Clinical Significance of Truncated Mutant ΔJBP of TET2 Gene in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To the clinical characteristics and prognostic value of the patients with complete deletion of TET_JBP domain (ΔJBP) in TET2 acute myeloid leukemia (AML).@*METHODS@#Next Generation Sequencing technology was used to determine the mutations of 34 AML-related genes (including TET2 gene). The I-TASSER tool was used to predict the tertiary structure of the full-length TET2 protein and TET_JBP structure deletion.@*RESULTS@#Among 38 AML patients with TET2 mutations, 22(57.9%) showed truncation mutations, of which 16 (72.7%) produced TET2ΔJBP truncation mutants. Protein structure prediction showed that the deletion of TET_JBP domain lead to the significant changes of tertiary structure in TET2 protein. Compared with the patients in non-ΔJBP group, the age of patients in ΔJBP group were older (63 vs 54 years old, P=0.047), and the occurrence rate of CEBPA double mutation (CEBPA@*CONCLUSION@#AML patients with TET2ΔJBP truncation mutant shows lower CR rate, shorter EFS and OS after induction chemotherapy, which may be related to the poor prognosis, and co-mutation with CEBPA

Flos Albiziae aqueous extract and its active constituent quercetin potentiate the hypnotic effect of pentobarbital via the serotonergic system.

Flos albiziae (FA) is reportedly used for treatment of insomnia and anxiety in traditional medicine. The hypnotic effect of an extract of FA (FAE) and its constituent quercetin [2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-trihydroxy-4H-chromen-4-one, QR] was examined in mice. QR is a widely distributed natural flavonoid abundant in FA flowers and other tissues. The possible mechanisms underlying the hypnotic effects of FAE and QR were investigated using behavioral pharmacology. FAE and QR significantly potentiated pentobarbital-induced [50 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (ip)] sleep (prolonged sleeping time; shortened sleep latency) in a dose-dependent manner, and these effects were augmented by administration of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a precursor of 5-hydroxytryptamine. With a sub-hypnotic dose of pentobarbital (28 mg/kg, ip), FAE and QR significantly increased the rate of sleep onset and were synergistic with 5-HTP (2.5 mg/kg, ip). Pretreatment with p-chlorophenylalanine, an inhibitor of tryptophan hydroxylase, significantly decreased sleeping time and prolonged sleep latency in pentobarbital-treated mice, whereas FAE and QR significantly reversed this effect. Data show that FAE and QR have hypnotic activity, possibly mediated by the serotonergic system. The present study offers a rationale for the use of FA in treating sleep disorders associated with serotonin system dysfunction.

Low-frequency stimulation of the tuberomammillary nucleus facilitates electrical amygdaloid-kindling acquisition in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Histamine plays a suppressive role in seizure. The tuberomammillary nucleus (TM) is the only locus of histaminergic neurons in the brain. To determine whether deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the TM provides protection against seizures, we tested the effects of low-frequency stimulation (LFS, 1 Hz), high frequency stimulation (HFS, 100 Hz), and electrolytic lesions of the TM on seizures generated by amygdaloid kindling, pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) and maximal electroshock (MES) in rats. LFS of TM accelerated the progression of behavioral seizure stage and increased the mean afterdischarge duration (ADD) during acquisition of amygdaloid-kindling seizures, but had no considerable anticonvulsive effect in fully kindled animals. It augmented the MES-induced seizures as well, but had no appreciable effects on PTZ-kindled seizures. In addition, both HFS and bilateral lesions of the TM exacerbated the progression of amygdaloid-kindling seizures. These results suggest that specific negative sites for DBS exist in the brain, such as the TM. This study indicates that it is crucial to choose a suitable target for DBS in the clinical treatment of epilepsy.