Objective To evaluate the characteristics of the testicular torsion patients with the first symptom of acute abdominal pain.Methods From October 1998 to May 2014, 8 adolescent or boys with testicular torsion presenting acute abdominal pain instead of scrotal pain as their primary symptom were retrospectively reviewed.The average age was 12 (3-16) years.An acute abdominal pain presented firstly in all cases, which accompanied by nausea and vomiting in 4 cases, groin pain in 2 cases, fever in 1 case. In genital examination, the scrotum skin was red and swollen, while the testis was in transverse position and tenderness.The testicular and homolateral abdominal pain got worse when we pulled the involved testis. Doppler ultrasound examination revealed that the blood supply of the involved testis decreased or disappeared.Results In the 8 cases, 5 cases were not examined their testicles or scrotum during the first evaluation, which were found the testicular necrosis during the following exploratory surgery, and orchidectomy was performed. In the other 3 cases, external genital were examined during the first evaluation, and the scrotal and testicular abnormalities were detected.Doppler ultrasonography showed abnormality in testicular blood supply.Testicular torsion was proved during the emergent operation, and the 3 testes were salvaged.The mean duration time from symptom onset to operation was 4 h in the salvaged group, while the average time was 28 h in the orchiectomy group.The mean follow-up time was 18 ( 10-36) months.In the 3 cases whose testis was saved, 1 affected testis was atrophied, and the blood supply of the other two was good.No severe complications occurred in the other 5 cases.Conclusions Testicular torsion should be considered in adolescents and boys with acute lower abdominal pain.The routine external genital examination should be performed when a boy or adolescent complains of abdominal pain.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)is increasingly used to study inter-and intramolecular interactions in living cells.Since being proportional to the concentration of the donor-acceptor complex.FRET value must be normalized to exclude the influence of the ratio and the concentration of donor and acceptor for comparison.Different from the intra.molecular FRET which is simplified by the fact that the COncentration of the donor is equal to that of the acceptor,the inter-molecular FRET is usually too complicated for most existing measurements to quantify exactly.We deduced the exact proportion of the donor-acceptor complex based on a unique characteristic of homodimer,a special kind of the intermolecular interaction,developed an exact quantification measurement of the FRET.We proved the novel method Can generate more reliable estimation of FRET value by comparison with other methods using a homodimer,estrogen receptor alpha(ERa),as a FRET pair.

Objective Cancer radio-therapy may induce bone damage of the patients.collagen type I gene expressions in osteoblast after radiation indicates the influence of radiation on the function of early and late osteoblast.Methods Bone marrow stromal cells were differentiated into osteoblasts in vitro.and the characteristics was indentified.The collagen type I expressions in early and late stage osteoblasts exposed to 1～4Gy radiation were examined by RT-PCR.Results Compared to control group,collagen type I gene expressions increased in early osteoblast after 1～3 Gy radiation (P＜0.05),while the gene expressions in late osteoblast that cultured 10 days decreased.Collagen type I gene expression in late stage ostoblast after 4 Gy irradiation was greatly higher than that in early stage osteoblast (P＜0.01).Conclusion After 1～3 Gy irradiation,the collagen type I expression in early osteoblast was enhanced,indicating the increased ability of bone formation.The exposure to 1～3 Gy decreased collagen type I expression in late osteoblast and weakened the ability of bone formation.The result of high expression of collagen type I in late osteoblast after 4 Gy irradiation may be the manifestation of compensatory function.

