Proline-rich cell wall proteins are widely spread in plants and are believed to function by modeling the architecture of the cell wall surrounding specific cell types. Five genes encoding proline-rich proteins were isolated from cotton cDNA libraries. The most common characteristic of these proteins is the abundant proline residues that occur in repeating motifs of at least two consecutive Pros. Based on amino acid composition, repetitive motifs and domain organization, the five members can be divided into two subgroups: one group similar to common PRPs including GhPRP3, GhPRP6, GhPRP5 and GhPRP4 was composed of two domains, an N-terminal hydrophobic domain (or signal peptide) followed by a proline-rich domain containing different proline-rich repetitive motifs; the other group different from common PRPs including GhPRPL lies in it contains an N-terminal hydrophilic domain, eight repetitive copies of pentapeptide (similar to PPKKE) lies in the C-terminal domain. Expression studies of the six GhPRPs have been carried out by quantitative realtime RT-PCR. The results showed that GhPRP3 and GhPRP5 were preferentially expressed in 10 dpa fiber, little transcripts was detected in other tissues examined. GhPRPL highly expressed in cotyledons, whereas smaller or negligible amounts of its transcripts were detected in other tissues. The remaining two genes, GhPRP4 and GhPRP6, were expressed in all the tissues analysed, but their transcript level is different. GhPRP4 mRNA is most abundant in hypocotyls, and then in anther, while GhPRP6 expressed highly in fiber, and then in 10 dpa ovule. Furthermore, the results showed that the fiber-specific GhPRP3 and GhPRP5 were also developmentally regulated, suggesting that the genes may play important roles during cotton fiber development.

Objective To detect the expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-4 (TIMP-4) in cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) tissue and to assess its relationship with melanoma proliferation,invasion and metastasis.Methods Western blot was conducted to measure the protein expression of TIMP-4 in five fresh lesional and paratumoral tissue specimens of CMM and three fresh tissue specimens of nevi.Immunohistochemistry was carried out to quantify the expression of TIMP-4,Ki-67,matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2),vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD63 in paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 43 cases of CMM and 51 cases of nevi.The degree of malignancy of melanoma was evaluated in these lesions.Results Western blot analysis showed that the expression of TIMP-4 was significantly higher in 4 of 5 CMM tissue specimens than in corresponding paratumoral tissue specimens and nevus tissue specimens.Immunohistochemistry revealed that the expression rate of TIMP-4 was 86.04％ (37/43) in melanoma tissue,compared to 19.6％ (10/51) in nevus tissue (x2 =31.55,P ＜ 0.05).The expression of TIMP-4 increased sequentially from in situ melanoma to invasive and metastatic melanoma (rs =0.309,P ＜ 0.05).As far as CMM was concerned,the TIMP-4 expression was uncorrelated with any of the known prognostic variables including clinical stage,Clark level,Breslow depth,presence of ulcer,and Ki-67 expression (all P ＞ 0.05),but positively correlated with the expressions of VEGF (rs =0.345,P ＜ 0.05) and CD63 (rs =0.555,P ＜ 0.01).The median expression level of TIMP-4 was significantly higher in MMP-2-positive than in MMP-2-negative melanoma tissue samples (3 vs.0,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions TIMP-4 protein is highly expressed in CMM tissue,which may be closely associated with the initiation and progression of CMM,especially with the metastasis of and angiogenesis in CMM.

Objective To measure the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α in acral malignant melanoma (MM) tissue and to investigate its relationship with the stem cell factor (SCF)/c-kit pathway.Methods Immunohistochemical staining was performed to measure the expression of HIF-1α in tissue specimens from lesions of 93 patients with acral MM,21 with non-acral MM,39 with acral melanocytic nevi,and from the normal acral skin of 15 healthy human controls.Meanwhile,the expression of c-kit was detected by immunohistochemical staining in the 93 acral MM tissue specimens.Statistical comparisons were carried out by chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test.The relationship of HIF-1α expression with c-kit expression as well as tumor progression and staging was assessed by Spearman correlation analysis.Results Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression rate of HIF-1α was 87.10％ (81/93) in acral MM specimens,90.48％ (19/21) in non-acral MM specimens,15.38％ (6/39) in acral melanocytic nevus specimens,but 0 (0/15) in the normal acral skin specimens.The expression of HIF-1α was significantly higher in acral MM lesions than in normal acral skin and acral melanocytic nevus lesions (both P ＜ 0.01),and significantly different between acral MM and non-acral MM lesions (P ＜ 0.01).Moreover,HIF-1α expression was positively correlated with Clark level and Breslow depth of melanoma (rs =0.442,0.368,respectively,both P ＜ 0.01),with the progression of acral MM (from in situ to aggressive and metastatic MM) (rs =0.420,P ＜ 0.01),and with the expression of c-kit (rs =0.307,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions HIF-1α is highly expressed in acral MM,positively correlated with the staging,progression and aggression of MM,and co-expressed with c-kit in acral MM tissue,suggesting that both HIF-1α and c-kit take part in the pathogenesis of acral MM.

