Aim To investigate the effect of gelsemium alkaloids on chloride channels and cell volume in he-patic carcinoma cells. Methods The time-lapse live cell imaging and whole-cell patch clamp techniques were used respectively to detect the volume changes and currents induced by gelsemium alkaloids in HepG2 cells. Results It was found that the cell volume was decreased by (12. 48 ± 2. 2) % (P<0. 01) when ex-posed to gelsemium alkaloids for 50 min and this phe-nomenon could be inhibited by the chloride channel blocker tamoxifen. It was shown by whole-cell patch clamping that a chloride current could be evoked by extracellular application of gelsemium alkaloids ( 2μmol·L-1 ) . The current was outward-rectified with-out obvious voltage- and time-dependent inactivation. The reversal potential of the current was ( -3. 21 ± 0. 67) mV ,which was close to the equilibrium poten-tial of chloride. The extracellular application of the chloride blockers, tamoxifen and 5-notro-2-(3-phenyl-propylamino)benzoic acid (NPPB), and 47% hyper-tonic solution inhibited the current significantly ( P <0. 01 ) . Conclusion Gelsemium alkaloids could acti-vate chloride channels and induce a volume decrease ( named apoptotic volume decrease, AVD) , and these effect could be inhibited by chloride channel blockers. The results suggest that the chloride channel can be one of the targets of gelsemium alkaloids in their anti-cancer action.

Aim To clarify the effect of Borneol on the chloride channels and cell volume in poorly differentia-ted nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2Z cells.Methods The technique of whole-cell patch clamp was used to detect the chloride currents and analyze the character-istics of the currents in CNE-2Z cells.The volume changes caused by Borneol were measured by the meth-od of time-lapse live cell imaging.Results The chlo-ride currents were induced by extracellular application of Borneol (20 μmol·L -1 )isotonic condition.The currents showed a characteristic of outward rectification and did not show voltage-dependent or time-dependent inactivation.The reversal potential of the currents was close to the CI-equilibrium potential. The currents were inhibited by the chloride channel blocker tamox-ifen.The currents were also inhibited by 47% hyper-tonic solution.Borneol decreased the cell volume by 9.4% in 30 min.Tamoxifen completely inhibited the Borneol-induced cell volume decrease.Conclusion Borneol can activate volume-sensitive chloride channels and induce volume decrease in CNE-2Z cells.Chloride channels play a pivotal role in the process of volume decrease caused by Borneol.

Human adenovirus pneumonia(adenovirus pneumonia for short)is one of the important types of community-acquired pneumonia in children.Severe pneumonia can easily occur in infants or patients with impaired immune function, which can lead to acute lung injury and pulmonary sequelae.In severe infection, the significant imbalance between inflammatory cells and cytokines leads to tissue damage.In this paper, the classification, structure, infection receptor of human adenovirus and the immunological pathogenesis of adenovirus pneumonia are described.