Objective To explore the diagnostic value of CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy for pulmonary solid lesions.Methods CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy was performed in 97 cases of pulmonary solid lesions. The lesions were 2~10 cm (mean, 4.2 cm) in diameter, and the distance to the pleura was 0~8 cm (mean, 3.4 cm). Results Confirmative diagnoses were achieved in 73 cases of lung cancer and 21 cases of benign lesions (inflammation, tuberculosis, or sarcoidosis). The diagnostic rate was 96.9% (94/97). The biopsy could not indicate the accurate diagnosis in 3 cases, 2 of which were identified as having squamous cell carcinoma by operation, and 1 of which was followed for 2 years with no changes. Postoperative complications included 8 cases of pneumothorax, 2 cases of hemothorax, and 2 cases of emptysis. Conclusions CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy is safe and offers a high diagnostic rate, especially suitable for lesions near the pleura.

PAK1 plays an important role in the development of tumors. It is of great significance to screen and develop new PAK1 inhibitors as targeted drugs for cancer treatment. The traditional PAK1 inhibitor screening method has the problems of high cost and low efficiency. Computer virtual screening can reduce the cost of finding active lead compounds and improve the screening efficiency. In this study, a kind of PAK1 candidate compound was screened by computer assisted virtual screening combined with Z′lyteTM high flux kinase screen. In vitro enzyme activity screening showed that compound 18(K788)had good PAK1 inhibitory activity(inhibition rate was 42. 7%). Furtherly by MTT detection, it was found that K788 had significant PAK1 positive tumor killing activity, which was even better than the positive drug IPA-3. Flow cytometry and Western Blot showed that K788 could activate caspase apoptosis pathway and induce apoptosis of colon cancer cell DLD-1 by inhibiting PAK1 expression and activation. K788 has great potential for clinical development and application, and can be used as a PAK1 target for further research.

Objective To investigate the characteristics of VP1 gene hypervariable region in hu-man enterovirus type 68(HEV68)strains isolated in China. Methods Nucleotide sequences of the VP1 gene in the Chinese strains and strains isolated in other countries were aligned by using Clustal W in the MEGA6 program. The phylogenetic trees were constructed by using Neighbor-Joining(NJ)method in the MEGA6 program. Sequence of the amino acids encoded by that region was analyzed by compared with that of the standard strain Fermon. Results A total of 80 strains of EV68 had been isolated in China by the end of 2015. Most of the mutations occurred in BC and DE loops. The mutation sites lied in the VP1 gene of Chi-nese isolates were at 83,89,91,94,96,97,98,102,109,139,141,142,143,144 and 147. Glycine was missing from most of the amino acid sequences encoded by the VP1 gene of Chinese strains. The phylo-genetic analysis indicated that 53 and 21 EV68 strains isolated in China belonged to B and C clades,respec-tively. Conclusion Compared with the standard strain Fermon,the Chinese strains changed a lot in BC-loop and DE-loop,which were associated with the antigenicity and virulence of EV68. The EV68 strains iso-lated in China belonged to B and C clades.

Background: Disruption of tight junctions between intestinal epithelial cells followed by loss of barrier function is crucial for the pathogenesis and progression of a variety of gastrointestinal disorders.Aims: To investigate the protective effect of ulinastatin on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced intestinal epithelial barrier disruption.Methods: Model of intestinal epithelial monolayer barrier was established with Caco-2 cells in vitro,and then divided into four groups: blank control group (without any intervention),H2O2 group (500 μmol/L H2O2),low-dose (500 U/mL) and high-dose (3 000 U/mL) ulinastatin groups (ulinastatin + H2O2).Level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were detected;transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and flux of sodium fluorescein were measured to assess the barrier function;expression and localization of two tight junction proteins,ZO-1 and occludin were evaluated by Western blotting and immunofluorescence;ultrastructure of tight junctions was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Results: Compared with the blank control group,treatment of Caco-2 cell monolayers with H2O2 resulted in increase in level of MDA,flux of sodium fluorescein and decrease in activity of SOD,TEER and expressions of ZO-1 and occludin (P all ＜0.05).TEM and immunofluorescence showed that the brusher border of Caco-2 cells in H2O2 group was destroyed,the cell-cell junction was vague and the localization of ZO-1 and occludin was discontinuous and the fluorescence intensity was extremely low.While in ulinastatin groups,especially the high-dose group,all the indices above-mentioned were significantly improved (P all ＜0.05).Conclusions: Ulinastatin protects intestinal epithelial monolayer barrier against H2O2-induced disruption at least partially by its antioxidant activity and modulating expression and localization of tight junction proteins.

Objective To establish a rat model of spinal root avulsion and to validate the model by brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)treatment. Methods To evaluate the motor neuron loss,5 male SD rats were used to undergo spinal root avulsion surgery. One week later, the number of motor neurons in the ventral horn of the spinal cord was as-sessed by histopathology using immunohistochemical staining with a choline acetyl transferase(ChAT)antibody. After this pilot study,40 male SD rats at 7 weeks of age were randomly divided into 4 groups:two control groups,BDNF preventive and treatment groups. Results All rats recovered well post-surgery and no obvious abnormality was observed. Compared with the contralateral side,the number of motor neurons in the ipsilateral avulsed side was significantly decreased at one week after surgery(20.06%,P<0.05). Compared with the control group,there was a significant increase in ChAT posi-tive neurons in the BDNF preventive group(17.85% vs. 93.06%,P<0.0001)or BDNF treatment group(1week after surgery)(26.94% vs. 86.87%, P<0.0001), indicating that the motor neurons were effectively protected by BDNF. Conclusions A rat model of spinal root avulsion is successfully established,which can be valuable for studies of amyotro-phic lateral sclerosis and drug discovery efforts.

In order to characterize the immunogenicity and immunoprotection of the Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) surface protein Clumping factor A (ClfA), we amplified clfa genes from S. aureus Newman strain, Wood46 strain and HLJ23-1. The clfa gene from Newman strain was subsequently inserted into pQE-30 vector and the recombinant plasmid was transformed into Escherichia coli strain M15 (pREP4). The recombinant ClfA protein was expressed and purified. Then, we immunized mice with the purified recombinant protein. The antibody level and the concentration of cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Finally, immunized mice were challenged with S. aureus Newman, Wood46 and HLJ23-1. These results suggested that clfa gene sequences were highly conserved, and the recombinant ClfA was expressed correctly with good antigenicity. The antibody titer and the concentration of cytokines in the immunized groups increased significantly (P < 0.05) compared with control, and the mice in the immunized groups were protected against the challenge strains to some extent. These results showed that the ClfA had high immunogenicity and immunoprotective potential.
Animals ; Coagulase ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Immunization ; Mice ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Staphylococcus aureus ; metabolism ; pathogenicity

Objective:To explore the functional connection (FC) changes of default mode network (DMN) with the patients who have clinically remitted from major depressed disorder (MDD) and the brain imaging basis of the rehabilitation mechanism of major depression.Methods:Seventeen right-handed outpatients in the medical and psychological ward of Nanjing Brain Hospital who met the inclusion criteria were recruited by psychiatrists.MDD subjects after enrollment were scanned by resting-state functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) in baseline period(rMDD) and a 6-month follow-up period (sMDD). Tweenty-two healthy controls (control group, HCs group) matched with the MDD group in gender, age, and educational level were recruited and given the same resting fMRI scan.The independent component analysis (ICA) was used to extract DMN brain regions of rMDD, sMDD and HCs in resting state separately and to compare the changes of DMN functional connectivity in full remitted MDD patients.Results:The DMN data showed that the functional connectivity of right orbital middle frontal gyrus(MNI: x, y, z=3, 54, -9), right posterior cingulate(MNI: x, y, z=6, -51, 30), and precuneus(MNI: x, y, z=9, -54, 27) in the rMDD was significantly higher than the HCs group, and no functional connectivity in the rMDD was found to be lower than that in HCs group.Furthermore, no significant difference been found between the sMDD and HCs group.Compared with the rMDD, the functional connectivity of orbital middle frontal gyrus(MNI: x, y, z=3, 54, -9) and left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) (MNI: x, y, z=-3, 66, 12)in the sMDD was significantly lower than that in the rMDD, and the functional connectivity of left angular gyrus in the sMDD(MNI: x, y, z=-57, -57, 33) was significantly higher than that in the rMDD.Conclusion:The DMN network has not fully returned to its normal level though the posttreatment Hamilton Depression Scale-17 score was lower than 7 points, and the injury of FC is still recovering in the following 6 months, suggesting that the recovery of the DMN network function was delayed in the full remission of clinical symptoms, and is related to the recure of MDD.

To explore the different chloroplast genome characteristics of Sinopodophyllum hexandrum, five chloroplast genome sequences of S. hexandrum were compared. Its genome map, repeat sequence, codon preference, inverted repeat (IR)/single-copy (SC) boundary, alignment of chloroplast genome sequences and phylogenetic were analyzed using bioinformatics tools. The results showed that: the total length of five chloroplast genomes of S. hexandrum, with a typical tetrad structure, were 157 203-157 940 bp, and a total of 133-137 genes were annotated, reflecting the diversity of chloroplast genomes of S. hexandrum. Different chloroplast genomes of S. hexandrum has different simple sequence repeat (SSR), where simple repeat of single nucleotide of A/T were the majority among the SSR detected. The interspersed repetitive sequences included direct, palindromic and inverted repeats. The value of effective number of codon (ENc) which was analyzed by using codon bias was 51.14~51.17, the proportion of GC and GC3s was less than 50%, the codon usage pattern tended towards frequently use of A/U-ending bases. Genome sequences and the IR/SC boundaries of five chloroplast genomes of S. hexandrum were relatively conservative. Phylogenetic analysis showed that S. hexandrum and Podophyllum pettatum had the closest genetic relationship. In summary, the chloroplast genome characteristics and evolutionary relationship of different chloroplast genomes of S. hexandrum were obtained, which may facilitate the utilization, protection, variety identification and genetic evolution of S. hexandrum resources.
Phylogeny ; Genome, Chloroplast ; Chloroplasts/genetics* ; Genomics ; Evolution, Molecular

Non-arterial Inflammatory ischemic optic neuropathy(NAION)is a common ocular disease in middle and old ages.Symptoms of optic nerve dysfunction in NAION are caused by cerebral ischemia,which leads to optic atrophy.Recent studies have focused on the early interventions targeting NAION′s risk factors to protect the optic nerve and retinal ganglion cells.This article reviews recent progress in studies on the etiology and risk factors of NAION and potential therapies that may help to preserve optic nerve function in NAION.

Objective: To study the changes in the functional connections of the central executive network in patients with depression after clinical cure. Methods: Seventeen depression patients who met the clinical cure standard (patient group) and twenty-two healthy controls (control group) were selected.The baseline rs-fMRI data were collected from the healthy control group and the patient group respectively, and the rs-fMRI data in the patient group were collected again after 6 months.Compared the changes of central executive network function connection between the two groups. Results: At baseline, there was a high functional connection in the left inferior parietal lobule(MNI: x, y, z=-39, -69, 33)and right insula(MNI: x, y, z=15, -45, 30) in the patient group compared with the control group.Compared with the baseline, there were high functional connections in part of the left inferior parietal lobe (MNI: x, y, z=-60, -48, 21) and the right dorsolateral prefrontal lobe (MNI: x, y, z=24, 18, 60), and low functional connections in part of the left inferior parietal lobe (MNI: x, y, z=-51, -69, 18) in patient group 6 months after clinical cure.Compared with the control group, there was a high functional connection in the right dorsolateral prefrontal lobe (MNI: x, y, z=45, 51, -6) and the right inferior parietal lobe (MNI: x, y, z=42, -48, 27) in patient group 6 months after clinical cure. Conclusion The functional connection of central executive network of depression patients has not been restored, and the related abnormality is not stable in six months after reaching the clinical cure standard.