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of baicalin on the proportion of Th22 cells and the concentration of IL-22 bothin vivo andin vitro, in order to explore the immune mechanism of baicalin on inflammatory bowel disease mice model. The 3.5% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) was used on C57BL/6 mice for the establishment of colitis mice model. Mice were randomly divided into the blank control group, model group, and baicalin group. Flow cytometry and ELISA were used in the detection of the proportion of Th22 cells and concentration of IL-22 in peripheral blood serum, respectively. The spleen lymphocytes of mice were isolated and cultured by baicalin medium (0, 10, 20, 40μM) for 48 h. Flow cytometry was used in the detection of the proportion of Th22 cells. The results showed that baicalin reduced the proportion of Th22 cells and the expression of IL-22 bothin vivo andin vitro experiments. It was concluded that baicalin can inhibit Th22 cell differentiation and expression of IL-22in vitro and DSS-induced colitis mice. It indicated that baicalin had a good treatment potential in Th22 cell-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and insulin secretion and insulin re-sistance in subjects with different glucose loads .Methods Totally 389 patients met the requirements ,and the subjects underwent o-ral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to measure fasting SUA ,OGTT 0 ,30 ,60 ,120 min glucose (GLU) and insulin (INS) .According to the results of OGTT ,the subjects were divided into normal glucose tolerance group (NGT group ,n= 88) ,pre diabetes group (preDM group ,n=109) and diabetes mellitus (DM group ,n= 182) ,the insulin secretion index (IGI) ,120 min insulin secretion (AUC INS120/AUC GLU120 ) ,insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) and Matsuda index were calculated .Calculated the quartile of SUA to divide the subjects to four groups ,the levels of insulin secretion and insulin resistance were compared between different glu-cose loading groups at different levels of SUA .The linear regression equation between SUA and insulin secretion and HOMA-IR was calculated .Results The SUA in DM group was lower than that of PreDM group [(346 .66 ± 90 .60)mmol/L vs .(367 .36 ± 92 .34)mmol/L] ,but slightly higher than that of NGT group[(339 .34 ± 89 .51)mmol/L] ,the difference was statistically significant (P<0 .01) .The IGI index and AUC INS120/AUC GLU120 index of DM group decreased with the increase of SUA (P<0 .01) ,and the Matsuda index decreased with the increase of SUA level (P<0 .05) .The linear equation of SUA and the IGI ,AUC INS120/AUC GLU120 ,HOMA-IR ,Matsuda index was Y=4 .050+0 .144X ,Y=2 .343+0 .206X ,Y =1 .288+0 .176X ,Y=129 .373-0 .202X re-spectively .Conclusion SUA was significantly associated with insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity .Insulin secretion in group DM increased with increasing SUA levels ,and insulin sensitivity decreased with increasing SUA levels .The linear equation of SUA and insulin secretion ,insulin sensitivity may be used to assess insulin function .

Objective To measure histidine triad nucleotide?binding protein 1(HINT1)protein expression and gene promoter methylation, and to analyze the relationship between HINT1 gene promoter methylation and clinical pathological features of melanoma. Methods Fifty?six patients with melanoma and 51 patients with nevus were enrolled as subjects and controls, respectively. Methylation?specific PCR (MSP) was performed to measure the methylation of HINT1 gene promoter in lesional and paratumoral tissue specimens from the patients with melanoma, as well as in lesional specimens from the patients with nevus. Immunohistochemistry was carried out to quantify the expression of HINT1 protein in these tissue specimens. Results MSP showed that the methylation rate of HINT1 gene promoter was significantly higher in melanoma tissues than in paratumoral and nevus tissues(76.8%[43/56]vs. 33.9%[19/56]and 35.3%[18/51], χ2 = 20.810 and 18.749, respectively, both P < 0.05), but was insignificantly different between paratumoral and nevus tissues(χ2=0.022, P>0.05). Immunohistochemistry revealed that the expression rate of HINT1 was 21.4%(12/56)in melanoma tissues, compared to 82.4%(42/51)in nevus tissues(χ2 = 39.633, P <0.01). There was a significant difference in the methylation rate of HINT1 promoter between HINT1?positive and ?negative melanoma tissues(6/12 vs. 37/44[84.1%], P<0.05), and between Clark levelⅠ-ⅡandⅢ-Ⅴmelanoma tissues(59.1%[13/22]vs. 88.2%[30/34],χ2=6.365,P=0.012). Conclusions HINT1 protein is lowly expressed in melanoma, which may be associated with high methylation of its gene promoter. Moreover, the high methylation ofHINT1 gene promoter may be involved in the initiation and progression of melanoma.

