Objective To investigate the effect of acidic serine protease ASPNJ on the expression of heat shock protein HSP90, 60 and 27 in human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells, in order to reveal the related mechanism of anti leukemic effects of ASPNJ. Methods K562 leukemia cell lines were cultured in vitro and treated with ASPNJ alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic agents. Western blot and RT-PCR were used to detect the changes of HSP90, 60 and 27 gene expressions in levels of total protein and membrane protein, as well as in mRNA levels. Results ASPNJ showed different effects on the expression of HSPs in total protein and membrane protein levels and had some modified effect on HSPs in total protein or membrane protein levels. Effects of ASPNJon expression of HSPs mRNA were not apparent, but HSPs mRNA were apparently lower in the ASPNJ and doxorubicin combination group than that in the ASPNJ alone or doxorubicin alone groups. Conclusion The mechanism of ASPNJ on the inhibitory effect of leukemia cells proliferation and the promoting effects on chemotherapeutic drugs may involve some complicated correlations with the effect of ASPNJ on the expression of HSPs and the modification of HSPs proteins.

Proteins, which exist mainly in linear form in vivo, are easily affected by the change of ambient temperature and pH. The application of proteins (enzymes) in the fields of industrial catalyzing, food manufacturing and medicine are restricted due to their properties. The cyclic structure of natural cyclic peptides confers high thermal stability on itself; such mechanism can be referred to in further enhancement of the thermal stability and transformation of the structure of enzymes. This article reviewed the latest progress in the domestic and international studies on protein cyclization and summarized the traditional methods (such as protein trans-splicing, expressed protein ligation and sortase-catalyzed transpeptidation) in protein cyclization. A novel method based on SpyTag/SpyCather-mediated enzyme cyclization was discussed in more detail.
Cyclization ; Peptides, Cyclic ; chemistry ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational ; Proteins ; chemistry

Objective:To evaluate the value of serum protein electrophoresis in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after hip and knee arthroplasty.Methods:The data of 171 patients who underwent one side hip or knee revision surgery in the affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from August 2013 to June 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the reasons for revision, 55 patients in PJI group, 29 males and 26 females, aged 67.38±9.60 years, 26 hips and 29 knees, were classified as Tsukayama type IV; Aseptic loosening (AL) group consisted of 116 patients, 67 males and 49 females, aged 69.69±9.20 years, 97 hips and 19 knees .The ratios of C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), D-dimer, fibrinogen, serum total protein, serum albumin, serum globulin and serum protein electrophoresis bands in the two groups were statistically analyzed. The sensitivity and specificity of each index were calculated according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and the diagnostic value was compared according to the area under the curve (AUC).Results:There was no significant difference in age, sex or body mass index (BMI) between PJI group and AL group ( P>0.05), but there was significant difference in joint type with 26 hips and 29 knees in PJI group, 97 hips and 19 knees in AL group (χ 2=24.41, P<0.001). The proportion of α1 globulin band was 6.40% (5.30%, 8.10%) in PJI group, which increased significantly compared to 4.20% (3.90%, 4.80%) in AL group ( H=453.50, P<0.001). Albumin band was 49.00% (44.00%, 52.20%) in PJI group, which decreased significantly compared to 54.35% (51.25%, 56.70%) in AL group ( H=4 954.00, P<0.001). The AUC of CRP, ESR, D-dimer, fibrinogen, albumin band and α1 globulin band were 0.87[95% CI (0.80, 0.93)], 0.88[95% CI (0.82, 0.94)], 0.67[95% CI (0.58, 0.76)], 0.87[95% CI (0.82, 0.93)], 0.78[95% CI (0.70, 0.85)] and 0.87[95% CI (0.81, 0.93)], respectively. Conclusion:Albumin bands and α1 globulin bands in serum protein electrophoresis had high diagnostic value for PJI, and the accuracy of α1 globulin bands was as good as that of routine inflammatory markers such as CRP and ESR.

Objective:To study the impact of donor left hepatic vein classification and the reconstruction methods on hepatic venous outflow obstruction (HVOO) after pediatric living-donor liver transplantation using left lateral liver segments.Methods:A retrospective study was performed on the clinical data of 653 children recipients who underwent living-donor liver transplantation with left lateral liver segments from January 2014 to December 2020 at Tianjin First Central Hospital. There were 309 males and 344 females, aged 7.0 (6.0, 10.0) months, with an age range of 3-121 months. Based on the left hepatic vein on preoperative donor enhancement CT as well as the intraoperative reconstruction methods, the recipients were divided into 3 groups: type Ⅰ group ( n=514), anastomosis using a single opening was performed directly between the donor and the recipient; type Ⅱ group ( n=118), angioplasty was performed on two adjacent recipient venous orifices before anastomosis, and type Ⅲ group ( n=21), an interposition vessel was anastomosed to two widely spaced openings or the two veins were anastomosed separately. The preoperative general status of the patient, postoperative HVOO incidences, and graft and recipient survival rates were compared among the three groups. The patients were followed up by outpatient reexamination or telephone. Results:Graft to recipient weight ratio in the type Ⅲ group was smaller than that in the type Ⅰ group and the type Ⅱ group ( P<0.05). For all the 653 patients, the incidence of postoperative HVOO was 4.59% (30/653), with the incidences of HVOO in the 3 groups of patients were 4.1% for the type Ⅰ group (21/514), 5.1% for the type Ⅱ group (6/118), and 14.3% for the type Ⅲ group (3/21), respectively. There was no significant difference among the groups ( P>0.05). The recipient cumulative survival rates at 1 and 3 years after surgery in the type I group were 97.8% and 97.0%, and the corresponding rates in the type Ⅱ group were 96.5% and 94.2%, and in the type Ⅲ group were 94.1% and 86.9%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the type Ⅰ and type Ⅲ groups ( P=0.048). The graft cumulative survival rates at 1 and 3 years in the type Ⅰ group were 97.4% and 96.9%, and the corresponding rates in the type Ⅱ group were 94.9% and 92.5%, and in the type Ⅲ group were 94.1% and 86.9%, respectively. The difference in the postoperative graft cumulative survival rates between the type Ⅰ group and type Ⅱ group was significant ( P=0.044). Conclusions:The anatomy of the left hepatic vein supplying the left lateral liver segment was highly variable, and the majority of the variations could be reconstructed. A reasonable reconstructive method could reduce the incidence of postoperative HVOO and improved the outcomes of the graft.

Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy between robot-assisted and free-hand percutaneous cannulated screwing (PCS) in the treatment of femoral neck fractures in the middle-aged and young patients.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 53 patients with femoral neck fracture who had been treated with PCS from May 2020 to May 2022 at Department of Traumatic Surgery, Maoming Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University. In the robot group of 25 patients subjected to robot-assisted PCS, there were 11 males and 14 females with an age of (48.2 ± 11.9) years; in the free-hand group of 28 patients subjected to free-hand PCS, there were 13 males and 15 females with an age of (48.5 ± 9.8) years. The 2 groups were compared in terms of operation time, intraoperative bleeding, intraoperative guide drills, intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency, fracture union time, Harris hip score at the last follow-up and postoperative complications. Postoperative imaging examination was performed to evaluate distribution accuracy of the cannulated screws in the femoral neck (deviation between the screws and the femoral neck axis, parallelism between the screws and distance between the screws and the neck cortex).Results:There was no statistically significant difference between the robot and free-hand groups in the general clinical data before operation, showing comparability ( P>0.05). The robot group showed significantly shorter operation time [(32.7 ± 4.8) min], significantly less intraoperative bleeding [(14.6 ± 4.8) mL], significantly less intraoperative guide drillings [(3.5 ± 0.7) times] and significantly less intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency [(7.9 ± 1.4) times] than the free-hand group [(56.9 ± 11.3) min, (27.0 ± 7.3) mL, (9.1 ± 1.8) times and (16.3 ± 6.0) times)] (all P<0.05). Postoperative imaging showed that the deviation between the screws and the femoral neck axis was 4.4° ± 1.1° on the anteroposterior X-ray film and 3.2° ± 0.8° on the lateral X-ray film, the parallelism between the screws 4.9° ± 0.8° on the anteroposterior X-ray film and 3.0° ± 0.7° on the lateral X-ray film, and the distance between the screws and the femoral neck cortex (10.4 ± 2.7) mm in the robot group, all significantly smaller than those in the free-hand group [10.5° ± 2.8°, 4.9° ± 1.1°, 12.1° ± 4.0°, 5.1° ± 1.3°, and (15.4 ± 3.2) mm] (all P<0.05). All the 53 patients were followed up for (22.2 ± 8.5) months. All fractures got united. The fracture union time in the robot group [(20.6 ± 4.6) weeks] was insignificantly shorter than that in the free-hand group [(23.7 ± 7.7) weeks] ( P>0.05). At the last follow-up, the Harris hip score in the robot group [(88.6 ± 5.6) points] was significantly higher than that in the free-hand group [(84.8 ± 6.3) points] ( P<0.05). Follow-ups revealed 2 cases of internal fixation loosening, 1 case of screw head cutting and 1 case of femoral head necrosis in the free-hand group but none of such complications in the robot group. Conclusion:In the treatment of femoral neck fractures in the middle-aged and young patients, compared with free-hand PCS, robot-assisted PCS shows advantages of shorter intraoperative time, less bleeding, less fluoroscopic radiation, higher accuracy of screw placement, a lower incidence of postoperative complications and better functional recovery of the hip joint.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the cause of abortion and strategy of prenatal diagnosis for pregnant women with high risk for chromosomal abnormalities by using copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) and short tandem repeats (STR) analysis. METHODS: A total of 36 samples were collected, including amniotic fluid, abortion tissue, whole blood, chorionic villi and umbilical cord blood. CNV-seq and STR analysis were carried out to detect microdeletions, microduplications, chromosomal aneuploidies, mosaicisms and triploidies. RESULTS: Among all samples, 1 was detected with 4p15.1p16.3 and 14q11.1q22.1 duplication, 1 was detected with 19p13.3 deletion, 8 were detected with chromosomal aneuploidies, 4 were detected with mosaicisms, two were detected with triploidies. No definite pathogenic CNVs were detected in 20 samples, which yielded a positive detection rate of 44.44%. CONCLUSION As a high-throughput detection method, CNV-seq has the advantages of rapidity, simplicity and high accuracy. It may suit prenatal diagnosis and analysis of abortion factors in combination with STR analysis.
Abortion, Spontaneous/genetics* ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Female ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis