The mirror neuron system is an action observation-execution mechanism which plays an important role in many neurophysiologicalprocesses, such as action observation, action imitation, motor imagery and motor learning. It is an important neural mechanism of actionobservation therapy, motor imagery therapy, mirror therapy, virtual reality therapy and brain computer interface technology.

[Objective] To investigate the anti-proliferative and apoptosis effect induced by Honokiol (HNK) on human myeloid leukemia cell line U937 cells in vitro.[Methods] After treated with different concentration of HNK,Hoechst33342 fluorescent staining was used to detect cell apoptosis;the growth inhibition ration of U937 cells and PBMCs were analyzed by MTT assay;the apoptosis ration was detected by flow cytometry;mitochondrial membrane potential was explored by rhodamine 123 stain;Caspase3/7 protein activity kit was used to test the Caspase3/7 activity;the Caspase-3 and Caspase-7 mRNA levels were detected by real-time fluorescent relative-quantification reverse transcriptional PCR (FQ-PCR).[Results] Honokiol could significantly inhibit the proliferation of U937 cells in terms of the indexes of IC50/U937 11.8 μg/mL and IC50/PBMCs 40.3 μg/mL,and the anti-proliferative effect was in a time and concentration dependent manner;Flow cytometry analysis manifested that Honokiol could induce U937cells apoptosis by Annexin V/PI double Annexin V/PI fluorescein stain;Honokiol significantly inhibited the mitochondrial membrane potential of U937 cells and enhanced the ability of Caspase3/7 and the mRNA expression levels,but not the PBMCs.[Conclusion] HNK can inhibit U937 cells proliferation and induce cells apoptosis via activating Caspase 3/7.

Objective To investigate the preventive effect of Indomethacin for post-ERCP pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia.Methods A total of 600 patients,who were undergoing ERCP,were randomly divided into 3 groups to receive anal Indomethacin (n=200),intravenous octreotide (n=200) or no special medication (n=200) before ERCP.The level of serum amylase before and 24h after ERCP were measured,and the rate of acute pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia after ERCP were assessed.Results Serum amylase levels before ERCP of all groups were normal.The mean serum amylase level of Indomethacin group (101.3±77.7 U/L) after ERCP was significantly lower than those of octreotide group ( 176.6±138.3 U/L,P =0.040 ]and control group (227.2±264.9 U/L,P=0.048),while there was no difference between octreotide group and control group ( P＞0.05 ).The incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis in Indomethacin group (2.5％) was significantly lower than that of control group (9.5％,P=0.003),while there was no difference between octreotide group (4.5％) and control group ( P=0.05 ).The incidence of hyperamylasemia after ERCP in Indomethacin group (5.5％) was significantly lower than that of control group ( 13.5％,P=0.006 ),while there was no difference between octreotide group (10.0％) and control group ( P＞0.05 ).Conctusion Anal administration of Indomethacin before ERCP can effectively reduce the incidence of acute pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia after ERCP.

Purpose To investigate the role of PTEN in podocyte injury in patients with diabetic nephropathy ( DN) . Methods Uri-nary samples from 30 patients with DN and 10 healthy volunteers were collected to detect the level of PCX by ELISA. Renal biopsies were reviewed to observe the morphological changes. All patients with DN were divided into three groups by glomerular lesion. The ex-pression of p-Akt and PTEN in glomeruli was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results The levels of PCX in the urine were signifi-cantly higher in patients with DN compared with those in healthy volunteers, and gradually increased along with glomerular lesion aggra-vating. The expression of p-Akt and PTEN increased in patients with DN compared with healthy volunteers. Although the expression of p-Akt and PTEN decreased with the aggravation of glomerular lesion, they were still higher than that in volunteers. There were obvious-ly positive correlation between the level of PCX and 24-h urinary protein and negative correlation between the level of PCX and the ex-pression level of p-Akt and PTEN. Conclusion PTEN down-regulation may be associated with podocyte injury in DN, which may be associated with the phosphorylation of Akt.

Objective To evaluate the clinical value and effectiveness of ultrasound screening for fetal chromosomal abnormalitie in the middle and late pregnancy. Methods Fetuses who were detected with abnormal ultrasound findings during the middle and late pregnancy, and high risk of maternal serum screening underwent amnioeentesis or eordocentesis for fetal chromosome karyotypes. Results (1) A total of 31 cases with fetal malformation diagnosed by ultrasound were analysed for fetal chromosome karyotypes, and 8 (25.8%) cases were proved with fetal abnormal chromosome karyotypes. There were 3 cases of cervical springwater cyst accompany with edema,and all were fetal abnormal chromosome karyotypes. There were 3 cases of cervical pachyderma,and 2 were fetal abnormal chromosome karyotypes. There was one case with multiple malformations, one with Dandy-Walker malformation and one with holoprosencephaly malformation,all were revealed fetal abnormal chromosome karyotypes. (2) A total of 516 cases with high risk of Down's syndrome and trisomy 18 by maternal serum screening were analysed for fetal chromosome karyotypes,and 14(2.710%) cases were proved with fetal abnormal chromosome karyotypes, which include 7 cases of Down's syndrome and 7 cases of other fetal abnormal chromosome karyotypes. (3) A total of 544 (516 + 28)cases with high risk by the combination of ultrasound and maternal serum screening were analysed for fetal chromosome karyotypes, and 21 (3.86%) cases were proved with fetal abnormal chromosome karyotypes, the rate of detection higher than only maternal serum screening 42.43%.Conclusions Fetal structure abnormalities were the effective ultrasound signs for fetus chromosomal abnormalities screening in the middle and late pregnancy. The combination of ultrasound and maternal serum screening can improve the rate of fetus chromosomal abnormalities screening and be an effective way to retrieve false-positive and lower risk of maternal serum screening.

Suppressor of cytokine signaling(SOCS) 3, a novel type of cytokine signal transduction inhibitory molecules in family of SOCS, is mainly involved in Janus protein tyrosine kinase/signal transducer andantivator of transcription signaling pathway negative feedback regulation. It is involved in inflammation, oxidative stress, cell damage, and apoptosis. Meanwhile, it is closely related to atherosclerosis, obesity, glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, leptin, cancer, asthma, and rheumatic diseases. Therefore, SOCS-3 may become a therapeutic target of these diseases.
Humans ; Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 Protein ; Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling Proteins

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of long non-coding RNA-HOTAIR in prostate cancer cells and its effects on the growth and metastasis of the cells.

METHODSUsing quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), we determined the relative expression of HOTAIR in the normal human prostate epithelial cell line RWPE-I and prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and DU145. We detected the effects of HOTAIR on the cell cycle and invasiveness of prostate cancer cells by RNA interference, flow cytometry, and Transwell mitration assay.

RESULTSThe expressions of HOTAIR in the PC3 and DU145 cells were increased 3.2 and 5.7 times, respectively, as compared with that in the normal RWPE-1 cells. After si-HOTAIR interference, the prostate cancer cells were arrested in the G2 phase and downregulated in the G1 phase. The invasive ability of the prostate cancer cells was evidently inhibited, with the inhibition rates of 32% and 44% of the PC3 cells and 43% and 34% of the DU145 cells for si-HOTAIR1 and si-HOTAIR2, respectively.

CONCLUSIONIncRNA HOTAIR is highly expressed in prostate cancer, which is associated with the growth and invasiveness of prostate cancer cells. HOTAIR is potentially a novel marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer.

Cell Cycle ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Cell Division ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Down-Regulation ; G1 Phase ; G2 Phase ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Prognosis ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Long Noncoding ; metabolism ; RNA, Untranslated ; metabolism

Objective:To investigate the effect of DKK1 on linearly patterned programmed cell necrosis (LPPCN) and vasculogenic mim-icry (VM) and the related molecular mechanism in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods:A total of 173 human NSCLC speci-mens were collected to detect LPPCN by H&E staining, detect VM with CD31/PAS double staining, and investigate DKK1 and related protein expression by immunohistochemistry. The clinical pathological significance of LPPCN, VM, and DKK1 and the correlation of them were analyzed. Human NSCLC H460-DKK1 cells were engrafed in nude mice to evaluate the influence of DKK1 up-regulation on VM and LPPCN in vivo. Results:Approximately, 14.45%(25/173) of NSCLC had VM and 49.71%(86/173) had LPPCN. 25.6%(22/86) of NSCLC cases in LPPCN-positive group formed VM. Both of VM and LPPCN were all correlated with poor differentiation, late TNM stage, easy recurrence and metastasis and poor prognosis in NSCLC. DKK1 expression in the VM-positive group and the LPPCN-positive group was higher than that in the VM-negative group and the LPPCN-negative group, respectively. DKK1, LPPCN, and VM were positive-ly correlated with VE-cadherin, MMP-2,β-catenin nuclear expression and Twist1. H460-DKK1 transplantation tumor model confirmed that DKK1 promotes the expression of VM and LPPCN and related proteins in NSCLC. Conclusion:The increase of theβ-catenin and Twist1 expression induced by DKK1 may promote the formation of LPPCN and VM in NSCLC.

In order to construct an integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine, the authors and their cooperators have completed a lot of researches for identifying Chinese animal medicines using DNA barcoding technology. Sequences from GenBank have been analyzed simultaneously. Three different methods, BLAST, barcoding gap and Tree building, have been used to confirm the reliabilities of barcode records in the database. The integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine has been constructed using three different parts: specimen, sequence and literature information. This database contained about 800 animal medicines and the adulterants and closely related species. Unknown specimens can be identified by pasting their sequence record into the window on the ID page of species identification system for traditional Chinese medicine (www. tcmbarcode. cn). The integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine is significantly important for animal species identification, rare and endangered species conservation and sustainable utilization of animal resources.
Animals ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Eukaryota ; classification ; genetics ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective To construct RNAi combinant adenoviral expressive vectors specific to p65 subunit of NF-?B and to observe their gene silencing effect on p65 subunit.Methods Three pairs of complementary. single-strand DNA oligos targeting three various sites of p65 mRNA were designed and synthesized.Annealling was used to generate double-strand oligos(ds-oligos),and then the ds-oligos were cloned into pENTR~TM/u6 to generate the entry clone named pENTR.Recombination reaction in vitro with the pENTR and pAd/BLOCK-iT~TM- DEST was used to creat the adenovirus plasmid which contains the RNAi cassette.Then,the adenovirus plasmids digested with PacI were transfected into HEK293A cells to product adenovirus,and latter infected the HEK293A cells to amplify the adenoviral stock.Plaque forming assay was used to titer the adenoviral stock.The p65 gene silencing effect induced by the RNAi adenovirus was detected by Western blot and immunocytochemistry assay in ECV304 cells.Results The RNAi adenovirus specific to p65 subunit of NF-?B were produced with titer of 3.0 x 10~9pfu/ml to 2.5?10~10pfu/ml.The expression of p65 protein in ECV304 cells could be down-regulated efficiently by the RNAi adenovirus 48-72 h after infection,which would last for more than 6 days after infection.Conclusion RNAi adenovirus is an important tool inhibiting the expression of target gene efficiently.