OBJECTIVETo study the effects of GSM 1800 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) exposure on protein expression profile of human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), as to exploring the possible effects on normal cell physiological function.

METHODSMCF-7 cells were continuously or intermittently (5 minutes field on followed by 10 minutes off) exposed to RF EMF for different duration (1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours) at an average specific absorption rate (SAR) of 3.5 W/kg. The extracted proteins were separated by 2-dimensional electrophoresis and the protein-spot distribution of the silver-stained gels was analyzed by using PDQuest software 7.1. Each experiment was repeated three times.

RESULTSOn the average, around 1100 proteins were detected using pH 4 - 7 IPG strip. There were no differential proteins found under continuous exposure at SAR of 3.5 W/kg for 6 hours. Under other exposure conditions, we found various differentially expressed proteins in exposure groups as compared with the sham-exposed controls. Especially in 3 hours intermittent exposure and 12 hours continuous exposure, eighteen and seven differential proteins were detected, respectively. The categories and functions of these differentially expressed proteins were analyzed by searching of SWISS-PROT protein database, which suggested that these proteins should be related to the functions of biosynthesization, signal transduction, and DNA damage and repair.

CONCLUSIONSData indicated that the protein expression changes induced by RF radiation might depend on exposure duration and mode. Many biological processes might be affected by RF exposure.

Cell Line, Tumor ; radiation effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation ; Electromagnetic Fields ; adverse effects ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Proteome ; Radio Waves

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, on learning and memory ability of mice with pilocarpine (PILO)-induced seizure.

METHODSOne hundred and sixty male adult ICR mice were randomly grouped as vehicle control (n=20), rapamycin control (n=20), PILO model (n=40), rapamycin pre-treatment (n=40) and rapamycin post-treatment (n=40). PILO model and rapamycin treatment groups were injected with PILO to induce temporal lobe seizure. Rapamycin was administrated for 3 days before or after seizure. Morris water maze, Y maze and open field were used for the assessment of learning and memory, and FJB and Timm staining were conducted to detect the neuronal cell death and mossy fiber sprouting, respectively.

RESULTSNo significant cell death was observed in the mice with PILO-induced seizure. The learning and memory were impaired in mice 7 to 10 days after PILO-induced seizure, which was evident by prolongation of avoiding latency (P<0.05), decrease in number of correct reaction (P<0.01) and number of crossing (P<0.05). Treatment with rapamycin both pre-and post- PILO injection reversed seizure-induced cognitive impairment. In addition, rapamycin inhibited the mossy fiber sprouting after seizure (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONRapamycin improves learning and memory ability in ICR mice after PILO-induced seizure, and its mechanism needs to be further studied.

Animals ; Cell Death ; drug effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Epilepsy ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Learning ; drug effects ; Memory ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Neurons ; drug effects ; pathology ; Pilocarpine ; toxicity ; Sirolimus ; pharmacology

AIM:To investigate the expression and potential role of complement 5a receptor (C5aR) in chro-nic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD).METHODS:The expression of C5aR on lymphocytes and the frequency of CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in 20 cGVHD patients and 9 healthy donors was detected by flow cytometry.The correlation between the expression of C5aR and the percentage of Tregs in the cGVHD patients was analyzed.In addition, the splenocytes from the mice were cultured in vitro, and stimulated these splenocytes with recombinant mouse C5a protein (rmC5a).The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from cGVHD patients were cultured in vitro, which was inhibited by C5aR antagonist (C5aRA).The frequency of Tregs in these splenocytes and the PBMCs were evaluated by flow cytometry.RESULTS:The expression of C5aR on the lymphocytes was significantly increased in the cGVHD patients compared with the healthy donors, while the percentage of Tregs was markedly lower in the cGVHD patients.The expression of C5aR was negatively correlated with the percentage of Tregs.Furthermore, the development of Tregs was suppressed by rmC5a stimulation, but was promoted by C5aRA in vitro.CONCLUSION:C5aR elevation is associated with Treg reduction in cGVHD, indicating that C5aR may play a potential role in suppressing Tregs, resulting in the incidence of cGVHD.

Objective To observe the effect of 3D-Slicer combined with sina software assisted minimally invasive neuroendoscopic surgery for hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage,and investigate the application value of 3D-Slicer combined with sina software in the preoperative localization of minimally invasive neuroendoscopic surgery.Methods From July 2015 to October 2017,38 consecutive patients with supratentorial hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage admitted to Shunde Hospital,Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine were enrolled retrospectively.According to the different treatment methods,they were divided into an endoscopic group and a puncture group (n =19 in each group).The endoscopic group was treated with 3D-Slicer combined with sina software for neuroendoscopic hematoma removal,and the puncture group was treated with the hematoma minimally invasive soft-channel puncture and drainage under the CT localization.The effect of 3D-Slicer combined with sina software in the preoperative localization of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage by the minimally invasive surgery was evaluated by comparing the hematoma clearance of the first and third day of the two groups of patients after procedure,puncture to the preset position success,postoperative rebleeding,postoperative complications,and good prognosis at 3 months after procedure.Results The clearance rate of hematoma at the first day after operation in the endoscopic group was significantly higher than that in the puncture group ([90 ± 10]％ vs.[46 ± 16]％;t =2.348,P ＜ 0.05).The success of the puncture to the preset position was better than that in the puncture group (19/19 vs.14/19;x2 =5.758,P =0.016),and postoperative rebleeding rate was lower than that in the puncture group (0 vs.4/19;x2 =4.471,P =0.034).There were significant differences.There was no significant difference in postoperative infection complications between the two groups (all P ＞ 0.05).The prognosis of the endoscopic group was good in 17 patients within 3 months after procedure,and the prognosis was good in 11 patients in the puncture group.The good prognosis in the endoscopic group was better than that in the puncture group (x2 =4.866,P =0.027).Conclusion The effect of 3D-Slicer combined with sina software assisted minimally invasive neuroendoscopic surgery for hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage was better than the hematoma minimally invasive soft-channel puncture and drainage under the CT localization,and the 3D-slicer combined with sina software can provide rapid and accurate preoperative localization for minimally invasive neuroendoscopic surgery of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVETo study the relationships among magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), histological findings, and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head in rabbits.

METHODSThirty rabbits were randomly divided into experimental Group A (n=15) and control Group B (n=15). The 7.5 mg/kg (2 ml) of dexamethasone (DEX) and physiological saline (2 ml) were injected into the right gluteus medius muscle twice at one-week intervals in animals of Groups A and B, respectively. At 4, 8 and 16 weeks after obtaining an MRI, the rabbits were sacrificed and the femoral head from one side was removed for histological study of lacunae empty of osteocytes, subchondral vessels, and size of fat cells under microscopy, and the femoral head from the other side was removed for enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) for IGF-I.

RESULTSAt 4, 8 and 16 weeks after treatment, no necrotic lesions were detected in Group B, while they were detected in Group A. Light microscopy revealed that the fat cells of the marrow cavity were enlarged, subchondral vessels were evidently decreased, and empty bone lacunae were clearly increased. The IGF-I levels in Group A were significantly higher than those in Group B. At 8 weeks after the DEX injection, the MRI of all 20 femora showed an inhomogeneous, low signal intensity area in the femoral head, and at 16 weeks, the findings of all 10 femora showed a specific "line-like sign". The MRI findings of all femora in Group B were normal.

CONCLUSIONMRI is a highly sensitive means of diagnosing early experimental osteonecrosis of the femoral head. However, the abnormal marrow tissues appeared later than 4 weeks when the expression of IGF-I increased. This reparative factor has an early and important role in response to steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head, and provides a theoretical foundation for understanding the pathology and designing new therapies.

Animals ; Dexamethasone ; Disease Models, Animal ; Femur Head Necrosis ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; metabolism ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Rabbits ; Steroids

OBJECTIVETo compare the effect of continuous and discontinuous density gradient centrifugation for purification of human pancreatic islets with COBE 2991 cell processor.

METHODSHuman pancreases were obtained from brain-dead donors and stored in cold UW solution. The connective tissues were removed from the pancreases, and the pancreatic ducts were perfused with a cold enzyme (Liberase). The islets were then separated by gentle mechanical dissociation and purified with discontinuous (10 pancreases) or continuous (8 pancreases) gradients of HCA-Ficoll in COBE 2991 cell processor. Samples were collected in duplicate for determination of the quantity of islets, islet equivalents (IEQ), and the purity.

RESULTSThe weights of the pancreases before and after connective tissue removal and pancreas duct perfusion, and the quantity of islets obtained (including islets quantity of different diameters and total IEQ) after dissociation were not significantly different. Continuous gradient of HCA-Ficoll, compared with discontinuous gradient, resulted in significantly greater final islet quantity (55,000 IEQ vs 206,000 IEQ, P=0.000) and islet purity (58.0%-/+8.0% vs 33.5%-/+10.3%, P=0.000) and also greater number of islets with a diameter lager than 200 microm (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONContinuous density gradient centrifugation can be more effective than discontinuous gradient in islet purification.

Cell Count ; Cell Separation ; methods ; Centrifugation, Density Gradient ; methods ; Humans ; Islets of Langerhans ; cytology ; Organ Size

OBJECTIVETo establish an semi-automated effective method for large-scale purification of islet cells from human pancreas.

METHODSHuman pancreas tissue was digested with collagenase P using a semi-automated pancreas-digestion system followed by purification in a HCA-Ficoll continuous gradient using Cobe2991 cell separator. After isolation, the islet cell yield and purity was evaluated with light microscope with DTZ staining, and the islet function assessed by insulin release assay in vitro.

RESULTSThe number of the islets collected from each pancreas averaged 38 6201-/+78 219 islet equivalents (IEQ) before purification, and 231 420-/+28 054 IEQ after the purification with discontinuous gradient centrifugation. From each gram of the pancreatic tissue, 3148-/+317 IEQ were obtained with an average purity of (62.81-/+2.68) %. The purified islets responded well to high-concentration (16.7 mmol/L) glucose stimulation with a 2.53-fold increase of insulin secretion over the basal level (3.3 mmol/l, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONThe established semi-automated method can be applicable for large-scale purification of fully functional islet cells from human pancreas.

Cell Count ; Cell Separation ; instrumentation ; methods ; Cell Survival ; Glucose ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Insulin ; secretion ; Islets of Langerhans ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Reproducibility of Results

Objective: To investigate the effects of artesunate treatment on chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Methods: Recipient BALB/c mice received 8 × 10⁶ bone marrow cells with 8×10⁶ spleen cells from B10D2 mice. Artesunate solubilized in acetone was injected intraperitoneally every day at the dose of 1 mg/kg at Day 28 after BMT. The clinical scores, survival and histopathological damage were analyzed. The frequency of Th17 and Tregs in PB and spleens from the mice were evaluated by flow cytometry. In addition, CD4⁺ T cells from the spleens of mice were cultured in vitro, then stimulated with artesunate, the frequency of Th17 and Tregs in these splenocytes were evaluated by flow cytometry. Results: Artesunate administration diminished clinical and histopathological damage, and improved the survival of cGVHD mice[(46.57±7.83)% vs (55.71±6.99)%, χ²=5.457, P=0.020]; Artesunate contributed to Tregs development [(4.45±0.04)% vs (8.40±0.23)%, t=15.679, P<0.001; (6.62±0.24)% vs (10.48±0.48)%, t=6.587, P=0.003] while decreased Th17 cells [(1.51±0.18)% vs (0.58±0.19)%, t=7.233, P<0.001; (1.48±0.38)% vs (0.71±0.18)%, t=3.653, P=0.011] expressions in both PB and spleens, and decreased the Th17/Treg ratio (0.34±0.05 vs 0.09±0.03, t=7.621, P=0.002; 0.19±0.03 vs 0.06±0.02, t=6.993, P=0.002). Moreover, artesunate suppressed the Th17 cells expressions [(0.82±0.37) % vs (3.39±1.22) %, t=4.044, P=0.007] and contributed to Tregs development [(34.63±1.29) % vs (14.28±1.69) %, t=19.119, P<0.001], and also decreased the Th17/Treg ratio (0.24±0.09 vs 0.02±0.01, t=4.780, P=0.003) in vitro. Conclusions Artesunate suppressed the Th17 cells expressions and contributed to Tregs development, which provided new sights into the development of a novel drug for cGVHD, e.g., artemisinin.

Exotoxins produced by Actinobacillus (A.) pleuropneumoniae (Apx) play major roles in the pathogenesis of pleuropneumonia in swine. This study investigated the role of ApxI in hemolysis and cellular damage using a novel apxIA mutant, ApxIA336, which was developed from the parental strain A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 10 that produces only ApxI in vitro. The genotype of ApxIA336 was confirmed by PCR, Southern blotting, and gene sequencing. Exotoxin preparation derived from ApxIA336 was analyzed for its bioactivity towards porcine erythrocytes and alveolar macrophages. Analysis results indicated that ApxIA336 contained a kanamycin-resistant cassette inserted immediately after 1005 bp of the apxIA gene. Phenotype analysis of ApxIA336 revealed no difference in the growth rate as compared to the parental strain. Meanwhile, ApxI production was abolished in the bacterial culture supernatant, i.e. exotoxin preparation. The inability of ApxIA336 to produce ApxI corresponded to the loss of hemolytic and cytotoxic bioactivity in exotoxin preparation, as demonstrated by hemolysis, lactate dehydrogenase release, mitochondrial activity, and apoptosis assays. Additionally, the virulence of ApxIA336 appeared to be attenuated by 15-fold in BALB/c mice. Collectively, ApxI, but not other components in the exotoxin preparation of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 10, was responsible for the hemolytic and cytotoxic effects on porcine erythrocytes and alveolar macrophages.
Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae/genetics/*pathogenicity/*physiology ; Animals ; *Apoptosis ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; Blotting, Southern ; Exotoxins/*genetics ; Hemolysin Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; *Hemolysis ; Macrophages, Alveolar/metabolism/*microbiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Swine ; Virulence

To rapidly and accurately identify novel SARS-CoV-2 variants,we used combined 2nd and 3rd generation sequen-cing technology to sequence and analyze the viral genomes of two specimens from SARS-CoV-2 infection cases imported into Fujian Province.Nanopore and Illumina techniques were used to perform whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2.A pangolin system was used to determine the virus type.Evolutionary analysis software was used to construct the phylogenetic tree.Next-clade was used to analyze the whole genome variation,and estimate ACE2 receptor affinity and immune escape ability.Two complete genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were obtained from respiratory specimens from the two cases,with lengths of 29 665 bp and 29 682 bp.The average genome coverage were＞99.0％,and the virus typing results all indicated Omicron BQ.1 lineage.Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the two viruses were located in the same cluster of the Omicron BQ.1 line-age.On the basis of these findings and epidemiological data,we speculated that the two cases might have originated from the same infection.Variation analysis indicated that the two viruses shared all 77 mutation sites;except for S:A27S and S:24-26del,all were characteristic mutation sites of the BQ.1 lineage.The predicted ACE2 receptor affinity and immune escape abili-ty scores of the two viruses were both＞0.6,thus suggesting significant changes in their biological characteristics and requiring continuous monitoring and warning.The combined 2nd and 3rd generation sequencing technology was successfully applied to i-dentify the first BQ.1 lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 imported into Fujian Province,considering the timeliness and accuracy of whole genome sequencing,thus providing a technical reference for SARS-CoV-2 variant monitoring.