Objective To analyze the expression of secreted aspartyl proteinases (Sap) in human vaginal infection in vivo. Methods Vaginal swabs were collected from 9 healthy volunteers and 20 patients with vaginal candidiasis, and the expression of Sap1-6 was evaluated by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction using specific primer sets. Results The Sap2 and Sap5 were the most common genes expressed in the patients with vaginal candidiasis. The expression Sap3 and Sap4 was detected in all subjects. All six Sap genes were simultaneously expressed in some patients with vaginal candidiasis. Conclusion The data shows that the Sap genes may be involved in the pathogenesis of vaginal candidiasis.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of Q-switched Alexandrite laser at 752 nm in the treatment of nevus of Ota. Methods A total of 1985 cases of nevus of Ota were treated with the Q-switched Alexandrite laser PhotoGenica HT10, and then the ages, frequency of treatment and interval of treatment were analyzed. Results The excellent effective rate was 97.88 %, and the total effective rate was 100 % in 1985 cases. Most patients in all age group received the excellent effects, however, there was no significant difference between the groups. Most patients acheived the excellent effect after 4 to 5 treatments, and very few patients (0.8 %) needed over 10 treatments; the rate ofpatient who needed 1-3 treatments or 6-10 treatments was 18. 2 % and 25.8 %, respectively. The patients had the most excellent efficacy in the group that the interval of two treatments was 4 to 6months, however, there was no significant difference between the group of the interval of two treatments over 6 months. In our study, there were only a few cases (4.48 %) with slight side reaction,such as temporary pigmentation and hypopigmentation and scar. Conclusions 752 nm Q-switched Alexandrite laser is one of effective and safe treatments for nevus of Ota.

Objective:To explore the therapeutic effect of intra-articular injection of triptolide nanomaterials on rabbit antigen-induced knee arthritis.Methods:Twenty-seven New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups. After antigen-induced arthritis (AIA) model were induced, the knee joints of triptolide nanomaterials (TPNA) group, triptolide (TP) group and betamethasone (BS) group were injected intra-articularly under ultrasound guidance with triptolide nanomaterials, triptolide and betamethasone respectively, 7 rabbits in each group. And the other 6 rabbits were punctured but not injected with any drugs as the control group. The pathological changes of joint swelling, synovitis and bone erosion were examined. Student's test, repeated measure data of analysis of variance (ANOVA), Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal- Wallis test were used for statistical analysis. Results:① Before treatment, the knee joint diameters of the TPNA group, TP group, BS group and control group were (2.02±0.08) cm, (2.08±0.06) cm, (2.10±0.06) cm and (2.18±0.07) cm, respectively. After one week of administration, the knee joint diameters of the above groups were (1.85±0.06) cm, (1.89±0.07) cm, (1.93±0.08) cm and (2.15±0.08) cm, respectively. Knee joint swelling was significantly reduced in each treated group after a week of intra-articular injection. With the extension of treatment, the diameter of rabbit knee joints in each experimental group gradually decreased gradually ( F=58.83, P<0.01; F=53.78, P<0.01; F=68.24, P<0.01), and the diameter of rabbit knee joints in the TP group, TPNA group and BS group was significantly smaller than that of the control group ( F=63.83, P<0.01; F=71.94, P<0.01; F=140.79, P<0.01). ② The synovitis score of TP group was lower than that of the control group ( Z=-2.082, P<0.05), which was mainly mild synovitis. While the synovitis scores of TPNA group and BS group were lower than that of TP group ( Z=-2.082, P<0.05; Z=-2.687, P<0.05), most of which were free from synovitis. There was no statistical significant difference between BS group and TPNA group ( Z=-1.000, P>0.05). ③ The pathological scores of bone destruction in the TPNA group, TP group and BS group were all reduced compared with the control group ( Z=-2.505, P<0.05; Z=-2.216, P<0.05; Z=-2.505, P<0.05). There was no statistical significant difference between the TPNA group, TP group and BS group ( χ2=0.588, P>0.05). Conclusion:Intra-articular injection of triptolide nanomaterials can relieve joint swelling, reduce synovitis, and delay bone erosion. Its effect is similiar to glucocorticoid, better than simple triptolide. Triptolide nanomaterials have the potential to be an effective drug for arthritis by intra-articular injection.

