[Effect of penetrating needling at head acupoints on perennial allergic rhinitis].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects and safety of penetrating needling on head acupoints for perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR). METHODS: Eighty-one cases of PAR were randomly divided into an acupuncture group (41 cases) and a medication group (40 cases). Penetrating needling at head acupoints was adopted from Baihui (GV 20) to Qianding (GV 21) and from Shangxing (GV 23) to Shenting (GV 24) in the acupuncture group. A to tal 4-week treatment was given to the patients with 3 treatments a week. Loratadine tablet and azelastine hydrochloride nasal spray were given to the medication group continuously for 12 days. A follow-up was carried out 3 months after the treatment. The efficacy, symptom score and physical sign score, and side accidents were observed in both groups. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 95.1% (39/41) in the acupuncture group, which was better than 82.5% (33/40) in the medication group (P < 0.05). The total scores of clinical symptoms and each partial scores after the treatment, and total scores of clinical symptoms in follow-up were obviously decreased in both groups (all P < 0.01), the nasal obstruction score and the total scores of clinical symptoms in the acupuncture group were better than those in the medication group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). Obvious side-effect had not been found during the treatment. CONCLUSION: Penetrating needling at head acupoints is a safe therapy for patients with PAR, and favorable effects can be found in both short term and long term.

Spatiotemporal expression of D10Wsu52e in the developing mouse pancreas.

D10Wsu52e is a recently discovered and highly conserved mouse gene. FAAP, the protein encoded by D10Wsu52e, participates in regulation of integrin-based focal adhesions. To explore the function of FAAP in pancreas development, we assessed the spatiotemporal expression of D10Wsu52e, paxillin and vinculin in the developing mouse pancreas through quantitative RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and histochemistry methods. Our results show that, at e9.5 and e10.5, D10Wsu52e mRNA is mainly expressed in the brain, optic vesicles, otic vesicles, limb buds, somites and gut, and also in the pancreatic buds at e10.5. Subsequently, D10Wsu52e mRNA is expressed mainly in the epithelial progenitors at e12.5, then decreases in the endocrine precursors and ductal cells, whereas still maintains in the exocrine precursors until e15.5. At e17.5, D10Wsu52e mRNA is highly expressed in exocrine acinar cells, but weakly in ductal and endocrine cells. Furthermore, the expression patterns of paxillin and vinculin mRNAs are similar to D10Wsu52e from e12.5 to e15.5, which suggests that D10Wsu52e may be related to the acinar development, adhesion and migration of progenitors and endocrine precursors.

Identification and characterization of Bmi-1-responding element within the human p16 promoter.

Bmi-1, the first functionally identified polycomb gene family member, plays critical roles in cell cycle regulation, cell immortalization, and cell senescence. Bmi-1 is involved in the development and progression of carcinomas and is a potent target for cancer therapy. One important pathway regulated by Bmi-1 is that involving two cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, p16(Ink4a) and p19(Arf), as Bmi-1 represses the INK4a locus on which they are encoded. A close correlation between the up-regulation of Bmi-1 and down-regulation of p16 has been demonstrated in various tumors; however, how Bmi-1 regulates p16 expression is not clear. In this study, we revealed that Bmi-1 regulates the expression of p16 by binding directly to the Bmi-1-responding element (BRE) within the p16 promoter. The BRE resided at bp -821 to -732 upstream of the p16 ATG codon. BRE alone was sufficient to allow Bmi-1-mediated regulation of the CMV promoter. Bmi-1 typically functions by forming a complex with Ring2; however, regulation of p16 was independent of Ring2. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing of Bmi-1-precipitated chromatin DNA revealed that 1536 genes were targeted by Bmi-1, including genes involved in tissue-specific differentiation, cell cycle, and apoptosis. By analyzing the binding sequences of these genes, we found two highly conserved Bmi-1-binding motifs, which were required for Bmi-1-mediated p16 promoter regulation. Taken together, our results revealed the molecular mechanism of Bmi-1-mediated regulation of the p16 gene, thus providing further insights into the functions of Bmi-1 as well as a sensitive high-throughput platform with which to screen Bmi-1-targeted small molecules for cancer therapy.

Nuclear entry of active caspase-3 is facilitated by its p3-recognition-based specific cleavage activity.

As a critical apoptosis executioner, caspase-3 becomes activated and then enters into the nucleus to exert its function. However, the molecular mechanism of this nuclear entry of active caspase-3 is still unknown. In this study, we revealed that caspase-3 harbors a crm-1-independent nuclear export signal (NES) in its small subunit. Using reverse-caspase-3 as the study model, we found that the function of the NES in caspase-3 was not disturbed by the conformational changes during induced caspase-3 activation. Mutations disrupting the cleavage activity or p3-recognition site resulted in a defect in the nuclear entry of active caspase-3. We provide evidence that the p3-mediated specific cleavage activity of active caspase-3 abrogated the function of the NES. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that during caspase-3 activation, NES is constitutively present. p3-mediated specific cleavage activity abrogates the NES function in caspase-3, thus facilitating the nuclear entry of active caspase-3.

[Cell lineage tracing of regenerating cells after partial pancreatectomy using pseudo-type retrovirus].

Pancreas is an important mixed gland having both endocrine and exocrine functions, and has been proven regeneration after injury. To explore the cell lineage tracing methods in pancreas in vivo and the regenerate cells source, we used pseudo-type retrovirus to transfect adult mouse pancreas which had been partially pancreatectomized by rubbing the kerf using a cotton stick saturated with retrovirus suspension then injecting 100 microL retrovirus suspension into pancreas, injecting 100 microL retrovirus by caudal vein, or interperitoneally injecting retrovirus respectively. The results showed that the method of rubbing the kerf then injection of retrovirus suspension into pancreas could more effectively mark the pancreatic cells than the caudal vein injection and the intraperitoneal injection did in vivo. Furthermore, this study also found that some acinus cells could accept injury stimulus signals to regenerate through resuming mitosis after pancreatic injury. This study establishes a cell lineage tracing method in pancreas in vivo using retrovirus and offers a clue for gene therapy of pancreatic diseases using retrovirus vectors.

[Advances in the study of stem cell niche].

A stem cell niche is defined as the microenvironment surrounding stem cells, and it is generally composed of adjacent cells, adhensive molecules, extracellular matrix, and so on. Stem cells in different tissues differ in their niches. Stem cell niches regulate stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. According to the recent studies in stem cell niches, this review summarizes on the constitution and function of germ-line stem cells niche in fruit, hematopoietic stem cell niche, intestinal stem cell niche, hair follicle epidermal stem cell niche and neural stem cell niche in mammals, and discusses the internal mechanism of niches'action on stem cells.