Purpose:To investigate the effects of tumor suppressor gene p53 on the activity of telomerase/hTERT in human HCC-9204 cell line.Methods:Lipofection-mediated gene transfection method was used to transfect wild-type p53(wt-p53) gene into HCC 9204 cell which expresses telomerse /hTERT and carries mutant-type p53 gene. The expression of p53 was confirmed by Western blot. Both the telomerase activity and hTERT mRNA expression were detected by PCR-ELISA,TRAP-silver staining,in-situ hybridization and RT-PCR methods. The apoptotic appearance was examined by FCM.Results:Higher telomerase activity and hTERT mRNA level were detected in HCC-9204,and they were markedly inhibited after transfection with wt-p53. Meanwhile,decreasing level of bcl-2 protein and appearance of apoptosis were also shown in the transfected cells.Conclusions:Over expression of the exogenous wt-p53 gene does suppress both telomrease activity and hTERT mRNA expression in HCC cell line. There is a p53-dependent regulatory pathway for activation and expression of telomerase/hTERT in HCC.

PurposeTo establish sensitive and reliable serum marker on liver fibrosis for early clinical diagnosis. MethodsSerum hyaluronate acid,type Ⅲ procollagen and type Ⅳ procogen of 48 patients with viral hepatitis were analyzed by radioimmunoassay and ELISA respectively. ResultsThe serum HA, PCⅢ and PCⅣ level increased gradually with the progress of the disease. Their levels were correlated distinctly with the index of hepatic activity of inflammation and that of fibrosis.ConclusionsThe value of serum HA,PCⅢ and PCⅣ in predicting liver fibrosis will be enhanced ff the effect of inflammation could be excluded.

Objective　To explore the expression and significance of p21WAF1 and p53 in HCC. Methods　Immunohistochemical method (IHC) was used to localize and semi-quantitate the proteins of p21WAF1 and p53 and to observe the relationship between the expression of p21WAF1 and the different histopathologic characters in 38 patients of HCC and their peri-cancer tissue as well as 5 normal liver tissue. Results　Of all 38 cases, both p21WAF1 and p53 expression were significantly higher in tumor than that in corresponding non-tumors liver tissue; 14 (36.8 %) of 38 cases showed p21WAF1 positive staining, 28 cases (73.7 %) were p53 positive, p21WAF1＋/p53＋ or p21WAF1-/p53－ were observed in 18, while 20 cases showed p53＋/p21WAF1－ or p53－/p21WAF1＋. p21WAF1＋ was seen in 1 of 38 (2.6 %) corresponding non-cancerous tissue and 2 of 5 normal liver tissue. p53 protein was not detected neither in the non-tumorous tissue nor in normal liver. No significant association was found between the expressions of p21WAF1 and p53(P＞0.05) in HCC. Their was no significant correlation between p21WAF1 or p53 expression and the different histopathologic characters of tumor (differentiating grades, intrahepatic metastasis and/or cancerous thrombi within portal veins). Conclusion　Both p21WAF1 and p53 proteins are over expressed in HCC than that in corresponding non-tumorous liver tissue, but there is no relationship between them. Both p53-independent and p53-dependent mechanism may play a role in regulating p21WAF1 expression in HCC. p21WAF1 immunostaining cannot be used to assess the status of p53 in any given cell or tissue.

Objective To study the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and the tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its relation with the prognosis of patient. Methods MMP 1,MMP 2,MMP 9 and TIMP 2 in human HCC tissue and HCC cell line were measured and quantified with immunohistochemistry, Northern blot hybridization and image analysis. Results MMP 1,MMP 2 and MMP 9 were localized in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. The 5 years survival rate were markedly higher in the cases of MMP 1 negative, MMP 9 negative, both MMP 1 and MMP 2 negative or both MMP 1 and MMP 9 negative staining than that of the positive cases ( P

Objective To describe the distribution of body mass index (BMI) and evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among first to sixth graders in 8 Chinese provinces.Methods Data came from the baseline survey of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded project Study on Intervention Models for Main Chronic Diseases among children in China.A stratified random cluster sampling strategy was used to select study participants in 8 provinces,including Inner Mongolia,Jiangsu,Anhui,Shandong,Hunan,Guangxi,Gansu provinces,and Chongqing,with diverse geographical and economic level distributions in China.Counties in each province were stratified into three strata according to economic level,and one county was selected systematically from each stratum.In each county,one urban and one rural elementary school were randomly selected ; and in each school,2-3 classes were randomly selected from each of 1-6 grades.All students in these selected classes were invited for participation.Physical examination was performed by trained local CDC staff using standardized instruments to measure height and weight.Overweight and obesity were diagnosed based on the BMI classification standards for Chinese children and adolescents by Working Group for Obesity in China (WGOC).Results A total of 26558(14225 boy,12333 girl) students aged 6-12 years eventually participated in 8 provinces.The average age was 9.3 ±1.8 years old.Mean BMI among boys (17.0 kg/m2) was higher than that among girls (16.4 kg/m2,t =19.60,P＜0.01).There were statistically significant differences in mean BMI of each age group of boys and 6-11 age groups of girls between urban and rural regions and among those with three economic levels (P＜0.05).The 85th and 95th percentiles of BMI among boys aged 7-11 years in urban region were higher than BMI reference in the standards from WGOC.Lower percentiles were observed among girls aged 7-12 years in rural region.The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 9.3％ and 6.5％ among schoolchildren aged 7-12 years.The prevalence of overweight among boys (10.9％) was higher than that among girls(7.6％,x2 =88.89,P＜0.01) ; while prevalence of obesity were 8.0％ among boys and4.7％ among girls,respectively (x2 =107.17,P＜0.01).The prevalence of overweight was 11.3％ in urban and 7.4％ in rural children(x2 =131.94,P＜0.01).The prevalence of obesity was 8.7％ in urban and 4.3％ in rural children(x2 =188.99,P＜0.01).The prevalences of overweight were 10.3％,8.6％ and 9.0％ in individuals with high,medium,and low economic levels,respectively(x2 =10.76,P＜0.01) ; while the prevalences of obesity were 8.2％,5.6％,and 5.4％,respectively (x2 =51.71,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in Chinese school children was high.The prevalence in urban region with high economic level was significantly higher than that in rural region with middle and low economic level.The nutritional and behavioral intervention programs are needed to control the rising trend of obesity in children.

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of hypoxia and hyperoxia on the expression and activity regulation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) of the hepatic stellate cell (HSC).

METHODSThe expression of MMP-2, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) and membrane type matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MT1-MMP) in cultured rat HSC under hypoxic or hyperoxic conditions were detected with immunocytochemistry (LSAB method), the contents of MMP-2, TIMP-2 in culture supernatant with ELISA and the activity of MMP-2 in supernatant with zymography.

RESULTS(1) In the situation of hypoxia for 12 h, the expression of MMP-2 increased (hypoxia group positive indexes: 5.7 +/- 2.0; control: 3.2 +/- 1.0; P < 0.01), while TIMP-2 decreased (hypoxia group positive indexes: 2.5 +/- 0.7; control: 3.6 +/- 1.0; P < 0.05) in HSC, and the activity of MMP-2 in supernatant declined obviously (hypoxia group: 7.334 +/- 1.922; control: 17.277 +/- 7.424; P < 0.01). At the different time courses of hypoxia, the change of expression and activity of MMP-2 was most notable at 6 h. (2) In the situation of hyperoxia for 12 h, the protein contents of MMP-2, TIMP-2 in supernatant were both higher than those of the control, especially the TIMP-2 (hyperoxia group A(450): 0.050 +/- 0.014; control: 0.022 +/- 0.010; P < 0.01), and so was the activity of MMP-2 (hyperoxia group total A: 5.252 +/- 0.771; control: 4.304 +/- 1.083; P < 0.05). The expression of MT1-MMP was also increased.

CONCLUSIONSThe HSC is sensitive to the oxygen. Hypoxia accelerates the expression of MMP-2 and the effect is more marked at the early stage. Hyperoxia increases the activity of MMP-2.

Animals ; Cell Hypoxia ; physiology ; Hyperoxia ; enzymology ; Liver ; cytology ; enzymology ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ; analysis ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 ; analysis

Objective To analyze the influencing factors for sleep duration of school children aged 6-12 years in school-day in 8 provinces in China.Methods The cross sectional study was conducted among 20 603 children aged 6-12 years and selected through stratified random cluster sampling in 8 provinces (municipality and autonomous region) with different geographic characteristics and economic development level in China from September to November,2010 to understand their sleep duration in school-day and related habits.t test and x2 test were used to compare the sleep duration of the children.Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the influencing factors.Results The survey indicated that the daily average sleep duration of the children in school days was 9.11 hours.The proportions of the children with serious insufficient sleep,insufficient sleep and sufficient sleep were 32.82％ (7 672/20 603),39.70％ (8 179/20 603) and 27.48％ (5 662/20 603),the children's sleep duration declined with age,so did proportion of children with serious insufficient sleep.There were no sex,urban or rural area and household income level specific significant differences in sleep duration among the children surveyed,and there were no sex specific differences in the proportion of children with serious insufficient sleep,insufficient sleep and sufficient sleep,however,these proportions were statistically different between urban area and rural area and among the regions with different economic level.The proportions of children with serious insufficient sleep and sufficient sleep was higher in rural area than in urban area (x2=59.96,x2=45.47,P＜ 0.05),while the proportion of children with insufficient sleep was lower in rural area than in urban area.In the economy developed region,the proportion of children with insufficient sleep was lowest,the difference was statistical significant.After adjusting for sex,weight,diet and exercise time,multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the factors benefiting children to have 10 hours sleep every day included having high protein diet,exercise,high household economic status and living in urban area.Conclusion The problem of school children having insufficient sleep was serious in China,especially in the rural area.

Objective To understand the differences on sleeping-time between school-days and weekends among elementary school children.Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November,2010.A stratified random cluster sampling strategy was used to select the participants,under diverse geographical and economic levels in eight provinces,municipalities or autonomous regions,in mainland China.A total number of 20 603 elementary school children aged from 6-12 years old were chosen as research subjects to record their time of sleeping during school-days or weekends.Results Among the 6-12 year old,their time of sleeping was longer on weekends than that on school-days,while the average sleeping time during the weekends was longer in boys than in girls (t=3.35,P＜0.05).However,there was no linearly decreasing trend along with the increase of age regarding the time of sleeping on weekends,in girls.Proportions of serious lack of sleep,lack of sleep or with sufficient sleep during the weekends were 13.63％ (2 809/20 603),27.27％ (5 618/20 603) and 59.10％ (12 176/20 603).The proportion of sufficient sleep (over 50％) was significantly higher on weekends than that on school-days (less than 30％),however,nearly one third of the first grade primary school children were sleep insufficiently even on weekends.Nearly 10.00％ of the children under seriously or moderately lack of sleep on school-days were still in a serious lack of sleep state on weekends.The three groups who were categorized as serious lack of sleep (less than 9 h),lack of sleep (9-10 h) or having sufficient (over 10 h) sleep on school-days accounted for 29.75％,64.48％,86.44％,respectively,when compared with the national regulation set as 10 h daily sleep for the children in China.The proportions of those whose time of sleep on weekends was less than school-days in the three groups as the same,moderate (within 1 h),with 1 h caught-up or over,were 9.41％,22.77％,43.32％,24.50％,respectively.The percentage of pupils who caught up sleep appropriately (within 1 h) on weekends among those who were serious lack of sleep in school-days would exceed 40.00％ while the proportions among those who lack of sleep or having sufficient on school-days were 54.00％ and 30.00％.The percentage of children who slept less on weekends than on school-days among those having sufficient sleep on school-days appeared the highest,nearly 20.00％.However,the proportions among those who lack of sleep or seriously lack of sleep on school-days were 3.45％ and 8.16％,respectively.Conclusion We found that the elementary school children who could catch up time of sleep or lack of sleep on weekends coexisting in our study.This situation called for attention and the sleeping habit in primary school children should also be urgently improved.

OBJECTIVETo screen molecular markers in early breast cancer and establish gene subtyping-based diagnostic criteria for predicting the prognosis of early breast cancers.

METHODSTumor tissue specimens were obtained from 8 patients with early breast cancer for analysis of the differentially expressed genes using Agilent custom 8×15 000 chips in combination with the prognostic data of the patients. Another 42 tumor tissue specimens were used to validate the differential genes by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR.

RESULTSGene microarray analysis identified 132 differentially expressed genes between the patients with favorable and poor prognosis, and 44 of these genes were significantly up-regulated (by over two folds) and 88 down-regulated in patients with poor prognoses.

CONCLUSIONThe gene expression profiles differ in early breast cancer tissues of the same pathological type but with different clinical stages and prognoses, and CD44, MKI67, NTRK2, Nek2, C16orf60, TOP2A, ANCCA, and RRM2 genes can be used as the prognostic markers for early breast cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; genetics ; Breast Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between birth weight and elevated blood pressure among schoolchildren aged 6-11 years in 8 provinces of China.

METHODA stratified random cluster sampling was used from sampling frame of eight provinces in the mainland of China. A total of 18 920 students aged 6-11 years eventually participated in this study. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure of all the subjects were measured. Korotkoff I and V were recorded as systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Elevated blood pressure was considered for SBP and/or DBP equal to or above the reference sex-, age- and height-specific 95th percentile. Birth weight and family history of hypertension were collected by self-administered questionnaire. Analysis of variance was used to compare body measure indicators among 3 birth weight groups. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the relationship between birth weight, current BMI and elevated blood pressure among children.

RESULTThe level of height, weight, WC, BMI, SBP and DBP were on the rise with the increase of the birth weight groups among boys (P < 0.05), except for WC among boys aged 6-8 years. The level of height, weight, WC, BMI and DBP showed a trend of escalation among girls (P < 0.05). But, SBP among 3 birth weight groups in girls was not significantly different (P = 0.099). After adjusting for age and family history of hypertension, compared with the normal birth weight group, the odds ratio and 95%CI of having elevated blood pressure among boys and girls in high birth weight group were 1.23 (1.06-1.43) and 0.89 (0.71-1.10), respectively; and the ORs(95%CI) were 1.06 (0.90-1.24) for boys and 0.73 (0.58-0.91) for girls after adjusting for age, family history of hypertension and current BMI of students. The relative risk of elevated blood pressure for boys and girls in low birth weight group were not significantly different as compared with normal birth weight group.

CONCLUSIONCurrent BMI but not birth weight was found to be a strong determinant of elevated blood pressure among children aged 6-11 years in China.

Birth Weight ; Blood Pressure ; physiology ; Blood Pressure Determination ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; epidemiology ; physiopathology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Overweight ; epidemiology ; physiopathology ; Risk Factors ; Sampling Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Waist Circumference