Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is the gem of Chinese culture,while TCM culture the root and driving force for its development.Higher learning institutes,one of whose main missions is innovating and inheriting culture,are playing the unique roles in promoting world-wide recognition of TCM culture through international cooperation due to the abundant resources in TCM academy,talent,clinical study and international education.Taking Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine as an example,this paper has made constructive exploration and study on how to promote the international communication of TCM culture to allow the international community for better understanding and the application of TCM based on the analysis of current situation and experience summarization with literature investigation and case study.Effective measures that have been put forward include establishing TCM experiencing center,promoting the construction of Confucius Institute,proactively building TCM library,improving the standardization of TCM translation,optimizing approaches of TCM international communication,and speeding up the cultivation of TCM international communication talents.

Objective To analyze laparoscopic lymphadenectomy and the safety of gastrectomy for gastroesophageal junction cancer.Methods From Jan 2011 to Dec 2012 72 gastroesophageal junction cancer patients were enrolled, including 46 patients in laparoscopic group, and 26 in open surgery group.Results There was no significant difference in the numgbers of lymph node dissection between the two groups and nor difference in the number of positive lymph node dissection.Esophagus resection length in open group was (2.0 ± 1.0) cm, while that was (3.0 ± 0.8) cm in laparoscopic group (t =0.471, P ＜ 0.001).5 (19％)patients in open group had positive margins compared to six in laparoscopic group (13％), x2 =0.491, P =0.483.7 patients in the open group underwent thoracoabdominal resection, while in laparoscopic group 3 patients did, x2 =5.781, P =0.016.Laparoscopic splenic hilar lymphnodes dissection harvested more lymph nodes (t =0.260, P =0.011).Laparoscopic gastrectomy used less operation time (t =0.237, P =0.021) experinced less blood loss (t =0.451, P ＜ 0.01) than open group.There was no difference in major complications between the two groups.Conclusions Laparoscopic splenic hilar lymphnodes dissection in gastroesophageal junction cancer surgery is superior to open surgery, with more lymph nodes harvested, longer esophageal cutting distances, lower incidence of thoracoabdominal surgery, shorter operation time, and less blood loss.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Oral Medicine ; Sarcoma, Kaposi ; diagnosis

The gamma-secretase complex mediates the final cleavage of APP to generate the principal component of amyloid plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.Four integral membrane proteins (PS,NCT,PEN-2 and APH-1) are essential and sufficient for gamma-secretase activity.To identify the promoter of human nicastrin gene (NCT),its 5' -flanking region has been characterized and a 270 bp fragment containing the TSS (transcription start site) for the promoter activity has been identified.EMSA assays confirmed that all four AP-1 binding sites and two NFAT sites in the NCT promoter region were able to bind relative transcription factors in vitro.Mutations,as well as treatment with PDTC,which adjust the regulatory effect of AP-1 and NFAT,altered NCT promoter activity in both HeLa cells and rat cortical neurons.The results demonstrated that AP-1 and NFAT are involved in the regulation of hNCT transcription and suggest that balanced activation of AP-1 and NFAT ensures a strict temporal and tissue-specific control of NCT transcription.

The aim of the paper is to prepare stable antisense oligodeoxynucleotides-loaded cationic liposomes and evaluate the transfection efficiency of asODN to MCF-7 oophoroma cells and study their distribution to different tissues in mice. Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (asODN)-loaded cationic liposomes were prepared by a thin film-adsorption-lyophilization method which is simple and can overcome crucial pharmaceutical defects (e.g. instability) of liposomes during storage. The morphology was investigated by transmission electron microscope. The size and surface charge of the liposomes were determined by laser particle analyter. The dissociated ligodeoxynucleotides were separated from the liposomes by sephadex column and the entrapment efficiency was determined by using an ultraviolet photometer. Trehalose, mannitol, and glycine were suitable for lyophilization especially trehalose. The resulting liposomes were global microcapsule in a narrow particle size with a mean diameter of 175 nm and 320 nm before and after lyophilization, and a high zeta potentials of +32 mV. The dissociated asODN were separated from the liposomes by sephadex G-50 column and the entrapment coefficient of asODN was 88.4% pre and 83.2% post-lyophilization separately for trehalose. The growth of MCF-7 oophoroma cells were inhibited in vitro obviously (P < 0.05) and transfection efficiency of asODN was 18%, 26%, 44% after 2 h, 4 h and 8 h, respectively. The formulation and method can be used to prepare stable cationic liposomes which can effectively inhibit the growth of MCF-7 oophoroma cells and obtain a high transfection efficiency. This system can improve distribution amount of asODN to tissues especially tumors in mice.
Animals ; Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cations ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Carriers ; Female ; Freeze Drying ; Humans ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense ; chemistry ; genetics ; Particle Size ; Transfection

Objective To isolate and identify the potential binding partners of LRRK2,a gene linked to both dominant familial form and sporadic form of Parkinson's disease,thus to further our knowledge of its function.Methods We used a sequence containing full-length of COR domain and part of ROC and MAPKKK domain as bait.The bait amplified by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) was then cloned into a yeast expression plasmid pGBKT7.After being sequenced and analyzed,pGBKT7-bait was transformed into the yeast strain AH109.Western blot was performed to confirm the expression of pGBKT7-bait in AH109 yeast strain.Then human fetal brain cDNA library was trarnsformed into that yeast strain.which could express pGBKT7-bait fusion protein.The yeast strain which contained pGBKT7-bait and human fetal brain cDNA library was plated on quadruple dropout medium (SD/-Trp/-Leu/-His/-Ade)containing X-a-gal.We retested these positive colonies using 2 independent yeast strains AH109 contained pGBKT7-bait or pGBKT7,respectively.At last,these plasmids isolated from these true positive colonies were analyzed by bioinformatics.Results We obtained 9 true positive colonies,these colonies were sequenced, and we performed sequence Blast in GenBank.Three colonies of the 9 positive colonies were not in open reading-frames.Among other 6 colonies,there were known proteins including spermatid perinuclear RNA-binding protein(STRBP)and BCL2-associated athanogene 5 isoform b(BAG5),as well as unknown proteins including tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type(PTPN23),1(3)mbt-like 3 isoform b(L3 MBTL3),RALY RNA binding protein-like isoform 1(RALYL),and Homo sapiens mRNA for KIAA1783 protein,partial cds(KIAA 1783).Conclusion True positive colonies of LRRK2 are successfully obtained by the yeast 2-hybrid.Our screened proteins may provide a new research clue for revealing biological functions of LRRK2,pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease,and other neurodegerations.

