Dendritic cells are now given more attention th ese years in tumor immuno-therapy. In this review, we summarized the advances o f dendritic cells vaccines and their applications in malignant tumors such as me lanoma and renal carcinoma.

Objective To investigate the visual spatial attention of occipital stroke patients with hemianopia during the acute phase.Methods Eight occipital stroke patients with homonymous hemianopia of left side in the acute stage and 10 age-matched healthy controls were recruited to examine the capability of visual spatial attention.The cue-target paradigms were applied in this behavioral research.Results In the repeated measures analysis of variance,the difference of group and cue range had distinct main effect in reaction time and accuracy rate,while the difference of target location only had main effect in reaction time.Compared with the control group,the patients exhibited longer reaction time ((1 628.26 ± 183.97) ms vs (839.79±61.29) ms,F(1,16) =163.706,P＜0.05) and lower accuracy rate (73.40％ ±3.12％ vs 92.99％ ±0.76％,F(1,16) =371.850,P ＜ 0.05).The patients displayed lower accuracy rate under large cue than small cue (71.38％ ±3.35％ vs 75.42％ ±4.23％,F(1,7) =6.706,P ＜0.05),while that of healthy controls did not vary under different cue range(93.01％ ± 0.50％ vs 92.96％ ± 1.42％,F(1,9) =0.010,P ＞ 0.05).The patients showed longer reaction time in blind-side target than healthy-side target ((1 664.17±196.57) msvs (1 594.35±174.45) ms,F(1,7) =14.157,P＜0.05),while that of control group in two target location had no statistically significant difference ((839.67 ± 60.41) ms vs (839.91 ±73.54) ms,F(1,9) =0.000,P ＞0.05).Furthermore,the mean reaction time of stroke patients had a negative correlation with the binocular vision field index (r =-0.824,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The extent of vision field loss in occipital stroke patients with hemianopia can reflect impairment of visual spatial attention during the acute phase.The rehabilitation training should emphasize promoting recovery of visual spatial attention in the blind side under large cue.

Objective To compare changes in indexes and analyze their values in prognosis of severe burn patients with sepsis.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted. The patients with severe burn sepsis admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from August 2014 to December 2016 were enrolled. The blood culture was positive in the clinical diagnosis of sepsis. According to the prognosis, the patients were divided into death group and survival group. Their general information, vital signs, blood routine examination, serum sodium (Na+), serum glucose (Glu), C-reactive protein (CRP) and arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) at the time of admission and diagnosis of sepsis as well as the level of serum procalcitonin (PCT) at admission, diagnosis of sepsis and 1-8 days of post diagnosis were also compared. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to analyze the prognostic value of each index, and multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the influence of each index on the survival time, and the survival curve of Kaplan-Meier was analyzed for dead patients.Results There were 25 cases of severe burn patients with sepsis, which were admitted to hospital within 12 hours after injury; the time of diagnosis of burn sepsis was (14±6) days; 8 cases of survival; 17 cases died, the mortality rate was 68.0%, the time from diagnosis of sepsis to death was (28±14) days. The age of the death group was significantly higher than that of the survival group (years: 41±12 vs. 29±9,t = 2.598,P = 0.016), but there was no significant difference in the gender, total burn area,Ⅲ degree area, and the time of diagnosis of sepsis between the two groups. The platelet count (PLT) at the diagnosis of sepsis in death group was significantly lower than that of the survival group (×109/L: 69±43 vs. 180±108,t = -2.773, P = 0.023), and the PCT at 1-8 days of post-diagnosis in the death group was significantly higher than that of survival group [μg/L: 4.4 (2.2, 9.0) vs. 1.6 (0.7, 2.3),Z = -2.521,P = 0.012], but there was no significant difference in body temperature, heart rate, white blood cell count (WBC), percentage of neutrophils (Neu), Na+, Glu, CRP, PCT, PaCO2 at the time of admission and diagnosis of sepsis and PLT at the time of admission between the two groups. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under ROC curve (AUC) of age, PLT at the time of diagnosis and PCT at 1-8 days of post-diagnosis of sepsis was 0.808, 0.779, 0.825, respectively, for predicting the prognosis of patients with severe burn sepsis (allP < 0.05). At the cut-off age of 32, the sensitivity was 73.3% and the specificity was 75.0%. As the cut-off of PLT was 138×109/L at the time of diagnosis, the sensitivity was 92.3% and the specificity was 75.0%. As the cut-off of PCT was 2.39μg/L at 1-8 days of post-diagnosis of sepsis, the sensitivity was 73.3% and the specificity was 87.5%. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age and PLT at the time of diagnosis were the favorable factors for the survival time of patients with severe burn sepsis (β value were -1.834, -0.029, respectively, bothP < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis for patients in the death group showed that the median survival time of patients ≥32 years old was longer than that of patients < 32 years old (days: 32 vs. 9); 18-day cumulative survival rate was significantly higher than that of patients < 32 years old [83.3% (10/12) vs. 25.0% (1/4),χ2 = 9.705,P = 0.003].Conclusion Age, PLT at diagnosis of sepsis and PCT at 1-8 days after diagnosis of sepsis could be used as prognostic indexes for severe burn patients with sepsis.

