Background and purpose: It has been reported that activation of Notch1 could strongly inhibit proliferation of HPV (human papilloma virus)-positive HeLa cells by down-regulation of the E6 and E7 genes. The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of the Notch signaling pathway in growth arrest of EC109 cells in vitro and the molecular mechanism. Methods: EC109 cell lines, a well differentiated human ESCC (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma) cell line with HPV18-positive, was used in the study. Exogenous intracellular domain of Notch1(ICN) was transfected into cultured EC109 cells by lipofectamine transfection, the proliferation of the transfected cells was measured by an MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry. Human papilloma virus type 18 (HPV18) E6/E7 mRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR, and p53 protein expression was detected by Western blot.Results: Activation of Notchl signaling resulted in inhibition of EC109 cell proliferation with the induction of G_2/ M arrest. There was a significant difference in terms of the percentage of G_2/M phase cells among the ICN-transfected group (42.57±1.57)% and the non-transfected group (1.88±0.66)% or the empty plasmid transfected group (1.99±1.02)% (P<0.01). Down modulation of HPV18 E6/E7 gene expression and upregulation of p53 expression was (2.15±0.23) in ICN-transfected group higher than non- transfected group (0.45±0.07) and empty plasmid transfected group (0.46±0.02) (P<0.01). Conclusion: Repression of HPV18 E6/E7 expression by Notch1 signaling results in growth suppression of HPV18-positive EC109 cells with concomitant activation of p53-mediated pathways.

OBJECTIVETo determine the effects of ginsenosides Rb1(GSRb1) on learning and memory and expression of somatostatin (SS) in the hippocampus and the frontal cortex in rat model of sleep deprivation (SD).

METHODSRats were randomized into groups of SD 2 d, SD 4 d, SD 6 d, and SD 0 d, while each group was sub-divided into GSRb1 group and normal saline (NS) sub-groups. Rats were intraperitoneal administered with 30 mg/(kg*d) of GSRb1 or NS for 7 d, then the learning and memory abilities were examined by measuring average swimming speed and mean escape latency using Morris maze.Expression of somatostatin was detected with immunohistochemical method and image analysis in the hippocampus and the frontal cortex.

RESULTSCompared with SD 0 d rats, SD rats exhibited significant decrease in the average swimming speed and increase in the escape latency (P <0.01). The expression of somatostatin in the hippocampus was decreased significantly in SD 2 d, SD 4 d and SD 6 d rats (P<0.05). However, decrease was only observed in SD 4 d and SD 6 d rats in the frontal cortex (P <0.05). Parallel comparison between NS control and GSRb1 treated rats demonstrated that rats treated with GSRb1 in each subgroup exhibited faster swimming speed and shorter escape latency (P <0.05). Meanwhile, the expression of somatostatin was increased in SD 2 d, SD 4 d and SD 6 d rats in the hippocampus and in SD 4 d and SD 6 d rats in the frontal cortex (P <0.05), respectively.

CONCLUSIONGSRb1 enhances the expression of somatostatin in sleep deprivation rats and subsequently may improve learning and memory abilities of rats.

Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Ginsenosides ; pharmacology ; Learning ; drug effects ; Male ; Memory ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sleep Deprivation ; metabolism ; Somatostatin ; metabolism

Objective:To investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of a 3D U-Net in conjunction with a three-phase CT image segmentation model in the automatic segmentation of GTVnx and GTVnd in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods:A total of 645 sets of computed tomography (CT) images were retrospectively collected from 215 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases, including three phases: plain scan (CT), contrast-enhanced CT (CTC), and delayed CT (CTD). The dataset was grouped into a training set consisting of 172 cases and a test set comprising 43 cases using the random number table method. Meanwhile, six experimental groups, A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, and B2, were established. Among them, the former four groups used only CT, only CTC, only CTD, and all three phases, respectively. The B1 and B2 groups used phase fine-tuning CTC models. The Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95) served as quantitative evaluation indicators.Results:Compared to only monophasic CT (group A1/A2/A3), triphasic CT (group A4) yielded better result in the automatic segmentation of GTVnd (DSC: 0.67 vs. 0.61, 0.64, 0.64; t = 7.48, 3.27, 4.84, P < 0.01; HD95: 36.45 vs. 79.23, 59.55, 65.17; t = 5.24, 2.99, 3.89, P < 0.01), with statistically significant differences ( P < 0.01). However, triphasic CT (group A4) showed no significant enhancement in the automatic segmentation of GTVnx compared to monophasic CT (group A1/A2/A3) (DSC: 0.73 vs. 0.74, 0.74, 0.73; HD95: 14.17 mm vs. 8.06, 8.11, 8.10 mm), with no statistically significant difference ( P > 0.05). For the automatic segmentation of GTVnd, group B1/B2 showed higher automatic segmentation accuracy compared to group A1 (DSC: 0.63, 0.63 vs. 0.61, t = 4.10, 3.03, P<0.01; HD95: 58.11, 50.31 mm vs. 79.23 mm, t = 2.75, 3.10, P < 0.01). Conclusions:Triphasic CT scanning can improve the automatic segmentation of the GTVnd in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Additionally, phase fine-tuning models can enhance the automatic segmentation accuracy of the GTVnd on plain CT images.

Alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) has developed rapidly as a method for preserving the alveolar socket's bone volume after tooth extraction. ARP can create conditions for implant restoration, and reduce operation difficulties by decreasing alveolar ridge absorption. There are certain difficulties of ARP applicationin patients with tooth extracted due to periodontitis. This paper mainly introduces the characteristics of ARP, compares the similarities and differences among ARP, guided tissue regeneration, guided bone regeneration and immediate implant, and then summarizes their advantages and disadvantages. The paper focuses on the specificity of ARP and the progress of ARP application in patients with tooth extracted due to periodontitis, in order to offer direction for clinical application and future research on ARP.