ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To synthesize cationic polymers of arginine-histidine (HRss) based on disulfide crosslink and construct novel nano-complex HRss/miR-15-a, then study its anti-prostate cancer effect in vitro. METHODS: 1H-NMR was used to characterize HRss2/miR-15-a. Zeta sizer was adopted to estimate the Zeta potential and particle size of the nano-complex. Gel electrophoresis was employed to determine the condensation capacity of HRssto miR-15-a. The cytotoxicity and transfection efficiency of HRss was evaluated using prostate cancer stem-like cells (RC-92a/hTERT). Transwell chambers were used to evaluate the influence of HRss/miR-15-a against the motility of RC-92a/hTERT. RESULTS: The RESULTS of cytotoxicity tests indicated that the carrier HRss2 had low toxicity in both normal cells and cancer cells, and the miR-15-a could be loaded in HRss2 to form stable nano-complex. The transfection efficiency and inhibited motility of HRss2/miR-15-a against RC-92a/hTERT were statistically higher than those of HRss1/miR-15-a and HRss3/miR-15-a. CONCLUSION: HRss may be useful for gene delivery, and HRss2, as the optimum polycationic carrier as shown by in vitro evaluation, has the potential to become a novel gene vector in the therapy of prostate cancer.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the epidemiological factors and tendency of paragonimiasis in Jin Miaopu township in Zezhou county of Shanxi Province, and to understand the current status of public awareness for providing references to paragonimiasis education and prevention.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A questionnaire survey was conducted among 2172 villagers probing awareness of paragonimiasis and their experiences of eating crabs; Infection screening and antibody test were also performed by means of ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The paragonimiasis knowledge coverage rate was zero, and 67.7% (1471/2172) of the respondents claimed their histories of crab eating and 96.7% (29/30) of crabs were infected with metacercaria of paragonimus. Of all the study subjects, 11% (241/2172) of them were infected with the positive rate of 4.1% (89/270).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The incidence of paragonimiasis is closely related to dietetic habit in local residents. It is extremely necessary to increase the public awareness of paragonimiasis prevention and control and to improve the living conditions and dietetic habits.</p>