With the development of genome-wide sequencing technology, 195 types of functional, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified so far, and their cellular roles are gradually being revealed. LncRNAs have now become a hotspot in the field of life sciences. These small molecules exist in almost all higher eukaryotes and play very important regulatory roles in these organisms. This review briefly summarizes the recent progress in research on plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 gene (PVT1), an lncRNA.

Objective To evaluate the expression of RAR-? gene in cervical carcinoma cell lines SiHa,HeLa,C33A and Caski and to analyze the relation between their gene expression and the promoter methylation of RAR-? DNA.Methods The expression of mRNA and protein of RAR-? gene in the four cell lines were analyzed by RT-PCR,western blot and immunofluoreseence,respectively.Methylation specific PCR(MSP)was used to check whether there was methylation in the promoter of RAR-? gene.The demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine(5-Aza-cdR)was used to treat methylated cell lines and the change of RAR-? gene methylation and RAR-? gene expression defects were observed.The cell proliferation was assayed with 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide method.Results The mRNA and protein expression levels of RAR-? in cell lines SiHa,HeLa,Caski and C33A were 0.25 ?0.08,0,0.60?0.19,3.12?0.92 and 0.23?0.07,0,0.14?0.05,0.68?0.21,respectively.The mRNA and protein expression of RAR-? in SiHa,HeLa and Caski cell lines were decreased or silenced, whereas its expression increased in C33A cell line.MSP method showed that there were RAR-? gene methylation in SiHa,HeLa and Caski cell lines,while there was no RAR-? gene methylation in C33A cell line.After treated with 5-Aza-cdR,the mRNA and protein expression levels of RAR-? in SiHa,HeLa, Caski and C33A cell lines were 1.82?0.59,2.13?0.62,1.67?0.43,2.95?0.89 and 0.69?0.21, 0.83?0.29,0.56?0.16,0.64?0.20 respectively.The mRNA and protein levels of RAR-? had a significant difference between before and after interference with 5-Aza-cdR in SiHa,Helm,and Caski cell lines(P0.05).The 5-Aza-cdR treatment could suppress cell proliferation.Conclusions The RAR-? gene expression defects play an important role in the carcinogenesis of cervical cancer.Aberrant methylation in promotor region of RAR-? gene may be an important mechanism for the loss of expression of RAR-? gene.

Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; diagnosis ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; diagnosis

Objective To explore the relationship between esophagus cancer patients and both environmental and genetic factors,through analyzing the data on birth orders from esophagus cancer patients of Shanxi province.Methods Both Greenwood and Haldane methods on birth order were used to study the 1101 cases with esophagus cancer from Shanxi province.All the patients had received surgery and were diagnosed,by pathological evidence.First certificates of the patients were confirmed through the standard genetic epidemiologic investigation.Birth order was investigated on probands of the 1101 cases with esophagus cancer and their 44 siblings.Results Results form the Greenwood method showed that there was a tendency for cases with esophagus cancer in birth orders First to Third.However,the Haldane method showed that the results were quite different between actual value and the average theory value of 6A (6A(actual value)=17 118,(X)6A(average theory value) =19 290,X=∣6A-(X)6A∣/√V6A =7.63,X ＞ 2) which suggested that the birth order had some effects on the occurrence of esophagus cancer.In addition,the actual value of 6A was lower than the theoretic average value,and the parents at younger productive age or baby at the first birth was easy to develop esophagus cancer.Conclusion Esophagus cancer was related with the birth order,especially at early order,which was not consistent with the national reports on esophagus cancer.Results from this study suggested that there were certain effects of environmental risk factors on esophagus cancer patients.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the possibility of using bioaugmentation as a strategy for remediating quinoline-contaminated soil.

METHODSMicroorganisms were introduced to the soil to assess the feasibility of enhancing the removal of quinoline from quinoline-contaminated soil. Slurry-phase reactor was used to investigate the bioremediation of quinoline-contaminated soil. HPLC (Hewlett-Packard model 5050 with an UV detector) was used for analysis of quinoline concentration.

RESULTSThe biodegradation rate of quinoline was increased through the introduction of Burkholderia pickettii. Quinoline, at a concentration of 1 mg/g soil, could be removed completely within 6 and 8 hours with and without combined effect of indigenous microbes, respectively. Although the indigenous microbes alone had no quinoline-degrading ability, they cooperated with the introduced quinoline-degrader to remove quinoline more quickly than the introduced microbes alone. Bioaugmentaion process was accelerated by the increase of inoculum size and bio-stimulation. The ratio of water to soil in slurry had no significant impact on bioremediation results.

