Objective To investigate the development and dynamic changes of host immune response in DBA/2 mice infected with Plasmodium yoelii 17XL. Methods Female DBA/2 mice were infected by intraperitoneal ( i. p. ) injection of 106 P. yoelii 17XL parasitized erythrocytes ( PRBC). Levels of IL-12, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10 and P. yoelii 17XL-specific antibody in sera were measured by ELISA. Concentrations of NO in cell supernatants were measured by the Griess reaction. Parasitemia,percentage of mononuclear-macrophages of individual mice were monitored daily, and phagocytosis of mononuclear macrophages was also observed. Results Primary parasitemia in vein blood was developed on day 3 postinfection, which peaked with a level of 46. 9% on day 9. Most mice cleared the infection and survived by day 20 postinfection. From day 6 to day 16, the phagocytosis of PRBC by rodent macrophages was observed on the blood smear. Infected mice had a continuously increased level of IL-12 in serum from day 1 postinfection. Accordingly, high level of IFN-γ was also detected in sera from day 1 postinfection,which peaked on day 6. Infected mice produced higher level of IL-4 and IL-10 in serum on day 6 postinfection, which peaked on day 9 and day 15 postinfection respectively. In addition, splenocytes from infected mice produced significantly higher level of NO on day 6 and 20 postinfection. Level of P. yoelii 17XL-specific IgG was determined in the sera of infected mice with a steadily increased trend after infection, which peaked on day 70 postinfection. Conclusions Effective polarizing of Thl cells is significant in inhibition of parasitemia and eventual clearance of the Plasmodium parasites. Activated mononuclear-macrophages play a key role in inhibiting parasitemia in the early phase of infection with P. yoelii 17XL.

Objective:To study the role of 14-3-3εand Cdc25B in germinal vesicle (GV)-stage arrest of mouse oocytes,and to pay foundation for further study on the molecular mechanism of PKA/Cdc25B/14-3-3εpathway in GV-stage arrest of mouse oocytes.Methods:The eukaryotic expression vectors of pcDNA3.1-ZEO-HA-14-3-3ε, pcDNA3.1-MYC-Cdc25B-WT, pcDNA3.1-MYC-Cdc25B-S321A, and pcDNA3.1-MYC-Cdc25B-S321D were transcribed into mRNA invitro.The mouse GV-stage oocytes were collected after superovulation and divided into no injection group,TE buffer microinjection group,14-3-3εmRNA injection group,14-3-3εmRNAs + Cdc25B-WT mRNA injection group,and 14-3-3εmRNA + Cdc25B-S321A mRNA injection group,14-3-3εmRNA+Cdc25B-S321D mRNA injection group.The protein expression levels of HA-14-3-3εand MYC-Cdc25B and the phosphorylation status of Cdc2-pTyr15 were observed by Western blotting method.The morphological changes and germinal vesicle breakdown (GVDB)rates of mouse oocytes were observed under phase-contrast microscope. Results:None of the oocytes in no injection group, TE buffer microinjection group, 14-3-3εmRNA injection group,14-3-3εmRNA + Cdc25B-WT mRNAs injection group and 14-3-3εmRNA + Cdc25B-S321D mRNA were able to undergo GVBD until at least 20 h after injection (P>0.05 );the GVBD rates of oocytes in 14-3-3εmRNA+Cdc25B-S321A mRNA group at 1 h (5.00%±0.68%),2 h (62.00%±3.56%)and 3 h (100.00%± 0.00%)after injection were significantly higher than those in no injection group and TE buffer injection group (P<0.01);the oocytes in 14-3-3εmRNA+ Cdc25B-Ser321A mRNA group at 20 h (79.00%±2.80%)after injection progressed to MII (P<0.01).Conclusion:14-3-3εcan regulate the transition from GV to GVBD of mouse oocytes by means of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of S321-Cdc25B.

This study was aimed to investigate the abnormal expression of microRNA-124 (miR-124) in bone marrow cells of patients with leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and its significance. The relative expression levels of miR-124 in bone marrow mononuclear cells from 33 patients with newly diagnosed leukemia or MDS, and 10 normal donors (as controls) were detected by stem-loop fluorescence real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The methylation levels of miR-124 promoter were detected by quantitative methylation specific PCR in partial MDS samples. The results indicated that as compared with normal control, lower levels of miR-124 (≤ 1/3) were found in 2/18 of leukemia patients and in 5/15 of MDS patients (among them ≤ 1/4 in 3/15 MDS patients). No statistically significance difference was observed between leukemia patients and normal controls (P = 0.725). However the difference was statistically significant between MDS group and control group (P = 0.031). Furthermore, an elevated methylation level of miR-124 promoter region in some of MDS patients (7/11) was detected by using quantitative methylation-specific PCR. The expression level of miR-124 was related with methylation level of promoter region (R(2) = 0.339, P = 0.018). It is concluded that the expression of miR-124 in partial MDS patients is inhibited, which may be associated with the abnormal methylation of its promoter.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Case-Control Studies ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia ; metabolism ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Young Adult

In order to enhance the specificity of TNF-α monoclonal antibody to inflamed site, a bispecific antibody BsDb that targets TNF-α and the extra-domain B (ED-B) of fibronectin (FN) was constructed by covalently linking the anti-TNF-α single chain Fv antibody (TNF-scFv) and the anti-ED-B scFv L19 via a flexible peptide linker deriving from human serum albumin (HSA). ED-B is an antigen specifically expressed at the inflamed site. BsDb is expressed in E. coli, identified by immunoblot, and purified with affinity chromatography. This was followed by further examination of its bioactivities and pharmacokinetics. We demonstrated that BsDb retained the immunoreactivity of its original antibodies as it could simultaneously bind to TNF-α and ED-B and neutralize the biological action of TNF-α. In the collagen-induced arthritis mice model, BsDb selectively accumulate in the inflamed joint with a maximal uptake of (12.2 ± 1.50)% ID/g in a single inflamed paw and retain in the inflamed paw for at least 72 h. In contrast, BsDb showed a short serum half-life of (0.50 ± 0.05) h and a rapid clearance from normal tissues. The findings reported herein indicate that BsDb has good specificity to the inflamed site and low toxicity to normal tissues. BsDb is therefore likely to have greater clinical applications in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. This laid a stable basis for its preclinical study.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bispecific ; chemistry ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; chemistry ; Arthritis, Experimental ; Escherichia coli ; Fibronectins ; chemistry ; Half-Life ; Humans ; Mice ; Single-Chain Antibodies ; chemistry ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; chemistry

BACKGROUND: Bone morphogenetic protein(BMP) is one of the most important cytokines that induce and promote seed cells to be transformed into osteocytes. Insoluble natural BMP can hardly affect the life of cultured seed cells. The expensive soluble recombinant BMP is also hard to work on the seed cells at the appropriate time and dose. Therefore, gene therapy technique provides us with a brand new idea of using gene-modified seed cells.OBJECTIVE: To transfect exogenous BMP-3 gene into the fibroblasts and screen the positive fibroblast clones that can express BMP-3 stably.DESIGN: Simple sample study.SETTING: Orthopaedic Research Institute, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA.MATERIALS: The fibroblasts(NIH3T3) were kindly presented by Professor Situ Zhen-qiang of the Stomatological College of Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA.METHODS: This experiment was conducted in the Key Laboratory of Chinese PLA, which belongs to the Orthopaedic Research Institute of Fourth Military Medical University. BMP-3 gene was transfected into the fibroblasts through lipofectamin. The transfected cells were screened by G418. The separated cloned cells were identified through immunohistochemistry. The positively stained cells were the clones of BMP-3 expressing fibroblasts.MAIT OUTCOME MEASURES: The screening concentration of NIH3T3 cells, screening of positive transfected cells, and expression of BMP-3 in screened cells.RESULTS: BMP-3 gene was successfully transfected into the fibroblasts. BMP-3 expressing fibroblast clones were creened and identified through immunohistochemistry. Fibroblast strains with stable BMP-3 expression were obtained.CONCLUSION: The transfection of BMP-3 gene eukaryonic expression vector into the fibroblasts and obtaining of fibroblast strains with BMP-3 expression have laid foundation for the usage of gene-modified seed cells in future research of bone tissue engineering.

