Ultrasound-mediated microbubble destruction enhances LMP-1 gene transfection into dendritic cells in vivo / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the transfection efficiency and the optimal conditions of delivering latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) gene to dendritic cells (DCs) by ultrasound exposure combined with contrast agent.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Human DCs were cultured in vivo and transfected with the recombinant plasmid pEGFP-C3-LMP1 under varying conditions including ultrasound intensities, exposure time and microbubble contrast agent concentration. The transfection efficiency was assessed by fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry, and the cell viability by trypan blue exclusion test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>An exposure time of 60 s at MI 1.0 with a microbubble contrast agent concentration of 20% resulted in the optimal effect of delivering the recombinant plasmid pEGFP-C3-LMP1 into the DCs, with a transfection efficiency of (14.37∓2.12)%. Over 90% of the transfected cells were viable after the transfection.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Microbubble contrast agent combined with ultrasound exposure can enhance the delivery of recombinant plasmid pEGFP-C3-LMP1 into the DCs.</p>

Determination of serum progesterone by isotope dilution gas chromatography mass spectrometry / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective To develop a candidate reference method for the measurement of progesterone in human serum.Methods The serum sample is mixed with the internal standard [3,4-~(13)C_2] progesterone.After extraction with n-hexane and purified by a aqueous solution of 2-Hydroxypropyl-?- cyclodextrin (HP-?-CD),the serum progesterone and labeled progesterone are converted to the 3-enol heptafluorobutyrate and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with selected ion monitoring.The concentration of serum progesterone is calculated by bracketing method.Results The results gave coefficients of variation (CVs) of 0.69% to 2.12%.The analytical recoveries ranged from 98.3% to 100.1%.The results of measuring certified reference materials of serum progesterone are agree with the target value.Conclusion The procedure for measuring progesterone in serum is a highly accurate and precise method and may be used as a candidate reference method for serum progesterone assays.