Objective To quantify the expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),caspase-8 and caspase-3 in lichen planus (LP) lesions,and to investigate their significance.Methods Skin samples were collected from the lesions of 20 patients with LP and normal skin of 20 healthy human controls.Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expressions of TNF-αt,caspase-8 and caspase-3,and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) technique to evaluate the apoptosis in keratinocytes,in these samples.Results The expression levels (expressed in integrated optical density,IOD)of TNF-α,caspase-8 and caspase-3 were (12.58 ± 2.33) × 103,(11.69 ± 3.52) × 103 and (11.45 ± 2.82) × 103 respectively in LP lesions,significantly higher than those in the normal skin ((5.12 ± 1.78) × 103,(3.87 ± 3.36)× 103,(4.76 ± 1.93) × 103,t =11.38,7.19,8.76,respectively,all P ＜ 0.01).Elevated apoptosis index was noted in keratinocytes from LP lesions compared with those from normal skin (71.35 ± 7.93 vs.33.62 ± 8.75,t =14.29,P ＜ 0.01).In LP lesions,the expressions of both TNF-α and caspase-8 were positively correlated with the apoptosis index of keratinocytes (r =0.72,0.75,respectively,both P ＜ 0.01) and the expression of caspase-3 (r =0.68,0.73,respectively,both P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The up-regulated expressions of TNF-α,caspase-8 and caspase-3 may participate in the apoptosis in keratinocytes in LP.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of acute hypoxia on urine proteome in rats. In this study, rats were placed in a hypoxic chamber simulating a plateau environment at an altitude of 5 000 m for 24 hours. Urine samples were collected at 0, 12, and 24 h after hypoxia. Urinary proteins were profiled using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Compared with the control (before hypoxia), a total of 144 differentially expressed proteins were identified in the hypoxia 12 h group, and 129 differentially expressed proteins were identified in the hypoxia 24 h group. Functional annotation analysis revealed that these differentially expressed proteins were involved in a series of biological pathways related to hypoxic stress, such as anti-oxidative stress, glycolysis, complement and coagulation cascade. Our results suggest that the urinary proteome can reflect significant changes upon acute hypoxic stimulation. These findings may provide an approach to judge the hypoxia state of the body and help to assist the detection of hypoxia state.
Animals ; Rats ; Proteome/analysis* ; Chromatography, Liquid/methods* ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Proteomics/methods* ; Hypoxia