AIM: To observe the changes in expression and activity of the transcription factor myocyte enhancer factor 2A (MEF2A) during hepatic stellate cells (HSC) activation, and to study the roles of MEF2A in the process of HSC activation. METHODS: Cultured HSC was isolated from male sprague-dawley rat liver on plastic dishes and were used as model of activation. The freshly isolated (0 day) and cultured HSC at time points of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th day were collected. Expression of MEF2A mRNA was detected by real-time quantitative PCR. MEF2A and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA, a marker for activated HSC) were tested by Western blotting. Meanwhile, the MEF2A DNA binding activity was determined by electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). RESULTS: The expression of MEF2A mRNA was small amounts in the freshly isolated HSC and increased gradually after culture on plastic dishes. Western blotting revealed that the freshly isolated HSC expressed very low levels of MEF2A and α-SMA. The proteins of MEF2A and α-SMA were increased gradually in the process of HSC activation. Increased MEF2A protein was correlated with α-SMA. EMSA revealed that MEF2A DNA binding activity was increased gradually during HSC activation. CONCLUSION: In the process of HSC activation, expression and activity of MEF2A are increased gradually, indicating a role in HSC activation.

Objective To investigate the protective effect and therapeutic window of DGMI on ischemic stroke in rats,and to explore the related mechanism.Method The rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 min followed by 72 h of reperfusion.DGMI (i.p.,1.25,2.5,5.0,and 10.0 mg/kg,Bid) was administered at 1 h after the onset of ischemia.Neurological score was evaluated after 24 and 72 h of reperfusion rcspectively.In fact volume,cerebral water content,oxidative stress markers,and IL-1β were evaluated after 72 h of reperfusion.The rats were treated with DGMI 5.0 mg/kg 0.5 h before reperfusion or 1 h,2 h,3 h,and 6 h after reperfusion to determined therapeutic window.Result Treatment with DGMI (2.5,5.0 mg/kg) significantly ameliorated neurological deficit,infarct volume and cerebral water content after cerebral ischemia reperfusion.DGMI also reduced the content of malonaldehyde (MDA),IL-1β,down-regulated the activities of creatine kinase (CK),lacticdehydrogenase (LDH),and up-regulated the activities of superoxide dISmutase (SOD).Treatment with DGMI 5.0 mg/kg exhibited protective effects when administered at all time points except for 6 h after reperfusion.Conclusion DGMI plays a certain protective role in ischemic stroke of rats,and the effect may be related to the improvement on the antioxidant capacity of brain tissue and the inhibition of overproduction of inflammatory cytokine.Moreover,the therapeutic window of DGMI isless than 6 h after reperfusion.

Aim To study the mechanism of 8-isopro-pylaminomethyl hesperitin ( IPHP ) intestinal absorp-tion using Caco-2 cell lines. Methods Using Caco-2 cell lines as an intestinal epithelial cell model, the effects of drug concentration, temperature, pH, P-gly-coprotein ( P-gp) inhibitor verapamil and multidrug re-sistance protein 2 ( MRP2 ) inhibitors MK-571 or pro-benecid on IPHP transport across Caco-2 cell lines were all investigated. Results The transportation of IPHP was related to drug concentration. The Papp ( AP-BL) ( × 10 -5) was (2. 21 ± 0. 200) cm·s-1,(3. 56 ± 0. 306) cm·s-1,(3. 81 ± 0. 179) cm·s-1,(4. 23 ± 0. 229 ) cm · s-1 , ( 4. 17 ± 0. 262 ) cm · s-1 , re-spectively, and Papp(BL-AP) ( × 10 -5) was (3. 57 ±0. 209) cm·s-1,(4. 51 ± 0. 113) cm·s-1,(4. 97 ± 0. 229) cm·s-1,(5. 24 ± 0. 550) cm·s-1,(5. 07 ± 0. 557) cm·s-1,respectively. Efflux rate was 1. 61, 1. 26,1. 3,1. 23,1. 21,respectively. Temperature and pH both influenced the transport, While the P-gp in-hibitor verapamil had no effect on the transport of IPHP. MRP2 inhibitors MK-571 or probenecid led to an apparent decrease in the efflux of IPHP. Conclu-sion The results suggest that the transport of IPHP is mainly passive diffusion, and MRP2 but not P-gp may be involved in the transport of IPHP.

