AIM:To study the expression level of S100 calcium-binding protein A4 (S100A4) in synovial tissue of the knee joint in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and normal persons, and the effect of S100A4 on the angiogenesis induced by rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RAFLSs).METHODS:The synovial tissue was taken from the knee joint of the RA patients (RA group) and the normal persons (control group).The protein expression of S100A4 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the synovial tissue of the 2 groups was observed by immunohistochemistry.RAFLSs were isolated from synovial tissue of patients with active RA.ELISA was used to detect the effect of S100A4 on the secretion of VEGF by RAFLSs.The effect of S100A4 on the angiogenesis of HUVECs cultured with conditioned medium from RAFLSs was also detected.RESULTS:The protein of S100A4 and VEGF was highly expressed in the synovial tissues of RA group (P<0.05).rhS100A4 significantly stimulated the secretion of VEGF in RAFLSs in a time-and dose-dependent manner (P<0.05).Cultured with conditioned medium from RAFLSs, rhS100A4 significantly promoted HUVECs to form tube-like structures in vitro.CONCLUSION:S100A4 protein is highly expressed in synovial tissue of the knee joint in RA patients, and S100A4 stimulates synovial angiogenesis by promoting RAFLSs to generate VEGF, indicating that S100A4 may be used as a potential target for the treatment of RA.

Background Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) is a gold standard of intraocular pressure measurement.But its utilization iS limited because of its complexity and high requirement of cooperation.iCare rebound tonometer (iCare RBT) is a new type of applanation tonometry,and its accuracy and safety in clinical application need to be evaluated.Objective Present study was to investigate the reproducibility and tolerability of iCare RBT and its measurement agreement with GAT over a wide intraocular pressure (IOP) range. Methods The IOP were measured in bilateral eyes of 36 glaucoma and glaucoma suspect patients by 2 examinees with iCare RBT at the 1-minute interval to assess the interobserver reproducibility.Then the IOP of both eyes from 56 Subjeets and other 52 subjects were separately measured twice for each by two operators with iCare RBT for the evaluation of intraobserver reproducibility.Finally.IOP of 182 eyes of 92 glaucoma and glaucoma suspect patients was obtained by examiner 2 with RBT first and examiner 1 with GAT subsequently at a 2.minute interval in a masked fashion to perform an agreement evaluation of two readings by using Bland-Ahman method.The tolerance of subjects to iCare RBT measurement were surveyed.Oral informed consent was obtained prior to the IOP measurement. Results Concerning the iCare RBT readings.interobserver correlation coefficients were 0.937 in the right eye and 0.887 in the left eye.Intraobserver correlation coefficients of examiner 1 were 0.986 in the left eyes and 0.969 in the fight eyes.And those of examiner 2 were 0.990 and 0.979.Mcan values of iCare RBT readings and GAT were(18.74±8.36)mmHg and(19.33±8.20)mmHg and the mean difference values(iCare-GAT)was(-0.59 4±2.60)mmHg with the 95%confidence interval of -5.80-4.60 mmHg.The correlation coefficient between two modalities of IOP measurement WaS 0.95 1.No severe pain and discomfort were complained in all the subjects during or after measurement of iCare RBT. Conclusion iCare RBT has good interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility and good tolerance.It was proved that this is a good correlation between iCare RBT readings and GAT readings.

HER2, a member of epidermal growth factor receptor family proteins, is overexpressed in about 30% of human breast cancer. Increased levels of HER2 are associated with poor patient prognosis and enhanced metastasis. RNA interference (RNAi) is developed recently as a new technique which can inhibit gene expression specifically in mammalian cells. On the basis of previous study,in which two target sequences with favorable RNAi effect on HER2 were identified, a series of dual promoter siRNA-expressing vectors containing two opposing U6 and H1 promoters were constructed. After transfection of HER2-overexpressing SKBR3 breast cancer cells with the siRNA-expressing vectors, downregulation of HER2 was identified quantitatively. Subsequently, the siRNA-expressing cassettes were subcloned into lentiviral vectors by LR recombination reaction and lentivirus was prepared successfully. The results from infection of SKBR3 cells with siRNA-expressing lentivirus demonstrated that lentiviral-mediated RNAi could downregulate HER2 expression efficiently through fluorescent quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR), western blot, and FACS analysis. Furthermore, cell growth was inhibited in cell proliferation assay after treatment with siRNA lentivirus.A new tool for clarifying the function of HER2 in cancer metastasis and developing the gene therapy drug was offered.

Objective To investigate the clinical and immunological features,therapeutic response as well as prognosis of adult onset Still's disease (AOSD).Methods AOSD was diagnosed in 137 patients referred to our department.Clinical and immunological data were retrospectively analyzed.Therapeutic response and prognosis were systemically reviewed during the follow-up period.Intergroup incidence divergence was analyzed by chi-square test.Cox regression analysis was adopted to determine factors related with relapse.Results Fever,rash and arthritis were the cardinal clinical features of AOSD patients.Elevated inflammatory indices including ferritin (128 suhjects,97.1％ ) along with neutrophilia and liver dysfunction were the main laboratory findings.Ninety-eight patients were followed up and 75％ (73 subjects) had achieved complete remission after 4 weeks treatment.Forty-one patients (42％) who had achieved remission relapsed during follow-up period.Combination of glucocorticoid steroid and disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were more effective than glucocorticoid steroid only in inducing remission and preventing relapse.More patients received glucocorticoid combined with methotrcxate and hydroxychloroquine achieved remission (8 of 8 patients) than patients who were treated with glucocorticoid and methotrexate (25 of 28 patients,89％ ) and those treated with glucocorticoid and hydroxychloroquine (14 of 16 patients,88％ ).Patients with glucocorticoid were more likely to suffer disease recurrence than those who took glucocorticoid combined with DMARDs (61％ vs 29％,P=0.004).Cox regression analysis suggested that methotrexate had protec-tive effect against recurrence [RR=0.418,95％CI (0.192-0.909),P=0.028].5％ of patients were diagnosed to other diseases during the follow up period.Conclusion Initial treatment with combined glucocorticoid and DMARDs is beneficial to induce remission and prevent reoccurrence.Methotrcxate has a protective effect against recurrence.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy of cutaneous branches of reverse second and third dorsal metacarpal artery fasciocutaneous flaps for repair of distal- and middle-segment finger soft tissue defects. MethodsA total of 14 patients with distal- and middle-segment finger soft tissue defects complicated by exposure of the phalanx or tendon were repaired by using cutaneous branches of second and third dorsal metacarpal artery fasciocutaneous flaps ranging between 2.0 cm × 4.5 cm and 3.0 cm × 7.0 cm.ResuitsAll of the skin flaps survived after surgery.Follow-up data during a 6-40 month period showed that the flaps exhibited a satisfactory appearance.They were not fat or clumsy,with a 2-point discrimination of 59 mm,and there was good recovery of finger function.The donor site was able to be directly sutured without dermoplasty.Pigmented linear surgical streaks appeared in the donor site.Conclusion The cutaneous branches of Second and third dorsal metacarpal artery fasciocutaneous flaps provide a good approach for the repair of distal- and middle-segment finger soft tissue defects and functional reconstruction because of convenient dissection,little trauma,sufficient use of the dorsal metacarpal artery.

Objective: To analyze influencing factors of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on therapeutic effect in patients with coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO). Methods: Clinical data, lesion features and PCI therapeutic results of 65 patients with 72 CTO lesions, who received PCI in our hospital from Jan 2010 to Dec 2012, were retrospectively analyzed. Results: PCI success rate of CTO lesion was 91.67% (66/72); compared with patients with CTO occlusion 3~12 months, there was significant decrease in PCI success rate (97.78% vs. 81.48%) in those with CTO occlusion >12 months; compared with patients with occlusion length ≤15mm, there was significant decrease in PCI success rate (97.96% vs. 78.26%) in those with occlusion length >15mm; compared with patients with mouse tail-like broken ends, there was significant decrease in PCI success rate (96.55% vs. 71.43%) in those with knife cut-like broken ends, P<0.05 all; PCI failed in six lesions, in which four because guidewire failed to pass through lesions and two because balloon failed to pass through lesions; incidence rate of complications was 7.69% during PCI, there were no major adverse cardiovascular events during admission in all patients; symptoms relieving rate of angina pectoris was 90.16% after PCI. Conclusion: Success rate of percutaneous coronary intervention is related to lesion features, CTO occlusion duration etc.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the contents of lead, cadmium, zinc and manganese in the follicular fluid and semen of infertile couples that are not professionally exposed to the four heavy metallic elements.

METHODSIn vitro fertilization pre-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) was carried out in wives, and follicular fluid collected after routine oocyte retrieval. Semen was obtained from husbands by masturbation. The contents of zinc in the follicular fluid and semen were determined by the flame atom absorption method and those of lead, cadmium and manganese by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.

RESULTSThe average concentrations of lead, cad- mium, zinc and manganese were 151.06 microg/L, 2.02 microg/L, 0.54 mg/L and 28.54 microg/L in the follicular fluid, and 250.23 microg/L, 7.42 microg/L, 189.11 mg/L and 82.15 microg/L in the semen. The follicular fluid samples in which lead, cadmium, zinc or manganese was detected constituted 43.8% (21/48), 22.9% (11/48), 75.0% (36/48) and 50.0% (24/48), and the semen samples accounted for 70.2% (33/47), 31.9% (15/47), 100.0% (47/47) and 46.8% (22/47), respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggest that the average contents of lead, cadmium, zinc and manganese are higher in the semen than in the follicular fluid in the non-professionally exposed infertile couples, and so is the percentage of the samples containing each of the elements, with the exception of manganese.

Adult ; Cadmium ; analysis ; Environmental Exposure ; analysis ; Female ; Follicular Fluid ; chemistry ; Humans ; Infertility, Female ; metabolism ; pathology ; Infertility, Male ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lead ; analysis ; Male ; Manganese ; analysis ; Metals, Heavy ; analysis ; Semen ; chemistry ; Spectrophotometry, Atomic ; Zinc ; analysis

Adenocarcinoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Baculoviral IAP Repeat-Containing 3 Protein ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Chromones ; pharmacology ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Morpholines ; pharmacology ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases ; X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein ; genetics ; metabolism

Sandalwood essential oil has been widely used not only as natural medicines but also in perfumery and food industries, with sesquiterpenoids as its major components including (Z)- α-santalol and (Z)-β-santalol and so on. The mature heartwoods of Santalum album, Santalum austrocaledonicum and Santalum spicatum are the major plant resources for extracting sandalwood essential oil, which have been overexploited. Synthetic biology approaches have been successfully applied to produce natural products on large scale. In this review, we summarize biosynthetic enzymes of santalenes and santalols, including various santalene synthases (STSs) and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs), and then highlight the advances of biotechnological production of santalenes and santalols in heterologous hosts, especially metabolic engineering strategies for constructing santalene- and santalol-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Autoimmune diabetes is a T cell-mediated disease characterized by the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells and insulin deficiency. It is related to multiple genes. The IDDM1 locus, which lies within the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and the IDDM2 locus, which is located to the insulin gene region, are two major genetic contributors of susceptibility. Many other loci conferring susceptibility to autoimmune diabetes are being discovered, including PTPN22, CTLA4, IL2RA and IFIH1. In this article, these loci and their possible immunologic mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this disease will be reviewed.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; genetics ; immunology ; pathology ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans