Apoptosis ; Ceramides ; biosynthesis ; Sphingomyelins ; metabolism

Objective: To investigate the influence of TGF-β and IFN-γ on the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells. Methods: Melanoma cells were cultured in vitro. When tumor cells were confluent about 80% degree, cytokines were added into cell culture media. The concentration of TGF-β and IFN-β was 5ng/mL and 10ng/mL, respectively. Melanoma cells were divided into free-cytokine group, TGF-β group,IFN-γ group, TGF-β and IFN-γ group. Tumor cells in each group were then incubated for 8h, 16h, 24h, 32h,40h and 48h, respectively. After incubation, fixing and staining with SRB, the optical densities and percentage viability were then determined by absorption at 540 nm (A 540). The scarification of tumor cells in each group on the surface was created by a 2001μL pipette tube. The motility of tumor cells in each group was assessed by measuring the distance between scarifications. The speed of the scuffing closure was monitored after 12h.The invasive ability of melanoma cells was observed by transwell cultivation. The tumor cells that invaded through the Matrigel and adhered to the bottom of the outside membrane were determined by absorption at 595 nm (A595). Gelatin zymography assay was used to examine the levels of matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) activity when the tumor cells were treated with cytokines after 24h. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity was demonstrated by gradation in the sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacryl-amide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gelatin. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity was determined by Image analy-sis Software. Results: TGF-β promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells (P<0.05).However, IFN-γ inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells (P<0.05). The effect weakened or disappeared when both of them were used (P>0.05). Conclusion: In vitro, TGF-β may affect the inhibitory effect of IFN-γ on the proliferation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells. This study provided a better understanding of the relationship between tumor and inflammatory factors and established a good ba-sis for future research.

Objective To explore the feasibility of iodized Nang(bread) prepared with iodized salt and non-iodized rock salt as vehicle of iodine. Methods Two kinds of Nang, each of 10 respectively, were grilled with 30 g iodized salt water and non-iodized rock salt water mixed with 2 kg flour by the local cooker, then put inside of Nang oven using traditional methods of grilled Nang in Xinjiang. The samples were collected from different parts of Nang, including the layers facing oven wall and the fire, as well as inside of Nang. The method for determination of iodine in foodstuff by dry ashing As ~Ⅲ-Ce~(4+) catalytic spectrephotometry was used to determine iodine concentration in Nang. Results Iodine content in iodized and non-iodized Nang was (0.654 ± 0.076)mg/kg and (0.075 ± 0.022)mg/kg, respectively. In addition, Iodine content in two kinds of Nang was significantly different and iodine content of Nang with iodized salt was much higher than that with non-iodized rock salt(t = 13.520, P <0.01 ). Iodine content in two kinds of Nang from the layers facing oven wall and the fire, as well as inside of Nang were (0.700 ± 0.100), (0.064 ± 0.029)mg/kg; (0.647 ± 0.076), (0.070 ± 0.019)mg/kg; (0.659 ± 0.073), (0.073 ±0.030)mg/kg, respectively. Iodine content in two kinds of Nang of the same parts was significantly different(t =3.826,4.201,4.103, all P < 0.01 ). There was no significant difference of iodine content in different parts of the same kind of Nang(F = 0.220,0.190, all P > 0.05). Conclusions Grilled Nang with iodized salt contains sufficient iodine, and the iodine content of the same kind of Nang in different parts has no significant difference. Our studydemonstrated that Nang is a vehicle available for iodine fortification since Nang is very popular food for local population in Xinjiang.

