Overexpression of procollagen gene can cause the extraordinary increase of collagen's synthesis and therefore lead to the keloid and hypertrophic scar. To utilize ribozyme to suppress the expression of procollagen genes, a eukaryotic expression recombinant plasmid containing a dual-ribozyme gene against alpha 1 (I) and alpha 1 (III) procollagen genes was constructed. The ribozyme from in vitro transcription was incubated with target transcripts from recombinant plasmids which separately contained the fragments of the second exons of pro alpha 1 (I) and pro alpha 1 (III) collagen genes under various experimental conditions. The results showed that the dual-ribozyme could efficiently catalyze the specific cleavage of the target RNAs at 37 degrees C, 42 degrees C, 50 degrees C and Mg2+ concentration from 10 mmol/L to 20 mmol/L. This work provided a basis for further study on the ribozyme to suppress the expression of procollagen genes and control the cicatrization.
Base Sequence ; Exons ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Procollagen ; genetics ; RNA ; metabolism ; RNA, Catalytic ; genetics ; metabolism ; Temperature

The dense extracellular matrix (ECM) of the tumor severely limits the deep penetration of nanomedicine and weakens its anti-tumor effect. Based on this, the yeast vesicle biomimetic nanomedicine with active deep penetration ability of tumor tissue was designed and developed for enhanced tumor therapy. Results of characterization showed that the yeast cell vesicles (YCV) displayed a spherical morphology with diameter of around 100 nm and was well dispersed. Then the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX) was selected as a model drug, and DOX was loaded into YCV to obtain YCV/DOX through electrostatic interaction, the encapsulation efficiencies of DOX were calculated as 82.5%. The drug release profile of YCV/DOX implied that DOX release showed a manner of pH-dependent, it may be that pH has affected the electrostatic effect of YCV and DOX. Compared with liposomes (Lipo), in vitro cell experiments showed that YCV from natural sources had stronger permeability in three-dimensional multicellular spheres. It is speculated that the mechanism may be good deformation capacity of YCV. A 4T1 xenograft tumor model was established to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of YCV/DOX. The results suggested that YCV/DOX has stronger tumor tissue penetration ability and could effectively inhibit the tumor growth. All animal experiments were performed in line with national regulations and approved by the Animal Experiments Ethical Committee of Zhengzhou University. This study brings new ideas for the development of biomimetic nanomedicine to overcome the ECM of solid tumors.

OBJECTIVETo explore the pathoclinical features of adult primary mediastinal liposarcoma and their correlation with the prognosis.

METHODSThe clinical data of 19 patients with adult primary mediastinal liposarcoma who were treated in our hospital between 1970 and 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Eighteen patients underwent open thoracic tumor excisions for at least one time, and the remaining one patient only received biopsy surgery. Histopathological results after surgery revealed that 6 well-differentiated type tumors, 6 myxoid type tumors, 3 pleomorphic type tumors, 2 mixed type tumors, and 2 un-classified tumors.

RESULTSAmong 6 patients with well-differentiated type tumors, 1 died after having been survived for 10 years; 5 were still alive, with a mean duration of 126.2 months,the 5-year survival rate was 100%. Among 6 patients with myxoid type tumors, 5 patients had follow-up data, with a mean survival of 26.2 months. Among 3 patients with pleomorphic type tumors, only one patient had follow-up data: the patient finally died, with a survival of 34 months. Of 2 patients with mixed type tumors, only one patient had follow-up data: the patient survived 8 months and died. Of 2 patients with un-classified type tumors, one had follow-up data: the patient lived for 24 months and died.

CONCLUSIONSMediastinal liposarcoma is a rare disease. Surgery is the primary therapeutic modality. Different pathological subtypes have different epidemiological features, biological behaviors, and malignant potentials. Pathological subtype is an important prognosis factor. Patients with well-differentiated tumors have much better prognosis than those with other subtypes.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Liposarcoma ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo assess the clinical outcomes of brachiocephalic artery-sparing aortic arch repair combined with stent-graft elephant trunk technique for treatment of Stanford type A aortic dissection.

