Mast cells regulate inflammation and immunity.Experimentally induced abdominal aortic aneurysm in mast cells-deficient animals and animals treated with mast cells inhibitors demonstrate that mast cells are involved in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm via several different mechanisms.Mast cells-dependent activation of metalloproteinases and the renin-angiotensin system,contribution to smooth muscle cell apoptosis,and release of proteolytic enzymes are some key examples.Activated mast cells also contribute to neovascularization,inflammation,and atherosclerosis,all hallmarks of abdominal aortic aneurysm.Thus,we may envision that mast cells stabilizing agents,as well as leukotriene receptor antagonists and histamine receptor blockers already in clinical use for treatment of other diseases,could also be tested for their efficacy in treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Objective To explore the electronystagmography (ENG) changes and their clinical significance in aged patients with vertebro-basilar insufficiency (VBI). Methods Sixty aged patients with VBI were selected as experimental group for testing of visuo-oculomotor system reaction, spontaneous nystagmus, caloric test and positional nystagmus. Forty normal aged persons as control group. Results In the experimental group, there were 11 cases (18.3%) who had spontaneous nystagmus and 46 cases (76.6%) with positional nystagmus. The positional nystagmus intension in those patients was 7.76?6.05?/s, which was much higher compared to the control group (P

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effects of exogenous WAF 1 S gene on human laryngeal cancer Hep 2 cell line, and to explore the potential use of WAF 1 S in gene therapy for laryngeal cancer. Methods A eukaryotic expression vector containing 2 1kb human full length WAF 1 S cDNA was transfected into human laryngeal cancer Hep 2 cell line by using lipofectamine. Expression of exogenous WAF 1 S gene was detected by dot blot hybridization. By using Western blot and confocal microscope, expression of p21 protein was quantitatively analyzed in situ . The growth state of transfected Hep 2 cell was determined by flow cytometry and MTT. Results It was found by dot blot hybridization that WAF 1 S gene could express in Hep 2 cell. The expression of the exogenous p21 gene in Hep 2 cells was markedly higher than that in the control group. It was confirmed with flow cytometry that WAF 1 S gene could induce apoptosis of laryngeal cancer Hep 2 cell line, and the progression of cell cycle was arrested at G 1 phase. Conclusion Laryngeal cancer cells could be arrested at G 1 /S phase and the growth of the cells could be significantly suppressed by exogenous WAF 1 S gene

Objective To explore the value of immunofluorescent technique for clinical diagnosing Duchenne muscular dystrophy(DMD),Becker muscular dystrophy(BMD) and Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy(LGMD).Methods Immunofluorescent technique was applied,and the expressions of Dys1,Dys2,Dys3 monoclonal antibodies and ?-,?-,?-sarcoglycan(SG) polyclonal antibodies against dystrophin,?-SG,?-SG,?-SG in musculomembranes of frozen section specimens from 25 patients(10 cases of DMD,4 cases of BMD and 11 cases of LGMD) were detected.Results 10 DMD patients had negative staining of dystrophin,and 4 BMD patients had discontinuous or a patchy positive staining pattern.All LGMD patients had positive dystrophin staining.There was one patient presented negative staining of ?-SG and ?-SG,respectively.Conclusions Detecting of dystrophin by immunofluorescent technique is special and helpful in diagnosing and classifying DMD/BMD.At present,SG may not be used in diagnosing the LGMD patients.

Objective To explore the level and main functions of P-type ATPase7B in hepatic cells of patients with hepatolenticular degeneration(HLD).Methods The hepatic cells from 5 normal controls and 9 patients with HLD were cultured in vitro. P-type ATPase7B levels in hepatic cells were examined and compared by SDS-PAGE and Western-blot techniques.Results Compared with the controls, 9 patients displayed various changes of electrophoresis strip. Almost normal strips at 155?103 were found in 3 cases, no strip was found in 1 case, and thinner and lighter strips were showed in the remain 5 cases. 6 cases presented abnormal specific reaction strips.Conclusion Mutations of gene ATPase7B in HLD patients cause change of P-type ATPase7B in quantity and quality, thus leads to dysmetabolism of copper.

Objective To evaluate the short-term effectiveness of Amplatzer device closure for congenital heart diseases.Methods Under X-ray fluoroscopy or/and transthoracic echocardiography(TTE),percutaneous puncture of the femoral artery or vein was conducted and the Amplatzer occluder was passed through the catheter.Effectiveness evaluation by transthoracic echocardiography,electrocardiography(ECG),and X-ray examination was applied at 24 hours,1 month,6 months,and every 1 year after the procedure.Results In 1 case of perimembranous ventricular septal defect(VSD),the detachment of the Amplatzer occluder to the arch of aorta was due to an inadequate small size.This patient was immediately operated with successful removal of the device through the femoral artery and later underwent a re-deployment of a larger-sized Amplatzer occluder closure successfully.The remaining 29 patients with atrial septal defect(ASD),patent ductus arteriosus(PDA),or perimembranous ventricular septal defect underwent a successful deployment of the Amplatzer occluder on one session without complications.The operation time was 20~90 min (38?16 min),the X-ray exposure time was 5~45 min(18?10 min),and the length of hospital stay was 3~7 days(4?2 days).Conclusions Amplatzer occluder transcatheter closure of congenital heart diseases has advantages of simplicity of deployment,good safety,and high success rate.This procedure is suitable for patients with secundum ASD,membranous VSD,and PDA.

Objective:To induce long-term survival of cardiac allograft in rats by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of CEMQIg gene, and to investigate the potential mechanisms involved in the induction of transplantation tolerance. Methods: The donor cardiac allograft from DA rats was heterotopically transplanted into the abdomen of LEW recipient rats, and recombinant adenoviruses containing EGFP gene or CD40Ig gene at a dose of 5 x ICf pfu were administered via portal vein, respectively, during the operation. The graft survival was monitored by daily palpation. The expression of CD4QIg fusion protein in the recipients was detected via EIISA. The tolerant mechanism was investigated via MLR, IL-2 reverse experiment and analyzing the expression of Thl/Th2 type cytokines in the recipients.Results: Compared with the untreated recipients, the mean survival time(MST) of the cardiac allograft was not prolonged in the recipients treated with AdEGFP adenovirus, whereas MST were prolonged significantly to 142.8 ?26.8 d in the recipients administered with AdCD40Ig adenovirus. The expression of CD40Ig fusion protein remained a long time but the levels gradually decreased. The results of MLR indicated that the induced tolerance in the recipients was donor-specific. The results of IL-2 reverse experiment demonstrated that the tolerance mechanisms were involved clonal anergy at the early stage of the established tolerance. The expression pattern of Thl/Th2 type cytokines did not indicate the polarization of Thl/Th2 type cytokines in the experimental models. Conclusion: A single injection of the defined dose of adenovirus containing CD40Ig gene via portal vein during operation is enough to induce long-term survival of cardiac allograft in rats.

Amyloid fibrils belong to a category of abnormal aggregations of natural proteins, which are closely related to many human diseases. Recently, some critical peptide sequences have been extensively studied for clarifying the molecular mechanism of natural proteins to form amyloid fibrils. In the present study, we designed a short peptide GGAAVV (GAV-6) composed of hydrophobic amino acids glycine (G), alanine (A) and valine (V) and studied its ability to form amyloid fibrils. As characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), the peptide could self-assemble into smooth nanofibers without branches. Congo red staining/binding and thioflavin-T (ThT) binding experiments show that the nanofibers formed by GAV-6 shared identical properties with typical amyloid fibrils. These results show that the designed peptide GAV-6 could self-assemble into typical amyloid fibrils, which might make it a useful model molecule to clarify the mechanism for the formation of amyloid fibrils in the future.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Amyloid ; chemistry ; Humans ; Microscopy, Atomic Force ; Models, Molecular ; Nanofibers ; chemistry ; Peptides ; chemistry

ObjectiveTo study the quality of life of patients with hepatolenticular degeneration (HLD)and analyze the influencing factors.Methods287 patients with HLD and 51 health people were investigated by World Health Organization quality of life assessment instrument brief version (WHOQOL-BREF),Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90),Life Satisfaction Index A (LSIA) and variance analysis,t-test and multiple linear regression analysis were analyzed the influencing factors.Results①Scores of WHOQOL-BREF:physical domain(54.64 ± 17.11 ),psychological domain ( 52.09 ± 15.83 ) in patients with HLD were lower than those in the health people (67.30 ± 12.66,58.90 ± 12.75 ) with statistically significant difference (P ＜ 0.01 ) ; social domain ( 51.35± 17.18),the domain of environment(53.54 ± 16.67) in patients with HLD were lower than those in the health people (57.53 ± 14.99,58.42 ± 10.55 ) with statistically significant difference (P ＜ 0.05 ).②The quality of life of the patients with HLD was influenced by LSIA,total score of SCL-90,the attitude toward the doctors,economic status,the attitude toward the disease,residence with statistically significant difference (P ＜ 0.0l ).ConclusionThe quality of life in patients with HLD is lower than that in health people and much factors influence it,so it is necessary to take multi-facet interventions to improve their quality of life.

AIM: In vitro isolation and culture of esophageal epithelial cells are basic component of tissue-engineered esophagus. This study explored the method to culture esophageal epithelial cells for research on tissue-engineered esophagus. METHODS: The experiment was performed at experimental center of Lanzhou University from May to November 2007. Normal esophagus tissues, 2.0-3.0 cm, were harvested from patient with esophagus cancer by surgery. The informed consent was obtained from the patient. Esophageal epithelial cells for tissue engineering were obtained and passaged. The cells cultured by DMEM+F12 (1∶1) after 20 minutes, 1-4 days were observed by immunohistochemistry staining and inverted phase contrast microscope. The growth curve of cells was drawn by MTT method. RESULTS: The immunohistochemistry staining results showed that 90% of the cells were positive, which indicated the cultured cells were esophageal epithelial cells. Normal cells were big and globular, floating in the culture-medium. Cells began to adhere after 20 minutes, and most cells were polygon-like or irregular globular and adherent after 1 day; the cells began to cluster after 2 days; the cells grew at peak after about 3-4 days with abundant endochylema and large and spherical nuclear. Cells growth reached the peak after about 3 days of culture and its absorbance was significantly different compared with that on the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th days (P