Objective To evaluate the clinical characteristics,efficacy and toxicity of three dimensional conformal radiotherapy(3D-CRT)for elderly patients suffering from advanced stage of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods From September 1999 to October 2006,with the use of Leibinger planning system,the authors performed 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy(3D-CRT)for 108 elderly patients suffering from advanced stage of non-small cell lung cancer who had not received operation because of medical contraindications such as cardiac insufficiency,impaired pulmonary function,etc.For the patients with positive lymph metastasis,the primary tumor was treated with high dosages.Conventional radiotherapy was delivered,and the tumor site and draining lymphatic areas received 40~45Gy of radiation,followed by 3D-CRT.Results All patients received whole course of radiotherapy,and the total survival rate for 1,2,3 years was 65%,33% and 28%,respectively.Meanwhile,the radioreaction did not exceed grade 2 in all 108 cases.Conclusions 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy was relatively an effective treatment for non-small cell lung cancer in elderly patients who could not withstand operations because of medical contraindications or other problems.The treatment was proved to improve total survival rate and life quality,relieve complications such as radiation pneumonia and radiation esophagitis.Therefore,3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy was recommended for elderly patients with advanced stage of lnon-small cell lung cancer.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effects of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy(3D-CRT) for malignant tumors.Methods From July 1999 to October 2006,830 patients with malignant tumors received non-coplanarity multifield 3D-CRT by using Leibinger three-dimensional stereotactic conformal radiotherapy machine,Varian 600C/D 6MeV X liner accelerator and multileaf collimator.Single dose was 4-8Gy per fraction,once every two days and total dose was 50-82Gy.Results All 830 cases underwent 3D-CRT.According to the WHO evaluation standard for therapeutic effects,CT results showed that complete response(CR),partial response(PR),no change(NC),and progression(PD) rates were 20.7%(172/830),68.7%(570/830),10.2%(85/830),and 0.3%(3/830),respectively.Overall response rate(CR+PR) was 89.4%(742/830).No patients suffered from serious adverse effects.The incidence of radiation penumonia was 9%.Conclusions For patients with malignant tumors who could not endure operations due to existing contraindications or other conditions,3D-RCT was a relatively effective treatment because the method could deliver an increased therapeutic dose to tumors,enhance survival rate,improve life quality,decrease injuries to adjacent normal tissue,and reduce the incidence of complications.

Objective To investigate the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, imaging features, and differential diagnosis of intraosseous ganglion. Methods Clinical and imaging features of 15 cases (5 men, 10 women; mean age 39.7 years) with intraosseous ganglia were retrospectively analyzed. There were 17 lesions, including 6 acetabula, 4 lunate, 3 proximal ends of tibia, 1 major tuberculum of humeral, 1 femoral head, 1 scaphoid, and 1 phalange. Results (1) Common radiological features included a unilocular or multilocular cyst surrounded by a full and thin rim of sclerotic bone in the subchondral epiphysis without any signs of degenerative joint disease. (2) Lesions were displayed as well defined round radiolucent defect or multi cystic changes with surrounding bony sclerosis or cystic and expansile change with irregular shape on CT scans. (3) CT showed an intraosseous ganglion communicating with adjacent joint in 1 patient. (4) CT values of the lesions were between 15- 80 HU. (5) Gas in the cyst could be seen in 3 cases. Conclusion Combined with patient′s age, lesion distribution, clinical manifestations, and imaging features, it is possible to make a correct diagnosis of intraosseous ganglion.

Objective To observe the effect of Ganoderma Lucidum (GL) on counteracting lipid peroxidation in cultured vascular smooth muscle cell(VSMC)and to explore its therapeutic mechanism for atherosclerosis. Methods The effects of GL on the content of lipid peroxide(LPO)and the activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD)in medium were studied . Results GL decreased LPO content and increased SOD activity in a dose-effect manner. Conclusion GL can counteract the lipid peroxidation in VSMC and its therapeutic mechanism for atherosclerosis may be related to the counteraction of lipid peroxidation and enhancement of endogenous antioxidase activity.

Objective To investigate the bacteroides of patients with AIDS and the healthy control by real-time quantitative PCR in order to reveal the role and significance of gut microflora in the AIDS-associated molecular pathogenesis. Methods The feces of the preoperative AIDS patients (n = 30) and the healthy control (n = 30) were collected. According to the sequences of target genes, specific PCR primers were designed. Bacterial genome DNA extracted from fecal samples was quantified by real-time quantitative PCR to analyze the bacterial amounts. Results In the patients with AIDS, the level of B.fragilis (3.23 ± 1.59; 4.05 ± 1.65), B.uniformis (5.69 ± 0.95;6.70 ± 2.18), B.thetaiotaomicron (5.01 ± 1.61; 6.41 ± 2.34), B.ovatus (5.78 ± 1.03; 7.07 ± 1.75), B.distasonis (4.21 ± 1.21; 5.53 ± 2.46) and B.vulgatus (2.92 ± 1.30; 4.48 ± 1.32) were significantly higher than those of healthy controls (P < 0.05). Conclusion The amount of fecal bacteroides of AIDS patients are significantly higher than those of the healthy control. These data indicate that the gut microflora of AIDS patients was disordered.

Objective To analyze the variation of intestinal microflora in patients with colorectal cancer by SYBR GreenⅠreal-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and reveal the role and significance of intestinal microflora in the colorectal cancer-associated molecular pathogenesis.Methods A set of 16S rRNA gene group of species-specific primers for Bifidobacterium spp.,Lactobacillus group,Escherichia coli,and ddl gene-targeted species-specific primers for Enterococcus faecalis and feces Enterococcus were designed.Patients with colorectal cancer(colorectal cancer group,n=30) and healthy volunteers(normal control group,n=30) were included and whose feces were collected to extract bacterial genome DNA.SYBR GreenⅠ real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to analyze the five mentioned bacterial amounts.Results Level of Bifidobacterium spp.(4.52?0.49) and Lactobacillus group(5.46?0.12) in colorectal cancer group were significantly lower than those(9.25?0.83 and 7.45?0.37) of normal control group(P

As a large family of hydrolases, GTPases are widespread in cells and play the very important biological function of hydrolyzing GTP into GDP and inorganic phosphate through binding with it. GTPases are involved in cell cycle regulation, protein synthesis, and protein transportation. Chaperones can facilitate the folding or refolding of nascent peptides and denatured proteins to their native states. However, chaperones do not occur in the native structures in which they can perform their normal biological functions. In the current study, the chaperone activity of the conserved GTPases of Escherichia coli is tested by the chemical denaturation and chaperone-assisted renaturation of citrate synthase and α-glucosidase. The effects of ribosomes and nucleotides on the chaperone activity are also examined. Our data indicate that these conserved GTPases have chaperone properties, and may be ancestral protein folding factors that have appeared before dedicated chaperones.
Citrate (si)-Synthase ; chemistry ; Cloning, Molecular ; Conserved Sequence ; Escherichia coli ; cytology ; enzymology ; GTP Phosphohydrolases ; chemistry ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Guanosine Diphosphate ; pharmacology ; Guanosine Triphosphate ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Molecular Chaperones ; chemistry ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Protein Denaturation ; drug effects ; Protein Renaturation ; drug effects ; Ribosomes ; metabolism ; alpha-Glucosidases ; chemistry

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; Coronary Thrombosis ; therapy ; Humans

The arginyl-tRNA synthetase (ArgRS) catalyzes the esterification reaction between L-arginine and its cognate tRNA(Arg). Previously reported structures of ArgRS shed considerable light on the tRNA recognition mechanism, while the aspect of amino acid binding in ArgRS remains largely unexplored. Here we report the first crystal structure of E. coli ArgRS (eArgRS) complexed with L-arginine, and a series of mutational studies using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Combined with previously reported work on ArgRS, our results elucidated the structural and functional roles of a series of important residues in the active site, which furthered our understanding of this unique enzyme.
Arginine ; chemistry ; Arginine-tRNA Ligase ; chemistry ; Binding Sites ; Catalytic Domain ; Crystallography, X-Ray ; Escherichia coli ; Ligands ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; Protein Binding ; Protein Conformation ; RNA, Transfer ; chemistry ; Structure-Activity Relationship

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF2B, the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for eIF2, catalyzes conversion of eIF2·GDP to eIF2·GTP. The eIF2B is composed of five subunits, α, β, γ, δ and ɛ, within which the ɛ subunit is responsible for catalyzing the guanine exchange reaction. Here we present the crystal structure of the C-terminal domain of human eIF2Bɛ (eIF2Bɛ-CTD) at 2.0-Å resolution. The structure resembles a HEAT motif and three charge-rich areas on its surface can be identified. When compared to yeast eIF2Bɛ-CTD, one area involves highly conserved AA boxes while the other two are only partially conserved. In addition, the previously reported mutations in human eIF2Bɛ-CTD, which are related to the loss of the GEF activity and human VWM disease, have been discussed. Based on the structure, most of such mutations tend to destabilize the HEAT motif.
Amino Acid Motifs ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Catalytic Domain ; Crystallography, X-Ray ; Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2B ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Protein Subunits ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; Sequence Alignment ; Structural Homology, Protein ; Surface Properties