1.Teaching practice and teachingof cell biology experiments for oversea medical students
Yingyu CUI ; Mengqi LI ; Xianli WANG ; Shan'e GAO ;
Chinese Journal of Medical Education Research 2015;14(11):1105-1108
The teaching practiceof cell biology experiments for oversea medical students in School of Medicine of Tongji University was reported in the present article, and the teaching principles of careful plan, clear contents, concise textbook, flexible scheme, full preparation, earnest trial-lecture, orderly implementation and formative assessment were put forward.Based on the different teaching object, the paper mainly explained the differences and the basis of the experimental teaching process of the foreign students and the domestic medical students to provide experience for improving the teaching mode of this kind of course.
2.Experimental research and analysis on dielectric properties of blood in anemia mice.
Ben SHEN ; Quiyan LIANG ; Weiqi GAO ; Chu YOU ; Mengqi HONG ; Qing MA
Journal of Biomedical Engineering 2013;30(6):1186-1190
The conductivity and permittivity of blood in mice were measured by the AC electrical impedance method at frequency range of 0.1-100MHz, and then the changes of the Cole-Cole parameters of dielectric spectra of blood from phenylhydrazine-induced anemia mice were observed by numerical calculation and curve fitting residual analysis of the Cole-Cole equation. The results showed that hematocrit (Hct) of the mice with phenylhydrazine injection was significantly reduced; the permittivity(epsilon) spectroscopy of blood moved to the low insulating region and its permittivity decreased; conductivity (kappa) spectrum curve of blood moved to the high conductivity zone and conductivity increased; the 2nd characteristic frequency was lower than that in the normal group. There was phenylhydrazine dose dependent in the changes of the Cole-Cole parameters of dielectric spectra of blood.
Anemia
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blood
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Animals
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Blood Physiological Phenomena
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Electric Conductivity
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Electric Impedance
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Hematocrit
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Mice
3.CP466722 inhibits proliferation and triggers apoptosis of HepG2 cells
Ke SUN ; Cuiying CHU ; Mengqi ZHENG ; Yuan GAO ; Youkun QI ; Fengze WANG
Chinese Journal of Pathophysiology 2017;33(4):655-660
AIM: To investigate the effect of CP466722, an inhibitor of ataxia telangiectasia mutated protein (ATM), on the proliferation and apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.METHODS: The cell viability was detected by MTT assay.The cell growth inhibition was measured by colony formation assay.The effect of CP466722 on the cell cycle distribution of the HepG2 cells was examined by flow cytometry.The cell apoptosis was analyzed by TUNEL staining.The protein expression was examined by Western blotting.RESULTS: CP466722 inhibited the cell viability and cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner.In CP466722-treated HepG2 cells, the cell cycle was arrested in G2/M phase, and the protein levels of phosphorylated cell division cycle protein 2 (p-Cdc2), cell division cycle protein 25C (Cdc25C) and phosphorylated Cdc25C (p-Cdc25C) were inhibited, whereas the protein expression of p27 was up-regulated.CP466722 triggered the apoptosis of HepG2 cells through cleavages of caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP).In addition, CP466722 increased the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and suppressed the expression of β-catenin and survivin in the HepG2 cells.CONCLUSION: CP466722 inhibits the proliferation and induces the apoptosis of HepG2 cells, which may be related to activating p38 MAPK and inhibiting the expression of β-catenin and survivin.
4.Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 promotes the growth of gastric cancer cells through activa-tion of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway
Jing YANG ; Beifang LI ; Mengqi ZHANG ; Yanyan LI ; Cheng ZHANG ; Jing GAO
Chinese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2019;46(4):159-163
Objective: To explore the effect of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) BZLF1 gene on the biological behavior of EBV-negative gas-tric cancer cells and the underlying molecular mechanism. Methods: Lentiviral overexpressing BZLF1 was used to infect AGS and HGC27 gastric cancer cell lines. And the cell proliferation, apoptosis and migration invasive ability, and expression changes of cell sig-naling pathway were detected by CCK8 assay, apoptosis detection, migration and invasion assay, as well as western blot. HGC27 cells overexpressing BZLF1 were injected into the dorsal of NOD/SCID mice to construct xenografts, and the effect of BZLF1 on tumor growth was observed. Results: The expression of BZLF1 protein was significantly up-regulated in AGS-BZLF1 and HGC27-BZLF1 infected by over-expressing BZLF1 lentivirus. The cell proliferation in vitro and the tumorigenic ability in mice were significantly increased (P<0.05). Apoptosis was inhibited by BZLF1 protein, and the apoptotic rate of AGS-BZLF1 and HGC27-BZLF1 was (2.40±0.14)% and (3.90± 0.14)%, which was significantly lower than (5.75±0.35)% and (9.70 ± 0.42)% of AGS and HGC cells (P<0.05); however, there was no sig-nificant change in cell migration and invasion ability. In-depth molecular mechanism studies found that PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was significantly activated with enhanced pAKT and pS6 expression. After blocking the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway with BEZ235 inhibi-tor, the growth of HGC27-BZLF1 and AGS-BZLF1 cells was inhibited. Conclusions: EBV BZLF1 may promote the growth of gastric cancer cells by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and targeting PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors, and serve as a promising treatment op-tion for EBV-associated gastric carcinoma.
5.Study on the scale and tendency of dental schools in the United States and its implications to China
Jianlin HOU ; Mengqi GAO ; A'na XIE ; Xin PENG ; Jie LIU ; Weimin WANG
Chinese Journal of Medical Education Research 2023;22(10):1462-1465
The number of dental schools increased from 55 in 2000 to 66 in 2019 in the United States. The number of public, private, and private-state-related dental schools were 40, 22 and 4, respectively. A majority of them were located in most developed areas, such as western, eastern, and southern regions of the country. In the same period, the number of freshman enrollees rose from 4 234 to 6 231 while the average of enrollees kept under 100. On the basis of learning relevant experiences of the United States, it might be necessary for China to expand the overall scale of stomatology education in order to address the shortage of dentists, take measures to increase the number of stomatology schools and improve their distribution, and control the number of enrollees per school to enhance the quality of education.
6.Changes of Th17/Treg proportion and the expressions of related cytokines in peripheral blood of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Yingtong TIAN ; Ru GAO ; Zhuoying FENG ; Ming LI ; Lixiang LIU ; Mengqi SHI ; Yutong JI ; Yang DU
Chinese Journal of Endemiology 2022;41(4):265-269
Objective:To observe the ratio of helper T cells 17 (Th17)/regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and the expression changes of related cytokines in serum, and to explore their role in the occurrence and development of HT.Methods:Using the case-control study method, 35 HT patients examined in the General Hospital of Heilongjiang Beidahuang Group from February to November 2019 were selected as HT group, and 39 healthy people in the same period were selected as control group. Early morning fasting venous blood samples of the two groups were collected to test the levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT 4), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb). The expressions of serum interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17 and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); the number of Th17, Treg in peripheral blood were determined by flow cytometry. Results:The levels of TPOAb, TgAb and TSH in HT group [130.60 (43.37, 714.40), 368.10 (136.90, 1 103.00) U/ml, 9.05 (6.62, 15.23) μU/ml] were significantly higher than those in control group [2.66 (1.52, 4.69), 12.63 (11.43, 14.60) U/ml, 1.87 (1.36, 2.23) μU/ml, U = 6.87, 6.62, 4.85, P < 0.001], and the FT 4 level [0.76 (0.63, 1.04) ng/dl] was lower than that in control group [1.14 (1.02, 1.26) ng/dl, U = 7.39, P < 0.001]. The expressions of IL-6, IL-17 and TGF-β in HT group were higher than those in control group ( t = 2.41, 9.04, 2.44, P < 0.05). The number of Th17 and the ratio of Th17/Treg in HT group were higher than those in control group ( t = 4.20, 3.50, P < 0.05), and the number of Treg was lower than that in control group ( t = 4.45, P = 0.001). Conclusion:In HT patients, Th17 are increased, Treg decreased, Th17/Treg ratio increased, and the expressions of IL-6, IL-17 and TGF-β are increased.
