It is confirmed that the adult cells can be re-programmed to embryonic stem cells(ESCs) by presenting some certain factors in oocytes in the clone process of animals. In recent years, some transcription factors that can induce pluripotent stem cells(iPS) have been identified and which made it possible to obtain induced pluripotent stem cells similar to embryonic stem cells. iPS provides a unique platform to study the pluripotent mechanism and to establish some specific disease models. This major scientific discovery can not only avoid the use of ES which involves ethics debate, but also lead the stem cell research to a new field.

Objective To explore the expression characteristics of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor (VEGFR).Methods The 123I-VEGF165 and 123I-VEGF121 were marked to human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC),several human tumor cell lines (HMC-1,A431,KU812,U937,HEP-1,HEP-G2,HEP-3B and Raji),a variety of human tumors and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues as well as peripheral blood cells.Then,the specific binding site maximal binding capacity (Bmax),dissociation constant (Kd) and concentration of 50％ required specific binding (IC5o) were analyzed.The affinity,quantity and specificity of different cells combined with 123I-VEGF165 and 123I-VEGF121 were judged.Results Two kinds of analogous 123I-VEGF165 binding sites on the surface of HUVEC were found.While,there was only one kind of 123I-VEGF121binding site.123I-VEGF121 was found on the special cell lines (HUVEC,HEP-1 and HMC-1) and special early tumors (early melanoma,ductal breast cancer,ovarian cancer and meningioma).Compared with peripheral blood cells and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues,the number of VEGFR of tumor cells was bigger.Among the 123I-VEGF165 marked VEGFR,the Bmax value of early melanoma,ductal breast cancer,hepatocellular carcinoma,papillary thyroid carcinoma,ovarian carcinoma,renal cell carcinoma were 45 ± 13,13 ± 3,25 ±8,5 ±2,42 ± 12,20 ±6,respectively.While among the 123I-VEGF121 marked VEGFR,the Bmax value of early melanoma,ductal breast cancer,ovarian carcinoma were 30 ± 8,8 ± 3,20 ± 6.123I-VEGF165 and 123I-VEGF121 had specific binding capacity with a variety of human tumor cells and tissues.Compared with 123I-VEGF121,there were more different kinds of tumor cells could be bound to 123I-VEGF165 with higher capacity.Conclusion 123I-VEGF165 may be a potential target of tumor imaging in vivo,and it is expected to be used to diagnose and treat tumors.

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of shikonin for inducing the apoptosis of human promyelocytic leukemia cell HL-60.

METHODSThe effects of shikonin on the HL-60 cell proliferation were detected using MTT. The apoptosis rate was analyzed by Annexin-V/PI double staining. The expression level of the bcl-2 gene was detected using semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), thus analyzing the correlation between the bcl-2 expression level and the apoptosis of HL-60.

RESULTSShikonin could inhibit the proliferation of HL-60 cells with the concentration range of 1-8 microg/mL in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Two microg/mL shikonin could induce the apoptosis of HL-60 cells in a time-dependent manner. The expression level of bcl-2 was obviously down-regulated at 2 microg/mL shikonin.

CONCLUSIONSShikonin could induce the apoptosis of HL-60 cells. Its mechanism was correlated with down-regulation of the expression level of bcl-2.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Naphthoquinones ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism

Objective By the method of multiple polymerase chain reaction (PCR),we intend to amplify different regions (DFR) of Yersinia pestis DNA,and to establish a multiple DFR genotyping technique for detection of Yersinia pestis.Methods According to the product size of 23 DFRs and pMT plasmid,24 primers were optimized and combined,then multiple primers in one PCR reaction system were added,and positive template DNA was amplified.Meanwhile,200 wild strain DNAs were amplified by multiple PCR and normal PCR,to verify the coincidence rate of the two methods.Results Totally 24 target segments were amplified through the positive DNA template.Through different permutation and combination,24 primers were optimized and combined into 9 groups.Totally 200 wild strain DNAs were used for verification,the coincidence rate of multiple PCR and normal PCR was 100％.Conclusions Multiple PCR is applicable and feasible for DFR genotyping of Yersinia pestis.It is an efficient,economic and high accuracy experimental method for large quantities of Yersinia pestis DFR genotyping.

