Objective To establish and identify transgenic mice model that specifically express delta drosophila homolog-like 1 (DLK1) in liver for the functional study of DLK1 on liver differentiation,hepatopathy,and hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods The coding sequence of DLK1 cDNA was inserted downstream of mouse albumin gene enhancer/promoter to construct a liver-specific DLK1 expression recombinant vector.The DNA fragment of transgene digested from the recombinant vector by Pine I was transfected to Hepl-6 cells to verify the expression of DLK1 in vitro.Then the transgene fragment was microinjeeted into fertilized eggs of C57×CBA F1 mice and 20 transgenic founder mice were generated.The F1 mice of DLK1 transgenie founder mice were used to identify the expression of the transgene in liver and other tissues.Results RT-PCR and cellular immunofluorescence showed DLK1 expression when the transgene fragment was transfeeted into Hep1-6.For transgenic mice,RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry showed that DLK1 was specifically expressed in adult F1 mice liver.Conclusion Successfully established the liver-specific DLK1 expression transgenic mice model.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and prognosis of using midazolam combined with atracurium for treatment of a patient with super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) and coma. Methods A case of SRSE and coma admitted to the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in May 2018 was enrolled. The symptoms, signs, laboratory examinations and treatment process were summarized, and combined with the literature review, the therapeutic course and prognosis were analyzed. Results A male patient, 24 years old, had convulsions after 4-day fever, blood routine, blood biochemistry, coagulation function and infection indexes were basically normal on admission. There was no obvious abnormality in cerebrospinal fluid examination; blood pathogenic microorganism examination suggested that viral infection possibly occur. Electroencephalogram (EEG) showed that the lesions involved the right frontal pole-frontal area-temporal area; cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested that sinusitis and meningeal and hippocampal infections might be present. Although several antiepileptic drugs had been used, the convulsions could not be controlled, after combined with the application of midazolam and atracurium, the convulsions were controlled, in the mean time, antiviral drug, glucocorticoid and immunoglobulin and therapies for prevention of complications were applied. Forty-three days later, the patient's consciousness was recovered and muscle strength was gradually improved. Conclusion The combination of midazolam and atracurium is effective for controlling epileptic activities and alleviating sequelae in patients with SRSE and coma.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the in vitro effects of immune inhibitor tacrolimus on platelet function.

METHODSFresh venous blood was collected from healthy volunteers at ages of 18-25 years old, who are not taking antiplatelet drugs within two weeks. The platelets were isolated from the blood and incubated with different concentrations of tacrolimus (0.06, 0.6, 6, 60, 120, 240 μmol/L) at 37 °C for 2 hours, and then the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential and P-selection of platelets were detected by flow cytometry, the expression of apoptosis related protein by Western Blot, and the change of the platelet aggregation function by platelet aggregation analyzer.

RESULTSTacrolimus at concentration of 0.06 μmol/L could promote collagen induced platelet aggregation, inhibit thrombin induced platelet aggregation, have no effect on ristocetin and vWF induced platelet aggregation function. Tacrolimus at concentration of 120 μmol/L and 240 μmol/L could reduce the platelet mitochondrial membrane potential and induce the expression of apoptosis protein caspase-3.

CONCLUSIONIn vitro experimental results showed that high concentration of tacrolimus could lead to platelet apoptosis. But the current therapeutic dose of tacrolimus at 0.06 μmol/L (which is equivalent to 50 ng/ml blood concentration) could have different effects on platelet aggregation function according to different stimulating agents.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Blood Coagulation Tests ; Blood Platelets ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Platelet Aggregation ; Tacrolimus ; pharmacology ; Thrombin ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on the regulation of platelet apoptosis.

METHODSWashed healthy human platelets were pre-incubated with N-caetyl-Lcysteine (NAC), and then stimulated with dibucaine or thrombin. The production of ROS and depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential (∆ ψm) were detected by flow cytometry. The activation of caspase-3 and expression of Bcl-xL were analyzed by Western blot.

RESULTS(1)The average ROS fluorescence value of NAC+dibucaine group was lower than that of dibucaine group(0.66 ± 0.11 vs 1.06 ± 0.08, P<0.01), while that of NAC+thrombin group was also lower than that of thrombin group(0.45 ± 0.05 vs 0.71 ± 0.11, P=0.001). (2)The percentage of platelets with normal ∆ψm in NAC+Dibucaine group was higher than that of dibucaine group[(86.30 ± 9.37)% vs (13.52 ± 3.01)%, P=0.000], while that of NAC+thrombin group was also higher than that of thrombin group[(93.00 ± 3.03)% vs (76.58 ± 5.28)%, P=0.000]. (3)Fragmentation generated by caspase-3 activation in dibucaine group was much more than that in DMSO control group, while the fragmentation in NAC+dibucaine group was significantly decreased. (4)The expression of anti-apoptosis protein Bcl-xL of NAC+dibucaine group was significantly higher than that of the dibucaine group, while that of NAC+thrombin group was also higher than that of thrombin group.

CONCLUSIONThrough the regulation of ROS, NAC could inhibit the platelet apoptosis induced by dibucaine or thrombin.

Acetylcysteine ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; physiology ; Blood Platelets ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Dibucaine ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; physiology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Thrombin ; pharmacology ; bcl-X Protein ; metabolism

To prepare polyclonal antibodies (PcAb) against UspA1 of Moraxella catarrhalis (Mc), we used bioinformatic analysis to determine the surface exposed region in this protein that holds the antigen epitopes. Then the corresponding coding sequences for this fragment was artificially synthesized according to the codon usage of Escherichia coli. The gene fragment was then subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-28a(+) and expressed in E. coli rosseta (DE3), and then the recombinant UspA1-His proteins were purified. Two New Zealand white rabbits were immunized with this protein to prepare antiserum. The resulting PcAb was then purified from the antiserum with Protein A affinity column. The results of fluorescence antibody assay, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting analysis showed that the PcAb could specifically recognize the surface exposed region of UspA1 on Mc. The preparation of the PcAb laid a foundation of further development of rapid detection technique for M. catarrhalis.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the reliability and accuracy of deep learning technology in automatic sex estimation using the 3D reconstructed images of the computed tomography (CT) from the Chinese Han population. METHODS: The pelvic CT images of 700 individuals (350 males and 350 females) of the Chinese Han population aged 20 to 85 years were collected and reconstructed into 3D virtual skeletal models. The feature region images of the medial aspect of the ischiopubic ramus (MIPR) were intercepted. The Inception v4 was adopted as the image recognition model, and two methods of initial learning and transfer learning were used for training. Eighty percent of the individuals' images were randomly selected as the training and validation dataset, and the remaining were used as the test dataset. The left and right sides of the MIPR images were trained separately and combinedly. Subsequently, the models' performance was evaluated by overall accuracy, female accuracy, male accuracy, etc. RESULTS: When both sides of the MIPR images were trained separately with initial learning, the overall accuracy of the right model was 95.7%, the female accuracy and male accuracy were both 95.7%; the overall accuracy of the left model was 92.1%, the female accuracy was 88.6% and the male accuracy was 95.7%. When the left and right MIPR images were combined to train with initial learning, the overall accuracy of the model was 94.6%, the female accuracy was 92.1% and the male accuracy was 97.1%. When the left and right MIPR images were combined to train with transfer learning, the model achieved an overall accuracy of 95.7%, and the female and male accuracies were both 95.7%. CONCLUSIONS The use of deep learning model of Inception v4 and transfer learning algorithm to construct a sex estimation model for pelvic MIPR images of Chinese Han population has high accuracy and well generalizability in human remains, which can effectively estimate the sex in adults.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Deep Learning ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Pelvis ; Reproducibility of Results ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over