Objective:To clone and express Mycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb) Rv2460c gene(encoding ClpP2 protein),and evaluate the immunogenicity of its coding product. Methods: The recombinant plasmid of pET32a (+) vector-ClpP2 that H37Rv Rv2460c gene was cloned into the plasmid pET32a(+)vector,was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3)and induced expression by IPTG,then purified by affinity chromatography. The recombinant protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The analysis of immunogenicity of Mtb ClpP2 and its epitope prediction were performed by bioinformatic methods. The antibody levels of polyclonal antibody titer against ClpP2 protein in rabbits and TB patients′ serum were detected by ELISA. Results: The recombinant ClpP2 protease was expressed as inclusion bodies in E. coli. The purity of purified protein was 93% by bandscan software analysis. The bioin-formatics analysis shows Mtb ClpP2 protein has multiple preponderant B cell and T cell epitopes. Rabbit antiserum titer was 1∶64 000;Serum anti-ClpP2 antibody levels in TB patients was higher than that in healthy control subjects. Conclusion:The recombinant ClpP2 protein was purified, and specific Rabbit anti-ClpP2 polyclonal antibody was prepared successfully. Experiment and bioinformatic information studies showed that Mtb ClpP2 protease has strong immunogenicity.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical effects of anterior cervical intervertebral space decompression under microscope in treating cervical spondylotic myelopathy in elderly patients.

METHODSFrom June 2009 to March 2012, 43 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy were treated with anterior cervical intervertebral space decompression and intervertebral fusion under microscope. There were 26 males and 17 females, aged from 60 to 72 years old with an average of (64.9±3.7) years. Japanese Orthopaedic Association System (JOA) score was from 7 to 12 points with an average of (9.5±1.8) points before operation. The function of nerves was assessed before and after operation according to JOA.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 10 to 18 months with an average of (14.7±1.6) months. Postoperative JOA score was (13.81±1.44) points (ranged, 10 to 16), had significantly higher than preoperative (P<0.01). According to the rate of the improved JOA score, 9 cases got excellent results, 26 good, 7 fair, 1 poor.

CONCLUSIONAnterior cervical intervertebral space decompression under microscope for cervical spondylotic myelopathy in elderly patients is safe and effective.

Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microscopy ; Middle Aged ; Spondylosis ; surgery

A salt-tolerant strain GYW capable of decolorating azo dye was isolated and identified as Halo-monas sp.by 16S rDNA.The result showed that the decolorizing salt-tolerant bacteria could survive above the 10% salt concentration and it could decolorize many dyes.The strain had a high decolorizing rate on acid red GR under the condition of pH 7.5,anaerobic 30?C and 10% NaCl.The ion of Cl- strong inhibited the decolorization of acid red GR,and the ion of SO42- affected little on the decolorization,and the lycine addi-tion with the optimal concentration of 200 mg/L could enhanced the decolorization rate under high NaCl concentration.

Objective To investigate the clinical pathological significance of tumor budding in T1 stage esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Tumor budding was searched for in the resected tissues of T1 stage esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC), and the relation between tumor budding and endoscopic classification, degree of malignancy in T1 ESCC were analyzed. Results The detection rate of tumor budding was significantly improved after EGFR labeling(P < 0.05). The detection rate of tumor budding in T1b ESCC was significantly higher than that of T1a SCC(P < 0.05). The detection rate of tumor budding in the cases with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that without lymph node metastasis(P < 0.05). The detection rate of tumor budding in stage ⅡB ESCC was significantly higher than those with stageⅠB(P < 0.05). Conclusion The detection rate of tumor budding in T1 ESCC is relatively high. The detection rates of tumor budding is improved by EGFR immunohistochemistrical labeling. The occurrence of tumor budding in T1 ESCC indicates more tumor aggression.

Supernumerary kidney is one of the very rare anomalies of the urinary tract. Only about 75 cases have been reported since it was first described in 1656. Herein we present a case of supernumerary kidney which was diagnosed by ultrasonography, intravenous urography and CT scanning.
Kidney* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Tract ; Urography

Objective To study the inducement of U251 glioblastoma cell apoptosis in vivo through up-regulating PUMA expresion and knocking down miR-221/222, and explore its mechanism.Methods Nude mouse xenograft models were established in 5-week-old BALB/c nude mice by subcutaneous vaccination of U251 glioblastomas; 1 week later, they were treated with intratumoral injection of lipofcctamine-mediated miRNA-221/222 antisense oligonucleotides (GroupA), nonsense sequences (Group B) and controls (Group C),respectively (n=8).The tumor growth was monitored until the end of observation period (28 d after the treatment) and pathological changes of the glioblastoma tissues were observed by HE staining at the end of observation.Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and real-time PCR were employed to measure the miR-221 and miR-222 expressions. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated uridine 5'-triphosphate-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay was used to detect the apoptosis of glioblastomas.Immunohistochemistry and Westem blotting were used to detect the expressions of PUMA,bax,bcl-2 and p53 in removed tumor specimens. Results The volume in Group A was significantly smaller than that of those in group B and group C 6-28 dater treatment (P=0.006). The miR-221 and miR-222 mRNA expressions in Group A were significantly decreased as compared with those of those in group B and group C.HE staining indicated that decreased heteromorphism and reduced number of new vessels in Group A were noted as compared with those in group B and group C.The cell apoptotic index in Group A was significantly higher than that in group B and group C (P＜0.05).Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression levels of PUMA and bax in Group A was significantly up-regulated as compared with those in group B and group C, while the expression of bcl-2 in Group A was significantly down-regulated as compared with that in group B and group C; and no significant changes were noted in the p53 expression. Conclusion By up-regulating PUMA expresion,knocking down miR-221/222 can induce U251 glioma apoptosis in vivo.

