Objective To investigate the role of Ca 2+ signaling in the overexpression of detrusor smooth muscle cell connexin 43 by cyclic stretch in vitro. Methods The detrusor smooth muscle cells (DSMC) grown on collagen-coated silicone membranes were subjected to cyclic stretch-relaxation. The Cx43 mRNA in DSMC were detected with RT-PCR, and the concentration of intracellular free Ca 2+ in DSMC was measured by confocal microscopy in conjunction with the calcium indicator, Fura-3 (Molecular Probes). Results The overexpression of Cx43 mRNA induced by cyclic stretch was significantly inhibited by EGTA.The increase of intracellular free Ca 2+ induced by stretch was also inhibited completely by EGTA, 61.95% by GdCl3, 29.98% by Nifedipine, 87.98% by Ryanodine and Thapsigargin. Conclusion The stretch-induced Ca 2+ entry, via the Ca 2+-induced Ca 2+ release mechanism, may play an important role in DSMC connexin 43 overexpression induced by cyclic stretch.

Objective To investigate the pathological features of sural nerve biopsy in patients with motor neuron disease （MND）. Methods 22 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) underwent sural nerve biopsy and routine electrophysiological examination. The transected images were captured and morphometrically analyzed.Results The myelinated fiber density decreased in ALS patients' sural nerves, and larger fibers were involved mostly. The thinly myelinated fibers increased. Conclusion The sural nerves of ALS patients shows mild but definite pathological changes.

After oral administration of Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen in Chinese), Panax notoginseng (Sanqi in Chinese) and Danshen Sanqi combination suspensions to Beagle dogs, the plasma concentration-time profiles of danshensu, tanshinone II(A), cryptotanshinone, notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rg1 and Rb1 were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated and analyzed with BAPP 2.0 software. The results showed that the Cmax and AUC of danshensu, notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rg1 and Rb1 in Danshen Sanqi combination group all decreased in comparison with those of Danshen or Sanqi given alone, while the CLz/F and Vz/F increased to some extent. No significant differences of the pharmacokinetics of tanshinone II(A) and cryptotanshinone were observed between groups.

Objective To improve the recognition for infantile spinal muscular atrophy (SMA-Ⅰ) and the level of early diagnosis,intervention and treatment for SMA-Ⅰ.Methods The clinical data of 39 patients with SMA-Ⅰ were analyzed retrospectively, including the clinical manifestations, neural electrophysiological characteristics, geno-type, diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of SMA-Ⅰ.Results Of the 39 cases with SMA-Ⅰ , 37 cases (94.9％) had onset in 6 months after birth.The paralyses of the limbs were symmetrical and flaccid.The lower was more severe than the upper , and the proximal was more severe than the distal, hypotonia and tendinous reflex disappears.Thirty-two cases (82.1％) had normal serum creatine kinase, and 7 cases (17.9％) increased slightly.Nerve electrophysiological examination showed that 169 (96.0％) had spontaneous potentials in 176 muscles.Of 160 limb muscles,35 (21.8％) released few motor unit potential (MUP) ,117 (73.1％) extended the duration of MUP and 104 (65.0％) increased the amplitude of M UP.Of 167 peripheral motor nerves, 160 (95.8％)decreased the amplitude of the compound muscle action potential and 162 (97.0％) had normal motor conduction velocity.Of 93 peripheral sensory nerves, 93 (100.0％) had normal range of the conduction.The gene detection showed that 38 cases had homozygous deletion of exon 7,8, and 1 case had homozygous deletion of exon 7 and heterozygous deletion of exon 8.In the effective follow-up of 30 cases,6 cases died in the 2-3 months after birth,4 cases died in 10 months after birth, 12 cases died in 12-18 months after birth.Six cases survived to 2 years old,2 cases survived to 3 years old,and all of them died of pulmonary infection.Conclusions There are typical clinical and nerve electrophysiological characteristics for SMA-I.Nerve electrophysiological examination can be used as an important method for diagnosis and differential diagnosis for SMA-I.Genetic testing can be used to identify the disease and make prenatal diagnosis.Through comprehensive intervention the quality of life can be improved in SMA-Ⅰ children.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI),as a noninvasive technology of measuring human brain function,has been used in neurolingustic research on normal subjects and on patients with brain damage,to investigate the neural basis underlying language processing.Such studies complement and development the classical knowledge accumulated on aphasia,provide new insights into the neural mechanisms of aphasia and the plasticity of recovery from aphasia,and might be helpful to evaluate the capability of language functional recovery and the efficiency of rehabilitative strategies also.

ObjectiveTo study the cardioprotective effects of ischemic post-conditioning on elderly patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEM1).MethodsConsecutive 215 patients with STEMI undergoing emergency percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) were randomly assignedto receive ischemicpost-conditioningorconventional PCItreatment.The ischemic postconditioning (n=38) were conducted by 3 episodes of 30-second occlusion followed by 30-second reperfusion, while the control group (n= 46) was without any intervention after PCI.Reperfusion arrhythmias, corrected TIMI frame count (cTFC) and TIMI myocardial perfusion grade (TMPG)were compared between the two groups, respectively.Results The incidence of reperfusion arrythmias was less frequent in ischemic postconditioning group (21.1％ ,8/38) than in control group (45.7％ ,21/46) after PCI (x2 = 5.571, P＜0.05). The TIMI grade 3 flow was similar between two groups [(94.7％(36/38) vs. 82.6％( 38/46), x2= 2.919, P＞0.05], the cTFC levels (23.6±3.7vs. 26.1 ±5.9) and TMPG 3 perfusion [ 89.5％ (34/38) vs.69.6％ (32/46)] were significantly different (t= 5.434, P＜0.05; x2 = 4.899, P＜0.05, respectively) between two groups.ConclusionsIschemic postconditioning may reduce myocardial reperfusion injury in elderly patients with STEMI undergoing emergent PCI.

Objective To explore the cultural method of oral keratinocytes and make preparations for further investigation in using oral keratinocytes as a new choice of seed cells for the reconstruction of tissue-engineered urethra. Methods Oral keratinocytes of rabbits were isolated in vitro and seeded onto a culture dish with a feeder layer of 3T3 mouse fibroblasts inhibited by mitomycin(i3T3) or a culture dish without i3T3 respectively. Cell morphology was observed and cell growth was detected at intervals.Meanwhile,oral keratinocytes obtained from in vitro culture were performed immunofluorescence staining with broad-spectrum keratin antibody(AE1/AE3) and keratin 19 antibody(K19).The percentage of positive cells of passage 2 reactive to AE1/AE3 was assessed by flow cytometry. ResultsOral keratinocytes seeded onto a feeder layer of i3T3 exhibited finer morphous,better amplification capability,and could be passed for 7 or 8 generations.However,those cultured without i3T3 took on various morphous and could only be subcultured 2 generations before ageing.It was indicated by immunofluorescence staining that oral keratinocytes obtained from in vitro culture were positive for AE1/AE3 staining and 40% were positive for K19 staining.The result of flow cytometry revealed that the amout of positive keratinocytes reactive to AE1/AE3 was more than 95% of total cellular score. Conclusion Oral keratinocytes of rabbits can be cocultured with i3T3 in vitro and magnitude quantity can be attained,laying a favourable foundation for oral keratinocytes as a new choice of seed cells for urethral reconstruction with tissue engineering.

This study aimed to identify the related substances of phloroglucinol injection by two-dimensional liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2D-LC-Q-TOF/MS). The first-dimensional separation was carried out on an HSS T3 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column by gradient elution using 1.36 g·L^-1 potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer solution (pH adjusted to 3.0 with diluted phosphoric acid) and acetonitrile as the mobile phases. The separated components were then trapped in switch valve tube lines respectively and delivered to the second-dimensional desalting gradient elution which was performed with a BDS C18 (100 mm × 4.6 mm, 2.4 μm) column using 0.1% formic acid and methanol as the mobile phases. After rapid desalting, electrospray-ionization quadrupole time-of-flight high resolution mass spectrometry was used for determining the accurate masses and elemental compositions of the parents and their product ions for both phloroglucinol and its related substance. Structures of the related substances were then figured out by mass spectrometry elucidation, organic reaction mechanism analysis, and/or comparison with reference substances. Under the established analytical conditions, phloroglucinol and its related substances were adequately separated, 17 main related substances were detected and identified in the injection and its stressed samples for the first time. The identification results can provide reference for the quality control of phloroglucinol injection.

To investigate the morphogenetic process of human adenovirus type 41 (HAdV-41), 293TE cells were infected with purified wild-type HAdV-41, and ultrathin sections of infected cells were prepared and observed under a transmission electron microscope. Results showed that HAdV-41 entered host cells mainly through three ways: non-clathrin-coated pit, clathrin-coated pit, and direct penetration of plasma membrane. In addition, cell microvilli might help HAdV-41 enter cells. After entering into cells, HAdV-41 virus particles could be found in vacuoles or lysosomes or be in a free state in cytoplasm. Only free virus particles could be found near nuclear pores (NP), suggesting that the virus needed to escape from lysosomes for effective infection and viral nucleoprotein entered the nucleus through NP. Progeny viruses were as-sembled in the nucleus. Three types of inclusion bodies, which were termed as fibrillous inclusion body, condense inclusion body, and stripped condense inclusion body, were involved in HAdV-41 morphogenesis. In the late phase of viral replication, the membrane integrity of the infected cells was lost and viral particles were released extracellularly. This study reveals the partial process of HAdV-41 morphogenesis and provides more biological information on HAdV-41.
Adenovirus Infections, Human ; virology ; Adenoviruses, Human ; genetics ; growth & development ; physiology ; ultrastructure ; Cell Membrane ; virology ; Cell Nucleus ; virology ; Humans ; Virus Release ; Virus Replication

Objective To investigate the morphological changes in the sciatic nerve and the dorsal root ganglions (DRGs) and also gene expression in DRGs after non-freezing cold injury, and to explore the molecular mechanism of peripheral nerve cold injury and regeneration. Methods Twenty-four male Wistar rats were used. The sciatic nerve on one side was cooled to 4℃ for 2 h, and the sciatic nerve on the opposite side was exposed, but without cooling. Sciatic nerves and L4, L5 and L6 DRGs from both sides were harvested at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd week after cooling. Any pathological changes were observed using light and electron microscopy. Laser capture microdissection (LCM) was used to investigate the DRG neurons' gene expression. The array result was verified with RT-PCR for eight genes. Results Large fiber degeneration was obvious by the 7th day after cooling. Myelinated fiber regeneration had begun by the 14th day, so this time was chosen to explore the neurons' gene expression. Ninety-six genes and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were up-regulated greater than 2 fold. Their proteins' functions were classified as adaptive response to external stimulus, apoptosis regulation, cell adhesion, immune and inflammation response,nerve regeneration, pain associated molecules, microtubule cytoskeleton, ion-channels, neurotransmitters and receptors, and neuropeptides. Conclusions A complex molecular mechanism is involved in cold injury and regeneration of the sciatic nerve, and many genes are involved. Large scale microarray analysis is a potent means to screen out related genes, thus suggesting future repair strategies.