Objective To discuss the clinical efficacy of surgery for chronic subdural hematoma assisted by rigid neuroendoscope and its surgical techniques. Methods Clinical data of 161 patients with chronic subdural hematoma from August 2009 to December 2015 was analyzed retrospectively. 74 of them experienced surgeries assisted by rigid neuroendoscope (endoscope group) and other 87 cases were operated without neuroendoscope (routine group) during the same period. Results Although there were significant difference in operative duration between the two groups, complications, ratio of total removal of hematoma after surgery, postoperative inpatient duration and recurrent rate of hematoma were more advantageous in endoscope group. The operative duration of endoscope group with (112.68 ± 34.86) min was longer than that of routine group with (74.11 ± 28.23) min (t = 7.75, P = 0.000), while the postoperative inpatient duration of endoscope group with (8.23 ± 2.01) d was shorter than that of another group with (10.79 ± 5.02) d (t = -4.12, P = 0.000). There were no surgical associated complications in endoscope group, but 1 patient in routine group experienced intracerebral hematoma of frontal lobe and associated aphemia. Total removal of hematoma was confirmed in endoscope group with 98.65% (73/74), which was higher than that in routine group with 86.21% (75/78) (χ2 = 8.34, P = 0.004). Hematoma recurrence was found in 16 cases of routine group (18.39%), but more superiority in endoscope group with 1.35% (χ2 = 12.29, P = 0.000). Outpatient follow-up was carried out in all patients from 6 to 38 months with an average duration of 30.06 months. In 17 cases with recurrent hematoma during follow-up, 15 of them were cured by a second surgery, and another 2 patients were cured by atorvastatin. Conclusion As a simple, safe and effective technique, the application of rigid neuroendoscope during surgery for chronic subdural hematoma is more advantage than routine surgery. A self-made suction with adjustable soft curved tip is suitable for such procedure.

Traditional herbal medicines, Panax ginseng, Panax quinquefolium and Panax notoginseng, attract our attention for their extensive and powerful pharmacological activities. Ginsenosides are the main active constituents of these medicinal herbs. The related glycosyltransferases involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis are the key enzymes which catalyze the last important step. Modification of ginsenoside aglycones by glycosyltransferases produces the complexity and diversity of ginsenosides, which have more extensive pharmacological activity. At present, ginsenoside aglycones and compound K have been obtained by synthetic biology. As the last step of ginsenoside biosynthesis, glycosylation of ginsenoside aglycones has been studied intensively in recent years. This review summarizes the basic strategies and research advances in studies on glycosyltransferases involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis, which is expected to lay the theoretical foundation for the in-depth research of biosynthetic pathway of ginsenosides and their production by synthetic biology.
Biosynthetic Pathways ; Ginsenosides ; biosynthesis ; Glycosyltransferases ; metabolism ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Synthetic Biology

Pichia pastoris is one of the most important systems used in the field of molecular biology for the expression of recombinant proteins. The system has advantages of high expression, high stability, high secretion, easy high-density fermentation and low cost. Many factors affect the expression of recombinant protein, such as gene copy number, codon usage preference, type of promoter, molecular chaperones, glycosylation, signal peptide and fermentation process. In this review, research advances of the above aspects are summarized, which lay a foundation for improving the expression of recombinant proteins in P. pastoris.
Fermentation ; Gene Dosage ; Glycosylation ; Molecular Chaperones ; Pichia ; metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Protein Sorting Signals ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis

Lanosterol synthase is encoded by the erg7 gene and catalyzes the cyclization of 2, 3-oxidosqualene, which is a rate-limiting step of the inherent mevalonate (MVA)/ergosterol metabolic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The intermediate 2, 3-oxidosqualene is also the precursor of triterpenoids. Therefore, the cyclization of 2, 3-oxidosqualene is the key branch point of ergosterol and triterpenoids biosynthesis. Down-regulation of 2, 3-oxidosqualene metabolic flux to ergosterol in S. cerevisiae may redirect the metabolic flux toward the triterpenoid synthetic pathway reconstructed by the synthetic biology approach. To construct erg7 knockout cassette harboring the loxP-Marker-loxP element, long primers were designed, which were homologous to the sequences of both erg7 ORF and plasmid pUG66. The cassette was transformed into diploid wild strain INVSc1 by LiAc/SS Carrier DNA/PEG method and then erg7 gene haploid deficient mutant was obtained by homologous recombination. The results of semiquantitative PCR and real-time quantitative PCR revealed that erg7 expression level in erg7 gene haploid deficient mutant is one time lower than that in wild strain. The results of TLC and HPLC showed that the ergosterol content in deficient mutant decreased to 42% of that in wild strain.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; DNA Primers ; Down-Regulation ; Ergosterol ; metabolism ; Haploidy ; Intramolecular Transferases ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; Squalene ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy and side effects of the combination therapy of oxaliplatin and S-1 in treating postoperative colorectal cancer patients.

METHODS54 postoperative colorectal cancer patients received the combination therapy of oxaliplatin and S-1 regimen, repeated every 3 weeks, and evaluate the efficacy after 3 cycles.

RESULTSAll of the 54 patients but 2 (changed the chemotherapy regimen after the first cycle because of economic reason) finished 6 cycles of the chemotherapy treatment. There were 6 cases (11.5%) with complete response (CR), 28 cases (53.8%) with partial response (PR), and the overall response rate was 65.4%. Major adverse effects were hematological toxicities, gastrointestinal disturbance, neurosensory toxicity. There were no chemotherapy-related deaths.

CONCLUSIONSOxaliplatin combined with S-1 is an effective and better tolerated chemotherapy treatment for postoperative colorectal cancer patients, with no serious side effects for liver and kidney. Therefore, it can be used as an alternative chemotherapy regimen for postoperative colorectal cancer patients.

Adenocarcinoma ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Colonic Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Diarrhea ; chemically induced ; Female ; Humans ; Leukopenia ; chemically induced ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Oxonic Acid ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Postoperative Period ; Pyridines ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Rectal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Remission Induction ; Tegafur ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Vomiting ; chemically induced

The cyclization of 2,3-oxidosqualene is the key branch point of ergosterol and triterpenoid biosynthesis. Downregulation of 2,3-oxidosqualene metabolic flux to ergosterol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae may redirect the metabolic flux toward the triterpenoid synthetic pathway. In our study, primers were designed according to erg7 gene sequence of S. cerevisiae. Three fragments including 5' long fragment, 5' short fragment and erg7 coding region fragment were amplified by PCR. 5' long fragment consists of the promoter and a part of erg7 coding region sequence. 5' short fragment consists of a part of promoter and a part of erg7 coding region sequence. These fragments were inserted reversely into pESC-URA to construct antisense expression plasmids. The recombinant plasmids were transformed into S. cerevisiae INVSc1 and recombinant strains were screened on the nutritional deficient medium SD-URA. The erg7 expression level of recombinant strains, which harbored antisense expression plasmid of erg7 coding region, was similar to that of INVScl by semi-quantitative PCR detection. But erg7 expression level of recombinant strains, which harbored 5' long antisense fragment and 5' short antisense fragment, was significantly lower than that of the control. The results of TLC and HPLC showed that the ergosterol content of recombinant strains, which harbored 5' long antisense fragment, decreased obviously. The ergosterol contents of the others were almost equal to that of INVSc1. Lanosterol synthase gene expression was downregulated by antisense RNA technology in S. cerevisiae, which lays a foundation for reconstructing triterpenoid metabolic pathway in S. cerevisiae by synthetic biology technology.
DNA Primers ; Down-Regulation ; Gene Expression ; Intramolecular Transferases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plasmids ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Antisense ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; enzymology ; genetics ; Squalene ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Transformation, Genetic