Epidermoid tumors rarely occur in the central nervous system. Their incidence among intraspinal canal tumors is even less than 1% in most large series. Epidermoid tumors are generally understood as embryogenic or congenital tumor, however the etiologic importance of previous lumbar punctures in the formation of epidermoids has been also suggested by some papers, and almost confirmed by an extensive literature review and an animal experiment. Recently we have experienced a case of intraspinal epidermoid, which occurred at the same site as a lumbar puncture had been performed to carry out lumbar myelogram. To our knowledge, such a case has never been reported in a scientific journal in Korea yet. In this report we emphasize the importance of using a spinal puncture needle with a stylet in spinal taps, and of considering a lesion in the thoraco-lumbar junction on performing lumbar spine CT scan even in a patient only with lumbar disc symptoms.
Animal Experimentation ; Central Nervous System ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Needles ; Spinal Puncture* ; Spine ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Many authors hypothesized that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a causative agent of gastric disease, might act as a potential antigen in salivary glands. H. pylori has been suggested to be transmitted via oral route. METHODS: To investigate the transmission of H. pylori via oral route, saliva samples were taken from the patients with gastric disease. After total DNA was isolated from each saliva sample, amplification of H. pylori urease gene fragment was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the isolated DNA as template. PCR-amplified DNA fragments were obtained from seven of 42 patients, the amplified DNA fragments were sequenced by automatic DNA sequencer. Biopsy materials from 2 patients of CLO test-positive with gastric disease were examined and photographed using a light and an electron microscope. RESULTS: The nucleotide sequence of PCR products showed high homology with H. pylori 26695 urease (98%), and the deduced amino acid sequence was identical to the urease alpah subunit of H. pylori J99. The cytosine in the 272th position of urease A nucleotide sequence showed the tendency of high prevalence in the patient with healthy periodontium. Electron micrograph showed helical cell profile of H. pylori on surface epithelial lining cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that there might be a transmission of H. pylori via oral route.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Biopsy ; Cytosine ; DNA ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Mouth* ; Periodontium ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Prevalence ; Saliva ; Salivary Glands ; Stomach Diseases ; Urease

OBJECTIVE: Transpedicular screw fixation has some disadvantages such as postoperative back pain through wide muscle dissection, long operative time, and cephalad adjacent segmental degeneration (ASD). The purposes of this study are investigation and comparison of radiological and clinical results between interspinous fusion device (IFD) and pedicle screw. METHODS: From Jan. 2008 to Aug. 2009, 40 patients underwent spinal fusion with IFD combined with posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). In same study period, 36 patients underwent spinal fusion with pedicle screw fixation as control group. Dynamic lateral radiographs, visual analogue scale (VAS), and Korean version of the Oswestry disability index (K-ODI) scores were evaluated in both groups. RESULTS: The lumbar spine diseases in the IFD group were as followings; spinal stenosis in 26, degenerative spondylolisthesis in 12, and intervertebral disc herniation in 2. The mean follow up period was 14.24 months (range; 12 to 22 months) in the IFD group and 18.3 months (range; 12 to 28 months) in pedicle screw group. The mean VAS scores was preoperatively 7.16+/-2.1 and 8.03+/-2.3 in the IFD and pedicle screw groups, respectively, and improved postoperatively to 1.3+/-2.9 and 1.2+/-3.2 in 1-year follow ups (p<0.05). The K-ODI was decreased significantly in an equal amount in both groups one year postoperatively (p<0.05). The statistics revealed a higher incidence of ASD in pedicle screw group than the IFD group (p=0.029). CONCLUSION: Posterior IFD has several advantages over the pedicle screw fixation in terms of skin incision, muscle dissection and short operative time and less intraoperative estimated blood loss. The IFD with PLIF may be a favorable technique to replace the pedicle screw fixation in selective case.
Back Pain ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intervertebral Disc ; Muscles ; Operative Time ; Skin ; Spinal Fusion ; Spinal Stenosis ; Spine ; Spondylolisthesis

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of thick-slab single-shot turbo spin-echo (SSTSE)T2 ?-weighted sequence in magnetic resonance fetography (MRF)for fetal abnormalities.Methods 328 of 1 990 pregnant women with the diagnosis of fetal congenital defects on prenatal ultrasound screening or chromosome examination were randomly selected,and 338 fetuses were ob-tained.These fetuses were scanned by conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)and MRF.The diagnostic results from the two MR methods were compared.Results Six hundred and twenty-four lesions were detected by MRF.The primary diagnosis based on conventional MRI was changed for 14 lesions (2.2%).New findings were identified for 48 fetal lesions (8.4%)and 66 ma-ternal lesions.However,78 fetal lesions could not to be identified by MRF.MRF could increase the diagnostic confidence for fetal lesions with high water content (56.1% of the lesions).Conclusion MRF can yield more precise information for fetal extremities, fluid-filled cavities,pathological hydrops and cystic lesions.As an additional aid to the conventional multi-slice T2-weighted se-quence.