Objective To investigate possible independent association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Methods According to polysomnography (PSG) examination, 82 obese patients were divided into OSAHS group (n = 55) and non OSAHS group (n = 27) and 30subjects with normal weight were recruited as the control group. PSG parameters such as AHI (apnea hyponea index), oxygen saturation (Spo2,) in obese patients were measured. MS-associated parameters, such as fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), plasma lipid profile, insulin homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and blood pressure, height, body weight, waist circumference, were measured in all cases. The prevalence of MS and the parameters were compared among different groups. The correlations between them were analyzed. Results The prevalence of MS in obese patients with OSAHS was significantly higher than that in obese patients without OSAHS (69.09% vs 37.04%, P <0.01). Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), FBG and HOMA-IR were higher in subjects with OSAHS than those without OSAHS (P <0.05 or P <0.01). Multiple stepwise regression showed that DBP was negatively correlated with Spo2, FINS and HOMA-IR were positively correlated with AHI. Conclusion OSAHS is found to be independently associated with MS, which may be a risk factor of cardiovascular disease and other systemic diseases.

Objective To observe the effects of PTD-hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) induced murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs) maturation on T lymphocyte proliferation in vitro.Methods Bone marrow derived DCs isolated from BALB/c mice were cultured with recombinant granu|ocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rGM-CSF) and recombinant interleutin-4 (rIL-4)for 5 days.Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a,HBcAg and PTD-HBcAg were added to induce DCs maturation.The distribution and localization of intracellular immunofluorescence were observed by confocal microscopy,and DCs phenotypes were analyzed by flow cytometry.The level of IL-12 p70 in the supernatant was detected by enzyme linked immunosorhent assay (ELISA).The proliferation of T lymphocytes was performed by using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8).All data were analyzed using t test.Results DCs were cultured and identified successfully.Recombinant PTD-HBcAg could penetrate into DCs cytoplasm while recombinant HBcAg was detected on the surface of cells.DCs surface molecules,such as CD80,CD86 and major histocompability complex (MHC) II were upregulated by PTDHBcAg;IL-12 p70 levels induced by 50 mg/L and 100 mg/L recombinant PTD-HBcAg were (142.50±18.31) ng/L and (124.30±15.12) ng/L,respectively,which were significantly higher than those induced by recombinant HBcAg [(42.31±4.21 ) ng/L,t = 9.234 and 9.045,respectively,P＜0.05].The proliferation of T lymphocytes induced by PTD-HBcAg was much higher than that in HBcAg group or positive control TNF-a group.Conclusions PTD-HBcAg could penetrate membrane of DCs and promote the differentiation and maturation of DCs.PTD-HBcAg could up-regulate the expressions of costimulatory molecules on cell surface of DCs,and enhance the ability of DCs on stimulating T lymphocytes proliferation and IL-12 p70 production.

0bjective To observe the cell membrane penetration of protein transduction domain (PTD)-HBeAg fusion protein in vitro.Methods The sequence of trans-activator of transcription (Tat)-PTD was synthesized and the whole HBcAg gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Overlap extension PCR was employed to fuse Tat-PTD and whole HBcAg gene.Then the fusion gene was cloned into prokaryotic expression vector pMAL-c2X.The correct vector was transformed into E.coli Rosetta-gamiTM 2(DE3),and the protein was induced by isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside(IPTG).Western blot was used tO identify the protein. Furthermore,the fusion protein PTD-HBcAg was purified by affinity chromatography.HBcAg protein expressed using the same methods was employed as eontr0l.The purified protein was added tO HuH-7 cell culture,then the transduction of PTD-HBcAg and HBcAg in cells were detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA).Results The fusion protein was effectively expressed in E. Coli and purified by affinity chromatography.Both purified PTD-HBcAg and HBcAg could be recognized by HBeAg monoclonal antibody in Western blot analysis.IFA visualization showed that PTD-HBeAg could be introduced into HUH-7 ceils while HBcAg only could not be detected in cells.Conclusions PTD-HBcAg fusion protein can be expressed effectively and purified in prokaryotic expression system.PTD could mediate HBcAg penetrating eell membrane into the cells.

Aim To select a potential biomarker for early lung cancer diagnosis and targeted therapy by using the cancer specific bounded peptide ZS-6 which had already been obtained from the laboratory.Methods The peptide ZS-6 marked by biotin was used as a probe to pan out the human lung cancer cDNA phage display library,after 4 rounds of subtraction panning,the specific binding clones of ZS-6 were identified.After amplification and purification,then those DNA sequences were identified and analyzed with bioinformatics.Results 18 phage clones were identified to the specific peptide ZS-6 and the DNA sequence showed one of them was an unknown new gene while the others were known tumor related genes.Conclusion A tumor biomarker selected from human lung cancer cDNA library provides a potential tool for early lung cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Objective To investigate the cross-talk between extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signal transduction pathways in A375 human melanoma cells.Methods Cultured A375 cells were randomly divided into 5 groups:control group receiving no treatment,two U0126 (a selective inhibitor of the ERK signaling pathway) groups treated with U0126 of 10 and 5 μmol/L,and two BMS-345541 groups treated with BMS-345541 of 10 and 5 μmol/L.After 24-hour treatment,Western blot and reverse transcription PCR were performed to measure the protein expressions of NF-κB P65,phosphorylated IκBα (p-IκBα),ERK1/2,as well as p-ERK1/2,and the mRNA expressions of NF-κB P65 and ERK1,respectively.One-way analysis of variance and least significant difference (LSD)-t test were carried out for statistical analysis.Results After 24 hours of treatment with U0126 of 10 and 5 μmol/L,a significant decrease was noted in the relative expression level of NF-κB p65 protein (0.60 ± 0.04 and 0.56 ± 0.06 vs.1.54 ± 0.15,both P＜ 0.01) and mRNA (0.79 ± 0.05 and 0.75 ± 0.04 vs.0.86 ± 0.05,both P ＜ 0.01),but a statistical increase in that of p-IκBα protein (0.90 ± 0.05 and 0.70 ± 0.02 vs.0.61 ± 0.03,both P ＜ 0.01) in the two U0126 groups compared with the control group; significant differences were observed in the expression level of p-IκBo protein (P ＜ 0.01) but not in that of NF-κB p65 protein (P ＞ 0.01) between the two U0126 groups.The relative expression levels of ERK1/2 and p-ERK1/2 proteins as well as ERK1 mRNA were significantly higher in the control A375 cells than those in the cells treated with BMS-345541 of 10 μmol/L (0.73 ± 0.07,0.75 ± 0.09,1.51 ± 0.02,all P ＜ 0.01),but similar to those treated with BMS-345541 of 5 μmol/L (0.94 ± 0.11,0.99 ± 0.04,1.62 ± 0.03,all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion There is a cross-talk between ERK and NF-κB signal transduction pathways in A375 melanoma cells.

[ABSTRACT]AIM:ToinvestigatethedifferenteffectsofERK1/2/PPARα/SCAD(short-chainacyl-CoAdehy-drogenase) signal pathways on the cardiac hypertrophy induced by insulin-like growth factors 1 ( IGF-1) or phenylephrine ( PE) .METHODS:The neonatal rat cardiomyocytes induced by IGF-1 were used as the model of physiological cardiac hypertrophy , and those induced by PE were used as the model of pathological cardiac hypertrophy .The surface area of the cardiomyocytes, the expression of p-ERK1/2, PPARαand SCAD, the activity of SCAD and the content of free fatty acid in the cardiomyocytes were measured .RESULTS:Compared with the control cells , the surface area of the cardiomyocytes in-duced by IGF-1 and PE were both increased .Compared with the controls , the expression of SCAD and PPARα, and the activity of SCAD in the cardiomyocytes induced by IGF-1 were increased , while the expression of p-ERK1/2 was de-creased.However, the cardiomyocytes treated with PE showed decreased expression of SCAD and PPARα, decreased activ-ity of SCAD and increased expression of p-ERK1/2.Meanwhile, the decrease in free fatty acid in IGF-1-induced cardio-myocytes and the increase in PE-induced cardiomyocytes indicated that the fatty acid utilization was increased in the cardio -myocytes induced by IGF-1, but decreased in the cardiomyocytes induced by PE .CONCLUSION: The changes of p-ERK1/2, PPARαand SCAD in the cardiac hypertrophy induced by IGF-1 or PE indicate that the effects of ERK 1/2/PPARα/SCAD signal pathways are different between physiological cardiac hypertrophy and pathological cardiac hypertro -phy , and that SCAD may be a molecular marker of these 2 different cardiac hypertrophies and a potential therapeutic target for pathological cardiac hypertrophy .

Objective To analyze the value of the potential risk factors on predicting primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after bilateral lung transplantation for the patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).Methods A retrospective study was conducted. Fifty-eight patients with IPF who underwent the bilateral lung transplantation admitted to Wuxi People's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from June 2014 to March 2017 were enrolled. The grade 3 PGD happened within 72 hours after transplantation was taken as the outcome event, and these patients were divided into PGD and non-PGD groups. The age, gender, body mass index (BMI), underlying disease, and N-terminal-probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) before operation, pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP), pulmonary artery diastolic pressure (PADP), and mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) before and after operation, duration of operation, the volume of blood transfusion during operation and postoperation, the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) during the operation, blood purification treatment after operation, and shock within 3 days after operation were recorded. The differences of parameters mentioned above between the two groups were compared. The predictive factors of PGD were searched by binary logistic regression analysis, and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted to analyze the predictive value of preoperative PADP for grade 3 PGD after transplantation.Results Among 58 patients who underwent the bilateral lung transplantation, 52 patients were enrolled. The rest patients were excluded because of incomplete clinical data. There were 17 patients in the PGDgroup, with a mortality rate of 47.06%. The non-PGD group included 35 patients with a mortality rate of 8.57%. PADP and mPAP ahead of operation, the dosage of red cells suspension after the operation, and the total amount of blood transfusion during and after the operation in PGD group were significantly higher than those in non-PGD group [PADP ahead of operation (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa): 33.7±10.5 vs. 25.3±10.1, mPAP ahead of operation (mmHg): 40.4±14.1 vs. 32.8±11.1, the dosage of red cells suspension after the operation (mL): 700 (300, 1500) vs. 300 (300, 500), the total amount of blood transfusion during and after the operation (mL): 2250 (1850, 4275) vs. 1800 (1550, 2800)], with statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in age, gender, BMI, underlying disease, NT-proBNP before operation, PASP before and after operation, PADP and mPAP after operation, duration of operation, amount of plasma and red cells suspension as well as total amount of blood transfusion during operation, plasma amount and total amount of blood transfusion after operation, amount of plasma and red cells suspension during and after operation, use of ECMO during operation, blood purification treatment after operation, and shock after operation between the two groups (all P > 0.05). It was shown by binary logistic regression analysis that the preoperative PADP was the independent risk factor of grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation [odds ratio (OR) = 1.084, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.016-1.156,P = 0.015]. It was shown by ROC curve that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the PADP before operation for predicting the grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation was 0.728. When the cut-off value was 36 mmHg, the sensitivity was 47.1%, and the specificity was 91.4%.Conclusions Compared with the non-PGD group, the patients with higher preoperative PADP were more common in the PGD group, and the patients in the PGD group were more likely to be characterized by grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation. The preoperative PADP was an effective predictor of grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation.

Two new labdane diterpenoids were isolated from 95% ethanol extract of the leaves of Callicarpa formosana Rolfe by using silica gel column, MCI column, ODS column and HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, NMR and ECD spectral data. All of them are new compounds, named 13E-6β-hydroxylabda-8(17),13-dien-15-oic acid (1) and 13E-7α-hydroxylabda-8(17),13-dien-15-oic acid (2). Compounds 1 and 2 were tested for antioxidant activity, and none of them had obvious activity.

This study was aimed to investigate the homing capacity of CXCR4 overexpressed mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and their effect on hematopoietic recovery. The 293FT packaging cell line was transfected with the recombinant lentiviral vector LV-CXCR4-IRES-EGFP and LV-IRES-EGFP to produce lentivirus. Mouse MSC were then infected with viral supernatant. Male BALB/c mice were sublethally irradiated and then were injected intravenously with 5×10(5) MSC. General status and survival rate of mice were observed every day. On day 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28, peripheral blood samples were collected to calculate the number of white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC), the ratio of reticulocyte to platelet, the number of platelet was detected by flow cytometry. The recovery of bone marrow and spleen was pathologically monitored. The proportion of MSC implantation was analysed by PCR. The results showed that the peripheral blood cells displayed the tendency of firstly increasing and then decreasing to their normal level. Generally, recovery of WBC level was earlier in mice infused with MSC (P < 0.05) . The histopathological examination of spleen and bone marrow showed a faster hematopoietic recovery in CXCR4-MSC group than the other two groups. And the donor MSC could be detected in the recipients on day 7, 14, 21 and 28. It is concluded that infusion of CXCR4-MSC enhances the implantation of hematopoietic stem cells and promotes hematopoietic recovery of the sublethally irradiated mice.
Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Genetic Vectors ; Hematopoiesis ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Organisms, Genetically Modified ; Radiation Injuries, Experimental ; therapy ; Receptors, CXCR4 ; genetics ; Transfection ; Whole-Body Irradiation

Aim To determine the effective compo-nents of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae for sedative-hypnotic and its mechanism. Methods The extraction of Se-men Ziziphi Spinosae and the rat brain homogenates were prepared. High concentrations of Diazepam com-petitively replaced the ligand compounds of Semen Ziz-iphi Spinosae combining BDZ receptor in brain tissue, and all the compounds with sedative and hypnotic effects were collected and identified by HPLC and LC-MS technique, as the compounds extracted from the brain tissue were administered with Semen Ziziphi Spi-nosae. The brain tissue was administered with Diaze-pam, and with Semen Ziziphi Spinosae and Diazepam. Results The HPLC chromatograms show that the peak time of BDZ receptor ligand compounds was 2. 71 min and 46. 87min, when compared with Diazepam. And the LC-MS chromatograms display the relative molecu-lar weight of the ligand compounds was 274. 28 m/z, 453. 34 m/z,496. 34 m/z and 608. 38 m/z respective-ly. According to the fingerprint of Semen Ziziphi Spi-nosae, these compounds may be fatty acid substances and lupine pill triterpene compounds. Conclusions On the basis of the principle of receptor ligand bind-ing, we established a way to quickly analyze and iden-tify the role of natural products in the same drug target compounds. The method not only can clearly define the effective components of natural products, but also clar-ify the mechanism of action of the compounds. The ac-tive ingredient of calm hypnosis in Semen Ziziphi Spi-nosae may be fatty acid substances Palmitic acid ( C16 H32 O2 ) and lupine pill triterpene compounds Alphitolic acid( C30 H48 O4 ) and Spinosin( C28 H32 O15 ) . They exert their sedative and hypnotic effects by combining with BDZ receptor, and the research has laid a theoretical foundation for the further study about mechanism of Se-men Ziziphi Spinosae.