Abstract: Objective To understand the morphological characteristics and ultrastructure of the dominant species of Rhipicephalus sanguineus in Hainan at different developmental stages, and provide theoretical basis for the identification of the lineage and control of Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Methods The external morphology of different developmental stages of the dominant species of Rhipicephalus sanguineus, including larva, nymph and adult tick in Hainan were observed by scanning electron microscope. Results The division between each segment of larva pedipalps was not obvious, and setae was serrated; dental formula type 2 | 2; 3 pairs of podomere; a pair of setae on the anal valve; none of anal groove, spiracular plate, porous area and genital aperture. There was a clear boundary at the beginning of each segment of nymph pedipalps; dental formula type 2 | 2; 4 pairs of podomere; 3 pairs of setae on the anal valve; anal groove; none of porous area and genital aperture. The male adult tick's trichotheca are covered by the pedipalps, and the whole bristles are conical; dental formula type 3 | 3; 4 pairs of podomere; anal groove and paraprocts; 7 setae on the anal valve; genital aperture was oval. The female of adult tick can be distinguished by dental formula 3 | 3; pairs of podomere; porous areas with 3 short setae; anal groove; 4 pairs of setae and 2 pores on the anal valve; genital pore was broadly U-shaped. In addition, the male adult's scutum occupies almost the entire dorsal surface, the basis capituli of larva, nymph and adult tick all were hexagonal, and the existence of Haller's organ was found on the first pair of legs. Conclusions Scanning electron microscopy observation of the different developmental stages of R.sanguineus revealed clear morphological features, preliminarily suggesting that R.sanguineus in Hainan Province may belong to the tropical lineage, which provide a certain experimental basis for the identification of the tick and the comprehensive prevention and control of local tick-borne diseases.

Objective　To investigate the biological characteristics of the serine protease inhibitor 15 (RmS-15) protein of Rhipicephalus microplus, and to perform molecular cloning and prokaryotic expression. Methods RmS-15 gene was amplified and sequenced to construct a phylogenetic tree to understand its evolutionary relationships. Bioinformatic tools were used to analyze the physicochemical properties, signal peptide, secondary and tertiary structure of the RmS-15 protein. In addition, DNA star and ABCpred were used to predict potential B-lymphocyte antigenic epitopes of RmS-15 protein, and potential T-lymphocyte antigenic epitopes were predicted by SYF-PEITHI and IEDB. Finally, the RmS-15 recombinant protein of Rhipicephalus microplus was obtained using the E.coli prokaryotic expression system and purified. Results The RmS-15 gene with 1 212 bp was successfully amplified, encoding a protein comprising 403 amino acids. Phylogenetic tree results indicated high conservation of the RmS-15 protein among different tick amino acid sequences, with the closest phylogenetic relationships to the Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides and the Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The results of physicochemical property analysis showed a 20-amino acid signal peptide at the N-terminus of the RmS-15 protein, with a relative molecular weight and theoretical isoelectric point of 44 000 and 6.68, respectively. The protein showed an average hydrophilicity of 0.001, classifying it as a stably hydrophilic protein. The results of antigenicity analysis showed that the dominant fragments of B-cell antigenic epitopes of RmS-15 protein were 102-112 aa,147-152 aa and 207-215 aa, and the dominant fragments of T-cell antigenic epitopes were 3-11 aa, 6-14 aa, 27-33 aa, 34-37 aa. Protein expression results showed that RmS-15 protein exhibited high expression levels in the supernatant after induction with 0.8 mmol/L IPTG at 16 ℃ for 24 hours and reached a successful purification with a single band of the protein molecular weight of 44 000. Conclusions The method of prokaryotic expression and purification of RmS-15 protein from Rhipicephalus microplus was successfully established. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated its strong antigenicity, suggesting its potential to develop as a candidate vaccine for ticks.

Objective:To explore the method of fertility preservation in severe β-thalassemia prepubertal boys who cannot produce sperm before gonadotoxicity therapy.Methods:Three cases of severe β-thalassemia patients who were going to undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) were reported. They were received testis cryopreservation by slow-rate freezing. The necessity of fertility preservation in prepubertal boys and the methods of fertility persevation, testicular cryopreservation and the downstream techniques were stated.Results:Totally 31, 31, 20 pieces of testicular tissue were frozen by slow-rate freezing in three boys respectively and the freezing process went smoothly.Conclusion:The cryopreservation of testicular tissue can preserve the fertility of severe β-thalassemia prepuberty boys who will receive HSCT, leaving hope for offspring.

Objective:To explore the method of fertility preservation in severe β-thalassemia prepubertal boys who cannot produce sperm before gonadotoxicity therapy.Methods:Three cases of severe β-thalassemia patients who were going to undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) were reported. They were received testis cryopreservation by slow-rate freezing. The necessity of fertility preservation in prepubertal boys and the methods of fertility persevation, testicular cryopreservation and the downstream techniques were stated.Results:Totally 31, 31, 20 pieces of testicular tissue were frozen by slow-rate freezing in three boys respectively and the freezing process went smoothly.Conclusion:The cryopreservation of testicular tissue can preserve the fertility of severe β-thalassemia prepuberty boys who will receive HSCT, leaving hope for offspring.

Objective:To explore the feasibility of autologous transplantation of frozen-thawed ovarian tissue to induce pubertal development in adolescent females.Methods:Before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patient with severe β-thalassemia, 11 pieces of ovarian tissue were frozen in the Center of Reproductive Medicine, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in 2019. The patient was diagnosed as premature ovarian failure after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. There were no signs of puberty development and menarche. Orthotopic ovarian tissue transplantation was performed for the patient through laparoscopy, and a total of 5 pieces of ovarian tissue were transplanted on January 20, 2022. Postoperatively, we followed up the sex hormone levels, growth and development of the patients and menarche.Results:The patient developed menarche 5 months after ovarian transplantation. The levels of sex hormones showed that follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone were significantly decreased, and estradiol levels were significantly increased, indicating that ovarian tissue transplantation was successful, and follicles had begun to recruit and develop. The patient's ultrasonography revealed a markedly enlarged uterus and a thickened endometrium. Antral follicles were detected in the left implantation site of pelvic cavity.Conclusion:Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is recommended for fertility preservation in prepubertal children. Autologous frozen-thawed ovarian tissue transplantation can induce natural puberty development and restore the reproductive endocrine function in children with ovarian failure, delayed puberty development or even stagnation.

Objective:To explore the feasibility of autologous transplantation of frozen-thawed ovarian tissue to induce pubertal development in adolescent females.Methods:Before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patient with severe β-thalassemia, 11 pieces of ovarian tissue were frozen in the Center of Reproductive Medicine, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in 2019. The patient was diagnosed as premature ovarian failure after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. There were no signs of puberty development and menarche. Orthotopic ovarian tissue transplantation was performed for the patient through laparoscopy, and a total of 5 pieces of ovarian tissue were transplanted on January 20, 2022. Postoperatively, we followed up the sex hormone levels, growth and development of the patients and menarche.Results:The patient developed menarche 5 months after ovarian transplantation. The levels of sex hormones showed that follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone were significantly decreased, and estradiol levels were significantly increased, indicating that ovarian tissue transplantation was successful, and follicles had begun to recruit and develop. The patient's ultrasonography revealed a markedly enlarged uterus and a thickened endometrium. Antral follicles were detected in the left implantation site of pelvic cavity.Conclusion:Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is recommended for fertility preservation in prepubertal children. Autologous frozen-thawed ovarian tissue transplantation can induce natural puberty development and restore the reproductive endocrine function in children with ovarian failure, delayed puberty development or even stagnation.

This study was aimed to design the first dual-target small-molecule inhibitor co-targeting poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1) and bromodomain containing protein 4 (BRD4), which had important cross relation in the global network of breast cancer, reflecting the synthetic lethal effect. A series of new BRD4 and PARP1 dual-target inhibitors were discovered and synthesized by fragment-based combinatorial screening and activity assays that together led to the chemical optimization. Among these compounds, 19d was selected and exhibited micromole enzymatic potencies against BRD4 and PARP1, respectively. Compound 19d was further shown to efficiently modulate the expression of BRD4 and PARP1. Subsequently, compound 19d was found to induce breast cancer cell apoptosis and stimulate cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. Following pharmacokinetic studies, compound 19d showed its antitumor activity in breast cancer susceptibility gene 1/2 (BRCA1/2) wild-type MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 xenograft models without apparent toxicity and loss of body weight. These results together demonstrated that a highly potent dual-targeted inhibitor was successfully synthesized and indicated that co-targeting of BRD4 and PARP1 based on the concept of synthetic lethality would be a promising therapeutic strategy for breast cancer.