We aimed to study the effect of allitridum (All) on the transient outward potassium current (Ito) of ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Totally 30 male SHRs were randomly divided into three groups: low-dose All group (7.5 mg·kg(-1)), high-dose All group (15.0 mg·kg(-1)) and normal saline group. The other 10 sex and age matched Wistar-kyoto rats (WKY) were also taken as control group (WKY group). All animals received i.p. administration for 8 weeks. The dual enzymatic method was used to separate single ventricular myocyte from animals. Patch-clamp technique was used to record Ito and analyze the effect of All on the current. It was shown that the left ventricular hypertrophy of SHR was reversed significantly by All. Furthermore, the density of Ito was recovered in both high and low dose All groups. The peak current densities of Ito were enhanced from 18.23±3.64 to 25.17±2.86 pA/pF (P<0.01) and 36.47±5.42 pA/pF (P<0.01) at +50 mV by All 7.5 mg·kg(-1) and 15.0 mg·kg(-1), respectively, which was not significantly different with WKY group. The effect was associated with positive shift of the steady-state, close-state inactivation, and shortened recovery from inactivation of Ito. It is concluded that All decreases the remodeling of Ito of ventricular hypertrophic myocytes of SHR.
Allyl Compounds ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; drug therapy ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Potassium Channels ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Rats, Inbred WKY ; Sulfides ; pharmacology

We aimed to study the effect of allitridum (All) on the transient outward potassium current (Ito) of ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Totally 30 male SHRs were randomly divided into three groups: low-dose All group (7.5 mg·kg(-1)), high-dose All group (15.0 mg·kg(-1)) and normal saline group. The other 10 sex and age matched Wistar-kyoto rats (WKY) were also taken as control group (WKY group). All animals received i.p. administration for 8 weeks. The dual enzymatic method was used to separate single ventricular myocyte from animals. Patch-clamp technique was used to record Ito and analyze the effect of All on the current. It was shown that the left ventricular hypertrophy of SHR was reversed significantly by All. Furthermore, the density of Ito was recovered in both high and low dose All groups. The peak current densities of Ito were enhanced from 18.23±3.64 to 25.17±2.86 pA/pF (P<0.01) and 36.47±5.42 pA/pF (P<0.01) at +50 mV by All 7.5 mg·kg(-1) and 15.0 mg·kg(-1), respectively, which was not significantly different with WKY group. The effect was associated with positive shift of the steady-state, close-state inactivation, and shortened recovery from inactivation of Ito. It is concluded that All decreases the remodeling of Ito of ventricular hypertrophic myocytes of SHR.

To describe the unique miRNA profiles for HIV seropositive individuals and identify significantly differently expressed miRNAs, we determined the expression level of 754 miRNAs of 10 HIV seropositive individuals and 10 HIV seronegative individuals by using the Taqman low density microRNA array. BRB-Array Tool was used to conduct the significance analysis, and the DIANA online tool was used to perform the miRNA target prediction and pathway analysis. A total of 56 significantly differentially expressed miRNAs were identified by microarray between HIV seropositive and seronegative individuals. Among them, 49 miRNAs were down-regulated and 7 were up-regulated, partially overlapped with reported data. Predicted target genes were mainly involved in MAPK, TGF-beta and Wnt pathways. The results shows that miRNA profile changes in HIV-1 seropositive individuals, and the 56 differentially expressed miRNAs may play important role during HIV infection. Further studies on these miRNAs may be helpful for identify key molecules involved in HIV infection and potential diagnostic markers.
Adult ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; HIV Infections ; blood ; genetics ; virology ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; genetics ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To evalute the effects of TAK-147, a novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitor on rat spatial memory deficit using the Morris water maze. METHODS: Morris water maze was used to measure spatial memory in rats, and open field test was used to analysis locomotor activity. RESULTS: Scopolamine (0.4mg/kg,IP) significantly increased the latency period in memory acquisition. Intraperitoneal TAK-147 injection ameliorated scopolamine-induced deficit in a dose-related manner. A significant effect was obtained at doses of 0.3 and 1.0 mg/kg. Both TAK-147 (0.3 and 1.0 mg/kg) and tacrine (3 and 5 mg/kg) significantly reversed scopolamine (1.5 mg/kg) increased latency in memory retrieval. However, TAK-147 had a more potent effect than tacrine. In the locomotor test, TAK-147 created no appreciable change, compared with scopolamine or saline. CONCLUSION: A novel acetycholinesterase inhibitor, TAK-147 ameliorates the scopolamine induced impaired spatial memory in rats.