Recent Research Progress on CircRNA in Hematological Malignancies--Review / 中国实验血液学杂志

Most hematological tumors have high-grade malignancy and low cure rate, requiring new molecular markers for detection and evaluation. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs with covalently closed-loop structures, which participate in gene transcription and translation by binding to microRNAs and proteins. In recent years, with the deepening research on circRNAs, circRNAs have been found to play an important role in hematological malignancies. In this review, the latest research progress on the function and molecular mechanism of circRNAs in hematological malignancies was systematically summarized, and it was found that circRNAs may be potential new biomarkers and therapeutic targets in hematological malignancies.

Exploration of cooperative teaching of anatomy and spine surgery / 解剖学报

Objective: Under the impetus of curriculum integration mode, the combination of gross anatomy and clinic is the inevitable trend of the development of gross anatomy teaching. How to the combination of gross anatomy and clinic in teaching has been the ultimate goal of our exploration. Methods: Through the cooperation with the Department of Spinal Surgery of Union Hospital Affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology, we held the "Elite Training Course about Complete Combination of Spinal Endoscopy and Under-endoscopy Power Equipments". Teachers of anatomy, clinicians and equipment engineers discussed the starting point of teaching, the teaching objective, teaching method and make specific teaching plans. Some clinicians and students were invited to participate in the training, conduct questionnaires to the participating clinicians, and conduct follow-up survey to the participating students to explore the feasibility of this teaching mode. Results: The teaching mode of combining anatomy with spinal surgery was feasible. The students had high enthusiasm and good learning effect and gave us good evaluation. Conclusion: The teaching mode of gross anatomy combined with clinical practice can increase students subjective initiative and enable students to master anatomy knowledge systematically in a limited time.

Chlamydia trachomatis pORF5 protein inhibits apoptosis through activating PI3K-Akt pathway / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To study the relationship between apoptosis and the pORF5 protein of Chlamydia trachomatis,and further to explore its molecular mechanisms,which could lay a foundation for chlamydial pathogenic mechanisms.Methods:pGEX-6p/pORF5 recombinant expression vector was transformed to XL1-blue E.Coli to express GST-pORF5 fusion protein,and GST-pORF5 fusion protein was purified with Glutathione Sepharose 4B Beads,and cleaved to get pORF5 protein without GST tag by PreScission protease.The pORF5 protein was used to stimulate HeLa cells at different concentrations,then Western blot was used to evaluate the ex-pression of Bax,Bcl-2 and phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt at different time points,Hoechst staining and Flow cytometry were applied to measure the apoptosis of HeLa cells.Before treated with pORF5 protein for 24 h,HeLa cells were pretreated with PI3K inhibitor LY294002 for 1 h,the expression of Bax,Bcl-2 and the phosphorylation of Akt were evaluated by Western blot,apoptosis rates were also determined.Results:The pORF5 protein changed the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in dose-and time-dependent manners,pORF5 increased the expression of Bcl-2 and decreased the expression of Bax at the concentration of 10 μg/ml,and there was obvious change at concentration of 15 μg/ml for 24 h.The apoptosis rates of pORF5 treated group were reduced by 27.3% and 8.4% respectively when compared with TNF-α treated group(P<0.01) and untreated group (P<0.05).Akt was phosphorylated after stimulated with pORF5 protein for 15 min,and reached its peak at 30 min.PI3K/Akt inhibitor led to the decrease of the expression of Bcl-2 and phosphorylation of Akt and increase of the expression of Bax,furthermore,PI3K/Akt inhibitor reversed pORF5-mediated anti-apoptosis, the apoptosis rate in LY294002 treated group was increased by 13.0%,when compared with the control group(P<0.01).Conclusion:pORF5 protein could inhibit apoptosis through activating PI3K/Akt signal pathway by induction of Bcl-2 and suppression of Bax.

