Purpose:To study whether the inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt survival pathway could sensitize the response of tumor cells to some chemotherapyeutic agents. Methods:The different tumor cells has been treated with the combination of isoform specific Akt inhibitor and either adriamycin or camptothecin; the quantitation of the induction of apoptosis by drugs has been estimated with caspase 3 assay; immunoprecipitation western blotting has been used to evaluate the inhibition of the phosphorylation of different isoforms of Akt after the treatment. Results:①The inhibitors could reduce the phosphorylation of Threonine 308 and Serine 473 of isoform specific Akt. ②The inhibition of any one isoform specific Akt could not reverse the resistance of tumor cells tested to chemotherapeutic drugs, but it is not the same case if blocking of two isoforms of both Akt1 and Akt2 was done at the same time. ③The synergistic effects of Akt inhibitors is maybe relative to the level of endogenous PTEN(phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) expression. Conclusions:It is required to inhibit two isoforms of both Akt1 and Akt2 in order to maximally sensitize the tumor cells to chemotherapy.

Objective:To study the clinical significance of β2-microglobin(β2-MG)and fibronection (Fn) contents in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods:The contents of serum β2-MG and Fn were detected by radioimmunoassay and agar-diffusion methods in 60 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma before and after radiotherapy,also in 60 normal subjects as control group.Results:The contents of serum β2-MG and Fn were 2.99±1.11mg/L(β2-MG)and 134.60±28.93mg/L(Fn) in 60 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma,2.16±0.50mg/L(β2-MG)and 196.16±34.65mg/L(Fn)in 60 health subjects,respectively.Those results showed that the content of β2-MG in patients group was higher than that in control group (P＜0.05),and the content of Fn in patients group was lower than that in control group(P＜0.05).After radiotherapy of patients group,the content of β2-MG were lower(2.16±0.55mg/L)than that before radiotherapy(P＜0.05).Conversely,the content of Fn was higher(180.53±34.66mg/L)than after radiotherapy(P＜0.05).Conclusions:The detection of serum β2-MG and Fn have clinical significance on the evaluation prognosis of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The implanted cartilage calls can synthesize cartilage matrix as cartilage in cartilage tissue enginsedng, and the density of implanted cells is the key point.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of cell seeding concentration on the chondrogenic differentiation of the adipose dadved sromal cells (ADSCs).DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: The in vitro cellular-scaffold observation was performed at the cytobiological laboratory of China Medical University from November 2007 to July 2008.MATERIALS: Six male SD rata with clean grade were supplied by the Experimental Animal Center of China Medical University.METHODS: Totally 5 g/L type ; collagen solution and 20 g/L chitosan was mixed in a mould with volume ratio of 7:3, after lyophillization, it was cut into pieces with 5 mm ～ 5 mm x 2 mm, followed by crosslinking with ethanol contained of 2% chondroitic acid at room temperature. After washing with double distilled water and freeze drying, the chitosan-collagen-chondroitin sulfate copolymar matrices scaffolds were harvested. ADSCs isolated from rat inguinal fat pads were digested with collagenase and trypsase. The prepared scaffolds were randomly divided into 3 groups, and the third passage cells with density of 2×10 9/L,2×10 109/L, and 2×10 11/L were seeded into chitosan-coflagen-chondroitin sulfate scaffolds, and cultured in chondrogenic medium for 3 weeks.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The expression of cartilage specificity gene was detected by hematoxylin-eosin staining, type Ⅱ collagen immunohistochemical staining and RT-PCR.RESULTS: Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that after 3 weeks of culture, the cell proliferated and differentiated well, especially in 2x101～/L group, more extrocelluer matrices were produced and cartilage lacuna-structure could be seen. The type Ⅱ collagen was positive expressed in each group, which showed a gradually increasing tendency with the cell seeding concentration increasing. RT-PCR showed that the expression of proteoglycen and type Ⅱ collagen mRNA were slowly increased. However the expression of Ⅹ collagen mRNA was decreased with increasing cell seeding concentration.CONCLUSION: The chitosan-collagen-chondroitin sulfate copolymer matrices can provide an appropdate environment for the generation of cartilage-like tissues and high call seeding concentration of 2×1010/L facilitate ADSCs to differentiate into cartilage.

Objective To evaluate the character of the collagen-chitosan-chondroitin sulfate scaffold seeded with rat adipose tissue-derived stromal cells. Methods A dipose tissue were harvested from 6 weeks old Wistar rats and the stromal cells were harvested by type Ⅰ collagenase and then cultured in vitro. Type Ⅰ collagen was fully mixed with chitosan, freeze-dried and cross-linked with chondroitin sulfate, then freeze-dried again and sterilized by ethylene oxide. The pore diameter, water content, porosity of the scaffold were tested. The adipose tissue-derived stromal cells were digested, seeded into the plates, scaffold, and cen-trifuged into pellet, and then induced into cartilage. MTT detection for cell proliferation was done. After 3 weeks, the cell morphology, and cell proliferation and adhesion were observed, and chondrngenic differenti-ation was also analyzed. Results The pore diameter, water content, porosity tested for the scaffold showed an appropriate form. Cell proliferation showed faster in the scaffold and pellet culture system after 5 day, there was still cell proliferation in the scaffold system after 14 days but no obvious changes in the pellet cul-ture system; ceils on the scaffold proliferated densely showed by histological staining, but there was a scaf-fold structure residues in the inner layer. The finding of type Ⅱ immunohistochemistry stain showed that cells express strong positive for type Ⅱ collagen in the scaffold and pellet culture system whereas it was weakly positive in the plate culture system; the specific mRNA for cartilage, type Ⅱ collagen, aggrecan and SOX-9 were expressed in all three systems showed by RT-PCR, but type X collagen was expressed continu-ously in the plate culture system and expressed after 21 days in the pellet culture system, whereas it was not detected in the collagen-chitosan-chondroitin sulfate scaffold system. Conclusion The parameters of the collagen-chitosan-chondroitin sulfate scaffold were suitable in our study. The results suggested that it can promote the adipose tissue-derived stromal cells proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation better than the plate and pellet culture systems and maintain the phenotype of chondrocytes well; it is the optimal choice for cartilage tissue engineering in the future.

OBJECTIVEThis research aims to study the changes in pain threshold and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in a Sprague Dawley (SD) rat model oftrigeminal neuralgia.

METHODSA total of 36 male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: operative, sham-operative, and control. In the operative group, a chronic constriction injury (CCI) was caused by placing loose chromic gut ligatures around the right infraorbital nerve (ION). In the sham-operative group, the right ION was subjected to the same procedure, but without ligation. In the control group, the right ION was not subjected to any treatment. The pain thresholds of the three groups were recorded at different times after the operation. The GDNF expression in each group was analyzed via immunohistochemical staining.

RESULTSAn allodynia to mechanical stimulation in the region of the ligated ION was observed starting on the 2nd week after operation. Pain thresholds started to increase gradually from the 6th week and returned to the original level at the 10th to 12th week after operation. Cells that expressed the GDNF markedly increased in number in the operative group with changes observed at different times.

CONCLUSIONWe use chronic constriction injury to the infraorbital nerve (CCI-ION) to establish a trigeminal neuralgia-like animal model in SD rats. GDNF may play a role in regulating pain by promoting the restoration and regeneration of nerve fibers.

Animals ; Constriction ; Disease Models, Animal ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factors ; Hyperalgesia ; Male ; Pain Threshold ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Trigeminal Neuralgia

Adult ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Tablets

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the simultaneous determination of acetic acid and succinic acid in Banxia syrup. METHODS:RP-HPLC was performed on the column of GL InterSustain-C18 with mobile phase of 0.03 mol/L ammonium di-hydrogen phosphate buffer solution(pH2.0)-methanol(gradient elution)at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min,the detection wavelength was 210 nm,column temperature was 30 ℃,injection volume was 10 μl. RESULTS:The linear range was 0.020 98-0.209 8 μg/ml for acetic acid(0.999 9)and 12.04-120.4 μg/ml for succinic acid(r=0.999 9);limits of quantification were 0.15,18.24 ng,limits of detection were 0.045, 5.53 ng;RSDs of precision, stability and reproducibility tests were lower than 2%;recoveries were 97.45%-101.68%(RSD=1.39%,n=9) and 98.31%-101.08%(RSD=1.01%,n=9). CONCLUSIONS:The method is accurate and rapid,and suitable for the simultaneous determination of acetic acid and succinic acid in Banxia syrup.

Objective:To investigate the role of soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) in the mechanism of immune escape and counterattack of colorectal cancer.Methods:ELISA was used to detect the level of sFasL in the sera of colorectal cancer patients and the supernatant of SW480. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), flow cytometry (FCM) analysis and fluorescence microscopy were used to examine the apoptosis of Jurkat induced by the sera of colorectal cancer patients and the supernatant of SW480. The apoptosis was also studied after pretreatment of Jurkat by Fas blocking antibody ZB4. The supernatant of African green monkey cell line Vero was used as control.Results:The concentration of sFasL in sera of colorectal cancer patients was 12.21?1.14 ?g/L before treatment, the concentration decreased significantly after treatment(P

Survivin variants specific real time quantitative RT-PCR was developed to analyze their expression in 53 paired cancer and para-cancerous tissues, and the expression of the wild-type survivin protein was detected by immunohistochemistry. The results showed that survivin mRNA and protein were expressed in gastric cancer and para-cancerous tissues. The survivin-2B was dominantly expressed in para-cancerous tissues, whereas the survivin-DeltaEx3 was more frequently detected in cancer tissues. The positive rate of survivin-2a was 100% in both cancer and para-cancerous tissues, but its relative transcript expression level was not significantly increased in cancer tissues in comparison with para-cancerous tissues. The correlation analysis revealed that the expression of survivin-2a mRNA was significantly associated with that of total survivin (r (s)=0.4178, P=0.0018), whereas inversely to that of survivin-DeltaEX3 (r (s)=-0.4506, P=0.0007). It was suggested that survivin-2a may act as an antagonist of survivin-DeltaEX3. The balance between antiapoptotic survivin iso-forms and nonantiapoptotic ones may play an important role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Promising value is hinted to analyze survivin and its variants in tumor early diagnosis and distinguishing malignant tumors from benign ones.
Microtubule-Associated Proteins/genetics ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins/*metabolism ; Protein Isoforms/genetics ; Protein Isoforms/metabolism ; RNA, Messenger/genetics ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms/*metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; Tumor Markers, Biological/genetics ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*metabolism

Objective To explore the relationship among job stressors,sleep quality and psychological health of nurses.Methods 708 female nurses in a 3-A-grade general hospitals of Guangxi were chosen and asked to fill out the Nurse Job Stressors Questionnaire-Revised (NJSQ-R),Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90).Results ① The total mean score of NJSQ-R (1.50± 0.62) and the five job stressors,including the job environment and characters (1.60±0.65),personal relation ship(1.21±0.73),the attitude of patient and their relatives(1.63±0.74),professional skill(1.38±0.71) and social status and career development(1.97±0.72) were positively related with the total mean score of SCL-90 (1.64±0.69) (r=0.32-0.50,P＜0.01)and the total score of PSQI(8.11±3.52) (r=0.28-0.35,P＜0.01).There was a positive relationship between SCL-90 and PSQI(r=0.46,P＜0.01)).② SCL-90(β=0.387,P＜ 0.01)and the job stressor of the social status and career development(β=0.120,P＜0.05)were directly sig nificantly associated with PSQI.The job stressor of job environment and characters(β=0.235,P＜0.01) and professional skill(β=0.117,P＜0.05)were indirectly associated with PSQI mediated by SCL-90.③ PSQI was directly significantly associated with SCL-90(β=0.344,＜0.01).The job stressor of the social status and career development was indirectly significantly associated with SCL-90 mediated by PSQI(β=0.113,P＜0.05).And the job stressor of job environment and characters was directly (β=0.172,P＜0.01)and indirectly (β=0.184,P＜0.01) associated with PSQI mediated by SCL-90.Conclusion The higher the job stress,the more the mental health problem,and the poor the sleep quality among nurses.Job stressors have direct or in direct influence on psychological health and sleep quality,depending on the nature of job stressors.In addition,the result suggests that a bidirectional relationship exists between sleep quality and psychological health.