The neuroprotective role of exogenous TERT gene in neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) on cell apoptosis in neonatal rat brains after hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 72 neonatal rats were divided into sham, vehicle, HIBD and TERT groups. HIBD was induced by Rice method in the later three groups. The neonatal rats in the vehicle and TERT groups were injected with plasmids containing mock or full length TERT by an intracerebroventricular injection 30 minutes after hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury. Pathological changes of brain tissue were observed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of TERT, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and cleaved caspase 3 (CC3). Apoptotic cells were detected by TUNEL staining.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Western blot showed that TERT protein was dramatically increased in the vehicle, HIBD and TERT groups compared with the sham group. Compared with the vehicle and HIBD groups, TERT protein in the TERT group was significantly upregulated. Compared with the sham group, there was a significant increase in apoptotic index and expression of AIF and CC3 proteins in the vehicle and HIBD groups (p<0.01). The TERT group showed decreased expression of AIF and CC3 proteins and apoptotic index compared with the vehicle and HIBD groups (p<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>TERT can inhibit cell apoptosis induced by HI and might have a neuroprotective role in developing brain with HIBD.</p>

Role of long non-coding RNA BC088414 in hypoxic-ischemic injury of neural cells / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) BC088414 in hypoxic-ischemic injury of neural cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rat adrenal pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells were divided into four groups: normoxic, oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD), siRNA-normoxic (siRNA group) and siRNA-OGD (n=3 each). Cells were incubated in glucose-free and serum-free DMEM medium under the conditions of 37℃ and 1% O2+99% N2/CO2 for 6 hours to establish an in vitro hypoxic-ischemic model. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure mRNA expression of lncRNA BC088414, β2-adrenoceptor (Adrb2), and caspase-6 (CASP6). siRNAs were used to inhibit BC088414 expression in PC12 cells. The TUNEL method was used to measure cell apoptosis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The OGD group had a significantly higher cell apoptotic index than the normoxic group (P<0.01). After inhibition of BC088414 expression, the OGD group had a significantly reduced apoptotic index (P<0.05). The OGD group had significantly higher mRNA expression levels of lncRNA BC088414, Adrb2, and CASP6 compared with the normoxic group (P<0.05). The siRNA -normoxic group had significantly lower mRNA expression levels of Adrb2 and CASP6 than the normoxic group (P<0.05), and the siRNA-OGD group also had significantly lower mRNA expression levels of Adrb2 and CASP6 than the OGD group (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>LncRNA BC088414 may promote apoptosis through Adrb2 and CASP6 and aggravate neural cell injury induced by hypoxia-ischemia.</p>

Inducible nitric oxide synthase and brain hypoxic-ischemic brain damage / 中国当代儿科杂志

Brain hypoxia-ischemia has been considered as critical factors in many human central nervous system diseases, including stroke and neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. In brain hypoxia-ischemia processes, inducible NO synthase (iNOS) is induced to produce excessive nitric oxide (NO) which leads to cascade reactions of inflammation and neuronal death, deteriorating primary brain injury. Inhibiting iNOS expression has opened new perspectives in the treatment of brain hypoxia-ischemia because iNOS inhibitor has been shown as a potent therapeutic agent. This reviews focus on recent research achievements regarding the relationship between iNOS and ischemic-hypoxic brain damage and the perspective of using iNOS inhibitors as therapeutic strategies for brain ischemic-hypoxic brain damage.

Comparative study on clinical features between TEL-AML1 positive and negative childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the incidence of TEL-AML1 fusion gene in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and to compare the clinical features between TEL-AML1 positive and negative patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Samples of bone marrow or peripheral blood were collected from 95 newly diagnosed ALL children and the TEL-AML1 fusion gene was detected using nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The ALL patients were stratified into TEL-AML1 positive and negative groups and the clinical features were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among 95 patients, 20 (21.05%) were TEL-AML1 positive. The median age of TEL-AML1 positive patients was 5.9 years old and M/F ratio was 1.22:1. There were significant differences between TEL-AML1 positive and negative patients in hepatomegaly (2.75 cm vs. 4 cm below costal arch, P=0.006), splenomegaly (0 cm vs. 3 cm below costal arch, P < 0.001), initial white blood cell count (median 7.40 x 10(9)/L vs.18.70 x 10(9)/L, P=0.011), initial peripheral blood blast (median 2.45 x 10(9)/L vs.11.66 x 10(9)/L, P=0.013), hemoglobin level [(61.45 +/- 13.46) g/L vs. (75.89 +/- 23.11) g/L, P=0.003] and serum lactate dehydrogenase [(621.47 +/- 335.85) U/L vs.(1566.64 +/- 1720.45) U/L, P=0.020], while no differences were found between two groups in age, gender ratio, initial platelet count, percentage of blast in bone marrow, immunophenotypes and the expression of myeloid antigen CD13, CD33 and CD34. The prednisone sensitivity test showed that all 12 TEL-AML1 positive patients were good responders, while there were 11 prednisone poor responders among 40 negative patients (27.50%, P < 0.05). Bone marrow examination on day 15 showed no difference in the rate of complete remission between TEL-AML1 positive and negative patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The incidence of TEL-AML1 fusion gene in cases of ALL is 21.05%. The load of leukemia cells in TEL-AML1 positive patients is significantly smaller than its counterparts, and the blast cells in TEL-AML1 positive patients are more sensitive to prednisone, indicating childhood ALL with TEL-AML1 fusion gene has a favorable prognosis.</p>