Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ( IPF) is a kind of Interstitial lung disease with cause unknown,which is aggressive for its increasing prevalence and high morbidity and mortality.At present the pathogenesis of IPF is not entirely clear, but cells and cel-lular interactions play a decisive role on the alveolar inflammation and fibrosis results.We review IPF related cells of interest ( immune competent cells and fibroblast, fibrocyte, myofibroblast, endothelial and alveolar epithelial cells) , to summarize cells and cellular in-teractions in the pathogenesis of IPF,and discuss new research directions and therapeutic targets.

Objective To investigate the the multi-directional differentiation potential between pluripotent of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) and human periodontal ligament cells (HPDLCs). Methods HPDLCs and HGFs were obtained from the primary culture. HPDLCs and HGFs at 3rd-4th passage were cultured in osteogenic, adipogenic or chondrogenic me-dium. Cells without differentiation were taken as control. Alizarin red, Alcian blue and oil red O staining were performed to detect osteogenic differentiation, chondrogenic and adipogenic differentiation in vitro, respectively. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to examine the expression of osteocalcin (OCN), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) and collagen 1 (Col 1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 (PPARγ2) and collagen 10 (Col 10). Results HPDLCs and HGFs cultured in osteogenic medium showed massive calicium nodulus at day 28, but HP-DLCs formed more calicium nodulus than those of HGFs. The expressions of OCN, RUNX2 and Col 1 were significantly high-er in HPDLCs than those in HGFs (P<0.05). In chondrogenic medium both cells were found blue deposit at day 14, and the expression of Col 10 was significantly higher in HGFs than that of HPDLCs (P<0.01). Furthermore, in adipogenic medium HGFs showed more lipid-filled droplets stained with oil red O than HPDLCs at day 21. The expression of PPARγ2 was sig-nificantly higher in HGFs than that of HPDLCs (P<0.01). Conclusion HPDLCs has the better potency of osteogenic differ-etiation than HGFs, however, HGFs has the better potency of adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation.

Objective To investigate effect of high glucose on the function of endothelial and the underlying mechanisms in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs).Methods The experiment was divided into 4 groups: normal group (NG), low dose group (LG), middle dose group (MG) and high dose group ( HG) .The concentration of glucose in the culture medium was 5.5, 10, 20, 30 mmol/L in the 4 groups, respectively.The HUVECs was cultured for 0, 24, 48 h.At different time point, the cell viability were measured by MTT.The secretary content of nitric oxide (NO) in the supernatant were detected using test kit.The extraction of protein were extracted for Western blot analysis to detect the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS).ResuIts Compared with normal group at same time point (cultured for 24 h), the cell viability and the content of NO were significantly decreased in LG, MG(P<0.05).The expression of eNOS in HG were markedly reduced (P<0.01).Compared with normal group at same time point (cultured for 48 h), the cell viability decreased significantly in HG (P <0.05).The expression of eNOS were markedly decreased 11.91, 25.72 and 34.50% in LG, MG and HG, respectively.A rising trend of cell viability were found in NG, LG and MG, but a descending trend were found in HG within 48 h.ConcIusion The cell viability were significantly affected by high glucose.The endothelial dysfunction induced by high glucose may be associated with the reduction of eNOS and NO production.

Objective To investigate the pluripotency of human gingival fibroblasts (hGFs), and provide a novel cell source for tissue engineering. Methods With informed consent from volunteers, fresh and healthy gingiva were collected. The hGFs were obtained from the gingiva by tissue culture. The third passage of hGFs was cultured in osteogenic medium, chondrogenic medium and adipogenic medium. Cells without differentiation were taken as control. Cells were examined by al?kaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, Alizarin red staining, Alcian blue staining and oil red O staining for detecting of the abili?ty of differentiation pluripotency. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was applied to examine the expression of osteogenic marker genes ALP, runt-related transcript factor 2 (Runx2), chondrogenic marker aggrecan (AGR) and adipogenic marker peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 (PPARγ2). Results The hGFs cultured in osteogenic medium showed massive violet deposit at day 7 and calcium nodulus at day 28, meanwhile, the expressions of ALP and Runx2 were higher than those of control (P<0.01). In chondrogenic group cells were found blue deposit at day 14. In adipogenic group lipid-filled droplets stained with oil red O were found in cells at day 14. However, hGFs in control group had no any positive stain?ing. Furthermore, expressions of AGR and PPARγ2 were significantly higher than those of control (P<0.01). Conclusion Human gingival fibroblasts have the pluripotency of osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation.

