BACKGROUND:Forskolin,a diterpenoid natural compound extracted from Coleus forskohlii,has a crucial regulatory role in skeletal muscle repair.However,the regulatory role of forskolin on myogenic differentiation of C2C12 skeletal muscle cells has not been fully explored.OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of forskolin on the differentiation of C2C12 myoblast cell line and probe into the underlying molecular mechanisms.METHODS:C2C12 cells were treated with 0,0.1,0.25,0.5,1,5,10 and 20 μmol/L forskolin during growth,and cell proliferation was detected by cell counting kit-8 and qRT-PCR.C2C12 cells were treated with 0,0.25,0.5 and 1 μmol/L forskolin during the induction of myogenic differentiation.Immunofluorescence staining and qRT-PCR were used to detect C2C12 cells differentiation.Western blot was used to detect the expression level of myogenic differentiation-related signaling pathway proteins.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The viability of C2C12 cells was decreased and cell proliferation was inhibited after treatment with high concentrations(＞1 μmol/L)of forskolin.(2)The qRT-PCR results showed that forskolin up-regulated the expression of Myh2,Myh4,Myomaker,but down-regulated the expression of Myh7 compared with the 0 μmol/L group,when C2C12 cells were differentiated for 4 days.Immunofluorescence staining results showed that the fusion index and myotube diameter of C2C12 cells were increased after forskolin treatment,and the number of myotubes was also increased.(3)Western blot results showed that the phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 expression was inhibited;however,the phosphorylated protein kinase B was promoted after treatment with forskolin.The protein expression level of the myogenic differentiation transcription factor Myogenin was significantly up-regulated after treatment with forskolin.The above results demonstrate that forskolin may promote myogenic differentiation of C2C12 skeletal muscle cells through the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and protein kinase B signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND:Forskolin,a diterpenoid natural compound extracted from Coleus forskohlii,has a crucial regulatory role in skeletal muscle repair.However,the regulatory role of forskolin on myogenic differentiation of C2C12 skeletal muscle cells has not been fully explored.OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of forskolin on the differentiation of C2C12 myoblast cell line and probe into the underlying molecular mechanisms.METHODS:C2C12 cells were treated with 0,0.1,0.25,0.5,1,5,10 and 20 μmol/L forskolin during growth,and cell proliferation was detected by cell counting kit-8 and qRT-PCR.C2C12 cells were treated with 0,0.25,0.5 and 1 μmol/L forskolin during the induction of myogenic differentiation.Immunofluorescence staining and qRT-PCR were used to detect C2C12 cells differentiation.Western blot was used to detect the expression level of myogenic differentiation-related signaling pathway proteins.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The viability of C2C12 cells was decreased and cell proliferation was inhibited after treatment with high concentrations(＞1 μmol/L)of forskolin.(2)The qRT-PCR results showed that forskolin up-regulated the expression of Myh2,Myh4,Myomaker,but down-regulated the expression of Myh7 compared with the 0 μmol/L group,when C2C12 cells were differentiated for 4 days.Immunofluorescence staining results showed that the fusion index and myotube diameter of C2C12 cells were increased after forskolin treatment,and the number of myotubes was also increased.(3)Western blot results showed that the phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 expression was inhibited;however,the phosphorylated protein kinase B was promoted after treatment with forskolin.The protein expression level of the myogenic differentiation transcription factor Myogenin was significantly up-regulated after treatment with forskolin.The above results demonstrate that forskolin may promote myogenic differentiation of C2C12 skeletal muscle cells through the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and protein kinase B signaling pathway.

ObjectiveMicrotube associated protein-2 （MAP-2）， alpha-tubulin （α-tubulin）， and synaptophysin （SYP） are important proteins in neuronal signal communication. This paper observed the effects of modified Zhigancao Tang on the expression of serum α-Synuclein （α-Syn） and its oligomers， MAP-2， α-tubulin， and SYP of patients with liver and kidney deficiency of Parkinson's disease （PD）， analyzed their correlation， and evaluated the therapeutic effect of modified Zhigancao Tang in patients with liver and kidney deficiency of PD based on α-Syn transmission pathway mediated by neuronal communication in vivo. MethodsA total of 60 patients with PD who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into a treatment group （30 cases） and a control group （30 cases）. Both groups were treated on the basis of PD medicine， and the treatment group was treated with modified Zhigancao Tang. Both groups were treated for 12 weeks. The changes in UPDRS score， TCM syndrome score， and expression of serum α-Syn and its oligomers， MAP-2， α-tubulin， and SYP were observed before and after 12 weeks of treatment in each group. The correlation between the above-mentioned serum biological indexes and the levels of serum α-Syn and its oligomers was analyzed. ResultsAfter treatment， the TCM syndrome score， UPDRS score， UPDRS-Ⅱ score， and UPDRS-Ⅲ score of the treatment group were significantly decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The UPDRS score， UPDRS-Ⅱ score， and UPDRS-Ⅲ scores in the treatment group were significantly decreased compared with those in the control group after treatment （P<0.05）. After treatment， the total effective rate of the control group was 63.3% （19/30）， and that of the treatment group was 86.7% （26/30）. The clinical effect of the observation group was better than the control group （Z=-2.03， P<0.05）. The total effective rate of the observation group was better than that of the control group， and the difference was statistically significant （χ²=5.136， P<0.05）. After treatment， the oligomer level of serum α-Syn and MAP-2 level in the treatment group were significantly decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The levels of serum α-Syn and its oligomers， as well as α-tubulin in the treatment group， were significantly decreased compared with those in the control group after treatment （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Serum α-Syn was correlated with serum MAP-2 and α-Syn oligomer in patients with PD （P<0.05， P<0.01） but not correlated with serum SYP . Serum α-Syn oligomers of patients with PD were correlated with serum MAP-2 and α-tubulin （P<0.05， P<0.01） but not correlated with serum SYP level. Serum SYP of patients with PD was correlated with serum MAP-2 （P<0.05）. ConclusionModified Zhigancao Tang has a therapeutic effect on patients with liver and kidney deficiency of PD by inhibiting the production of α-Syn oligomers and intervening α-Syn microtubule transport pathway in vivo.

BACKGROUND:The osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells is regulated by a variety of molecules.Long non-coding RNA(lncRNA)has attracted much attention because they can participate in regulating a variety of biological processes,but the regulatory role of lncRNA on osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells has not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of lncRNA Gm16104 on osteogenic differentiation of C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells. METHODS:The C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells were induced into osteogenic differentiation by bone morphogenetic protein-2.Alkaline phosphatase staining was performed to identify the osteogenic differentiation of the cells 5 days after osteogenic induction.Expression levels of alkaline phosphatase and lncRNA Gm16104 were detected by qRT-PCR after 0,1,3,and 5 days of osteogenic differentiation.After transfection of the overexpression plasmid of pcDNA-Gm16104,the osteogenic differentiation was identified by alkaline phosphatase staining and qRT-PCR 4 days after osteogenic induction.The expression levels of osteogenesis-related signalling pathway proteins were detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)After 5 days of osteogenic induction,alkaline phosphatase activity was significantly increased.(2)Compared with 0 days,expression levels of the osteogenic marker gene alkaline phosphatase increased and expression levels of Gm16104 decreased after 1,3,and 5 days of osteogenic induction.(3)Transfection of C3H10T1/2 cells with pcDNA-Gm16104 plasmid significantly increased the expression level of Gm16104.(4)Overexpression of Gm16104 inhibited alkaline phosphatase activity,the expression levels of the osteogenic marker gene alkaline phosphatase and the osteogenesis-related transcription factor Osterix.(5)Overexpression of Gm16104 inhibited phosphorylated protein expression of PI3K and Akt.(6)The above results suggest that overexpression of Gm16104 may inhibit osteogenic differentiation of C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND:Recent studies have found that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can regulate stem cel proliferation and differentiation. But it is unclear that how lncRNA NR_033474 regulate stem cel proliferation and cel cycle. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of lncRNA NR_033474 on the proliferation and cel cycle regulation in C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cel s after the NR_033474 overexpressed by lentivirus, and to study the possible regulation mechanism of NR_033474 on mesenchymal stem cel s. METHODS:LncRNA NR_033474 was cloned into a lentivirus vector. Lentivirus particles were infected into C3H10T1/2 cel s to upregulate the expression of NR_033474. The NR_033474 expression level was detected by real-time PCR. Compared with the empty lentivirus vector, the proliferation of C3H10T1/2 cel s which overexpressed NR_033474 was detected by cel counting assay and cel cycle was detected using flow cytometry. The expression of cel cycle-associated proteins such as CDK1, Cyclin B1, Cyclin D1 and P53 were detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the control group, lncRNA NR_033474 in C3H10T1/2 cel s which overexpressed NR_033474 was increased by about 100 times (P<0.01), and the proliferation of C3H10T1/2 cel s was significantly inhibited after NR_033474 overexpression by lentivirus (P<0.05). In addition, flow cytometry showed that C3H10T1/2 cel s overexpressing NR_033474 were arrested in G2/M phase compared to the control group. Western blot showed that the expression levels of CDK1 and Cyclin B1 were downregulated, while there were no changes in Cyclin D1 and P53 expression. To conclude, these findings suggest that the NR_033474 overexpression significantly inhibits the cel growth of C3H10T1/2 cel s, at least in part, through induction of cel cycle arrest at G2/M phase.

BACKGROUND:Recent studies have found that stem cellpluripotency and differentiation is regulated by many long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs). The expression and effect of LncRNA AK089560 during differentiation of stem cells is unclear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression of LncRNA AK089560 in mesenchymal stem cells C3H10T1/2 undergoing osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. METHODS:Osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells C3H10T1/2 was induced by recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 and evaluated using alkaline phosphatase staining. The adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells C3H10T1/2 was induced by three factors (dexamethasone, indomethacin and insulin) and evaluated by oil red O staining. The dynamical expression of LncRNA AK089560 was detected by qRT-PCR assay. The AK089560 secondary structure was predicted using RNAfold software. The relationship between AK089560 and neighboring protein-coding genes was analyzed using UCSC genome browser and visualized by fancyGENE online software. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Over 70%of C3H10T1/2 cells were positive for alkaline phosphatase after osteogenic induction and more than 80%of the cells positive for oil red O staining after adipogenic induction. qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of LncRNA AK089560 at days 2, 4, 6 of both osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation was significantly decreased compared with the control group (P<0.05). Bioinformatics analysis showed that there was a stem-loop structure for AK089560 and sense overlap relationship between AK089560 and protein-encoding gene Sema3a. These findings indicate that LncRNA AK089560 expression is reduced during osteogenic differentiation and adipogenic differentiation, showing that AK089560 may be involved in regulating the multi-directional differentiation of stem cells.

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to identify six miRNAs expressed in plasma of patients with pancreatic cancer (PCa) and analyze their value as a diagnostic index of pancreatic cancer.

METHODSPlasma total RNAs were extracted from 30 PCa patients and 26 normal controls, and the abundance of six microRNAs was measured using real-time PCR. The possibility to combine them with CA19-9 as diagnostic biomarkers was analyzed.

RESULTSThe expression level of miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, miR-20a, miR-25 and miR-196a in plasma of patients with pancreatic cancer were 1.65×10(6), 5.98×10(4), 2.83×10(3), 3.47×10(6), 2.76×10(6), and 1.03×10(3) (copies/µl), while the normal controls were 4.08×10(5), 2.54×10(4), 8.55×10(2), 1.79×10(6), 9.32×10(5), and 4.67×10(2) (copies/µl), respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The areas under the ROC curve of miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, miR-20a, miR-25 and miR-196a were 0.893, 0.810, 0.820, 0.766, 0.816 and 0.729, respectively. MiR-21 had the highest diagnostic value when it was used as diagnostic marker alone. The combination of miR-155 and miR-25 was more effective to distinguish PCa from normal than to be used alone, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.913 (95%CI 0.838-0.988) .When CA199 associated with miR -210 and miR-25, respectively, the areas under the ROC curves were 0.96 (95%CI was 0-1.0) and 0.942 (95% CI was 0.876-1.0), which were higher than CA199 alone (0.862, 95%CI was 0.748-0.975). There was a high improvement in diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy when miR-210 and miR-25 were combined with CA19-9, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSPlasma miR-21, miR-155, miR-25, miR-210 have diagnostic value for pancreatic cancer, and deserve further study.

Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; genetics ; CA-19-9 Antigen ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; blood ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; genetics ; ROC Curve ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Objective The aim of this study was to identify six miRNAs expressed in plasma of patients with pancreatic cancer ( PCa ) and analyze their value as a diagnostic index of pancreatic cancer . Methods Plasma total RNAs were extracted from 30 PCa patients and 26 normal controls, and the abundance of six microRNAs was measured using real-time PCR.The possibility to combine them with CA19-9 as diagnostic biomarkers was analyzed .Results The expression level of miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, miR-20a, miR-25 and miR-196a in plasma of patients with pancreatic cancer were 1.65 ×106 , 5.98 × 104, 2.83 ×103, 3.47 ×106, 2.76 ×106, and 1.03 ×103 (copies/μl), while the normal controls were 4.08 ×105, 2.54 ×104, 8.55 ×102, 1.79 ×106, 9.32 ×105, and 4.67 ×102(copies/μl), respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).The areas under the ROC curve of miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, miR-20a, miR-25 and miR-196a were 0.893, 0.810, 0.820, 0.766, 0.816 and 0.729, respectively.MiR-21 had the highest diagnostic value when it was used as diagnostic marker alone . The combination of miR-155 and miR-25 was more effective to distinguish PCa from normal than to be used alone, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.913(95%CI 0.838-0.988).When CA199 associated with miR-210 and miR-25, respectively, the areas under the ROC curves were 0.96 (95%CI was 0-1.0) and 0.942(95% CI was 0.876-1.0), which were higher than CA199 alone (0.862,95%CI was 0.748-0.975).There was a high improvement in diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy when miR-210 and miR-25 were combind with CA19-9, respectively.Conclusions Plasma miR-21, miR-155, miR-25, miR-210 have diagnostic value for pancreatic cancer , and deserve further study .

Objective The aim of this study was to identify six miRNAs expressed in plasma of patients with pancreatic cancer ( PCa ) and analyze their value as a diagnostic index of pancreatic cancer . Methods Plasma total RNAs were extracted from 30 PCa patients and 26 normal controls, and the abundance of six microRNAs was measured using real-time PCR.The possibility to combine them with CA19-9 as diagnostic biomarkers was analyzed .Results The expression level of miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, miR-20a, miR-25 and miR-196a in plasma of patients with pancreatic cancer were 1.65 ×106 , 5.98 × 104, 2.83 ×103, 3.47 ×106, 2.76 ×106, and 1.03 ×103 (copies/μl), while the normal controls were 4.08 ×105, 2.54 ×104, 8.55 ×102, 1.79 ×106, 9.32 ×105, and 4.67 ×102(copies/μl), respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).The areas under the ROC curve of miR-21, miR-210, miR-155, miR-20a, miR-25 and miR-196a were 0.893, 0.810, 0.820, 0.766, 0.816 and 0.729, respectively.MiR-21 had the highest diagnostic value when it was used as diagnostic marker alone . The combination of miR-155 and miR-25 was more effective to distinguish PCa from normal than to be used alone, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.913(95%CI 0.838-0.988).When CA199 associated with miR-210 and miR-25, respectively, the areas under the ROC curves were 0.96 (95%CI was 0-1.0) and 0.942(95% CI was 0.876-1.0), which were higher than CA199 alone (0.862,95%CI was 0.748-0.975).There was a high improvement in diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy when miR-210 and miR-25 were combind with CA19-9, respectively.Conclusions Plasma miR-21, miR-155, miR-25, miR-210 have diagnostic value for pancreatic cancer , and deserve further study .

Objective To assess the value of confocal laser endomieroscopy (CLE) in diagnosis of early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions. Methods CLE examination was performed in 41 patients who needed further examination because of lesions in esophagus during July 2008 to April 2009. The diagnosis was made based on the features of esophageal squamous cells which was defined as low grade intraepithelial neoplasia(LGIN), high grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN) and early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (EC). Biopsy specimens were taken precisely matched to the CLE imaging sites. The result was compared with that of histopathology. Results There were 7281 eonfocal images obtained from 60 target lesions in 41 patients. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CLE were 75.0%, 88.6% and 85.0% in diagnosis of LGIN, respectively, 85.7% ,92.3% and 90.0% in diagnosis of HGIN, respectively,and 88.9% ,96.1% and 95.0%, in diagnosis of EC,respectively. Conclusions It is an effective method for diagnosis of esophageal neoplastic lesions using CLE, which has high accuracy in diagnosis of HGIN and early esophageal cancer.