Copper Catalyzed [3 + 2] Annulation Reaction of Exocyclic Sulfonyl Enamides for the Synthesis of N,O-Spiroketal and Spiroketal.

A copper-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation  reaction of exocyclic enamines/enol ethers with 1,4-benzoquinone esters has been developed, providing facile access to N,O- spiroketals and spiroketals under mild conditions with broad substrate scope (26 examples, 71-94% yields). Gram scale synthesis and chemical transformations demonstrated that this method is potentially useful in the synthesis of natural products and drugs containing a N,O- spiroketal moiety. The chiral N,O-spiroketal could be obtained with 98% ee after recrystallization, when a chiral SaBOX ligand was employed.

Construction of iPSC-derived Inhibitory Neural Network Tissue with Synaptic Transmission Potentials / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveDirected differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells （hiPSCs） into spinal cord γ-aminobutyric acid （GABA）-ergic progenitor cells were implanted into an decellularized optical nerve （DON） bioscaffold to construct a hiPSC-derived inhibitory neural network tissue with synaptic activities. This study aimed to provide a novel stem cell-based tissue engineering product for the study and the repair of central nervous system injury. MethodsThe combination of stepwise directional induction and tissue engineering technology was applied in this study. After hiPSCs were directionally induced into human neural progenitor cells （hNPCs） in vitro， they were seeded into a DON for three-dimensional culture， allowing further differentiation into inhibitory GABAergic neurons under the specific neuronal induction environment. Transmission electron microscopy and whole cell patch clamp technique were used to detect whether the hiPSCs differentiated neurons could form synapse-like structures and whether these neurons had spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents， respectively， in order to validate that the hiPSC-derived neurons would form neural networks with synaptic transmission potentials from a structural and functional perspective. ResultsThe inhibitory neurons of GABAergic phenotype were successfully induced from hiPSCs in vitro， and maintained good viability after 28 days of culture. With the transmission electron microscopy， it was observed that many cell junctions were formed between hiPSC-derived neural cells in the three-dimensional materials， some of which presented a synapse- like structure， manifested as the slight thickness of cell membrane and a small number of vesicles within one side of the cell junctions， the typical structure of a presynatic component， and focal thickness of the membrane of the other side of the cell junctions， a typical structure of a postsynaptic component. According to whole-cell patch-clamp recording， the hiPSC-derived neurons had the capability to generate action potentials and spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents were recorded in this biotissue. ConclusionsThe results of this study indicated that hiPSCs can be induced to differentiate into GABAergic progenitor cells in vitro and can successfully construct iPSC-derived inhibitory neural network tissue with synaptic transmission after implanted into a DON for three-dimensional culture. This study would provide a novel neural network tissue for future research and treatment of central nervous system injury by stem cell tissue engineering technology.

Visualization analysis of pulmonary rehabilitation research based on Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective:To analyze the related literature of pulmonary rehabilitation research at home and abroad, understand its research focus and development trend, and provide a reference and basis for future pulmonary rehabilitation research.Methods:Literature related to pulmonary rehabilitation published in the database of Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from January 2015 to February 2022 was retrieved, and the contents such as the number of articles published annually, authors, research institutions, and high-frequency keywords were visually analyzed by bibliometrics and CiteSpace software.Results:The number of articles published each year showed an obvious upward trend from 2015, and the number of Chinese documents was higher than that of English documents from 2019 to 2020. MARTIJN A SPRUIT was the author with the largest number of articles published in English, with a total of 65 articles published, with close cooperation among scholars. Che Guowei was the author with the largest number of articles published in Chinese literature, with 13 articles published in total. The cooperation among the authors was relatively lacking and scattered. The main research institutions abroad were universities, and the institution with the highest number of papers was Maastricht University in the Netherlands, with a total of 85 articles. The research institutions cooperated closely and formed a cooperation network. Hospitals were the main research institutions in China, and the thoracic surgery Department of West China Hospital of Sichuan University had the highest total number of publications, with 14 articles. The cooperation among institutions was not close, and there was a lack of cooperation with universities and scientific research institutions. Through keyword co-occurrence and clustering and timeline view analysis, it was concluded that the research hotspots in this field were pulmonary rehabilitation of patients with different chronic respiratory diseases, the influence of pulmonary rehabilitation on lung function and quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the intervention methods of pulmonary rehabilitation. The future trend was predicted as the clinical application value of pulmonary rehabilitation in the treatment of lung cancer.Conclusions:At present, pulmonary rehabilitation research is in a stable development period. However, the cooperation between domestic authors and institutions is not close enough compared with foreign countries. In the future, China should strengthen the communication and cooperation between research teams, and learn from foreign research results to further develop the application of pulmonary rehabilitation in lung cancer patients, to promote the development of pulmonary rehabilitation research in China.