Objective To detect the changes of G protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels (GIRK)expression in allergic asthma model and identify the regulatory factors.Methods The E3 rat asthma models were induced by challenge with ovalbumin 14 days after immunization with ovalbumin and aluminium adjuvant.The asthma models were evaluated based on changes in lung pathomorphology and total IgE levels.The levels of GIRK1-4 mRNA and protein were detected using real time-PCR and Western blot.The anatomic sites where GIRK was expressed dominantly in the lung were identified using immunohistological staining.To identify the effects of IL-4 on the expressions of GIRK channels,GIRK 1 -4 mRNA and protein in IL-4 stimulated bronchial epithelial cell line A549 were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot.Results The levels of GIRK1-4 mRNA and protein decreased significantly in the lung in asthmatic E3 rats.The results of immunohistological staining showed that GIRK channels were dominantly expressed in airway epithelia in the lung.The levels of GIRK 1-4 mRNA and protein were down-regulated in time-and dose-dependent manners in IL-4 treated A549.Conclusion IL-4 down-regulates the expression levels of GIRK subunits in bronchial epithelia during allergic asthma.

Background and purpose:The previous research has found that the prostate stromal cells derived from different prostate zones have distinct effect on prostate epithelial cells. We also revealed that LMO2 protein was highly expressed in PZ stromal cells (PZSCs) and prostate cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) compared with TZ stromal cells. This study investigated the effect of LMO2 protein in prostate stromal cells on proliferation and invasion of prostate cancer PC-3 cells and its mechanisms. Methods:Lentivirus overexpression vectors were used to establish LMO2-overexpressed prostate WPMY-1 stromal cell line. shRNA plasmids were used to suppress LMO2 in CAFs. LMO2 mRNA and protein level of both WPMY-1 and CAFs were evaluated by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR) and Western blot. Then, PC-3 cells were co-cultured with different prostate stromal cells and the in vitro proliferation and invasion of PC-3 were measured by CCK-8 and matrigel invasion assays respectively. Results:When co-cultured with LMO2-overexpressed prostate stromal cells, both proliferation and in-vasion of PC-3 were improved. However, when co-cultured with CAFs which have inhibited expression of LMO2, the proliferation and invasion of PC-3 were reduced. The protein array proifling found that both interleukin-11 (IL-11) and ifbroblast growth factor-9 (FGF-9) were enhanced extensively in the supernatant collected from LMO2-overexpressed WPMY-1 cells. Conclusion:The expression of LMO2 in prostate stromal cells could be responsible for development of prostate cancer. Paracrine of cytokines, such as IL-11 and FGF-9, from LMO2-overexpressed stromal cells had effects on the proliferation and invasion of prostate cancer cells.

Objective To study the influence of irradiation on the osteoblast function by the gene expression changes of RANKL and OPG.Methods Bone marrow stromal cells were induced to develop into early and mature osteoblasts in vitro.The characterization of osteoblasts was indentified by ALP staining.The RANKL and OPG mRNA levels in early and mature osteoblasts, which exposed to 0 -4 Gy radiation were determined by RT-PCR.Results Bone marrow stromal cells had been induced to early and mature osteoblasts by osteoblast differentiation medium in vitro.In early stage of osteoblast, RANKL mRNA expression levels treated with 1Gy irradiation was 2.83-fold higher than those other irradiation dosage groups.The RANKL mRNA expression levels of each group in early stage of osteoblasts were significantly higher than those in the mature counterpart ( t = 8.34 - 103.57, P ＜ 0.05 ).The ratio of RANKL/OPG mRNA was obviously greater in early osteoblast compared with the mature cells ( t = 2.84 - 20.99, P ＜0.05 ), and it was the highest in 1Gy irradiation treated early osteoblast.Conclusions Radiation exposure of the early osteoblasts promotes osteoclasts function and results in the bone loss.

ObjectiveNotch signaling is highly conservative in evolution and plays an important role in cell's proliferation and differentiation.Construction of tentiviral vector containing Notch intracellular domain (NICD) would lay the foundation for the study of Notch signaling.MethodsTotal RNA was extracted from the myeloid tissue of C57BL/6 mice.cDNA was composed via reverse transcription.NICD sequence was obtained by PCR and recombined into lentiviral vector.Lentiviral vector with NICD was infected into target HEK293T cell.Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to examine NICD expression in HEK293T cell.ResultsNICD expression increased in HEK293T cells.ConclusionThe successful construction of lentiviral vector involving mice NICD expression provides the foundation for the future study.

OBJECTIVETo screen molecular markers in early breast cancer and establish gene subtyping-based diagnostic criteria for predicting the prognosis of early breast cancers.

METHODSTumor tissue specimens were obtained from 8 patients with early breast cancer for analysis of the differentially expressed genes using Agilent custom 8×15 000 chips in combination with the prognostic data of the patients. Another 42 tumor tissue specimens were used to validate the differential genes by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR.

RESULTSGene microarray analysis identified 132 differentially expressed genes between the patients with favorable and poor prognosis, and 44 of these genes were significantly up-regulated (by over two folds) and 88 down-regulated in patients with poor prognoses.

CONCLUSIONThe gene expression profiles differ in early breast cancer tissues of the same pathological type but with different clinical stages and prognoses, and CD44, MKI67, NTRK2, Nek2, C16orf60, TOP2A, ANCCA, and RRM2 genes can be used as the prognostic markers for early breast cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; genetics ; Breast Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Prognosis

Objective:To evaluate the effect of long-term intake of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) on the activation of hippocampal microglia in a mouse model of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD).Methods:Ninety-six clean-grade healthy male C57BL/6 mice, aged 8 weeks, weighing 18-24 g, were stratified according to body weight and divided into 4 groups ( n=24 each) by a random number table method: control diet group (group C), ω-3 PUFAs group (group ω), control diet plus POCD group (group C+ P) and ω-3 PUFAs plus POCD group (group ω+ P). Mice were fed a special ω-3 PUFAs diet (DHA 0.14 g/100 g, EPA 0.03 g/100 g) for 12 weeks in group ω and group ω+ P, while mice were fed with a control diet for 12 weeks in group C and group C+ P.Tibial fracture procedures were performed under isoflurane anesthesia to develop the POCD model after 12 weeks of feeding.The fear conditioning test and Y maze test were performed on 1st and 3rd days after developing the model.The mice were sacrificed after behavioral tests, and the hippocampal tissues were removed for determination of the contents of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy), density of Iba-1 positive microglia (by immunofluorescence staining), and expression of mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (mBDNF) and precursor brain-derived neurotrophic factor (pro-BDNF) (by Western blot), and contents of interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Results:Compared with group C, the contents of DHA and EPA were significantly increased, the percentage of freezing time in the contextual test was increased, mBDNF/pro-BDNF ratio was increased ( P<0.05), no significant change was found in the rotation accuracy in Y maze test, density of Iba-1 positive microglia and contents of IL-1β and IL-6 in hippocampus ( P>0.05) in group ω ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in the contents of DHA and EPA ( P>0.05), the percentage of freezing time in the contextual test and accuracy of rotation in Y maze test were decreased on 1st and 3rd days after operation, the density of Iba-1 positive microglia and contents of IL-1β and IL-6 were increased, and mBDNF/pro-BDNF ratio was decreased in group C+ P ( P<0.05). Compared with group C+ P, the contents of DHA and EPA were significantly increased, the percentage of freezing time in the contextual test and accuracy of rotation in Y maze test were increased on 1st and 3rd days after operation, the density of Iba-1 positive microglia and contents of IL-1β and IL-6 were decreased, and mBDNF/pro-BDNF ratio was increased in group ω+ P ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Long-term intake of ω-3 PUFAs can improve cognitive function in a mouse model of POCD, and the mechanism may be related to inhibition of activation of hippocampal microglia, reduction of inflammatory responses, and thus increasing the mBDNF/Pro-BDNF ratio.

The glymphatic system is a fluid dynamics network that is important for maintaining homeostasis of the brain, and it is also a new target for the treatment of various central nervous system diseases. The crucial point regarding research into the glymphatic system is the microhydrodynamics of the cerebrospinal fluid tracer. This review summarizes the emerging technologies, such as magnetic resonance technology, two photon microscopic imaging technology, near infrared fluorescence imaging technology, and transcranial macroscopic imaging, and summarizes its research applications and technical advantages to provide methodological strategies for basic and clinical research on glymphatic system function.