Objective To explore the effects of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) overexpression on mitochondrial biosynthesis and function in melanocytes.Methods An immortalized human vitiligo melanocyte cell line PIG3V was used in this study.An overexpression plasmid Nrf2-pEX-1 containing the full-length Nrf2 gene was constructed.PIG3V cells were divided into 3 groups:blank group receiving no treatment,control group transfected with the pEX-1 plasmid,overexpression group transfected with the Nrf2-pEX-1 plasmid.After transfection,real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot were performed to determine the mRNA and protein levels of mitochondrial biosynthesis-related factors (including Nrf2,nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM)) respectively;RT-PCR was also conducted to measure the copy number of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA),and flow cytometry to estimate mitochondial membrane potential (MMP);luciferase reporter system was used to estimate the intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level.Statistical analysis was carried out by using a two-sample t-test.Results After transfection,a significant increase was observed in the mRNA expression levels of Nrf2 and NRF1 at 24 hours (both P ＜ 0.001) and in those of Nrf2 and TFAM at 48 hours (both P ＜ 0.05),but no significant change was noted in the mRNA expression level of TFAM at 24 hours (P ＞ 0.05) or in that of NRF1 at 48 hours (P ＞0.05) in the overexpression group compared with the control group.In the case of Nrf2,NRF1 and TFAM protein levels,the overexpression group showed significant increases compared with the control group at 48 hours after transfection (all P ＜ 0.05),while no significant difference was noted between the two groups at 24 hours.Compared with the control group,MMP in the overexpression group increased by 2.313％ at 24 hours (t =5.546,P =0.005) and by 14.872％ at 48 hours (t =8.537,P =0.001) after transfection.Both the relative copy number of mtDNA and ATP level were similar between the overexpression group and control group at 24 hours after transfection (both P ＞ 0.05),but significantly higher in the overexpression group than in the control group at 48 hours (t =5.760,P =0.005;t =22.040,P =0.008).Conclusion Up-regulation of Nrf2 pathway can improve mitochondrial function and biosynthesis in PIG3V cells likely by promoting the expressions of mitochondrial biosynthesis-related genes and proteins.

Objective To investigate the expression of E-cadherin and Snail proteins in rectal cancer and their significance. Methods The expression of Snail and E-cadherin proteins was detected using immunohistochemical SABC method in 101 cases of rectal cancer tissues. Results The positive rate of Snail in rectal cancer was 78.2% (79/101). The negative expression rate of E-cadherin in rectal cancer was 62.4% (63/101). The expression of Snail and E-cadherin were significantly related with the lymph node metastasis and Dukes' stage of rectal cancer (P ＜ 0.05). Conclusion The overexpression of Snail and the decreased expression of E-cadherin might be important biological markers for malignant transformation, invasion and metastasis of rectal carcinoma.

Objective Totally MIIE with per-oral placement of anvil has been reported elsewhere,but MIIE with manual pursestring and per-thoracic port placement of anvil has been seldomly reported.The feasibility of the latter technique was proved in this study.Methods Patients with mid-lower thoracic esophageal cancer were prospectively treated with totally MIIE at Shanghai Cancer Center of Fudan University from Feberay 28,2013 to August 31,2013.Laproscopic intracorporeal construction of the gastric conduit and needle catheter J-tube were performed in the first stage of MIIE.In the second stage a hand sewn pursestring was made with endostitch system and the anvil of EEA stapler was inserted via the tenth inter costal port prior to the intrathoracic anastamosis.Short-term clinicopathologic outcomes were collected.Results 39 cases were treated with totally MIIE,media age 61 years,ranged 48-69 years,10 females and 29 males.There was 1 conversion to open surgery.The median duration of operation was 245 minutes.The median intraoperative blood loss was 210 ml.All the patients were margin negative and staged from pT1N0M0 to pT3N2M0.The average lymph node yields were 16.5 per patient.The median postoperative hospital stay was 7 days.There was no mortality.Perioperative morbidity occurred in 4 patients (10％).2 patients were complicated with late stage gastric paralysis which began 2 or 3 days after oral feeding and both recovered in 1 month.1 patient was with minor anastamotic leakage which was endoscopically demonstrated on the 14th day postoperatively and the patient recovered in 1 month post leakage.1 patient was complicated with severe pneumonitus and ARDS; the ICU stay of that case was 19 days and the recovered patient was discharged 27 days postoperatively.Conclusion MIIE with regular EEA stapler and intrathoracic anastamosis is feasible in patients with thoracic esophageal cancer.Prospective randomized clinical trials could be conducted to compare the open procedure and totally MIIE with regular EEA stapler.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic jejunostomy with central venous catheterization set (CVC, Arrow International Inc., USA) during the operation of totally minimally invasive Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy (MIIE). Methods:The clinical data of 88 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who were admitted to the Fudan University Cancer Hospital from February 2013 to April 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 48 patients with early mid-lower esophageal cancer un-derwent laparoscopic jejunostomy with CVC, and 40 patients accepted nasogastric tube nutrition. Short-term clinical outcomes were collected. Results:No significant difference in nutrition index was found between the two groups, but the rate of unplanned extubation in the laparoscopic jejunostomy with CVC group was less than that in the nasogastric tube nutrition group. Conclusion:Laparoscopic jejunostomy with CVC set is a safe and feasible technique. It is potentially accepted as an optional approach in MIIE for post-operative nutrition support.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of cortical-sparing adrenalectomy (CSA) in the treatment of bilateral pheochromocytoma.Methods:The clinical data of 20 patients with bilateral pheochromocytoma treated in Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January 2004 to December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, including 10 males and 10 females. The average age of onset was 32.5 (8-51) years. 3 cases had a family history of pheochromocytoma. There were 14 and 6 patients with bilateral synchronous and metachronous onset, respectively. The mean value of vanilmandelic acid (VMA) in 20 cases was (106.4 ± 60.0) μ mol/24h. Preoperative enhanced CT showed a soft tissue mass with uneven enhancement in the adrenal region, with low-density necrosis, which suggested the diagnosis of Pheochromocytoma. All 20 cases underwent CSA under general anesthesia. In 14 cases of bilateral synchronous disease, 9 cases underwent simultaneous operation and 5 cases underwent staged operation; 6 patients with metachronous disease underwent bilateral tumor resection successively. Laparoscopic surgery was performed in 18 cases and open surgery in 2 cases. Through the abdominal or retroperitoneal approach, open the fat capsule around the upper pole of the kidney, free the medial edge of the upper pole of the kidney, expose the adrenal gland and tumor, completely remove the tumor and capsule, ensure that the adrenal tissue is 3-5 mm away from the cutting edge of the tumor, and the reserved cortical size is at least 1 / 3 of the ipsilateral adrenal gland. The central adrenal vein was preserved as much as possible to reduce the damage to the adrenal vascular bed. The operation related data, intraoperative monitoring records, postoperative complications and long-term follow-up results were recorded.Results:All the 20 cases were successfully completed without tumor rupture. The operation time of simultaneous operation and staged operation were (242.3 ± 61.0) min and (137.9 ± 60.3) min, respectively. The number of patients admitted to ICU after operation was 7 and 2, respectively ( P<0.05); The intraoperative bleeding volume was (528.6 ± 355.7) ml and (277.8 ± 264.7) ml, the number of blood transfusion cases were 5 and 2 cases, and the average hospital stay was (7.4 ± 2.0) d and (7.8 ± 3.3) d, respectively ( P>0.05). 20 cases took glucocorticoid orally (prednisone 5 mg, once every 12 hours) after operation. There was no obvious manifestation of adrenocortical dysfunction and Addison's crisis. The hormone was stopped gradually from 2 weeks to 1 month after operation. The average follow-up was 5.4 (1.0-16.0) years. There were 3 cases of recurrence and no metastasis. Gene detection was performed in 10 cases after operation, and 7 cases carried pheochromocytoma RET and VHL pathogenic gene mutations (RET in 2 cases and VHL in 5 cases). Conclusion:Although CSA has a certain risk of recurrence, it avoids hormone replacement and does not increase the risk of metastasis and death. It is recommended for the treatment of hereditary pheochromocytoma, especially bilateral pheochromocytoma.

Objective:To investigate whether it is by regulating interleukin 1β ( IL-1β) gene expression that androgen receptor (AR) in macrophages affects hyperphosphate-induced vascular smooth muscle cell calcification. Methods:The chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiment was used to determine whether AR was bound to the androgen receptor element (ARE) sequence of IL-1β promoter in THP-1 cells. Whether the AR regulated IL-1β gene expression was detected by luciferase assay experiments. AR of THP-1 cells was silenced and transfected by lentivirus with vector or shRNA. Flow cytometry was used to select positive transfected cells THP-1ARsc (control) and THP-1ARsi (AR silencing) with fluorescent markers. Western blotting was used to detect AR protein levels of THP-1ARsc (control) and THP-1ARsi cells (AR silencing in monocytes). Macrophages MФARsc (control) or MФARsi (AR silencing) were induced by 50 ng/ml phorbol ester. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect IL-1β expression levels of MФARsc or MФARsi conditioned medium. The human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMC) were cultured in MФARsc or MФARsi conditioned medium with phosphate (2.5 mmol/L final concentration of sodium dihydrogen phosphate), and Alizarin red S staining was used to analyze HASMC calcification degree. Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of RUNX2 (osteoblast marker) and SM22α (HASMC marker), and neutralization assay was performed to test IL-1β-mediating effect of macrophages AR on HASMC calcification. Results:AR was bound to ARE sequence of IL-1β promoter and regulated IL-1β gene expression. The expression level of IL-1β protein in conditioned medium of MФARsi cells decreased significantly compared to MФARsc cells ( P<0.001). Compared with MФARsc conditioned medium group, HASMC calcium deposition in MФARsi conditioned medium group decreased significantly, RUNX2 protein decreased and SM22α protein increased (all P<0.05). The degree of HASMC calcification in the MФARsi conditioned medium+IgG antibody group decreased than that in the MФARsc conditioned medium+IgG antibody group significantly, and the degree of HASMC calcification in the MФARsc conditioned medium+IL-1β antibody group decreased significantly than that in the MФARsc conditioned medium+IgG antibody group; while the degree of HASMC calcification in the MФARsi conditioned medium+IgG antibody group and MФARsi conditioned medium+IL-1β antibody group decreased than that in the MФARsc conditioned medium+IL-1β antibody group (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Macrophage AR regulates IL-1β expression by binding to ARE sequence within IL-1β promoter, and IL-1β mediates the effect of macrophage AR on hyperphosphate-induced HASMC calcification.

OBJECTIVE：To optimize the f ormulation of docetaxel （DTX）-mPEG-PLGA-mPEG （PELGE）-nanoparticles （NPs），and to characterize it and evaluate its in vitro drug release and antitumor activity. METHODS ：PELGE were synthesized by ring-opening polymerization. DTX-PELGE-NPs were prepared by using emulsion solvent evaporation method. The content of DTX in DTX-PELGE-NPs was determined by HPLC. Box-Behnken design-response surface methodology was applied to optimize the formulation of the nanoparticles using the amount of DTX ，PELGE and poloxamer 188 as independent variable ，using entrapped efficiency as dependent variable. The particle size and Zeta-potential of DTX-PELGE-NPs were characterized by laser particle size analyzer and transmission electron microscope. The in vitro release of the DTX-PELGE-NPs was investigated by ultra-filtered centrifugation，using DTX injection as reference. In vitro cytotoxicity of the DTX-PELGE-NPs was investigated by MTT assay ， using DTX and PELGE-NPs without DTX as reference . RESULTS ：The optimal formulation included 2.80 mg DTX ，20.60 mg PELGE and 6％ poloxamer 188. The entrapped efficiency of optimized DTX-PELGE-NPs was （86.79±1.32）％；drug-loading amount was （10.21±0.78）％，and average particle size was （78.4±2.9）nm；polydispersity coeffici ent was （0.187±0.018）and Zeta potential was （－20.6±1.5）mV. Furthermore ，DTX- PELGE-NPs showed a regular spherical and uniform distribution under scanning electron microscopy. Compared with DTXinjection（accumulative release rate of 92.3％ at 4 h），DTX- PELGE-NPs had a significant sustained-release effect （accumu-lative release rate of 78.6％ at 36 h）. 0.1-50 μg/mL PELGE-NPs had no obvious cytotoxicity to human breast cancer cells MCF-7（P＞0.05）. 0.5-10 μg/mL DTX-PELGE-NPs could significantly inhibit the growth of human breast cancer cells MCF-7， and its inhibitory effect （except for DTX-PELGE-NPs 10 μg/mL group）was significantly stronger than that of DTX injection （P＜ 0.05）. CONCLUSIONS ：The optimized formulation is stable and feasible. The obtained DTX-PELGE-NPs not only have uniform particle size ，high encapsulation rate obvious slow-release effect ，but also have stronger anti-tumor effect in vitro than DTX injection.