Objective To evaluate the effect of dezocine on the c-fos expression in neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal gray in a rat model of incisional pain.Methods Thirty-six pathogen-free healthy adult male Wistar rats,weighing 250-300 g,were divided into 3 groups (n =12 each) using a random number table:control group (group C),incisional pain group (group I) and dezocine group (group D).A 1 cm longitudinal incision was made through skin,fascia and muscle of the plantar aspect of the right hind paw in sevoflurane-anesthetized rats.In group C,the rats were only anesthetized and underwent no operation.In group I,0.9％ sodium chloride solution 2 ml was injected via the caudal vein at 15 min before the model was established.In group D,dezocine 1 mg/kg (diluted to 2 ml in 0.9％ sodium chloride solution) was injected via the caudal vein at 15 min before the model was established.At 24 h before operation (T0) and 2,6 and 24 h after operation (T1-3),the mechanical paw withdrawal threshold (MWT) and cumulative pain score were measured.After measurement of the pain threshold at T3,the whole brain was removed for determination of the c-fos expression in neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal gray by immunohistochemistry.Results Compared with group C,the MWT was significantly decreased,cumulative pain scores were increased,and the expression of c-fos in neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal gray was upregulated at T1-3 in I and D groups (P＜0.05).Compared with group I,the MWT was significantly increased,the cumulative pain score was decreased,and the expression of c-fos protein in neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal gray was down-regulated at T1.3 in group D (P＜0.05).Conclusion Dezocine mitigates incisional pain through inhibiting the expression of c-fos in neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal gray of rats.

Aim TostudytheeffectsofCuO,ZnOand TiO2 nanoparticles on the viability and metastatic po-tential of EC-9706 and EC-109 esophageal squamous carcinomacelllineinvitro.Methods Characteristics of CuO,ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles were detected u-sing transmission electron microscope (TEM)and dy-namic light scattering (DLS ).EC-9706 and EC-109 cells were treated with different concentrations of CuO, ZnO and TiO2 (5 ~80 mg · L-1 ).The cell prolifera-tion was analyzed by MTT assay.The cell cycle and apoptotic rates were determined by flow cytometry (FCM).The cell invasion was assayed in Transwell chambers.The expression of Bcl-2 and caspase-3 pro-tein in cells was detected by Western blot method.Re-sults CuO,ZnOandTiO2nanoparticleswerespheri-cal with primary particle size 12,20. 6,12 nm.The particles were agglomerated in water and cell culture medium with negative charge.CuO and ZnO nanoparti-cles induced decreases in EC-9706 and EC-109 cell vi-ability dose-dependently.After exposed to increasing concentrations of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles,the cell cycle analysis revealed a decreasing proportion of cells in G2/Mand S phase,and up-regulation of the cells in G0/G1 phase.Apoptotic cells also increased along with decreased cell invasion upon CuO and ZnO treatment. Nanoparticles treatment after 48 h, the activated caspase-3 expression quantity increased significantly and the Bcl-2 expression quantity decreased obviously (P<0. 05 )compared with control group.TiO2 nanop-articles had no obvious effect on the EC-9706 and EC-109 cell proliferation,cell cycle,apoptosis and inva-sion.Conclusion ComparedwithTiO2,CuOand ZnO nanoparticles can inhibit EC-9706 and EC-109 cell viability and metastatic potential,the mechanism of action involves cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and apoptosis.These findings can help the development of nanoparticles as anti-cancer therapeutics for esophageal cancer.

Objective: To analyze the expression and prognostic significance of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma associated long non-coding RNA-1 (ESCCAL-1) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues. Methods: From August 2011 to May 2013, 73 patients with ESCC, who received radical resection in The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Cancer Hospital, were enrolled. The expressions of ESCCAL-1 in esophageal tumor tissues and corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). T test, chi square test and multivariate analysis were performed for statistical analysis. Results: The expression of ESCCAL-1 was 28.03±9.37 in esophageal tumor tissues of patients with ESCC, which was higher than that in corresponding adjacent normal tissues (11.39±4.15), and the difference was statistically significant (t=2.964, P<0.01). However there were no statistically significant differences in the expressions of ESCCAL-1 among the patients with different age, gender, histological grade, classification of Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), T stage or lymph nodes metastasis (all P>0.05). The median disease-free survival (DFS) time and overall survival (OS) time of patients with low ESCCAL-1 expression were 39 months and 42 months, respectively, which were longer than those of patients with high ESCCAL-1 expression (30 months and 37 months), and the differences were statistically significant (χ²=9.049, P=0.003; χ²=10.165, P=0.001). The results of multivariate analysis showed that ESCCAL-1 expression was the independent risk factor of DFS and OS (high risk (HR)=2.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22 to 4.93, P=0.012; HR=2.29, 95%CI 1.14 to 4.59, P=0.019). Conclusions ESCCAL-1 may be involved the genesis and development of ESCC. The expression of ESCCAL-1 in esophageal tumor tissues may be a prognostic parameter for patients with ESCC receiving radical resection.

Objective:To investigate the effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) on the maturation and differentiation of dendritic cells (DCs) and the mechanism involved in the regulation of inflammation in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).Methods:The full-term fetal umbilical cords(about 4-5 cm) were collected from Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University after cesarean section. hUC-MSCs were isolated and cultured in primary culture. Flow cytometry was used for phenotype identification, adipogenic and osteogenic staining. 20 ml peripheral blood samples from 5 SAP patients were collected, and monocytes were isolated using lymphocyte separation solution and then induced by adding granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-4 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and cultured as DCs. According to different culture methods, DCs were divided into DCs group, hUC-MSCs+ DCs group and hUC-MSCs+ DCs+ NS398 group (NS398 was a specific inhibitor of COX-2, a downstream regulatory gene of NF-κB). The phenotype of DCs was detected by flow cytometry, and the levels of IL-1β, IL-lα, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-10 in the supernatant of cell culture for 24 hours were determined. The expression of toll like receptor (TLR)-4, IKKα and NF-κB-p65 were detected by Western blot.Results:The hUC-MSCs were successfully cultured, and their surface markers CD 90, CD 105 and CD 73 were positively expressed, and they could differentiate into adipocytes and bone cells. With the prolongation of culture time, DCs differentiated from immature to mature cells. Compared with the DCs group, the proportion of regulatory DCs (regDCs) was increased in the hUC-MSCs+ DCs group, and the marker CD 11b was significantly up regulated [(14.26±1.25)% vs (4. 87±0.58)%], CD 1a and CD 11c were significantly down regulated [(2.81±0.34)% vs (13.62±1.52)%, (3.88±0.5)% vs (11. 8±1.22)%]. All the difference were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The expression of IL-1β, INF-γ and IL-6 in culture supernatant were down regulated, but the difference was not statistically significant; The pro-inflammatory factor IL-1α was significantly decreased [(14.91±2.58)ng/L vs (30.19±7.75)ng/L], and the anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 was significantly increased [ (17.03±4.69)ng/L vs (1.83±0.14)ng/L]. The expression levels of NF-κB-p65 and TLR4 were significantly down regulated (0.74±0.02 vs 0.97±0.01, 0.89±0.01 vs 1.72±0.01), and the expression of IKKα protein was significantly up regulated (1.12±0.01 vs 0.21±0.01) in hUC-MSCs-DCs group. All the differences were statistically significant (all P value<0.05). Compared with DCs group and hUC-MSCs+ DCs group, the expression levels of NF-κB-p65 and TLR4 were significantly down regulated (0.34±0.01 vs 0.97±0.01, 0.74±0.02 and 0.14±0.01 vs 1.72±0.01, 0.89±0.01), while the expression of IKKα protein was significantly up regulated (1.68±0.01 vs 0.21±0.01, 1.12±0.01) in hUC-MSCs+ DCS+ NS398 group. All the differences were statistically significant (all P value<0.05). Conclusions:In SAP patients, hUC-MSCs can inhibit the maturation and differentiation of DCs, and induce CD 11bhigh CD 1alow CD 11clowrregDCs to participate in immune regulation, which may play an anti-inflammatory role by inhibiting the inflammatory cascade through TLR4/IKKα/NF-κB/COX-2 pathway.

Objective:To explore the effect of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-related long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) ESCCAL-1 on the polarization of THP-1 cells-derived macrophages.Methods:The esophageal cancer cell line KYSE450 was divided into 5 groups: KYSE450 group (normal KYSE450 cells), shRNA-ESCCAL-1 group (infected with knockout ESCCAL-1 lentivirus), shRNA-NC group (infected with interference control lentivirus), OE-ESCCAL-1 group (infected with overexpressing ESCCAL-1 lentivirus) and OE-NC group (infected with overexpressed control lentivirus). The expression of ESCCAL-1 was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). After co-culture of cells in each group with THP-1 cells-derived macrophages, flow cytometry was used to detect the expressions of THP-1 cells-derived macrophages M1 polarization markers HLA-DR, iNOS, CD86 and M2 polarization markers Arg-1, CD163, CD206, and inflammatory cytokines.Results:After THP-1 cells were stimulated with 100 ng/ml phorbol ester for 48 hours, the cells grew adherently, and the expression levels of CD11b and CD36 increased, indicating that THP-1 cells were successfully differentiated into macrophages. After THP-1 cells-derived macrophages were co-cultured with esophageal cancer KYSE450 cell line treated differently for 24 hours, there were no significant differences in the expressions of M1 polarization markers HLA-DR, iNOS and CD86 between shRNA-ESCCAL-1 group and shRNA-NC group or between OE-ESCCAL-1 group and OE-NC group (all P > 0.05). Compared with shRNA-NC group, the expressions of M2 polarization markers Arg-1, CD163 and CD206 in shRNA-ESCCAL-1 group decreased [8.54±0.29 vs. 11.83±0.69, 12.0±0.3 vs. 24.5±0.8, 2.05±0.23 vs. 14.54±1.10], and the differences were statistically significant ( t values were 7.636, 27.38 and 19.31, all P < 0.01); compared with the OE-NC group, the expressions of M2 polarization marker Arg-1, CD163 and CD206 in OE-ESCCAL-1 group increased [32.60±1.14 vs. 14.20±0.20, 43.7±1.5 vs. 25.1±1.2, 35.8±0.7 vs. 13.6±0.6], and the differences were statistically significant ( t values were -27.58, -17.24 and -43.98, all P < 0.01). Compared with shRNA-NC group, the expression level of interferon-γ in shRNA-ESCCAL-1 group decreased [(6.3±1.5) pg/ml vs. (20.0±2.6) pg/ml, t = 7.75, P = 0.001]; compared with OE-NC group, the expression level of interleukin-1RA in OE-ESCCAL-1 group increased [(3 167±306) pg/ml vs. (467±176) pg/ml, t = -13.27, P < 0.01]. Conclusions:Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-related lncRNA ESCCAL-1 can promote the M2 polarization of macrophages.