Amino Acid Sequence ; Genetic Structures ; Genetic Variation ; Genome, Viral ; Molecular Sequence Data ; SARS Virus ; genetics

The Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in neurogenesis and brain damage repair. Our previous work demonstrated that the SHH signaling pathway was involved in the neuroprotection of cortical neurons against oxidative stress. The present study was aimed to further examine the underlying mechanism. The cortical neurons were obtained from one-day old Sprague-Dawley neonate rats. Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2), 100 μmol/L) was used to treat neurons for 24 h to induce oxidative stress. Exogenous SHH (3 μg/mL) was employed to activate the SHH pathway, and cyclopamine (20 μmol/L), a specific SHH signal inhibitor, to block SHH pathway. LY294002 (20 μmol/L) were used to pre-treat the neurons 30 min before H(2)O(2) treatment and selectively inhibit the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. The cell viability was measured by MTT and apoptosis rate by flow cytometry analysis. The expression of p38, p-p38, ERK, p-ERK, Akt, p-Akt, Bcl-2, and Bax in neurons was detected by immunoblotting. The results showed that as compared with H(2)O(2) treatment, exogenous SHH could increase the expression of p-Akt by 20% and decrease the expression of p-ERK by 33%. SHH exerted no significant effect on p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) pathway. Blockade of PI3K/Akt pathway by LY294002 decreased the cell viability by 17% and increased the cell apoptosis rate by 2-fold. LY294002 treatment could up-regulate the expression of the pro-apoptotic gene Bax by 12% and down-regulate the expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 by 54%. In conclusion, SHH pathway may activate PI3K/Akt pathway and inhibit the activation of the ERK pathway in neurons under oxidative stress. The PI3K/Akt pathway plays a key role in the neuroprotection of SHH. SHH/PI3K/Bcl-2 pathway may be implicated in the protection of neurons against H(2)O(2)-induced apoptosis.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS), caused by SARS- associated coronavirus(SCV), is the first severe infectious disease in this century. SARS is pathologically characterized by interstitial exudative inflammation of lung with the formation of hyaline membrane in acute phase. Haemorrhagic inflammation exists in extrapulmonary organs. Clinical diagnosis is a dynamic process and includes the suspected case, probable case and definite case. Diagnostic standard of SARS will be revised with further understanding of the disease. Chinese term of SARS has been recommended in the paper.
Humans ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Terminology as Topic

The most nutrients required in the human diet come from plants. The nutritional quality of plant products affects the human healthy. The advance of molecular cloning and transgenic technology has provided a new way to enhance the nutritional value of plant material. Transgenic modification of plant nutritional value has progressed greatly in the following aspects: improving the quality, composition and levels of protein, starch and fatty acid in different crops; increasing the levels of antioxidants (e.g. carotenoids and flavonoids); breeding the new type of plants with medical value for human. To date, many transgenic plants with nutritional enhancement have been developed. These transgenic plant products could be directly used as human diet or as valued materials in developing the "functional food" with especial nutritional quality and healthy effects after they are approved by a series of evaluations on their safety and nutritional efficiency for human being. We designed new zinc finger transcription factors (ZFP-TFs) that can specifically down-regulate the expression of the endogenous soybean FAD2-1 gene which catalyzes oleic acid to linoleic acid. Seed-specific expression of these ZFP-TFs in transgenic soybean somatic embryos repressed FAD2-1 transcription and increased significantly the levels of oleic acid, indicating that the engineered ZFP-TFs are capable of regulating fatty acid metabolism and modulating the expression of endogenous genes in plants.
Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Fatty Acids ; analysis ; biosynthesis ; Humans ; Isoflavones ; Nutritive Value ; Plants ; metabolism ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; Transcription Factors ; physiology ; Zinc Fingers

Objective To explore and study the expression level of Stathmin gene in ovarian cancer tissues and its relationship with paclitaxel and cisplatin chemotherapy.Methods The tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of 30 cases of patients with primary ovarian cancer were selected as the research group and the control group.The expression level of Stathmin protein was detected by Immunohistochemistry,and sensitivity of ovarian tumor tissues to 0,0.30,3.00,30.00,300.00 mg · L-1 paclitaxel combined with cisplatin was analyzed by Methyl-cyclopentadienyl-Manganese-Tricarbonyl (MMT).The relationship between Stathmin expression in ovarian cancer tissues and the sensitivity of paclitaxel and cisplatin chemotherapy were analyzed.Results The positive rates of Stathmin gene in the treatment group and control group were respectively 53.33％ and 10.00％,and the difference was significantly different (P ＜ 0.05).The rates of hypersensitivity,medium sensitivity and insensitivity were 30.00％,50.00％ and 20.00％in the 0.30 mg · L-1 group,43.33％,40.00％ and 16.67％ in the 3.00 mg · L-1 group,56.67％,26.67％ and 16.67％ in the 30.00 mg· L-1 group,20.00％,16.67％,63.33％ in the 300.00 mg · L-1 group.There were significant differences in hypersensitivity and insensitivity between the 30.00 mg · L-1 group and the 300.00 mg · L-1 group (all P ＜ 0.05).There were significant differences in medium sensitivity and insensitivity between the 300.00 mg· L-1 group and the 0.30 mg· L-1 group (all P ＜ 0.05).There was significant difference in hypersensitivity between the 30.00 mg · L-1 group and the 0.30 mg · L-1 group (P ＜ 0.05).After treatment with 300.00 mg · L-1 paclitaxel combined with cisplatin,the positive rates of Stathmin gene were 29.41％,62.50％ and 80.00％,and the differences were significantly different (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The expression level of Stathmin in ovarian cancer tissues is significantly higher than that in adjacent normal tissues,whichis related to the sensitivity to paclitaxel and cisplatin.

The paper is aimed to study the dynamic accumulation regulation of curcumin (Cur), demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxyeurcumin (BDMC) in three strains of Curcuma longa, and provide scientific references for formalized cultivation, timely harvesting, quality control and breeding cultivation of C. longa. The accumulation regulation of the three curcumin derivatives was basically the same in rhizome of three strains. The relative contents decreased along with plant development growing, while the accumulation per hectare increased with plant development growing. The accumulation of curcuminoids per hectare could be taken as the assessment standard for the best harvest time of C. longa. A3 was the best strain in terms of Cur and BDMC content.
Curcuma ; chemistry ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Curcumin ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; metabolism ; Quality Control ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; growth & development ; metabolism

To understand genetic patterns of the morphological and physiological traits in flag leaf of barley, a double haploid (DH) population derived from the parents Yerong and Franklin was used to determine quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling length, width, length/width, and chlorophyll content of flag leaves. A total of 9 QTLs showing significantly additive effect were detected in 8 intervals on 5 chromosomes. The variation of individual QTL ranged from 1.9% to 20.2%. For chlorophyll content expressed as SPAD value, 4 QTLs were identified on chromosomes 2H, 3H and 6H; for leaf length and width, 2 QTLs located on chromosomes 5H and 7H, and 2 QTLs located on chromosome 5H were detected; and for length/width, 1 QTL was detected on chromosome 7H. The identification of these QTLs associated with the properties of flag leaf is useful for barley improvement in breeding programs.
Chlorophyll ; analysis ; Chromosome Mapping ; Hordeum ; genetics ; Phenotype ; Plant Leaves ; genetics ; Quantitative Trait Loci

AIMTo explore an accurate neurophysiological technique that demonstrates small functional differences after spinal cord injury and assesses therapeutic interventions.

METHODSA modified weight drop (WD) technique was used at T8 in rats to build graded spinal cord injury model. Rubrospinal MEPs were recorded at T13 epidurally to monitor spinal cord function in end week 4 after graded spinal cord injury. The efficacy of this techniques to monitor spinal cord function was compared to BBB locomotor rating scale and histologic evaluation.

RESULTSA characteristic peak complex of rubrospinal MEPs in sham-operated group consisted of 5-7 positive waves and 4-5 negative waves emerging after red nucleus stimulation. The summed peak to peak amplitude (for practical reasons, called peak amplitude) was (195.25 +/- 34.35) microV and decreased following spinal cord injury. The latency of the first peak (positive wave) was (1.57 +/- 0.15) ms and prolonged following spinal cord injury. Significant Linear relationship existed between the peak amplitude and the BBB scores (r = 0.79) and between the peak amplitude and the residual matter obtained from the section with maximum tissue damage( r = 0.87). The close relationship between the latency of the first peak and the BBB scores (r = -0.88) and between the latency of the first peak and residual matter (r = -0.86) were observed.

CONCLUSIONAmplitudes and latencies of rubrospinal MEPs are very valuable parameters to demonstrate small function differences. Rubrospinal MEPs can be used as a reliable measure for motor function prognosis after spinal cord injury.

Animals ; Evoked Potentials, Motor ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Red Nucleus ; physiopathology ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; pathology ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the behavior problems of children aged 3 to 5 years in Changsha and to compare the differences of the results detected by the norm of Conners Parent Symptom Questionnaire (PSQ) in Chinese and American urban children.

METHODSA total of 854 children aged 3 to 5 years were randomly sampled from 5 districts in Changsha City and their parents completed the Conners PSQ.

RESULTSThe assessment by the norm of PSQ in American urban children demonstrated that the average prevalence of behavior problems was 20.4%, with 28.1% for boys and 12.4% for girls. There were significant differences between boys and girls (P<0.01). The factor score of anxiety in girls was markedly higher than that in boys (P<0.01). Learning and psychosomatic problems were the main problems in the children. The prevalences of conduct problems and impulse-restlessness, and abnormal restlessness index detected by the norm of PSQ in Chinese urban children were higher than those detected by the American norm. The prevalences of conduct problems and psychosomatic problems in boys by the norm of PSQ in Chinese urban children were significantly lower than those detected by the American norm, while the total prevalence of behavior problems was higher than that detected by American norm. There was a poor consistency in the assessment results of most factors of the PSQ and the total prevalence of behavior problems detected by the Chinese and American norms (KappP<0.4).

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of behavior problems especially learning problems and psychosomatic problems in children aged 3 to 5 years is higher in Changsha. The consistency of assessment results is poor between the norms of China and America. It is recommended to use the China norm of PSQ in Chinese children aged 3 to 5 years because the Chinese norm is in line with China's national conditions and cultural background.

Child Behavior Disorders ; diagnosis ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; United States ; Urban Health

Objective:To analyze therapeutic effect of amiodarone combined RAS inhibitors on hypertensive patients with atrial fibrillation(AF),and its influence on serum levels of uric acid(SUA)and silent information regulator 2-related enzymes 1(SIRT1).Methods:A total of 186 hypertensive patients with AF were selected from our hospital. They were randomly and equally divided into amiodarone group(group A),amiodarone + telmisartan group(A+T group)and amiodarone + ramipril group(A+ R group).Left atrial diameter(LAD),P wave dispersion(Pd),lev-els of high sensitive C reactive protein(hsCRP),brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)and SUA,SIRT1 mRNA and pro-tein expression and blood pressure variability(BPV)were observed and compared among three groups before and 45d after treatment.Results:Compared with before treatment,there were significant improvement in all index ex-cept SUA after treatment in three groups,P=0.001 all;compared with group A after treatment,there were signif-icant reductions in 24hSBPV[(0.112 ± 0.022)vs.(0.092 ± 0.020)vs.(0.091 ± 0.021)],24hDBPV[(0.143 ±0.031)vs.(0.130 ± 0.040)vs.(0.129 ± 0.039)],levels of hsCRP[(8.3 ± 0.3)mg/L vs.(5.3 ± 0.6)mg/L vs. (3.6 ± 0.4)mg/L],BNP[(64.9 ± 9.4)ng/dl vs.(61.1 ± 7.6)ng/dl vs.(58.2 ± 8.3)ng/dl]and SUA[(498.85 ± 89.54)μmol/L vs.(298.54 ± 56.12)μmol/L vs.(278.32 ± 54.09)μmol/L],SIRT1 mRNA[(2.20 ± 0.34)%vs.(1.87 ± 0.30)% vs.(1.76 ± 0.31)%]and protein[(29.54 ± 8.12)% vs.(26.31 ± 7.43)% vs.(23.21 ± 6.90)%]expression in A+T group and A+ R group,P<0.05 or <0.01. Compared with group A,there were sig-nificant rise in Pd[(39.3 ± 4.2)ms vs.(40.9 ± 4.1)ms,(41.2 ± 5.1)ms],and significant reduction in LAD [(37.8 ± 3.4)mm vs.(35.1 ± 4.6)mm,(35.7 ± 4.5)mm]in A+T group and A+R group,P<0.05 or <0.01. Conclusion:Amiodarone combined RAS inhibitors can significantly improve blood pressure variability,and reduce inflammatory factor,SUA and serum SIRT1 level in hypertensive patients with AF.