Objective To explore the effect of CD40 small interfering RNA(siRNA)on the expressions of pe-ripheral blood interleukin(IL)-21 and IL -35 in rats with experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM)and its sig-nificance.Methods Twenty 6 -8 week male Lewis rats were divided into normal group,EAMgroup,CD40 siRNA group and siRNA group by using random number table,with 5 rats in each group.The normal rats were induced with phos-phate buffer saline in double foot pads on day 0 and day 7,while the rest 3 groups were induced with cardiac myosin protein to establish EAMmodels.The rats in CD40 siRNA group and siRNA group were respectively injected with CD40 siRNA and siRNA slow virus expression vector through the tail vein of rats on day 7.The rats were executed on 21 day after echocardiogram examination was made.The histopathologic changes were observed by using light microscope and the myocardial histopathology scores were calculated.Enzyme -linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the levels of IL -21 and IL -35 in peripheral blood.Results (1)Except the normal group,the total incidence rate of rats of each group was 100%,and there was no rat death.(2)Compared with EAM group,the heart mass/body ratio and myocardial histopathology scores were lower in CD40 siRNA group,and the differences were significant (3.13 ±0.21 vs 3.80 ±0.29,2.22 ±0.43 vs 3.32 ±0.51,F =0.332,0.456,all P <0.05).(3)The echocardiogram showed that there was only 1 rat in EAM group with massive pericardial effusion,and there was no pericardial effusion in CD40 siRNA group.EAMgroup,CD40 siRNA group and siRNA group displayed hypertrophy of the ventricular septum and left ventricular wall,narrow heart cavity and weakening of ventricular wall motion.The left ventricular shortening rate in CD40 siRNA group was significantly higher than that in the EAMgroup[(63.34 ±11.06)% vs (38.56 ±6.98)%,F =16.080,P <0.05].(4)The peripheral blood level of IL -21 in CD40 siRNA group was lower than that in EAM group [(141.19 ±17.46)ng/L vs (157.81 ±17.58)ng/L,F =57.008,P <0.05],while its level of IL -35 was signifi-cantly higher than that in the EAMgroup [(195.96 ±18.26)ng/L vs (174.78 ±13.91 )ng/L,F =31.727,P <0.05].(5)The level of IL -21 in peripheral blood was positively correlated with myocardial histopathology scores in EAM group (r = 0.69,P < 0.05 ),but IL -35 was negatively correlated with myocardial histopathology scores (r =-0.64,P <0.05).Conclusions CD40 siRNA might relieve the myocardial inflammation and reduce the myocar-dial injury of EAMrats.The levels of IL -21 and IL -35 can partly reflect the degree of myocardial injury.The mecha-nism may be related to down -regulating the expression IL -21 and up -regulating the expression of IL -35.

Objective To investigate the effect of different subtypes of fractionated doses on multidrug resistance in ovarian cancer cells.Methods The human ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3 and its drug-resistant subtype SKVCR were divided into four groups i.e., sham-irradiated, single dose (10 Gy),fractionated dose (2 Gy × 5 ) and multi-fractionated dose (1 Gy × 2 × 5).Cell sensitivity to vincristine(VCR),etoposide ( VP-16),pirarubicin (THP) and cisplatin (DDP) was measured by MTT assay.Western blot was applied to detect the expression of P-gp after irradiation.Results The doubling time of SKVCR was about 1.8-fold of that of SKOV3 cells.P-gp was expressed in SKVCR but not in SKOV3.IC50 values of SKVCR were higher than those of SKOV3.To SKOV3 cells,single dose irradiation decreased cell sensitivity to THP and DDP and fractionated irradiation decreased cell sensitivity to VCR,THP and VP-16.Multi-fractionated irradiation decreased cell sensitivity to VP-16.In SKVCR cells,all these irradiation treatments increased cell sensitivity to VCR and VP-16 but not to DDP.In addition,single and fractionated irradiation decreased P-gp expression in SKVCR cells.Conclusions Single,fractionated and multi-fractionated radiation induced chemotherapy resistance in SKOV3 cells,while reversed drug resistance to VCR and VP-16 in SKVCR cells.