Objective To construct plasmids and knock out HIF-1α gene expression in an naked mole rat skin fibroblasts(NSF)cell line using CRISPR/Cas9 genomic editing technology,to provide an in vitro cell model for studying the mechanism of hypoxia tolerance and the occurrence and development of hypoxia-related diseases in naked mole rats.Methods We designed four pairs of single guide RNA(sgRNA)sequences targeting exons 1～4 of the NSF HIF-1αgene and successfully constructed an expression plasmid.The plasmid with the optimal sgRNA was identified and transfected into 293T cells,and the supernatant was used for detecting the virus titer.Lentivirus particles carrying sgRNAs of HIF-1α were transfected into NSF cells which express Cas9 protein,based on a previous protocol.After transfection,fluorescence signals were observed under a fluorescence microscope,and HIF-1α expression in NSF cells was detected by Western Blot and T7 endonuclease 1(T7E1)analysis.Results Sanger sequencing showed that the designed sgRNA was successfully inserted into pX459 and pKLV2-U6-sgRNA2 vectors,demonstrating successful construction of a recombinant plasmid for transfection.T7E1 digestion successfully removed three bands and the target efficiency of sgRNA was 54％.Western Blot showed that the HIF-1α gene was successfully knocked out and its protein level was significantly reduced in NSF cells from naked mole rats(P=0.0019).There were no obvious morphological changes in HIF-1α-knockout cells under the microscope,and gene knockout had no obvious effect on cell proliferation.Conclusions We successfully constructed an HIF-1α-knockout cell line using CRISPR/Cas9 technology,to provide an experimental basis for further studies of the biological function of HIF-1α,as well as the mechanism of hypoxia tolerance in naked mole rats.The result also provide a theoretical foundation for the prevention and treatment of hypoxia-related diseases.

Objective:To examine the effect of short-term regular aerobic exercise on physical fitness of children with pulmonary with atresia ventricular septal defect after radical biventricular treatment.Methods:This was a prospective self pre-and post-control observation study. The subjects performed regular aerobic exercise for 10 days according to the exercise prescription. Body composition measurement and cardiopulmonary exercise test[lung ventilation function, maximum oxygen uptake(VO 2max), maximum oxygen pulse(O 2/HR max), ventilation oxygen uptake efficiency(OUES), exercise load time], 6 min walking distance(6MWD), sports psychometric test, motor function screening test and fitness test, were collected. The changes of test parameters and scale scoring before and after exercise were analyzed and compared. Results:A total of 7 children with PA/VSD after biventricular surgery were enrolled. The age ranged 8.2-16.2 years old, and there were 2 males and 5 females. VO 2max[(1 196.71±395.31)ml/min vs.(1 297.43±425.73)ml/min, P=0.031], O 2/HRmax[(82.43±7.53)ml/beat vs.(91.57±6.95)ml/beat, P<0.001]increased after exercise. The exercise load time was significantly increased compared with that before intervention[(476.43±35.73)s vs.(531.43±45.76)s, P=0.002]. Resting heart rate before exercise( P=0.013) and peak respiration exchange ratio(PeakRER, P=0.021) were significantly lower. Body composition tests suggest weight, intracellular water, protein and muscle content of lower limb were higher( P<0.05). The motor function score was higher than before( P=0.015); the score of sports fear was lower than before( P=0.009). There was no significant difference in lung capacity and 6-minute walking distance before and after exercise( P>0.05). There were no cardiovascular events during the study period. Conclusion:Short-term regular aerobic exercise for children with PA/VSD after biventricular surgery can improve exercise tolerance, increase lower limb muscle content, improve exercise fear and exercise function, and has good safety and feasibility.

Humans ; Bacteremia ; Cross Infection ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Staphylococcal Infections/epidemiology* ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Tertiary Care Centers ; China

Objective:To analyze the efficacy and relevant indicators of efficacy prediction of immunosuppre-ssive therapy (IST) that was composed of rabbit anti-human thymocyte immunoglobulin (rATG) and cyclosporine A (CsA) to treat acquired aplastic anemia (AA) in children.Methods:Retrospective analysis of the clinical data from 89 cases of children who were diagnosed with acquired AA and applied IST in Children′s Hospital of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 1, 2012 to November 30, 2016 were collected.Patients were followed up for 2 years.Clinical features, curative effect and relevant indicators of efficacy prediction were analyzed retrospectively.Results:Among the 89 children with acquired AA, there were 27 cases of very severe AA(vSAA), 48 cases of severe AA(SAA) and 14 cases of transfusion-dependent non-severe AA(NSAA), with the median age of 7 years old.There was no significant difference in the curative effect among vSAA, SAA and transfusion dependent NSAA at different follow-up time nodes ( P>0.05). The recurrence rate of acquired AA was 4.49%(4/89 cases) and the median recurrence time was 18 months.The clonal evolution of acquired AA was 2.24%(2/89 cases). In multi-factor analysis, at the 6 th month of IST treatment, the newly diagnosed children displayed increased CD4 +/CD8 + ratio and early treatment response to granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), indicating that the children responded well to the treatment of IST. Conclusions:Combined with CsA, the IST of rATG is a safe and effective method for the treatment of acquired AA in children.The higher CD4 +/CD8 + ratio and early treatment response of G-CSF are good predictors of treatment response to immunosuppressive therapy at 6 months, respectively.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of weight management combined with pharyngoplasty for treatment of obesity-related obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). METHODS: Sixty obese patients with OSAHS were randomly assigned into the combined treatment group and control group ( RESULTS: After 6 months of treatment, the patients receiving the combined treatment showed significant reductions of BMI, neck circumference and waist circumference as compared with the measurements before treatment and with those in the control group ( CONCLUSIONS Weight management combined with uvulopalatopharyngoplasty can produce a good clinical efficacy for treatment of OSAHS with obesity, and the patients should have strengthened continuous family weight management while receiving surgical treatment.
Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Obesity/surgery* ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/surgery* ; Waist Circumference

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and associated risk factors for patients with mixed Candida/bacterial bloodstream infections (BSIs).Methods A retrospective study was conducted in the Second Affiliated hHospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine from February 2012 to June 2015.The clinical data of cases was collected,and the clinical characteristics,the microbiology data and outcomes in patients with mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs confirmed by blood culture were compared with those with candidaemia.A Logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the independent risk factors.Results A total of 136 candidaemia cases were analyzed including 40 cases (29.4％) of mixed Candida/boacterial BSIs and 96 cases of candidaemia.Among the 136 candidas strains,the proportion of non-albicans exceeded the albicans (50.7％ vs 49.3％),although the later was still the predominant one.There was no significant difference in the distribution of candidas strains between patients with mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs and patients with candidaemia.In patients with mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs,25 strains (61.0％) of gram-positive cocci and 16 strains (39.0％) of gram-negative bacilli were isolated.Compared with patients with candidaemia,patients with mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs needed longer period of antifungal therapy [12.0 (4.0-25.0)days vs 7.0 (3.0-13.5) days,P=0.027],but the crude 30-day and 90-day mortality did not differ between the two groups (40.0％ vs 32.3％;45.0％ vs 36.5％;both P＞0.05).Univariate analysis revealed that the prior hospital stay,ICU admission at the onset of candidaemia,blood transfusion,human albumin infusion,mechanical ventilation,linezolid use and high SOFA score were related with the occurrence of mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs (all P＜0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that only high SOFA score was the independent risk factor (P=0.003).Conclusions Gram-positive cocci were the predominant species in mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs.Compared with candidaemia,mixed Candida/bacterial BSIs needs a longer ICU stay,a longer hospital stay,and a prolonged antifungal therapy.High SOFA score is the independent risk factor for mixed Candida/ bacterial BSIs.

Naked mole rats are unique animals with long lifetime, anti-tumor properties, hypoxia tolerance, low metabolic rate, analgesia, tactile sensitiveness, poor eyesight and strong bone regeneration ability. Based on the basic bio-logical characteristics of naked mole rats, and the current research trends in the field of cancer, aging, hypoxia tolerance, as well as algesia, this review focuses on the application prospects of naked mole rats in biomedical research.

Objective To investigate the effects of down-regulation of Beclin 1, which is an autophagy regulatory molecule, expression induced by RNA interference on the proliferation and apoptosis in skin fibroblasts of naked mole rat. Methods The expression levels of Beclin 1 were detected after starvation or H2 O2 treatment.The fibroblasts were transi-ently transfected with specific siRNA targeting Beclin 1 and then screened by real-time PCR and Western blot.Cell prolifer-ation and apoptosis were determined using CCK-8 detection kit and flow cytometry ( FCM ) .The expressions of related genes were detected by Western blot.Results The expression of Beclin 1 gene at mRNA and protein levels was signifi-cantly lower in fibroblasts of the naked mole rat.Starvation and H2 O2 treatment induced changes of the Beclin 1 expression. Inhibition of Beclin 1 gene expression can inhibit cell proliferation and induce early and late apoptosis.The protein levels of p53, BAX, Bcl2, LC3B, p-AKT and mTOR were reduced after transient transfection with Beclin 1-siRNA.Conclusions The expression of Beclin 1 in fibroblasts of naked mole rat are changed in response to starvation or H2 O2 stimulation.Inhi-bition of Beclin 1 gene expression can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis.Therefore, Beclin1 gene may play a regulatory role in autophagy, proliferation and apoptosis in the skin fibroblasts of naked mole rat.

All organisms regulate their life activities through the biological clock, which makes a variety of activities regular.For example, many physiological activities such as sleep-wake cycle, temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, endocrine and metabolic activity of the kidney and liver are subject to the regulation of circadian rhythms, that is to say they are all under the control of circadian pacemaker.Physiological activity of cell cultured in vitro also possess rhythms.This paper conducts a brief overview of biological clock of cell cultured in vitro and analyzes the molecular mechanism of the biological clock of the neurons and peripheral tissue cell as well as the existing problems, which provide reference for comprehensive interpretation of the molecular mechanism of biological clock.

By reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), an open reading frame of pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR1) was isolated from Panax notoginseng and named as PnPR1. Molecular and bioinformatic analyses of PnPR1 revealed that an open reading frame of 501 bp was predicted to encode a 166-amino acid protein with a deduced molecular mass of 18.1 kD. Homology analysis showed that the deduced amino acid sequence of PR1 protein of Panax notoginseng had a high similarity with other higher plants had the same conservative structure domain of cysteine-rich secretory protein (CAP). The recombinant expressed plasmid pET28a(+)-PnPR1 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. The expression conditions were optimized by induction at different times, different temperatures, different IPTG concentrations and different giving times. The optimum expression condition was 0.4 mmol.L-1 IPTG at 28 degrees C for 20 h. The successful expression of PnPR1 provides some basis for protein purification and preparation of the monoclonal antibody.