METHODSTwenty-three patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection requiring arch replacement underwent brachiocephalic artery-sparing aortic arch repair combined with stent-graft elephant trunk technique. The operations were performed within 72 h (20 cases) or 3-14 days (3 cases) after the onset of aortic dissection.

RESULTSThere was no perioperative death in these cases. The mean extracorporeal circulation time was 209∓52 min, the aortic cross clamp time was 85∓21 min, and the mean chest tube output within the first 24 h after the operation was 570∓263 mL; none of the patients required chest reopening for management of bleeding. Postoperative acute renal failure requiring hemodialysis occurred in 3 cases, transient neurologic dysfunction in 2 cases, paraplegia in case and hematosepsis in 1 case. No such complications as permanent neurologic deficit or postoperative visceral malperfusion occurred in these cases. All the patients survived and were discharged from hospital without experiencing severe complications in the follow-up for 6-18 months.

CONCLUSIONBrachiocephalic artery-sparing aortic arch repair combined with stent-graft elephant trunk technique is a safe and simple procedure with controllable bleeding and can serve as an optional procedure for aortic arch replacement.

In order to obtain resistant mutants to nystatin, ultraviolet radiation and LiCl were used to mutagenize the protoplasts of taxol-producing fungi NCEU-1, and four positive mutants with high yield of taxol were screened out on nystatin flat. After further screening experiments on fermentation, a mutant strain--UL04-5 which was able to produce taxol with high yield and could be stably passed on in genetics was eventually found, it's ability to produce taxol was improved from 314.07 microg/L (strain NCEU-1) to 418.24 microg/L (strain U04-5).
Ascomycota ; drug effects ; genetics ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Genetic Variation ; Mutagenesis ; Nystatin ; pharmacology ; Paclitaxel ; biosynthesis ; Protoplasts ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the prognostic implication of the killer-immunoglobulin like receptor (KIR) ligand mismatch in HLA mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

METHODSNinety-four leukemia patients undergoing unmanipulated HLA-mismatched/haploidentical blood and marrow HSCT enrolled this study.

RESULTSMultivariate analysis showed that both KIR ligand mismatch (HR 2.833, CI, 1.286 - 6.241, P = 0.01) and doses of T cells (HR 3.059, CI, 1.292 - 7.246, P = 0.011) were independent risk factors for the acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD). In addition, compared to those without KIR ligand mismatch, patients with KIR ligand mismatch had the more adverse effect of 'high' dose T cells (> 1.48 x 10(5)/kg) on aGVHD (100% vs 63.3%, P = 0.036), and had more incidence of aGVHD with HLA-C mismatch (80.0% vs 57.4%, P = 0.056). Since multivariate analysis demonstrated that high risk leukemia was the only predictor for transplant related mortality (TRM), relapse and overall survival (OS), the effect of KIR ligand mismatch on prognosis in standard and high risk patients was further analyzed. The differences in TRM (50.0% vs 7.6%, P = 0.005) and OS (50.0% vs 88.4%, P = 0.014) between patients with and without KIR ligand mismatch were most striking for standard risk patients.

CONCLUSIONKIR ligand mismatch is a poor prognosis factor for patients underwent HLA mismatched HSCT, and is a useful parameter for donor selection.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; HLA Antigens ; immunology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Receptors, KIR ; immunology ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