Human ribosomal DNA (hrDNA) targeting vector pHr is a homologous recombinant plasmid for human genome which developed in the State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics. pHr was used to construct a recombinant plasmid pHr-CMG expressing mda-7/GFP fusion gene and its efficacy in the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line Bel-7402 was investigated. The expression of mda-7/GFP fusion gene was detected by fluorescent microscope, RT-PCR and Western blotting, and its function was detected by cell-cycle analyses, MTT assay and Hoechst33258 staining. The results demonstrated that pHr-CMG vector could express MDA-7/GFP fusion protein effectually and the mda-7 gene could induce cell apoptosis and proliferation suppression in Bel-7402 cell line, which might be caused by the G2/M cell cycle arrest. These results also suggested that human ribosomal DNA targeting vector system and the pHr-CMG vector may be applied in further gene therapy researches for hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether the effect of N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (AcSDKP) on transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta1) and connective tissues growth factor (CTGF) was involved in AcSDKP's antifibrotic effect on the rats with silicosis.

METHODSRats were divided into 6 groups randomly, 10 rats in each group: Control of silicotic model: 1.0 ml normal sodium and was killed after 4 or 8 weeks; Silicotic model 1: 50 mg/ml silica suspension and was killed after 4 weeks; Silicotic model 2: 50 mg/ml silica suspension and was killed after 8 weeks; Anti-fibrosis treatment of AcSDKP: after each rat was intratracheally instilled with 50 mg/ml silica suspension for 4 weeks, AcSDKP 800 microg/(kg x d) was administered into every rat and rats were killed at the 8 weeks; Preventing fibrosis treatment of AcSDKP: after AcSDKP [800 microg/(kg x d)] was administered into every rat for 48 hours, each rat was intratracheally instilled with 50 mg/ml silica suspension and rats were killed at the 8 weeks. Lung fibrosis in morphology was observed by HE staining. The expressions of TGF-beta1 and CTGF in lung were observed by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA expressions of TGF-beta1 and CTGF in lung were observed by real-time PCR.

RESULTSIn anti-fibrosis treatment of AcSDKP group, protein expression of TGF-beta1 and CTGF were (0.244 +/- 0.016) and (0.241 +/- 0.017) respectively, and significantly lower that those in the silicotic model 1 and 2 groups; mRNA expressions of TGF-beta1 and CTGF decreased, mRNA expressions of CTGF were significantly lower that those in the silicotic model 1 and 2 groups (P < 0.05); In preventing fibrosis treatment of AcSDKP group, protein expression and mRNA expression of TGF-beta1 were significantly lower that those in the silicotic model 2 group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcSDKP can decrease the expressions of TGF-beta1 and CTGF in lung tissues of the rats with experimentally induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Animals ; Connective Tissue Growth Factor ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Lung ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Oligopeptides ; pharmacology ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Silicosis ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 on the inhibition of N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (AcSDKP) on the proliferation and collagen synthesis of cultured rat pulmonary fibroblasts induced by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF).

METHODSPulmonary fibroblasts were prepared from lungs of neonatal Wistar rats as described previously. Cells were divided into 4 groups: (1) control group (0.4% FBS group); (2) PDGF (10 ng/ml) stimulated group; (3) PD98059+PDGF group (25 micromol/L PD98059+10 ng/ml PDGF); (4) AcSDKP+PDGF group (10(-8) mol/L AcSDKP+10 ng/ml PDGF). All experiments were performed in the fourth passages. Metabolic activity of fibroblasts was observed by MTT, and expressions of type I and type III collagen were measured by immunocytochemistry and western blot. Expressions of phospho-ERK1/2 and ERK1/2 were detected by western blot.

RESULTSCompared with control group, exposure of pulmonary fibroblasts to 10 ng/ml PDGF increased cell metabolic activity, expression of type I and type III collagen and phosphorylation of ERK1/2. 25 micromol/L PD98059 and AcSDKP both could inhibit the metabolic activity of pulmonary fibroblasts, type I and type III collagen synthesis and phosphorylation of ERK1/ 2 induced by PDGF, with significant differences (P < 0.05). AcSDKP+PDGF group compared with PDGF stimulated group, metabolic activity of pulmonary fibroblasts decreased to 77.4%. Immunocytochemistry result showed that in AcSDKP+PDGF group, expressions of type I and type III collagen decreased to 69.3% and 67.2% compared with those of PDGF stimulated group. Western blot result showed that in AcSDKP+PDGF group, expressions of type I and type III collagen decreased to 92.4% and 78.0%, phospho-ERK1/2 decreased to 83.5% compared with those of PDGF stimulated group, with significant differences (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONERK1/2 plays an important role in the inhibition of AcSDKP on the proliferation and collagen synthesis of cultured rat pulmonary fibroblasts induced by PDGF.

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Collagen ; biosynthesis ; Fibroblasts ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiology ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; physiology ; Oligopeptides ; pharmacology ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar