Background and purpose:Both nature killer cells(NK)and cytoxic T lymphocytes in the body tissues of human are the dominant components of cellular immunity,This study was done to explore the degree of infiltration of NK/T in lung squamous cell carcinoma and its relation to patient survival and prognosis.Methods: CCD8 as the markers cytoxic T lymphocyte(CTL)and CD56 as the markers natural killer(NK)were stained immunohistochemically to detect the distribution and infiltration in the lung squamous cell carcinoma specimens. Results:In 39 of 68 lung neoplasm,whose CTL infiltration was zero or mild,the five-year survival rate was 18%, while in 29 with marked CTL infiltration,the five-year survival rate was 42%.In 46 of 68 lung neoplasm,whose NK infiltration was zero or mild,the five-year survival rate was 14%,while in 22 with marked NK infiltration,the five-year survival rate was 45%.In 48 of 68 lung neoplasm,both the NK and T cells were zero or mild,the five-year survival rate was 33%,while in 20 with marked NK and T cell infiltration,the five-year survival rate was 54%.The five-year survival difference among the patients with NK,T infiltration either marked or zero/mild infiltration were significant(x~2=18.62, P=0.00).Conclusions:The degree of NK and T infiltration is positively correlated with the prognosis and survival time of lung squamous cell carcinoma patients.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of pravastatin on the proliferation and invasion of human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cell line.

METHODSThe effects of pravastatin on the proliferation, migration and invasion of HepG2 cells was observed by MTT assay, Boyden chamber assay and motility assay. p38 activity was measured, and the expression of p-p38, MKP-1, RhoC and MMP-2 was analyzed by Western blot.

RESULTSPravastatin inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells. The intracellular p38 activity and expressions of p-p38, RhoC and MMP-2 were decreased, while MKP-1 expression was elevated in pravastatin treated cells. In addition, pravastatin inhibited the invasion and motility.

CONCLUSIONPravastatin can inhibit the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 cells.

Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Pravastatin ; pharmacology

Chorismate synthase(CS, EC:4.2.3.5) catalyses 5-enolpyruvy-shikimate-3-phosphate to form chorismate, which is the essential enzyme for chorismate biosynthesis in organisms. The amino acid sequences of CS from 79 species of higher plants were reported in GenBank at present. 125 amino acid sequences of CS from Baphicacanthus cusia and other 78 species of plants were predicted and analyzed by using various bioinformatics software, including the composition of amino acid sequences, signal peptide, leader peptide, hydrophobic/hydrophilic, transmembrane structure, coiled-coil domain, protein secondary structure, tertiary structure and functional domains. The phylogenetic tree of CS protein family was constructed and divided into eight groups by phylogenetic analysis. The homology comparison indicated that B. cusia shared a high homology with several plants such as Sesamum indicum, Nicotiana tabacum, Solanum tuberosum and so on. The open reading frame(ORF) of all samples is about 1 300 bp, the molecular weight is about 50 kDa, the isoelectric point(pI) is 5.0-8.0 which illustrated that CS protein is slightly basic. The ORF of CS we cloned in B. cusia is 1 326 bp, the amino acid residues are 442, the molecular weight is 47 kDa and pI is 8.11. The CS in B.cusia showed obvious hydrophobicity area and hydrophilicity area, no signal peptide, and may exists transmembrane structure areas. The main secondary structures of CS protein are random coil and Alpha helix, also contain three main structural domains which are an active structural domain, a PLN02754 conserved domain and a FMN binding site. The acquired information in this study would provide certain scientific basis for further study on structure-activity relationship and structure modification of CS in plants in the future.
Acanthaceae ; enzymology ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Computational Biology ; Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases ; chemistry ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; Protein Structure, Secondary