Objective To study the value of DSA for hepatic vascular anatomy,and to evaluate the efficacy of portal vein occlusion in rabbits with hepatic VX2 tumor.Methods Twenty New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into two groups with 10 in each group,including test group A and positive control group B of ham operation.For the test group A,portal branch ligation(PBL)was performed for the left external branch after 3 weeks of the tumor implantation to the left external lobe.Two weeks later,the DSA of hepatic artery and portal vein were performed in all of the rabbits.Results The total displaying effectiveness of the branches of hepatic artery by DSA was better than that by vascular perfusion.There was hypovascular blood supply to hepatic artery implantation of the tumor in the test group A,comparing with that of the group B.Conclusion DSA can clearly display spacial details of the hepatic vascular anatomy in rabbits,and play an important role in post-procedual evaluation of the portal vein occlusion in rabbits.

Synthetic biology research methods which design and build a new artificial biological systems (medicinal plants or microorganisms system) with specific physiological functions through clarifying and simulating the basic law of the biosynthesis of active components of traditional Chinese medicine, is considered to be a potential method to produce an abundant resources of bioactive components. Tanshinones is a kind of diterpene quinone compounds with important pharmacological activities from traditional Chinese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza. This article systematically introduced the research progress of the synthetic biology of S. miltiorrhiza, in order to provide references for studies on other terpenoid bioactive components of traditional Chinese medicines, and give new research strategies for the sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine resources.
Diterpenes, Abietane ; biosynthesis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; metabolism ; Synthetic Biology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the aberrance of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN).

METHODSIn 15 patients with IgAN and 15 healthy volunteers, H3K4me3 variations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed using chromatin immunoprecipitation and microarray analysis (ChIP-chip). ChIP real-time PCR was used to validate the microarray results. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was carried out to examine the correlations between the mRNA expression profiles and H3K4me3 levels.

RESULTSWe identified 83 genes that displayed significant H3K4me3 differences in IgAN patients compared with healthy subjects. Among them, 39 genes showed increased H3K4me3 and 44 genes had decreased H3K4me3 levels. The results of ChIP real-time PCR were well consistent with the microarray data. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed the correlations between the mRNA expressions and the methylation levels of H3K4me3.

CONCLUSIONIgAN patients have significant alterations in H3K4me3, and the genes with aberrant H3K4me3 may provide insights into the pathogenesis of IgAN.

Case-Control Studies ; CpG Islands ; genetics ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; genetics ; metabolism ; Histones ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; metabolism ; Lysine ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male

Objective To study the clinical characteristics of bulbar myasthenia gravis (MG). Methods Retrospective review was performed on 166 patients with bulbar type of myasthenia gravis, diagnosed at Tongji Hospital in the period of May 1983 through October 2005.Results Bulbar MG was a relatively rare type of MG,accounting for 5.7% (166/2888) of MG classifications.Females were more often affected than males (the ratio of male:female was 1:1.35).The peak of onset age was at 20—40 years.The incidence of myasthenia crisis in the group was 26.5% (44/166).Myasthenic crisis occurred in 10.8% (18/166) of the bulbar MG patients within 6 months after onset,resulting in a mortality rate of 6.0% (10/166) in the group.Out of the group,30 cases experienced puhnonary infections (18.1%). Thirty cases were initially misdiagnosed as other diseases such as nasopharyngeal disorders (33/166, 19.9%).The routine therapy was not very satisfactory.Median dose cyclophosphamide therapy appeared to be effective for ameliorating refractory MG.Thymectomy was performed in 25 patients,with optimistic efficacy rate up to 80.0% (20/25) in a 3-year follow-up.Conclusions The clinical analysis in the current study suggested that the bulbar MG had its own characteristics in such aspects as progression of the disease, complications,treatment and prognosis.The information of the clinical manifestations presented in this study may be useful in diagnosing and treating bulbar MG.

OBJECTIVE Cisplatin is a formidable chemotherapy agent widely applying in antineoplastic treatments, but its side effects often limit the clinical usage. Metabolic disorders are one of the side effects induced by cisplatin, which closely relate to the onset of chemotherapy-induced anorexia (CIA) in cancer patients but lacks effective controls. Liujunzi decoction (LJZD) is a traditional Chinese formula that has a promising effect in treating CIA. However, whether LJZD ameliorates CIA through adjusting cisplatin-induced metabolic disorders remain unknow. The present study evalu?ated the mechanism of cisplatin-induced metabolic disorders, and the effect of LJZD in ameliorating these disturbances. METHODS 42 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (180-220 g) were randomly divided into 3 groups:normal control group (distilled water+saline), model group (distilled water+cisplatin), LJZD group (4.8 g·kg-1 Liujunzi decoction ingredients+cisplatin). Intragastrical administered each drug twice a day (7:00-19:00) since day 0 for 4 d, animals were intraperito?neal injected with cisplatin 6 mg·kg-11 h after administration while normal control groups were injected with same volume of saline. On day 3, each group was anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium 45 mg · kg-1 (ip), and blood samples were collected from aorta abdominalis. Then the samples were analyzed using an LC-ESI-MS/MS system. Significantly regu?lated metabolites between groups were determined by VIP≥1 and absolute Log2FC (fold change)≥1. Identified metabo?lites were mapped to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway database using Metaboanalyst 5.0 (https://www.metaboanalyst.ca/). RESULTS A total of 133, 77 and 32 differential metabolites were filtrated in control vs model, control vs LJZD and model vs LJZD groups respectively. Comparing to control, the levels of hexadecanoic acid (Log2FC=6.3153), linoleic acid (Log2FC=5.3478), and 8, 11-icosadienoic acid (Log2FC=5.2342) significantly increased, and the levels of N-acetyl-L-tyrosine (Log2FC = -2.6283), cinnamic acid (Log2FC = -2.3381), N-acetylphenylalanine (Log2FC = -2.2501) significantly decreased in model group. The KEGG pathway enrichments of these metabolites indi?cated that, cisplatin-induced metabolic disorders by disturbing metabolism pathways such as linoleic acid metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, and phenylalanine metabolism, which suggested that the onset of CIA was partly associated with the metabolic disorders of linoleic acid, unsaturated fatty acids, and phenylalanine. Compared to control, treatment of LJZD significantly increased the levels of 4-hydroxytryptamine (Log2FC =12.0186), hexadecanoic acid (Log2FC = 5.7412), linoleic acid (Log2FC = 5.1877) and significantly decreased the levels of N-acetylmethionine (Log2FC=-1.7317), 2-aminoethanesulfinic acid (Log2FC=-1.6578), N-acetyl-L-tyrosine (Log2FC=-1.5355). And com?paring to the model group, 4-hydroxytryptamine (Log2FC = 12.0186), 7, 12-diketocholic acid (Log2FC = 2.0998), N-acetylneuraminic acid (Log2FC = 2.0560) markedly increased, and 3-hydroxy-3-methylpentane-1 (Log2FC = -1.9202), 5-dioic acid (Log2FC = -1.7166), N-isovaleroylglycine, hexanoyl glycine (Log2FC = -1.4958) markedly decreased in LJZD group. It was worth noting that, there were 23 differential metabolites filtrated both in control vs model and model vs LJZD groups, which were the key metabolites of LJZD in treating CIA. Among these 23 common metabolites, there were 16 metabolites excluding the control vs LJZD group, that was, LJZD had no effect in normal rats while being able to ameliorated cisplatin-induced metabolic disorders by regulating these 16 metabolites. Cisplatin-induced downregula?tion of 11 metabolites such as hydrocinnamic acid, (±)12(13)epoxy-9Z-octadecenoic acid, cinnamic acid were upregulated after LJZD treatment, and cisplatin-induced upregulation of imidazoleacetic acid, 2'-deoxycytidine-5'-monophosphate and other 5 metabolites were downregulated by LJZD. The KEGG pathway analysis indicated that the linoleic acid metabolism, histidine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism were the most enriched metabolic pathway. Thus, cisplatin-induced metabolic disturbances mainly by disturbing linoleic acid metabolism, histidine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism, and LJZD interacted with these metabolic pathways to reduce metabolic disorders and thus ameliorated CIA. CONCLUSION Cisplatin-induced anorexia was closely related to the metabolic disorders of linoleic acid metabo?lism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, and phenylalanine metabolism. The mechanism of LJZD in ameliorating CIA was in concerned with the metabolic adjustments, relating to the regulation of linoleic acid metabolism, histidine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism.