Adult ; Benzene ; poisoning ; Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Diseases

Adult ; Benzene ; poisoning ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Humans ; Occupational Diseases ; diagnosis

DNA, Neoplasm ; Humans ; Image Cytometry ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant ; diagnosis

Animals ; Connective Tissue Growth Factor ; metabolism ; Fibrosis ; Herbicides ; poisoning ; Lentivirus ; Lung ; pathology ; Paraquat ; poisoning ; Poisoning ; pathology ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; pathology ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the differences in the autophagy activity of alveolar macrophages between patients with different stages of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP).

METHODSA total of 116 coal workers were investigated in the field. Their lung lavage fluid was collected and purified to obtain alveolar macrophages. The morphological characteristics of autophagy were observed by transmission electron microscopy. The expression of autophagy marker (LC3) and autophagy regulators (Beclin1, mTOR, and p-mTOR) was measured by Western blot. The autophagy activity of alveolar macrophages was compared between dust-exposed subjects and patients with stage I, II, and III CWP.

RESULTSThe autophagy activity of alveolar macrophages differed between patients with different stages of CWP, according to transmission electron microscopy. Patients with stage II CWP had significantly higher protein expression of LC3 II/I and Beclin1 in pulmonary macrophages than those with stage ICWP (P < 0.05); patients with stage III CWP had significantly lower protein expression of LC3 II/I and Beclin1 in pulmonary macrophages than those with stage II CWP (P < 0.05), but had significantly higher protein expression of LC3 II/I and Beclin1 than those with stage I CWP (P < 0.05); patients with stage II CWP had a significantly higher protein expression of Beclin1 than the dust-exposed subjects (P < 0.05). Patients with stage II CWP had significantly lower expression of mTOR and p-mTOR in pulmonary macrophages than the dust-exposed subjects and those with stage I CWP (P < 0.05), while patients with stage III CWP had significantly higher expression of mTOR and p-mTOR than those with stage II CWP (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe autophagy activity of alveolar macrophages varies between patients with different stages of CWP.

Anthracosis ; pathology ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; Autophagy ; Beclin-1 ; Biomarkers ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; Coal ; Coal Mining ; Dust ; Humans ; Macrophages, Alveolar ; pathology ; Membrane Proteins ; metabolism ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; metabolism ; Occupational Exposure ; Pneumoconiosis ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the risk factors for level Ib lymph node enlargement on CT in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and provide clinical evidence for defining the indications of prophylactic level Ib irradiation.

METHODSA total of 435 newly diagnosed NPC patients receiving radiotherapy in Nanfang Hospital in the past 2 years were enrolled in this analysis. The correlations were analyzed with Logistic regression between level Ib lymphadenopathy and the clinical risk factors including T stage, N stage, diameter of level II lymph nodes, submandibular gland involvement, nasal cavity involvement, oropharyngeal involvement, and involvement of 4 or more lymphatic drainage regions.

RESULTSUnivariate analysis showed that level Ib lymphadenopathy were positively correlated with N stage (P=0.023), submandibular gland involvement (P=0.045), and level II lymph node diameter (P<0.001). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis suggested a significant correlation only between the diameter of the level II lymph nodes and level Ib lymphadenopathy (P=0.013).

CONCLUSIONLevel Ib lymphadenopathy is positively correlated with the size of ipsilateral level II lymph nodes in NPC patients.

Carcinoma ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Lymphatic Diseases ; epidemiology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; Neck ; Paranasal Sinuses ; Risk Factors ; Submandibular Gland

Apolipoprotein A- I is the major apolipoprotein in high-density lipoprotein known to have a wide range of physiological functions, the best-studied one of which is in regulating cholesterol metabolism and preventing arteriosclerosis. Human blood has been the only source of this protein. To facilitate further research and application, it is essential to produce it through genetic engineering. In the current research, the baculovirus-insect cell system was used to overexpress human apolipoprotein A- I . Two recombinant baculoviruses were constructed. The first one expressed a pro form of apoA- I lacking native signal peptide. The recombinant protein was found to remain mainly inside cells in the early phase of infection, while being largely excreted to the medium late in infection. The second one used a heterologous signal peptide, snake phospholipase A2 inhibitor alpha subunit signal peptide, to lead the secretion of mature apoA- I. In contrast to the first virus, recombinant apoA- I was found in the culture medium at the early phase of virus infection. The mature apoA- I was purified from culture medium using Phenyl Sepharose hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) and eluted with water and Propylene. This work shows that snake phospholipase A2 inhibitor a subunit signal peptide can be used to secret human apoA- I in insect cells, but the efficiency of its secretion is limited when the expression level is high.
Animals ; Apolipoprotein A-I ; genetics ; metabolism ; Baculoviridae ; genetics ; Blood Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Chromatography ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Humans ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Snakes ; Spodoptera ; cytology

Objective To explore the biological functions of retinoic acid-inducible gene-I(RIG-I) in vivo through phenotype analysis of RIG-I knockout mice. Methods The gene expression of RIG-Ⅰ in various tissues of mice was examined with Northern blotting and semi-quantitative RT-PCR.The phenotypes observed included body weight measurement,differential count of peripheral blood cells,metabolic parameters measurement and histopathologic examination. ResultsRIG-Ⅰ expressed in various tissues of mice with different levels.No gross developmental abnormalities and expected maturation arrest in granulocytic differentiation were observed in RIG-Ⅰ knockout mice.However,RIG-Ⅰ knockout mice exhibited an unexpected increase in the ratios of neutrophiles to lymphocytes in peripheral blood and increased susceptibility to bacteria infection. Conclusion RIG-Ⅰ may play an important role in immune regulation in mice.

OBJECTIVEThe aims of this study were to evaluate whether the presence of -2518A/G polymorphism in the distal regulatory region of the monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) was associated with tuberculosis (TB) in Chongqing Han population and to find whether it has a significant impact on the pediatric patient.

METHODOne hundred children [ < or = 15 years old, mean age (7.3+/-4.6) years, 53 male, 47 female] and one hundred adults [51 male, 49 female, age (44.6+/-13.5) years with TB] and 200 healthy controls of comparable age were screened for genotype by PCR-sequence-specific primer (SSP) method. MCP-1 levels in the sera were detected by ELISA.

RESULT(1) TB patients and controls showed different single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) distribution patterns (58%, 36%). MCP-1 alleles -2518G was associated with increased TB susceptibility (P<0.01). (2) The -2518 GG genotypes was associated with increased TB susceptibility (32% in TB patients and 13% in non-TB controls respectively, P<0.01). (3) The odds of developing TB in genotypes GG were higher than those in homozygous AA, and the risk was higher in children than in adult (7.0-fold in children and 5.1-fold in adults, respectively). (4) Cases of homozygous GG had the highest plasma levels of MCP-1, which increased the likelihood of developing TB. Furthermore, higher levels were observed in children than in adults.

CONCLUSIONThese findings suggest that persons bearing the MCP-1 genotype GG produce high concentrations of MCP-1, which increases the risk of active TB infection in Chongqing Han people. These findings are more significant in child patients than in adult patients with TB.

Adult ; Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Chemokine CCL2 ; blood ; genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Primers ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Tuberculosis ; ethnology ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To establish a protein expression profile of human normal colonic epithelia. METHODS: Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was applied to separate the total proteins of 20 human normal colonic epithelial tissues. The expression proteins in the human normal colonic epithelia were identified by both matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF), and the biological function and subcellular locations of the identified proteins were analyzed by bioinformatics. RESULTS: A 2-DE reference map of human normal colonic epithelium was established. On the 2-DE map, 1020+/-50 protein spots were detected, 204 protein spots representing 162 non-redundant proteins were identified, and 37 proteins had posttranslational modification. The identified proteins were categorized into several protein groups according to their functions or subcellular locations, whose data were available at our website (http://www.xyproteomics.org). CONCLUSION A protein expression profile of human normal colonic epithelia is established for the first time, which provides useful information for investigating the physiological functions and pathologic process of colonic epithelia.
Adult ; Aged ; Colon ; chemistry ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Epithelium ; chemistry ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptide Mapping ; Protein Array Analysis ; Proteins ; analysis ; chemistry ; genetics