BACKGROUNDDermal papilla cells (DPC) are a group of mesenchyme-derived cells at the base of the hair follicle, where they regulate and control hair follicle growth through the expression and secretion of cytokines. Nevertheless, the role of DPC derived chemokines and other cytokines in the hair follicle biology remain speculative. In this study, we investigated the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and stem cell factor (SCF) in different passages of cultured DPC and their effects on the biological behaviour of DPC.

METHODSThe expression of bFGF, ET-1 and SCF in different passages of cultured DPC and their possible effects on the biological behavior of DPC are investigated using in situ hybridization and immunochemistry. In addition, we performed transplantation of hair follicle cells into nude mice. The cultured DPC, dermal sheath cells and fibroblast of human scalp, respectively, were mixed with cells of the hair follicle epithelium in different ratios, and then were cultured in hair follicle organotypic cultures or implanted into the subcutis of nude mice.

RESULTSThe expression of ET-1 and SCF in early passages of cultured DPC became stronger, but turned weaker and even negative in late passages (> 6 passages). Hair follicle-like structures were formed after DPC combined with the cells of hair follicle epithelium cells in hair follicle organotypic cultures. When hair follicle organotypic cultures were implanted into the subcutis of nude mice, the relative intact hair follicles were formed. After the transplantation of hair follicle cells into the nude mice, the hair follicle-like structure was formed in the group that contained DPC mixed with hair follicle epithelium cells. However, no hair follicles were formed in the other two groups. It was found that the higher the expression of ET-1 and SCF in DPC, the stronger the ability of DPC to induce hair follicle regeneration.

CONCLUSIONSThe cultured DPC can induce hair follicle regeneration and sustain hair growth in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, the expression of ET-1 and SCF is correlated with the ability of DPC inducing hair follicle regeneration.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelin-1 ; analysis ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; analysis ; Hair Follicle ; physiology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Situ Hybridization ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Regeneration ; Skin ; chemistry ; cytology ; Stem Cell Factor ; analysis

Objective To investigate whether vitamin C can promote the proliferation ability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) derived from aging mice. Methods The senescence-accelerated mouse prone 6 (SAMP6) mice and senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) mice were used as the test group and the control group, respectively, and the SAMP6 mice were examined by micro-CT to verify the senescent phenotype. BMMSCs were harvested from the two mouse lines and cultured in vitro, and the cells from SAMP6 mice were subjected to treatment with different concentrations of vitamin C. The proliferation ability of the cells from the two mouse lines was tested using MTT assay and growth curves, and TeloTAGGG Telomerase PCR ELISA was used to measure the telomerase activity;PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect the expression level of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in the cells. Results The SAMP6 mice displayed a bone senescent phenotype. The proliferation ability of BMMSCs derived from SAMP6 mice and their telomerase activity were significantly lower than those derived from SAMR1 mice (P<0.05). Vitamin C treatment significantly enhanced the proliferation ability of BMMSCs derived from SAMP6 mice in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05) and increased telomerase activity and TERT expression in the cells (P<0.05). At the concentration of 100μg/mL, vitamin C produced the strongest effect in promoting the proliferation of BMMSCs from SAMP6 mice, while at the concentration of 1000μg/ml, growth suppression occurred in the cells. Conclusion Vitamin C can promote the proliferation of BMMSCs from aging mice possibly by increasing the cellular telomerase activity.

Objective:To explore the biological process of liver tissue-derived extracellular vesicle (LT-EV) in promoting osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and healing of jaw defects to provide a feasible treatment method for the clinical treatment of jaw bone defects.Methods:Enzymatic hydrolysis and differential centrifugation were used to extract LT-EV, scanning electron microscopy, Western blotting, and nanoparticle tracking analyzers were used to identify and characterize LT-EV, and further to explore the biological functions of LT-EV through proteomics and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Flow cytometry was used to detect LT-EV plasma concentration and to calculate the plasma half-life of LT-EV. Small animal in vivo imaging system was used to detect the biological distribution of LT-EV 24 hours after injection. Six C57BL/6 mice were divided into control group and LT-EV group (3 mice in each group) by simple random sampling method. All mice underwent jaw bone defect surgery and tail vein injection every 7 days (the control group was injected with phosphoric buffer saline, LT-EV group was injected with LT-EV), micro-CT was used to evaluate the degree of mouse jaw bone healing 28 days after surgery, HE staining was used to analyze the multi-organ biosafety of LT-EV, and immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the jaw bone expression of osteogenic marker proteins in the defect area. Human jaw bone mesenchymal stem cells (hJBMSC) induced by osteogenic differentiation were treated with LT-EV (obtained from orthognathic surgery patients provided by the Department of Traumatology and Orthognathic Surgery of School of Stomatology of The Fourth Military Medical University resected normal jaw bone fragments), and the difference in osteogenic differentiation ability between the hJBMSC group and the control group (phosphate buffer saline treatment) was compared, and the in vitro bone differentiation promoting effect of LT-EV was verified through alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Results:The yield of LT-EV was high, and proteomics and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes showed that LT-EV contained a series of proteins that regulated cell biological functions. LT-EV injected into the tail vein could reach the mouse jaw bone defect area and promote the regeneration and repair of the jaw bone defect [the bone volume fractions of the LT-EV group and the control group were (36.06±4.20)% and (18.58±5.61)%, respectively; t=4.32, P=0.013], and had good biosafety. LT-EV could promote osteogenic differentiation of hJBMSC in vitro. Compared to the control group, ALP staining and osteogenic gene expression levels were significantly enhanced after osteogenic differentiation of hJBMSC ( P<0.05). Conclusions:LT-EV exhibits a high yield, ease of acquisition, high biological safety, and excellent bone-promoting effects. It holds promise as a novel cell-free therapy strategy for regenerating craniofacial bone defects.

This study using maltodextrin as raw material, 1%-5% polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 as template agent, 1%-5% ammonium bicarbonate as pore-forming agent, curcumin and ibuprofen as model drugs. Porous maltodextrin was prepared by template and pore-forming agent methods, respectively. The structure and drug delivery behavior of porous maltodextrin prepared by different technologies were comprehensively characterized. The results showed that the porous maltodextrin prepared by pore-forming agent method had larger specific surface area (6.449 4 m²·g^-1) and pore size (32.804 2 nm), which was significantly better than that by template agent method (3.670 2 m²·g^-1, 15.278 5 nm). The adsorption kinetics between porous maltodextrin prepared by pore-forming agent method and curcumin were suitable for quasi-first order adsorption kinetic model, and that between porous maltodextrin and ibuprofen were suitable for quasi-second order adsorption kinetic model. While the adsorption kinetics between porous maltodextrin prepared by template agent method and two model drugs were both suitable for the quasi-first order adsorption kinetic model. In addition, the dissolution behavior analysis showed that the porous maltodextrin prepared by the two technologies can significantly improve the dissolution behavior of insoluble drugs, and the drug release was both carried out by diffusion mechanism, which suitable for the Peppas kinetic release model, but the porous maltodextrin prepared by template agent method had a faster release rate. The change of nozzle diameter had no significant effect on the adsorption process and drug release behavior of porous maltodextrin. In conclusion, the porous maltodextrins prepared by two different technologies were both beneficial to the delivery of insoluble drugs, and the template agent method was the best for delivery of insoluble drugs. This study can provide theoretical basis for the preparation of porous particles, promote the application of porous particles in insoluble drugs, and improve the bioavailability of insoluble drugs.

Objective To investigate whether vitamin C can promote the proliferation ability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) derived from aging mice. Methods The senescence-accelerated mouse prone 6 (SAMP6) mice and senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) mice were used as the test group and the control group, respectively, and the SAMP6 mice were examined by micro-CT to verify the senescent phenotype. BMMSCs were harvested from the two mouse lines and cultured in vitro, and the cells from SAMP6 mice were subjected to treatment with different concentrations of vitamin C. The proliferation ability of the cells from the two mouse lines was tested using MTT assay and growth curves, and TeloTAGGG Telomerase PCR ELISA was used to measure the telomerase activity;PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect the expression level of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in the cells. Results The SAMP6 mice displayed a bone senescent phenotype. The proliferation ability of BMMSCs derived from SAMP6 mice and their telomerase activity were significantly lower than those derived from SAMR1 mice (P<0.05). Vitamin C treatment significantly enhanced the proliferation ability of BMMSCs derived from SAMP6 mice in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05) and increased telomerase activity and TERT expression in the cells (P<0.05). At the concentration of 100μg/mL, vitamin C produced the strongest effect in promoting the proliferation of BMMSCs from SAMP6 mice, while at the concentration of 1000μg/ml, growth suppression occurred in the cells. Conclusion Vitamin C can promote the proliferation of BMMSCs from aging mice possibly by increasing the cellular telomerase activity.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of Tei index and the sensitivity of left versus right ventricular Tei index in evaluating the fetal cardiac function in pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome in the third trimester.

METHODSFetal echocardiograms were performed in 30 women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) syndrome and 55 with normal pregnancy of the third trimester. Tei index was obtained by calculating the ratio of the isovolumic time (isovolumic contraction and relaxation time) to the ejection time of the left and right ventricle. Comparisons of the Tei index were made between the PIH group and control group, and also between the left and right ventricles in each group.

RESULTSSignificant difference was found in the left and right ventricular Tei index between PIH group and control group. No difference was noted between the left and right ventricular Tei index in the PIH group.

CONCLUSIONSTei index is a useful indicator in evaluating fetal global cardiac function, for which purpose the left ventricular Tei index can be as sensitive as the right ventricular Tei index.

Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Fetal Heart ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; Ventricular Function, Left ; physiology ; Ventricular Function, Right ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of induction chemotherapy on the patients with moderate tongue squamous cell carcinoma and to investigate the factors that influence prognosis of these patients.

METHODSOne hundred and twenty two patients with moderate tongue squamous cell carcinoma (stage II-III, T2-3 N0/T1-3N1), treated from Jan. 1990 to Dec. 1999 were retrospectively reviewed. Among them, 69 and 53 patients were received operation alone and operation after induction chemotherapy respectively [cisplatin + 5-fluorouracil + bleomycin-A5 (PBF), 17 cases; bleomycin-A5, 36 cases]. Survival rate was estimated by Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis by the Cox proportional hazard model.

RESULTSThe mean follow-time of all patients were (79.9 +/- 49.8) (x +/- s) months (range: 7 to 177 months), and 45 patients died (including 5 lost to follow up) , 66 of 77 patients alive followed more than 5 years. The overall 3-year and 5-year survival rate were 79.4% and 69. 0% respectively. The overall 3-year and 5-year free-disease survival rate were 71.7% and 66. 3% respectively. The survival rate of 3-year and 5-year was 82.5% and 73.1% respectively for the group of operation alone; 82.4% and 70.1% respectively for the group of operation after induction chemotherapy with PBF, 72.2% and 61.1% respectively for the group of operation after induction chemotherapy with bleomycin-A5; and there were no significant difference between the above three groups (chi2 = 0.42, P = 0.8106). The locoregional recurrence rate were 30.4%, 41.2% and 38.9% for the operation alone group, operation after PBF induction chemotherapy group and operation after bleomycin-A5 induction chemotherapy group respectively. No significant benefit on decreasing locoregional recurrence (chi2 = 1.148, P = 0.563) or distant metastasis rate (chi2 = 2.305, P = 0.316) were found by induction chemotherapy by univariate analysis. Using multivariate analysis, risk factor that independently influence survival was the recurrence.

