IL-17D regulates recruitment of lung NK cells and promotion of Astragalus membranaceus / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To investigate the role of IL-17D to regulate the recruitment of lung NK cells and the effects of Astragalus membranaceus on IL-17D.Methods:The lung metastasis of tumor model was established by injecting B16 melanoma cells through caudal vein.After being treated with IL-17D or Astragalus membranaceus respectively,the expression of IL-17D and NK cells in lung was detected by flow cytometry and RT-PCR.Results:The production of IL-17D and the content of NK cells in the lung tumor me-tastasis model were dramatically decreased.After treatment with IL-17D,the content of NK cells in lung was significantly increased and the lung tumor foci were decreased.Along with up-regulated recruitments of NK cells,CXCL9 and IL-15,which support NK cell recruitments and maintain survival,were significantly increased.Astragalus inhibited lung tumor developments in lung by increasing the IL-17D expression and up-regulated the lung NK cell content.Conclusion: IL-17D can regulate the lung recruitment of NK cells.Astragalus mongholicus can enhance the capacity of NK cell recruitment and promote anti-tumor immune effects by up-regulating the expression of IL-17D.

Gucocorticoid receptor:a potential target for depression treatment / 军事医学

Depression is a serious mental disorder characterized by lasting anhedonia and anorexia .The pathophysiology of depression is complicated , which is related to many neuroendocrine disturbances .Increased levels of glucocorticoid hor-mones and hyperactivity of the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal ( HPA) axis are the most consistent and typical pathophysio-logical alternations in patients with major depression , which are possibly caused by altered functions of the receptor of glu-cocorticoid hormones , the glucocorticoid receptor ( GR) .Promoting the expression and function of GR and restoring the im-paired feedback inhibition of the HPA axis seem to be particularly important for the therapeutic efficacy of antidepressants . In this review, the role of GR in the development and resolution of depression is discussed .

Mouse Fyn induces pseudopodium formation in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of Fyn on cell morphology, pseudopodium movement, and cell migration were investigated. The Fyn gene was subcloned into pEGFP-N1 to produce pEGFP-N1-Fyn. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were transfected with pEGFP-N1-Fyn. The expression of Fyn mRNA and proteins was monitored by reverse transcription-PCR and Western blotting. Additionally, transfected cells were stained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and a series of time-lapse images was taken. Sequences of the recombinant plasmids pMD18-T-Fyn and pEGFP-N1-Fyn were confirmed by sequence identification using National Center for Biotechnology Information in USA, and Fyn expression was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The morphology of CHO cells transfected with the recombinant vector was significantly altered. Fyn expression induced filopodia and lamellipodia formation. Based on these results, we concluded that overexpression of mouse Fyn induces the formation of filopodia and lamellipodia in CHO cells, and promotes cell movement.

Kinetin inhibits apoptosis of aging spleen cells induced by D-galactose in rats

Kinetin (Kn) is a cytokinin growth factor that exerts several anti-aging and antioxidant effects on cells and organs. To investigate the mechanism underlying apoptotic events in aging cells induced by D-galactose (D-gal), we examined the effect of Kn delivered via nuchal subcutaneous injection on D-gal-induced aging and apoptosis in rats. Our results showed that interleukin (IL)-2 levels and mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim) were decreased by Kn in aging rats while IL-6 production and apoptosis increased. In addition, the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 was low while that of Bax was high in the aging group. After treated with Kn, compared with aging group, there showed obvious difference in Kn group with elevated IL-2, proliferation index, Bcl-2, DeltaPsim and decreased IL-6 and Bax in splenic lymphocyte. Based on these results, we concluded that Kn can effectively protect the rat spleen from aging, apoptosis, and atrophy.

Progress in mechanisms underlying melamine toxicity in central nervous system / 生理学报

In recent years there have been more widely and deeply studies in investigating melamine toxicity. Generally, it is believed that the main target of melamine is the urinary system. However, previous studies revealed that it also had additional biological actions. Obviously, the toxicity mechanisms of melamine have not been fully clarified. It is well known that fetus and infant periods play the most fundamental role in the brain development. And melamine can pass through the placental and blood-brain barrier, and then exerts toxic effects on the central nervous system. This article reviewed the reports about the topic in recent years, for better understanding the dangers of melamine to infants and providing experimental data for further study.

Antidepressant effect of total flavonoids extracted from Xiaobuxin-Tang in forced swimming tests and learned helplessness in rats and mice / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

AIM Xiaobuxin-Tang (XBXT) is a traditional Chinese herbal decoction which is composed of Haematitum, Flos Inulae, Folium Phyllostachydis Henonis and Semen Sojae Preparatum. The present study was to investigate if the total flavonoids extracted from XBXT (XBXT-2) had antidepressant effect. METHODS Forced swimming tests in mice and rats, and learned helplessness (LH) model of rats were adopted to affirm the antidepressant effect of XBXT-2 with the test on spontaneous motor activity. Plasma corticosterone level in the LH rats was measured with ELISA. RESULTS Single administraton of XBXT-2 at the doses of 50 and 100 mg·kg-1 (ig) significantly decreased the duration of immobility time in the forced swimming tests in mice and rats. Researches on LH model of rats indicated that XBXT-2 at doses of 50 and 25 mg·kg-1 markedly reduced the number of escape failure in shuttle box. Meanwhile, the plasma corticosterone level of the LH rats was significantly decreased. XBXT-2 50-200 mg·kg-1 had no effects on spontaneous motor activity in mice. CONCLUSION XBXT-2 possesses significant antidepressant-like effect. The mechanism may involve the inhibition of the hyperaction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Review about mechanisms of anti-cancer of Solanum nigrum / 中国中药杂志

This paper gave a brief introduction of the effect of Solanum nigrum on anti-cancer. The experimental results showed that the total alkaloid isolated from S. nigrum interfered structure and function of tumor cell membrane, disturbed the synthesis of DNA and RNA, changed the cell cycle distribution, so that total alkaloids could play in inhibabition to tumor cells, while the glycoprotein (150 x 10(3)) isolated from S. nigrum might have shown anti-cancer abilities by blocking the anti-apoptotic pathway of NF-kappaB, activating caspase cascades reaction and increasing the production of nitric oxide.

Effect of cardiac troponin T on prognosis in the elderly patients with chronic heart failure / 中华全科医师杂志

Objective To study the effect of cardiac troponin T(cTnT)on the prognosis of chronic heart failure in the elderly patients.Methods Serum level of cTnT,and serum activities of creatine kinase (CK)and creatine kinase-MB(CK-MB)were measured in 60 elderly patients of chronic heart failure with varied classes of cardiac function.Cardiac events,including malignant cardiac arrhythemia,repeated or aggravated heart failure or cardiac death,in patients with increased cTnT during hospitalization were compared to those without it.Results Serum level averaged(89.1?13.6)mmol/L for CK and(7.9? 1.4)mmol/L for CK-MB in 20 patients with Class Ⅱ cardiac function by New York Heart Association (NYHA)classification and without increased cTnT,(88.2?13.4)mmol/L for CK and(7.5?1.8) mmol/L for CK-MB in 19 patients with Class Ⅲ cardiac function and four of them with increased cTnT,and (93.3?14.2)mmol/L for CK and(8.1?1.6)mmol/L for CK-MB in 21 patients with Class Ⅳ cardiac function and 14 of them with increased cTnT.Malignant cardiac arrhythemia occurred in six,repeated heart failure in eight,and death in three of 18 patients with increased cTnT,and one,two and one in 22 patients without increased cTnT,respectively.Incidence of cardiac events was higher in patients with increased cTnT than those without it(P