This study is to investigate the influence and mechanism of action of asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) and the induced oxidative stress level on Alzheimer's disease (AD) incidence. ADMA concentration, nitric oxide, Abeta(40)/Abeta(42) ratio, inducible NO synthase (iNOS) activity and the concentrations of the induced free radicals including malondialdehyde (MDA), 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 34 neurologically normal controls and 37 AD patients were quantitatively determined and statistically compared. The results showed that the ADMA concentration significantly decreased in AD patients, and it showed negative correlation with the NO, iNOS activity, and showed positive correlation with MMSE score. ADMA concentration was negatively correlated with Abeta(40)/Abeta(42) ratio (P<0.01) with the observation that Abeta(40)/Abeta(42) ratio increased while ADMA level decreased in CSF in AD patients. The concentration levels of MDA, 3-NT and ROS significantly increased compared with the control with all the P values less than 0.05. These findings suggested that the ADMA disorder and the oxidative damage effect of the induced free radicals in CSF of AD patients are an important mechanism of AD incidence, and their joint regulation may provide new idea for the prevention and clinical treatment of AD.

Objective To separate the side population cells(SP) from breast cancer MCF-7 cell line,and observe its biological characteristics.Methods Flow cytometry and Hcechst 33342 dye efflux assay were used to isolate SP cells and non-SP cells from the MCF-7 cell line of human breast cancer.Tumorigenicity of the two subpopulations was observed by a soft agar cloning method.Results The results of FACS analysis indicated that (6.5 ± 0.4 ) ％of the MCF-7 cells were SP cells;The vitro colony formation rate of SP cells was(38.5 ±9.4)％,and higher than that of non-SP cells ( 8.4 ± 2.6 ) ％ ( t =5.34,P ＜ 0,05 ).Concluslon The SP cells sorted from MCF-7 cell line enriched tunor stem cells,which exhibited high tumorigenicity.It indicated that SP cells should play a principal role in breast cancer.

Adolescent ; Biopsy ; Female ; Hepatocytes ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Humans ; Jaundice, Chronic Idiopathic ; pathology ; Sibling Relations ; Ultrasonography

Natural products are important sources of drug discovery. However, the traditional methods of extraction and isolation, as well as chemical synthesis for obtaining natural products are associated with issues such as operational complexity, high costs, low efficiency, and environmental pollution. Constructing microbial cell factories through synthetic biology methods to produce medicinal natural products has the advantages of high efficiency, low cost, and environmental protection. Nevertheless, the scope and yield improvement of the products are limited by the limitations of enzymes in microbial cell factories. Protein engineering is considered one of the most effective approaches to overcome these limitations. This article introduces commonly used methods of protein engineering technology and summarizes its specific applications in improving enzyme performance, modifying the enzymatic environment, and promoting the development of synthetic biology tools in the field of pharmaceutical natural product synthesis. Furthermore, it analyzes the current bottlenecks and challenges in protein engineering and looks forward to its future application prospects, offering insights for the development and practical use of protein engineering technology.

The secondary metabolites of plants are important sources of natural drugs. Betula plants have abundant pharmacological value, complex mechanism and wide applications, which are closely related to the triterpenoids of theirs. Triterpenoids in Betula species are mainly divided into dammarane-type, ocotillol-type, oleanane-type, lupane-type and cycloaltunane-type. The extracts of Betula species have varieties of activities such as anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, etc. And the biosynthetic pathways of triterpenoids after 2,3-oxidosqualene are split into four branches of dammarenediol-II, lupeol, cycloartenol and amyrin according to the different oxidosqualene cyclases. This review summarizes the chemical constituents, pharmacological activities and biosynthetic pathways of triterpenoids in Betula plants. It provides a reference for the research and development of new drugs and the production of these triterpenoids in microbial cell factories by synthetic biology methods.

Objective To discuss the combined value of gray-scale ultrasound ( GSUS) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid lesions and to explore the optimal diagnostic point of scoring method .Methods Ultrasound images of 178 thyroid lesions confirmed by pathology were synthetically reviewed by scoring 5 GSUS indicators including shape , orientation, interior echogenicity, halo sign, microcalcification and 6 CEUS indicators including relative arrival time of microbubbles in the periphery and interior, peak periphery and interior echogenicity, peripheral ring-enhancement, and homogeneity of enhancement .One positive indicator scored one point .The optimal diagnostic points and their clinical value were explored according to ROC curves .Results Scores of GSUS, CEUS and the combination of GSUS and CEUS were significantly different (Z =10.188,9.843,10.705,all P <0.001). Areas under ROC curves of GSUS, CEUS and the combination of GSUS and CEUS were 0.936, 0.919 and 0.964, respectively.Three or more positive GSUS indicators of five in a thyroid lesion predicted that the thyroid lesion was malignant , with the sensitivity of 79.6% and the specificity of 91.2%.Two or more positive CEUS indicators of six in a thyroid lesion predicted that the thyroid lesion was malignant , with the sensitivity of 91.8% and the specificity of 81.2%.Five or more positive GSUS and CEUS indicators of eleven in a thyroid lesion predicted that the thyroid lesion was malignant , with the sensitivity of 93.6%and the specificity of 92.3%.The areas under the ROC curve of GSUS and CEUS were 0.936 and 0.919.The area under the ROC curve of the combination of GSUS and CEUS was 0.964, larger than the areas under the GSUS ROC curve and the CEUS ROC curve.Conclusion Ultrasound is valuable in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid lesions , and the combination of GSUS and CEUS is the most valuable with 5 points as the optimal diagnostic scoring method .

OBJECTIVE To observe the clinical effects of the combination of Duhuo Bugu decoction and zoledronic acid in the treatment of malignant bone metastasis.METHODS Fifty patients with bone metastases of malignant tumor were selected from the Department of oncology,Chongqing Hospital of traditional Chinese medicine from September 2014 to February 2016, and were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group.Two groups were both treated by zoledronic acid, and the observation group was also treated by adding Duhuo Bugu Decoction.Changes of the analgesic effects,analgesic dosa-ges and life quality scores(KPS)of two groups were observed before and after treatment.Urinary type I collagen amino termi-nal peptide(uNTX)and bone alkaline phosphatase(BALP)were measured via ELISA method before and after treatment.RE-SULTS Compared with the control group,the analgesic medicinal amount of the observation group reduced significantly(P<0.05),and KPS improved significantly(P<0.05).After the treatment,numerical pain scores(NRS) of two groups had no significant changes(P>0.05).After the treatment,uNTX and sBALP level of the treatment group decreased compared with that before treatment(P<0.01).While compared with the control group,the difference was not significant(P>0.05).CON-CLUSION The combination of Chinese herbs and zoledronic acid is an effective therapy for bone metastasis malignant tumors. Chinese herbs can effectively improve the analgesic effect,reduce the analgesic medicinal amount,improve the patients'life quality,and have a tendency of synergy in improving the bone destruction caused by tumor.

Objective To observe the behavior changes and synaptic reconstruction of brain and the impact of gastrodin in rats with epilepysy induced by pentylenetetrazole.Methods Fifty Wistar rats in growth(50-70 g) were randomly divided into 5 groups:control group,Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) group,gastrodin high dose group,gastrodin low dose group and sodium valproate group,each group had 10 rats.According to Racine classification,the behavior changes of rats and the frequency were recorded.Conventional method was adopt to perfuse cordis, fix and extract the brain,and the immunohistochemistry was used to detect synaptophysin(P38) expression in the temporal lobe and hippocampus of the brain after 4 weeks.Results 1.Four weeks after pentylenetetrazole ignited the growth period rats,the attack-level of each experimental group through comparison with each other,there was statistically significant difference(?2=35.83 P0.05).Conclusions There are mossy fiber sprouting and the formation of synaptic reconstruction in temporal lobe and hippocampus of the growth period rats repea-tedly ignited by pentylenetetrazole.Gastrodin may play a role in the formation of antiepileptic obviously,and through decreasing the expression of P38,which can inhibit the formation of synaptic reconstruction,as control seizures indirectly.

Seventy-two strains of endophytic fungi were isolated from the healthy bark, branches and leaves of Cephalotaxus hainanensis L.. Sixty-eight of them were morphologically classified into Fungi Imperfecti, thirty-three sporulated were identified to five genera. For those did not sporulate, one was identified to Rhizoctonia sp., the rest were tentatively classified into Mycelia Sterilia. Four were identified to Basidiomycetes. The result indicated the endophytic fungi of C. hainanensis show a degree of tissue specificity. There were significant differences about the quantity, genera and composition between the fungi isolated from bark and those from branches and leaves.

Seventy-two endophytic fungi isolated from Cephalotaxus hainanensis Li were screened for antitumor and antimicrobial activities. The results showed that 9 strains presented cytotoxic activities to at least one of the tested tumor cells, five strains exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, one strain had inhibitory effect on Phytophthora parasitica. It was evidently that the endophytic fungi of C. hainanensis are potential resources to find valuable bioactive components.