Objective: To study the construction and application of a vector with Cre recombinase recognition site lox66 for mouse HPRT gene targeting in embryonic stem(ES) cells. Methods: Using the HPRT genomic DNA fragment and synthesized oligonucleotides, pSP HPRT lox66 Neo was designed and constructed as a replacement vector by common molecular cloning techniques. After the linearized pSP HPRT lox66 Neo DNA was electroporated into ES cells, and transfected cells were cultured in G418/6 TG drug selection medium. The recombination efficiency of this vector was tested. Results: The main components of pSP HPRT lox66 Neo were a positive selection gene Neo, lox66, long and short homologous fragments of mouse HPRT gene and plasmid backbone. Twenty ES cell clones with HPRT gene inactivated were obtained. Conclusion: An effective replacement vector with Cre recombinase recognition site lox66 is constructed and applied to HPRT gene targeting in ES cells.

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between targeting vector structure and homologous recombination rate and investigate whether the mouse p16(INK4a) plays a role in tumor suppression.

METHODSA conditional targeting vector with 2.0 kb EcoR I/Xba I fragment as short arm and 5.9 kb SpeI/NotI fragment as long arm was built. Of the 2 direct locus crossing- over(loxPs) in the vector, one was inserted at 240 bp upstream of the initiate code of p16(INK4a) exon 1a and the other at 1633 bp downstream of the initiate code. Both exon 1a and the selection marker Neo will be deleted in targeted cells when mediated by Cre. After linearlization and purification, t he targeting vector was introduced into ES cells through electroporation.

RESULTSTwenty-four G418- and gancyclovir-resistant ES cell colonies were picked out and one of them was confirmed as positive by Southern hybridization.

CONCLUSIONTargeting vectors with 2 TK genes flanking the homologous arms are likely to produce good result of homologous recombination.

Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; Base Sequence ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; genetics ; Cell Line ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 ; genetics ; Drug Resistance ; genetics ; Embryo, Mammalian ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Exons ; genetics ; Ganciclovir ; pharmacology ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Gentamicins ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Recombination, Genetic ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Thymidine Kinase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection

Objective To summarize the clinical features of 22 probands diagnosed with congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD),and to provide genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for 23 fetuses of these pedigrees.Methods Data of 22 CMD patients who were treated in the Pediatric Department of Peking University First Hospital during October 2006 to March 2016 were analyzed.Informed written consents for participation in this study were obtained from the parents or guardians.Prenatal diagnosis was performed using DNA samples extracted from fetal villus cells of 12 cases at 11-13 gestational weeks and amniotic fluid of 11 cases at 18-22 gestational weeks.Direct DNA sequencing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) were used to detect CMD-related gene mutations.Linkage analysis of short tandem repeats (STRs) was used to identify maternal blood contamination and biological parents.Results Thirteen out of the 22 probands with CMD were diagnosed with congenital muscular dystrophy type 1 A (MDC1A),and all of them carried compound heterozygous mutations in LAMA2 gene.Prenatal diagnosis of 13 fetuses from these pedigrees found that four fetuses were wild-type,seven were heterozygotes and two carried the same mutations as their proband.Three probands with LMNA-related congenital muscular dystrophy (L-CMD) carried de novo mutations in LMNA gene.In these pedigrees,two fetuses were wild-type and one whose mother was mosaicism carried the same mutations as the proband.One proband with Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy carried compound heterozygous mutations in COL6A2 gene and the fetus of the same pedigree was wild-type.Five probands were diagnosed with α-dystroglycanopathies.And among them,two cases of muscle-eye-brain disease (MEB) carried compound heterozygous mutations in POMGnT1 gene and the fetuses of the two peidgrees were heterozygotes;one case of congenital muscular dystrophy type 1C (MDC1C) had compound heterozygous mutations in FKRP gene and the fetus carried the same mutations;one patient diagnosed with POMGnT1-related congenital muscular dystrophy with mental retardation (CMD-MR) carried compound heterozygous mutations in POMGnT1 gene,and the fetus was positive for the same mutations;one proband with POMT1-related CMD-MR was positive for compound heterozygous mutations in POMT1 gene and the results of prenatal diagnosis for two fetuses of this pedigree showed that the first fetus had the same mutations as the proband,while the second was heterozygote.Conclusions No effective therapeutic method is available for CMD.Therefore,accurate genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis are necessary to prevent CMD child from birth.

OBJECTIVETo elucidate the usefulness of next generation sequencing for diagnosis of inherited myopathy, and to analyze the relevance between clinical phenotype and genotype in inherited myopathy.

METHODRelated genes were selected for SureSelect target enrichment system kit (Panel Version 1 and Panel Version 2). A total of 134 patients who were diagnosed as inherited myopathy clinically underwent next generation sequencing in Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital from January 2013 to June 2014. Clinical information and gene detection result of the patients were collected and analyzed.

RESULTSeventy-seven of 134 patients (89 males and 45 females, visiting ages from 6-month-old to 26-year-old, average visiting age was 6 years and 1 month) underwent next generation sequencing by Panel Version 1 in 2013, and 57 patients underwent next generation sequencing by Panel Version 2 in 2014. The gene detection revealed that 74 patients had pathogenic gene mutations, and the positive rate of genetic diagnosis was 55.22%. One patient was diagnosed as metabolic myopathy. Five patients were diagnosed as congenital myopathy; 68 were diagnosed as muscular dystrophy, including 22 with congenital muscular dystrophy 1A (MDC1A), 11 with Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD), 6 with Bethlem myopathy (BM), 12 with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) caused by point mutations in DMD gene, 5 with LMNA-related congenital muscular dystrophy (L-CMD), 1 with Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), 7 with alpha-dystroglycanopathy (α-DG) patients, and 4 with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) patients.

CONCLUSIONNext generation sequencing plays an important role in diagnosis of inherited myopathy. Clinical and biological information analysis was essential for screening pathogenic gene of inherited myopathy.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Contracture ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Female ; Genetic Diseases, Inborn ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Genetic Testing ; Genotype ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques ; Muscular Diseases ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Muscular Dystrophies ; congenital ; Muscular Dystrophies, Limb-Girdle ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne ; Muscular Dystrophy, Emery-Dreifuss ; Mutation ; Phenotype ; Sclerosis ; Walker-Warburg Syndrome ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the expression significance and prognostic value of long non-coding RNA tumor susceptibility candidate gene 9(lncRNA CASC9)and YKT6 in oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).Methods A total of 110 patients with OSCC treated in the Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2016 to January 2018 were selected as the study objects.The mRNA expression of lncRNA CASC9 and YKT6 in OSCC cancer tissue and adjacent tissues was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect YKT6 protein expression in OSCC cancer tissue and adjacent tissues.Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze the influence of different lncRNA CASC9 and YKT6 mRNA expression on the prognosis of OSCC patients.Cox regression model was used to analyze the prognostic factors of OSCC.Results The lncRNA CASC9 and YKT6 mRNA expression in OSCC cancer tissues were 3.12±0.57 and 2.69±0.42,respectively,which were significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues(1.02±0.25,1.13±0.21),and the differences were statistically significant(t=35.386,34.843,P＜0.05).The positive rate of YKT6 protein in OSCC cancer tissues was 81.82％(90/110),which was higher than that in adjacent tissues[9.09％(10/110)],and the difference was statistically signifi-cant(x2=117.333,P＜0.05).There was a positive correlation between lncRNA CASC9 mRNA expression and YKT6 mRNA expression in OSCC cancer tissues(r=0.788,P＜0.001).The lncRNA CASC9 and YKT6 mRNA expressions in cancer tissues of OSCC with TNM stages m to Ⅳ,low differentiation and lymph node metastasis were higher than those in cancer tissues of OSCC with TNM stages Ⅰ to Ⅱ,high school differenti-ation and no lymph node metastasis,the difference was statistically significant(all P＜0.05).The 5-year cu-mulative survival rate of lncRNA CASC9 high expression group and YKT6 mRNA high expression group was lower than that of lncRNA CASC9 low expression group and YKT6 mRNA low expression group,and the difference was statistically significant(Log-rank X2=7.080,8.741,P=0.008,0.003).High expression of ln-cRNA CASC9,high expression of YKT6 mRNA,TNM stage m to Ⅳ,low differentiation and lymph node me-tastasis were prognostic risk factors in OSCC patients.Conclusion The expression of lncRNA CASC9 and YKT6 in OSCC cancer tissue is elevated,which can be used as tumor markers to evaluate the prognosis of OS-CC patients.

The Ehlers-Danlos syndrome(EDS)is a rare inherent connective tissue disorder.The prev-alence of EDS in the population is estimated at one out of ten thousand to one out of a hundred thousand.The vascular EDS(vEDS)are rare among the subtypes but are the worst in prognosis.The article reports a case of vEDS admitted to the hospital.The patient was a young man complaining of a sudden onset of aphasia in right hemiparalysis and severe left abdominal pain for unknown reasons.The diagnosis was made after the genetic testing.The patient suffered from vEDS.Then,the multi-disciplinary team(MDT)made a treatment plan tailored to this young patient.The complexity in classification and delusive presentations of the EDS make the correct diagnosis very challenging.This article hopes to report this case and to share the experiences to the bet-ter understanding of this disease.

OBJECTIVE To establish a high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the detection of 10 related substances in 20(S)-protopanaxadiol bulk drug. METHODS Used an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 chromatographic column with ultrapure water(A)-acetonitrile(B) as mobile phase. The flow rate was 0.20-0.25 mL·min-1, the detection wavelength was set at 203 nm, the column temperature was maintained at 35℃, and the injection volume was 5 μL. RESULTS 20(S)-protopanaxadiol and various impurities had reached an effective separation with a good linear relationship; the sample recovery(n=9) was ranging from 94.8% to 102.2%. The RSD values were <2.0%; the intra-day and inter-day precision RSD values were<2.0%, with a good precision; the related substances C, F, H, and I were stable in solution with RSD values<2.0% in 48 h at the room temperature; while impurities A, B, D, E, G and J were unstable under the same condition with RSD>2.0%. CONCLUSION The method is simple, sensitive and accurate, which can simultaneously determine 10 related substances in API 20(S)-protopanaxadiol, which can effectively identify the relevant substances in API and provide reference for the improvement of its production process and quality control.

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) on all-cause mortality in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) at real world scenarios. Methods: Patients who met the diagnostic criteria of HFpEF in the China National Heart Failure Registration Study (CN-HF) were divided into death and survival groups. The demographic data, physical examination, results of the first echocardiography, laboratory results at admission, complications, drug use and clinical outcomes were obtained from CN-HF. The univariate Cox proportional hazard model was used to screen the variates that might predict prognosis, and then the covariates with statistical significance were included in the multivariate Cox regression model to analyze the predictive value of baseline NT-proBNP on all-cause death. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between NT-proBNP and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), so as to further explore the predictive value of the interaction between renal dysfunction and NT-proBNP on death. Since NT-proBNP did not obey the binary normal distribution, it was expressed by the natural logarithm of NT-proBNP (LnNT-proBNP). Results: A total of 1 846 HFpEF patients were enrolled in this study, with an average age of 71.5 years, 1 017 males(55.1%), median NT-proBNP 860 ng/L, and median eGFR 73.9 ml·min^-1·1.73m^-2. After a median follow-up of 34 months, 213 (11.5%) patients died. Patients in the death group were older, with higher NYHA classification Ⅲ-Ⅳ ratio, longer hospital stay, higher serum potassium and NT-proBNP level, prevalence of complications of diabetes mellitus, arrhythmia and atrial fibrillation, use of angiotensin receptor antagonist(ARB), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA), diuretic and digoxin was significantly higher in death group than in survival group. Body mass index (BMI), diastolic blood pressure, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), hemoglobin, serum cholesterol(TC), serum triglycerides (TG) and eGFR, and use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), statins and aspirin were lower in death group than in survival group. Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that NT-proBNP was a predictor of all-cause death in HFpEF patients (HR=2.522, 95%CI 2.040-3.119, P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the elevated NT-proBNP remains as the independent predictor of all-cause death in patients with HFpEF (HR=1.230, 95%CI 1.049-1.442, P=0.011) after adjusting for age, BMI, diastolic blood pressure, LVEF, hemoglobin, serum potassium, serum sodium, TC, serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), TG, eGFR, atrial fibrillation, as well as the treatment of ACEI/ARB, MRA, diuretics and digoxin. Spearman correlation analysis showed that LnNT-proBNP was negatively correlated with eGFR (r=-0.361, P<0.001), but there was no interaction between NT-proBNP and renal dysfunction in predicting death in HFpEF patients (P>0.05). Conclusion The elevated level of NT-proBNP at admission is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in HFpEF patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical and pathological features of children with glycogen storage disease (GSD). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for ten children with GSD who were admitted to the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University and The Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2002 to January 2022, based on medical history, liver biochemistry, and liver biopsy, and population characteristics, clinical manifestations, biochemical parameters, and liver histopathological characteristics were compared and analyzed. Results All ten children had developmental retardation and a short stature, with the manifestations of abnormal liver function, mild weakness, poor appetite, yellow urine, and yellow eyes, and four children had hepatosplenomegaly. Among the ten children, six had the clinical manifestations of hypoglycemia, and one had bilateral gastrocnemius hypertrophy and positive Gower sign. Two children had positive CMV IgG. Liver histopathological manifestations included diffuse enlargement of hepatocytes, light cytoplasm, and small nucleus in the middle like plant cells, with or without fibrous tissue proliferation. Conclusion Most patients with GSD have developmental retardation and abnormal aminotransferases, and liver pathological examination shows specific pathological features.