To investigate the potential use of suicide gene systems in vascular targeting gene therapy, HSV-tk/GCV and EC-cd/5-FC systems were established on vascular endothelial cells in vitro by adenovirus transduction. Both modified cell lines were highly sensitive to prodrugs, the IC_(50) for GCV was 0.2?mol/L in IGll/Ad-tk cells, and IC_(50) for 5-FC was 20?mol/L in IGll/Ad-cd cells, while the parental endothelial cells were insensitive even at the highest concentrations of prodrugs in the experiment. Mixed cellular assay showed that significant bystander killing effect was exhibited in modified endothelial cells. Also, the apoptosis involved in these prodrug-mediated growth inhibitions has been shown under electron microscopy. These results indicated that both HSV-tk/GCV and EC-cd/5-FC systems could efficiently suppress vascular endothelial cell growth in vitro , suggesting the feasibility of using suicide gene in vascular targeting gene therapy.

Objective To constitute a correlation with the subjective indicators by investigation of the causes and clinical features in patients with chronic cough.Methods Totally 100 patients with chronic cough were recruited followed a diagnostic program.Airway responsiveness[by methacholine challenge test (MCT)],Leicester cough questionnaire(LCQ),visual analogue scale(VAS),cough score,age,gender and disease duration were all recorded for analysis.Results The top five causes of chronic cough in these patients were variant asthma,post infectious cough,atopic cough,eosinophilic bronchitis and upper airway cough syndrome.LCQ total score was negatively correlated with age and the VAS score(r=-0.239 and -0.470 respectively,all P<0.05),while no difference was found among patients with different causes of disease or gender(F=1.233,t=1.918,all P>0.05)and no correlation was found with BMI(r=-0.029,P>0.05).The physiological and psychological field score in female patients significantly reduced(t=2.174,1.990,P<0.05),and LCQ total score of MCT positive patients obviously reduced than negative ones(t=-2.22,P<0.05).After the treatment of two weeks,LCQ three component field and total score could be improved significantly(all P<0.01).Conclusion Gender and age may have some impact on the quality of life in patients with chronic cough.LCQ,VAS and cough score should be used to assess cough severity and evaluate therapeutic effect in patients with chronic cough.

Objective To evaluate the role of magnetic resonance angiography ( MRA ) in diagnosing peripheral hemangioma andvascular malformation . Methods 61 cases of hemangioma and vascular malformations in peripheral soft tissue were undergone MRAexamination.Results Of 13 patients with hemangioma,the arteries within hemangioma were increased and gradually fine from proximal to distal in 7 cases and in company with arteriovenous fistulae in 2 cases,there were no arteries within hemangioma in 6 cases.Vascular malformations were found in 48 patients,arteries and veins of vascular malformation were showed in 35 cases,but arteries of vascular malformations were only showed in one case.Arteries of vascular malformation were showed in 5 cases and the arteries were pressed on arterial angioyraphy in 23 cases.On MR venography(MRV),the shallow malformed veina were showed in 25 cases and in company with deep malformed veina in 13 cases,only the shallow and deep veina increased and thickness be showed in 2 cases.Arterioveinous fistulae could be seen in 8 cases on MR aterio-venography.There were no vessel be showed in 12 cases within the losions.Conclusion MRA is of significant value in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of peripheral hemangioma and vascular malformations.

Objective To measure the diameter of cochlear nerve(CN) in normal hearing children with different ages,and evaluate the diameter variations with age.Methods A total of 156 normal-hearing children were assessed with 3D-FIESTA sequence scanning of the inner ear.All the subjects were divided into 13 groups according to age,witha group of ≤6 months,a group of ≤1 year,and 11 groups from one year to 12 years.Each group had 12 cases,including 6 boys and 6 girls.The diameter of CN was measured at the entrance of the cochlea,the middle of internal auditory canal(IAC) and the fundus of IAC respectively on the axial and oblique sagittal images of 3.0 T MRI by two independent observers.The average values measured by them were the final results.The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to determine the consistency between the two independent observers.The t test was used to access differencesin CN diameter by sex and sides.One-way analysis of variance(ANOVA) and two-way ANOVA were used for comparisons among different groups.Spearman correlation coefficient was applied to find a correlation between the CN diameter and age.Results The diameters of normal-hearing children's CN at the middle of the IAC,IAC fundus and the entrance of the cochlea were (1.12 ± 0.08),(1.05 ± 0.06),(0.87 ± 0.14) mm respectively,and there was significant difference among the three measuring points (F=527.57,P＜0.05).The diameters of the CN had no significant differenc (P＞0.05) in age-groups,gender and sides(P＞0.05),and there was no correlation between the diameters of normal children's CN and age.Conclusions The diameters of normal-hearing children's CN change with different points of the IAC,of which the maximum value is at the middle of the IAC,followed by the IAC fundus,and the entrance of the cochlea is at the minimum,more over the normal size doesn't change with age.

Objective:To evaluate the role of spinal mammlian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1)/glioma associated oncogene homolog 1 (Gli1) signaling pathway in chronic morphine tolerance in mice.Methods:Healthy male Kunming mice, aged 8-10 weeks, weighing 23-25 g, were used in the study.The experiment was performed in two parts.Experiment I Fifty mice were randomly assigned into 2 groups: normal saline group (group S, n=10) and morphine group (group M, n=40). In M and S groups, morphine and normal saline 10 mg/kg were injected subcutaneously, respectively, twice a day for 7 consecutive days.The thermal pain threshold (TPT) was measured and the maximum analgesic effect percentage (MPE) was calculated at 1 day before administration and 30 min after the last administration every day.Ten mice in each group were randomly selected and sacrificed after measurement of TPT at 1, 3, 5 and 7 days after administration in group M and after the last measurement of TPT in group S, and the lumbar segment (L 4-6) of the spinal cord was removed.Experiment Ⅱ Forty mice were randomly divided into 4 groups ( n=10 each): KU-0063794+ morphine group (group KU+ M), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)+ morphine group (group DM+ M), morphine+ KU-0063794 group (group M+ KU) and morphine + DMSO group (group M+ DM). Morphine 10 mg/kg was injected subcutaneously twice a day for 7 consecutive days in 4 groups.At 1-3 days of morphine injection, mTOR specific inhibitor KU-0063794 200μl (1 μg/μl) and 10% DMSO 200 μl was injected intraperitoneally in KU+ M group and DM+ M group at 30 min before administration twice a day.At 5-7 days of morphine injection, KU-0063794 200μl (1 μg/μl) or 10% DMSO 200 μl was injected intraperitoneally in group M+ KU or group M+ DM at 30min before administration, respectively, twice a day.TPT was measured and MPE was calculated at 1 day before morphine injection and at 30 min after the last administration every day.The animals were sacrificed after the last measurement of TPT, and the lumbar segment (L 4-6) of the spinal cord was removed for determination of the expression of spinal mTOR, phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR), S6K1, phosphorylated S6K1 (p-S6K1) and Gli1 (using Western blot). Results:Experiment Ⅰ Compared with group S, MPE was significantly increased at each time point after administration at 3, 5 and 7 days after administration, expression of spinal p-mTOR, p-S6K1 and Gli1 was significantly down-regulated ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in mTOR and S6K1 in group M ( P>0.05). Experiment Ⅱ Compared with group DM+ M, MPE was significantly decreased at 3-7 days after morphine injection, expression of p-mTOR, p-S6K1 and Gli1 in spinal cord was down-regulated ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in expression of mTOR and S6K1 in group KU+ M ( P>0.05). Compared with group M+ DM, MPE was significantly increased at 6-7 days after morphine injection, expression of p-mTOR, p-S6K1 and Gli1 in spinal cord was down-regulated ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in mTOR and S6K1 in group M+ KU ( P>0.05). Conclution:Spinal mTOR/S6K1/Gli1 signaling pathway is involved in the development and maintenance of chronic morphine tolerance in mice.

Objective To investigate the correlation between Young′s elastic modulus (EI) using shear wave elastography (SWE) and liver pathology .Methods Liver biopsy was performed on 231 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) under supersonic guidance ,and SWE with EI of liver was obtained concurrently .The correlation between measured liver stiffness and pathology was analyzed by using the liver pathology as golden standards .One‐way analysis of variance and Spearman rank correlation analysis were performed for the comparison between groups and correlation between two variables , respectively .Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to explore the predictive value of shear modulus for the liver inflammation grades and fibrosis stages .Results The EI medians of different liver inflammation grades were 6 .78 kPa (G1) ,7 .30 kPa (G2) ,9 .93 kPa (G3) and 14 .93 kPa (G4) , respectively ,which were statistically different (H=55 .19 ,P<0 .01) .And EI medians of various fibrosis stages were 6 .62 kPa (S0 -S1) ,7 .15 kPa (S2) ,9 .78 kPa (S3) and 14 .62 kPa (S4) ,respectively , which were also significantly different (H=62 .14 ,P<0 .01) .EI was positively correlated with both liver inflammation grades (r=0 .454 6 ,P<0 .01) and liver fibrosis stages (r=0 .505 6 ,P<0 .01) .The areas under the ROC for G≥2 ,G≥3 and G=4 were 0 .68 (95% CI:0 .61 -0 .75) ,0 .77 (95% CI:0 .70 -0 .84) and 0 .85 (95% CI:0 .77-0 .92) ,respectively .The areas under the ROC for S≥2 ,S≥3 and S=4 w ere 0 .73 (95% C I:0 .66 -0 .79 ) ,0 .78 (95% C I:0 .72 -0 .85 ) and 0 .83 (95% C I:0 .75 -0 .91 ) , respectively .Conclusion The EI measured by SWE is correlated with liver pathology of CHB patients , which may be used to dynamically monitor the progress of liver fibrosis .

OBJECTIVE: To provide prenatal diagnosis for a pregnant women carrying a chromosome translocations using single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP-array). METHODS: The fetus and its parents were subjected to chromosome karyotyping and SNP array analysis. RESULTS: A Xp22.12 microduplication was identified in the fetus with a size of 496.3 kb. Search of literature and database indicated the microduplication to be variant of unclear significance. The phenotypically normal mother has carried a 505.8 kb duplication at the same position. The father was normal for the testing. The couple decided to continue with the pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy girl at full-term. No abnormality was found during the follow-up. CONCLUSION The Xp22.12 microduplication encompassed part of RPS6KA3 gene, which shows various features of Coffin-Lowry syndrome. Female with Xp22.12 microduplications may be asymptomatic carriers due to X chromosome inactivation. Our case may provide data for delineating the phenotype-genotype correlation of Xp22.12 microduplication.