Objective To construct rat lysine-specific histone demethylase 1 (LSD1) overexpression plasmids and LSD 1 demethylation fragment disfunction plasmids,and to evaluate their expression levels in HEK293T cells.Methods LSD1 fragments were amplified by PCR,and LSD1 demethylation disfunction fragments were amplified by overlap PCR.Rat-specific LSD1 overexpression plasmids and LSD1 demethylation disfunction plasmids were constructed and verified by agarose gel electrophoresis and sequencing.HEK293T cells were infected using the validated recombinant plasmids and blank vectors,and the stably expressed cells were selected by puromycin.The expression of LSD1 in the stably expressed HEK293T was detected by Western Blot and real-time quantitative PCR.Results The results of agarose gel electrophoresis and sequencing showed that LSD1 overexpression plasmids and LSD1 demethylation disfunction plasmids were successfully constructed.The Western Blot and real-time quantitative PCR results showed that compared with the blank group,the relative expression of LSD1 and mRNA in the LSD1 overexpression group and the LSD1 demethylation disfunction group were up-regulated,and the differences were statistically significant(all P＜0.01).Conclusions The constructed LSD1 overexpression plasmids and LSD1 demethylationi disfunction plasmids can achieve overexpression of LSD1 gene in HEK293T cells.This paper lays a foundation for further study of the relationship between LSD 1 gene and related diseases and demethylation of LSD 1.

Objective To assess the psychometric potential of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale-Beijing (MoCA-BJ) as a screening instrument for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults in Wuhan communities of central China. Methods MoCA-BJ and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were adopted to assess the MCI of 381 older adults from 13 communities in Wuhan in 2015. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the construct validity of MoCA-BJ, and the relationship between all aspects of cognitive function and MoCA different dimensions. Results MoCA-BJ had acceptable reliability (w=0.76), and MoCA-BJ and MMSE estimation results were highly correlated (r=0.73, P＜0.01). By comparing three measurement models through confirmatory factor analysis, we found that the MoCA-BJ scale had two factors (F1: visual space executive function, F2: memory-based other cognitive functions) in model 3, fit degree of which was higher than model 1 by one factor, and there was a statistically significant difference in the number of factors between model 1 and model 3 (χ2dif=8.73,P＜0.01). Conclusions The MoCA-BJ has two underlying factors that respectively represent two highly correlated but distinct factors, cognition and visual-spatial. Uninformative items should be revised with culturally sensitive items and the cut-off point for mild impairment should also be altered.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic etiology for a child with profound intellectual disabilities and obvious behavioral abnormalities. METHODS: A male child who had presented at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University on December 2, 2020 was selected as the study subject. Peripheral blood samples of the child and his parents were collected and subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES). Candidate variant was verified by Sanger sequencing. Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis was carried out to determine its parental origin. The splicing variant was also validated in vitro with a minigene assay. RESULTS: WES results revealed that the child had harbored a novel splicing variant of c.176-2A>G in the PAK3 gene, which was inherited from his mother. The results of minigene assay have confirmed aberrant splicing of exon 2. According to the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, it was classified as a pathogenic variant (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PP3). CONCLUSION The novel splicing variant c.176-2A>G of the PAK3 gene probably underlay the disorder in this child. Above finding has expanded the variation spectrum of the PAK3 gene and provided a basis for genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for this family.
Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Exons ; Intellectual Disability/genetics* ; Mothers ; Mutation ; p21-Activated Kinases/genetics* ; Parents ; RNA Splicing

Psoriasis is a refractory disease mainly co-acted by immune,genetic and environment.Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)-related biologics have brought the landmark advances in the treatment of psoriasis;however,the anti-TNF-α therapy has the adverse response,its limitation may be related to the different bio-logical functions exerted by activation of TNF-α different receptors.Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) is one of the key receptors for TNF-α,and after binding to TNF-α,it can activate multiple signaling pathways such as NF-κB,PI3K/Akt,MAPK,STAT3,etc.,which are involved in the regulation of inflamma-tion,epidermal homeostasis,cellular apoptosis,cellular proliferation,cellular autophagy and other biological processes.It is suggested that TNFR2 is closely related to the occurrence and development of psoriasis.Previ-ous studies have often overlooked the role of TNFR2 in anti-TNF-α therapies;therefore,this article reviews the structure and signaling pathways of TNFR2,research advances in the disease,and its relationship with psoriasis to provide new references for exploring the pathogenesis and treatment of psoriasis.