CONCLUSIONSRisk factors that independently influence survival of moderate tongue squamous cell carcinoma was the locoregional recurrence. No significant benefit on improving survival rate or decreasing locoregional recurrence or metastasis rate were found by induction chemotherapy, there was no difference between the two induction chemotherapy schemes on the survival rate or locoregional recurrence or metastasis rate of these patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; drug therapy ; mortality ; pathology ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate ; Tongue Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; pathology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo breed new varieties with better uniformity and commercial quality as well as higher saikosaponin contents.

METHODThe excellent germplasm resources were selected from "zhongchai no. 1" population. Single plant method was applied to get better varieties. All the breeding material was investigated according to morphological characters, agronomic characters and the contents of saikosaponin a and saikosaponin d. The experiments of comparative test and varieties regional test were carried out.

RESULTThe bred new varieties of "zhongchai No. 2" and "zhongchai No. 3" had better uniformity. The dark brown roots ratios of the two varieties were 83.2%, 89.9%, respectively. The contents of saikosaponins (a + d) of the two varieties reached 1.31%, 1.02%, respectively.

CONCLUSION"zhongchai No. 2" and " zhongchai No. 3" both had the advantages of better uniformity, darker brown roots and higher saikosaponin contents.

Breeding ; Bupleurum ; chemistry ; genetics ; growth & development ; Oleanolic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; Saponins ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical and computed tomography (CT) appearances of pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma.

METHODSThe CT findings and clinical data of 13 patients with pathologically proven pulmonary MALT lymphoma were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTSAmong these 13 patients, seven presented no notable abnormalities, six manifested respiratory symptoms including cough, expectoration, and dyspnea; one of these six patients experienced fever. Chest CT showed solitary nodule in 2 patients and multiple nodules in 3 patients; meanwhile, it showed solitary consolidation in 3 patients and multiple consolidations in 5 patients. Other CT findings included air bronchogram (n = 13), airway dilatation (n = 4), ground glass opacities (n = 5), and interstitial changes (n = 5). One patient had mediastinal lymphoadenopathy and 2 had pleural effusion. Pathology showed massive lymphocyte infiltration; cells with notable nuclear atypia were also seen, which were generated from B cells.

CONCLUSIONSThe main CT findings of pulmonary MALT lymphoma include nodules, mass or patchy consolidations with air brochogram; hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathies are rare. Clinical diagnosis should also be based on pathological findings and immunohistochemical results.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether vitamin C can promote the proliferation ability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) derived from aging mice.

METHODSThe senescence-accelerated mouse prone 6 (SAMP6) mice and senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) mice were used as the test group and the control group, respectively, and the SAMP6 mice were examined by micro-CT to verify the senescent phenotype. BMMSCs were harvested from the two mouse lines and cultured in vitro, and the cells from SAMP6 mice were subjected to treatment with different concentrations of vitamin C. The proliferation ability of the cells from the two mouse lines was tested using MTT assay and growth curves, and TeloTAGGG Telomerase PCR ELISA was used to measure the telomerase activity; PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect the expression level of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in the cells.

RESULTSThe SAMP6 mice displayed a bone senescent phenotype. The proliferation ability of BMMSCs derived from SAMP6 mice and their telomerase activity were significantly lower than those derived from SAMR1 mice (P<0.05). Vitamin C treatment significantly enhanced the proliferation ability of BMMSCs derived from SAMP6 mice in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05) and increased telomerase activity and TERT expression in the cells (P<0.05). At the concentration of 100 µg/mL, vitamin C produced the strongest effect in promoting the proliferation of BMMSCs from SAMP6 mice, while at the concentration of 1000 µg/ml, growth suppression occurred in the cells.

CONCLUSIONVitamin C can promote the proliferation of BMMSCs from aging mice possibly by increasing the cellular telomerase activity.

Aging ; Animals ; Ascorbic Acid ; chemistry ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Culture Media ; chemistry ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Mice ; Telomerase ; metabolism