BACKGROUND: Imatinib has a significant pro-apoptosis effect on chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), but there are still some patients being resistant to it. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) affect the apoptosis of a variety of hematologic malignancies. However, the impacts of hUC-MSCs on the apoptosis of CML cells induced by imatinib remain unclear.OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether hUC-MSCs have an influence on the apoptosis of K562 cells induced by imatinib and to reveal the possible underlying mechanism.METHODS: K562 cells were cultured with hUC-MSCs or/and imatinib. Cellular apoptosis was measured with Annexin-V and PI staining by flow cytometry analysis. The protein expressions of Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3, caspase-9 and cleaved-PARP in K562 cells were detected by western blot assay. Pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK was used to block apoptosis in each group, and during this process the effect of caspase apoptosis signaling pathway was detected.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The apoptosis of K562 cells was enhanced, when imatinib was combined with hUC-MSCs. Western blot analysis showed that the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax was enhenced and the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was suppressed. Furthermore, the cleaved forms of caspase-9, caspase-3 and PARP in K562 cell were higher in the hUC-MSCs+imatinib group than in the imatinib group. The apoptosis of K562 cells induced by the hUC-MSCs combined with imatinib was significantly inhibited by Z-VAD-FMK. In conclusion, these findings indicate that hUC-MSCs can enhance imatinib-induced apoptosis of K562 cells by activating caspase apoptosis signaling pathway.

Objective To observe the relationship between serum lipid concentration profiles and thyroid function after thyroid hormone withdrawal( THW) in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma( DTC) .Methods Sixty-five post-operative DTC patients who prepared to receive radioiodine ablation were included in this study.Serum thyroid hormones ( TSH, FT4 , FT3 ) and lipid profile [ total cholesterol ( TC ) , triglycerides ( TG ) , low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol(HDL-C)] levels were measured before and 3 weeks after THW.The relationship between serum lipid profile concentrations and thyroid hormone levels were measured.Results Before surgery, HDL-C level showed a significant positive correlation with TSH level(r=0.273, P=0.041), whereas other lipid profile did not show any significant correlation with thyroid hormones levels.Before THW, no correlation was observed between thyroid hormones and lipid profile.After 3 weeks′THW, the TC level was correlated with FT4 and FT3 levels(r were-0.321 and-0.415, respectively, both P<0.01).The LDL-C level was correlated with FT4 level(r=-0.347, P=0.005).The HDL-C level was significantly correlated with TSH, FT3, and FT4 levels (r were 0.342,-0.452, and-0.478, all P<0.01).The serum LDL-C level in patients with TSH above 50 mU/L(n=50) was higher than that in patients with TSH below 50 mU/L(n=15, P=0.001), while serum TC, TG and HDL-C levels were not significantly different between those two groups(P>0.05).Conclusion The serum lipid profile varies with the change of serum thyroid hormones after THW in postoperative DTC patients.

Aim:To investigate the effect of Hemangiopoietin (HAPO) on the hematopoiesis reconstitution in sub-lethally irradiated Balb/c mice.Methods: Balb/c mice were underwent total body irradiation at 700 cGy 137Cs ? radiation and were treated with HAPO or recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) after irradiation. The hematopoiesis reconstitution of mice were detected. Cells from bone marrow of Balb/c mice were cultured with HAPO or rhG-CSF for 24 hours or 72 hours before or after the cells were irradiated. The viability of cells were assessed and the ability of in vitro hematopoiesis reconstitution were also detected. Result: rhG-CSF and HAPO treated mice both showed increased survival rate and increased colony forming units. The peripheral WBC number increased greatly. The HAPO group was most quickest compared with rhG-CSF group and PBS control group. The number of bone marrow cells at day 14 of rhG-CSF group was higher than that in HAPO group, but the number of bone marrow cells at day 32 of rhG-CSF was lower than that in HAPO group. The number of bone marrow cells at day 42 of rhG-CSF was below normal. The number of bone marrow cells at day 42 of HAPO group was nearly normal. The number of CFU-GEMM in HAPO group was most compared with that in rhG-CSF group and PBS control group at day 7, 14 and 21 after radiation. The survival rate of cells after radiation in HAPO group was markedly higher than that in PBS control group, but the survival rate of cells after radiation in rhG-CSF group was no notable difference compared with that in PBS control group. In MTT assay, both HAPO and rhG-CSF incubation stimulated proliferation of bone marrow cell at 72 hours after radiation. Bone marrow cells formed Hematopoietic islands in HAPO group after radiation and were positive for sca-1 and CD31. CD31 positive endothelial cells increased around the Hematopoietic islands. There was no Hematopoietic islands formation, few CD31 positive endothelial cells and no sca-1 positive cells in PBS control group. Conclusion: HAPO can promote hematopoiesis reconstitution in sub-lethally irradiated Balb/c mice. It can increase the survival rate of mice and stimulate the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells.

Osteoporosis （OP） is a systemic metabolic bone disease characterized by bone microstructure degeneration and bone mass loss， which has a high prevalence and disability rate. Effective prevention and treatment of OP is a major difficulty in the medical community. The nature of OP is that multiple pathological factors lead to the imbalance of human bone homeostasis maintained by osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Ferroptosis is a non-apoptotic cell death pathway， and its fundamental cause is cell damage caused by iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. Studies have shown that ferroptosis is involved in and affects the occurrence and development of OP， which leads to OP by mediating the imbalance of bone homeostasis. Ferroptosis is an adjustable form of programmed cell death. The intervention of ferroptosis can regulate the damage degree and death process of osteoblasts and osteoclasts， which is beneficial to maintain bone homeostasis， slow down the development process of OP， improve the clinical symptoms of patients， reduce the risk of disability， and improve their quality of life. However， there are few studies on ferroptosis in OP. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） is a medical treasure with unique characteristics and great application value in China. It has been widely used in China and has a long history. It has the multi-target and multi-pathway advantages in the treatment of OP， with high safety， few toxic and side effects， and low treatment cost， and has a significant effect in clinical application. The intervention of TCM in ferroptosis to regulate bone homeostasis may be a new direction for the prevention and treatment of OP in the future. This article summarized the regulatory mechanisms related to ferroptosis， discussed the role of ferroptosis in bone homeostasis， and reviewed the current status and progress of active ingredients in TCM compounds and monomers in the regulation of OP through ferroptosis， so as to provide a theoretical basis for the participation of TCM in the prevention and treatment of OP in the future.

ObjectiveTo clarify the therapeutic effect of Huashi Baidu prescription on pneumonia in mice caused by influenza A （H1N1） virus and explore its mechanism based on the transcriptome. MethodA mouse influenza viral pneumonia model was built by intranasal infection with influenza A virus， and mice were continuously administered the drug for five days， so as to investigate the general condition， lung index， viral load， pathological morphology of lung tissue， survival time， and prolongation rate of survival time of mice and clarify the therapeutic effect of Huashi Baidu prescription on influenza viral pneumonia. Transcriptome technology was used to detect the differentially expressed genes in the lung tissue of mice in the model group and the normal group， as well as the Huashi Baidu prescription group and the model group， and the potential core target of the Huashi Baidu prescription for the treatment of influenza viral pneumonia was screened. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to verify the effect of Huashi Baidu prescription on the mRNA expression level of core target genes. ResultCompared with the normal group， the lung index and viral load in the lung tissue of the model group were significantly increased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the high-dose group of Huashi Baidu prescription significantly prolonged the survival time of mice infected with influenza A virus （P<0.05） and significantly reduced the lung index value of mice （P<0.05） and the viral load of lung tissue. The high-dose， medium-dose， and low-dose groups of Huashi Baidu prescription could significantly reduce lung tissue inflammation， blood stasis， swelling， and other pathological changes in mice （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Transcriptome analysis of lung tissue showed that core genes were mainly enriched in the nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB） signaling pathway， interleukin-17 （IL-17） signaling pathway， cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction， and other pathways after the intervention of Huashi Baidu prescription. TRAF6， NFKBIA， CCL2， CCL7， and CXCL2 were the top five node genes with combined score values. Real-time PCR validation showed that Huashi Baidu prescription significantly downregulated the mRNA expression of key genes TRAF6 and NFKBIA in the NF-κB signaling pathway， as well as chemokines CCL2， CCL7， and CXCL2 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionHuashi Baidu prescription has a therapeutic effect on influenza viral pneumonia， possibly by inhibiting the expression of key nodes TRAF6 and NFKBIA in the NF-κB signaling pathway and that of chemokines CCL2， CCL7， and CXCL2， reducing the recruitment of inflammatory cells and viral load， and exerting anti-influenza viral pneumonia effects.