Objective To explore a novel long-circulating dual-receptor targeting and dual-modal molecular probe and investigate its physicochemical properties and targeting effect on breast cancer cells in vitro. Methods Dual-receptor targeting and dual-modal molecular probe RGD@BBN-lipo(QDs)-SPIO was synthesized in the following steps: long-circulating liposome was prepared by film dispersion method;water-soluble superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles and Quantum dots (QDs) were loaded in the hydrophilic and hydrophobic layer of liposome, respectively;RGD and BBN polypeptides were coupled on the former functional magnetic/fluorescent liposomes. Stability of the probe in different physiological solutions was investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and particle size analyzer were used to measure nanoparticle sizes and the Zeta potential. Characterization of RGD and BBN was investigated through 1H-NMR and elemental analysis. The MRI T2 relaxivities (1/T2) of RGD@BBN-lipo(QDs)-SPIO was measured through T2 map scanning on 3.0 T MR system. HUV-EC-C cells were used for assessment of cells viability by MTS assay. Prussian blue staining and fluorescence imaging were carried out to determine the targeted breast cellular uptake of RGD@BBN-lipo(QDs)-SPIO nanoparticles. Results The targeting magnetic/fluorescent dual-model molecular probes appeared spherical or para-spherical,with a mean diameter of(118.2±3.9)nm,Zeta potential of (-24.78±1.68) mV,MR T2 magnetic relaxation rate of 0.498 1× 106 M-1 · s-1.RGD and BBN polypeptides were successfully coupled on the former functionally magnetic/fluorescent liposomes with the bind rates of 33.05%and 45.06%, respectively. There was low cytotoxity of the molecular probe on human umbilical vein endothelical cells(HUV-EC-C)by MTS study. Prussian blue staining and fluorescence imaging studies showed that the RGD@BBN-lipo(QDs)-SPIO nanoparticles could target any αvβ3 or gastrin releasing peptide receptor overexpression breast cancer. Conclusions RGD@BBN-lipo(QDs)-SPIO is a novel long-circulating dual-receptor targeting and dual-modal molecular probe and has excellent physicochemical properties and stability, high T2 relaxivities and strong targeting effect on cancer cells and has laid a solid foundation for early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Objective To explore the expressions of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in acute liver failure mice induced by D-galactosamine (GalN)/lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and the correlation with miRNAs in the liver.Methods Forty clean grade Balb/C mice,with 32 in the model group and 8 in the control group were enrolled in the study.Liver failure was induced by intraperitoneally injection of D-GalN and LPS in mice of the model group,while mice of the control group were intraperitoneally injected with 1 mL 0.9 ％ sodium chloride solution.Serum and liver samples were collected at 0,3,5,7 hours following administration,and eight mice should be supplied to each sample,and changes of alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and histopathology of the liver were observed.miRNA from both the serum and the liver was extracted,miRNA expression profile in the liver at 0,5,7 hours by locked nucleic acid (LNA)-miRNA microarray was analyzed and miRNA by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was detected.Means of the two groups were compared using one-way ANOVA and correlation analyses were performed using Pearson and Spearman correlation.Results Expression of miRNAs in the liver tissue changed significantly over time with the occurrence of acute liver failure in the mice.Twenty-one miRNAs were up-regulated and 27 were down-regulated,among which miRNA-122 and miRNA-1187 were down-regulated while miRNA-146a and miRNA-155 were up-regulated.It was confirmed by the PCR assay that the expression of miRNA-122 and miRNA-1187 in the liver gradually decreased,while those in the serum were up-regulated over time.However,the expressions of inflammation associated miRNA-155 and miRNA-146a were up-regulated both in the serum and the liver after administration.The expressions of miRNA-122 and miRNA-1187 were negatively correlated between serum and liver (r=-0.477,P=0.0089,r=-0.420,P=0.231),while the expressions of miRNA-155 in serum and liver were positively correlated (r=0.678,P=0.0001).Moreover,the expressions of miRNA-122 (r=0.571,0.554) and miRNA-1187 (r=0.471,0.542) were also positively correlated with serum levels of ALT and AST (all P＜0.05).Liver and serum levels of miRNA-122 and miRNA-1187 changed significantly at 5 hours after administration,which preceded the changes of ALT/AST.Conclusions The expressions of miRNA-122 and miRNA-1187 in serum are well inversely correlated with the corresponding expressions in liver tissues during acute liver failure in mice.The changes of miRNA-122 and miRNA-1187 in the serum precede those of ALT/AST.These data suggest that serum miRNA-122 and miRNA-1187 might be the candidate serum biomarkers for early prediction of liver injury.

Objective To measure the expression of circulating microRNA (miRNA)in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related liver failure and its relationship with disease prognosis.Methods The miRNA expressions in serum of 5 patients with HBV-related liver failure and 5 healthy control subjects were compared using Exiqon miRCURY LNATM miRNA microarray.The sera from 20 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB),20 patients hepatitis B related cirrhosis,50 patients with HBV-related liver failure and 40 healthy persons in Ruijin Hospital were collected.The relative expression of miRNA-595 was measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).The relative expressions of miRNAs among groups were analyzed using student t test,the correlations were analyzed by Pearson and Spearman correlation.Results Microarray informed that 92 miRNAs changed significantly in patients with HBV-related liver failure,and miRNA-595 increased most significantly.The results of real-time PCR showed that the relative expressions of miRNA-595 ,miRNA-300 and miRNA-122 were 6.03 (t=3.134, P =0.003),3.12 (t=7.221 ,P <0.01)and 2.77 (t=2.671 ,P =0.021),which were higher compared to those in healthy control group.In the analysis of the relationship between miRNA-595 expression and disease prognosis in patients with HBV-related liver failure,the relative expressions of miRNA-595 in patients with CHB,hepatitis B related cirrhosis and HBV-related liver failure were 2.26 (t =3.780,P =0.001),3.32 (t = 6.111 ,P < 0.01)and 6.03 (t = 3.134,P = 0.003),respectively,which were all increased compared to that of the healthy control.The relative expression of miRNA-595 of patients with HBV-related liver failure was 2.66 times (t=2.450,P =0.043)higher than that of patients with CHB. When dividing patients according to prothrombin activity,miRNA-595 increased significantly in patients with early stage liver failure.When dividing patients according to model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) score,MELD score was positive correlated with the expression of miRNA-595 when MELD score was under 30 (r=0.673,P =0.004).The expression of serum miRNA-595 in survival group (11 .08,n=23) was higher than that in non-survival group (3.67,n = 27,t =4.309,P =0.041).Conclusions The expressions of miRNA595 ,miRNA-300 and miRNA-122 are all increased in patients with HBV-related liver failure,especially the expression of circulating miRNA-595 at early stage of the disease.The miRNA-595 may be used as a new serum biomarker for monitoring the severity of disease.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM: To investigate the SALL4 expression, proliferation and apoptosis in the LNCaP cells after transfection of SALL4 siRNA.METHODS: The expression of SALL4 at mRNA and protein levels was detected by real-time PCR and Western blotting.MTS assay, colony formation assay and flow cytometry were used to determine the prolifer-ation, colony formation ability and apoptosis of the LNCaP cells.The effect of SALL4 on the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 was analyzed by Western blotting.RESULTS:Compared with negative control group, the expression of SALL4 at mRNA and protein levels in LNCaP cells was down-regulated by transfection of SALL4 siRNA ( P<0.05 ) .The proliferation rate and colony formation ability were decreased, while apoptosis rate increased in si-SALL4 group (P<0.05).Higher expres-sion of Bax and lower expression of Bcl-2 in si-SALL4 group were observed ( P<0.05 ) .CONCLUSION:Down-regula-tion of SALL4 by siRNA not only suppresses LNCaP cell proliferation and colony formation, but also inhibits Bcl-2 expres-sion and activates Bax expression to induce apoptosis.

Microbiota is the entire collection of microorganisms in a specific niche, such as the human gut. It impacts almost all organ systems and is related to disease resistance and susceptibility of the host. The microbiome refers to all of the genetic material within a microbiota. Microbiota is studied by means of sequencing specific genes or metagenomes; analyzing the species and their abundance and function; and determining the structure, diversity, evolutionary relationships, biological and medical significance, and their interactions with the environment of the microbiota. Human gut microbiota refers to that living in the human intestinal tract, including bacteria, fungi and viruses (bacteriophages). Current studies show that gut microbiota is closely related to human health, and its influence scope is far beyond the digestive system, but also involves the immune system, cardiovascular system, nervous system and other aspects. Substance addiction, a chronic recurrent brain disease, is characterized by persistent craving for addictive substances and forced drug use, which can cause changes in gut microbiota. We intend to discuss the relationship of gut microbiota with alcohol, cocaine, opioids, methamphetamine and other addictive substances, indicating that intervention in gut microbiota, which affects the structure and function of the brain, may become a new way to treat substance addiction.