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ObjectiveTo explore the effect of Banxia Xiexintang （BXT） on the NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3）/cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease-1 （Caspase-1） pyroptosis pathway and its downstream factors in rats with ulcerative colitis （UC）， and to explain the mechanism of BXT in the treatment of UC. MethodSD rats were randomly divided into normal control group， model group， low- and high-dose BXT groups （6.3， 12.6 g·kg-1·d-1）， and salazosulfapyridine （SASP） group （0.42 g·kg-1·d-1）， with 7 rats in each group. The UC model was induced by intragastric administration of 2.5% dextran sodium sulfate （DSS） solution for 10 days， followed by drug intervention for 7 days. The general state of rats was observed during the experiment， and the disease activity index （DAI） score was calculated during the administration period. At the end of the experiment， colonic tissues were collected for hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining to observe the pathological changes and the curative effect of BXT. Real-time fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to detect the mRNA transcriptional levels of NLRP3， Caspase-1， gasdermin D （GSDMD）， and interleukin （IL）-1β in colonic tissues. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of NLRP3， Caspase-1， GSDMD， and IL-1β in colonic tissues to explore the therapeutic mechanism of BXT. ResultCompared with the normal control group， the model group showed increased DAI score， pathological changes in colonic tissues， and up-regulated mRNA and protein expression of NLRP3， Caspase-1， GSDMD， and IL-1β （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the groups with drug intervention showed reduced DAI scores and improved pathological changes in colonic tissues. The mRNA and protein expression levels of NLRP3， Caspase-1， GSDMD， and IL-1β in colonic tissues of the BXT groups were significantly down-regulated or tended to be down-regulated， especially in the low-dose BXT group （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionBXT can inhibit pyroptosis and alleviate inflammation in rats with UC by regulating the NLRP3/Caspase-1 pathway.
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Exonuclease Ⅷ (Exo Ⅷ), an ATP-independent dsDNA 5'-3' exonuclease, is a candidate protein with great application value for in vitro DNA recombination. However, the application of Exo Ⅷ in DNA recombination in vitro has not been reported. In this study, the recombinant expression vector of the truncated Exo Ⅷ (tExo Ⅷ) with the full exonuclease activity was built and used to achieve the overexpression of tExo Ⅷ in Escherichia coli. Based on the purified tExo Ⅷ protein with high-purity, the feasibility of tExo Ⅷ applied in vitro DNA recombination and effects of the reaction temperatures, reaction duration, and homology arm lengths were examined. The results showed that tExo Ⅷ was highly expressed in soluble form in E. coli. One liter of bacterial culture yielded 92.40 mg of purified tExo Ⅷ with the specific activity of 1.21×10⁵ U/mg. In a 10 μL recombination system containing 2.5 U tExo Ⅷ, the highest cloning efficiency was achieved in a reaction at 25 °C for 12.5 min and followed by incubation at 50 °C for 50 min. With addition of Pfu DNA polymerase, the homology arm extension strategy can effectively improve the recombination efficiency. Using competent E. coli Mach1 T1 with 2.2×10⁶ cfu/μg transformation efficiency as recipient cell, the recombination of a 1 kb fragment with a 21 bp homology arm and a 5.8 kb linearized vector can form about 1.1×10⁴ recombinant clones per μg vector, and the positive rates was over 80%. The recombination efficiency was increased with the increasing length of homology arm ranged from 8 to 21 bp. Under the optimal reaction condition, only 8 bp homology arm can still achieve valid DNA recombination. This novel in vitro DNA recombination system mediated by tExo Ⅷ was particularly characterized by its easy preparation, no limitation on restriction sites and high recombination cloning efficiency. All results revealed that the new efficient gene cloning system has potential application in the field of molecular biology.
