BACKGROUND:The development of tissue engineering techniques provides new methods and ideas for the repair and functional reconstruction of articular cartilage defects.
OBJECTIVE:To summarize the research progress in the application of mesenchymal stem cel s, as seed cel s, in articular cartilage tissue engineering.
METHODS:A computer-based retrieval was performed to search articles describing articular cartilage tissue engineering and mesenchymal stem cel s published between January 1st, 2000 and September 30th, 2014 in PubMed database with the key words of“articular cartilage defects;cartilage tissue engineering;mesenchymal stem cel s”in English. Seventy articles were retrieved initial y, and only 49 were included in further analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The ability of the articular cartilage for defect self-repair is limited, and current clinical treatments cannot be satisfactory. Development of tissue engineering provides a new idea for problem-solving. In the selection of seed cel s, chondrocyte is limited to dedifferentiate, and embryonic stem cel is restricted by ethical, legal and other aspects. Autologous mesenchymal stem cel s, which are easy to be amplified
and exhibit excel ent cartilage differentiation potential, have gained widespread attention. But there is stil some controversy on the current application of tissue engineering techniques for repair of articular cartilage defects, including a certain gap between the long-term effects and the clinical applications. So the effect of mesenchymal stem cel s on biological structure and mechanical function stil needs further studies.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most malignant tumors with a high mortality rate attributed to its widespread metastasis.A number of cellular signal transduction pathways involved in multiple genes play an important role in regulating this complex metastatic cascade of pancreatic cancer.NF-kappa B is one of the crucial signaling pathways.Studies has indicated that NF-kappa B could modulate a series of biological events relevant to tumor progress by controlling multiple targeted genes expression,such as cell proliferation,anti-apoptosis,angiogenesis,epithelial-mesenchymal transition,inflammation,stress response,etc.Furthermore,it can also up-regulate Hedgehog and MMPs signaling pathways.To help us better understand the potential mechanism and identify more sensitive tumor markers and selective targets,this review will underline the significant roles of NF-kappa B signaling pathway in regulatory network of pancreatic cancer metastasis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the mechanism(s) of penicillins allergic reaction.

METHODSThe radioallergosorbent test (RAST) was used to detect 9 specific IgE antibodies, including major antigenic determinants: benzylpenicilloyl (BPO), ampicilloyl (APO), amoxicilloyl (AXO), phenoxomethylpenicilloyl (PVO) and flucloxacilloyl (FLUO), and minor antigenic determinants: benzylpenicillanyl (BPA), amoxicillanyl (AXA), 6-aminopenicillanic (APA) and phenoxomethylpenicillany (PVA), in the sera of 32 penicillin allergic patients. The relationship between specific IgE antibodies and penicillins chemical structures was studied by radioallergosorbent inhibition test.

RESULTSNineteen of 32 patients (59.4%) were RAST positive, among whom, five cases were positive only to one or two antigenic minor determinants, and three cases were positive only to one or three major antigenic determinants. The remaining 11 patients were positive not only to major antigenic determinants but also minor antigenic determinants. In 9 specific IgE antibodies, the positive rate of PVA-IgE was the highest (34.38%), followed by BPO-IgE (31.25%). The positive rate of FLUO-IgE was the lowest (15.63%). Of the total patient group, 53.13% were positive to one or more minor antigenic determinants, while 37.5% (12/32) were positive to one or more major antigenic determinants. The percentage of patients with urticarial reactions who were positive to minor antigenic determinants (63.16%) was significantly higher than observed in the anaphylactic shock group (38.5%, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe minor antigenic determinant was important in allergic reaction. The combining sites of the specific IgE antibodies were likely to be the side-chain of drug or the overwhelming drug molecule.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antibodies ; blood ; Drug Hypersensitivity ; immunology ; Epitopes ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Penicillins ; immunology ; Radioallergosorbent Test

Objective To evaluate the treatment outcome and prognostic factors in patients with grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ glioma following postoperative chemoradiotherapy.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical records of 119 patients with grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ glioma who received treatment in our hospital from January 2007 to April 2012.Of the 119 patients,49 received radiotherapy alone,21 received radiotherapy combined with nitrosoureas,and 49 received radiotherapy combined with temozolomide.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate overall survival (OS) rates and recurrence rates.The Cox regression model was used for multivariate prognostic analysis.Results The follow-up rate was 94.1％.Fifty-three patients were followed up for at least 1 year,and 10 for at least 2 years.The overall recurrence rate was 69.7％.The 1-and 2-year OS rates were 44.5％ and 8.4％,respectively.The multivariate analysis showed that age,presence or absence of seizures before surgery,extent of tumor resection,and radiotherapy plus concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide were the main prognostic factors for tumor recurrence (P =0.002,0.005,0.000,and 0.000).The above factors and the pathological grade of tumor were the independent prognostic factors for patients' survival (P =0.006,0.010,0.000,0.000,and 0.001).Conclusions Postoperative radiotherapy plus concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide produce a good clinical effect in patients with grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ glioma.Age of ＜ 60 years,no seizures before surgery,total tumor resection,and pathological grade Ⅲ of tumor are the favorable prognostic factors for the long-term survival in patients with malignant glioma.

10.3969/j.issn.1007-3969.2013.05.008

Objective To explore the application value of Golgi protein-73 (GP73)and AFP in single and combining form in the diagnosis of primary hepatocelluar carcinoma (PHC).Methods Eighty PHC,65 liver cirrhosis,54 chronic hepatitis patients and 50 controls were selected in the First Afiliated Hospital in Xinjiang Medical University from May to September in 2011,GP73 was detected by ELISA and AFP was measured by clinical chemiluminescence.The sensitivity and specificity of each parameter in single and combining form were evaluated.Results Serum GP73 in PHC group 282.0(163.6-366.7) μg/L,liver cirrhosis group 211.8(107.5-295.7) μg/L,chronic hepatitis group 100.3(61.8-191.3) μg/L and control group 58.3(43.4-83.6) μg/L was tested by Kruskal-Wallis(H =106.6,P ＜0.01).GP73 in PHC group was further compared with liver cirrhosis group,chronic hepatitis group and control group using MannWhitney test,significance was found,(U was 1796.0,826.5,154.0,respectively,all P ＜0.01).In the single form,the sensitivity of GP73 [82.5％ (66/80)] was higher than AFP [66.3％ (53/80),x2 =4.65,P ＜0.05],but the specificity of GP73 [63.3％ (107/169)] was lower than AFP [88.7％ (150/169),x2 =28.91,P ＜0.05].There were 27 AFP negative cases in PHC group,but 22 of them were GP73 positive,making the positive rate of GP73 [81.5％ (22/27)] in PHC patients with AFP negative.There were 14 GP73 negative cases of in PHC group,but 9 of them were AFP positive,making the positive rate of AFP [64.3％ (9/14)] in PHC patients with GP73 negative.In series diagnostic test,the specificity of combining form [95.9％ (162/169)] was higher than AFP [88.7 ％ (150/169),x2 =6.00,P ＜ 0.05] ; in parallel diagnostic test,the sensitivity of combining form [93.8％ (75/80)] was higher than GP73 [82.5％(66/80),x2 =4.84,P ＜0.05].In PHC group,52 patients with HBV infection,10 patients with HCV infection and 18 patients without virus infection,GP73 was 309.5 (170.5-370.5) μg/L,351.0 (274.7-397.9) μg/L and 210.1 (156.8-306.7) μg/L,respectively,no significance was found (H =4.0,P ＞0.05).Conclusion GP73 and AFP have a complementary feature of sensitivity and specificity in the early diagnosis of PHC,some PHC cases with AFP negative can be avoided missing efficiently by parallel diagnostic test.

It has been widely verified by various sorting methods that cancer stem cells (CSCs) exist in different types of tumor cells or tissues. However, due to lack of specific stem cell surface markers, CSCs are very difficult to be separated from some cancer cells, which becomes the key barrier of functional studies of CSCs. The sorting method by side population cells (SP) lays a solid foundation for in-depth and comprehensive study of CSCs. To identify the existence of SP in prostate cancer cell lines, we applied flow cytometry sorting by SP to cultures of prostate cancer cell lines (TSU, LnCap, and PC-3), and the cancer stem-like characteristics of SP were verified through experiments in vitro and in vivo. The proportion of SP in TSU cells was calculated to be 1.60%±0.40% [Formula: see text], and that in PC-3 and LnCap cells was calculated to be 0.80%±0.05% and 0.60%±0.20%, respectively. The colony formation assay demonstrated that the colony formation rate of SP to non-SP sorted from TSU via flow cytometry was 0.495±0.038 to 0.177±0.029 in 500 cells, 0.505±0.026 to 0.169±0.024 in 250 cells, and 0.088±0.016 to 0.043±0.012 in 125 cells respectively. In the in vivo experiments, tumors were observed in all the mice on the 10th day after injecting 50 000 cells subcutaneously in SP group, whereas when 5×10(6) cells were injected in non-SP group, tumors were developed in only 4 out of 8 mice until the 3rd week before the end of the experiment. Our results revealed that prostate cancer cells contain a small subset of cells, called SP, possessing much greater capacity of colony formation and tumorigenic potential than non-SP. These suggest that SP in prostate cancer cells may play a key role in the self-renewal and proliferation, and have the characteristics of cancer stem-like cells. Dissecting these features will provide a new understanding of the function of prostate CSCs in tumorigenicity and transformation.

Objective To investigate the role of mesenchymal stem cells in the repair of radiation induced liver injury.Methods 12 female SD rats were irradiated with 20 Gy 6 MV X-rays on the right lobe of the liver,to establish the model of radiation induced liver injury.The rats were divided randomly into two groups as invention group and control group,and transplanted with 1 ml male mesenchymal suspension or 1 ml normal saline in 4 hours after radiotherapy.The morphological changes of liver were observed.The existence of sex determining gene Y(SRY)and the level of alpha-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) were detected.Results Some injury of right lobe liver in two groups were observed,and the injury degree of right lobe liver in intervention group were lower than that of control group.The amount of SRY positive cells in the right lobe liver of intervention group was higher than that in the left lobe liver(t ＝ 3.77,P ＜0.05).The positive expression rate of a-SMA in right lobe liver of intervention group was lower than that of control group.Conclusions Acute radiation induced liver injury could lead BMSCs＇ homing in order to decrease the degree of liver fibrosis.

Objective To investigate the inhibitive effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on the immunological rejection in rats after liver transplantation. Methods The recipients and donors were female SD rats and Wistar rats. All rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (28 rats in each group). Rats in group A were infused with normal saline; rats in group B received FK506 (0.25 mg/kg) every 2 days for 2 weeks after liver transplantation; rats in group C were injected with MSCs from male Wistar rats during liver transplantation. The pathological changes, expression of TGF-β1 and IL-10, Y chromosome location, changes of liver function and the survival of the recipients were detected on postoperative day 10. The levels of ALT and AST were analyzed by com-pletely randomised design analysis of variance, and the difference among the 3 groups were analyzed by LSD. Ridit was used to analyze the pathological grading. The survival was analyzed by Log-rank test after the Kaplan-Meier survival curve was drawn. Results The values of ALT and AST were (756±104)U/L and (635±134)U/L in group A, (197±49)U/L and (331±78) U/L in group B, (103±31)U/L and (150±38) U/L in group C, respectively. The difference in the level of ALT and AST among the 3 groups had statistical significance (F = 158, 265, P < 0.05). The liver function of rats in group B and C was better than those in group A (P < 0.01), and the liver function of rats in group C was better than those in group B. The mean values of ridit in group A, B and C were 0.8333, 0.4583 and 0.2083, respectively. The expression rates of TCG-β1 in group A, B and C were 18%±5% , 69%±20% and 85%±24% , with statistical difference among the 3 groups (F=191, P <0.01). There was a significant difference in IL-10 expression among group A (21%±5%), group B (75%±14%) and group C (91%±21%) (F=672, P<0.01). The TCG-β1 and IL-10 had strong positive expression in group B and C, and the expression of TCG-β1 and IL-10 was much stronger in group C than in group B; while the expres-sion of TCG-β1 and IL-10 was weak positive in group A. MSCs cells with Y chromosome were positively stained and were concentrated at the portal area in group C. The 50-day survival rate of rats in group A, B and C were 0, 10% and 90% , respectviely, with significant difference (χ~2=36, P < 0.01). The median survival time of rats in group C was 63 days, which was longer than that in group A and B. Conclusion Simultaneous injection of MSCs from donors during liver transplantation can inhibite the immunological rejection of recipients to the liver graft.

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell growth and to elucidate its potential molecular mechanism.Methods Real-time PCR analysis was conducted to determine the expression of miR-373 in HCC tissue specimens and HCC cell lines.The expression of miR-373 was also evaluated in HepG2 cells after 5-FU treatment.Western blot analysis was performed to detect the protein levels of PPP6C,a verified target of miR-373,with transfection of miR-373 mimics or 5-FU treatment.A rescue assay was conducted to investigate the cell growth in HepG2 cells by using CCK-8.Results miR-373 expression was up-regulated in both HCC tissues and cell lines.miR-373 expression depicted about 2.94-fold augment in HepG2 cells as compared to normal liver cells control (P ＜0.01).5-FU treatment led to a significant decrease of miR-373 levels (approximately 50％,P ＜0.01,48 h) and resulted in a marked increase of PPP6C protein (approximately 2.1-fold,48 h) in HepG2 cells.The overexpression of miR-373 could prevent the impact of 5-FU treatment on cell growth in HepG2 cells and CCK-8 assay showed that HepG2 cell growth was rescued approximately 81％ and 84％ at 24 h (P ＜ 0.05) and 48 h (P ＜ 0.01),respectively.Conclusion 5-FU can repress endogenous miR-373 level,which activates the expression of downstream targeted gene PPP6C,thereby exerting an inhibitory effect on HepG2 cells.