Discovery of A New Prognostic Molecular Marker NKX2-3 for Acute Myeloid Leukemia / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveTo analyze the expression of molecular marker affecting the prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia （AML） patients from bioinformatics database， thus providing an experimental basis for further exploration of a novel molecular marker for the prognosis of AML. MethodsThe prognostic data of 179 AML patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas （TCGA） database were examined for differential gene analysis and survival analysis. The bone marrow samples of 74 healthy individuals （HI） and 542 de novo AML patients in the dataset GSE13159 downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus （GEO） database were analyzed to detect the difference in the expression levels of differential target genes. Peripheral blood and bone marrow samples were collected from 18 de novo AML patients and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls， and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to validate the expression levels of the differential genes in the AML patients. ResultsBioinformatics data analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value of Homo sapiens NK2 homeobox 3 （NKX2-3） calculated by R language was 0.051. Survival analysis revealed a statistically poorer overall survival in de novo AML patients with high NKX2-3 expression than in those with low NKX2-3 expression （P = 0.0036）. NKX2-3 was highly expressed in patients with de novo AML than in HI and the difference was statistically significant （P < 0.001）. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR verified the expression levels of the NKX2-3 gene in AML patients and confirmed that compared with those in HI， in the de novo AML patients， NKX2-3-1 and NKX2-3-2 were highly expressed and were significantly correlated （P = 0.000， P = 0.000）. ConclusionNKX2-3 is highly expressed in de novo AML patients， and the AML patients with high NKX2-3 expression have poor overal survival. NKX2-3 may be closely related to the clinical outcome and prognosis of AML.

Research Advances in the Action of Toll-like Receptor 2 in Acupuncture Information Start-up and Conduction Mechanism / 上海针灸杂志

This article summarizes the literature about studies onToll-like receptor 2and acupuncture points and explores thecorrelationand action of Toll-like receptor 2inacupuncture information start-up and conduction mechanism from the biological characteristics of Toll-like receptor 2and the relationship of Toll-like receptor 2-mediated signal pathways tomast cells, acupuncture effects and the immuno-neuro-endocrine network.

Study on Cellular Immune Responses of DNA Vaccine, rAd5 and rMVA Expressing SIV Gag/Env Gene Combined Immunization in Mice / 病毒学报

Therapeutic HIV vaccine was considered as a hopeful curative method for AIDS patients. However, there is still no suitable HIV animal model for vaccine study since the difference in the immune system between human and animals. To evaluate the therapeutic effect of combined immunization strategy with multiple vector vaccines in macaque models. Plasmid DNA, recombinant Ad5 and MVA vaccines which expressing SIV gag and env genes were constructed. Sequential and repeated immune strategy were applied to immunize mice with these three vaccines. Cellular immune responses in mice immunized with these three vaccines were measured by ELISPOT test in vitro and CTL assay in vivo. The results were analyzed and compared with different antigen combination, order of vaccines and intervals to choose a suitable immunization strategy for macaque immunization in future. It indicated that strong SIV-Gag/Env-specific cellular immune responses were induced by these three vector vaccines. It laid a foundation for evaluating the therapeutic effect of combined immunization strategy with multiple vector vaccines in SIV infected macaque models.

Observations on the Therapeutic Effect of Lu’s Warm Needling on Perimenopausal Syndrome / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of Lu’s warm needling in treating perimenopausal syndrome.Methods Sixty patients with perimenopausal syndrome were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 30 cases each. The treatment group received Lu’s warm needling and the control group, conventional acupuncture. The scores of Kupperman Index (KI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), and serum estrogen (E2), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteal hormone (LH) were observed before and after treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 80.0% in the treatment group and 53.3% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant pre-/post-treatment difference in the KI score in the two groups (P<0.01). There was a statistically significant difference in pre-/post-treatment KI score difference value between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in serum LH, FSH and E2 contents in the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the Hamilton Depression Scale score and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score in the two groups (P<0.01, P<0.05). There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in the Hamilton Depression Scale score between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05).Conclusion Lu’s warm needling is an effective way to treat perimenopausal syndrome.