BACKGROUND:Alginate-chitosan microcapsule can improve the mechanical property of sodium alginate hydrogels. How to obtain the ideal sodium alginate-chitosan microcapsule and the prospect for application of the microcapsule system is the key to this study.
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the preparation method and formation mechanism of alginate-chitosan microcapsules, to analyze several important factors affecting the strength of the microcapsule membrane, and to explore the prospects of alginate-chitosan microcapsules in immobilized celltechnology, in tissue engineering and as a drug carrier.
METHODS:The first author searched PubMed, Elsevier ScienceDirect, CNKI and Wanfang database (1987/2013) to retrieve literatures about the preparation method, formation mechanism and application prospect of alginate-chitosan microcapsules.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Sodium alginate hydrogels have many advantages in drug release and tissue engineering, but its application is limited by gel dissolution phenomena and deficiencies in its mechanical properties. Chitosan-alginate microcapsules make up for the deficiency of sodium alginate hydrogels by electrostatic interactions to form polyelectrolyte complexes. By control ing the nature of the chitosan solution--the molecular weight of chitosan, pH and concentration of chitosan solution, we can prepare the microcapsules with high film strength. Alginate-chitosan microcapsules have shown broad application prospects in immobilization technology, drug release and tissue engineering.

Objective To explore the effect on job competency by reforming Fundamental Nursing courses among undergraduate nursing students.Methods 86 nursing undergraduates in Grade 2011 were recruited as the control group receiving conventional teaching method,while 119 students in Grade 2012 were recruited as the experimental group receiving reform of fundamental nursing courses.The teaching outcomes were evaluated by using Job Competence of Nursing Students Evaluation Form and Medical education environment measurement table.Results The reform of fundamental nursing courses had significantly elevated all the aspects of professional competency among nursing undergraduates (P＜0.01),including personal traits,clinical ability,communication,critical thinking,specialty construction[(35.71 ± 3.82) vs.(33.41 ± 4.77),(55.29 ± 8.29) vs.(43.93 ± 8.68),(22.19 ± 2.71) vs.(19.88 ± 2.96),(16.83 ± 2.85) vs.(14.37 ± 2.71),(37.78 ± 6.31) vs.(32.42 ± 5.72)].Meanwhile,three dimensions of medical education environment for nursing students were also improved,including the student's perception of the teacher,self academic perception,self social perception [(35.23 ±5.72) vs.(31.28 6..22),(21.42 ±4.19) vs.(23.42 ±3.53),(19.44 ± 3.86) vs.(18.19 ± 3.47),t=-4.523、-3.503、-2.308,P＜0.01 or 0.05)].However,there was no significant differences in the aspects of learning perception,environment perception,and the total score of medical education environment (t=-1.866、0.725、-1.705,P＞0.05).Conclusions The professional competence and parts of the teaching environment around the nursing students have been elevated through the reform of Fundamental Nursing course.The reform also laid a solid foundation for the employment of nursing students.

Objective To investigate the effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor LBH589 on proliferation,apoptosis and drug resistance of chemoresistant acute myeloid leukemia cells HL60/ADM.Methods HL60/ADM cells were treated with LBH589.Proliferation,apoptosis and adriamycin IC50 were evaluated by MTT assay and AnnexinV-FITC/PI stain.The change in MRP1 expression and intercellular adriamycin accumulatiom were analyzed by flow cytometry.Results Effective proliferative inhibition and apoptotic induction in HL60/ADM cells were observed after treatment with 10-80 nmol/L LBH589 with maximal effect detected after treatment with 70 nmol/L LBH589 for 60 hours.However,inhibition ratio remain unchanged with the further increase of drug dose and incubation time (P ＞ 0.05).Downregulation of MRP1 [(93.90±4.20) ％ vs (76.19±6.53) ％],upregulation of adriamycin accumulation [(8.53±0.68) ％ vs (25.67±1.34) ％] and decrease in adriamycin IC50 [(6.833±0.319) μg/ml vs (1.382±0.104) μg/ml] were induced by the treatment with 20 nmol/L LBH589 (P ＜ 0.01),whose reversal fold was 4.9.The expression of acetylated histone 3 after treatment with LBH589 was higher than that before treatment (P ＜ 0.01).However,relative p-Akt levels after treatment for 24 h and 48 h were 1.07±0.09 and 0.59±0.01,respectively,which were lower than that before treatment (2.03±0.12) (P ＜ 0.01).Meanwhile,expression levels of p53 were 0.57±0.04 and 1.31±0.09,respectively,which were higher than that before treatment (0.21 ±0.02) (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion Treatment with LBH589 has the capability of inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis,as well as increasing intercellular adriamycin accumulation and sensitivity through downregulation of MRP1 expression and inhibition of PI3K-Akt signaling pathway in HL60/ADM cells.

Objective:To explore the selection criteria of the donor for islet transplantation of Chinese people by analyzing the correlation between pancreas characteristics and success rate of islets isolation.Methods:Data from 113 cases of human islet isolation were collected. According to the result of islet isolation, the donors were divided into two groups, the success group(IEQ≥250 000, purification≥30%, and viability≥80%), and the failure group(IEQ<250 000, or purification<30%, or viability<80%). The modified Ricordi method was used to digest pancreas tissue, and the continuous density gradient method was performed to purify islets. The islets were identified by staining with the Dithizone(DTZ), the islets were analyzed for cell viability and purity.Results:The donor age in success group was significantly younger than failure group in the range of age eligible for this study( t=2.479, P=0.015). Pearson correlation showed that donor age was positively corelated with islet yield( r=-0.214, P=0.047). There was more fat on the pancreas surface in the successful islet isolation group( z=-2.007, P=0.045). The digestibility( t=2.133, P=0.035) and recovery rate( t=5.912, P=0.001) were elevated in success group. Conclusion:The pancreases from younger donors could obtain the higher-yielding islet, the pancreas with more surface fat or with higher weight was associated with islet isolation success in the scope covered by the inclusion criteria of this study.

Objective To examine the anticancer effect of a novel histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), JZ004, on colon cancer cells HCT-8 and HT-29, and to investigate the molecular mechanisms of proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction of cancer cells treated by JZ 004.Methods Colon cancer cells were treated with a series of concentrations of JZ004 .MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation of cancer cells .The cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were deter-mined by flow cytometry .Rhodamine 123 and DCFH-DA were applied to detect the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and reactive oxygen species ( ROS) production.The protein expressions of acetyl-histone H3, p21, cyclin-dependent kinase(CDK)4, Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and Bax were assayed by Western blotting .Results JZ004 was found to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of colon cancer cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner , accompanied by a dose-dependent hyperacetylation of histone H3.JZ004 induced the cancer cell arrest in G 0/G1 phase by increasing the expres-sion level of p21 while CDK4 was downregulated .JZ004 also increased cellular ROS production and reduced ΔΨm by regu-lating the expressions of Bcl-2 family proteins .Conclusion As a novel HDACi , JZ004 effectively inhibits proliferation and increases ROS production to induce apoptosis of colon cancer cells .The results indicate that JZ004 is a potential compound to be developed as an anti-colon cancer agent for clinic application .

Objective:To investigate the correlations of β cell dedifferentiation in non-diabetic subjects with risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods:Immunofluorescence staining with insulin and β cell dedifferentiated marker ALDH1A3 was used to evaluate the β cell dedifferentiation levels in 38 non-diabetic and 23 T2DM. Correlation analyses were performed between β cell dedifferentiation levels and available clinical parameters including age, body mass index, HbA 1C level, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels in non-diabetic subjects. Results:β cell dedifferentiation level defined by the positive expression of ALDH1A3 in β cells(ALDH1A3 + INS + cell proportion) was significantly elevated in T2DM subjects( P<0.001). In PreD subjects, ALDH1A3 + INS + cells proportion were decreased( P=0.050) and negatively correlated with HbA 1C( r=-0.44, P=0.006), but not with age and body mass index. The analysis of correlation with lipidemic parameters showed that ALDH1A3 + INS + cells proportion was positively correlated with plasma total cholesterol level( r=0.39, P=0.045), but not plasma total triglyceride. Conclusion:ALDH1A3 + INS + cells were found to be decreased in prediabetes, suggesting that there may be enhanced β-cell identity in prediabetes to compensate for insulin secretion requirements; ALDH1A3 + INS + cells were elevated in people with high plasma total cholesterol levels, suggesting that total cholesterol may be one of the factors that induce β-cell dedifferentiation.

Objective: To investigate the effect factors of liver enzymes elevation by monitoring the liver function changes before and after intraportal islet transplantation. Methods: 16 diabetic patients who received intraportal islet transplantation in our hospital were analyzed. The levels of aspartic aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT)and total bilirubin (TBil)were monitored after islet transplantation. Results: Among those 16 diabetic patients who received intraportal islet transplantation, 11 patients showed an increased AST and 8 patients showed an increased ALT, among which a 2.5-fold increase in AST was observed in 4 patients and over 1.5-fold elevation of ALT was observed in 3 patients. The level of TBil were in the normal range before and after transplantation in all patients. Transplanted tissue volume of islet was the main factor for significantly increased AST (P<0.05) in this study. It is also shown that the change in portal pressure is related to the AST elevation after islet transplantation. Conclusions The amount of transplanted islet tissue volume is related to the liver enzymes elevation after intraportal islet transplantation. Therefore, the improvement of the purity of islet to reduce the amount of transplanted tissue could be benefit to prevent the liver injury after islet transplantation. Meanwhile, the purified islets should be injected as slowly as possible to maintain a stable portal pressure.

Background and Objectives: Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) are recognized as an advantaged source for the prevention and treatment of diverse diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, alterations in characteristics of ASCs from the aforementioned T2DM patients are still obscure, which also hinder the rigorous and systematic illumination of progression and pathogenesis. Methods: and Results: In this study, we originally isolated peripancreatic adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells from both human type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic donors (T2DM-ASCs, ND-ASCs) with the parental consent, respectively. We noticed that T2DM-ASCs exhibited indistinguishable immunophenotype, cell vitality, chondrogenic differentiation and stemness as ND-ASCs. Simultaneously, there’s merely alterations in migration and immunoregulatory capacities in T2DM-ASCs. However, differing from ND-ASCs, T2DM-ASCs exhibited deficiency in adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation, and in particular, the delayed cell cycle and different cytokine expression spectrum. Conclusions The conservative alterations of T2DM-ASCs in multifaceted characteristics indicated the possibility of autologous application of ASCs for cell-based T2DM treatment in the future.