Construction of hiPSC-derived Excitatory Neural Network-like Tissue / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ObjectiveTo construct a neural network-like tissue with the potential of synaptic formation in vitro by seeding human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural precursor cells （hiPSC-NPCs） on decellularized optic nerve （DON）， so as to provide a promising approach for repair of nerve tissue injury. MethodsThrough directional induction and tissue engineering technology， human induced pluripotent stem cells （hiPSCs） and 3D DON scaffolds were combined to construct neural network-like tissues. Then the hiPSCs were directionally induced into human neural precursor cells （hNPCs） and neurons. Immunofluorescence staining was used to identify cell differentiation efficiency. 3D DON scaffolds were prepared. Morphology and cytocompatibility of scaffolds were identified by scanning electron microscopy and Tunnel staining. Induced hiPSC-NPCs were seeded on DON scaffolds. Immunofluorescence staining， scanning electron microscopy， transmission electron microscopy and patch clamp were used to observe the morphology and functional identification of constructed neural network tissues. Results①The results of immunofluorescence staining suggested that most of hiPSC-NPCs differentiated into neurons in vitro. We had successfully constructed a neural network dominated by neurons. ② The results of scanning electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry suggested that a neural network-like tissue with predominating excitatory neurons in vitro was successfully constructed. ③The results of immunohistochemical staining， transmission electron microscopy and patch clamp indicated that the neural network-like tissue had synaptic transmission function. ConclusionA neural network-like tissue mainly composed of excitatory neurons has been constructed by the combination of natural uniform-channel DON scaffold and hiPSC-NPCs， which has the function of synaptic transmission. This neural network plays a significant role in stem cell derived replacement therapy， and offers a promising prospect for repair of spinal cord injury （SCI） and other neural tissue injuries.

Metabolomic strategies and biochemical analysis of the effect of processed Rehmanniae radix extract on a blood-deficient rat model.

BACKGROUND: Rehmanniae Radix (RR), an herb with numerous pharmacological effects, is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of blood deficiency syndrome, either alone or in combination with other herbs. However, the mechanism by which processed Rehmanniae Radix (PRR) improves blood enrichment efficacy has not been clearly defined. METHODS: Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) and biochemical methods were combined to explore the hematopoietic functional mechanisms of PRR on blood deficiency in a rat model, as well as the potential active ingredient for blood enrichment efficacy. The pharmacological effects of PRR were evaluated on a rat blood deficiency model induced by cyclophosphamide in combination with 1-acetyl-2-phenylhydrazine. The blood routine index, including white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), and platelet (PLT) counts, as well as hemoglobin (HGB) level, and the changing metabolite profile based on urine and serum were assessed. Nontargeted metabolomic studies, combined with biochemical analyses, were employed to clarify pharmacological mechanisms. RESULTS: PRR significantly increased the blood routine index levels and reversed the levels of SOD, GSH, and ATP. The PRR group was similar to the control group, as determined from the metabolic profile. All of the 60 biomarkers, representing the typical metabolic characteristics of the blood-deficient rat model, mainly involved energy metabolism dysfunction, the peripheral circulation system, and oxidative damage in the body. This improvement may be attributed to changes in polysaccharide and sixteen non-polysaccharide compounds in PRR, which were caused by processing RR with rice wine. CONCLUSIONS: The strategies of integrated metabolomic and biochemical analyses were combined, revealing the biological function and effective mechanism of PRR.

Mechanisms of baicalein inhibiting metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma through ERK/ELK-1/Snail signaling pathway / 药学学报

This study aims to investigate the effect of baicalein on the metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells, and to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms. Wound healing and Transwell migration and invasion assays were performed to detect the effect of baicalein on the migration and invasion of EC9706 and KYSE30 cells; the nude mice models of lung metastasis were applied to examine the function of baicalein in metastasis of ESCC by using KYSE30 cells. All animals were received humane care according to the Institutional Animal Care Guidelines approved by the Experimental Animal Ethical Committee of Henan University. Western blot assay was used to detect the protein levels of ERK/ELK-1/Snail signaling pathway. The data showed that baicalein significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of EC9706 and KYSE30 cells; Mechanistically, baicalein treatment led to a dramatically reduced expression of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2, T202/Y204), p-ETS-domain containing protein-1 (p-ELK-1, S383), Snail, N-cadherin, and Vimentin, and a statistical increase of E-cadherin expression in EC9706 and KYSE30 cells; Furthermore, the inhibition of ERK1/2 by U0126 or siRNA remarkably enhanced the effect of baicalein on the above proteins. In summary, baicalein probably inhibits the migration, invasion, and metastasis of ESCC cells via blocking the ERK/ELK-1/Snail signaling pathway.

A study of motivational interviews based on Timing Theory on the parents of children with infantile spasms / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective:To explore the intervention effect of motivational interviews based on timing theory on self-efficacy, negative affect and coping styles of parents with infantile spasms children.Methods:Cluster sampling was used to select 82 parents of infantile spasms hospitalized in the Department of Neurology of a children’s hospital, a three-A hospital from January 2019 to October 2019. They were divided into control group and observation group with 41 cases each according to random number table. The control group received routine health education, and the observation group received five motivational interviews based on timing theory interventions on the basis of routine care. The effect of the intervention was evaluated by General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Chinese version of Coping Health Inventory for Parents (CHIP) before intervention, on the day of discharge, and 3 months after discharge.Results:Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the scores of GSES, HADS and CHIP scales between the parents of the two groups ( P>0.05). After intervention, The GSES scores of the observation group on the day of discharge and 3 months after discharge were (19.63±0.87) and (22.58±1.28) points, which were significantly higher than (18.92±0.74) and (19.46±1.25) points of the control group. The difference between both groups was statistically significant ( t values were -3.865, -10.926, P<0.01). HADS-A/HADS-D scores of the observation group on the day of discharge and 3 months after discharge were (12.50±0.82), (10.50±0.87) and (9.78±0.80), (8.63±0.87) points, respectively. The HADS-A/HADS-D scores of the control group on the day of discharge and 3 months after discharge were (12.92±0.74), (11.72±0.99) and (10.23±0.78), (9.38±1.04) points, respectively. The difference was statistically significant ( t values were 2.412-5.764, P<0.05 or 0.01). The observation group scores on CHIP subscales on the day of discharge and 3 months after discharge are higher than the control group, the difference was statistically significant (t values were -7.93--2.490, P<0.05 or 0.01). Conclusions:Motivational interviews based on timing theory can enhance parents’ self-efficacy, improve their negative emotions and family coping styles, and thereby promote the recovery of children.

[Duzhong Butiansu Capsules for improving fertility in male mice].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the improving effect of Duzhong Butiansu Capsules (DBC) on the fertility of male mice. METHODS: Forty-eight 4-week-old SPF male Kunming mice weighing 12－16 g were randomly divided into four groups of equal number, distilled water (DW) control, Shengjing Capsules (SJC), low-dose DBC and high-dose DBC, treated intragastrically with distilled water, SJC at 0.8 g/kg/d, DBC at 0.694 g/kg/d and DBC at 1.388 g/kg/d, respectively, all for 3 weeks. After 2 weeks of treatment, the male mice were mated with female ones at a 2∶1 ratio for 1 week. Then, all the male animals were sacrificed for observation of the morphological changes in the testis and epididymis by HE staining, detection of the sperm count and motility, coefficients of different organs and expression of the androgen receptor (AR) in the testis, measurement of the levels of E2, LH, FSH and T by ELISA, and determination of the concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine (Cr) and urea nitrogen (BUN) in the serum. At 1 week after mating, the female mice were executed and the number of pregnancies recorded. RESULTS: The pregnancy rate was significantly higher in the low- and high-dose DBC groups (70% and 75%) than in the DW control (54%). The weight-bearing swimming time was markedly longer in the low-dose DBC than in the DW control group (ï¼»394 ± 51ï¼½ vs ï¼»173 ± 17ï¼½ s, P < 0.01) but exhibited no statistically significant difference between the high-dose DBC (ï¼»266 ± 42ï¼½ s) and the latter groups (P > 0.05). Remarkable increases were observed in the low-dose DBC group, compared with the DW control group, in the counts of spermatogonia (77.8 ± 5.0 vs 25.7 ± 5.3, P < 0.01), spermatocytes (132.4 ± 8.9 vs 92.5 ± 10.7, P < 0.01) and mature sperm (734 ± 67 vs 481 ± 56, P < 0.01), as well as in both the low- and high-dose DBC groups in the AR expression (P < 0.01). The AST concentration was markedly higher in the high-dose DBC than in the DW control group (ï¼»44.2 ± 11.0ï¼½ vs ï¼»30.5 ± 13.7ï¼½ U/L, P < 0.05), but there were no statistically significant differences between the DW control and the low- or high-dose DBC groups in the levels of serum T, FSH, LH, E2, Cr and BUN (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Duzhong Butiansu Capsules could improve the fertility of male mice, which has provided some experimental evidence for the clinical application of the medicine.

Analysis of Pulmonary Microbial Diversity in Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer Based on High-throughput Sequencing Technology / 中国肺癌杂志

BACKGROUND@#The pulmonary microbiome is closely related to the occurrence of pulmonary diseases. The morbidity and mortality of lung cancer are relatively high in the world. It has been confirmed that lung microecology changes in lung cancer patients compared with healthy individuals. Furthermore, the abundance of some bacterial species shows obvious changes, suggesting their potential use as a microbial marker for the detection of lung cancer. The composition of the pulmonary microbiome in patients with different histological types of lung cancer has not been determined. We aim to study the correlation and difference of microbiome between different histological types of lung cancer.@*METHODS@#Illumina HiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology was used to sequenced the 16S rDNA V3-V4 region of bacterial in sputum samples of patients with advanced lung cancer.@*RESULTS@#It was found that Streptococcus, Neisseria and Prevotella were the main bacteria of lung cancer patients. Advantage bacterium group differ between different histological types of lung cancer. Adenocarcinoma (AD) group was dominated by Streptococcus and Neisseria, followed by Veillonella. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) group was dominated by Neisseria, followed by Streptococcus. Squamous carcinoma (SCC) group was dominated by Streptococcus, followed by Veillonella. Combined small cell lung cancer (C-SCLC) group was dominated by Streptococcus, followed by Prevotella.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The pulmonary bacterial microbiome of lung cancer of different histological types is different. This experiment enrichs the pulmonary bacterial microbiome data of lung cancer and fills the gap of pulmonary microbiome of small cell lung cancer.

