AIM: To establish the Wistar rat model of furazolidone-induced dilated cardiomyopathy (Fz-DCM). METHODS: The Wistar rat model of Fz-DCM was established by feeding the animals with furazolidone. The left ventricular dimension and cardiac function were detected by echocardiogram. Aortic and right atrial pressure were measured by invasive catheter. Left ventricular interior diameter and the thickness of left ventricular free wall were measured after the rats were killed. Myocardial collagen network remodeling was observed and collagen volume fraction (CVF) was calculated by Van Gieson stain. RESULTS: ①The total incidence rate of DCM was 66.6% (20/30) in DCM group. ②Compared the corresponding subgroups to control group, the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVED), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVES), the right atrial pressure, the left ventricular interior diameter and the ratio of left ventricle weight and body weight were increased significantly. The fraction shortening (FS), the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the thickness of left ventricular free wall were decreased significantly. ③In FZ-DCM rat, the myocyte hypertrophy and degeneration, interistial fibrous tissue hyperplasia, the quantity of typeⅠand type Ⅲ collagen fibers and the collagen volume fraction (CVF%) were increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The rat model of DCM can be induced successfully by feeding the animals with furazolidone. In the rats with Fz-DCM, there are left ventricular dilation, the thinness of ventricular wall, the interistial fibrous tissue hyperplasia, and the decrease in left ventricular contractic function, indicating that the Fz-DCM rat model represents the pathophysiological characters of dilated cardiomyopathy.

Objective To investigate the expression level of microRNA-145 in breast cancer cell lines andtissues and its impact on breast cancer invasion and metastasis.Methods MiR-145 expression was detected by FQ-PCR in 5 breast cancer cell lines ( HBL-100, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468 and SK-BR-3)and in breast cancer tissue and paraneoplastic tissues (n=39).The miR-145 expression plasmid ( Psif-miR-145 ) and negative control plasmid were transfected into SK-BR-3 using lipofectamine, respectively.The characteristics of invasion and migration of the transfected SK-BR-3 cells were examined by scratch test and transwell assay.The target genes of miR-145 were predicted by bioinformatics and the ANGPT2 gene were verified as miR-145 target by the dual-luciferase reporter assay.The expression levels of ANGPT2 protein was examined by western blot after pSIF-miR-145 transfection by lipofectamine in breast cancer cell line SK-BR-3.Results FQ-PCR result indicated that miR-145 expression level waslower in breast cancer tissue (45.93 ±22.02)than paraneoplastic tissue [ (182.04 ±56.92), U value was 7, P<0.01].MiR-145 expression level was lower in breast cancer cell lines than normal breast cells.miR-145expression in 4 breast cancer cell lines was 0.51 ±0.05, 0.07 ±0.01, 0.36 ±0.04 and 0.04 ±0.01, respectively.Compare with normal breast cell, miR-145 was lower expressed in all 4 breast cancer cell lines (t value separately was 15.93, 308.17, 25.02, 201.30;P<0.05).Lower expression of miR-145 was observed in the highly invasive breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468 and SK-BR-3), compared with weakly invasive breast cancer cell (MCF-7) (t value separately was14.18, 3.78, 15.20;P<0.05). Wound healing assay shows that overexpression of miR-145 in SK-BR-3 significantly reducedthe motility as compared with control group (P <0.01).The cell invasion assay indicated the numbers of miR-145 overexpressed SK-BR-3 cells, which invased to lower chamber, was 137 ±37, the numbers of invased cells was 617 ±80 when the negative control was applied. Over-expression of miR-145 could repress the expression levelsof ANGPT2 protein;miR-145 could repress the activity of luciferase reporter carrying a 3′-untranslated region of ANGPT2 mutated the predicted binding site, the activity of luciferase was reversed. Conclusions MiR-145 depressed in breast cancer cell lines and breast cancer tissues.MiR-145 maybe plays an important role in breast cancer invasion and migration by directly target ANGPT2.

Objective To develop rats model for human dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM).Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered adriamycin intraperitoneally 2.8 mg/kg? week)for 11 weeks,and then observed for 2 weeks.Plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)were studied by ELISA;left ventricular end diastolic diameter(LVEDD),left ventricular end systolic diameter(LVESD)and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)were measured by echocardiogram;and morphology of the hearts and pathological lesions of cardiac muscle tissues were observed.Results(1)The levels of BNP of the DCM group were higher than those of the normal group(P

Objective To investigate the expression of microRNA-21(miR-21)in breast cancer cell lines and serum of patients with breast cancer and the impact on the invasion and migration of breast cancer cells.Methods From Jan 2013 to Feb 2014, miR-21 expression were determined by fluorescent quantity polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) in 4 breast cell lines (HBL-100, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468) and in serum from breast cancer patients ( n =56 ) , breast benign disease patients ( n =39 ) andhealth controls ( n =45 ) . The characteristics of cell invasion and migration were examined by transwellinvasion and migration assay afterbreast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 were transfectedwith miR-21 inhibitor or negative control by lipofectamin.The t test was used to analysis the normal distribution data. Results FQ-PCR results showed that the relative expression of miR-21 in the normal breast epithelial cell line HBL-100 was 1.01 ±0.04, in the breast cancer cell line MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 were 1.99 ±0.11,4.02 ±0.38 and 3.73 ±0.79 respectively.Compared with the normal controls, miR-21 were highly expressed in the three breast cancer cell lines, the difference was statistically significant (t=9.01, 9.20 and 4.55, respectively, P<0.01); and the miR-21 was highly expressed in invasive and metastatic breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468),compared with weakly invasive breast cancer cell line MCF-7, the difference was statistically significant ( t values were 6.14 and 2.91, P<0. 05), suggesting that miR-21 is highly expressed in breast cancer cells, and is closely related to the invasion and metastasis.The relative expression of miR-21 in serum of breast cancer was 2.63 (1.57-4.59), in benign breast disease group was 1.34 (1.01-1.78), in healthy control group was 0.81 (0.52-1.59), the miR-21 expression in the serum of breast cancer patients was significantly higher than in patients with benign lesions and normal control group (U values were 208 and 279, P<0.01), whereas no significant difference in serum in patients with benign lesions and normal control group, the miR-21 expression in the serum of breast cancer patients with lymph node metastasis (U=95 , P=0.19) was 3.55 (2.44-5.26), significantly higher than those without lymph node metastasis [2.11(1.59-3.25), U=216,P=0.021]. The results of invasion and migration assay showed that cells treated with miR-21 inhibitor invasion was:44 ±18, the number of cell migration was:98 ±22, while the negative control treated cells after invasion was:133 ±44, migration cell number:255 ±35;miR-21 inhibitor treatment compared with the negative control, cell invasion and migration was also significantly decreased( t values were 5.46 and 9.08, P<0. 01) .The cell invasion and migration assay indicated the numbers of MDA-MB-231 cells, which invaded or migrated to lower chamber, were 44 ±18 and 98 ±22 respectively after miR-21 inhibitor was applied, The numbers of invaded or migrated cells were 133 ±44 and 255 ±35 when the negative control was applied.The ability of cell invasion and migration was decreased significantly in the inhibitor group compared with the negative group(tvalue separately was 5.46, 9.08, P<0.01).The capacity of breast cancer cell invasion and migrationwas significantly decreased after transfection ofmiR-21 inhibitor.Conclusions MiR-21 is highly expressed in breast cancer cell lines and breast cancer patients′serum.Altered expression of miR-21 maybeplays an important role in breast cancer invasion and migration.MiR-21 may serve as new biomarker to early detectionand prognosis estimation of breast cancer.

Objective To investigate the molecular characteristics of immune response signaling molecules induced by transfection of coxsackievirus B2 ( CVB2 ) structural proteins into epithelial cells. Methods Recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmids containing the coding regions of CVB2 structural proteins VP1-VP4 were constructed and then transfected into 16HBE cells. Culture supernatants and cell ly-sates of the transfected 16HBE cells were collected. Expression of signaling molecules involved in innate im-mune responses in transfected 16HBE cells at mRNA level was detected by RT-Q-PCR. The proliferation of T cells co-cultured with culture supernatants and cell lysates of the transfected 16HBE cells was analyzed by ELISPOT. Results Expression of innate immunity-related signaling molecules such as TGF-β-activated ki-nase ( TAK) , NF-κB-inducing kinase ( NIK) , IκB kinase α ( IKKα) and IFN-β at mRNA level was up-regulated in 16HBE cells transfected with CVB2 structural proteins VP1-VP4. Both culture supernatants and cell lysates of the transfected 16HBE cells enhanced the proliferation of T cells. Conclusions CVB2 struc-tural proteins VP1-VP4 could enhance the expression of innate immunity-related signaling molecules to var-ying degrees and promote the activation of adaptive immunity.

Objective To explore the expression of tiny RNA-25 (microRNA-25, miR-25) in the plasma、tissues of triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC) patients and cell lines, to investigate the potential molecular mechanisms of miR-25 on migration and invasion of TNBC. Methods Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-25 in the plasma of TNBC patients. Linked omics web platform was used to analyse miR-25 level in samples of TNBC and non-TNBC. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was also used to detect the miR-25 level in TNBC cell lines. The wound healing and transwell assay was applied to assess the effects on migration and invasion of TNBC cell lines which transfected with miR-25 inhibitor or the negative control. The luciferase reporter assay was used to validate the relationship between miR-25 and the sphingosine-1-phosphate phosphatase 1 (SGPP1) in HEK293T cell. The wound healing and transwell assay was used to detect the migration and invasion ability of TNBC cell lines when cotransfected with pCMV6-SGPP1 and miR-25. Furthermore, Western blot was performed to detect the SGPP1 level in TNBC cell lines. Results The expression of miR-25 was significantly elevated in the plasma of 86 TNBC patients compared with the healthy controls (P value was 0.031). LinkedOmics web platform analysis showed that miR-25 expression was significantly higher in TNBC samples than in non-TNBC samples with Luminal A or Luminal B (P value was<0.001 and 0.006). The level of miR-25 was also elevated in TNBC cell lines HS578T, HCC1806, MDA-MB-231 and BT549(P value was 0.006, 0.01, 0.029 and 0.046). The MDA-MB-231 and HS578T cells which transfected with miR-25 inhibitor exhibited a significant slower wound healing rate than control (P value was 0.035 and 0.001). At the same time, when transfected with miR-25 inhibitor, MDA-MB-231 and HS578T both exhibited a decreased invasion ability compared with the control group(P value was 0.002 and 0.001). LinkedOmics web platform analysis showed that sphingosine-1-phosphate phosphatase 1 (SGPP1) gene level was negatively correlated with miR-25 in the tissues of TNBC patients (P value was 0.037). The luciferase reporter assay validated that SGPP1 was a directed target of miR-25. The western blot assay indicated that the SGPP1 level was increased in MDA-MB-231 and HS578T after transfection with miR-25 inhibitor. Over-expression of SGPP1 could abrogate the positive effects of miR-25 on migration and invasion when pCMV6-SGPP1 was cotransfected with miR-25 (P value was all 0.002). Conclusions MiR-25 was elevated in both plasma and tissues of TNBC patients and also increased in TNBC cell lines. Transfection of MDA-MB-231 and HS578T cells with miR-25 inhibitor resulted in reduced migration and invasion. Moreover, SGPP1 was identified as a novel target of miR-25. The ability of miR-25 to promote TNBC cell migration and invasion is attributable to its effect on SGPP1 suppression.