CONCLUSIONBioaugmetation is an effective way for bioremediation of quinoline-contaminated soil.

Biodegradation, Environmental ; Bioreactors ; Burkholderia ; metabolism ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Quinolines ; Sewage ; Soil ; analysis ; Soil Microbiology ; Soil Pollutants

Objective To analyze the different risks of cardia neoplasms in the immediate relatives of the cardia cancer patients,through a case-control study.Methods A case-control study was adopted on 772 cases and 772 controls,and relative risk (RR) were measured to compare the results from patemal or matrilineal groups.Results (1)Risk of the 1st grade kinship to the male cardia-cancer-patient group was obviously higher than that of the control group with RR=2.61 (95％CI:1.44-4.73,P＜0.01).(2) The risks of both paternal (P＜0.05) and matrilineal (P＜0.05) in the male cardia-cancer-patients were obviously higher than that of the control groups while the risk of those male cardia-cancer-patients in the paternal was higher than that of the control group (P＜0.05),so as the case for female patients in the matrilineal group (P＜0.05).(3) Data from the 1st grade kinship of cardia-cancer-patient group showed that parents and siblings had a higher risk than the control group (P＜0.05).(4) No significant genetic differences were found between the patemal of either the cancer group or the control group (P＞ 0.05),but statistical difference was observed that the risk of someone being the matrilineal of the cancer group was higher than that of the control group (P＜0.05).Conclusion The risks of cardia-cancer were higher in the 1st grade kinship,which including parents,brothers,sisters,maternal grandmother,mother,and maternal aunt.It was suggested that prevention programs should be focused on both earlier detection and treatment of the patients.New strategy for cancer prevention also need to be further developed.

Objective To investigate the effect ofbuflomedil hydrochlorde on regional cerebral blood flow in different subtypes of schizophrenia.Methods Two hundred and eighty-six patient met the diagnostic criteria of CCMD-3 for schizophrenia,admitted to our hospital from February 2007 to February 2009,were chosen in our study; patients of type Ⅰ (n=86),type Ⅱ (n=63) and type Ⅲ (n=137)were randomly divided into treatment group of type Ⅰ (n=46),placebo treatment group of type Ⅰ (n=40),treatment group of type Ⅱ (n=34),placebo treatment group of type Ⅱ (n=29),treatment group of type Ⅲ(n=72) and placebo treatment group of type Ⅲ (n=65).Patients from the treatment groups were treated with antipsychotics with buflomedil hydrochloride and those from placebo treatment groups were given antipsychotics with saline for 4 weeks.On the 1st day and at the end of the 4th week of treatment,cerebral blood flows of bilateral anterior cerebral artery,middle cerebral artery,posterior cerebral artery,vertebral artery and basilar arterywere were measured by transcranial Doppler (TCD).Results No statistically significant difference of cerebral blood flow was noted between the two groups of type Ⅰ before/after treatment,neither between before and after treatment in one of the groups (P＞0.05).For type Ⅱ schizophrenia,no statistically significant difference of cerebral blood flow was noted between the two groups on the 1st day of treatment (P＞0.05); however,at the end of 4th week of treatment,cerebral blood flow in the bilateral anterior cerebral artery,middle cerebral artery,posterior cerebral artery blood of the treatment group were significant greater than that in the placebo treatment group (P＜0.05); the cerebral blood flow in the bilateral anterior cerebral artery,middle cerebral artery,posterior cerebral artery blood of the treatment group at the end of 4th week of treatment was significantly higher than that on the 1 st day of treatment (P＜0.05),while no significant difference was noted in the placebo treatment group (P＞0.05).For type Ⅲ schizophrenia,at the end of 4th week of treatment,the cerebral blood flow in the treatment group in the left anterior cerebral artery,the left middle cerebral artery and right middle cerebral artery were significant greater than that in the placebo treatment group (P＜0.05); and that of the bilateral anterior cerebral artery and middle cerebral artery in the treatment group at the end of 4th week of treatment was significantly greater than that on the 1st day of treatment (P＜0.05).Conclusions Different subtypes of schizophrenia enjoys different cerebral blood flows:most significant decline in cerebral blood flow and largest number of cerebral arteries of type Ⅱ schizophrenia are noted,followed by type Ⅲ schizophrenia;cerebral blood flow of schizophrenia maybe have an order to decline and the left middle cerebral artery maybe the first; the changes of cerebral blood flow between before and after treatment show that the decline of cerebral blood flow can be inverted with drugs.