Ellagic acid attenuates hypoxic-ischemic brain injury by alleviating autophagy / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To investigate whether ellagic acid (EA) attenuates hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) by down-regulating autophagy.METHODS:In vivo, Sprague-Dawley rats (n=17) were randomly divided into 3groups:5 rats for sham group, 6 rats for HIE group and 6 rats for HIE+EA pretreatment group.The rats in HIE+EA pretreatment group were treated with EA (10 mg/kg, 10 m L/kg, suspended in corn oil, ig).After 24 h of operation, the rats from each group were sacrificed and their brains were collected.TTC staining and HE staining were used to define the infarct areas and brain structure.The autophagy-related proteins beclin-1, P62, LC3-II/-I and Atg5 in the cortex in each group were compared by Western blot.In vitro, PC12 cells were divided into 3 groups:control group, Coand CoEA pretreatment group.Co800μmol/L was added to the PC12 cells to induce an anoxic environment.The PC12 cells were pretreated with EA at 8μmol/L and the cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay.The production of reactive oxidative species (ROS) in the cells was detected by flow cytometry with DCFH-DA staining.MDC staining and TM-RE staining were applied to reflect the extent of autophagy and the state of apoptosis, respectively.The autophagy-related proteins in PC12 cells were also investigated.RESULTS:In HIE group, 7-day-old rats were given the operations and the their large infarct areas in the hemisphere were observed by TTC staining.HE staining displayed the injured hemispheres which contained few neurons, and exhibited edema status and serious structural damage.EA pretreatment decreased the infarct area and alleviated the damage to hemisphere with more visible neurons, compared with HIE group.Compared with sham group, the levels of autophagy-related proteins Atg5, beclin-1 and LC3-II/-I in the cortex were increased (P<0.01) , and P62 protein expression was decreased (P<0.01) in HIE group.Compared with HIE group, the protein expression of Atg5, beclin-1 and LC3-II/-I was decreased (P<0.01) and P62 protein expression was increased in HIE+EA pretreatment group (P<0.01).In vitro, compared with CoPC12 cells in CoEA pretreatment group showed a lower ROS level.Moreover, the cells in CoEA pretreatment group exhibited higher mitochondrial membrane potential than that in CoMDC staining in Coshowed high value of fluorescence and increased number of autophagosomes.EA pretreatment reduced the number of autophagosomes and the extent of autophagy to protect PC12cells.Furthermore, the protein levels of Atg5, beclin-1 and LC3-II/-I in Cowere higher (P<0.01) , and the protein expression of P62 was lower (P<0.01) than those in control group.In CoEA pretreatment group, the protein levels of Atg5, beclin-1 and LC3-II/-I were decreased (P<0.01) and the protein expression of P62 was increased as compared with Co (P<0.01).CONCLUSION:EA pretreatment attenuates autophagy to protect the neurons against HIE injury.

23-Gauge pars plana vitrectomy and scleral buckle for the treatment of proliferative rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with inferior breaks / 眼科新进展

Objective To compare the safety and efficacy of 23-Gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and PPV combined with scleral buckling-PPV (SB-PPV) in proliferative rhegmatogenous retinal detachments with inferior breaks.Methods Retrospectively nonrandomized clinical case study was conducted in 70 patients with proliferative rhegmatogenous retinal detachment associated with inferior breaks between January 2013 and December 2016,including 39 eyes receiving SB-PPV procedures as the SB-PPV group and 31 eyes undergoing PPV procedures as the PPV group.And anatomical success rate for one procedure,lens trauma rate,retinotomy rate,postoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) outcome and intraocular pressure (IOP) were recorded and analyzed.Results The anatomical success rate for one procedure was 92.3％ (36/ 39) in the SB-PPV group and 74.2％ (23/31) in the PPV group,and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.035).The lens trauma rate was 2.6％ (1/39) in the SB-PPV group and 19.4％ (6/31) in PPV group,with the difference being statistically significant (P ＜0.05).The retinotomy rate was 5.1％ (2/39) in the SB-PPV group and 32.3％ (10/31) in the PPV group,and the difference approached statistically significance (P ＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the postoperative BCVA and IOP between the two groups (both P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion SB-PPV can increase the anatomical success rate for one procedure in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment associated with inferior breaks,and reduce retinotomy rate and lens trauma rate.

Expression of RASAL2 in hepatocellular carcinoma and the clinical significance / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To detect the expression of RA SAL2 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to investigate the association of RASAL2 expression with pathological characteristics and prognosis.@*METHODS@#Immunohistochemical SP method was used to detect the expression of RA SAL2 in 164 samples of HCC tissue and the adjacent tissue. Th e association of RA SAL2 expression with clinical features and prognosis was analyzed.@*RESULTS@#The expression of RASAL2 in adjacent tissue was significantly increased compared to that in HCC tissue (P0.05). The 5 years recurrence-free survival (RFS) in patients with low expression of RASLA2 was significantly reduced compared with that in patients with high expression of RASLA2 (P<0.001). Cox analysis showed that low expression of RASLA2 was the independent factor for recurrence and death in HCC patients after surgery (P<0.001).@*CONCLUSION@#Low expression of RRASAL2 is significantly associated with the poor prognosis of HCC, which is an independent factor for HCC prognosis.

