Clinical Effect of Runzaoling Combined with Iguratimod on Primary Sjögren's Syndrome / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of iguratimod combined with the Chinese medicine Runzaoling in the treatment of primary Sjögren's syndrome （pSS）. MethodSeventy-two patients treated in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine（TCM） from January 2021 to June 2022 who met the Western medical diagnosis of pSS and had the TCM syndrome of Yin deficiency and heat toxin syndrome were randomly assigned into an observation group and a control group， with 36 patients in each group. The observation group was treated with iguratimod combined with Runzaoling， and the control group was treated with iguratimod. The treatment in both groups lasted for 12 weeks. The clinical symptoms， EULAR Sjogren's syndrome patient reported index （ESSPRI）， EULAR Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index （ESSDAI）， erythrocyte sedimentation Rate （ESR）， C-reactive protein （CRP）， immunoglobulin （IgG）， Schirmer score， and saliva flow of the two groups were determined before and after treatment. Furthermore， the incidence of adverse reactions was compared between the two groups. ResultThe total response rate in the observation group was 75.0% （27 patients with response and 9 patients with no response）， which was higher than that （61.11%， 22 patients with response and 14 patients without response） in the control group （P<0.05）. After treatment， the ESSPRI， ESSDAI， and TCM syndrome scores in both groups decreased and the decreases were more obvious in the observation group than in the control group （P<0.05）. The treatment in both groups recovered the ESR， CRP， IgG， Schirmer score， and saliva flow （P<0.05）. Moreover， the observation outperformed the control group in terms of the ESR， CRP， IgG， and saliva flow （P<0.05） and had no significant difference in the Schirmer score compared with the control group. During the treatment period， 2 patients in the observation group had nausea， and 1 patient had an abnormal liver function， which were relieved after symptomatic treatment and did not affect the treatment. In the control group， 1 patient withdrew from the study due to rashes and showed no special discomfort in the follow-up 4 weeks， and 1 patient had nausea， which was relieved after symptomatic treatment. ConclusionIguratimod combined with Runzaoling has good clinical efficacy and safety in the treatment of pSS.

Protective effect of excretory-secretory proteins from Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae against myocardial injury in septic mice / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the protective effect of excretory-secretory proteins from Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae (Ts-MES) on sepsis-induced myocardial injury in mice.@*METHODS@#Eighty male BALB/C mice were randomized equally into sham-operated group, myocardial injury group, Ts-MES treatment group and dexamethasone treatment group. In the latter 3 groups, sepsis-induced myocardial injury models were established by cecal ligation and perforation; the sham operation was performed by exposure of the cecum without ligation or perforation. Forty minutes after the operation, the mice were given intraperitoneal injections 150 μL PBS, 20 μg TS-MES or 0.3 mg/kg dexamethasone as indicated. At 12 h after the operation, 6 mice were randomly selected from each group for echocardiography, and 8 mice were used for observing the survival rate within 72 h. The remaining 6 mice were examined for myocardial pathologies with HE staining and serum levels of NTPro-BNP and cTnI with ELISA; the expressions of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10 and TGF-β in the serum and myocardial tissue were detected using ELISA and qRT-PCR.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the sham-operated mice, the septic mice showed significantly decreased cardiac function indexes (LVEF, LVFS, and E/A) with lowered survival rate within 72 h (P < 0.001) and significantly higher myocardial injury scores and serum levels of NTPro-BNP and cTnI (P < 0.01). Treatment with TS-MES significantly improved the cardiac function and 72-h survival rate (P < 0.05) and lowered the myocardial injury scores and serum levels of NTPro-BNP and cTnI (P < 0.05) in the septic mice. Compared with the sham-operated mice, the septic mice had obviously increased TNF-α and IL-6 levels in the serum and myocardial tissue (P < 0.001), which were significantly lowered by treatment with TS-MES (P < 0.05). TS-MES and dexamethasone both increased the levels of IL-10 and TGF-β in the septic mice, but the changes were significant only in TS-MES-treated mice (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Ts-MES are capable of protecting against myocardial injury in septic mice by reducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and enhancing the levels of regulatory cytokines.

Discussion on Treatment of Recurrent Genital Herpes with Zhulingtang： Based on Thought of "Lower Energizer Resembling Drainage" / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Recurrent genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease induced by herpes simplex virus（HSV）， mainly manifested as erythema， papules， vesicles， erosion， and exudation on the skin and mucosal membranes of the genital and anal area， accompanied by burning pain， or tingling. Factors leading to its recurrence are overworking， fever， alcohol consumption， infection， sexual activity， etc. At least 1 in 10 of the 15-49-year-old population are infected with herpes simplex virus-2. There is currently no available method to completely remove the herpes simplex virus and prevent its recurrence， and recurrence seriously affects the quality of life and psychological health of patients. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， the recurrence of genital herpes is mostly related to wind， dampness， heat， yin deficiency of liver and kidney， internal injuries due to emotional disorder， and dietary preference. TCM has advantages in reducing its recurrence rate. The lower energizer is closely related to skin diseases， and "lower energizer resembles drainage". Thus， the lower energizer is closely related to water and damp metabolism. Recurrent genital herpes occurs in the lower energizer and belongs to lower energizer diseases， and the fluid metabolism and qi movement in lower energizer are closely related to the occurrence of the disease. Based on thought of "lower energizer resembling drainage" and the clinical characteristics of recurrent genital herpes， this paper considered malfunction of lower energizer as its pathogenesis. Thus， smoothing the lower energizer according to the prevailing circumstances is particularly important and the treatment principle should be dispersing the pathogen from lower energizer without damaging yin. Zhulingtang （Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases） cures the difficulty in urination and thirst with desire to drink by smoothing the lower energizer. Thus， Zhulingtang was selected to treat recurrent genital herpes. This study is expected to provide a new idea for its clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Association between exposure to artificial light at night and the occurrence of menarche in Han girls / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To analyze the association between the occurrence of menarche and the exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) in female Han nationality girls aged 9-18 in China, so as to provide a reference for the research on the disturbance mechanism of ALAN on puberty, as well as provide a scientific evidence for controlling ALAN and making public sanitary policy.@*Methods@#A total of 74 483 Han girls aged 9-18 with complete records of menarche, height, and weight were included in the 2014 Chinese National Surveys on Students Constitution and Health. Pearson correlation was used to explore the correlation between the incidence of menarche and the exposure to artificial light at night in 11-year-old Han girls, and the third quantiles of the area covered by outdoor night lights (0.16, 0.60) and the third quantiles of the average night light intensity [0.97, 5.91 nw/(sr ·cm) 2] were used respectively to divide the study subjects into 3 groups, and the multifactor Logistic regression model was used to analyze the effect of artificial light at night exposure on menarche.@*Results@#In 2014, the median age of menarche of Chinese Han girls was 12.18 years old, and the incidence of menarche in the 11-year-old group was 26.31%. After controlling for body mass index, local population and the logarithmic values of per capita GDP, the incidence of menarche of 11-year-old Han girls was positively correlated with the local outdoor average night light coverage area ratio and the night average light intensity logarithmic adjustment value( r =0.29, 0.30, P <0.05).The higher the local outdoor night light coverage area ratio ( OR =1.28, 1.52) and the average night light intensity ( OR =1.47, 1.58), the higher the incidence of menarche in 11-year-old Han girls( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#There is a positive correlation between artificial light at night exposure and the menarche rate of 11-year-old Han girls. Research on artificial light at night exposure may provide scientific evidence on puberty onset and its effects on population health.

Lipids and membrane-associated proteins in autophagy

Autophagy is essential for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and its dysfunction has been linked to various diseases. Autophagy is a membrane driven process and tightly regulated by membrane-associated proteins. Here, we summarized membrane lipid composition, and membrane-associated proteins relevant to autophagy from a spatiotemporal perspective. In particular, we focused on three important membrane remodeling processes in autophagy, lipid transfer for phagophore elongation, membrane scission for phagophore closure, and autophagosome-lysosome membrane fusion. We discussed the significance of the discoveries in this field and possible avenues to follow for future studies. Finally, we summarized the membrane-associated biochemical techniques and assays used to study membrane properties, with a discussion of their applications in autophagy.

Role and mechanism of interleukin-13, interleukin-13 receptor α2 and 11β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 signaling pathways in liver metastasis of colon cancer / 中国综合临床

Objective:To investigate the role of interleukin-13(IL-13), interleukin-13 receptor α2(IL-13Rα2) and 11 β -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2(11βHSD2) signaling pathway in liver metastasis of colon cancer and its mechanism.Methods:A retrospective case-control study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 80 patients with colorectal cancer who were operated in Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from January 2015 to December 2018.All patients were followed up by clinic or telephone until August 30, 2019.According to the occurrence of liver metastasis, the patients were divided into metastasis group ( n=22) and non metastasis group ( n=58). Real-time fluorescence quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect and compare the mRNA relative expression and protein expression of IL-13, IL-13Rα2, 11βHSD2, cyclooxygenase 2(COX 2) and protein kinase B in cancer tissues and cancer adjacent tissues. Glycyrrhetinic acid, an inhibitor of 11 β HSD2, was used to inhibit the activity of 11hsd2 in human colon cancer cell line HCT-8.The mRNA relative expression and protein expression of IL-13, IL-13Rα2, 11βHSD2, COX 2 and protein kinase B were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blotting before and 24 hours after glycyrrhetinic acid addition. Results:The mRNA relative expression of IL-13(0.79±0.11, 0.40±0.10), IL-13Rα2(0.72±0.13, 0.46±0.11), 11βHSD2(0.84±0.26, 0.60±0.08), COX 2(0.70±0.25, 0.37±0.04), protein kinase B (0.76±0.13, 0.42±0.06) in colon cancer tissues of metastatic and non metastatic groups were higher than those in cancer adjacent tissues(0.09±0.01, 0.10±0.06, 0.09±0.02, 0.09±0.03, 0.09±0.01, 0.09±0.02, 0.13±0.02, 0.12±0.07, 0.05±0.02, 0.05±0.03). The difference was statistically significant (t value was 28.36, 23.20, 22.07, 24.88, 16.47, 16.47, 47.86, 18.55, 24.55, 26.20, 44.40, all P<0.001). The protein expression of IL-13(0.48±0.11, 0.32±0.07), IL-13Rα2(0.52±0.11, 0.36±0.11), 11βHSD2(0.63±0.12, 0.48±0.11), COX2(0.45±0.15, 0.27±0.09), protein kinase B(0.50±0.12, 0.29±0.08) in colon cancer tissues of metastatic and non metastatic groups were higher than those in cancer adjacent tissues(0.12±0.02, 0.13±0.01, 0.10±0.02, 0.10±0.02, 0.14±0.06, 0.13±0.05, 0.10±0.03, 0.10±0.04, 0.10±0.03, 0.10±0.02). The difference was statistically significant ( t value were 15.63, 21.15, 17.71, 17.28, 11.01, 18.14, 10.55, 13.12, 15.76 and 18.90 respectively, all P<0.001). The relative expression of mRNA and protein in metastasis group was higher than that in non metastasis group ( t=15.15, 3.01, 8.97, 2.52, 6.34, 2.26, 9.82, 2.52, 16.02, 3.57, respectively, all P< 0.05). Compared with that those of before glycyrrhetinic acid addition, after 24 hours of glycyrrhetinic acid addition, the mRNA relative expression and protein expression of IL-13, IL-13Rα2 had no significant change (all P>0.05), while the mRNA relative expression and protein expression of COX 2 and protein kinase B(before adding: 0.725±0.159, 0.639±0.162, 0.741±0.178, 0.668±0.145, after adding: 0.108±0.085, 0.116±0.048, 0.122±0.063, 0.119±0.066) were decreased( t value were 18.744, 16.954, 17.956, 18.875 respectively , all P<0.01). Conclusion:The activation of IL-13/IL-13α2/11βHSD2 signaling pathway can promote liver metastasis of colon cancer.The mechanism may be that 11βHSD2 over expression promotes cancer cells invasion and migration-related COX2 expression and PI3K/protein kinase B pathway, and promotes liver metastasis of colon cancer.

Accuracy of ultrasonic localization of cervical anatomy in predicting difficult laryngoscopy / 中华麻醉学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the accuracy of ultrasonic localization of cervical anatomy in predicting difficult laryngoscopy.Methods:A total of 91 patients, with body mass index of 18.2-25.7 kg/m 2, aged 18-75 yr, regardless of gender, with a head and neck mobility>90°, of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ or Ⅱ, scheduled for elective surgery requiring oral tracheal intubation under general anesthesia, were included in the study.The position of cervical transverse process corresponding to vocal cords (T x), distance from combination of vocal cords to connecting wire of two anterior tubercles of transverse processes (DVA), length of genitoglossus muscle, and distance from skin to combination of vocal cords(DSV)were localized by ultrasound before anesthesia induction.Laryngoscopy was used to expose the glottis, and then endotracheal intubation was performed.Patients were divided into 2 groups according to Cormack-Lehane classification: non-difficult laryngoscopy group (group N) and difficult laryngoscopy group (group L). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the accuracy of T x, DVA, length of genitoglossus muscle and DSV in predicting difficult laryngoscopy. Results:The AUC of T x, DVA, length of genitoglossus muscle and DSV in predicting difficult laryngoscopy was 0.748, 0.851, 0.839 and 0.845, respectively, the sensitivity was 70.83%, 75.00%, 79.17% and 87.50%, respectively, and the specificity was 89.55%, 89.55%, 86.57% and 83.58%, respectively, and the cut-off values were T 4, 4.43 cm, 3.81 cm and 0.72 cm, respectively.There was no statistically significant difference in the AUC of T x, DVA, length of genitoglossus muscle and DSV in predicting difficult laryngoscopy ( P>0.05). Conclusion:T x, DVA, length of genitoglossus muscle and DSV localized by ultrasound all can predict difficult laryngoscopy accurately.

Roles of innate lymphoid cells in tumor immunity and their clinical significance / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a recently characterized family of immune cells that have critical roles in innate immunity, immune regulation, maintenance of tissue homeostasis, and tissue repair and remodeling. Besides the conventional innate lymphocytes including NK cells and lymphoid tissue-inducer cells, the ILC family can be categorized into three groups, ILC1s, ILC2s and ILC3s. These non-cytotoxic ILC subsets have been identified to confer a diverse array of functions in oncogenesis and metastasis, immune surveillance, and antitumor immunity. In this review, we summarized the emerging findings in recent years regarding the roles of ILCs in immuno-oncology, and highlighted their potentials in immunotherapeutic approaches to tumors.

Roles of innate lymphoid cells in tumor immunity and their clinical significance / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Innate lymphoid cells ( ILCs) are a recently characterized family of immune cells that have critical roles in innate immunity, immune regulation, maintenance of tissue homeostasis, and tissue re-pair and remodeling. Besides the conventional innate lymphocytes including NK cells and lymphoid tissue-in-ducer cells, the ILC family can be categorized into three groups, ILC1s, ILC2s and ILC3s. These non-cyto-toxic ILC subsets have been identified to confer a diverse array of functions in oncogenesis and metastasis, immune surveillance, and antitumor immunity. In this review, we summarized the emerging findings in re-cent years regarding the roles of ILCs in immuno-oncology, and highlighted their potentials in immunothera-peutic approaches to tumors.

Astragalus polysaccharide improves anti-tumor immunity mediated by macrophages and natural killer cells in mice / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective To evaluate the regulatory effects of Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) on macrophage polarization and NK cell-mediated anti-tumor responses in mice. Methods C57BL/ 6 mice were injected intraperitoneally with APS once a day for seven consecutive days. Activation of immune cells was then induced by intraperitoneal injection of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly I : C) 24 h after the APS intervention. Peritoneal macrophages were collected 24 h after induction to analyze the status of polari-zation and the production of nitric oxide (NO). Cytotoxicity and exocytosis of activated NK cells were meas-ured to assess the effector functions of these cells. NK cell activities induced by NKG2D were studied in the absence of the whole JNK or JNK2 signaling pathway. Results Intraperitoneal injection of APS promoted the polarization of macrophages induced by tumor cells in mice, and enhanced the cytotoxicity of NK cells to tumor cells. However, APS was in need of the involvement of appropriate stimulatory factors to have regula-tory effects. Complete inhibition of JNK signaling pathway dramatically reduced the effector functions of NK cells, which could not be recovered by APS administration. Conclusions APS was involved in the regula-tion of anti-tumor innate immunity through enhancing the M1-polarization of macrophages and improving the effector functions of NK cells. This study might to some extent elucidate the mechanism of APS in immune regulation and anti-tumor immunity.

Clinical significance of high mobility group protein B1 in patients with severe pneumonia complicated with sepsis / 新乡医学院学报

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of the changes of serum level of high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) in patients with severe pneumonia complicated with sepsis.Methods Fifty patients with severe pneumonia complicated with sepsisin in Respiratory Intensive Care Unit(RICU) of Xinxiang Central Hospital from April 2014 to March 2017 were selected as observation group;while 50 healthy individuals were selected as control group.The patients in the observation group were divided into death group(n =32) and survival group(n =18) according to the prognosis.The serum levels of procalcitonin(PCT) and HMGB1 of patients in the observation group were detected on the 1st,3rd,7th day of patients hospitalized in the RICU,while the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE lⅡ)scores of the patients were evaluated.The serum levels of PCT and HMGB1 of subjects in the control group were detected during physical examination.Results There was no statistic difference in the mean arterial pressure,oxygenation index,body temperature and total white cell count of patients between the death group and survival group(P ＞0.05).On the first day of patients hospitalized in the RICU,the serum levels of PCT and HMGB1 of patients in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P ＜0.05).The serum levels of HMGB1 and the APACHEⅡ scores of patients in the death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group at each time point(P ＜0.05).On the first day of patients hospitalized in the RICU,there was no statistic difference in the serum level of PCT of patients between the death group and survival group (P ＞ 0.05);the serum level of PCT of patients in the death group was significantly higher than that in the survival group at another time point (P ＜ 0.05).The serum level of HMGB1 of patients in the observation group was positively correlated with the PCT and APACHE Ⅱ score (r =0.562,0.460;P ＜0.05).Conclusion The serum level of HMGB1 in patients with severe pneumonia complicated with sepsis is increased;and the increase of serum level of HMGB1 in the death cases is more obvious than that in the survival cases.So it can be used to evaluate the patient's condition and judge the prognosis.

Changes of related cytokine levels before and after minimally invasive total hip replacement / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Compared with conventional total hip replacement, minimally invasive total hip replacement has some advantages, such as small incision, less blood loss, light pain, low incidence of dislocation, and short rehabilitation period. However, changes in post-displacement stress and in vivo metabolism-related serological indicators have not been systematically reported. OBJECTIVE: To observe cytokines and curative effect before and after minimally invasive total hip replacement and conventional total hip replacement. METHODS: We selected 178 patients who underwent unilateral total hip replacement in the Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2015 to January 2017. They were randomly divided into observation group (89 cases) and control group (89 cases). The control group was treated by total hip arthroplasty through the standard invasive posterolateral approach. The observation group was treated by total hip arthroplasty through the minimally invasive anterolateral approach. The related operation indexes were recorded in two groups. Harris score was analyzed preoperatively, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. The serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and procalcitonin were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay preoperatively, 1 and 3 days after surgery. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) All patients were followed up for 12 months. (2) Age, sex, body mass index and joint replacement site were not significantly different in both groups (P > 0.05). (3) The operation time, hospital stay and incision length in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group. The blood loss, blood transfusion, and postoperative drainage in the observation group were less than those in the control group (P < 0.05). (4) Harris Score increased at various time points after replacement in both groups. Harris score was significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group at 1 and 3 months after surgery (P < 0.05). (5) The serum levels of IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and procalcitonin in the observation group were significantly lower than in the control group 1 and 3 days after surgery. (6) These findings confirm that minimally invasive total hip arthroplasty has better curative effect than conventional total hip arthroplasty, and can reduce related cytokine levels, and is more conducive to the rapid recovery of lower extremity motor function.

Observation of the clinical efficacy of the bone filling bag vertebroplasty for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the clinical effects of bone filling bag vertebroplasty in treating osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.@*METHODS@#The clinical data of 127 patients (145 vertebrae) with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures who corresponded the criteria of inclusion and exclusion from December 2015 to June 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Responsible vertebral bodies were identified by clinical situation, X-rays, CT scan, MRI. Among them, 95 cases (110 vertebrae) were treated by percutaneons kyphoplasty (PKP group), there were 34 males (42 vertebrae) and 61 females (68 vertebrae), with an average age of (73.92±7.14) years, 47 thoracic vertebra (T₈-T₁₂) and 63 lumbar vertebra (L₁-L₅). Other 32 patients (35 vertebrae) were treated by bone filling bag vertebroplasty(bone filling bag vertebroplasty group). There were 11 males (12 vertebrae) and 21 females (23 vertebrae), with an average age of (71.56±7.89) years, 16 thoracic vertebra (T₉-T₁₂) and 19 lumbar vertebra(L₁-L₅). Postoperative pain after 3 days, vertebral body height, improvement of lumbar function were recorded and bone cement diffusion and leakage were observed by X-rays.@*RESULTS@#All operations were successful and no complications were found. In bone filling bag vertebroplasty group, operation time was (31.75±4.99) min, postoperative VAS score at 3 days was(2.38±0.94) points, anterior and middle height of the vertebral body were(19.54±2.36) mm and (18.16±2.65) mm, respectively; ODI score was(25.19±5.49) points, all above items after operation were better than preoperation(0.05). Bone cement was patchy, clumpy or slightly dispersed by X-rays at 3 days after operation, the leakage rate of bone cement in bone filling bag vertebroplasty group was 2.86%(1/35), while was 6.36%(18/110) in PKP group, all of them were "trailing sign", there was significant difference between two groups (<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The clinical effect of bone filling bag vertebroplasty in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures is similar to percutaneous kyphoplasty, it can effectively relieve the pain, restore part vertebral body height and obviously reduce the leakage rate, with safer, it is a simple, rapid and effective therapeutic method.

Oncolytic vaccinia virus：a promising agent for cancer treatment / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Vaccinia virus ( VACV) has been widely used in humans for the eradication of small-pox. Since its natural ability of selective infection and replication in tumor cells without harming the normal tissue, VACV becomes a promising candidate in cancer therapy. In recent years, a variety of strategies have been successfully applied to further enhance the tumor selectivity and anti-tumor efficacy of VACV. These engineered VACVs, such as JX-594, have shown promising results in cancer treatment and have made re-markable progress in clinical trials. This review first briefly introduces the oncolytic VACV, and then focuses on the strategies applied in VACV engineering. We also discuss the main challenges and the future directions in the development of oncolytic VACV.

Recent advances in therapeutic drugs and vaccines against Ebola virus / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is an acute infectious disease caused by Ebola virus,the mor-tality rate of which is up to 90% . Due to its high infection rate,high mortality rate as well as being a serious threat to public health and safety,Ebola virus is listed as a World Health Organization Risk Group 4 Patho-gen(requiring Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment). However,there is no effective control method and treatment for Ebola virus infection. Different approaches have been used to develop vaccines and therapeutic drugs against Ebola virus infection and clinical trials of some products have been initiated,such as ZMapp, BCX-4430,GS-5734,DNA vaccines,and adenovirus vector vaccines. National Institutes of Health(NIH) announced a successful development of vaccine for Ebola virus which had passed the clinical trial by the end of 2014. At the meantime,the first anti-Ebola virus medicine had also been approved in China for emergency use only. Recent advances in the research and development of therapeutic drugs and vaccines against Ebola virus will be described in this review.

Identification of cimicifugae rhizoma and its adulterants using ITS2 sequence / 中国中药杂志

In order to identify Cimicifugae Rhizoma from its adulterants and to ensure its safe use, the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequence of Cimicifugae Rhizoma and its adulterants were amplified and bidirectionally sequenced by DNA barcoding technology. Sequence assembly and consensus sequence generation were performed by the CodonCode Aligner V3.7.1. The genetic distances were computed by MEGA 5.0. Identification analyses were performed using neighbor-joining (NJ) methods. The length of ITS2 sequence of the three origin plants of Cimicifugae Rhizoma include Cimicifuga heracleifolia, C. foetida, C. dahurica was 217, 219 and 219 bp, respectively. Their intraspecific genetic distance was much lower than the interspecific genetic distance with their closely related species. The NJ tree of ITS2 indicated that the three origin plants of Cimicifugae Rhizoma formed a monophyletic clade, Cimicifugae Rhizoma and its adulterants could be distinguished clearly. The authors proposed that ITS2 sequence was suitable for the authentication of Cimicifugae Rhizoma and its adulterants.

Identification of cattail pollen (puhuang), pine pollen (songhuafen) and its adulterants by ITS2 sequence / 中国中药杂志

DNA barcoding method was conducted for the authentication of pollen materials due to difficulty of discriminating pollen materials bearing morphological similarity. In this study, a specific focus was to identify cattail pollen (Puhuang) and pine pollen (Songhuafen) samples from their adulterants which are frequently mixed-together. Regions of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) from 60 samples were sequenced, and new primers for cattail pollen were designed according to the sequence information. The results from the NJ trees showed that the species of pine pollen, Puhuang and their adulterants can be classified as obvious monophyly. Therefore, we propose to adapt DNA barcoding methodology to accurately distinguish cattail pollen, pine pollen and their adulterant materials. It is a great help for drug regulatory agency to supervise the quality of medicinal materials.

Identification of pyrrosiae folium and its adulterants based on psbA-trnH sequence / 中国中药杂志

In this study, the psbA-trnH sequence as DNA barcode was used to evaluate the accuracy and stability for identification pteridophyte medicinal material Pyrrosiae Foliumas from adulterants. Genomic DNA from 106 samples were extracted successfully. The Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) distances and ML tree were calculated using software MEGA 6.0. The intra-specific genetic distances of 3 original plants were lower than inter-specific genetic distances of adulterants. The ML tree indicated that Pyrrosiae Folium can be distinguished from its adulterants obviously. Therefore, the psbA-trnH sequence as a barcode of the pteridophyte, can accurately and stably distinguish Pyrrosiae Folium from its adulterants.

Identification of plantaginis semen based on ITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences / 中国中药杂志

In order to evaluate the efficiency of ITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences used as DNA barcodes to distinguish Plantaginis Semen from its adulterants, we collected 71 samples of Plantaginis Semen and its adulterants. The ITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences were aligned through Clustal W, and the genetic distances were calculated by kimura 2-parameter (K2P) model and the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) phylogenetic trees were constructed using MEGA 5.1. The results indicated that the ITS2 sequence lengths of Plantago asiatica and P. depressa were 199 bp and 200 bp, respectively; the maximum intra-specific K2P distance were lower than the minimum inter-specific K2P distance; the NJ tree based on ITS2 sequence indicated that Plantaginis Semen and its adulterants could be distinguished clearly. The sequence lengths of psbA-trnH of both P. asiatica and P. depressa were 340 bp; the maximum intra-specific K2P distances were lower than the minimum inter-specific K2P distance; the NJ tree based on psbA-trnH sequence showed that Plantaginis Semen can be distinguished clearly from its adulterants except for P. major. Therefore, ITS2 sequences can be used as an ideal DNA barcode to distinguish Plantaginis Semen from its adulterants.

JNK2 enhances the NKG2D-mediated natural killer cell cytotoxicity / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) 2 on NKG2D-mediated natural killer ( NK) cell cytotoxicity .Me thods NK cells were activated by polyinosinic-polycyti-dylic acid ( Poly I∶C ) .The activation status of JNK signaling pathway was detected .The cytotoxicity of ac-tivated NK cells and the level of IFN-γproduced were measured to determine the function of NK cells in the absence of JNK2.Tumor growth in wild type and JNK2-knockout (JNK2-/-) mice with lymphoma xenograft were measured to evaluate immune surveillance of NK cells .Results The phosphorylation of JNK and up-stream kinases were observed in the early stage of cell activation after treatment of Poly I ∶C.The expressed ligands of the activating receptors NKG2 D significantly increased NK cell cytotoxicity to lymphoma cells . JNK2 deficiency impaired the antitumor effects of NK cells , and then resulted in enhanced tumor growth in JNK2-/-mice.Conclusion JNK2 signaling pathway is involved in the NKG2 D-mediated activation of NK cells and regulates immune surveillance of NK cells against tumor .