Study on the correlation between IL-12p70, IL-17A and migraine in children.

Objective: To compare the serum levels of 12 cytokines in migraine group, encephalitis with headache symptoms group, pneumonia without headache symptoms group and migraine subgroups to explore the cytokines associated with migraine in children and their levels. Methods: A total of 44 children with migraine, 27 children in the encephalitis group with headache symptoms and 44 children in the pneumonia group without headache symptoms were selected from January 2022 to August 2023 in Hebei Children's Hospital. They were all tested for serum cytokines by immunofluorescence assay. The migraine group was further divided into subgroups according to different age, gender, course of disease, and presence of coinfection. The differences of serum cytokine levels among the above groups were compared, and the correlation analysis was carried out. Results: Except IL-5, there were no significant differences in the expression levels of other 11 inflammatory cytokines between migraine subgroups. Compared with encephalitis with headache symptoms group and pneumonia without headache symptoms group the serum levels of IL-4, TNF-α, IL-17A, and IL-12p70 were higher in migraine group than in pneumonia group, and the levels of IL-12p70 were higher than those in encephalitis group (p < 0.05). An increase in serum IL-12p70 (OR = 1.267, 95%CI 1.054-1.523, p = 0.012) and IL-17A (OR = 1.066, 95%CI 1.016-1.119, p = 0.010) levels had a significant effect on migraine. Conclusion: Elevated serum levels of IL-12p70 and IL-17A may increase the risk of migraine in children, which has certain diagnostic and predictive value.

[Related biomarkers in the diagnosis of prostate cancer].

Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the male urinary system as well as the second leading cause of cancer death in men. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening is the main method for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer, but has a low specificity for its detection. In recent years, a variety of tumor markers with high sensitivity and specificity have been found. This review focuses on some of the more promising tumor biomarkers such as prostate cancer antigen 3, early prostate cancer antigen, prostate-specific membrane antigen, alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase, and vascular endothelial growth factor.

Tissue-type plasminogen activator and its inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 are coordinately expressed during ovulation in the rhesus monkey.

Ovulation is a gonadotropin-controlled process that is essential for the propagation of all mammalian species. In the present study, we used a pregnant mare serum gonodotropin/human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-induced, synchronized ovulation model in rhesus monkeys and systematically investigated the roles of the plasminogen activator (PA) system in the ovulatory process of the primate. At different follicular developmental stages throughout the periovulatory period, samples of ovaries, granulosa cells, and theca-interstitial cells as well as follicular fluid were collected, and levels of PA and PA inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) were evaluated by fibrin overlay, reverse fibrin overlay, Northern blot analysis, and in situ hybridization, respectively. We showed that in response to an injection of ovulation-triggering hCG, which mimics the preovulatory surge of LH in the circulation, granulosa cell-derived tissue-type PA (tPA) was substantially elevated in preovulatory follicles and reached its maximum level just before ovulation. Although theca-interstitial cell-derived PAI-1 was also stimulated by pregnant mare serum gonodotropin and hCG treatments, however, the maximum level of PAI-1 appeared 12 h earlier than that of tPA. When ovulation approached, accompanying the highest tPA level in the preovulatory follicles, the follicular PAI-1 level declined dramatically to its minimum value. Moreover, our data on the expression of follicular PA and PAI-1 over the periovulatory period were reinforced by results obtained at the mRNA level. Our data suggest that the coordinated expression of tPA and PAI-1 may be of importance for the follicular rupture process during ovulation in the primate.

[Inhibitory effect of grape procyanidin on the cell apoptosis induced by radiation].

OBJECTIVE: To study the inhibition effect of grape procyanidin (GPC) on the cell apoptosis and injury of proliferation induced by radiation. METHODS: Three indices including apoptosis rate, proliferation rate and expression of bcl-2 and bax protein were examined in the mice pancreas after taking different dose GPC by mouth and radiation by (60)Co-gamma ray once. RESULTS: The cell proliferation and bcl-2 expression in high dose GPC group (3.16% +/- 0.13% and 49.8% respectively), were higher than those in radiation control group (0.64% +/- 0.11%, 29.7%), but the cell apoptosis rate and bax expression (19.8% and 55.0% respectively), were lower than those in radiation control group (35.6%, 85.7%). All the above differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: GPC has certain protective effect against the mice pancreatic cell apoptosis and the abnormal expression of bcl-2 and bax protein induced by (60)Co-gamma.

Functional classification of ADAMs based on a conserved motif for binding to integrin alpha 9beta 1: implications for sperm-egg binding and other cell interactions.

ADAMs (a disintegrin and metalloproteases) are members of the metzincin superfamily of metalloproteases. Among integrins binding to disintegrin domains of ADAMs are alpha(9)beta(1) and alpha(v)beta(3), and they bind in an RGD-independent and an RGD-dependent manner, respectively. Human ADAM15 is the only ADAM with the RGD motif in the disintegrin domain. Thus, both integrin alpha(9)beta(1) and alpha(v)beta(3) recognize the ADAM15 disintegrin domain. We determined how these integrins recognize the ADAM15 disintegrin domain by mutational analysis. We found that the Arg(481) and the Asp-Leu-Pro-Glu-Phe residues (residues 488-492) were critical for alpha(9)beta(1) binding, but the RGD motif (residues 484-486) was not. In contrast, the RGD motif was critical for alpha(v)beta(3) binding, but the other residues flanking the RGD motif were not. As the RX(6)DLPEF alpha(9)beta(1) recognition motif (residues 481-492) is conserved among ADAMs, except for ADAM10 and 17, we hypothesized that alpha(9)beta(1) may recognize disintegrin domains in all ADAMs except ADAM10 and 17. Indeed we found that alpha(9)beta(1) bound avidly to the disintegrin domains of ADAM1, 2, 3, and 9 but not to the disintegrin domains of ADAM10 and 17. As several ADAMs have been implicated in sperm-oocyte interaction, we tested whether the functional classification of ADAMs, based on specificity for integrin alpha(9)beta(1), applies to sperm-egg binding. We found that the ADAM2 and 15 disintegrin domains bound to oocytes, but the ADAM17 disintegrin domain did not. Furthermore, the ADAM2 and 15 disintegrin domains effectively blocked binding of sperm to oocytes, but the ADAM17 disintegrin domain did not. These results suggest that oocytes and alpha(9)beta(1) have similar binding specificities for ADAMs and that alpha(9)beta(1), or a receptor with similar specificity, may be involved in sperm-egg interaction during fertilization. As alpha(9)beta(1) is a receptor for many ADAM disintegrins and alpha(9)beta(1) and ADAMs are widely expressed, alpha(9)beta(1)-ADAM interaction may be of a broad biological importance.