Objective To investigate the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection status quo among childbearing age women to provide the theoretical basis for adopting the effective intervention ,treatment and blocking measures in pre-pregnant women .Methods The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the time-resolved fluorometric immunoassay were adopted to detect HbsAg in 68 682 children bearing age women ,including outpatient and hospitalized patients ,in this hospital from February 2012 to September 2013 .The detect results were analyzed according to the age ,place of residence and medical departments .Results Among 68 682 children bearing age women ,3 260 cases were found positive for HbsAg with the HBsAg positive rate of 4 .70% .The statistically significant differences in the HBV infection positive rate existed among different age groups ,the positive rates in the age groups of 16- <20 years ,20 - < 25 years ,25 - < 30 years ,30 - < 35 years ,35 - < 40 years ,40 - < 45 years and 45 - < 50 years were 3 .83% ,4 .89% ,4 .96% ,4 .91% ,4 .18% ,4 .40% and 4 .18% respectively ,the differences among them had statistical significance (χ2 =15 .76 ,P=0 .015) ,in which the age 25- <30 years group had the highest HBV infection rate .At the same time the signifi-cant differences in the geographical distribution and medical departments existed .The HBV infection positive rate in rural area was significantly higher than that in city with statistical difference (χ2 =27 .47 ,P<0 .05) ,and the HBV infection positive rate in the outpatient departments was higher than that in the inpatient departments with statistical difference (χ2 =46 .88 ,P<0 .05) .Conclu-sion Children bearing women at 20-34 years old show the highest HBV infection rate .The HBV screening and the works of pre-vention and treatment during this age period should be strengthened ,which conduces to discover the HBV infection positive patients in time and prevent the mother-to-fetus transmission .

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Objective:To investigate the changes in adaptive phenotypes of Yersinia pestis ( Yp) during successive passages in macrophages. Methods:A Yp strain of 201-MI was induced by 50 successive passages of Yp 201 strain in Raw264.7 cells. Phenotypic characteristics of 201 and 201-MI strains were compared by analyzing their survival rates in macrophages, growth curves, biofilm formation abilities, acid and hydrogen peroxide-stress tolerance, and virulence to mammal cells (Raw264.7 and HeLa cells) and mice. Results:Comparing with 201 strain, 201-MI strain showed various phenotypic changes, including higher survival rate in Raw264.7 cells, faster growth in iron-deficient medium, higher tolerance to acid and hydrogen peroxide, decreased biofilm formation ability, and less damages to Raw264.7 and HeLa cells. More-over, 201-MI strain showed decreased virulence to mice in both subcutaneous and intraperitoneal challenges. Preliminary comparative genomics analysis revealed some indel and nonsense mutations in 201-MI strain, which might account for its phenotype changes.Conclusions:After successive passages in macrophages, Yp showed some phenotypic changes, which might reflect its adaptive evolution under the pressure of macrophages. Detailed multi-omics analysis would be of great help to understand the underlying genetic mechanisms of these changes, and the related Yp-macrophage interaction processes as well.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of utilizing dose-volume histogram (DVH) prediction models of organs at risk (OARs) to deliver automatic treatment planning of prostate cancer.Methods The training set included 30 cases randomly selected from a database of 42 cases of prostate cancer receiving treatment planning.The bladder and rectum were divided into sub-volumes (Ai) of 3 mm in layer thickness according to the spatial distance from the boundary of planning target volume (PTV).A skewed normal Gaussian function was adopted to fit the differential DVH of Ai,and a precise mathematical model was built after optimization.Using the embedded C++ subroutine of Pinnacle scripa,ahe volume of each Ai of the remaining validation set for 12 patients was obtained to predict the DVH parameters of these OARa,ahich were used as the objective functions to create personalized Pinnacle script.Finalla,automatic plans were generated using the script.The dosimetric differences among the original clinical plannina,aredicted value and the automatic treatment planning were statistically compared with paired t-test.Results DVH residual analysis demonstrated that predictive volume fraction of the bladder and rectum above 6 000 cGy were lower than those of the original clinical planning.The automatic treatment planning significantly reduced the V70,V60,V50 of the bladder and the V70 and V60 of the rectum than the original clinical planning (all P＜0.05),the coverage and conformal index (CI) of PTV remained unchangea,and the homogeneity index (HI) was slightly decreased with no statistical significance (P＞ 0.05).Conclusion The automatic treatment planning of the prostate cancer based on the DVH prediction models can reduce the irradiation dose of OARs and improve the treatment planning efficiency.

Objective To investigate whether elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels could induce endothelial - to - mesenchymal transition (EndMT) and adipocyte transition in endothelial cells (ECs), and to determine the possible underlying mechanism. Methods (1) A rat model of secondary hyperparathyroidism and chronic kidney disease (CKD) was established. The adiposity in bone marrow was detected by oil red O staining. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to detect the expression and localization of cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31) and fibroblast-specific protein 1 (FSP1). (2) The human umbilical vein ECs were cultured in vitro. Western blotting was performed to detect protein expressions of EndMT-related markers CD31, FSP1 and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in interference groups with different PTH concentrations (0, 10-11, 10-9, 10-7 mol/L PTH for 48 h) and times (0, 12, 24, 48 h, 10-7 mol/L PTH), as well as the expression of β-catenin in interference groups with different PTH concentrations. The localizations of CD31, FSP1 and β - catenin were observed by cell immunofluorescence. Protein expressions of adipocytes markers peroxisome proliferator - activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-α (C/EBP-α) by Western blotting and the degree of adipogenesis by oil red O staining were detected after transformed ECs were cultured in adipogenic culture medium for one week. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was performed to silenceβ - catenin expression. ECs were divided into control siRNA group, β - catenin siRNA group, PTH +control siRNA group and PTH+β-catenin siRNA group. Protein expressions of CD31, FSP1 and PPAR-γby Western blotting and the degree of adipogenesis by oil red O staining were determined. Results (1) In vivo, compared with the control, CKD rats had increased adipocytes in bone marrow (P＜0.05), and the co-expression of CD31 and FSP1 in bone marrow ECs. (2) In vitro, PTH significantly inhibited the expression of endothelial marker CD31 and increased the expressions of mesenchymal markers FSP1 and α-SMA in concentration-and time-dependent manners. These indexes in 10-7 mol/L PTH group and 0 mol/L PTH group, in 48 h group and 0 h group showed statistical differences (all P＜0.05). In PTH group ECs with 10-7 mol/L PTH for 48 h showed FSP1 accumulation in the cytoplasm and reduced expressions of CD31, and ECs had higher expressions of PPAR-γ and C/EBP-α as well as the degree of adipogenesis than those in control group (all P＜0.05). Furthermore, PTH enhanced the nuclearβ-catenin protein levels in ECs in concentration-dependent. The expressions of β-catenin in 10-7 mol/L PTH group and 0 mol/L PTH group showed statistical differences (P＜0.05). β - catenin expressed in the cytoplasm in control group, while it enter into the nucleus in PTH group. Compared with those in PTH+control siRNA group, the expressions of CD31 and PPAR-γ as well as the degree of adipogenesis decreased in PTH+β-catenin siRNA group (all P＜0.05), while the expression of FSP1 increased (P＜0.05). Conclusions PTH induces ECs - to - adipocytes transition by the canonical Wnt/β - catenin signaling pathway, which might account for bone loss in CKD. Silenced β - catenin expression can inhibit PTH-induced EndMT and adipogenesis.

Objective:To improve understanding of autosomal dominant Coffin-Siris syndrome(CSS) caused by ARID2 variant via analyzing the clinical manifestations and genetic characteristics of this rare disease. Methods:Whole-exome sequencing was performed in a patient with CSS and her parents in Children′s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, and genotype and phenotype were further analyzed.Results:The 2-month-old girl was admitted to hospital due to repeated vomiting for more than a month and one-time vaginal bleeding. She presented with severe malnutrition, special facial features, premature development of bilateral breasts, hymen protrusion, and vaginal bleeding. Gene sequencing revealed a de novo heterozygous frameshift mutation(c.1919delC, p. P640Lfs*7) in ARID2 gene, and no variant identified with her parents. It has been reported that the clinical manifestations of CSS caused by ARID2 variant are heterogeneous varing, mainly characterized by growth retardation, mental retardation, and feeding difficulties, accompanied by skeletal deformities, behavioral abnormalities, and visual impairment. Endocrine abnormalities are seldomly reported.Conclusion:For patients presenting growth retardation, special facial features, feeding difficulties, and unexplained vaginal bleeding, rare genetic syndrome should be considered and genetic testing be carried out. This is a novel variant(c.1919delC, p.P640Lfs*7) in ARID2.