Objective To construct a human renal epithelial cell line HEK293T by CRISPR-Cas9-based site-directed knock-in of vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF165) gene, and avoid the off-target effect caused by lentivirus infection. Methods The VEGF165 expression vector with homologous arm (pUCm-T-VEGF165 plasmid) and the sgRNA expression vector [pSpCas9(BB)-2A-Puro-sgRNA plasmid] were designed and constructed based on the DNA sequence of the EZH2 gene, and then co-transfected into HEK293T cells. The expression of VEGF165 mRNA was detected by qPCR and the expressions of VEGF165 proteins were detected by Western Blot. Results The qPCR and Western Blot results showed that, comparing with the control, the pUCm-T-VEGF165 plasmid and pSpCas9(BB)-2A-Puro-sgRNA plasmid, the expression of the co-transfection plasmid were significantly increased, i.e. 3.42±0.30 vs. 1.02±0.21, 1.13±0.16 and 0.98±0.18 for the VEGF165 mRNA level (all P<0.01), and 1.13±0.16 vs. 1.02±0.06, 0.88±0.03 and 0.80±0.05 for the VEGF165 protein level (all P<0.01), respectively. Besides, the expression of EZH2 was significantly down-regulated, i.e. 0.14±0.06 vs. 1.08±0.11, 1.02±0.12 and 1.13±0.16 for the EZH2 mRNA level (all P<0.01), and 0.23±0.03 vs. 1.05±0.13, 0.91±0.04 and 0.81±0.06 for the EZH2 protein level (all P<0.01), respectively. This result showed that the VEGF165 was successfully inserted into the EZH2 genome, interfering the EZH2 expression. Conclusions VEGF165 gene can be successfully knocked into HEK293T cells by CRISPR/Cas9 system.

[Objective] To study on the genotyping of a sample with inconsistent forward and reverse serological tests, and to conduct a pedigree investigation and molecular biological mechanism study. [Methods] The ABO blood group of the proband and his family members were identified using blood group serological method. The ABO gene exon 1-7 of samples of the proband and his family were sequenced by Sanger and single molecule real-time sequencing (SMRT). DeepTMHMM was used to predict and analyze the transmembrane region of proteins before and after mutation. [Results] The proband and his mother have the Bw phenotype, while his maternal grandfather has ABw phenotype. The blood group results of forward and reverse typing of other family members were consistent. ABO gene sequencing results showed that there was B new mutation of c.3 G>C in exon 1 of ABO gene in the proband, his mother and grandfather, leading to a shift in translation start site. DeepTMHMM analysis indicated that the shift in the translation start site altered the protein topology. [Conclusion] The c.3G>C mutation in the first exon of the ABO gene leads to a shift in the translation start site, altering the protein topology from an α-transmembrane region to a spherical signaling peptide, reducing enzyme activity and resulting in the Bw serological phenotype.

Objective To construct a mouse model of psoriasis with spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction pattern and evaluate the model from multiple dimensions and directions,expects to provide research support for the study of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment of psoriasis with spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction pattern. Methods A mouse model of spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction pattern was established by feeding a high-fat diet,a mouse model of psoriasis vulgaris was established by externally applying imiquimod ointment,and a mouse model of psoriasis with spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction pattern was constructed by combining the above two models. Indications of spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction pattern were evaluated by comparing the body mass,food intake and water intake of mice in each group. The severity of psoriasis in mice was evaluated by comparing the area of skin lesions,PASI score,the value of transdermal water loss (TEWL),and histopathological morphological changes of skin under HE staining in each group. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression in various cell types to evaluate the degree of inflammatory response of psoriasis in mice. Observation of adiposity index,changes in the histopathological morphology of liver tissue under HE staining,changes in the mRNA expression levels of related factors in liver tissue and adipose tissue of epididymis of mice detected by RT-qPCR,and changes of ABCA1 protein expression level of skin detected by Western Blot were used to evaluate the lipid metabolism disorders in mice. Results Compared with the mice in the psoriasis vulgaris model group,the mice in the model of psoriasis with pattern of spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction had significantly higher body mass (P<0.001),significantly lower food intake (P<0.005),and the symptoms of pattern of spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction such as greasy fur,mental fatigue,etc. appeared. The TWEL were significantly increased(P<0.001),and the PASI scores also significantly increased(P<0.001). HE results were found psoriasis-like manifestations including hypertrophy of the spinous layer and clubbed hyperplasia. The expression of CD11bhighLy6G+neutrophil subpopulation,CD11binLy6Chigh monocyte subpopulation,CD11binCD11chigh classical dendritic cell subpopulation,F4/80-CD11c+dendritic cell subpopulation was significantly increased (P<0.001). HE staining suggested that the cellular morphology of liver showed obvious vacuolated degeneration,and the index of subcutaneous white adiposity and epididymal adiposity index were both significantly increased (P<0.005). The mRNA levels of FABP4 and CD36 in liver tissue were significantly elevated(P<0.005,P<0.001),while the mRNA expression levels of ABCA1 and PPARγ in epididymal fat tissue were decreased (P<0.05,P<0.01). ABCA1 protein level in skin increased(P>0.05). Conclusion The mouse model of psoriasis with spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction pattern can be used as a reliable animal model for combining disease and pattern,which can provide a reference for further exploration of TCM in the treatment of psoriasis with spleen deficiency and dampness obstruction pattern.