A Case-control Study of Environmental Risk Factors for Nonsyndromic Cleft of the Lip and/or Palate in Xuzhou, China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

In this study, we sought to determine the association between environmental factors and nonsyndromic cleft of the lip and/or palate (NSCLP) to understand the etiology of the disease. A total of 200 NSCLP cases and 327 controls were recruited at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Xuzhou City. We conducted face-to-face interviews with the mothers of both cases and controls. The factors increasing the risk of NSCLP were a positive family history [odds ratio (OR)=56.74], pesticide exposure (OR=8.90), and indoor decoration pollution (OR=4.32). On the other hand, the factors decreasing the risk of NSCLP were a high education level (OR=0.22) and supplementation of folic acid (OR=0.23) and multivitamins (OR=0.16). Positive family history, pesticide exposure, and indoor decoration pollution are associated with the risk of NSCLP. In contrast, high education level and folic acid and multivitamin supplementation are protective factors against NSCLP.

Effect of DC-CIK cell on the proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation of leukemia cells

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of co-culture cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK) and homologous dendritic cells (DC) on the proliferative activity and phenotype change of the DC-CIK cell and the cell killing activity of leukemia HL-60.@*METHODS@#50 mL cord blood sample was obtained from infants delivered by full term healthy woman and the cord blood mononuclear cells were isolated by density gradient centrifugation. Non-adherent cells were collectedfor the induction culture of CIK, adherent cells were differentiated into mature DC; cultured mature DC was mixed with and CIK in the proportion of 1:5 for 12 d. Killing activity of DC-CIK co-cultured cell on leukemia HL-60 was detected by MTT assay.@*RESULTS@#Compared with CIKs, the co-cultured DC-CIKs presented a markedly higher proliferation and killing activity.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Co-culture of DC-CIK cells led to a significant increase of the proliferation and cytotoxicity of CIK.

Advances in research on oncolytic adenoviruses in tumor therapy / 病毒学报

Oncolytic adenoviruses (Ads), which are live, replication-competent viruses that can selectively replicate in tumor cells and lead to cell lysis, have been used in tumor therapy. But due to the complexity and high mutability of human tumors, it becomes a major strategy to improve the selectivity, efficacy, and safety of oncolytic Ads. The oncolytic Ads that can express short hairpin RNA, cytokines, suicide gene, and matrix-modulating proteins have higher antitumor activity than the wild type. Tumor-specific promoters, especially hTERT and HRE promoters, increase the selectivity of oncolytic Ads for tumor cells. Moreover, oncolytic Ads surface-modified by polyethylene glycol (PEG), liposomes, biodegradable nanoparticles, and polypeptides have reduced immunogenicity and hepatotoxicity and improved antitumor activity when systemically administered, and the selectivity of oncolytic Ads can be significantly increased when linking PEG to antibodies, small peptides, cytokines, and ligands. Therefore, engineered oncolytic Ads combining the advantages of viral and non-viral vectors, as well as immunotherapy, are a promising strategy for improving the efficacy of targeted virotherapy.

Complete genome sequence analysis of Japanese encephalitis virus newly isolated in China / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the complete genome sequence of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) strain XJ69 isolated in ZheJiang province and explore its evolution.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Overlapping primers were designed according to the full-length genomes from GenBank. RT-PCR was used to amplify the fragments and RT-PCR products were cloned T vector, sequenced and analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The genome of strain XJ69 and XJP613 were 10 964 nucleotides in length with a single open reading frame encoding 3432 amino acids. Comparison of the complete genome sequences of different JEV isolates showed XJ69 and XJP613 were 83.5%-99.2% and 83.4%-99.4% nucleotide sequence homology among them respectively, which resulted in 94.8%-99.7% amino acid sequence homology. Phylogenetic analysis through PrM/C,E and full-length genome showed that the XJ69 and XJP613 strain belonged to genotype I.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The nucleotitede sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of XJ69 and XJP613 strain were similar to that of those of genotype I of Japanese encephalitis virus. It belonged to genotype I and were close to the isolates SH17M-07.</p>

Studies on genetic diversity in cultivated populations of Atractylodes macrocephala / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the genetic diversity of main germplasm of Atractylodes macrocephala in China and the genetic differentiation of the germplasm of A. macrocephala.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>A molecular marker ISSR was used to analyze the genetic diversity of 7 populations of A. macrocephala and a population of A. lancea.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Twelve primers were used in the PCR amplification of 86 samples of A. macrocephala and 5 samples of A. lancea. Sixty-three bands with sizes ranged from 100 to 2500 bp were generated from 12 primers. Of all the 63 bands, 55 bands were polymorphic among 86 individuals of A. macrocephala, the percentage of polymorphic bands were 87.30% at the species level. The percentage of polymorphic bands (PPL) for a single population ranged from 58.73% to 71.43% (mean, 64.85%). Among the 7 populations, a population from Panan, GM exhibited highest variability (PPL =71.43%; HE = 0.2835; I = 0.4267). A dendrogram constructed by an unweighted pair group method of cluster analysis showed that populations from Panan constructed one branch and separated from other populations. In the AMOVA analysis, low level of genetic differentiation among populations was detected, 90.52% of the variability existed in population.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The genetic diversity of cultivated A. macrocephala in China is high, which is good for the production of high quality herb medicine.</p>