Studies on wnt5a inducing differentiation of cardiac progenitor cells to myocardial cells / 解放军医学杂志

Objective To investigate the effect of Wnt5a on inducing differentiation of Cp15-5a cell to myocardial cell.Methods Recombinant adenovirus wnt5a (Ad-wnt5a) and Ad-GFP was amplified with human embryo kidney 293 cells (HEK293 cells),and then transfected into CP15-5a cells and 3 experiment groups were set up:wnt5a group,GFP group and blank control group.Flow cytometry was used to detect the transfection efficiency of Ad-wnt5a and Ad-GFP.One week after transfection,the expressions of genes GATA binding protein 4 (GATA4) and myocardial enhancement factor 2C (MEF2C) were analyzed by realtime quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR).Two weeks after transfection,the expressions of cardiac-specific connexin 43 (Cx43) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in Ad-wnt5a-induced CP15-5a cells were detected by Western blotting and immunofluorescence techniques.The sodium current expression (INa) was detected by whole cell patch clamp techniques.Results The transfection efficiency of Ad-wnt5a and Ad-GFP was 42.8％ and 44.3％,respectively.One week after transduction,the expressions of GATA4 and MEF2C were significantly higher in wnt5a group (1.717 ± 0.220 and 1.847 ± 0.190) than in GFP group (1.003 ± 0.087 and 0.456 ± 0.042,P＜0.05) and blank control group (0.961 ± 0.063 and 0.500 ± 0.095,P＜0.05),while no significant difference existed between GFP group and blank control group.Two weeks after transduction,the expressions of CX43 and cTnT were significantly higher in wnt5a group (1.597 ± 0.267 and 0.727 ± 0.100) than in GFP group (0.723 ± 0.047 and 0.217 ± 0.021,P＜0.05) and blank control group (0.783 ± 0.1333 and 0.253 ± 0.102,P＜0.01),while no significant difference existed between GFP group and blank control group.INa was detected in the wnt5a group compared with GFP group and blank control group.Conclusion wnt5a may induce differentiation of cp 15-5a cell into myocardial cell.

Study on brain response to acupuncture by functional magnetic resonance imaging--observation on 14 healthy subjects / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the signal changes of brain functional area during needling Sanyinjiao (ST36), Zusanli (SP6) and Yanglingquan (GB34), the three acupoints in three different meridians, in human by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in order to preliminary explore the neural mechanism of acupuncture.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Needling was complemented with 30 s of maneuver applying followed by 30 s of rest as a circle on an acupoint, and at the same time, fMRI was performed once 5 min and 12 s. Then the same program was repeated with the same mode on another acupoint, until ending the experiment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The commonly activated regions were postcentral gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus when needling at ST36 and SP6, and the different activated areas included left inferior frontal gyrus, left insula, left inferior parietal lobule, left culmen, left middle temporal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus, while no cortical signal enhanced region was found when needling at GB34. Signal weakened regions could be found when needling at all the three points, the commonly activated regions were bilateral parahippocampal, hippocampal, callosal gyrus, bilateral praecuneus and cerebellum.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Brain response in special regions could be obtained by needling at different acupoints.</p>

Angiographic diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the angiographic feature and its diagnostic value in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twelve patients with pathologically proved GIST underwent angiography using PUCK and DSA one week before operation. The origin, size, morphology and angiographic appearance of the lesion were retrospectively analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>It was found that two tumors originated from stomach, eight from jejunum, and two from ileum. Seven cases were benign but five malignant. Obviously thickened and enlarged feeding artery was detected in eight tumors, and early-developed vein was found in three. Two types of angiographic changes of GIST were observed: 1) twisted irregular neoplastic vessels with partially coarse and indistinct margin were found in four cases, which were all malignant; 2) ball-like neoplastic vessels with homogeneous stain in tumor were found in eight cases, seven of them were benign but one was malignant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Angiography may be helpful in localization and diagnosis as well as defining the size of GIST, and especially in patients with melena of unknown origin.</p>