Neurotransmitter release during synaptic transmission is mediated by presynaptic active zone. Multiple protein components at the active zone region interact and coordinate with each other to control and regulate docking, priming and fusion of the synaptic vesicles with presynaptic membrane, and to further maintain the normal transmitter release process. This review will discuss the structure, the formation, and the functional regulation of active zones.

Objective:To study the effects of pioglitazone on atherosclerosis on ApoE-/-mice,and to investigate the roles of adiponectin and its receptors.Methods:ApoE-/-mice were fed with high-fat chow for the induction of atherosclerosis and were divided into three subgroups:placebo(n=10),low-dose[10 mg/(kg?d),n=10] pioglitazone therapy,and high-dose[20 mg/(kg?d),n=10] pioglitazone therapy.C57BL/6J wild type mice(n=9) were used as control.Aortic atherosclerosis and intima-media thickness(intima-media thickness,IMT) of abdominal aorta were monitored,and plasma adiponectin was also measured.Expression levels of the adiponectin receptor 1(AdipoR1)and adiponectin receptor 2(AdipoR2) in vessels were analyzed(RT-PCR).Results:(1) Aortic atherosclerotic lesions were observed in ApoE-/-mice but not in wild type mice.Interestingly,these lesions were significantly prevented by high-dose pioglitazone therapy.Compared with wild type mice,ApoE-/-mice had increased IMT of abdominal aorta [(0.290?0.063 vs 0.178?0.012) cm,P

Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; Occupational Medicine ; standards

Objective To describe the characteristics of ultrasonic integrated backscatter(IBS)of cardiac blood in children with dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM).Methods Philips Sonos 7500 equipped with an acoustic densitometry software system was used.The subjects included 20 children with DCM and 20 normal children.The IBS parameters of the cardiac blood were collected.Results Compared to normal children,the cyclic variation of integrated backscatter(CVIB)of blood in the left atria(LA),left ventricle(LV),and right ventricle(RV)were decreased significantly(P

Objective:The effect and side effect of the dose-adjusted EPOCH regimen were evaluated perspectively for the pre-liminarily diagnosed angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. Methods: Nine cases of untreated angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma were diagnosed and enrolled in our department from September 2008 to September 2012. All patients received dose-adjusted EPOCH regimen as first-line chemotherapy. Results: The median age of 9 patients was 54 years. The male-to-female ratio was 2∶1. About 88.9%of all patients were at Ann Arbor stageⅢ/Ⅳ, and 77.8%presented with B symptoms. Anemia was found in 66.7%of 9 patients, and lactate dehydrogenase elevated in 55.6%of patients. After an average of 4.7 cycles of chemotherapy of dose-adjusted EPOCH regi-men, the complete remission rate was 22.2%, and the total response rate was 66.7%. With a median follow-up of 20 months, the 4-year progression-free survival rate was 11.1%, and the overall survival rate was 33.3%. The median survival time was 19 months. The most common adverse events of EPOCH chemotherapy were hematologic toxicity. Grades 3-4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were re-ported in 77.8%and 33.3%of patients. Febrile neutropenia was observed in 44.4%of patients. Non-treatment-related mortality was al-so noted. Conclusion: The results of our research showed no clear benefit of treating preliminarily diagnosed angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma with dose-adjusted EPOCH regimen. The main adverse events were hematologic toxicity and could be tolerated.

OBJECTIVETo identify new genes required for neurosecretory control of aging in C. elegans.

METHODSIn view of the importance of nervous system in aging regulation, we performed the screen for genes involved in the aging regulation from genetic loci encoding synaptic proteins by lifespan assay and accumulation of lipofuscin autofluorescence. We further investigated the dauer formation phenotypes of their corresponding mutants and whether they were possibly up-regulated by the insulin-like signaling pathway.

RESULTSThe genetic loci of unc-10, syd-2, hlb-1, dlk-1, mkk-4, scd-2, snb-1, ric-4, nrx-1, unc-13, sbt-1 and unc-64 might be involved in the aging control. In addition, functions of unc-10, syd-2, hlb-1, dlk-1, mkk-4, scd-2, snb-1, ric-4 and nrx-1 in regulating aging may be opposite to those of unc-13, sbt-1 and unc-64. The intestinal autofluorescence assay further indicated that the identified long-lived and short-lived mutants were actually due to the suppressed or accelerated aging. Among the identified genes, syd-2, hlb-1, mkk-4, scd-2, snb-1, ric-4 and unc-64 were also involved in the control of dauer formation. Moreover, daf-2 mutation positively regulated the expression of syd-2 and hlb-1, and negatively regulated the expression of mkk-4, nrx-1, ric-4, sbt-1, rpm-1, unc-10, dlk-1 and unc-13. The daf-16 mutation positively regulated the expression of syd-2 and hlb-1, and negatively regulated the expression of mkk-4, nrx-1, sbt-1, rpm-1, unc-10, dlk-1 and unc-13.

CONCLUSIONThese data suggest the possibly important status of the synaptic transmission to the animal's life-span control machinery, as well as the dauer formation control.

Aging ; genetics ; Animals ; Caenorhabditis elegans ; genetics ; metabolism ; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Gene Expression Regulation ; genetics ; Insulin ; metabolism ; Lipofuscin ; metabolism ; Longevity ; genetics ; Mutation ; genetics ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; genetics ; Nervous System ; metabolism ; Neurosecretion ; genetics ; Signal Transduction ; genetics ; Synapses ; genetics ; metabolism ; Synaptic Transmission ; genetics

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics and recent curative effect of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) after conventional treatment.Methods Clinical data of 15 MCL patients admitted in the Affiliated Hospital of Academy of Military Medical Sciences between August 2004 and October 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.Results The median age of those patients was 59 and the male to female ratio was 1.5∶1.Fourteen(93%)cases were in Ann-Arbor stages Ⅲ -Ⅳ, 15 cases (100%)primarily with lymph node involvement,7 cases (47%)with bone marrow involvement,4 cases (27%)with gastrointestinal involvement,and 3 cases (20%)with orbit involvement.Less than 40% expression of Ki-67 was observed in 9 cases (60%),while 6 cases were with more than 40% (40%).One case was blastic variant.First-line therapy was CHOP-like regimens,which were combined with rituximab in 8 of the 15 cases.In this study,the median survival time was 12 months (3 -64),and the overal response rate was 80%after induction chemotherapy.The current survival of 7 /9 cases with less than 40% expression of Ki-67 was 8 -64 months,2 /6 cases with more than 40% expression of Ki-67 was 8 and 9 months,respectively.Conclusion MCL mostly occurs in older males.Extranodal invasion is common in MCL as an aggressive tumor.The efficacy of traditional chemotherapy is currently limited.Blastic variant or high expression of Ki-67 is an adverse prognostic indicator.

OBJECTIVETo retrospectively investigate the difference in survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients treated by radical surgery with or without adjuvant radiation therapy.

METHODSForty-four patients with pancreatic cancer underwent surgical resection with a curative intent, and were divided into two groups: surgery alone (n = 24) or surgery combined with postoperative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (n = 20). Survival as an endpoint was analyzed between the two groups.

RESULTSAll 44 patients completed their scheduled treatment. The median survival time of the patients treated with radical resection alone was 379 days versus 665 days for those treated with combined therapy. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates of the patients treated with radical resection alone were 46.3%, 8.3%, 4.2% versus 65.2%, 20.2%, 14.1% for the patients treated with combined therapy, respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.017). The failures in local-regional relapse were significantly lower in the postoperative EBRT group than that in the surgery alone group (P < 0.05), while the additional postoperative radiation therapy did not increase the complication rate (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPostoperative external beam radiation therapy can improve the survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pancreatectomy ; methods ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Postoperative Period ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Radiotherapy, High-Energy ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of acupoint sticking of "Hua yutie" in improving ischemic stroke.

METHODSEighty rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, a model group, an acupoint sticking group, an acupuncture group, a Nimodipine group and a normal group. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was used for preparation of focal cerebral ischemic rat model. After modeling, any treatment was not given to the model group; for the acupoint sticking group, "Hua yutie" was applied at "Dazhui" (GV 14) ,"Qihai" (CV 6) and "Mingmen" (GV 4); for the acupuncture group, acupuncture was given at the same acupoints as those in the acupoint sticking group; the Nimodipine group received intragastric administration of Nimodipine. And the normal group did not receive any treatment. Their infarction volume, the cerebral water content, expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the protein level were observed.

RESULTSThe infarction volume coincided with the dominative scope of the middle cerebral artery of the electric coagulation. There were significant differences in the cerebral water content as the various treatment groups compared with that of the model group (all P<0.05). The VEGF positive cell number and the protein level around the infarction area in the acupoint sticking group were increased as compared with those in the model group (P<0.01), with no significant difference as compared with the Nimodipine group and the acupuncture group (all P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupoint sticking of "Hua yutie" alleviates the cerebral damage after ischemia possibly through enhancing the expression and protein level of VEGF.

Acupuncture Points ; Administration, Cutaneous ; Animals ; Brain Ischemia ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cerebral Infarction ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Humans ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective Normal nucleus pulposus cells (nNPCs) can induce the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).However, the inductive effect of degeneration nucleus pul-posus cells ( dNPCs ) on MSCs has not been determined .This study aimed to compare nNPCs with dNPCs in inducing MSCs into nucleus pulposuslike cells. Methods MSCs (cell line) were co-cultured with NPCs (cell line/isolated from patients with intervertebral disc degeneration) in 3D in vitro.The cells were divided into 5 groups:nNPCs control group, dNPCs control group, MSCs control group, nNPCs-MSCs group (MSCs induced by nNPCs), dNPCs-MSCs group (MSCs induced by dNPCs).After co-cultured for 7 days, the expression level of aggrecan (ACAN), type II collagen (COL-2), SOX-9, matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and MMP-3 in all the 5 groups'cellswere detected by RT-PCR and Western-blot. Results The RT-PCR results showed the expression of ACAN , COL-2 and SOX-9 in nNPCs-MSCs group was higher than that in dNPCs control group and dNPCs -MSCs group (all P<0.05).The expression of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in nNPCs-MSCs group and dNPCs-MSCs group was lower than that in dNPCs control group ( all P<0.01) , but there was no difference when compared with nNPCs control group and MSCs control group (all P>0.05).Western-blot analysis showed that the expression of ACAN , COL-2 and SOX-9 in nNPCs-MSCs group was higher than that in dNPCs control group and dNPCs-MSCs group (all P<0.05).The expression of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in nNPCs-MSCs group and dNPCs-MSCs group was lower than that in nNPCs control group and dNPCs control group ( all P<0.01) , but there was no difference compared with MSCs control group ( all P>0.05) . Conclusion Both nNPCs and dNPCs could induce the differentiation of MSCs into nucleus pulposus cells .After co-cultured with nNPCs, the expression level of ACAN, COL-2 and SOX-9 of MSCs was similar to that of nNPCs, which was superior to the induc-tion of MSCs by dNPCs under the same culture conditions .