Brain metastasis ( BM) is a common brain tumor in a-dults, originating from extracranial location in the body. There has been a growing interest in producing suitable animal models for studying BM in vivo. Current BM models take peripheral or brain route for tumor cell inoculation, including intra-cardiac or intra-carotid artery injection or orthotopic injection. Direct im-plantation of patient tumor biopsies into rodent brain bears ad-vantages of clinical relevance. This review presents a compre-hensive introduction to key elements for establishing animal mod-els of BM, with highlights on selections of suitable model ani-mals, brain-seeking tumor cell lines, reasonable inoculation routes, as well as succedent phenotyping methods. In the end, perspectives and future directions in this field are discussed.

AIM: To explore the effects of chromodomain protein 8 (CBX8) on the proliferation and apoptosis of human glioma cells.METHODS: The expression of CBX8 in the tissues and cells was detected by Western blot and RT-qPCR.The overexpression (Flag-CBX8) and silencing (sh-CBX8) vectors of CBX8 were constructed and transfected into glioma T98G cells and U87MG cells.The cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay and BrdU staining.The cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry.The protein expression of Rb/E2F1 was detected by Western blot.RESULTS: Compared with normal brain tissues and astrocytes, the expression of CBX8 was increased in the glioma tissues and glioma cells.Overexpression of CBX8 promoted the cell proliferation, inhibited the cell apoptosis, and upregulated the protein levels of Rb/E2F1.On the contrary, silencing of CBX8 inhibited the cell proliferation, promoted the cell apoptosis, and decreased the protein levels of Rb/E2F1 in the T98G cells and U87MG cells.Moreover, the expression of cyclin D1 and Bcl-2/Bax ratio were reduced after transfection with sh-E2F1 in the T98G cells and U87MG cells.CONCLUSION: CBX8 may regulate the proliferation and apoptosis of glioma cells through Rb/E2F1 pathway.

bjective To investigate the effect of Steroidal Saponin TSA on the recovery of sensorimotor function after cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods Cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats which were divided into 6 groups: vehicle, TSA 15 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg, 60 mg/kg，Angong Niuhuang (ANGH) 400 mg/kg and sham. Animals received drug administration 3～14 d after ischemia. Sensorimotor function was evaluated with beam-walking and adhesivetape-exposing performance 3 d, 7 d, 10 d, and 14 d after ischemia. Neural cell injury in the sensorimotor cortex ipsilateral to ischemia was studied with hematoxylin-eosin stain. Immunohistochemistry Methods were used to measure the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein and the angiogenesis of the area around infarction tissue. Results Animals receiving TSA at a dosage of 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg recovered better in beam-walking and adhesivetape-exposing performance than vehicles, and the improvement became significant 14 d after ischemia. Treatment with TSA 30 mg/kg、60 mg/kg also significantly reduced the neural cell loss in sensorimotor cortex and increased the expression of VEGF protein and the microvascular density. Conclusion TSA can improve the recovery of sensorimotor function follwing focal cerebral ischemia in rats, which may involve the neural cells protection, promoting the expression of VEGF and angiogenesis after ischemia.

Objective To evaluate the result of fresh autologuos pericardium for the reconstruction of new pulmonary arterial root in arterial switch operation (ASO). Methods Between January 2004 and June 2010, 63 consecutive infants with congenital heart disease were treated with ASO. A new pulmonary arterial root was reconstructed with a fresh autologuos pericardium which clipped pants-like. The followed up time was 3 months to 6 years after discharge. Patients were reexamined consecutively at 3- and 6-month; 1-, 2- and 6-year. Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed for measuring the pulmonary artery diameter. The pulmonary arterial blood speed was measured by continuous Doppler during systole. The pulmonary flow and the pulmonary artery diameter of healthy children of same age were also measure as control group. Simplified Bernoulli formula was adopted to calculate the pressure gradient through pulmonary artery anastomose for, evaluating whether it had pulmonary stenosis or not. Results Fifty seven infants were cured and discharged. Forty nine patients were finished follow up with a mean duration of( 18 ±4) months. The blood speed in the pulmonary artery anastomosis was 0.70 -2.16 m/s with a mean of (1.31 ±0.40) m/s. No pulmonary stenosis was found with the simplified Bernoulli formula. There was no significant difference regarding the pulmonary diameter and the pulmonary artery flow velocity as compared with the normal children of the same age. Conclusion The fresh autologuos pericardium is reliable for reconstruction of new pulmonary arterial root in ASO.

Objective To study the therapeutic effects of prostaglandin E1 on the neonates with transposition of the great vessels with intact ventricular septum (TGV/IVS) retrospectively. Method From January 2004 to June 2009, 34 neonates with TGV/IVS were enrolled in this study. The pulse rate and oxygen saturation (SpO2) of patients were measured percutaneouly at admission. Lipo-prostaglandin E1 (Lipo-PGE1) was administered via peripheral vein with pumping infusion continuously after diagnosis by echocardiography in order to keep the ductus arteriosus (DA) patent. The dose and the time required for the Lipo-PGEl to produce effect were recorded. The changes of SpO2 before and after administration of Lipo-PGE1 were observed. The changes of DA's diameter detected by using echocardiography before and during the operation. Results In all patients the initial dose of Lipo-PGEl was 5 ng/( kg·min) except 3 patients whom larger dosed were required to give guided by the change of SpO2 with 10 ng/(kg·min) in two patients and 15 ng/(kg·min) in one patient. The time required for Lipo-PGE to produce the effect was 5-15 minutes in most infants with mean of (12 ± 3) minutes. The mean SpO2 of the patients measured at admission was (80.05±7.64)%, and it was (86.41±4.83)% two hours before operation (P < 0.05). The average diameter of DA was (0.37±0.08) cm at the time diagnosis and it was (0.51 ±0.15) cm during the operation. The adverse effects occurred in two patients and one of them had apnea and was treated mechanical ventilation. Conclusions Lipo-PGE1 given by continuous pumping infusion via peripheral vein in dose of 5 ng per kilogram per minute can maintainthe DA patency and promote the systemic oxygenation and perfusion, improving the circulation and oxygenation and correcting the acidosis until the plastic surgery performed. Most of the adverse effects of PGE1 are dose related.

Objective To develop a method for the determination of five furostanol saponins(timosaponin N,timosaponin L, timosaponin BⅡ,25R-timosaponin BⅡ,and 25S-officinalisnin-Ⅰ)in rhizome and fibrous root of Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge. by HPLC with the charged aerosol detector(CAD). Methods The analysis was performed on TechMate C18-ST-II(250 mm×4.6 mm,5μm)with acetonitrile:water(22:78,V/V),the flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and column temperature at 30℃. The Corona parameters were as follows:sampling rate 10 Hz,filter 5 s,and the nebulizer temperature 55℃. Results The approach showed good linearity for five saponins. The correlation coefficients(r2)for calibration curves varied from 0.9992 to 0.9998. The limits of detection(LOD)were 0.28,0.92,0.92,0.92 and 0.92 ng for five steroidal saponins,respectively. The limits of quantitation(LOQ)were found to be 0.92, 2.77,2.77,2.77 and 2.76 ng,respectively. RSD calculated from peak area of precision,repeatability and stability in 48 h were all less than 3.0%. The average recoveries of timosaponin N,timosaponin L,timosaponin BⅡ,25R-timosaponinBⅡ,and 25S-officinalis-nin-Ⅰwere 98.17%,101.37%,98.53%,97.63%,and 98.17%,respectively. Conclusion The developed method is accurate,reli-able,which could be applied to the quality control of multiple components in A. asphodeloides Bge.

OBJECTIVETo establish the fingerprints of the active fractions from Tian-wang-bu-xin-wan decoction by HPLC, and to explain the role of Radix Platycodi in the decoction prescription.

METHODThe experimental conditions of the HPLC method were established as follows: Hanbon Lichrospher C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm), mobile phase were methanol and 0.012 5 mol L(-1) ammonium acetate/acetic acid buffer, eluted with a linear gradient, flow rate was 1.0 mL min(-1), the photodiode array detector (PDA) and evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) were connected in series.

RESULTIn the same conditions and used same method, the extract amount of whole prescription was higher than that of excepting Radix Platycodi. The method provided two kinds of fingerprints with satisfied separation, which were the HPLC-PDA (Max Plot) fingerprint and the HPLC-ELSD fingerprint. And, they had good correlation and complementaritiy.

CONCLUSIONThe Radix Platycodi can enhance the decoction yield of the prescription; and increase the dissolution and the contents of some ingredients in the decoction.

Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/metabolism* ; Humans ; Microfilament Proteins/metabolism* ; Models, Cardiovascular ; Mutation ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; Pluripotent Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; Troponin T/metabolism*