MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) is over-expressed in many human malignant tumors. Recent studies have shown that miR-155 plays a crucial role in tumor development and is closely related to disease prognosis. It is found that miR-155 promotes tumor growth,invasion and metastasis through inhibition of downstream targets such as SHIP1、C/EBPβ、SCOS1 、TP53INP1. The expression level of miR-155 can be used as a marker for the early diagnosis of malignant tumors, and inhibition of miR-155 expression may become a novel approach for cancer treatment.

Stat3 is a member of the STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription) protein family. It can be activated by many cytokines, growth factors and carcinogens. Activation of Stat3 in the cytoplasm leads to its dimerization, translocation into the nucleus, DNA binding and gene transcription. Constitutively activated Stat3 is associated with cellular transformation, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, chemoresistance and radioresistance, and therefore suppress apoptosis of cancer.

Objective To elucidate the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on advanced glycation end products-induced TGF-?_1,CTGF mRNA expression and oxidative stress in cultured NRK-49F cells.Methods From Jan.to Jul.2005,NRK-49F cells were incubated with serum-free medium with or without 25 mmol/L glucose as control.Cells were incubated with medium containing AGEs-BSA with or without 25 mmol/L glucose for 24 h.Cells were pretreated with EGb(50,100mg?mL -1)for 24 h to evaluate effects of EGb.And then intracellular ROS generation was measured by flowcytometry,expression of TGF-?_1 and CTGF mRNA were performed by a semi-quantitative RT-PCR technique.Results Compared with control,AGEs significantly increased the expression of TGF-?_1 and CTGF mRNA and intercellular ROS generation in NRK-49F cells.Incubation with both AGEs and high glucose(25 mmol/L)can upregulate TGF-?_1 and CTGF mRNA expression and intercellular ROS generation,compared with AGEs and high glucose(25 mmol/L)respectively.Preincubation with EGb attenuated AGEs-induced TGF-?_1 and CTGF mRNA overexpression and intercellular ROS generation.Conclusion Attenuation of AGEs-induced TGF-?_1 and CTGF mRNA overexpression in renal fibroblasts through scavenging of free radical and inhibition of oxidative stress may be one of mechanisms underlying EGb in prevention and therapy of DN.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for cardiovascular complications in the elderly persons undergone with dialysis.Methods One hundred and eighteen patients undergone with hemodialysis(HD)or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis(CAPD)at the Eastern Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai during January 2002 to December 2006 were retrospectively analyzed.They were divided into four groups based oil their age and mode of dialysis, i.e., 44 patients in the elderly HD group(aged over 60years), 16 patients in the elderly CAPD group(aged over 60), 46 patients in medium-age HD group(aged under 60 years)and 12 patients in the medium-age CAPD group(aged under 60).Routine biochemical parameters were measured for all the patients and their difference was compared among the four groups.Logistic regression analysis was performed for the risk factors of cardiovascular complications.Results Pulse pressure(PP)was(66±21)mm Hg, serum level of triglycerides(TG)was(1.28±0.67)mmol/L, serum level of lipoprotein(a)[LP(a)]was(434±202)mg/L, C-reactive protein was(CRP)(21±15)mg/L, serum phosphorous(P3-)was(2.02±0.77)mmol/L, and product of serum calcium and phosphorous(Ca×P)was(4.3±1.6)mmol2/L2, respectively, in the elderly group with dialysis, all significantly higher than those in the medium-age group with dialysis(t=1.535, 1.016, 2.154, 2.252, 4.676, and 4.534, respectively, P＜0.05).Incidence of cardiovascular events was markedly lower in the CAPD group than that in the HD group(P＜0.05), either in the elderly or medium-aged patients.And, incidence of cardiovascular complications correlated positively with age, PP, LP(a), CRP and Ca×P of the patients with dialysis, but correlated reversely with serum level of albumin(all with P＜0.05).Conclusions There exist a few risk factors for cardiovascular complications in the elderly patients with dialysis, so proper mode of dialysis should be selected for those who need it and adequate intervention should be implemented for them to correct the risk factors.

Objectives To evaluate the function of peripheral blood T cell subsets in uremia patients and the influence of hemodialysis on them.Methods Expression of CD3,CD4 and CD8 antigen on peripheral blood T cells from 30 cases of hemodialysis and non-hemodialysis patients was evaluated by flow cytometry.Fifteen volunteers were also examined as normal controls.Results The expression of CD3,CD4,CD8 and CD4 +/CD8 + ratio in non-hemodialysis group(NHD) was significantly lower than that of control group(P

In this paper the latest studies on the role of estrogen for the development of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women are reviewed.Estrogen can influence the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis through its interactions with the estrogen receptors,type Ⅱ collagen,cytokines and reactive oxygen species.While in the process of osteoporosis,estrogen can not only influence the estrogen receptors,cytokmes,reactive oxygen species,but also affect the sex hormone binding globulin and estrogen receptor-related receptor.

Objective To investigate the oxidative DNA damage in lymphocyte of MHD patients and the effect of dialysis membrane on it through comet assay.Methods From 2003-05 to 2004-10 we selected 20 CRF patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis and divided the patients into HE and PS group randomly.And 7 volunteers were chosen as controls.The patients in each group had undergone hemodialysis for 12 weeks using HE or PS membrane respectively.Then we took venous blood sample and separated lymphocyte.The oxidative DNA damage was measured by comet assay.Results The comet tail length of control group,HE group and PS group was(0.286?0.194)?m,(0.970?0.120)?m and(0.656?0.187)?m respectively.Compared with control group,the comet tail length of MHD patients was significantly longer(P

Objective To investigate the inhibition effect of plasma-mediated small interfering RNA (siRNA) on the expression of monocyte chemotacite protein-1 (MCP-1) gene in human renal tubular epithelial cells (HKC).Methods Three pairs of siRNAs directed human's MCP-1 mRNA 67,116,142 targets were designed and synthesized.Eukaryotic expression vector special for MCP-1,pRNAT-MCP-1-Ⅰ、pRNAT-MCP-1-Ⅱ、pRNAT-MCP-1-Ⅲ were constructed and transfected into HKC by lipofectamine.At 24 hour after transfection,the expression of MCP-1 in the levels of mRNA was detected by Real Time RT-PCR,and the expression of MCP-1 in the levels of protein was detected by Western blot.Results Transfection efficiency of siRNA expression vector was 60%;the expression of MCP-1 in the levels of mRNA and protein of three pairs of plasma-mediated siRNA group were markedly decreased compared with normal control group(P

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs about 18-25 nucleotides in length,involved in post-transcriptional genes regulation process.Previous studies showed that miRNAs played an important regulatory role in pancreatic development,gene expression,and synthesis and secretion of insulin.A variety of miRNAs which expressed in islet β cells may affect the proliferation and differentiation of islet β cells.Since miRNAs showed tissue specificity,their expression changes were closely related to some diseases.Thus,integrative studies with miRNAs over the essence of syndromes of traditional Chinese medicine could provide new ideas for the treatment of diabetes.