7.Analysis of codon usage patterns in Bupleurum falcatum chloroplast genome.
Mengqi GAO ; Xiaowei HUO ; Liting LU ; Mengmeng LIU ; Gang ZHANG
Chinese Herbal Medicines 2023;15(2):284-290
OBJECTIVE:
In order to distinguish the traditional Chinese medicine Bupleurum falcatum and its adulterants effectively and develop a better understanding of the factors affecting synonymous codon usage, codon usage patterns of chloroplast genome, we determine the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of B. falcatum and clarify the main factors that influence codon usage patterns of 78 genes in B. falcatum chloroplast genome.
METHODS:
The total genomic DNA of fresh leaves from a single individual of B. falcatum was extracted with EASYspin plus Total DNA Isolation Kit and 2 μg genome DNA was sequenced using Illumina Hiseq 2500 Sequencing Platform. The cp genome of B. falcatum was reconstructed with MITObim v1.8 and annotated in the program CPGAVAS2 with default parameters. Python script and Codon W were used to calculate the codon usage bias parameters.
RESULTS:
The full length of B. falcatum cp genome was 155 851 bp, 132 different genes were annotated in this cp genome containing 80 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The codon usage models tended to use A/T-ending codons. The neutrality plot, ENC plot, PR2-Bias plot and correspondence analysis showed that both compositional constraint under selection and mutation could affect the codon usage models in B. falcatum cp genome. Furthermore, three optimal codons were identified and most of these three optimal codons ended with G/U.
CONCLUSION
The cp genome of B. falcatum has been characterized and the codon usage bias in B. falcatum cp genome is influenced by natural selection, mutation pressure and nucleotide composition. The results will provide much more barcode information for species discrimination and lay a foundation for future research on codon optimization of exogenous genes, genetic engineering and molecular evolution in B. falcatum.
8.Application of Press-Z-track-Turn intramuscular injection in the injection of Fluvastatin
Yang WANG ; Mengqi LI ; Yingming SUN ; Li GAO ; Sumei GUO
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2023;39(34):2669-2674
Objective:To investigate the application effect of Press-Z-track-Turn (PZT) intramuscular injection on the extravasation, local reaction, local pain after injection and patient satisfaction after Fulvestrant injection.Methods:Used a self-controlled study, 63 patients who underwent bilateral intramuscular injection of Fluvastatin in the outpatient injection room of Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital from August to October 2022 were conveniently selected. The observation time was two treatment cycles after inclusion in this study. Before the injection of the first treatment cycle, a coin toss was used to randomly decide to use traditional intramuscular injection and PZT intramuscular injection method for injection and record. After 28 days, another injection method was used, with a total of 126 injections per injection method. Observed the extravasation of drug solution and local reactions at the injection site within 7 days after injection using two injection methods, as well as the pain and satisfaction of patients within 7 days after injection.Results:The extravasation rate of drug solution for the PZT intramuscular injection was 1.59% (2/126), which was lower than 7.14% (9/126) for the traditional intramuscular injection, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=4.66, P<0.05); the incidence of mild and moderate local reactions for the PZT intramuscular injection was 3.97% (5/126) and 1.59% (2/126), respectively, lower than that for the traditional intramuscular injection 11.11% (14/126) and 5.56% (7/126), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=8.26, P<0.05); the pain score of the PZT intramuscular injection was (2.08 ± 0.85) points, lower than that of the traditional intramuscular injection (5.03 ± 1.06) points, and the satisfaction score of the PZT intramuscular injection was (23.68 ± 1.64) points, higher than that of the traditional intramuscular injection (20.10 ± 2.58) points. The difference was statistically significant ( t=-17.24, 9.16, both P<0.01). Conclusions:PZT intramuscular injection can effectively reduce the overflow rate, the incidence of grade 1 and 2 local reactions and the degree of pain of patients, and improve patient satisfaction, which is worthy of clinical application.