Nuclear proteins often form punctiform structures, but the precise mechanism for this process is unknown. As a preliminary study, we investigated the aggregation of an HSV-1 immediate-early protein,infected-cell protein 22 (ICP22), in the nucleus by observing the localization of ICP22-EGFP fusion protein.Results showed that, in high-level expression conditions, ICP22-EGFP gradually concentrates in the nucleus,persists throughout the cell cycle without disaggregation even in the cell division phase, and is finally distributed to daughter cells. We subsequently constructed a mammalian cell expression system, which had tetracyclinedependent transcriptional regulators. Consequently, the location of ICP22-EGFP in the nucleus changed with distinct induction conditions. This suggests that the cellular location of ICP22 is also influenced by promoter regulation, in addition to its own structure. Our findings provide new clues for the investigation of transcriptional regulation of viral genes. In addition, the non-protease reporter system we constructed could be utilized to evaluate the role of internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) on transcriptional regulation.

Objective To detect and analyze thyroid tumor by two-dimensional sonogram and Doppler parameter, and evaluate the value of high-frequency ultrasound in diagnosing thyroid benign and malignant tumors. Methods The ultrasonic images of 104 thyroid tumor from 80 patients with typical features were collected. Thyroid tumor was classified into benign and malignant nodules, based on the shape, border, or the rear wall echo, echo attenuation loss, internal echo, and microcalcifications in two-dimensional sonogram and systolic blood peak velocity (Vmax) and resistant index (RI) in Doppler examination. The expected results of high frequency ultrasound were compared with pathological results on consistency and error rate. Results Prediction of benign tumor by high frequency ultrasound was 66, and pathology 61, consistency rate of the two was 92.4%. Prediction of malignant lesions was 38, and pathological examination 32, consistency rate of the two was 84.2%. The total coincidence rate was 89.4%(93/104) and the error rate was 11.6%( 11/104). Conclusions The typical features of thyroid tumor on high-frequency ultrasound are helpful in diagnosis of benign or malignant nodules, which is valuable in guiding clinical treatment.

Objective - To establish a new non exposed intratracheal instillation method for establishing a rat silicosis model. Methods ， The specific pathogen free SD rats were randomly divided into control group and experimental group with ten rats in ， each group. Rats in the control group were given 1.0 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride solution and rats in the experimental group - were given 1.0 mL of silica suspension with a mass concentration of 50 g/L adopting to the one time intratracheal instillation ， - ， method and then followed by ventilator assisted ventilation immediately. When the tidal volume stabilized at 2.0 mL the ventilator was removed and the tracheal intubation was pulled out. Five rats in each group were sacrificed after two and four ， - Results weeks after modeling and hematoxylin eosin staining and Masson staining of lung tissue were performed. There was ， ， no death in the two groups of rats during the experiment. After two and four weeks the control group had normal lung structure ， ， ， normal alveolar cavity size no inflammatory cell infiltration thin alveolar wall only a small amount of collagen distribution ， around the lung interstitium and bronchus. At the second week of modeling the alveolar wall of the rats in the experimental ， ， ， group was slightly thickened interstitial lymphocytes and macrophages were infiltrated slight hyperplasia was found and a ， small amount of fibroblasts were visible. At the 4th week of modeling the alveolar wall of the rats in the experimental group was ， ， ， ， significantly thickened fibrous nodules were formed and fibroblasts fibrocytes collagen fibers were significantly increased. Conclusion - The combination of ventilator and non exposed intratracheal instillation method can be used to successfully ， ， . establish a rat silicosis model which is simple safe and effective

Objective: To explore the relationship between plasma Jagged1 protein level and coronary collateral circulation (CCC) formation in patients with coronary artery disease(CAD). Methods: According to coronary angiography (CAG) examination, our research was categorized in 2 groups: CAD group, n=89 patients with at least one of left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex(LCX) or right coronary artery(RCA) stenosis ≥ 95％ and Control group, n=30 subjects without abnormal findings by CAG. Based on Rentrop grading system, CAD group was further divided into 2 subgroups: Good CCC subgroup, n=42 patients with Rentrop grade ≥ 2 and Poor CCC subgroup, n=47 patients with Rentrop grade≤1. Plasma levels of Jagged1 protein,vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured by ELISA and the relevant correlation study was conducted by multivariate regression analysis. Results: Compared with Control group, CAD group had increased plasma levels of Jagged1 protein (38.74±10.60)ng/L vs (23.04±8.97)ng/L and elevated VEGF (113.98±30.80)pg/L vs (72.73±14.55)pg/L. Compared with Poor CCC subgroup, Good CCC subgroup presented increased Jagged1 protein (46.77±8.49)ng/L vs (31.56±6.26)ng/L and elevated VEGF (128.10±20.24) pg/L vs (92.43±21.09)pg/L. Correlation study showed that Jagged1 protein was positively related to VEGF in CAD patients (r=0.730, P<0.01); multivariate regression analysis indicated that Jagged1 protein (OR=1.318, P=0.000) and VEGF (OR=1.043, P=0.043) were the independent predictors for CCC processing.Conclusion: CAD patients with good CCC had the higher plasma Jagged1 protein level than the patients with poor CCC which implied that Jagged1 protein played important role in CCC processing, such finding may provide a new direction for treating CAD patients in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of skeletal Class III malocclusion in mixed dentition on speech articulation and to look for which factors lead to the speech errors.

METHODSThirty-eight children with skeletal Angle Ill malocclusion in mixed dentition were selected as a sample group and 40 children with normal occlusion in mixed dentition as a control group. Two phoneticians evaluated their articulations and wrote down error phonemes respectively. The correlation analysis was undertaken between the number of errors and the measurements of patients' cephalometry.

RESULTSThe number of errors were correlated significantly with overbite, UI-LI, OBJ (OB+OJ) and TD-PW.

CONCLUSIONThere is articulatory malfunction in the majority of skeletal Angle III malocclusion patients in mixed dentition. Articulatory malfunction is related to the position of incisors and the tongue.

Cephalometry ; Child ; Dental Occlusion ; Dentition, Mixed ; Humans ; Incisor ; Male ; Malocclusion ; Malocclusion, Angle Class III

OBJECTIVETo examine the absence of the third molar germs in orthodontic patients and to evaluate the relationship between third molar germs and malocclusion.

METHODSThe subjects comprised 234 patients (male 92, female 142) from the orthodontic clinic whose ages were 14-18. The assessments of the third molar germs were made from panoramic radiographs, and the assessments of ANB angle were made from lateral cephalograms. All the data were analyzed by statistic chi2 test.

RESULTSThe percentage of male who missed one or more third molar gems (37.0%) was higher than that of female (24.6%). There was no significant difference between the absent frequencies of third molar germs on left and right sides in either maxilla or mandible. The absent percentage of third molar germs in skeletal III subjects was higher than those in both skeletal class I and II subjects. The absent difference of third molar germs was in upper arches (P < 0.05), but not in lower arches (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in absent percentage of third molar germs between skeletal class I and II subjects.

CONCLUSIONMale patients have higher absent frequencies of third molar germs than female ones. Skeletal class III patients have higher absence of third molar germs in upper jaws than skeletal class I and II patients.

Adolescent ; Anodontia ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mandible ; Maxilla ; Molar, Third ; abnormalities ; Radiography, Panoramic ; Tooth Germ ; abnormalities

The aim of the present study was to assess the ototoxicity of kanamycin sulfate (KM) in adult rats and its underlying mechanism. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats (6-7 weeks old) were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group. The animals in the experimental group were injected subcutaneously with KM (500 mg/kg per day) for two weeks, and the control group received equal volume of normal saline. To assess the ototoxicity of KM, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) was recorded to monitor the changes in hearing thresholds, and the density of spiral ganglion cells (SGCs) and morphology of cochlea were observed using surface preparations and frozen sections of cochlea. The results showed that the hearing threshold of rats in the experimental group was elevated by more than 60 dB across all the frequencies two weeks after the first administration of KM. And in the experimental group, the density of SGCs became lower, and organ of Corti suffered loss of hair cells. The loss of outer hair cells (OHCs) was more severe than that of inner hair cells (IHCs), correlated with the density decrease of SGCs. We conclude that the ototoxicity of KM in the adult rats was apparent and the underlying mechanism is associated with the loss of SGCs and hair cells.
Animals ; Cochlea ; drug effects ; pathology ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem ; drug effects ; Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer ; cytology ; drug effects ; pathology ; Hearing Loss ; chemically induced ; physiopathology ; Kanamycin ; toxicity ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spiral Ganglion ; pathology ; physiology ; ultrastructure

OBJECTIVETo investigate the influence of different porcelain surface treatment methods on the shear bond strength of metal brackets bonded to porcelain.

METHODS80 porcelain facets were divided randomly into two groups according to different adhesive material that was used to bond metal brackets. Adhesive material were Jing-Jin enamel adhesive and light-cured composite resin. Each group was further divided into 4 subgroups according to different surface treatment methods, which were acid etching with 37% phosphoric acid (H3PO4), acid etching with 9.6% hydrofluoric acid (HF), deglazing by grinding and silanating the porcelain surface. All specimens were stored in 37 degrees C water for 24 hours and then the shear bond strength and the porcelain fracture after debonding was determined. The porcelain surfaces after HF etching, H3PO4 etching and deglazing by grinding were examined by scanning electron microscopy respectively.

RESULTSThe shear bond strengths in the HF etching groups, the deglazing groups and the silanating groups were much greater than that in the phosphoric etching groups (P < 0.01). Adequate orthodontic bonding strength was achieved both when bonded with light-cured composite resin after deglazing by grinding and when bonded with either of these adhesives after HF etching or surface silanating. There were no differences in the rates of porcelain fractures among groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONHF etching, deglazing by grinding and silanating can all increase the shear bond strength between metal bracket and porcelain. Surface silanating of porcelain is a better surface treatment when metal brackets bonded to porcelain.

Composite Resins ; Dental Bonding ; Dental Enamel ; Dental Porcelain ; Hydrofluoric Acid ; Metals ; Orthodontic Brackets ; Resin Cements ; Shear Strength ; Surface Properties

As an immediate-early protein of herpes simplex virus, infected-cell polypeptide 0 (ICP0) exhibits complicated interactions with host cells, and its regulatory function on gene expression is of great importance. Since the ICP0 encoding sequence contains many rare codons which are absent in E.coli, and ICP0 is highly unstable in prokaryotic cells, expression of entire ICP0 in prokaryotic cells has never been reported. In order to further investigate the function of ICP0, a recombinant plasmid was constructed by subcloning a cDNA fragment encoding an amino-terminal of 105 residues of the ICP0 protein into pGEX-5x-1 vector. The resulting GST-105 fusion antigen peptide was expressed with high efficiency in E.coli. Antibodies prepared after the immunization of mice with purified fusion protein can recognize not only the denatured ICP0 protein, but also the native ICP0 protein with normal biological conformation.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of simvastatin on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis(EAE)and explore its mechanisms. Methods Fifty-five Wistar rats were randomly divided into EAE group (n=15),.STATINS group(n=15),triptolide(TP)group(n=15)and normal control group(n=10).In STATINS group,the rats were given simvastatin and the changes in the expressions of P53,interleukin-6(IL-6),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)were observed,with triptofide as the positive control.Results Compared to the EAE group,the rats in STATINS group had significantly lowered incidence of EAE,mild symptoms,reduced body weight loss and lesion foci number,and prolonged latency of EAE onset(P＜0.05).The rats in the TP group also exhibited significantly milder symptoms and fewer lesion foci than the EAE group(P＜0.05),but the body weight changes.,latency or incidence of EAE had no significant difference between the two groups(P＞0.05).Simvastatin significantly suppressed the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α and increased the expressions of P53 and TGF-β in rats with EAE,whereas TP only resulted in significant suppression of TNF-αexpression(P＜0.05).The expressions of P53 and TGF-β were significantly higher in STATINS group than in TP group(P＜0.05),but the expressions of TNF-α and IL-6 were comparable between the two groups(P＞0.05). Conclusions Simvastatin Can suppress EAE more effectively than TP by suppressing the expressions of the inflammatory factors such as IL-6 and TNF-α and promoting the expressions of P53 and TGF-β.