Development of ELISAs for the detection of urogenital chlamydia trachomatis infection targeting the pORF5 protein / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To prepare antibodies against pORF5 plasmid protein of Chlamydia trachomatis and develop double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (DAS-ELISAs) for the detection of genital C. trachomatis infections.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The pORF5 protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and used to immunize BALB/c mice and New Zealand rabbits to produce monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and polyclonal antibody (pAb) for DAS-ELISAs. Clinical samples from 186 urogenital infection patients (groups I) and 62 healthy donors (groups II) were detected in parallel by the DAS-ELISAs developed in this study and by IDEIA PCE commercial ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two hybridoma cell lines, named 2H4 and 4E6, stably secreting specific mAbs against pORF5 were obtained. The mAb 2H4 was recognized by 32 (17.20%, positive recognition rate) and 25 (13.44%), mAb 2H4 by 0 (0%) and 2 (3.22%) samples from groups I and II, respectively. The sensitivities of mAbs 2H4 and 4E6 were 92.11% and 77.78% and the specificities were 100% and 96.88%, respectively in relation to the IDEIA PCE commercial ELISA. The sensitivities of detection for the DAS-ELISAs were 10 ng/mL (based on 2H4) and 18 ng/mL (based on 4E6).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Two DAS-ELISAs were developed in this study that provided a feasible and effective assay that could be considered alternative tools for the serodiagnosis of C. trachomatis infection.</p>

Cloning and cellular localization of pORF8 plasmid protein of Chlamydia trachomatis / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To clone the plasmid protein pORF8 of Chlamydia trachomatis and localize its expression in Chlamydia-infected cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>pORF8 gene was amplified and cloned into pGEX-6p vector, and the pORF8 fusion protein was expressed in E.coli XL1 Blue. After purification with glutathione-conjugated agarose beads, the pORF8 fusion protein was used to immunize BALB/c mice to generate polyclonal antibodies against pORF8 protein. The antibodies obtained were used to localize the plasmid protein pORF8 in Chlamydia-infected cells with immunofluorescence assay (IFA).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The pORF8 gene 744 bp in length was successfully cloned and the GST fusion protein with a relative molecular mass of 54 000 was obtained. The cellular distribution pattern of the plasmid protein pORF8 was similar to that of the major outer membrane protein (MOMP), a known C. trachomatis inclusion body protein, but not to that of chlamydial protease-like activity factor (CPAF, a secreted protein).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The plasmid protein pORF8 is localized on the bacterial organism as an inclusion body protein in C. trachomatis-infected cells. The cellular location of pORF8 protein can potentially provide important insights into the pathogenesis of C. trachomatis.</p>

Myocardial regeneration and repair of infarcted heart by a new composition isolated from Geum japonicum / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To isolate the cardiogenic fraction, which can enhance cardiogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from Geum japonicum. The therapeutic effect of the isolated cardiogenic fraction was further tested in a rat myocardial infarction (MI) model.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Bioassay guided fractionation method was used for the isolation of the cardiogenic fraction, named as heart repair fraction (HRF). MI was induced by a permanent ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery. The rats exhibiting similarly decreased values of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) and fraction shortening (LVFS) were used. The rats in test group (n = 10) were subject to HRF treatment (20 mg×kg(-1)×d(-1)) through gastric gavage daily for 4 weeks. Water alone (2 ml/d) was given through gastric gavage to rats in the control group (n = 10). The cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography at different time points. Masson trichrome staining was used for evaluation of the infarct size. Morphological and immunohistochemical studies were performed to investigate the HRF mediated myocardial regeneration.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>LVEF (66.2% ± 6.9%) and LVFS (46.8% ± 5.8%) were significantly increased two weeks post HRF treatment compared with the values (LVEF: 55.7% ± 6.0% and LVFS: 36.4% ± 5.2%) in control rats (all P < 0.01). The improved heart function was further restored 4 weeks post HRF treatment (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the treatment of acute MI with this HRF significantly reduced the infarct size (19.0% ± 6.1%) compared with that (31.1% ± 8.6%) in control rats (P < 0.01). Substantial regeneration of cardiomyocytes in infarcted region of the HRF treated heart was also observed that replaced a considerable part of the infarcted heart tissues resulting in remarkable reduction of the infarct size.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The properties of this HRF isolated from Geum japonicum in stimulating substantial regeneration of myocardium in infarct region with consequently improved cardiac function appear to be new and represent a new approach for the treatment of MI.</p>