Objective To explore the diagnostic value of tremor analysis in patients with coexisting essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect 30 patients with PD,30 patients with ET and 20 patients with ET + PD in Peking University Third Hospital from January 2015 to December 2017.Tremor analysis was performed in all the patients.Results There were statistically significant differences in age (63.0(54.8,68.0),49.0(26.5,58.5),57.0(50.0,66.0) years,H=21.336,P＜0.05),disease course (12.0(8.0,13.3),36.0(12.0,87.0),22.0(11.5,33.0) years,H=18.233,P＜0.05) and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score (21.13± 8.85,8.00± 3.68,24.35±9.14,F=36.443,P＜0.05) among the PD,ET and ET+PD groups.The average tremor frequencies in PD,ET and ET+PD groups at rest were (5.46±0.77),(7.11 ± 1.80) and (6.18± 1.55) Hz,respectively,with statistically significant differences among the three groups (F=5.77,P=0.006).The average tremor frequencies in the three groups at posture were (6.19±2.21),(8.23± 1.96) and (6.49± 1.23) Hz,respectively,with statistically significant differences (F=9.673,P＜0.01).There was no statistically significant difference in tremor amplitude among the three groups at rest and posture position.In the PD,ET and ET+PD groups,the proportion of electromyography alternating contractions of the active and antagonistic muscles was 76.9％(20/26),0/6 and 5/15 at rest (x2=17.192,P＜0.01),and 53.8％ (14/26),20.0％ (6/30) and 4/15 at posture (x2=7.564,P=0.023),both with statistically significant differences.Conclusions The clinical manifestations of patients with ET+PD have both characteristics of PD and ET,but they have their own characteristics.Tremor analysis can objectively identify the bilaterally synchronous or alternate discharges of electromyography at rest,which are different from those of typical PD and ET.Tremor analysis is helpful for the identification of this disease.

Objective:To investigate the genetic distribution of pathogenic genes of Charcot-Marie-Tooth diseases (CMT) in Chinese Han population, and compare the similarity and difference with the data in Peking University Third Hospital in 2013.Methods:Five hundred and twenty families with CMT and related diseases in Peking University Third Hospital and China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January 2007 to March 2021 were collected. After peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) gene duplication and deletion mutations were initially detected by multiple ligation probe amplification, the probands of these families were sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) gene panel or whole exome sequencing, and validated by Sanger sequencing.Results:Among the 520 families, 336 CMT families were genetically confirmed, and the mutation detection rate increased from 48.6% (51/105) in 2013 to 64.6% (336/520) in 2021 (χ 2=9.54, P=0.003). Among them, 139 families had PMP22 gene duplication mutation (139/520, 26.7%), 46 families had gap junction beta-1 (GJB1) gene mutation (46/520, 8.8%), 26 families had mitofusin-2 (MFN2) gene mutation (26/520, 5.0%), 12 families had myelin protein zero (MPZ) gene mutation (12/520, 2.3%), 11 families had PMP22 gene point mutation (11/520, 2.1%), and 10 families had heat shock protein B1 gene mutation (10/520, 1.9%). There were 10 families with ganglioside induced differentiation associated protein 1 (GDAP1) gene mutation (10/520, 1.9%), 8 families with SH3 domain and tetratricopeptide repeats 2 (SH3TC2) gene mutation (8/520, 1.5%), 7 families with immunoglobulin mu DNA binding protein 2 (IGHMBP2) gene mutation (7/520, 1.3%), 6 families with MORC family CW-type zinc finger 2 (MORC2) gene mutation (6/520, 1.2%), 5 families with sorbitol dehydrogenase (SORD) gene mutation (5/520, 1.0%), 16 families with very rare gene mutation (16/520, 3.1%) and 184 families without genetic diagnosis (184/520, 35.4%). Conclusions:Compared with the results in 2013, the 3 most common genes affecting CMT were still PMP22, GJB1 and MFN2 genes, but the proportion difference of patients with MPZ gene mutation gradually decreased with other genes such as SH3TC2 and GDAP1 genes. The proportion of newly discovered CMT genes, such as MORC2 and SORD genes, was similar with IGHMBP2 gene, which should be paid more attention. NGS greatly improved the detection rate of CMT, especially for patients with autosomal recessive-CMT.

Objective To observe the aortic calcification level in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA),and to analyze the relationships between aortic calcification and some RA disease related presentations.Methods RA patients (RA group) were all in-patients consecutively recruited from the Department of Rheumatology in one single tertiary hospital,and healthy subjects (control group) were individuals for check-up from the same hospital at the same time.Subjects with long-term smoking and drinking history,diabetes,hypertension,coronary heart disease,cancer,active or chronic infection,other autoimmune diseases and liver or kidney dysfunction were excluded in both groups.The aortic calcification scores (including ascending aorta,arcus aorta and aorta thoracica) were obtained automatically by 256-slice spiral CT scanner using the Heart Beat-CS program.Statistical package from Soci-science (SPSS) 17.0 software was used for data analysis.Student's t test,Mann-Whitney U test,Spearman test and x2 test were used.Results One hundred RA patients and 60 healthy subjects were selected,and there were no differences of age [(53±10) vs (51 ±8),t=1.031,P=0.304) and gender compositions [male 40(40％) vs 25(41％),x2=0.430,P=0.869) between the two groups.The aortic calcification score in the RA group was higher than that in the control group [19.4(3.3,190.0) vs 2.1 (1.9,18.0),U=1 579.5,P＜0.01].In RA group,the calcification score was positively correlated with age (r=0.729,P＜0.01),course of disease (r=0.227,P=0.023),C-reactive protein (CRP) (r=0.229,P=0.022),total cholesterol (TC) (r=0.220,P=0.028) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (r=0.224,P=0.014),but not related with treatment duration,number of tender joints and swollen joints,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,rheumatoid factor,anti-CCP antibody,DAS-28 (CRP),DAS-28 (ESR),triglyceride (TG) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C).The aortic calcification was also positively correlated with age in control group (r=0.465,P＜0.01),but not related with TC,TG,HDL-C,LDL-C.Conclusion RA patients have more severe aortic calcification than the matched general population.Aortic calcification degree is related to disease course,CRP,TC and LDL-C,which indicates that chronic systemic inflammation is essential to aortic calcification in RA.

Objective:To explore the trans-membrane signaling mechanism of interleukin-6 (IL-6)-induced osteogenic differentiation and calcification of human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells (HUASMCs).Methods:HUASMCs were primarily cultured in vitro and were stimulated with IL-6, IL-6+solutable IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R), IL-6+sIL-6R+solutable gp130 (sgp130), or vehicle (blank control). Alizarin red and Von Kossa staining were used for detecting cell calcification, Western blot was used to test the protein expression of tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP), osteopontin (OPN), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and Runt related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), and immunofluorescence was used to examine the mIL-6R expression of HUASMCs. The comparison of measurement date between the two groups was conducted by t-test. The comparison of measurement date between multiple groups was conducted by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results:The intensity severity of calcification stain was IL-6+sIL-6R group >IL-6+sIL-6R+sgp130 group>IL-6 group=blank control. After stimulated for 12 hours, the TNAP expression in blank control, IL-6 group, IL-6+sIL-6R group, IL-6+sIL-6R+sgp130 group were (0.44±0.08), (0.52±0.14), (0.84±0.16) and (0.55±0.10) respectively ( F=290.96, P<0.001). After stimulated for 3 days, the OPN expression in blank control, IL-6 group, IL-6+sIL-6R group, IL-6+sIL-6R+sgp130 group were (0.61±0.84), (0.95±0.16), (1.65±0.24) and (0.99±0.10) respectively ( F=507.72, P<0.001). After stimulated for 12 hours, the BMP-2 expression in blank control, IL-6 group, IL-6+sIL-6R group, IL-6+sIL-6R+sgp130 group were (0.77±0.05), (1.69±0.16), (2.81±0.26) and (0.57±0.12) respectively ( F=959.09, P<0.001). After stimulated for 3 days, the Runx2 expression in blank control, IL-6 group, IL-6+sIL-6R group,IL-6+sIL-6R+sgp130 group were (0.57±0.03) , (0.92±0.10), (1.31±0.13) and (0.66±0.06) respectively ( F=1141.27, P<0.001). Comparing with Jurkat cells (positive control) and CEM cells (negative control), HUASMCs limited expressed mIL-6R. Conclusion:IL-6 may induce HUASMCs osteogenic differentiation and calcification mainly via the sIL-6R-mediated trans-signaling pathway.

Objective: To prepare the fusion protein mGM-CSF-GnRH3 (mGGn) of mouse granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (mGM-CSF) combining with gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and the fusion protein mGM-CSF-GRP6 (mG6) of mGM-CSF combining with gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), and to investigate the inhibitory effect of the above two fusion proteins on B16F10 melanoma in vitro as well as to preliminarily predict their isoelectric point, relative molecular weight, hydrophobicity, stability, subcellular localization, signal peptide, spatial structure and potential epitopes. Methods:After the successful preparation of mGGn and mG6, the effects of different concentrations of fusion proteins on tumor cell morphology, migration, proliferation and cell cycle were detected by microscopic observation, scratch test, CCK-8 method and flow cytometry, respectively. The protein online analysis systems EXPASY, GOR4, SWISS MODEL were used to predict the basic properties and secondary/tertiary structure of recombinant fusion proteins. The B cell epitopes were predicted by IEDB and ABCpred software, the CTL epitopes were comprehensively predicted by SYFPEITHI, BlMAS and NetCTL software, and the Th epitopes were predicted by NetMHCIIpan 3.1 Server and IEDB software. Results:Both mGGn and mG6 inhibited the migration and proliferation of tumor cells. mGGn could block B16F10 cell cycle at G1 phase while mG6 could block B16F10 cell cycle at S phase, all of which prevented cells entering into G2 phase to inhibit tumor cell growth. The mGGn and mG6 fusion proteins got diverse structures and had multiple potential B epitopes, CTL epitopes and Th epitopes. Conclusion: mGGn and mG6 have inhibitory effect on B16F10 melanoma in vitro, and bioinformatics predictions have laid a foundation for further study of the biological functions and immunological activities of these fusion proteins.