Objective:To investigate the role of DDX3 up-regulation in the proliferation of human cervical cancer cells and its correlation with clinical prognosis.Methods:Expression levels of DDX3 in the 59 specimens of cervical cancer and adjacent non-neoplastic tissue collected at Henan Provincial People′s Hospital from April 2012 to March 2013 were detected using immunohistochemistry. A lentivirus-mediated DDX3-over-expression cell line was constructed based on HeLa cells of cervical cancer. CCK-8 assay was used to evaluate cell survival rate. Boyden chamber was used to measure the cell migration and invasion. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect DDX3 expression level and Western blot was used to detect the expression of EMT and PI3K/Akt signal pathway-related proteins. Results:DDX3 overexpression was associated with FIGO stage, depth of cervical invasion and lymph node metastasis ( P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that cervical cancer patients with high expression of DDX3 had a poor overall survival ( P<0.05). Compared with the cells transfected with pLVX-Con vector, the expression of DDX3 protein and mRNA was significantly increased in the cells transfected with pLVX-DDX3 (all P<0.01). Cell proliferation was significantly increased following transfection with pLVX-DDX3 for 72 h in HeLa cells compared with that transfected with pLVX-Con ( P<0.05). Compared with the controls, DDX3 overexpression significantly promoted the migration and invasion of HeLa cells ( P<0.05), and increased the expression of N-Cadherin, vimentin and Snail in HeLa cells ( P<0.05). In pLVX-DDX3 group, the expression levels of β-catenin, phosphorylated Akt, and pAkt′s downstream target p-GSK3β were significantly higher than those of pLVX-Con group ( P<0.05). The expression levels of p-Akt, p-GSK3β and β-catenin were decreased when the PI3K/Akt pathway was blocked using the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 ( P<0.05), and the expression levels of N-Cadherin, vimentin and Snail were also significantly decreased ( P<0.05). Conclusions:DDX3 overexpression promotes proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells, and induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Its mechanism may be related to activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological features, immunophenotypic and molecular genetic characteristics and differential diagnosis of fibrous hamartoma of infancy (FHI).Methods:Thirty-three cases of surgically removed FHI were collected from the Department of Pathology, Henan Provincial People′s Hospital from October 2011 to December 2020, the clinical and pathologic data with follow-up were collected and analyzed. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) were used to study the molecular genetics.Results:The FHI cases occurred in 21 males and 12 females (mean age 16.7 months, range 6 months to 6 years). The sites included trunk ( n=21), limb ( n=11), and neck (n=1). All patients had painless solitary superficial soft tissue masses, the size was 1.5-9.0 cm (mean 3.8 cm). Microscopically, they were composed of mature adipose tissue, fibroblast/myofibroblast bundle and primitive mesenchymal cells in different proportions; giant cell fibroblastoma-like areas were seen in 14 cases. Immunohistochemistry showed variable expression of EGFR in the spindle cells and primitive mesenchymal components. In most cases, the spindle cells were positive for CD34 and SMA; giant cell fibroblastoma-like areas were strongly positive for CD34; and S-100 protein was expressed by adipocytes in all cases. Ki-67 labeling index ranged 1%-5%. There were recurrent somatic EGFR exon 20 insertion/duplication mutations in six cases tested by NGS, and there were three different mutation types: p.Asn771_His773dupAsnProHis, p.Pro772_His773insProProHis, and p.His773_Val774insThrHis. All the above 6 and another 15 tested cases showed EGFR exon 20 insertion/duplication mutations by q-PCR. Conclusions:FHI is a rare benign fibroblast/myofibroblast tumor. The characteristic histologic feature is organoid triphasic morphology, and the molecular feature is somatic mutation of EGFR exon 20 (insertion/duplication).

Objective:To study the clinicopathological, immunophenotypic and molecular genetic characteristics of nodular fasciitis (NF) in unusual sites.Methods:A total of 50 cases of NF diagnosed between January 2015 and January 2021 were reviewed in the Department of Pathology, Henan Provincial People′s Hospital, and the clinical and pathologic data were analyzed. Among them, 14 cases from unusual sites were included in this study. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to detect the expression of related proteins, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to detect the breakage of the USP6 gene.Results:There were seven males and seven females in the 14 NF respectively. The lesions were located in the extremities, perineum, breast, wrist joints, the gap between lumbar vertebra 4/5, and in eight cases there was involvement of unusual tissues (six cases in skeletal muscle, one case in nerve root, and one case was intravascular). The tumor boundary was unclear with infiltrating growth. Spindle-shaped myofibroblasts were arranged in bundles or chaotically, with mild pleomorphic, small nucleoli and various mitotic figures. The tumor stroma showed collagenization to myxoid degeneration with erythrocyte extravasation and infiltration of inflammatory cells. IHC staining showed that the spindle cells expressed SMA focally or partially, and p16 diffusely and strongly. FISH showed that 12 of 14 cases had USP6 gene breakage, and two of them occurred in the intrathoracic skeletal muscle with the red signal amplification of USP6 gene.Conclusions:NF in unusual sites shows similar clinicopathological and genetic characteristics to classic NF, but the tumor mostly has infiltrating borders, non-specific and strong expression of p16, and USP6 red signal amplification. The pathological diagnosis of NF in rare sites should be highly vigilant.