The effects of exogenous p16(ink4a) gene on biological behaviors of human lung cancer cell line with homozygous deletion of p16(ink4a) gene were investigated. Exogenous p16(ink4a) gene was transfected by lipofectin into human lung cell line A549, in which p16(ink4a) gene was homozygously deleted. The expression of p16(ink4a) mRNA and protein was detected by RT-PCR and immunocyto-chemistry, respectively. The changes in the behaviors of the transfected cell lines in vitro and in vivo were observed. In the transfected cell line A549, the exogenous p16(ink4a) gene could be stably expressed. The growth of A549 cells transfected with p16(ink4a) gene was obviously slowed down. Flow cytometry revealed that transfection of the exogenous p16(ink4a) gene resulted in A549 cell lines arrest in G1 phase of cell cycle. The tumorigenicity of these transfected cells in nude mice could be inhibited, and the tumor growth of nude mice was significantly suppressed. It was concluded that exogenous p16(ink4a) gene may be stably expressed in human lung cancer cell line A549. The expression of the introduced p16(ink4a) could block lung cancer cells to entry into S phase of cell cycle and inhibit tumor malignant growth both in vitro and in vivo.

To examine the relationship between the levels of the serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the micrometastasis of peripheral blood in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 108 NSCLC patients, including 40 patients with benign lung diseases and 30 healthy controls, were investigated. The serum VEGF levels were detected by ELISA and CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In NSCLC group, the serum VEGF levels and the positive rate of CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood were 479.8+/-268.5 pg/mL and 66.7%, which were significantly higher than those of the other two groups respectively (P<0.01), and both of them were increased significantly with the progression of clinical stage of the tumors (P<0.01). Serum VEGF levels as well as the positive rate of CK19 mRNA in different pathological types of lung cancer had no significant differences (P>0.05). Serum VEGF levels in the patients positive for CK19 mRNA was 561.7+/-325.6 pg/mL. It is significantly higher than that in the negative patients (P<0.01). There existed a significant correlation between serum VEGF levels and expression of CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood in NSCLC patients (P<0.001). The detection of serum VEGF levels and CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood is helpful in judging the condition and the prognosis of NSCLC patients, and serum VEGF levels and CK19 mRNA are independent of the pathological types of lung cancer. The micrometastasis in peripheral blood of NSCLC patients is significantly associated with serum VEGF levels.

Objective:To investigate the impact of alanyl-glutamine(Ala-Gln) on outcome in radiation enteritis rats.Methods: Male SD rats(n=70)were separated randomly into four groups: control group(n=10),AR+pseudosurgery group(n=20),AR+TPN group(n=20) and AR+TPN+Ala-Gln group(n=20).Rats were observed for mortality,changs of body weight,villous hight and area,the bcteriral translocation(BT)in mesenteric lymph nodes(MLNs),liver,spleen and peritoneal cavity.Serum TNF-? and sIL-2R level were determined by sandwich ELISA.Results: When Ala-Gln was administered in radiation enteritis rat,the mortality,body weight loss and bacterial translocation were decreaded,the villous hight and area was increased and the TNF-? and sIL-2R levels were reduced.Conclusion: Parenteral Ala-Gln nutrition can improves the results of radiation enteritis rats.

Objective:To investigate the effect of continuous blood purification (CBP) on inflammatory factors and immune function in patients with sepsis,in order to provide reference for clinical treatment of sepsis.Methods:A total of 76 patients with severe sepsis,who were treated in ICU of Daqing Oilfield General Hospital from June 2014 to December 2016,were selected.The patients were divided into conventional group (n=36) and CBP group (n=40) according to the received treatment method.The patients in the conventional group were treated with targeted therapy and life support,while the patients in the CBP group were treated with CBP on the basis of targeted therapy.The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6),interleukin-10 (IL-10),tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and C reactive protein (CRP) of the patients in the two groups were detected and compared before treatment and after 3d of treatment.The CD3+,CD4+,CD8+T cell and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio before treatment and after 3 d of treatment were calculated and compared between the two groups.Results:There was no significant difference in the level of serum inflammatory factors between the two groups before treatment (P＞0.05).The levels of serum inflammatory factors in the two groups were significantly decreased after 3 d of treatment,and the levels of IL-6,TNF-α and CRP in the CBP group were significantly lower than those in the conventional group (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in immune function indexes between the conventional group and the CBP group before treatment (P＞0.05).After 3d of treatment,CD3+,CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ ratio were significantly increased in the two groups,and the CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ ratio of the CBP group were sig-nificantly higher than those of the conventional group (P＜0.05).Conclusion:The application of CBP in the treatment of patients with sep-sis can obviously improve the expression of inflammatory factors of patients,and can improve the immune function and promote the re-covery of immune function.

Rats receiving unilateral nigral injection of 6 OHDA resulted in distinct reduction of DA (-88% ) , DOPAC(-80%) and HVA(-60%) in striatum of lesioned side, and the contents of 5HT and 5HIAA remained almost constant in comparison with that of contralateral striatum, suggesting selective lesion of nigrostriatal dopaminer-gic pathway induced by 6OHDA. Following 6OHDA lesion the rats exhibited circling behaviour after APO challenge. 1-Stephaniae ( 1-STP ) significantly antagonizied the action of APO in circling model in dose-dependent manner. Our results indicate that 1-STP possesses the ability to block DA receptor of central nervous system.

AIM: To investigate whether RNA interference (RNAi) induced by small interference RNA (siRNA) could suppress Polo- like kinase- 1 (Plk 1 ) expression and its effects in A549 cells. METHODS: A recombinant plasmid containing siRNA targeting Plk1 ( psiRNA - hH1 - Plk1 ) was transfected into A549 cells with Lipofectamine 2000.Expressions of Plk1, cyclin B1 and p53 protein were detected by Western blotting. Cell proliferation was evaluated by direct cell counting, while cell cycle and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry, and expression of α - tubulin was detected by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that sequence specific siRNA targeting Plk1 was capable of suppressing Plk1 expression, and reflecting in lower kinase activity in A549 cells. The level of Plk1 protein was reduced by at least 70％ after 48 h of psiRNA - hH1 - Plk1 treatment relative to controls. Expressions of cyclin B1 and p53 were increased greatly after Plk1 depletion, and cells showed absence of microtubule polymerization and spindle abnormalities in staining for α -tubulin. Growth inhibition, G2/M arrest and apoptosis were observed in psiRNA -hH1 -Plk1 transfected group. CONCLUSION: All these data suggest that siRNA targeted against human Plk1 may be a valuable tool in cancer therapy.

Objective To analyze and determine the efficient T- and B-combined (T/B) antigenic epitopes in Helicobacter pylori adhesin A. Methods Recombinant HpaA (rHpaA) was expressed for immunizing rabbit to generate antiserum. T- and B-cell epitopes in HpaA molecule were predicted by using bioinformatic technique. The segments to encode T/B combined epitope peptides were amplified by PCR and the phage display systems of T/B combined epitopes were subsequently constructed. PEG/NaCl precipitation method was applied to extract the recombinant phage PⅢ (rPⅢ) that displayed T/B combined epitopes. By using either commercial IgG against whole-cell of Helicobacter pylori or rHpaA antiserum as the primary antibody, the T/B combined epitopes displayed in rP Ⅲ s were screened and identified by Western blot and ELISA. MTT was applied to determine the proliferation of rHpaA-immunized mouse splenocytes after stimulation of the different recombinant rPⅢ proteins. Results In the HpaA molecule there were five T/B combined epitopes: HpaA10, HpaA37, HpaA79, HpaA116 and HpaA143. All the T/B combined epitopes were successfully displayed on the surface of PⅢ protein of phage M13. The results of Western blot, ELISA and MTT confirmed that HpaA116 was the predominant antigenic epitope, both HpaA37 and HpaA79 were the efficient antigenic epitopes. However, HpaA10 and HpaA143 were identified as ineffective antigenic epitopes. Conclusion The phage display systems of T/B combined epitope peptides of H. pylori adhesin A have been successfully generated in this study. HpaA37 and HpaA79, especially HpaA116 are the efficient T/B combined antigenic epitopes in HpaA of H. pylori.