The study was aimed to investigate the potential immunotherapeutical values of umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC) on patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). UC-MSC was cocultured in vitro with splenocytes isolated from ITP patients who experienced splenectomy. The level of IgG antiplatelet antibody (PAIgG) was determined by a competitive micro-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The proliferation of platelet-reactive CD4+ T lymphocytes was also measured in the presence of UC-MSCs. The results showed that UC-MSCs could stimulate the spontaneous secretion of PAIgG in supernatants; In the platelet-inducing condition, UC-MSC inhibited the production of PAIgG at a low ratio of 1 UC-MSC to 100 splenocytes, but promoted at a high proportion of 1 UC-MSC to 10 splenocytes. Moreover, UC-MSC exerted a suppressive effect on proliferation of platelet-reactive T helper cells in a dose-dependent manner. It is concluded that the UC-MSCs can regulate secretion of antiplatelet antibodies in vitro. Its concrete regulation mechanism and potential immunotherapeutical value are need to further study.
Antibodies ; metabolism ; Blood Platelets ; immunology ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; cytology ; Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; physiology ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; metabolism ; Spleen ; cytology ; Umbilical Cord ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the polymorphisms of CYP3A5 gene in Chinese population and the association between CYP3A5 genotypes and their clinical functions.

METHODSCYP3A5 gene varisances were detected in 180 samples using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography(DHPLC), and CsA concentrations in 12 of 180 samples from hemopoietic stem cell transplant recipients were monitored by a commercial fluorescence polarization immunoassay. The data were analyzed by a statistical software.

RESULTSIn the 180 samples, there was only one allelic variant CYP3A5*3 with a frequency of 76.1% (274/360), and there were three CYP3A5 genotypes, namely CYP3A5*1/*1, CYP3A5*1/*3 and CYP3A5*3/*3 with frequencies of 5.6%, 36.7% and 57.8% respectively. Also, there were significant differences in CsA concentrations, including standardized trough concentrations C(0) and two-hour peak concentrations C(2), between CYP3A5 CYP3A5*1/*1 and CYP3A5*1/*3 found in 12 hemopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, and both C(0) and C(2) in CYP3A5*1/*1 were lower than those in CYP3A5*1/*3.

CONCLUSIONCYP3A5*3 is the primary allelic variant in Chinese population. CYP3A5 genotypes are closely associated with blood CsA concentrations in hemopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, and CYP3A5*1/*1 requires a larger CsA dose to maintain the same blood concentration than does CYP3A5*1/*1. CYP3A5 genotyping by DHPLC may predict recipients' phenotype and CsA dose requirement.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cyclosporine ; blood ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A ; genetics ; Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods

Bmi-1 is a transcriptional repressor, which belongs to the polycomb group family. It has been demon- started that over-expression of Bmi-1 occurs in a variety of cancers, including several types of leukemia. Bmi-1 gene plays a key role in regulation of self-renewal in normal and leukemic stem cells. Acute myeloid leukemic cells lacking Bmi-1 undergo proliferation arrest and show signs of differentiation and apoptosis, which leads to the proposal of Bmi-1 as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in leukemia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting Bmi-1 on functions of K562 cell line. The shRNA eukaryotic expression vector targeting Bmi-1 was constructed and transfected into K562 cells through lipofectamine 2000. The mRNA and protein levels of Bmi-1 were detected by PCR and Western blot respectively. The proliferation of K562 after Bmi-1 silencing was measured by using MTT assay and clone formation assay. The cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. The results indicated that among the four shRNA designed, there was a shRNA which efficiently interfered with the expression of Bmi-1. The results of PCR and Western blot validated that the Bmi-1 gene of K562 cells transfected with such a Bmi-1 shRNA was suppressed successfully. Although levels of Bmi-1 mRNA and protein were significantly reduced, delivery of this siRNAs had no effect on cell viability or growth. Flow cytometry analysis suggested that Bmi-1 inhibition did not affect the cell cycle. It is concluded that the suppression of Bmi-1 expression is not able to reduce proliferation of K562 cells, suggesting existence of some other parallel signaling pathways, which are fundamental for leukemic transformation and are independent of Bmi-1 over-expression. Bmi-1 over-expression may play a secondary role in chronic myeloid leukemia transformation.
Cell Proliferation ; Cell Survival ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; genetics ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; genetics ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; Transfection