OBJECTIVETo study the expression of fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) in lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of preterm rats exposed to 60% O2 and to elucidate the relationship between the changes of FABP4 expression and the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

METHODSHyperoxic lung injury was induced by exposing to 60% O2 in Spraque-Dawley rats within 6 hours after birth. Rats exposed to air were used as the control group. The lungs from groups aged postnatal days 3, 7 and 14 were removed and dissected from the main bronchi for analysis. Eight rats of each group were used to assess expression of FABP4 in lungs by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Lung FABP4 mRNA levels were measured by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The levels of FABP4 in BALF were measured using ELISA.

RESULTSFABP4 immunoreactivity was detected in the majority of alveolar macrophages, bronchial epithelial cells and endothelial cells. FABP4 protein levels in lung tissues in the hyperoxic exposure group increased significantly compared with the control group on days 3, 7 and 14 after birth (P<0.05), and FABP4 mRNA levels in lung tissues also increased significantly in the hyperoxic exposure group compared with the control group on days 7 and 14 after birth (P<0.05). The hyperoxic exposure group demonstrated increased FABP4 levels in BALF compared with the control group on days 7 and 14 after birth (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSFABP4 levels increase in preterm rat lungs after hyperoxic lung injury, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of BPD.

Animals ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ; etiology ; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; Female ; Hyperoxia ; metabolism ; Lung ; chemistry ; Lung Injury ; metabolism ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of silencing HERC4 on the proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of cervical cancer cell line Hela and the possible molecular mechanisms.

METHODSThree HERC4-specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were transfected into Hela cells, and HERC4 expression in the cells was examined with Western blotting. CCK-8 assay, annexin V-FITC/PI assay, and wound healing assay were used to assess the effect of HERC4 silencing on the proliferation, apoptosis and migration ability of Hela cells. The expression levels of cyclin D1 and Bcl-2 in the cells were detected using Western blotting.

RESULTSTransfection of siRNA-3 resulted in significantly decreased HERC4 protein expression (P<0.01). HERC4 silencing by siRNA-3 markedly suppressed the proliferation and migration of Hela cells, increased the apoptosis rate (P<0.01) and reduced the expression levels of cyclin D1 and Bcl-2 (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSilencing of HERC4 efficiently inhibits the proliferation, migration, and invasion of Hela cells in vitro, and the underlying mechanisms may involve the down-regulation of cyclin D1 and Bcl-2.

Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin D1 ; metabolism ; Down-Regulation ; Female ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Transfection ; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; pathology

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of akatinol memantine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).Methods Two hundred and forty-one patients with AD were randomly assigned to receive 10 mg of donepezil daily or 20 mg of memantine daily for 24 weeks.The primary efficacy variables were the Clinician' s Interview-Based Impression of Change Plus (CIBIC-Plus),the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-cognition (ADAS-cog) and the Activities of Daily Living (ADL).The secondary efficacy variables were the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE).Results Two hundred and seven patients completed the study and were evaluated at week 24.Both memantine and donepezil had significant efficacies at the end point, according to the ADAS-cog, the ADL, the NPI and the MMSE.Patients receiving memantine had a similar outcome as those receiving donepezil, according to the results of all the variables changes (CIBIC-Plus: memantine 3.4±0.8vs donepezil 3.5±0.8; ADAS-cog: memantine-4.7±5.8 vs donepezil-4.6±6.5; ADL: memantine -2.4±6.7 vs donepezil-2.2±5.3 ; NP1: memantine-5.8±9.0 vs donepezil-3.1±8.5 ; MMSE:memantine 1.7±3.1 vs donepezil 1.8±2.8, all P >0.05).The adverse events were as following: donepezil group 41.88% and memanintine group 30.58%.Conclusion The memantine as a new drug for AD, has the similar efficacy as donepezil, and it is safe.

To investigate the changes of endocrine, cyclic nucleotide and immune systems in subjects of yang deficiency constitution, and to explore the relationship among characteristics and causes of yang deficiency constitution, the physiological and biochemical parameters.

OBJECTIVETo observe the expressions of caspase-8 and caspase-9 mRNA, and explore the changes of apoptosis of bone marrow hematopoietic cells in patients with chronic mountain sickness (CMS).

METHODSOf 18 CMS patients and 16 controls were enrolled in this study. The apoptotic index (AI) of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC) was measured by TUNEL technique, the levels of caspase-8 and caspase-9 mRNA in BMMNC of CMS patients and controls were determined by RT-PCR. Results (1)The AI of BMMNC in patients with CMS (8.51 ± 3.35)% was lower than that in controls (16.00 ± 4.28)% (P < 0.01); (2) The values of caspase-8 and caspase-9 mRNA were (0.28 ± 0.07) and (0.23 ± 0.08) respectively, in CMS patients, which were significantly lower than those of (0.45 ± 0.09) and (0.41 ± 0.09) respectively, in the controls (both P < 0.01); (3) Hemoglobin (Hb) value was negatively correlated with levels of caspase-8 and caspase-9 mRNA (r values were -0.52 and -0.61 respectively, both P < 0.05) in CMS patients. There was a negative correlation between AI and Hb (r value was -0.89, P < 0.01) in CMS patients. However, the significant relationship was not found between AI and level of caspase-8 or caspase-9 mRNA (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe results showed a decrease apoptosis of BMMNCs and reduced levels of caspase-8 and caspase-9 mRNA in CMS patients, the latter might be involved in the change of BMMNCs apoptosis.

Adult ; Altitude Sickness ; metabolism ; pathology ; Apoptosis ; Bone Marrow Cells ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Caspase 8 ; metabolism ; Caspase 9 ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that form closed rings in structure. They contain a high content in eukaryotic transcripts, and are characterized by richness, stability, high conservatism and tissue specificity. In recent years, it has been gradually revealed that circRNA can bind to some miRNAs or proteins and participate in the regulatory mechanisms of biogenesis and molecular functions, including the regulation of miRNAs molecular sponge, protein translation, gene transcription and RNA splicing. With the application of high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics, circRNA has gradually become a new research hotspot in the field of non-coding RNA due to its special properties. The latest research evidence shows that circRNA plays a key role in the occurrence and development of tumors, and is inextricably linked with cell proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and metastasis, indicating that targeting circRNA will be attractive treatment strategies and potential biomarkers. In this paper, the characteristics and mechanism of circRNA were briefly described, the mechanism of action and regulation of circRNAs in human tumors were summarized, and the strategies and development prospects of circRNA in tumor research were further discussed. In sum, circRNA plays an important role in early diagnosis, precise treatment and prognosis prediction of tumors.

Objective It is known that free radicals are involved in neurodegeneration and cognitive dysfunction, as seen in Alzheimer' s disease (AD) and aging. The present study examines the protective effects of aniracetam against H2O2-induced toxicity to neuron viability, mitochondria potential and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). Methods Tetrazolium salt 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) was used to detect neuronal viability. MitoTracker Red (CMX Ros), a fluorescent stain for mitochondria, was used to measure mitochondria potential. Electrophysiological technique was carried out to record hippocampal LTP. Results H2O2 exposure impaired the viability of neurons, reduced mitochondria potential, and decreased LTP in the CA1 region of hippocampus. These deficient effects were significantly rescued by pre-treatment with aniracetam (10-100 mu mol/L). Conclusion These results indicate that aniracetam has a strong neuroprotective effect against H2O2-induced toxicity, which could partly explain the mechanism of its clinical application in neurodegenerative diseases.

OBJECTIVETo explore a feasible method to repair full-thickness skin defects with tissue engineered techniques.

METHODSThe skin specimens were cut from the Changfeng hybrid swines' abdomen, then keratinocytes and fibroblasts were isolated and harvested by trypsin, EDTA and type II collagenase. The cells were seeded in petri dishes for primary culture. When the cells were in logarithmic growth phase, they were treated with dispase II (keratinocytes) or trypsin (fibroblasts) to separate them from the floor of the tissue culture dishes. A biodegradable material-pluronic F-127 was prefabricated and mixed with these cells, and then the cells-pluronic compounds were seeded evenly into polyglycolic acid (PGA). Tinally the constructs were replanted to autologous animals to repair full-thickness skin defects. Histological changes were observed in 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks postsurgery.

RESULTSThe cells-pluronic F-127-PGA compounds could repair autologous full-thickness skin defects. Histologically, the tissue engineered skin was similar to normal skin with stratified epidermis overlying a moderately thick collageneous dermis.

CONCLUSIONTissue engineered skin can repair autologous full-thickness skin defects with primary-cultured keratinocytes and fibroblasts as seed cells and PGA as a cell carrier.

Animals ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; physiology ; Male ; Polyglycolic Acid ; pharmacology ; Skin Transplantation ; Skin, Artificial ; Swine ; Tissue Engineering

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of recombinant human SCF-TPO fusion protein and its biological function.

METHODSFour primers were designed according to known sequences of TPO and SCF. The functional amino acid domains of TPO and SCF were amplified by RT-PCR from fetus hepatocytes, respectively. The expression plasmid pET32a/SCF-TPO was constructed by VOE gene fusion technique and expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) plysS as inclusion body after isopropyl-beta-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) induction. The fusion protein was tested by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The biological functions of SCF-TPO fusion protein in MO7e cells was investigated by MTT method after purification with metal chelating chromatography.

RESULTSThe high expression SCF-TPO fusion protein was obtained, reaching up to 30% of the total cellular protein. Western blot verified the correct fusion expression and MTT results showed the growth promoting effect of the SCF-TPO fusion protein on MO7e cells, with a higher promoting activity at 100 ng/ml.

CONCLUSIONSExpressed SCF-TPO fusion protein after renaturation has biological activity in promoting the proliferation of MO7e cells.

Blotting, Western ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Survival ; genetics ; physiology ; Cloning, Molecular ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stem Cell Factor ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Thrombopoietin ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology

To investigate the subtype distribution of human immunodeficiency virus-1(HIV-1) infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, forty blood samples were collected from HIV-1 carriers, who acknowledged to have sex with men. The complete gag gene was amplified by RT-PCR and nested-PCR and sequenced. All sequences were edited by BioEdit and subtyped by genotyping software. Phylogenetic analysis of gag gene were then performed using the MEGA 3.1 software, the gene distances were calculated by Distance program. There were three different HIV-1 subtypes including B, CRF01-AE and CRF07-BC present among twenty four MSMs in Zhengzhou. Genotyping results showed that 33.33% (8/24) were B, 41.67% (10/24) were CRF01-AE and 25% (6/24) were CRF07-BC, and subtype CRF01-AE had become the most prevalent HIV-1 subtype in Zhengzhou, Henan province. In conclusion, recombinant HIV-1 strains are circulating in Henan province and the epidemiology is complicated.
Adult ; China ; HIV-1 ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Homosexuality, Male ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Young Adult ; gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus ; genetics