Correlation between the expression of C-terminal tensin-like protein and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma / 中南大学学报(医学版)

Objective: To explore the correlation between the expression of C-terminal tensin-like protein (CTEN) and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Using immunohistochemistry, we detected CTEN protein level in samples of primary lesion and adjacent non-tumor lesion collected from 240 patients with HCC. The relationship between CTEN expression and clinicopathology, 5 year recurrent-free survival, or overall survival was evaluated by Chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier, or Cox regression analysis. Results: High CTEN expression was detected in 55% of hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and 20%of adjacent carcinoma tissues (P<0.001). CTEN expression was positively correlated with tumor diameter (P=0.022), venous invasion (P=0.007) or TNM stages (P=0.022). Five-year recurrence-free survival time (P<0.001) and overall survival time (P<0.001) in patients with high CTEN expression were signiifcantly less than those in patients with low CTEN expression. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the CTEN expression was an independent prognostic marker for HCC (all P<0.05). Conclusion: CTEN protein may play a role in the genesis and development of HCC, and it can function as a prognostic marker.

Relation between mismatch repair genes and colon cancer / 中南大学学报(医学版)

Mismatch repair (MMR) system is one form of DNA repair mechanisms, which plays an important role in rectifying the mismatch of base pairs, reducing gene mutations and keeping genome stability. Abnormal expression of MMR regulated by miRNA is closely related to the development of colon cancer. Functional defects of MMR (dMMR) with particular clinical characteristics can be used as a potential prognostic and predictive biomarker. This article reviews the relation between MMR system, miRNA and colon cancer.

The potential effects of linalool on enantioselective skin permeation of norgestrel / 药学学报

The purpose of this study is to investigate the enantioselectivity of norgestrel (NG) transdermal permeation and the potential influence of linalool and lipids on the enantioselectivity. In vitro skin permeation studies of NG across the excised rat skins were performed with Valia-Chien diffusion cells, and the permeation samples were analyzed by enantioselective HPLC. The possible enantioselective permeation of NG across intact rat back skin and lipids extracted rat back skin and the influence of linalool were evaluated. The skin permeation rate of dl-NG was two times higher than that of l-NG when donor solutions (EtOH/H2O 2 : 8, v/v) containing l-NG or dl-NG. It may be mainly attributed to the solubility discrepancy between enantiomer and racemate. The enantioselective permeation of dl-NG across intact rat skin was observed when the donor solutions containing dl-linalool. The permeation flux of l-NG was 22% higher than that of d-NG. But interestingly, the enantioselective permeation of dl-NG disappeared under the same experimental condition except that the lipid extracted rat skin was used. Attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of stratum corneum showed that the wave number for asymmetric CH2 stretching vibrations of lipids treated with dl-linalool was greater than that of the control. The results indicated that the enantioselective permeation of NG may be contributed by the interaction between dl-linalool and lipids. More than half of lipids were composed of ceramides. The stereospecific interaction maybe existed among chiral enhancer (linalool), lipids (ceramides) and/or chiral drugs (NG).

Molecular characterization of interferon regulatory factor 2 (IRF-2) homolog in pearl oyster Pinctada fucata.

Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) control many facets of the innate and adaptive immune responses, regulate the development of the immune system itself and involve in reproduction and morphogenesis. In the present study, the IRF-2 homology gene, PfIRF-2 from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata was cloned and its genomic structure and promoter were analyzed. PfIRF-2 encodes a putative protein of 350 amino acids, and contains a highly conserved N-terminal DNA-binding domain and a variable C-terminal regulatory domain. Comparison and phylogenetic analysis revealed that PfIRF-2 shared a relatively higher identity with other mollusk but relatively lower identity with vertebrate IRF-2, and was clustered with IRF-1 subfamily composed of IRF-2 and IRF-1. Furthermore, gene expression analysis revealed that PfIRF-2 involved in the immune response to LPS and poly(I:C) stimulation. Immunofluorescence assay showed that the expressed PfIRF-2 was translocated into the nucleus and dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated that PfIRF-2 could involved and activate interferon signaling or NF-κB signal pathway in HEK293 cells. The study of PfIRF-2 may help better understand the innate immune in mollusk.

Interleukin-17 in pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata): molecular cloning and functional characterization.

IL-17 from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata, one of mollusk, was identified and characterized, and its genomic structure and promoter were analyzed. The full-length cDNA of P. fucata IL-17 (PfIL-17) is 907 bp with an open reading frame of 585 bp encoding a putative protein of 194 amino acids. The deduced PfIL-17 contains a 19 amino acid signal peptide and a conserved IL-17 domain. Multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis revealed that PfIL-17 has lower similarity with other invertebrate IL-17 and was clustered with CgIL-17, but not clustered with other invertebrate IL-17. Gene expression analysis indicated that PfIL-17 took part in the immune response to LPS and poly(I:C) stimulation, and dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that PfIL-17 could active vertebrate target genes containing the NF-κB binding site and involve NF-κB signal pathway in HEK293 cells. Combined with the results mentioned above, it is suggested that PfIL-17 might involve and activate NF-κB signal pathway against extracellular pathogens.

Gene cloning and function analysis of cytokine-induced suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata.

Cytokine-induced suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family acts as a negative regulator of cytokine receptor signaling to control excessive cytokine effects and inhibit a variety of signal transduction pathways, particularly the Janus kinases/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway. In present study, SOCS-2 homolog (PfSOCS-2) from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata was cloned and its gene has no intron. Multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis showed that PfSOCS-2 was clustered with other mollusk SOCS-2. LPS or polyI:C challenge and gene expression analysis revealed that PfSOCS-2 involved the innate immune response against bacterial and viral infections and that induction of PfSOCS-2 was varied with the different challenge stimulations. Furthermore, Dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that PfSOCS-2 involved in the regulation of vertebrate target genes containing the IFN-stimulated response element or NF-κB binding site in vitro. These results indicated that SOCS-2 from P. fucata plays a regulatory role against the stimulation.

Gigabase-scale transcriptome analysis on four species of pearl oysters.

Pearl oysters have been found to secrete nacre and form pearls with good quality and significant commercial interest. However, the transcriptomic and genomic resources for pearl oysters are still limited. To improve this situation, transcriptome sequencing was conducted from four species of pearl oysters with Illumina HiSeq™ 2000. There were four gigabase-scale transcriptomes for four species of pearl oysters, ∼26.3 million reads with ∼2.37 gigabase base pairs (Gbp) in Pinctada fucata, ∼26.5 million reads with ∼2.39 Gbp in Pinctada margaritifera, ∼27.0 million reads with ∼2.43 Gbp in Pinctada maxima, and ∼25.9 million reads with ∼2.33 Gbp in Pteria penguin, respectively. After sequence assembly and blastx alignment, the numbers of annotated unigenes ≥200 bp were 33,882 in P. fucata, 30,666 in P. margaritifera, 26,420 in P. maxima, and 29,928 in P. penguin. Based on these annotated unigenes among four species of pearl oysters, CDSs were extracted and predicted and furthermore, analyses of GO and KEGG assignments were performed. In addition, 60 putative genes of growth factors and their receptors from four species of pearl oysters were predicted. This study established an excellent resource for gene discovery and expression in pearl oysters, but also offered a significant platform for functional genomics and comparative genomic studies for mollusks.

Expression of galectin-7 and S100A9 and development of cervical squamous carcinoma / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the correlation between the expression of galectin-7 and S100A9 with the development of cervical squamous carcinoma.@*METHODS@#Immunohistochemical SP staining was used to detect the expression of galectin-7 and S100A9 in 243 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or cervical squamous carcinoma. The association of clinical data with galectin-7 and S100A9 expression was examined.@*RESULTS@#The expression of galectin-7 and S100A9 in CIN and cervical squamous carcinoma was significantly different (P0.05). Expression of galectin-7 was associated with the survival rate of patients with cervical squamous carcinoma (P<0.05). Univariate analysis of Cox proportional hazards regression model revealed that the FIGO stage, lymph nodes metastasis, and the expression of galectin-7 were relevant to the 5 year survival rate of patients with cervical squamous carcinoma, which was confirmed by multiple analysis of Cox proportional hazards regression model.@*CONCLUSION@#Expression of galectin-7 and S100A9 is related with cervical the tumorigenesis of carcinoma, clinical stage, and lymph nodes of cervical squamous carcinoma. Galectin-7 is probably associated with the prognosis. The long-term survival of patients with cervical carcinoma may be associated with FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis, and the expression of galectin-7.