Objective To investigate the regulation on cell cycle related factor such as Cyclins and P21waf/cip1 by inhibiting histone deacetylase(HDAC)with valproic acid sodium(VPA).Methods HepG2 hep-tocellular carcinoma cells.BGC-823 gastric carcinoma cells and MCF-7 breast cancer cells were cultured with O.75-4.00 mmoL/L VPA for 48 h in vivo.and the cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry with PI assay.The protein and mRNA expression of Cyclin A,Cyclin D1,Cyclin E and P21waf/cip1 were analyzed by indirect immu-nofluorescence technique and RT-PCR.respectively.Results Compared with control groups,VPA at concen-trations 0.75-4.00 mmol/L exerted a significant inhibiting effect on G1 phase of HepG2,BGC-823 and MCF-7 cells(P<0.001).and the effect was dose dependent.Cyclin A was down-regulated both at mRNA and protein level in HepG2 and BGC-823 cells(P<0.001),but no difference in MCF-7 cells(P>0.05).Cyclin D1 was down-regulated both at mRNA and protein level(P<0.001)and P2lwaf/cip1 was up-regulated both at the mRNA and protein level in the three cell lines(P<0.001);Conversely,protein and mRNA expression of Cyclin E were unchanged upon treatment with VPA(P>0.05).Condusion Acetylization of histone intervened with VPA can regulate Cyclin D1 and P21waf/cip1 expressions obviously.To the expression of Cyclin A,it shows some difference according to the histogenesis and phenotypes of different carcinoma types.But there is not any obvious function on Cyclin E.Down-regulating Cychn D1 and up-regulating P21waf/cip1 may be the common target path-way in the inhibition of cell cycle G1 phase exerted by VPA.

Bile acids (BAs) are not only digestive surfactants but also important cell signaling molecules, which stimulate several signaling pathways to regulate some important biological processes. The bile-acid-activated nuclear receptor, farnesoid X receptor (FXR), plays a pivotal role in regulating bile acid, lipid and glucose homeostasis as well as in regulating the inflammatory responses, barrier function and prevention of bacterial translocation in the intestinal tract. As expected, FXR is involved in the pathophysiology of a wide range of diseases of gastrointestinal tract, including inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes. In this review, we discuss current knowledge of the roles of FXR in physiology of the digestive system and the related diseases. Better understanding of the roles of FXR in digestive system will accelerate the development of FXR ligands/modulators for the treatment of digestive system diseases.

Obesity and its associated complications are highly related to a current public health crisis around the world. A growing body of evidence has indicated that G-protein coupled bile acid (BA) receptor TGR5 (also known as Gpbar-1) is a potential drug target to treat obesity and associated metabolic disorders. We have identified notoginsenoside Ft1 (Ft1) from