Objective To analyze clinicopathologic features of sebaceoma. Methods Clinical, pathologic and immunohistochemical findings from 31 cases of sebaceoma were retrospectively analyzed. The clinicopathologic features of sebaceoma were investigated. Results There were 9 males and 22 females. The patients′ age was 53.90 ± 15.40 years, and the clinical course was 9.41 ± 13.75 years. Sebaceoma predominantly affected the face. The common lesion of sebaceoma was red, yellowish?red, skin?colored or slight brown papules, with no subjective symptoms in most cases. Histopathologically, neoplasms had symmetric structures, and were located in the dermis. Epidermal involvements were found in 9 cases. The neoplasm cells were mainly composed of basaloid cells, a few mature sebocytes and some transition cells. The proportion of mature sebocyts was less than 1%in 26 cases, less than 20%in 2 cases, and 20%-40%in 3 cases. Mitoses were occasionally found in 5 cases. One patient was complicated by eccrine poroma. Varying amounts of ducts were found in all the patients. Immunohistochemical staining showed that epithelial membrane antigen was expressed on ducts and mature sebocytes in all the patients, while epithelial antigen was undetected in any of the patients. Carcinoembryonic antigen, androgen receptor and D2?40 were found in 20, 24 and 28 patients with sebaceoma, respectively. Conclusions The diagnosis of sebaceoma mainly depends on histopathological examination. Combined immunohistochemical detection of epithelial membrane antigen, androgen receptor and D2?40 is beneficial to its differential diagnosis.

This article reports a case, happened in July 2019, of 9 severed segments of 2nd-5th fingers in left hand treated in the Department of Repair and Microsurgery, Zhengzhou Renji Hospital. Through the unified management before surgery, team surgery, three or four fixed-point mattress eversion suture and close observation after surgery. It can effectively prevent the occurrence of vascular compromise. All the replanted fingers survived after the surgery. And the function of the fingers recovered well at 2 years after surgery through early and continuous rehabilitation exercise.

Objective:To investigate clinicopathological features and prognosis of transformed mycosis fungoides (TMF) .Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on clinicopathological data collected from 24 patients with TMF, as well as on flow cytometry results of 16 peripheral blood samples obtained from 11 of the 24 patients, who visited Hospital of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between 2014 and 2020.Results:Among the 24 patients, 11 were males and 13 were females. Their average age at diagnosis of TMF was 50.0 years (range: 18 - 77 years), and patients with early-stage TMF (9 cases) and tumor-stage TMF (15 cases) were aged 44.8 and 52.6 years on average, respectively. The average time interval from diagnosis of MF to large cell transformation was 3.7 years, and 8 patients were diagnosed with TMF at the initial visit. Histopathologically, large cells infiltrated in a diffuse pattern in 20 cases, as well as in a multifocal pattern in 4, and the proportion of large cells in 7 cases was greater than 75%. Immunohistochemically, 18 patients showed positive staining for CD30, and the proportion of CD30-positive large cells was greater than 75% in 9; negative staining for CD30 was observed in 6. Flow cytometry of 16 peripheral blood samples showed the presence of cell subsets expressing clonal T cell receptor (TCR) -vβ in 2 of 4 patients with early-stage TMF and 10 of 12 with tumor-stage TMF, and tumor cells with higher forward scatter than normal lymphocytes were detected in 16 samples. During the follow-up, among the patients with early-stage TMF, 3 progressed to tumor-stage TMF 3.3 years on average after large cell transformation, 1 progressed to erythrodermic MF in stage IIIA, and the other 4 still showed an indolent course; among the patients with tumor-stage TMF, 1 progressed to stage-IV TMF, and 5 died 3.3 (1.5 - 6) years after large cell transformation.Conclusion:Large cell transformation may occur in patients with MF in any stage, some patients have poor prognosis, so close follow-up is needed for patients with TMF.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Huangqin Decoction(HQD)on ulcerative colitis(UC)in mice and explore its mechanism.Methods Male Balb/c mice were randomly divided into normal control group,model group,mesalazine group(5-ASA,200 mg/kg),and low-,medium-and high-dose HQD groups(2.275,4.55 and 9.1 g/kg,respectively).With the exception of those in the normal control group,all the mice were exposed to 3%DSS solution in drinking water for 7 days to establish UC models.After treatment with the indicated drugs,the mice were assessed for colon injury and apoptosis using HE,AB-PAS and TUNEL staining,and the expression levels of inflammatory factors were detected with ELISA.Western blotting,immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR were used to detect the changes in protein expressions associated with the intestinal chemical barrier,mechanical barrier and endoplasmic reticulum stress(ERS).Results HQD treatment significantly reduced DAI score and macro score of UC mice,decreased colonic epithelial cell apoptosis,lowered expressions of IL-6,TNF-α,IL-1β and IL-8,and enhanced the expressions of MUC2 and TFF3.HQD treatment also upregulated the protein expressions of claudin-1,occludin and E-cadherin,reduced the expressions of GRP78,CHOP,caspase-12 and caspase-3,decreased the phosphorylation levels of PERK,eIF2α and IRE1α,and increased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in the colon tissues of UC mice.Conclusion HQD inhibits colonic epithelial cell apoptosis and improves intestinal barrier function in UC mice possibly by reducing ERS mediated by the PERK and IRE1α signaling pathways.