Acute leukemia is one of the most common cancers among children.The biological mechanisms leading to leukemia have not been fully clarified until now.Experiments were improved that most patients developing acute leukemia had abnormal chromosomes,including TEL/AML-l,BCR/ABL,PML/RAR-α fusion genes,which would be potential clinical biomarkers.Many genetic polymorphisms have effect on acute lymphoblastic leukemia susceptibility,which were containing genes involved in folate metabolism pathways,cytochrome P450,glutathione-S-transferase enzymes and quinone oxidoreductase-1.As the results of the studies,alcohol,tobacco,TNF-α and IFN-γ might be risk factors to the disease.Furthermore infection and IRF-3 were reported to reduce the occurrence of acute leukemia.Finally,as more is learned about the molecular pathology,it may be possible to develop new therapeutic agents which are specifically targeted to treat childhood acute leukemia.

The medical image registration between preoperative three-dimensional (3D) scan data and intraoperative two-dimensional (2D) image is a key technology in the surgical navigation. Most previous methods need to generate 2D digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR) images from the 3D scan volume data, then use conventional image similarity function for comparison. This procedure includes a large amount of calculation and is difficult to archive real-time processing. In this paper, with using geometric feature and image density mixed characteristics, we proposed a new similarity measure function for fast 2D-3D registration of preoperative CT and intraoperative X-ray images. This algorithm is easy to implement, and the calculation process is very short, while the resulting registration accuracy can meet the clinical use. In addition, the entire calculation process is very suitable for highly parallel numerical calculation by using the algorithm based on CUDA hardware acceleration to satisfy the requirement of real-time application in surgery.
Algorithms ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; X-Rays

Objective To study the variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism in intron 4 of the endothelial nitric-oxide synthase (eNOS) gene and its relationship with plasma NO in pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). Method The VNTR polymorphism in intron 4 of the eNOS genes of PIH and healthy control pregnant women were detected by PCR. The plasma level of NO~(3-)/NO~(2-) was measured by spectrophotometer, which was used as the index of NO synthesis.Data were analyzed according to the different type of genotypes and allelic gene frequency. Results The PIH group showed significant higher frequency of VNTR 4a allele and 4a/4b+4a/4a genotype than those of the control (16.00% vs 7.50%,P

To explore the application of fetal DNA in maternal plasma for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis, the DNA template was extracted by hydroxybenzene-chloroform from 44 maternal (7-41 weeks) plasma. The Fetus-derived Y sequence DYZ-1 gene (149bp) was chosen to be amplified by PCR. The fragment was identified in all the plasma of male bearing pregnant women with the diagnostic accordance rate being 100.00%. Two of the 22 female bearing pregnant women had false positive results. Among the 44 pregnant women, the diagnostic accordance rate was 88.89% at early pregnant stage, 100.00% at medium pregnant stage, and 96.55% at late stage respectively. The final accuracy of 95.45% was obtained in all cases. It was concluded that by means of hydroxybenzene-chloroform extraction the authors of this article promoted the concentration and purity of the DNA template, and diagnosed more accurately. The results showed that free fetal DNA in the maternal plasma could be regarded as the gene resource for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis.
DNA/*blood ; DNA Primers ; Fetus ; Maternal-Fetal Exchange ; Pregnancy/*blood ; Prenatal Diagnosis/*methods ; *Sex Determination (Genetics)

To study the role of the reversion-inducing-cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs (RECK) gene and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in the regulation of trophoblast invasion of early pregnancy. Immunohistochemistry, Western blot and gelatin zymography were used to detect the RECK protein expression localization, expression level and MMP-2 activation level in the placental tissues harvested from 52 normal pregnant women (27 in the early pregnancy, 25 in the term pregnancy). Immunohistochemistry showed that RECK expression was found both in villous tissues of early pregnancy group and term pregnancy group and was mainly observed in cell membrane and cytoplasm of cytotrophoblasts and syneytiotrophoblasts. RECK expression increased with gestational time. RECK expression of early pregnancy group was significantly lower than that of term pregnancy group (P<0.05). RECK expression was significantly lower in cellular column (CC) with invasion ability. Western blot showed that the RECK protein expression in early pregnancy group was significantly lower than that in term pregnancy (P<0.05). The optical density values of RECK protein expression in early pregnancy group and term pregnancy group were 1.35-0.14 and 2.68+/-0.26, respectively, while MMP-2 activation ratio was contrary to RECK protein expression and decreased with the gestation time (P<0.01). The MMP-2 activation ratios of early pregnancy group and term pregnancy group were 0.46 +/- 0.05 and 0.10+/-0.02, respectively. The expression of the tumor inhibitory gene RECK was positively related with the invasion ability of trophoblasts, while the invasion gene MMP-2 was negatively related with the ability. The interaction between RECK and MMP-2 may play an important role in the regulation of the trophoblast invasion in early pregnancy.

In this study, the expression of IL-24 at maternal-fetal interface and the roles in extravillous trophoblast (the TEV-1 cell line) invasion were examined. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of IL-24 in villi and decidual tissue. The proliferation of TEV-1 cells under the effect of IL-24 was measured by MTT assay. The invasiveness of TEV-1 cells under the effect of recombinant IL-24 (rhIL-24) was examined by transwell system. Immunohistochemical detection showed that IL-24 was expressed in the villi and decidual tissue, and distributed in villous column, trophoblasts, stroma and blood vessels. The proliferation of TEV-1 cells was not inhibited by rhIL-24 of various concentrations. The examination of invasion in vitro showed that rhIL-24 could inhibit the invasion of TEV-1 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The results suggested IL-24 could inhibit the invasion of TEV-1 cells. Therefore, IL-24 produced by maternal-fetal interface in human first trimester pregnancy may influence the invasion of trophoblasts and is involved in normal pregnancy.

Objective:To investigate the application value of interferon-γ release assay ( IGRA ) in immunocompromised patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods:180 cases were chose including immunocompromised patients,pulmonary tuberculosis patients,immunocompromised patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and healthy volunteers to undergo IGRA in order to determine and compare the content of specific interferon-γ( IFN-γ) in plasma. At the same time, the result of immunocompromised patients with pulmonary tuberculosis was compared with tuberculin skin test (TST). Results:180 cases of the list were tested,included 40 immuno-compromised patients ( group A ) , 50 pulmonary tuberculosis patients ( group B ) , 40 immunocompromised patients with pulmonary tuberculosis patients(group C),and 50 cases in healthy control group(group D). The median of specific IFN-γ contents in the four groups were respectively 0. 112,7. 835,5. 726,0. 697 U/ml. The comparison of differences among the four groups was statistically significant (χ2=74. 046,P<0. 001). Pairwise comparisons among the four groups,and the differences between group B and group C were no significant,but specific IFN-γ content of the two groups was significantly higher than the other two groups,while the group D was higher than group A,the differences were statistically significant. The positive rate of IGRA was significantly higher than that of TST in group C(χ2=11. 314,P=0. 001). Conclusion: IGRA diagnosis in the application of immunocompromised patients with pulmonary tuberculosis was less affected by immune status and was more sensitive than TST,which can be used as auxiliary diagnosis.

Anoikis,a specific form of programmed cell death,is triggered by cell detachment from extracellular matrix or adjacent cell.Studies have found that the most kinds of tumor cells had anoikis resistance characteristic,which may inhibit pro-apoptosis protein,block anoikis inside and outside pathways,up-regulate pro-survival factor signals,and promote survival,invasion and metastasis of tumor cells in the end.The review summarized the mechanism of anoikis and the relationship between anoikis and tumor invasion and the metastasis.

Objective To study the frequency and relationship with gestational age of fetal nucleated red blood cell (NRBC) in maternal peripheral blood. Methods Samples of peripheral blood in 44 women of 6~40 gestational weeks were collected to enrich the fetal nucleated red blood cells by discontinuous density gradient centrifugation. The isolated cells were made smears and counted under the microscope. NRBCs were found and retrieved using a micromanipulator under a microscope for PCR amplification of Y chromosome specific DNA to determine fetal sex. Results NRBCs were found in 17 out of 44 maternal samples, distributing from 9 to 26 gestational weeks The highest frequency of NRBC was found in 11~20 gestational age which reached to 76.5%(13/17). The amount of detected NRBCs ranged from 5/7ml to 30/7ml. Y chromosome 149bp was found in 7 cases and not in the other 10, which agreed to the actual fetal sexes. Conclusion The appropriate time to make a prenatal diagnosis using fetal nucleated red blood cells is in 11~20 gestational age.