The concentration of precursors for the production of taxol with Fusarium mairei K178 was optimized by response surface methodology.Firstly,Plackett-Burman design was undertaken to evaluate the effects of eight factors.With statistic regression analysis,the significant factors affecting taxol production were determined as follows: phenylalanine,sodium acetate and sodium benzoate.Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the three critical internal factors mentioned above,and the optimum concentration levels and the relationships among these factors was found out.By quadratic regression model equation with Design-Expert statistic methods,the optimal concentration of the variables were determined as: phenylalanine 2.8mg/L,sodium acetate 3.3g/L,sodium benzoate 31.8mg/L.Under such conditions,the taxol production was increased to 242.6?g/L,which was 15.6% higher than the maximum value in the single factor tests.The experiment values under the optimal conditions agreed with the predicted values,which indicated that the model was proper and effective.

Objective To investigate the effects of nephroblastoma over-expressed protein (CCN3) on the formation of extracellular matrix (ECM) induced by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in human mesangial cells (HMCs) and its underlying signal transduction mechanism related with microRNA-29(miRNA-29).Methods HMCs were pretreated with different doses of exogenous CCN3 (5 μg/L,50 μg/L and 500 μg/L) or transfected with pcDNA3.1(+)-CCN3 before exposed to TGF-β1(2 μg/L),to observe the expression of fibronectin (FN),type I collagen (COL I) and miRNA-29a,b and c.The mimics or inhibitor of the miRNA-29a were transfected into HMCs to analyze whether miRNA-29a affect CCN3.The expressions of FN mRNA,COL I mRNA and miRNA-29 family were detected by real time PCR.The protein expressions of FN and COL I were detected by Western blotting and cell immunofluorescence.Results (1) Compared with the normal control group,the expressions of FN and COL I were up-regulated in TGF-β1 group,while the expressions of miRNA-29a,b,c were down-regulated in TGF-β1 group (all P ＜ 0.05).(2) Compared with the TGF-β1 group,the expressions of FN and COL I were decreased when pretreated with the different doses of exogenous of CCN3 or transfected with pcDNA3.1(+)-CCN3 (all P ＜ 0.05).Meanwhile,the expression of miRNA-29a was significantly increased when pretreated with 50 μg/L and 500 μg/L CCN3 or transfected with pcDNA3.1(+)-CCN3 (all P ＜ 0.05);whereas miRNA-29b and c had no statistical difference (all P ＞ 0.05).(3) Compared with TGF-β1+CCN3 group,the expressions of FN and COL I were decreased in CCN3+TGF-β1+miRNA-29a mimics group (all P ＜ 0.05),whereas the expressions of FN and COL I in CCN3+TGF-β1+miRNA-29a inhibitors group were increased (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions CCN3 reduces the TGF-β1-induced production of ECM by the up-regulation of miRNA-29a.

Objective cyclin D1 gene plays a significant role in regulating cell cycle progression.Suppression of cyclin D1 protcin expression can effect on cellular proliferation,distribution of cell cycle and apoptosis.This study was to determine whether this effect also existed in chronic leukemia ceil line K562 by inhibiting the expression of cyclin D1 protein through RNA interference in vetro.Methods Plasmid vectors expressing small hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting at cyclin D1 gene were constructed and transfected into K562 cells by chitosan,cyclin D1 protein was examined by using Western blot analysis.Inhibition of cellular proliferation was evaluated hy soft agar colony formation assay.The cell cycle and apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry.Results Expression of cyclin D1 protein was markedly down-regulated and capability of colony formation was suppressed after transfection with pshRNA-419 and pshRNA-575 at 48h.Down-regulation of cyclin D1 protein could effect on distribution of cell cycle arrested at G_0/G_1 phase and markedly induce apoptosis of K562 cells.But there had no above biological effects ob- served after transfection with blank vector and control vector of m-pshRNA-790.Conclusion Down-regulation of cyclin D1 expression can inhibit growth of K562 cells,and effect on distribution of cell cycle arrested at G_0/G_1 phase.The primary results suggest that cyclin D1 gene might serve as an effective target for the treatment of leukemia.

Objective To observe the effects of standardized three stage rehabilitation treatment on the neu- rological deficit scores (NDS) and ADL performance of ischemic stroke patients.Methods A total of 164 ischemic stroke patients were recruited and randomly divided into a rehabilitation group and a control group.The neurological function and ADL performance of the patients were assessed by using NDS and Modified Barthcl Index (MBI) at the admission,at the end of 1st,3rd and 6th months post stroke.Results No significant differences were found be- tween the rehabilitative and the control groups with regard to NDS and MBI at admission.The NDS demonstrated a decreasing tendency,while the MBI score an increasing tendency in both groups.In the control group,significant difference of NDS was found between admission and the end of 1st month as well as between the end of the 1 st and the 3rd months.In rehabilitation group,significant difference was revealed between all the time points with regard to NDS and MBI scores.At the end of the 1st,3rd and 6th months,the MBI scores of the rehabilitation group were signifi- cantly higher than those of the control group,indicating that the ADL performance of those treated with standardized three-stage rehabilitation protocol was improved quicker than those without the protocol.Conclusion Standardized three-stage rehabilitation treatment could improve the neurological function and ADL performance of the ischemic stroke patients.

Mutation (substitution, deletion, insertion, etc.) in nucleotide acid causes the maximal sequence lengths of exact match (MALE) between paralogous members from a duplicate event to become shorter during evolution. In this work, MALE changes between members of 26 gene families from four representative species (Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Mus musculus and Homo sapiens) were investigated. Comparative study of paralogous' MALE and amino acid substitution rate (d(A)<0.5) indicated that a close relationship existed between them. The results suggested that MALE could be a sound evolutionary scale for the divergent time for paralogous genes during their early evolution. A reference table between MALE and divergent time for the four species was set up, which would be useful widely, for large-scale genome alignment and comparison. As an example, detection of large-scale duplication events of rice genome based on the table was illustrated.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Amino Acid Substitution ; Animals ; Arabidopsis ; genetics ; Chromosome Mapping ; methods ; Conserved Sequence ; genetics ; Evolution, Molecular ; Humans ; Mice ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Oryza ; genetics ; Proteome ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sequence Alignment ; methods ; Sequence Analysis, Protein ; methods ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; Species Specificity

The chemical constituents isolated from Desmodium species (Leguminosae) included terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids compounds. Modem pharmacological studies have showed that the Desmodium species have antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, diuretic, antipyretic, analgesic and choleretic activity. This article mainly has reviewed the research advances of chemical constituents and biological activities of Desmodium species since 2003.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Fabaceae ; chemistry ; Humans

Objective To detect the expression levels of serum ITAC, Fractalkine, IL-8, IL-17A, IL-7 and TNF-α in patients with gastric cancer, and to explore correlation among them, as well as their association with different clinical characteristics.Methods The levels of the 6 kinds of cytokines in serum of 46 gastric cancer patients (gastric cancer group) and 30 healthy people (healthy control group) were detected.Results Compared with those in healthy control group, the levels of serum ITAC, Fractalkine, IL-8, IL-17A, IL-7 and TNF-α in gastric cancer group were significantly increased [22.26 (32.83) pg/ml vs 11.95 (9.99) pg/ml, P =0.001;62.21 (82.23) pg/ml vs 26.47 (50.87) pg/ml, P =0.050;4.50 (10.38) pg/ml vs 2.06 (3.17) pg/ml, P =0.002;0.83 (2.01) pg/ml vs 0.21 (0.85) pg/ml, P=0.013;3.46 (1.90) pg/ml vs 2.11 (1.48) pg/ml, P=0.001;1.21 (1.13) pg/ml vs 0.79 (0.37) pg/ml, P ＜ 0.001].There were correlations between cytokines (all P ＜ 0.05).The level of serum cytokines was no significant difference between gastric cancer patients with lymph node metastasis and those without lymph node metastasis (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The high level of serum ITAC, Fractalkine, IL-8, IL-17A, IL-7 or TNF-α may be related to the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.High level of serum IL-8 may be a marker of poor prognosis of gastric cancer, and interaction between the various cytokines also has a certain association with tumorigenesis.

Objective To evaluate the functional changes in the isometric,concentric and eccentric muscle strength of the knee extensors and flexors in patients with knee osteoarthritis,and to explore the relationship among these contractions.Methods A Biodex System-3 isokinetic test system was used to assess the isometric,concentric and eccentric strength of the knee extensors and flexors of the involved and uninvolved limbs of 54 patients suffering from osteoarthritis.Results The strength of the knee extensors and flexors of the involved limbs was significantly less than that of the uninvolved legs in the different contraction modes(P＜0.05).The difference was especially marked in concentric and eccentric contraction at low angular velocity.The hamstrings/quadriceps ratio and the dy- namic control ratio showed abnormalities in the muscle balance of the hamstrings and quadriceps.Conclusion Iso- kinetic testing should be applied and the hamstrings/quadriceps ratio and the dynamic control ratio should be analyzed in evaluating patients with knee osteoarthritis.

The focus of microbiologists has moved to the rare actinomycetes.For selective isolation of rare actinomycetes that all play the important role in bioactive compounds,the approaches which involve the methods using gellan gum and flooding solution、 rehydration-centrifugation(RC)、 extremely high frequency radiation(EHF)、 bacteriophage and sucrose-gradient centrifugation were introduced in this paper.

OBJECTIVESTo evaluate the diagnostic value of color Doppler ultrasonography for epididymitis.

METHODSHigh frequency color Doppler ultrasonography was performed in 42 patients with epididymitis and 21 health volunteers.

RESULTSCompared with control group, epididymis enlarged significantly all in head, body and tail in 92% of patients with epididymitis. Bilateral epididymitis occurred in 73% of patients. Color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI), in patient group, showed the markedly increased flow signals bright in bundle in epididymis. Mild hydroccele of testis and orchitis were companied in most patients(93%). Orchitis was often complicated in the patients with long history.

CONCLUSIONSHigh frequency color Doppler ultrasonography can be a preferred exam method and has diagnostic value for epididymitis.