed. Three clinical features and nine CT signs of each case were studied by radiologists, and the indices of qualitative diagnosis were quantified. One hundred and forty nodules were selected randomly to form training samples, on which the neural network model was built. The remaining 60 nodules, forming test samples, were presented to 9 radiologists with 3 - 20 years of clinical experience, accompanied by standard reference images. The radiologists were asked to determine whether a nodule was malignant or benign first without and then with CAD output. Diagnostic performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

RESULTSCAD outputs on test samples had higher agreement with pathological diagnoses (Kappa = 0.841, P < 0.001). Compared with diagnostic results without CAD output, the average area under the ROC curve with CAD output was 0.96 (P < 0.001) for junior radiologists, 0.94 (P = 0.014) for secondary radiologists and 0.96 (P = 0.221) for senior radiologists, respectively. The differences in diagnostic performance with CAD output among the three levels of radiologists were not statistically significant (P = 0.584, 0.920 and 0.707, respectively).

CONCLUSIONSThis CAD scheme based on an artificial neural network could improve diagnostic performance and assist radiologists in distinguishing malignant from benign SPNs on thin-section CT images.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; ROC Curve ; Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

To investigate the upregulated genes associated with cold acclimation, a cold acclimation model was established based on Balb/C mouse. mRNA of muscle and liver were isolated, and the upregulated genes of these tissues were studied by representational differential analysis (RDA). The upregulated genes then were sequenced and searched by Blast software in GenBank database. The results showed that some genes were upregulated and possibly associated with cold acclimation. Three of these genes, transferrin, fibrinogen B-beta-chains and a new gene fragment (Genbank ID: AF454762), were confirmed to be upregulated by RNA slot-blot analysis. The finding of these genes might contribute to further understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cold acclimation.
Acclimatization ; genetics ; Animals ; Cold Temperature ; Gene Expression ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Muscle, Skeletal ; metabolism ; Transcriptome ; Up-Regulation

Animals ; Apolipoproteins E ; deficiency ; genetics ; Blood Vessels ; anatomy & histology ; Fluorescence ; Lipofuscin ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether Candida albicans-native phospholipomannan (PLM) induce an inflammation response through Toll-like receptor(TLRé2 in human acute monocytic leukemia cell line (THP-1) cells.

METHODSHuman THP-1 monocytes were challenged with PLM in vitro. The mRNA expressions of TLR2, TLR4, proinflammatory cytokine [interleukin(IL)-6], and chemokine (IL-8) were assayed by real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The secretions of IL-6 and IL-8 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of TLR2 was analyzed with Western blot.

RESULTSPLM increased the mRNA expressions and secretions of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6) and chemokines (IL-8) in THP-1 cells (all P=0.0000). PLM up-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of TLR2 (P=0.0000), whereas the mRNA level of TLR4 was not altered. PLM hydrolyzed with β-D-mannoside manno hydrolase failed to induce gene and protein expressions of TLR2, IL-6, and IL-8. Anti-TLRS-neutralizing antibody blocked the PLM-induced secretions of IL-6 and IL-8 in THP-1 cells (P = 0.0003, P = 0.0010).

CONCLUSIONCanidada albicans-native PLM may contribute to the inflammatory responses during Candida infection in a TLR2-dependent manner.

Candida albicans ; chemistry ; Cells, Cultured ; Glycolipids ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-8 ; metabolism ; Monocytes ; drug effects ; immunology ; metabolism ; Toll-Like Receptor 2 ; metabolism ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDMammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is involved in a caspase independent form of programmed cell death called autophagy. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of rapamycin and 3-methyladenine (3-MA) on autophagy, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell-cycle parameters of rat bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs).

METHODSMononuclear cells isolated from rat bone marrow were treated with rapamycin (0.01, 0.1, 1, or 10 µg/L) or 3-MA (1.25, 2.5, 5, or 10 mmol/L) for 24 hours. Expression of the autophagy marker protein LC3-II was analyzed by Western blotting. Apoptosis and cell-cycle progression were analyzed by flow cytometry. Cell proliferation was measured using the MTT assay.

RESULTSRapamycin treatment of EPCs induced apoptosis and autophagy and inhibited proliferation and cell-cycle progression in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with 5 mmol/L 3-MA promoted cell proliferation; in contrast, treatment with 10 mmol/L 3-MA promoted apoptosis and induced S-phase arrest.

CONCLUSIONSRapamycin treatment of EPCs induced apoptosis and autophagy. Low concentrations of 3-MA had no significant effect on the proliferation and apoptosis of EPCs; The 5 mmol/L group promoted cell proliferation, but had no effect on the apoptosis; the 10 mmol/L group inhibited the proliferation and promoted apoptosis through the cell cycle.

Adenine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Autophagy ; drug effects ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Rats ; Sirolimus ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo establish an animal model of tumor-associated depression and observe their biological behaviors and biochemical indices.

METHODSFour groups of SD rats kept in separate cages were subjected to tumor cell inoculation with or without chronic unpredictable moderate stress administered before or after the inoculation. The depressive behaviors of the rats were examined by open-field test, and the concentration of 5-HT in the hippocampus was measured by spectrophotofluorometry. The body weight of the rats and volume of the implanted tumor were monitored and sugar water test was performed.

RESULTSThe rats subjected to chronic stress displayed significant depression, manifested by reduction in movement in the central area and total movement distance with prolonged resting time and shortened time of activity. These rats maintained high levels of depression even 12 days after withdrawal of chronic stress. Compared with the control group, the depressive rats showed obviously reduced sugar water consumption and hippocampal 5-HT level. Tumors of different sizes were observed in all rats in the 4 groups.

CONCLUSIONA rat model of tumor-associated depression is established, and the tumor-bearing rats exhibit obvious depressive behaviors and reduced level of neural substance (5-HT), which provides a good basis for studying the association of depression with tumorigenesis,progression and prognosis of tumor.

Animals ; Carcinoma 256, Walker ; complications ; psychology ; Depressive Disorder ; etiology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Psychological ; complications

Thirst study was purposed to explore the genetic polymorphism of Chinese Zhuang population at HLA-Cw locus by sequence based typing (SBT). A total of 150 unrelated blood samples from Chinese Zhuang population were subjected to sequencing at exon 2, 3 and 4 of HLA-Cw gene in both directions by using SBT technique established by our laboratory. The purified products of sequencing reaction were run by means of electrophoresis on the ABI 3730 DNA Sequencer and the assignment of HLA-Cw genotype was accomplished by using the Assign 3.5 software. The consensus sequence at exon 2, 3 and 4 of HLA-Cw gene for each sample was imported into the Assign 3.5 software. The results showed that 33.33% of tested samples could obtain an unique genotype, genotype in 63.33% of tested samples with ambiguous results could be assigned by ruling out the rare alleles according to the NMDP Rare Allele List File; however, the final genotype in rest 3.33% of the detected samples could be defined when subjected to further confirmatory testing by PCR-SSP. In this detection 16 HLA-Cw alleles were identified, the common alleles with a frequency of > 10% were Cw*0304 > Cw*0102 > Cw*0801 > Cw*0702. The value for gene diversity (GD) was 0.9297, The frequency for Cw*01, 03, 07, 08, 12, 14 (Cw 1 allele group) and Cw*02, 04, 05, 06, 15, 16, 17, 18 (Cw 2 allele group) was 0.8967 and 0.1032, respectively, which indicated that the Cw 1 allele group is the dominant ligand for KIR in Chinese Zhuang population. 51 genotypes were determined and the distribution of genotype frequency was in line with Hardy-Weinberg principle. It is concluded that the obtained HLA-Cw allele frequency and its distribution characteristics of Chinese Zhuang population can provide valuable data in the studies of anthropology and the association of HLA-Cw with disease.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Exons ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HLA-C Antigens ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproliferative disease of transformed hematopoietic progenitor cells. In order to investigate the role of sphingosine kinase-1 (SphK-1)/sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) signal pathway in the expression of CML cells, and to explore whether P210(bcr/abl) involved is activating SphK-1/S1P signal pathwey, the expressions of SphK-1 and S1P receptor mRNA in bcr/abl positive K562 cells and bcr/abl positive primary CML cells were detected by RT-PCR, the imatinib mesylate, the specific inhibitor of P210(bcr/abl) was employed to inhibit the P210(bcr/abl) tyrosine kinases of K562 cells and CML primary cells, and then the intracellular SphK-1 activity was assayed. The results indicated that after being cultured with 2.5 micromol/L imatinib mesylate for 0.5, 2, 6, 24 and 48 hours, the intensions of inhibiting SphK-1 activity were 0.007%, 38.9%, 34.6%, 28.1% and 76.1% resepectively. SphK-1 activity in CML cells also was reduced by 2.5 micromol/L imatinib mesylate (16.8% - 41.9% decrease). It is concluded that the CML cells express SphK-1 and different S1P receptor, and P210(bcr/abl) fusion protein in CML cells can activate SphK-1.
Benzamides ; Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Imatinib Mesylate ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; genetics ; metabolism ; Lysophospholipids ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) ; genetics ; metabolism ; Piperazines ; pharmacology ; Pyrimidines ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; genetics ; Sphingosine ; analogs & derivatives ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective:To use polyamidoamine(PAMAM)dendrimer as gene delivery system for survivin gene anti- sense oligodeoxynucleotide(asODN)transfection for inhibition of HepG2 cancer cell growth.Methods:The first to the fifth generation of PAMAM and asODN were used to prepare a complex:PAMAM-asODN.The morphology of PAMAM- asODN was observed using agrose electrophoresis and atomic force microscope(AFM).PAMAM-asODN was then used to transfect HepG2 cells and cells transfected with asODN served as control.The transfection efficacy of PAMAM-asODN into HepG2 cells was observed under confocol microscope,the surviving mRNA expression was analyzed by RT-PCR,and the inhibition of HepG2 cell growth was determined by MTT assay.Results:Agrose electrophoresis showed strong complexing action between PAMAM and asODN and they formed a complex with a diameter of 25 nm.Confocol microscope showed the transfection efficacy of PAMAM-asODN was higher than that of asODN.RT-PCR showed a decreased expression of sur- vivin mRNA in PAMAM-asODN transfected cells.MTF results demonstrated that the growth of HepG2 cell was obviously inhibited after transfection of PAMAM-asODN and the inhibition rate increased with culture time,concentration of com- plex,the generation of PAMAM.PAMAM-asODN at 6.0?mol/L G4.0 resulted in a 55% inhibition of HepG2 cells 96 h after culture.Conclusion:PAMAM dendrimers can efficiently mediate the entry of survivin asODN into HepG2 cells,re- sulting in inhibition of HepG2 cells.PAMAM might be a promising gene carrier for potential molecular therapy of cancer.