In this study, based on the transcriptome data, we cloned the full-length cDNAs of TwAACT gene from Tripterygium wilfordii suspension cells, and then analyzed the bioinformation of the sequence, detected the genetic differential expression after being induced by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) by RT-PCR. The full-length cDNA of the TwAACT was 1 704 bp containing a 1 218 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 405 amino acids (GeneBank accession No. KP297934). The deduced isoelectric point (pI) was 6.10, a calculated molecular weight was about 41.20 kDa, and online prediction showed that TwAACT had two catalytic active sites. After the induction of MeJA, the relative expression level of TwAACT increased rapidly. The expression level of TwAACT was highest at 24 h. TwAACT was cloned firstly, that laid the foundation for identifying thegene and illustrating thebiosynthesis mechanism and its synthetic biology.
Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sequence Alignment ; Tripterygium ; chemistry ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo observe the intervention and mechanism of Qushi Huayu Recipe (QHR) on gene expression profiles in high lipid diet induced fatty liver rats.

METHODSFatty liver model was prepared in 20 male SD rats using single high fat diet (88% common forage +2% cholesterol +10% lard). Four weeks after modeling they were divided into the model group and the QHR group according to random digit table, 10 in each group. QHR (at 0. 93 g crude drug/100 g body weight) and distilled water was respectively to rats in the QHR group and the model group by gastrogavage while modeling, once per day. Meanwhile, 10 SD male rats were recruited in a normal group, administered with equal volume of distilled water by gastrogavage. At the end of week 8 all rats were sacrificed, and blood and livers were collected for subsequent analysis. Contents of liver triglyceride (TG) and free fatty acid (FFA) , activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were detected using biochemical assay. Pathological changes of liver tissue were observed using H&E and oil red O stain. Liver gene expressions were detected by Affymetrix gene expression profiles. Differentially expressed genes were compared between the QHR group and the model group, functions of differentially expressed genes and signal pathways involved analyzed. Ten differentially expressed genes involved in glycolipid metabolism with fold change more than 2 were selected for verification by real-time PCR.

RESULTS(1) Compared with the normal group, contents of liver TG and FFA, and serum activities of ALT and AST obviously increased in the model group (P <0. 01). Compared with the model group, contents of liver TG and FFA, and activities of ALT and AST obviously decreased in the QHR group (P <0. 05, P <0. 01). QHR could reduce high fat induced fatty degeneration of liver cells , alleviate inflammation, and improve pathological changes of liver tissue. (2) Compared with the model group, there were 80 differentially expressed genes (with fold change > 2, P < 0.05) with clear functions and appointed gene names, including 44 up-regulated and 36 down-regulated genes. Eighty genes were involved in 27 signal pathways with statistical difference, including glycerolipid metabolism, adipocytokine signaling pathway, insulin signal pathway, drug metabolism signal pathway, etc (P < 0.05). (3) RT-PCR results of 10 glycolipids metabolism regulating genes such as Gk, Scd1, Gpat2, G6pc, Irs1, and so on showed that all RT-PCR genes were completely coincide with up-regulated or down-regulated tendency in results of gene chips. 80% genes had approximate fold change.

CONCLUSIONQHR could regulate gene expressions related to fat metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, anti-lipid peroxidation, and drug metabolism in high fat diet induced fatty liver rats, and its comprehensive pharmacological actions could be manifested.

Alanine Transaminase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; metabolism ; Carbohydrate Metabolism ; Diet, High-Fat ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified ; metabolism ; Fatty Liver ; metabolism ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transcriptome ; drug effects ; Triglycerides ; metabolism