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Cloning, Molecular , Escherichia coli , Genetics , Exonucleases , Genetics , Recombinant Proteins , Metabolism , Recombination, GeneticABSTRACT
Objective To explore the etiology and clinical characteristics of short stature. Method Clinical data of 2075 children with short stature treated from May 1995 to July 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The etiology and morbidity of pathological short stature and normal variant short stature were analyzed. The clinical characteristics of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) , idiopathic short stature (ISS) , constitutional delay in growth (CDG) and familial short stature (FSS) were analyzed. The etiological differences between severe short stature [height standard deviation score (SDS) ≤-3] and general short stature (height SDS＞-3) were analyzed. Results Among 2075 children diagnosed with short stature, 1719 (82.84％) were pathological short stature, among which GHD (38.60％) and ISS (22.02％) were more common. Normal variant short stature was found in 356 children (17.16％) , with FSS and CDG accounting for 10.70％ and 6.46％ respectively. There were statistically significant differences in the sex ratio, age at initial diagnosis, height SDS, body mass index (BMI) , bone age and bone age delay among children with four common childhood short stature (GHD, ISS, CDG and FSS) (all P＜0.01) . Boys were more than girls in four kinds of childhood short stature. The height SDS was the lowest in GHD group and the highest in CDG group; BMI was highest in GHD group, but lower in CDG and ISS group. Bone age delay was highest in GHD group and lowest in CDG group. In severe short stature group, the rates of complete GHD, multiple pituitary hormone deficiency, small for gestational age infant, Turner syndrome, hypothyroidism and Russell-Silver syndrome were higher than those in general short stature group, but the rates of partial GHD, ISS, FSS and CDG was lower than those in general short stature group. Conclusion The etiology of short stature is complex. Analysis of the etiology and clinical features is helpful for clinical diagnosis and treatment.
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Objective To study the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and hepcidin in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and their significance in anemia. Methods 45 DLBCL patients with or without anemia were analyzed. Peripheral blood samples were collected during diagnosis, and the concentrations of IL-6, hepcidin, serum ferritin and hemoglobin (Hb) were measured. 24 healthy volunteers were collected as controls. Results The levels of plasma hepcidin and IL-6 in patients with DLBCL were (347±171)μg/L and 0.27 ng/L (0-9.61 ng/L), respectively, and compared with those [(175 ± 92)μg/L] and 0 ng/L in healthy controls, the differences were statistically significant (both P1 (P=0.010) were increased. The levels of IL-6 in patients of male (P=0.003), stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ (P=0.008) or IPI>1 (P=0.004) were significantly higher. The level of hepcidin was highly correlated with serum ferritin (r=0.77, P<0.001), weakly correlated with IL-6 (r=0.31, P=0.030), and not correlated with Hb (r=-0.12, P=0.3). There was a negative correlation between IL-6 expression and Hb (r=-0.35, P=0.009). Multivariate analysis showed that IL-6 could predict anemia (P=0.03), whereas hepcidin could not (P=0.89). Conclusion The elevated hepcidin level is frequent in DLBCL, and the elevated IL-6 plays the major role in the development of anemia.
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Objective To investigate the pathogenic mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in patients with early-onset breast cancer(≤35 years) and explore the relationships between BRCA1/2 mutations and clinical features.Methods Seventy-four patients with early-onset breast cancer were enrolled,who were treated in Hospital 307 between September 2014 and June 2016.High-throughput sequencing was used to test the 49 exon sequences and adjacent sequences of BRCA1 and BRCA2.χ2 test was used to analyze the distribution of BRCA1/2 pathogenic mutations in each group that was set up according to clinical features.Results Fifteen mutations(20.27%) were identified,including 5(6.76%) in BRCA1 and 10(13.51%) in BRCA2.Eleven new pathogenic mutations were discovered,and BRCA1:c.5470_5477delTGCCCAAT was found in one patient.The frequency of BRCA1/2 mutations in the group with a family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer was higher than in the group without a family history (40.91% vs 11.54%) (χ2=6.534,P=0.011).Conclusion BRCA1/2 pathogenic mutation is significant for early-onset breast cancer,especially for those with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer.The new mutations may be specific to Chinese people.BRCA1:c.5470_5477delTGCCCAAT may be the ancestor mutation among the Chinese.
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Molecular pharmacognosy is an emerging interdisciplinary subject with crude drugs as research subjects. Its development provides a new theoretical method and technique for traditional pharmacognosy research, so that the study of crude drugs has reached the level of gene. As traditional Chinese materia medica, Bupleuri Radix has developed molecular pharmacognosy research on the basis of traditional research Methods , and achieved certain Results . This article summarized the research achievements of Bupleuri Radix through molecular pharmacognosy method in recent years, and prospected this field, in order to further provide references for the protection, development and utilization of Bupleuri Radix resources and other TCM resources.
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Objective To evaluate core needle biopsy (CNB) in detecting estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) of HER2,Ki67,and molecular classification of breast cancer.Methods Clinical data of 188 breast cancer patients admitted from Nov 2012 to Jun 2015,were retrospectively analyzed.All patients received both CNB and open excision biopsy (OEB).Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to evaluate the expression of ER,PR,HER2 and Ki67.All cases were categorized into four molecular subtypes:Luminal A,Luminal B,triple negative breast canccr and HER2 over-expression breast cancer.Kappa test was used to evaluate the consistency of CNB and OEB.Results Concordance rate of ER,PR,HER2 receptor status and Ki67 value were 94.68％,93.62％,94.68％ and 73.40％.There was no difference between CNB and OEB for non-Luminal tumors (P =0.774).Ki67 expression in OEB samples was higher than in CNB samples (25.90％ vs.21.65％,P ＜ 0.001).Concordance rate between CNB and OEB for molecular subtypes was 72.34％ (K =0.606 4).Conclusions CNB is accurate in evaluating ER,PR,HER2 and Ki67 in breast cancer.CNB is accurate in diagnosing non-Luminal molecular subtypes of breast cancer.
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Objective To research the effects of drought stress on activity of key enzyme in saikosaponin biosynthesis and saponins content in Bupleurum chinense; To reveal response of Bupleurum chinense to drought stress from protein level. Methods Bupleurum chinense was cultivated in potted water control experiment with 70%–80%, 60%–70%, 40%–50% and 20%–30% saturated soil water contents. The enzyme activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR), isoprenyl-based coke (IPPI), farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPS) and β-carotenoid synthase (β-AS) of six months and one year old Bupleurum chinense were measured. The contents of saikosaponins a and d in samples of different soil water contents were determined by HPLC. Results When the saturated moisture was 40%–50%, the enzymatic activities of HMGR, IPPI, FPS and β-AS were the highest, followed by saturated moisture 60%–70%、70%–80% and 20%–30%. The trend of saikosaponin was similar to that of the activity of key enzyme. Conclusion 40%–50% soil saturated water content can significantly increase the activity of the key enzymes in the saikosaponin synthesis pathway. The saponin content and enzyme activity show a significant positive correlation, indicating that under drought stress, Bupleurum chinense regulates the synthesis of saikosaponin by regulating the key enzyme activity of saikosaponin synthesis pathway to respond drought stress.
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Objective To analyze the correlation between the expression of Ki-67 and Her-2 and clinical features in breast invasive ductal carcinoma .Methods Clinical and pathological data of 202 female breast invasive ductal carcinoma patients were collected between January 2012 and September 2014 .The correlation between the expression of Ki-67 and Her-2 and clinical features was analyzed .Results The positive rate of Ki-67 was 73.3%(148/202) and that of Her-2 was 19.3(39/202).The expression of Ki-67 was related to histological grading , ER and PR status(P0.05).The expression of Her-2 was related to ER and PR status (P0.05).Moreover, the low expression Ki-67 and negative expression of Her-2 were positvely corelated with the positive expression of hormone receptor [estrogen receptor(ER),pro-gestin receptor(PR)](P<0.05).Conclusion High expression of Ki-67 suggested that the differential grade of tumor was lower , malignant grade was higher , infiltration was stronger and metastasis was easier .High expression of Ki-67 and positive Her-2 suggests lower sensitivity to endocrine therapy and treatment .Detection of Ki-67 and Her-2 expression in breast inva-sive ductal carcinoma is of guiding significance for understanding the degree of malignancy and for evaluating prognosis .
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Objective To construct the genetic recombinant adenovirus vector carrying the human growth and differentiation fac-tor-5(GDF-5) gene by using AdEasy-1 adenovirus vector system and to amplify and prepare the recombinant adenovirus in HEK 293 cells .Methods Human GDF-5 gene obtained by PCR was inserted into plasmid pMD19-T and the 1 .7 kb GDF-5 cDNA sequence was cloned into the adenoviral shuttle plasmid pShuttle-cytomegalovirus(CMV) of the AdEasy-1 system .It was identified by DNA sequencing and a digestion with Hind Ⅲ restriction enzyme .The resultant pShuttle-CMV-GDF-5 was used to generate the adenovi-ral GDF-5 vector through homologous recombination with the adenoviral backbone plasmid ,pAdEasy-1 in BJ5183 bacterial cells .It was selected by kanamycin and identified by a digestion with Hind Ⅲ restriction enzyme and amplified in XL10-Gold competent bac-teria .The DNA of recombinant adenovirus vector was finally linearized by Pac Ⅰ and the adenoviral recombinants were used to pro-duce adenoviruses in HEK293 packaging cells ,resulting in an Ad-GDF-5 identified by Western blot .The virus titer was assayed by TCID50 .Results GDF-5 cDNA sequence obtained by PCR was 1 .7 kb .Gene sequencing results indicated that the sequence was i-dentical with the one in GENBANK .Cloned sequence 1 .7 kb(GDF-5) was obtained by a digestion with Hind Ⅲ restriction enzyme after GDF-5 cDNA segment was cloned into pShuttle-CMV and AdEasy-1 .Western blot showed that two bands migrating at ap-proximately 15 and 55 kDa were clearly observed in PVDF membrane .These data confirmed that HEK293 cells expressed a large number of mature GDF-5 protein after infected with Ad-GDF-5 .Our research results demonstrated that recombinant adenovirus vector GDF-5 was successfully constructed .The virus titer was 5 .6 × 109 PFU/mL .Conclusion Recombinant adenovirus vector carrying the human GDF-5 gene is successfully constructed by using the AdEasy-1 adenovirus vector system .Moreover ,the Ad-GDF-5 with high titer is prepared .These provide the basis for further study of the biological function of GDF-5 and the gene thera-py of its related diseases .
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Objective To observe the effects of Grifola frondosa polysaccharide on T cell subsets and Th1/Th2 subsets of spleen deficiency mice, and investigate its immunoregulation mechanism. Methods Forty-eight KM mice were divided into 6 groups:normal group, spleen deficiency group, positive group (lentinan), three dosage groups of Grifola frondosa polysaccharide, 8 mice in each group. The mice were injected corresponding drug intraperitoneally for 10 days. Then mice in each group were detected CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+T cell by flow cytometry. IFN-γ and IL-4 levels were detected by ELISA. Results The high dose of Grifola frondosa polysaccharide could significantly increase the CD4+T lymphocytes percentage in peripheral blood (P<0.05). Medium and high dose of Grifola frondosa polysaccharide could significantly increase CD4+/CD8+T cell ratio (P<0.01) and CD3+T lymphocyte percentage (P <0.01) of spleen deficiency mice. Medium and high dose of grifola frondosa polysaccharide could significantly increase IFN-γ level in serum of spleen deficiency mice (P<0.01), and high dose of Grifola frondosa polysaccharide could decrease IL-4 level in serum of spleen deficiency mice (P<0.01). Conclusion Grifola frondosa polysaccharide can improve the decreased CD4+/CD8+T cell ratio which caused by spleen deficiency, and promote the transformation of Th1 to Th2, thus treating spleen deficiency syndrome.