AIM: To investigate the biological characteristics of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells in vitro METHODS: The non-adhere peripheral blood monoclear cells from healthy donors were induced into CIK cells in the presence of IFN-?, IL-1?, IL-2 and anti-CD3 antibody. LAK (lymphokine activated killer) cells were prepared as a control. The cellular phenotype were detected by FCM and immunocytochemistry and the cytotoxicity was measured by LDH release assay. RESULTS: After 2 weeks of induction, the proliferation rate of CIK cells reached a peak and the proportion of CD3 + population was above 95%, and then the cells growth entered to plateau phase at week 3. The proportion of CD3 +CD56 + NKT subset cells was 16 5% on day 15 and it had no obvious variety between 2 and 4 weeks. Correspondingly, LAK cells grew slowly and had lower proliferation rate compared with the CIK cells ( P

AIM: To investigate the effect of Chinese herbs, Ganxianfang(GXF), on rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC) proliferation and collagen synthesis. METHODS: Two types of herb serum, portal venous serum and circumferential venous serum, were prepared from rats infused intragastrically with 16,8,4 times adult dose of GXF decoction. HSC isolated from rat liver were processed with the above sera in vitro . Then we mensurated the radioactivity of HSC admixed with [ 3H]proline and [ 3H]thymine to judge the effect on proliferation and collagen synthesis of HSC. RESULTS: Both two types of serum collected 0 5, 1, 2 h after intragastrical infusion inhibited HSC proliferation ( P 0 05). CONCLUSION: Inhibition of HSC proliferation and decrease of collagen synthesis may contribute to the GXF antifibrotic action.

AIM: To investigate the expression of adhesion molecules in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and analyze its clinical significance. METHODS: The expression of adhesion molecules of tumor tissues of 64 cases and adjacent tissues of 12 cases of HCC were detected with RT-PCR. RESULTS: ①The expression rates of E-cadherin, ICAM-1 , CD44, CD 44V , ? 5, ? 1 were 90 62%, 93 75%, 50 00%, 96 88%, 100%, 100%, respectively, and there was a significant difference between CD44 and other adhesion molecules. ②The expression level of E-cadherin, ICAM-1, CD44, CD 44V , ? 5,? 1 in liver cancer tissues were 1 24?0 54, 0 96?0 37, 0 62?0 73, 0 86?0 33, 0 97?0 49, 1 41?0 24, respectively, and there was a significant difference between CD44 and E-cadherin, ? 1. ③The expression level of E-cadherin and CD44 mRNA declined as HCC stage become higher, and there was a statistical difference in the expression level of CD44 mRNA between Ⅰ-Ⅱ stage and Ⅳ stage. The expression level of ICAM-1, ? 5, ? 1 had a trend to rise as HCC stage become higher, and there was a statistical difference in the expression level of ICAM-1 between Ⅰ-Ⅱ stage and Ⅳ stage. ④The expression level of ICAM-1,CD 44V , ? 5, ? 1 had positive correlation with tumor volume, tumor nodules, tumor metastasis, and had negative correlation with tumor encapsulation. E-cadherin and CD44 had negative correlation with tumor volume, tumor nodules, tumor metastasis, and had positive correlation with tumor encapsulation. All showed no significant correlation with the level of AFP , the degree of cirrhosis and the function of liver. CONCLUSION: There was a significant difference in the expression level of adhesion molecule mRNA in HCC, and their expression had Spearman correlation with each other. The expression level of adhesion molecule mRNA is associated with tumor volume, tumor nodules and tumor metastasis. [