The effect of glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta) has been repeatedly implicated in cell proliferation, but studies on the effect of GSK3beta in different cell lines with different stimuli have drawn different conclusions. To investigate the direct effect of GSK3beta on cell growth in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549, we changed its activity by transient transfection with two kinds of GSK3beta mutant plasmids, constitutively active form S9A-GSK3beta and dominant negative form KM-GSK3beta. Twenty-four hours later, cell counting, flow cytometry and Western blot detection were made respectively. The results showed that enhancing GSK3beta activity caused a decrease in cell number, as well as a higher percentage of cells at G(1) phase. Further, the expression of cyclin D1 was down-regulated by GSK3beta. Taken together, our observations suggest that GSK3beta may induce G(1) cell cycle arrest in a cyclin D1-dependent fashion and therefore possibly plays a growth-inhibitory role in A549 cells.
Adenocarcinoma ; pathology ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin D1 ; metabolism ; Down-Regulation ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; Transfection

AIM To optimize the two-phase (ethanol-dipotassium phosphate) aqueous extraction for Astragali Radix by central composite design-response surface method.METHODS With ethanol concentration,dipotassium hydrogen phosphate solution concentration and Astragali Radix feed ratio as influencing factors,together with extraction rates of total flavonoids and total saponins as evaluation indices,the technology optimization was accomplished by central composite design-response surface method.RESULTS The optimal conditions were determined to be 27.97％ for ethanol concentration,22.03％ for dipotassium hydrogen phosphate solution concentration,and 1 ∶ 58.85 for Astragali Radix feed ratio.The extraction rate of total flavonoids reached 74.13％ (concentrated in the upper layer),while that of total saponins reached 81.34％ (concentrated in the lower layer).CONCLUSION With good predictability,this simple and accurate method can be used for the extraction of total flavonoids and total saponins in Astragali Radix.

Adult ; Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; China ; ethnology ; Fatty Liver, Alcoholic ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the changes in retinal functions using multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) following intravitreal injection of Lucentis for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.

METHODSThis prospective study was conducted in 14 patients (9 men and 5 women, 14 eyes) with wet age-related macular degeneration receiving treatment with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (Lucentis) in our hospital between October, 2014 and January, 2016. All the patients received the treatment following a 1+PRN protocol and after the initial injection, the patients were followed up monthly for 6 months to decide if additional injections were needed. The corrected visual acuity and mfERG findings of the patients were assessed before and at l, 3 and 6 months after the initial injection.

RESULTSAt the last follow-up, the patients received injections for a mean of 2.86∓1.58 times. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 1 month after the initial treatment was not significantly different from that before treatment (P=0.07), but showed significant improvements at 3 and 6 months (P<0.05). In mfERG, the implicit time of the 6 rings showed no significant decrease after the treatment, but the amplitude density of P1 and N1 in rings 1 and 2 improved significantly at 1, 3, and 6 months after the initial injection (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONMultifocal electroretinography can serve as a useful modality for evaluating visual function changes in patients receiving intravitreal injection of Lucentis for wet age-related macular degeneration.

BACKGROUND: Long-term complications of cesarean section include placenta praevia, placenta accreta, cesarean scar pregnancy and uterine rupture. These life-threatening complications in pregnant women maybe result from the defects of endometrium and uterine smooth muscle as well as poorly formed decidua in the scar of cesarean section. Mesenchymal stem cells have the function of repairing tissue injuries, and the amount of cells homing to the site of injury may affect the effect of tissue repair. OBJECTIVE: To explore the distribution and homing of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from male rats into rat models of cesarean section. METHODS: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells isolated from male rats in vitro were cultured and identified. Female Wistar rats were randomized into two groups: cesarean section group and control group. Rats in the cesarean section group were given intravenous administration of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from male rats via the tail vein on day 21 after cesarean section, and non-operative rats in the control groups were given the same amount of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from male rats after natural delivery. Rats in the two groups were sacrificed on days 7 and 28 after cell injection. The distribution of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from male rats in tissues (including heart, lungs, livers, kidneys, and uterine scar) was detected by measurement of the SRY mRNA level using SPY-PCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In the cesarean section group, the SRY gene was most abundant in the lung, followed by the liver and the kidney on day 7 after injection, although the distribution of SRY gene in the heart and uterine scar was low; on day 28 after injection, the levels of SRY gene in the lung, liver and kidney decreased (P < 0.05), but had no significant changes in the heart and uterine scar (P > 0.05). In the control group, the distribution of SRY gene was similar to that in the cesarean section group on both days 7 and 28 after injection, and the levels of SRY gene in the heart and uterus were low. These findings reveal that allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells implanted mainly distribute in tissues with abundant blood flow, including lungs, livers and kidneys. And the cell number decreases gradually over time. Since the amount of implanted cells in the heart and uterus is very low, the change with time is not obvious. Cesarean section injury has no impact on the distribution of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in pregnant rats and there is of course no increase in the homing and colonization of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in a cesarean scar.

To prove that ursolic acid(UA)could activate the autophagy of colorectal cancer HCT116 cells by inhibiting hedgehog signaling pathway. The effect of UA on the viability of HCT116 cells was determined by MTT assay. The effect of UA on the proliferation and migration of HCT116 cells was detected by crystal violet staining and scratch test. In the study on autophagy, the time points were screened out first: the autophagy fluorescence intensity of UA acting on HCT116 at different time points were detected by Cell Meter~(TM) Autophagy Assay Kit; Western blot was used to detect the expression of autophagy protein P62 at different time points. Then, Cell Meter~(TM) Autophagy Assay Kit was used to detect the effect of UA on autophagy fluorescence intensity of HCT116 cells. The effect of different doses of UA on the expressions of LC3Ⅱ and P62 proteins in HCT116 cells were detected by Western blot. Further, AdPlus-mCherry-GFP-LC3 B adenovirus transfection was used to detect the effects of UA on autophagy flux of HCT116 cells; UA combined with autophagy inhibitor chloroquine(CQ) was used to detect the expression of LC3Ⅱ by Western blot. In terms of mechanism, the effect of UA on hedgehog signaling pathway-related proteins in HCT116 cells was detected by Western blot. The results showed that UA inhibited the activity, proliferation and migration of HCT116 cells. UA enhanced the fluorescence intensity of autophagy in HCT116 cells, while promoting the expression of LC3Ⅱ and inhibiting the expression of P62, in a time and dose dependent manner. UA activated the autophagy in HCT116 cells, which manifested that UA resulted in the accumulation of fluorescence spots and strengthened the fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes; compared with UA alone, UA combined with autophagy inhibitor CQ promoted the expression of LC3Ⅱ. UA reduced the expressions of PTCH1, GLI1, SMO, SHH and c-Myc in hedgehog signaling pathway, while increased the expression of Sufu. In conclusion, our study showed that UA activated autophagy in colorectal cancer HCT116 cells, which was related to the mechanism in inhibiting hedgehog signaling pathway activity.
Apoptosis ; Autophagy ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Hedgehog Proteins/genetics* ; Humans ; Signal Transduction ; Triterpenes