Objective To find out parental locus of control and mental health affecting students test anxiety. Methods The samples were from 5 middle schools including 1000 students,and their parents. They were investigated with the general life scales, Sarason's test anxiety scale, Symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90)and Parenting Locus of Control Scale(PLOC). Results The ratio of test anxiety: the mild was 28.8%, moderate was 45.0%, severe was 26.2% ,and felt anxiety was 55.8%. Ratio of test anxiety was higher in the boy students (X2=9.284, P =0.010) ,and heavier(F:16.42±6.70; M:15.18 ±6.51, t=2.716, P=0.007). Student test anxiety was significantly positively correlated with their parental mental health (r fatherl～11=0.166～0.272, Pfather l～11= 0.000;r mother 1～11=0.182～0.242, P mother 1～11= 0.000); Student test anxiety positively correlated with the effectiveness cof parents education, father's belief on the fate, eontrol of fathers for their children, locus of control from fathers (r1～5=0.075～0.143; P1-5=0.000～0.030);felt anxiety positively correlated with self-expect ,pressure from their mothers,over take care attitude from their parents,self-pressure from their parents( r1～6=0.068～0.230; P1-6=0.000～0.050) ,and negatively correlated with respect attitude of parents for their child, Marital relations,Communication time between the students and their parents,attitude of mother for learning( r1-7=-0.074～-0.140;P1～7=0.000～0.034). Felting test anxiety was served as a dependent factor, some factors enter the regression equation,and they were somatization of father, psychotic mother, the pressure from parents, mother over expectations, self-expectations ,the child control from student's father by Logistic regression analysis ( OR1～16=0.675～3.029;P1-6=0.000～0.007). Conclusion Students test anxiety is a common problem in male and female students. Mental health and locus of control from students' parents show test anxiety has somatization of father, psychotic mother, the pressure from parents, mother' expectations,self-expectations, the control of father for the child 6 risk factors.

To characterize the genomic sequence and arrangement of WU polyomavirus (WU virus) identified in clinical specimens collected from children with acute respiratory infections in Beijing, China, the sequences of capsid proteins VP1, VP2, and the large tumor antigen (LTAg), as well as the 5'-terminal sequence of WU virus, were amplified from the clinical specimen with ID number of BJF5276 which was determined as WU virus positive by PCR amplification. The PCR amplicons were sequenced, and genomic sequence analysis was performed by using the software DNAStar. In addition, VP2 coding-region sequences were amplified from other 21 clinical specimens identified as WU virus positive to investigate the gene diversity of WU virus. The genomic sequence of WU virus BJF5276 with accession number of HQ218321 in GenBank was 5,229 base pairs in length with 3 major coding domain sequences (CDS) sited on one strand coding for capsid proteins VP2, VP3 and VP1, and two CDS sited on the complementary strand coding for small tumor antigen (STAg) and LTAg; These 22 VP2 CDS sequences including 5 sequences submitted to GenBank were compared with 64 corresponding sequences downloaded from GenBank by MegAlign of DNAStar software, indicated that these sequences coming from children in Beijing shared high homology (over 98.8%) with those from GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis of these VP2 CDS by using Neighbor-joining (NJ) analyses with 2,000 bootstraps (Mega 4.0) showed that 20 sequences out of 22 belonged to clade Ia, and other 2 of them belonged to clade III, including 1 clustered in IIIa and 1 in a novel cluster proposed as IIIc. In conclusion, the genomic sequence of WU polyomavirus detected from clinical specimens from children in Beijing is closely related to other WU polyomaviruses in the feature of genomic coding region arrangement. Overall variation of VP2 CDS was very low, and there were different clades circulating in Beijing with a dominant clade Ia, which is different from dominated Ib circulating in other parts of the world reported previously, and a novel clade IIIc was proposed.
Acute Disease ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Genome, Viral ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Polyomavirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; virology ; Viral Proteins ; genetics

Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy(US-FNAB)for thyroid nod-ules.Methods:The clinical characteristics and cytopathological diagnosis of patients with thyroid nodules in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital were analyzed retrospectively;the results of the cytopathological and pathological diagnoses were compared and an-alyzed.Results:Of the 1,241 US-FNAB samples,the ratio of men to women with thyroid nodules was 1:3.83(257/984).The incidence of thyroid nodules gradually increased from the age of 20 years and declined after the age of 60 years.The nodules,which were less than or equal to 1.0 cm in size,accounted for 51.57%(640 cases),and Thyroid Imaging Reporting And Data System(TIRADS)classifica-tion 4 accounted for 86.38%(1 072 cases).Of cyto-pathological diagnoses,22.00%(273 cases)were non-diagnostic,9.75%(121 cases) were benign,30.62%(380 cases)were atypia with undetermined significance,32.15%(399 cases)were suspicious for malignancy,and 5.48%(68 cases)were malignant.In the 302 patients who underwent surgery,the number of cases of clear diagnoses,unavailable di-agnoses,and atypia of undetermined significance were 203,21,and 78,respectively.In the 203 cases of clear diagnoses,the sensitivi-ty,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value,precision,and misdiagnoses following US-FNAB of thyroid nodules were 100.00%(201/201),50.00%(1/2),99.50%(201/202),100.00%(1/1),99.51%(202/203),and 0.49%(1/203),respectively.In the 78 cases that were atypia of undetermined significance,the malignancy rate was 70.51%.Whether the atypia of undetermined signifi-cance was malignant or not was related to the TIRADS classification(P<0.05),and not related to the age,sex,tumor size,or location of the nodules(P>0.05).Conclusions:US-FNAB has high diagnostic value for thyroid nodules and is worthy of being popularized widely.If it replaced some intra-operative frozen sectioning procedures,it may reduce intra-operative waiting time and financial burden of pa-tients.

Objective: To observe the effects of acupoints, cone numbers and durations of moxibustion with different moxibustion methods on skin surface and inside temperature, and to provide references for the clinical standardization of moxibustion amount. Methods: The 42 big-ear white rabbits were divided into 6 groups according to the random number table method, a 1-cone direct moxibustion group, a 2-cone direct moxibustion group, a 3-cone direct moxibustion group, a 1-cone herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, a 2-cone herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, and a 3-cone herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, with 7 rabbits in each group. Shenque (CV 8), Shenshu (BL 23) and Zusanli (ST 36) were used in each group, but the moxibustion methods, cone numbers and durations of moxibustion were different. Rabbits in each group received moxibustion once every other day for 5 times in total. During the intervention, a thermoelectricity coupled probe and a temperature recorder were used to record the real-time acupoint skin temperature and the temperature at different time points, so as to observe, analyze and process the real-time changes in the temperature difference between the surface and inside of acupoint skin. Results: For herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion, the best temperature for cone changing was (46.38±0.51) ℃ when the highest surface temperature was (49.20±0.52) ℃; the multi-factor comparison of acupoint × cone number × time and acupoint × moxibustion method × time showed that time × acupoint, time × moxibustion method and cone number × acupoint had interactive effects (all P<0.05). Comparing skin temperature differences between different cone numbers at the same acupoint, Shenque (CV 8) on the 1st and the 5th days, Shenshu (BL 23) on the 3rd and the 7th days, Zusanli (ST 36) on the 1st and the 9th days of experiment showed statistically significant differences (all P<0.05). The skin temperature comparison of different moxibustion methods at the same acupoint all had statistical differences (all P<0.05), except for Shenque (CV 8) before moxibustion, Shenshu (BL 23) before moxibustion and on the 5th day; Zusanli (ST 36) only showed statistical differences on the 5th and 7th days (both P<0.05). The skin temperature differences of different acupoints after moxibustion in the 1-cone, 2-cone and 3-cone groups were statistically different (all P<0.05); direct moxibustion and herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion at different acupoints were all statistically different (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Cone changing temperature under the same specifications of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion was confirmed. Temperature difference between surface and inside of different acupoint skin at the same maximum temperature was significantly different due to the cone numbers and moxibustion methods, which showed the highest at Shenshu (BL 23), the second at Shenque (CV 8), and the lowest at Zusanli (ST 36). The influence of acupoint factor should be considered to determine the quantitative indicators of moxibustion.

ObjectiveThe mechanism of histone phosphorylation modification in oocyte meiosis is less studied. This study is designed to investigate the pattern of histone H3 phophorylation and regulation of maturation process in the porcine oocytes.MethodsThe histone H3Ser10 (H3S10) phosphorylation expression was examined on the porcine oocyte meiotic process. The porcine cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were divided into four groups, one group was cultured as control group, and the other 3 groups were supplemented with 5, 10, and 30 μmol/L ZM447439, and cultured in vitro for 27 h, respectively, 5, 10, and 30 μmol/L ZM4474349 treatment group. The proportion of each meiotic stage was counted. The phosphorylation pattern of histone H3S10 and the expression level of protein kinase Aurora B were detected at the porcine oocytes.ResultsCompared with histone H3S10 phosphorylation level of oocyte GVBD phase, the MI and AI phases were significantly increased (P<0.05), and H3S10 phosphorylation level of AI phase was remarkedly higher than that of MII phase (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the proportion of oocytes at the GVBD phase in the 10 and 30 μmol/L ZM4447439 treatment group [(32.14±0.51)%, (95.34±0.59)%]was higher than that of the control group [(2.56±0.03)%, P<0.05], the proportion of oocytes at the MI phase [(66.88±0.13)%, (4.66±0.04)%] significantly decreased than that of the control group [(87.42±0.14)%, P<0.05], and the proportion of oocytes at the AI stage [(1.01±0.03)%, (0.000±0.00)%] significantly decreased compared with the control group[(10.02 ± 0.21)%, P<0.05]. Compared with the control group (0), oocytes H3S10 dephosphorylation modification ratio in the 10 μmol/L and 30 μmol/L ZM4474349 treatment group [(35.2±0.39)%, (95.4±0.65)%]significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the relative expression level of Aurora B in the 10 and 30 μmol/L ZM4447439 treatment group was significantly reduced (P<0.05).ConclusionHstone H3S10 phosphorylation plays arolein the maturation of mammalian oocytes. AuroraB kinase inhibitors (ZM447439) treatment can reduce H3S10 phosphorylation and Aurora B expression level and lead to oocytesmaturation disorder.

Based on previous report that the Chinese herb Ligustrum lucidum (LL) extract directly inhibited hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicase (NS5B) activity, the active components of LL extract to inhibit HCV NS5B activity and their inhibition mode were investigated in this study. LL extract was separated using ethyl acetate and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The inhibitory activity of separated fractions on HCV NS5B was analyzed by the inhibitory assay of NS5B activity. The results showed that only fractions 1 and 2 inhibited NS5B activity, and fraction 2 possessed higher inhibitory activity than fraction 1. HPLC analysis combined with inhibitory assays indicated that ursolic acid and oleanolic acid are the active components within fractions 1 and 2 to inhibit NS5B activity, separately. Moreover, oleanolic acid possessed higher inhibitory activity than ursolic acid. Further inhibition mode analysis found that both oleanolic acid and ursolic acid suppressed NS5B activity as noncompetitive inhibitors. The Ki values of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid were about 4.7 microg x mL(-1) (10 micromol x kg(-1)) and 2.5 microg x mL(-1) (5.5 micromol x kg(-1)), respectively. Taken together, these results demonstrated that oleanolic acid and ursolic acid suppressed NS5B activity as noncompetitive inhibitors, implying that the two natural products have potential value for HCV therapy.
Antiviral Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Ligustrum ; chemistry ; Oleanolic Acid ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Triterpenes ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Viral Nonstructural Proteins ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism

Laccases are enzymes belonging to the group of multi-copper oxidases. These enzymes are widely distributed in insects, plants, fungi and bacteria. In general, laccases can oxidize an exceptionally high number of substrates, so they have broad applications in textile, pulp, food and the degradation of lignin. However, low yield, low activity and thermo-instability of laccase in nature limit the application of laccase. High efficient heterologous expression of the protein is an effective way for solving this problem. Here, we summarize the research advances of heterologous expression of eukaryote-origin laccases. We focus on the overexpression of eukaryote-origin laccases using different expression system and the method for improving the production yield and enzyme activity in yeast cells. Information provided in this review would be helpful for researchers in the field.