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.

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.

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

BACKGROUND:Stem cel therapy has been used for prevention and treatment of degenerative disc disease. Considering the special microenvironment in the intervertebral disc, the survival rate and differentiation ability of transplanted cels are decreased, which may lead to the poor efficacy of stem cel therapy. How to improve the survival ability and therapeutic effect of the transplanted cels is the focus of stem cel therapy for degenerative disc disease.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of cobalt chloride combined with hypertonic solution pretreatment on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels that wil be transplanted for treatment of degenerative disc disease.
METHODS:(1)In vitro cel experiment: bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels were divided into three groups and subjected to normal culture medium (normal control group), 1% hypertonic mother solution (hypertonic group), 100 μmol/L cobalt chloride (hypoxia group), or 1% hypertonic mother solution plus 100 μmol/L cobalt chloride (combined group) for 1 week. Then, 2% hypertonic solution and 200 μmol/L cobalt chloride cobalt chloride were used to simulate the anaerobic and hypertonic environment intervenes in pretreated and untreated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels for 24 hours. After that, RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of caspase-3 for apoptosis evaluation. (2)In vivo animal experiment: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into model, cel transplantation and hypertonic plus hypoxic groups. Rat models of intervertebral disc degeneration were made in these three groups. After modeling, rats in these three groups were given no treatment, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel transplantation or transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels which were subjected to hypertonic and hypoxia pretreatments into the intervertebral disc. Two weeks later, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR methods were used to detect cel distribution and related gene expression, respectively, thereby to evaluate the therapeutic effect of stem cels.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1)In vitro cel experiment: caspase-3 mRNA expression was significantly reduced in pretreated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels compared with the untreated cels (P < 0.05). (2)In vivo animal experiment: compared with the control group, the caspase-3 and interleukin-1β in the intervertebral disc and a number of degenerative indexes were decreased in the cel transplantation. Compared with the cel transplantation group, these indicators had better outcomes in the hypertonic plus hypoxic group (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels have therapeutic potential for degenerative disc disease, and have better adaptability and transplantation effects by hypertonic and hypoxia pretreatments.

Objective To investigate the prognostic factors of survival time of the Uygur and Han nation-ality elderly patients( over 60 years) with pancreatic cancer in Xinjiang.Methods We carried on a retrospective study of 313 aged patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from January 1st,2003 to May 30th,2015.We used Kpalan-Meier method for calculation of survival, used Log-rank method for those factors which could affect the prognosis of patients,at last we used Cox propor-tional risk model for those multiple factors which match the role.Results Three hundred and thirteen cases with pancreatic cancer had a median survival of 157 days,and survival rates of half a year,1 and 2 year were 34.8%, 18.5%,7.0%.There was a statistic difference between Uygur patients′and Han patients′survival time(P<0.05).Single factor analysis showed the nationality,tumor size,surgery,ZPS(ECOG),Clinical stage(TNM), chemotherapy and radiotherapy,carcino-embryonic antigen(CEA)level and cancer antigen 199(CA199)level before treatment with outcome(P<0.05).Multiple factor analysis showed that the clinical stage,surgery(P<0.05)can be regarded as independent prognostic decision factors.Conclusion The clinical staging,surgical treatment could be regarded as independent prognostic factors for the elderly prognosis of pancreatic cancer.Both of the Han and Uygur patients,earlier discovered and more appropriate surgery treatment are the key for the elder-ly patients with pancreatic cancer.

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.

Objective To analyze the therapeutic effects of different treatment modalities in patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the complete clinical and follow-up data of 132 patients with pathologically confirmed tongue squamous cell carcinoma,who were initially treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from 2003 to 2011.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the overall survival (OS) rates for patients who received surgery alone (S),radiotherapy alone (R),surgery plus radiotherapy (S + R),chemotherapy plus surgery (C + S),chemotherapy plus radiotherapy (C + R),and surgery,radiotherapy,and chemotherapy (S + R + C).The OS was compared between these groups by log-rank test.Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazard model to establish independent treatment modalities as prognostic factors.Results The follow-up rate was 100％.The 3-year sample size was 94.The 3-year OS rate for all patients was 72.7％.The univariate analysis showed that among 70 stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ patients,the S,R,S + R,C + S,and S + R + C groups had 3-year OS rates of 86％,67％,97％,100％,and 82％,respectively (P =0.018) ;among 62 stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ patients,the S,R,S + R,C + S,C + R,and S + R + C groups had 3-year OS rates of 38％,14％,92％,40％,14％,and 67％,respectively (P =0.000).The multivariate analysis showed that S + R and S + R + C were independent prognostic factors (P =0.000 and 0.005).onclusions Surgery alone or combination therapy including surgery has a good therapeutic effect for stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ tongue squamous cell carcinoma,while S + R and S + R + C are better treatment modalities for stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ disease;however,advanced patients have a poor prognosis after being treated with R and C + R modalities.