BACKGROUND: Research on mapping the gene for benign familial infantile convulsion(BFIC) has been conducted mainly in western countries. Although three chromosome loci have been found by three research groups, up to now the gene responsible for BFIC has been neither found nor identified. Mapping the gene and studying locus heterogeneity is the first step toward cloning the disease gene.OBJECTIVE: To explore the relation between BFIC loci and the gene for BFIC in five Chinese pedigrees with BFIC. Locus heterogeneity among these pedigrees will be revealed based on the findings so as to further map the gene.DESIGN: Retrospective and observational controlled study using five Chinese pedigrees with BFIC as subjects.SETTING: Laboratory of cell biology and medical genetics in a university.PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted in the Laboratory of Cell Biology and Medical Genetics of Zhengzhou University from July 2001 to July 2003. Five BFIC pedigrees of 70 subjects, 28 BFIC patients and 42 non-BFIC patients, from Xinxiang, Nanyang, Zhoukou, and Hebi of Henan Province,China, were involved. Inclusion criteria: Those met the epileptic seizure classification criteria issued by the International Anti-epilepsy Commissi6n[2].Exclusion criteria: The patients were excluded from the group of the affected members if any of the three examinations, namely, interictal electroencephalograms, computed-tomography scanning and magnetic-resonance imagining, was abnormal. The same exclusion criteria applied to patients who had suffered either toxicosis or cerebral damage.METHODS: To get the genotypes of these family members, such techniques as polymerase chain reaction, polyacrlamide and agarose gels electrophresis and sliver straining were used. The procedure was as follows: first, DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of the members of five pedigrees with BFIC. Then, six short tandem repeat(STR) loci, namely, D19S245,D19S250, D16S3131, D16S3133, D2S399 and D2S2330, were used to detect genotype of each family member, followed by input of the genotypes into the computer and linkage analysis by MLINK program from LINKAGE package. Finally, the results of linkage analysis were analyzed by HOMOGM program and locus heterogeneity was obtained.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Analysis results of genotype of each subject and the results of heterogeneity detection.RESULTS: One maximum two-point limit of detection (LOD) score of 2. 151 for D19S250 was obtained at recombination rate of 0. 000 under autosomal dominant model with 90% penetrance. For D16S3131, two maximum two-point LOD scores of 1. 056 and 1. 155 were obtained at recombination rate of 0. 085 under autosomal dominant model with 70% and 60% penetrance. This suggested that the gene for BFIC pedigree might be linked to D16S3131 or D19S250. At the other DNA markers, no information suggested that linkage was produced. The results of heterogeneity detection showed that there was locus heterogeneity among the BFIC pedigrees.CONCLUSION: The gene for BFIC may be linked to D16S3131 or D19S250. Heterogeneity exists in BFIC, which serves as primary information for the further study of mapping the disease gene for BFIC.

Photoautotrophic cultivation with heterotrophic cells as seeds (heterotrophic cells/photoautotrophic cultivation) is an effective way for the development of microalgal biofuel, but its development potential from the point of process optimization has not been investigated in literatures. To evaluate this, the optimizations of medium and culture conditions for Chlorella ellipsoidea were studied. In the heterotrophic stage, the biomass concentration reached 11.04 g/L with the optimized medium in flask, which were 28.0% higher than that with the original medium, and the biomass concentration reached 73.89 g/L in 5-L fermenter. In the photoautotrophic stage, the culture medium and conditions were studied in a 2-L column photobioreactor. The maximum biomass concentration, lipid content and lipid productivity reached 1.62 g/L, 36.34% and 6.1 mg/(L·h) under the optimal photoautotrophic conditions. The lipids were mainly composed of C16-C18 fatty acids, which were raw material suitable for biodiesel. After optimization, heterotrophic cells/photoautotrophic cultivation can significantly improve the capacity of biofuel production by Chlorella ellipsoidea, this method is also expected to be an efficient way for the cultivation of other microalgae that can grow heterotrophically.
Biofuels ; Biomass ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Chlorella ; metabolism ; Culture Media ; Fatty Acids ; biosynthesis ; Heterotrophic Processes ; Lipids ; biosynthesis ; Photobioreactors

BACKGROUND:Currently,there have been a variety of conservative and surgical treatment plans for spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee,achieving excellent results.However,a broad consensus on indication and guide of surgical treatment has not been announced.In clinical practice,there is still a misunderstanding that unicondylar replacement or total knee arthroplasty should be performed upon the discovery of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee,while an urgent need for universal access to the concept of stepwise therapy. OBJECTIVE:To summarize and find the factors leading to the poor effect of conservative treatment in spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee,which occurred on the medial femoral condyle,from the literature and clinical cases,at the same time,combined with the Koshino stage,to propose the strategy of stepwise spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee treatment on the medial femoral condyle. METHODS:A systematic search of the literature database was conducted to summarize the factors leading to poor outcomes of conservative treatment in spontaneous osteonecrosis of the medial femoral condyle.Meanwhile,according to the Clinical&Health Records for analytics&Sharing system,the cases receiving conservative and surgical treatment in spontaneous osteonecrosis of the medial femoral condyle in the Department of Orthopedics of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine from January 2017 to January 2023 were analyzed retrospectively,then the causes of success and failure in typical cases were summarized and analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Early diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee were very important for prognosis.For sudden knee pain in some patients,if no obvious abnormality was found in the X-ray examination,and the symptoms persisted and could not be relieved for more than 1 week,an MRI examination was recommended to detect early spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee.(2)The X-ray images of Koshino stage 1 and stage 2 of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the medial femoral condyle were difficult to be distinguished,which needed to be probed by MRI.MRI images of Koshino stage 1 were mainly characterized by bone marrow edema,and an osteonecrosis area with a clear boundary was not formed,while MR images of Koshino stage 2 showed a necrotic area with a clear boundary.(3)Five factors leading to the poor effect of conservative treatment on spontaneous osteonecrosis of the medial femoral condyle were summarized:a.The necrotic area was＞5 cm2;b.The necrotic area accounted for more than 40%of the condyle;c.relative compression percentage of medial meniscus≥33%(with or without medial meniscus injury and subchondral bone marrow edema);d.MRI depth of necrotic area(anterior-posterior diameter of sagittal necrotic area)＞20 mm;e.varus deformity of lower limb＞6°.(4)Conservative treatment of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee in Koshino stage 1 was good.For spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee in Koshino stage 2,conservative treatment was preferred or combined with drilling decompression.If there was no relief or improvement of symptoms or in MRI after 3 months,while the patient had any of the previous five factors,then knee preservation surgery should be considered.For spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee in Koshino stage 3 and stage 4,knee preservation surgery should be selected based on the previous five factors,including age,gender and activity level of the patient.Total knee arthroplasty was used for spontaneous osteonecrosis in Koshino stage 4,which was associated with symptomatic patellofemoral arthritis,valgus alignment,or necrotic area,which greatly affected the stability of unicondyle prosthesis.

As confusion mounts over RNA isoforms involved in phenotypic plasticity, aberrant CpG methylation-mediated disruption of alternative splicing is increasingly recognized as a driver of intratumor heterogeneity (ITH). Protease serine 3 (PRSS3), possessing four splice variants (PRSS3-SVs; PRSS3-V1-V4), is an indispensable trypsin that shows paradoxical effects on cancer development. Here, we found that PRSS3 transcripts and their isoforms were divergently expressed in lung cancer, exhibiting opposing functions and clinical outcomes, namely, oncogenic PRSS3-V1 and PRSS3-V2 versus tumor-suppressive PRSS3-V3, by targeting different downstream genes. We identified an intragenic CpG island (iCpGI) in PRSS3. Hypermethylation of iCpGI was mediated by UHRF1/DNMT1 complex interference with the binding of myeloid zinc finger 1 (MZF1) to regulate PRSS3 transcription. The garlic-derived compound diallyl trisulfide cooperated with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine to exert antitumor effects in lung adenocarcinoma cells through site-specific iCpGI demethylation specifically allowing MZF1 to upregulate PRSS3-V3 expression. Epigenetic silencing of PRSS3-V3 via iCpGI methylation (iCpGIm) in BALF and tumor tissues was associated with early clinical progression in patients with lung cancer but not in those with squamous cell carcinoma or inflammatory disease. Thus, UHRF1/DNMT1-MZF1 axis-modulated site-specific iCpGIm regulates divergent expression of PRSS3-SVs, conferring nongenetic functional ITH, with implications for early detection of lung cancer and targeted therapies.

OBJECTIVE： To study the effects of ligustrazine on miR-20b/VEGF and BMP2/Smad1 pathways in subchondral bone of knee osteoarthritis （KOA） model rats， and to investigate the mechanism of ligustrazine for KOA prevention and treatment. METHODS： Totally 18 healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group， model group and ligustrazine group， with 6 rats in each group. The rats in the latter two groups were used to establish KOA model by intra-articular injection of 4％ papain solution. From the 2nd day after the last injection， ligustrazine group was given intragastrical administration of Ligustrazine suspension （100 mg/kg） 2 mL； normal control group and model group were given intragastrical administration of isometrical normal saline， once a day， for consecutive 6 weeks. After the last after medication， the situation of bilateral knee articular cartilage of rats were observed after exposure. The knee joints of rats were sectioned and stained with HE. The pathological change of articular cartilage were observed by microscope and scored by modified Mankin’s score. mRNA expression of VEGF， BMP2 and Smad1， and the expression of miR-20b were detected by RT-PCR； the protein expression of VEGF， BMP2 and Smad1 were detected by Western blot assay. RESULTS： Model group and ligustrazine group suffered from cartilage injury of knee joint at varying degrees. Compared with normal control group， Mankin’s scores of knee joint and cartilage tissue were increased significantly in model group （P＜0.01）； mRNA and protein expression of BMP and Smad1， the expression of miR-20b in subchondral bone of model group were decreased significantly， while mRNA and protein expression of VEGF were increased significantly （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， Mankin’s score of cartilage tissue were decreased significantly in ligustrazine group （P＜0.01）； mRNA and protein expression of BMP and Smad1， the expression of miR-20b in subchondral bone were increased significantly， while mRNA and protein expression of VEGF were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： Ligustrazine can repair damaged articular cartilage in KOA model rats， the mechanism of which may be associated with inhibiting the protein expression of VEGF and activating BMP-2/Smad1 signaling pathway via up-regulating the expression of miR-20b， and promoting the degradation of VEGF mRNA in subchondral bone.

OBJECTIVE：To ex plore the protective effects of Longbie capsule contained serum （called“LBJN”for short ）on the apoptosis of chondrocytes induced by YAP inhibitor verteporfin and its mechanism. METHODS ：Primary human knee osteoarthritis（OA）chondrocytes were extracted by two-step enzymatic digestion ，and then identif ied by toluidine blue staining and type Ⅱ collagen immunofluorescence staining. The effects of 2，5 μmol/L verteporfin alone or combined with 5％LBJN on cell apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry. Solvent control （0.1％ DMSO）and 5％ LBJN were set. Western blot assay was adopted to detect the expression of apoptosis related proteins （YAP，Bcl-2，cleaved-caspase-3） after treated with 0.1％DMSO（solvent control ），2 μmol/L verteporfin，2 μmol/L verteporfin+5％LBJN 和 0（blank control ），2.5％ LBJN and 5％ LBJN for 48 h. The expression of autophagy related proteins （mTOR，Beclin-1，LC3A/B） after treated with 0 （blank control ），2.5％，5％ LBJN for 48 h were det ected by Western blot assay. RESULTS ：The isolated cells accorded with the characteristics of chondrocytes. Compared with 0.1％DMSO， the apoptosis rates of cells were increased significantly after treated with 2，5 μmol/L verteporfin（P＜0.05），and the effects of the two concentrations were similar （P＞0.05）. Compared with verteporfin alone ，2，5 μmol/L verteporfin combined with 5％LBJN could significantly decrease the apoptotic rate of cells （P＜0.05）. Compared with 0.1％DMSO，the protein expression of YAP and Bcl-2 were decreased significantly after treated with 2 μ mol/L verteporfin （P＜0.05）， while the protein expression of cleaved-caspase-3 were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. Compared with 2 μmol/L verteporfin，protein expression of YAP and Bcl-2 were increased significantly after treated with 2 μmol/L verteporfin+5％LBJN（P＜0.05），while the protein expression of cleaved-caspase-3 were decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. Compared with blank control ，the protein expression of YAP ，Bcl-2 and Beclin-1 were increased significantly after treated with 2.5％，5％LBJN（P＜0.05），while protein expression of cleaved-caspase- 3 and mTOR were decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS ：LBJN can block the apoptosis of chondrocytes induced by YAP inhibitor verteporfin ，and its mechanism may be related to regulating the expression of apoptosis related proteins and enhancing autophagy of chondrocytes.