The proteins encoded by the Brassica juncea chitinase gene BjCHI1 and its derived genes BjCHI2 and BjCHI3 were expressed by Multi-copy Pichia expression system. The chitinase activity of FPLC purified BjCHI1, BjCHI2 and BjCHI3 were tested and the results showed that all the three proteins degraded both CM-chitin-RBV and colloidal chitin. The Km values of BjCHI1, BjCHI2 and BjCHI3 for CM-chitin-RBV were estimated as 0.799 mg/mL, 0.544 mg/mL and 0.793 mg/mL, respectively. When the colloidal chitin was used as substrate, the Km values were 0.281 mg/mL, 0.388 mg/mL and 1.643 mg/mL, respectively, indicating chitin-binding domain can increase affinity of chitinase to insoluble substrate. In the agglutination activity assay, only BjCHI1 shows activity when the protein concentration was more than 33 micrograms/mL, while BjCHI2 and BjCHI3 without agglutination activity even when the concentration was increased as high as 800 micrograms/mL. This means that the two chitin-binding domains in BjCHI1 are essential for agglutination and BjCHI1 is the first protein which shows both chitinase and agglutination activity identified so far in plants.
Agglutination ; Agglutinins ; genetics ; Chitinases ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; physiology ; Mustard Plant ; chemistry ; Pichia ; genetics ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Plasmids ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo construct a Gpx1 and klk1 recombinant vector containing the kidney-specific promoter Ksp-cadherin.

METHODSHuman Gpx1, Klk1 and Ksp-cadherin cDNAs were amplified with PCR and inserted in a stepwise manner into the expressive vector pIRES-EGFP to construct the recombinant vector Ksp-cadherin-Gpx1-Klk1. The constructed vector was verified with restriction enzyme digestion and sequence analysis.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONThe recombinant expression vector Ksp-cadherin-Gpx1-Klk1 was constructed and identified successfully, which provides a potent tool for preparing transgenic animals to investigate gene therapy for ischemia-reperfusion injury in kidney transplantation.

Cadherins ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; genetics ; Humans ; Kallikreins ; genetics ; Kidney ; metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo compare the therapeutic effects and safety of herpes zoster treated by the cotton sheet moxibustion combined with the plum-blossom-needle tapping therapy to western medicine.

METHODSThe multicentral random controlled method was adopted, 120 cases of herpes zoster were randomly divided into a comprehensive treatment group and a western medication group, 60 cases in each one. In the comprehensive treatment group, the tapping therapy of plum blossom needle was applied to the foci, corresponding Jiaji (EX-B 2), Quchi (LI 11), Waiguan (TE 5), Zusanli (ST 36), Taichong (LR 3), etc. Afterward, the cotton sheet moxibustion was given. In western medication group, Acyclovir ointment for external application, Valaciclovir Hydrochloride tablets and Vitamin B1 for oral administration were prescribed. In 7 days of treatment, the clinical symptom score, effect time, efficacy and safety were observed before and after treatment between two groups. The recurrence of disease was followed up for 1 month.

RESULTSIn the comprehensive treatment group, the cured rate and the total effective rate were 80.0% (48/60) and 98.3% (59/60) separately, which were significantly better than 45.0% (27/60) and 71.7% (43/60) in western medication group separately (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). After treatment, in either group, the scores of clinical symptoms such as pain rating index (PRI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), present pain intensity (PPI), skin lesion and sleeping score, etc. were all reduced significantly (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The score reducing was much more obvious in the comprehensive treatment group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). In the comprehensive treatment group, the time of pain stopping, the time of blister stopping, the time of scarring and the time of healing were all shorter tha tn those in western medication group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). In the follow-up observation, 1 case (1.6%) was recurred in the comprehensive treatment group and 8 cases (13.3%) were in western medication group. In western medication group, 6 cases presented mild adverse reactions.

CONCLUSIONThe cotton sheet moxibustion combined with the plum-blossom-needle tapping therapy is advantageous at good efficacy, quick effect and short-time treatment for herpes zoster, which is apparently superior to the treatment with Acyclovir ointment for external application, Valaciclovir Hydrochloride tablets and Vitamin B1 for oral administration. It is the safe and effective therapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Herpes Zoster ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Pain Management ; Young Adult