Establishing an effective three-dimensional (3D) culture system to better model human neurological diseases is desirable, since the human brain is a 3D structure. Here, we demonstrated the development of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pillar-based 3D scaffold that mimicked the 3D microenvironment of the brain. We utilized this scaffold for the growth of human cortical glutamatergic neurons that were differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells. In comparison with the 2D culture, we demonstrated that the developed 3D culture promoted the maturation of human cortical glutamatergic neurons by showing significantly more MAP2 and less Ki67 expression. Based on this 3D culture system, we further developed an disease-like model of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which showed a robust increase of glutamate-release from the neurons, in response to mechanical impacts, recapitulating the critical pathology of TBI. The increased glutamate-release from our 3D culture model was attenuated by the treatment of neural protective drugs, memantine or nimodipine. The established 3D human neural culture system and TBI-like model may be used to facilitate mechanistic studies and drug screening for neurotrauma or other neurological diseases.

Objective To investigate the high sensitive C reactive protein(hs-CRP),homocysteine(Hcy), interleukin 2(IL-2)and lipoprotein associated phospholipase A 2(Lp-PLA2)analysis and correlation test for coronary heart disease.Methods 147 cases were selected from our hospital in December 2015 to December 2016 in patients with coronary heart disease(observation group).At the same time,we selected 51 healthy persons in our hospital during December 2015 to December 2016 as control group.The content of hs-CRP was determined by immune transmission turbidimetry.The content of Hcy was determined by cyclic enzymatic method.The content of IL-2 was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The content of Lp-PLA2 was determined by immune transmission turbidimetry.Results The observation group serum levels of hs-CRP,Hcy,IL-2 and Lp-PLA2 were significantly higher than those in the control group,and the differ-ence were statistically significant(P<0.05).The coronary heart disease each group serum levels of hs-CRP, Hcy,IL-2 and Lp-PLA2 were significantly higher than those in the control group,and the differences were sta-tistically significant(P<0.05).The serum levels of hs-CRP,Hcy,IL-2 and Lp-PLA2 of AMI group were sig-nificantly higher than those in UAP group and SAP group,and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).The UAP group serum levels of hs-CRP,Hcy,IL-2 and Lp-PLA2 were significantly higher than those in SAP group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion Hs-CRP,Hcy,IL-2,Lp-PLA2 have significant correlation with coronary heart disease.

Objective To evaluate the characteristics of abdominal aorta wall motion in different stages of rats atherosclerosis with velocity vector imaging (VVI) technique. Methods Twenty-four healthy SD rats were on high-fat feeding after one week ordinary diet. Abdominal aortic intima-media thickness (IMT), end-systolic blood vessel diameter (Ds), peak systolic velocity (Vs), resistance index (RI), pulsatility index (PI) were measured before and at the end of 8th and 12nd week. Artery wall peak velocity (V_(max)), maximum tangential strain (S_(max)) and the maximum tangential strain rate (SR_(max)) were caculated with VVI. Results Abdominal aortic intima was rough and a small amount of foam cells were found under the light microscope at the end of 8 weeks of high-fat feeding. The values of Smax and SRmax measured at the end of 8th week of high-fat feeding decreased significantly than those of before high-fat feeding (P<0.05). At the end of 12nd week, abdominal aortic intimal was thicker and atherosclerotic plaque appeared somewhere. There were significant differences in artery IMT, Ds, Vs, RI, PI between before and the end of 2nd week of high-fat feeding (P<0.05);the values of V_(max), S_(max), SR_(max) decreased significantly than those of before and at the end of 8th week of high-fat feeding (P<0.05). Conclusion VVI can quantitatively evaluate the vessel wall elasticity in different stage of arteriosclerosis rats.