Activation of renal tubular epithelial cells by monocytes/macrophages and the relative mechanisms

AIM: To observe the direct effects of peripheral blood monocytes/macrophages (MO/MAC) on renal tubular epithelial cells (RTEC),and further probe into the possible mechanisms. METHODS: Conditioned medium(M-CM) of human peripheral blood MO/MAC was collected and added to HK-2,a human renal proximal tubular cell line.After incubation with M-CM for 24 hours,HK-2 cells were detected for DNA synthesis by [³H]-TdR incorporation,osteopontin (OPN) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression by Western blot,and fibronectin(FN) secretion by ELISA.Furthermore,anti-TGFβ₁ neutralizing antibody and interlukin-10(IL-10) were used separately to antagonize the effects of M-CM on HK-2 cells. RESULTS: ①DNA synthesis,α-SMA expression and FN secretion were all increased in HK-2 cells when incubated with M-CM.②When adding with anti-TGFβ₁ neutralizing antibody (5 mg/L) in the M-CM,the degree of upregulation of α-SMA and FN in HK-2 cells was much lower than that stimulated by M-CM alone.③M-CM added with IL-10 (20 μg/L) had a weaker ability to induce the increasing in α-SMA expression and FN excretion in HK-2 cells, compared with M-CM itself alone.M-CM from MO/MAC preincubated with IL-10 caused a lower upregulation of α-SMA expression in HK-2 cells than M-CM from non-preincubated MO/MAC. CONCLUSION: MO/MAC can directly induce proliferation,transdifferentiation and extracellular matrix secretion in RTEC.TGFβ₁ and proinflammatory cytokines secreted by MO/MAC might be involved in the aboveeffects.     

Study on integrin-mediated albumin microbubbles adherence to activated leukocytes

AIM:To investigate the mechanism responsible for albumin microbubbles adherence to activated leukocytes. METHODS: In vitro studies were performed in which activated or nonactivated leukocytes were incubated with albumin microbubbles and observed under microscopy. The suspensions of leukocytes and microbubbles which contained or absented of integrins were analyzed with flow cytometry.RESULTS: A minimum of 50cells were identified under transillumination. 5 min after microbubbles were incubated with leukocytes, the number of cells interacting with microbubbles was greater for activated cells than for nonactivated cells(20.30±2.67 vs 4.50±1.43, P <0.01).Microbubbles attached to the surface of activated leukocytes were phagocytosed and remained intact for up to 30min. Microbubble attachment was inhibited notably by blocking the leukocyte β₂-integrin Mac-1(P <0.01) and by VLA-4mAb slightly(P <0.05) CONCLUSION: The mechanism of albumin microbubbles attaching to and phagocytosed by leukocytes was due to β₂-integrin and VLA-4 mediation. Phagocytosed microbubbles can remain at the regions of inflammation for15 min, also responsible to ultrasound.     

蔗渣滤泥培养料栽培平菇试验

以不同比例滤泥代替栽培料中的麦麸进行平菇栽培试验。结果表明 ,滤泥能替代栽培料中的麦麸。     

Antitumor effect of chlorophyllin in vitro

AIM: To study the effect and mechanism of chlorophyllin (CHL) inhibiting HT29 cells. METHODS: IC₅₀ value and growth curve of HT29 cells were detected with MTT method. Apoptosis was detected with Wright-Giemsa staining, FCM and DNA electrophoresis. Telomerase was detected by PCR-ELISA, and protein and mRNA expression of COX-2 gene were detected through RT-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: CHL inhibited the growth of HT29 in a dose-dependent manner. CHL blocked HT29 cells in G₁ phase but did not induce apoptosis. Different concentration of CHL inhibits the expression of telomerase and COX-2 in HT29 cells. CONCLUSION: CHL inhibited the growth of HT29 cells by inhibiting the expression of telomerase and COX-2 and blocking cells in G₁ phase.     

Regulation of MMP-2 and TIMP-3 expression by uPA signal transduction system in human bone giant cell tumor

AIM: To study effects of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) signal transduction on expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3) in giant cell tumor of bone (GCT). METHODS: Expression of uPAR, MMP-2 and TIMP-3 in GCT tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. Phosphorylation level of mitogen-activated protein kinase (p44) in uPA/uPAR signal pathway in cultured GCT cells was detected by immunoprecipitation. The expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-3 in cultured cells after treatment with uPA-ATF or anti-uPAR antibody was also detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: 1) Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) was positive on the cell membrane and in cytoplasm of some mononuclear stromal cells (MSCs) and multinucleated giant cells (MGCs); 2) MMP-2 was positive in the cytoplasm and on the cell membrane of almost all of MSCs and some of MGCs. The polar distribution of MMP-2 in the cytoplasm of MGCs was especially obvious; 3) The expression of TIMP-3 of some MSCs and MGCs in GCT was much lower than MMP-2. The positive signal also showed a prominent polarity; 4) After treatment with uPA-ATF, the phosphorylation level of p44 in GCT cultured cells was much higher than the control. Addition of anti-uPAR antibody in the cells remarkably down-regulated the phosphorylation level of p44 as compared with the control group, suggesting that uPA-ATF participates cell signal transduction and this reaction can be inhibited by anti-uPAR antibody; 5) uPA-ATF cell signal pathway up-regulated expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-3, while anti-uPAR antibody down-regulated the expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-3. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate for the first time that uPA-ATF directly regulates the expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-3 by signal transduction pathway, and the over-expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-3 may play an important role in local osteolysis of GCT.     

Comparison of different conditions inducing embryonic stem cells

AIM: To evaluate the different conditions inducing mouse embryonic stem cells (ESC) in vitro to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. METHODS: BRL conditioned medium was used to promote the growth of ESC and maintain them in an undifferentiated state. During the inducing process, retinoic acid (RA), DMSO, activin-A and TGF-β₁ were used as inducing reagents, and made up six kinds of differentiating medium. Then a three-step method inducing ESC cultured in hanging drops, in suspension and in plating was used to induce the differentiation of ESC. RESULTS: ESC were induced in vitro to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. Of all groups, the highest differentiating rate was observed in the group induced by activin-A (20 μg/L) and TGF-β₁ (2 μg/L). CONCLUSION: The inducing conditions including activin-A (20 μg/L) and TGF-β₁ (2 μg/L) is very valuable in inducing ESC differentiation into cardiomyocytes.     

Expression of DNA repair gene ERCC1 and its relationship with PAH-DNA adducts in lung cancer tissues

AIM: To investigate the expression of nucleotide excision repair gene ERCC1 and its relationship with PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)-DNA adducts in lung cancer tissues. METHODS: ERCC1 mRNA expression and the PAH-induced DNA adducts were detected in 150 lung cancer tissues, 120 adjacent lung tissues without cancer cells, 40 benign lung lesions and 40 normal lung tissues. The effects of some exposure factors on the expression of ERCC1 gene and the connection between ERCC1 and PAH-DNA adduct was analyzed. RESULTS: Reduced expression levels of ERCC1 were observed in 46 of 150 (30.7%) lung cancer specimens and 1 of 40 (2.5%) normal lung tissues. Smoking may suppress the expression of ERCC1 gene. The level of PAH-DNA adduct was negatively correlated with the expression of ERCC1 gene, the Spearman coefficient was -0.648, P<0.01. CONCLUSION: ERCC1 is an important nucleotide excision repair gene and may participate in the repair of DNA damage, such as PAH-DNA adduct. Low expression of ERCC1 may play an important role in the development of human lung cancer.     

华北农牧交错带退化草地土壤种子库动态变化

对华北农牧交错带不同退化演替阶段土壤种子库的数量和物种组成及与地上植被的关系进行了初步的研究,结果表明:农牧交错带草地在刈割和放牧等干扰下,发生逆行演替,土壤种子库中植物种类及种子数量呈递减的趋势,轻度退化类型土壤种子库物种组成最高,有23种植物,种子数量最多,有4 303粒,禾本科所占比例较大,为32.3%;而极度退化草地物种组成最低,有14种植物,种子数量仅有1 156粒,禾本科只占8.4%.草地逆行演替过程中植被与土壤种子库在物种组成上存在一定差别,中度退化阶段差别最大,有18种植物未在种子库中出现,极度退化阶段差别最小,有2种未在种子库中出现.     

H1N1猪流感广东株血凝素基因的克隆与序列分析

用RT-PCR方法扩增H1N1亚型猪流感病毒广东分离株A／Swine／GuangDong／711／2001HA基因，对其进行了克隆和测序。结果显示，HA基因全长1771bp．共编码579个氨基酸。A／Swine／Guang Dong／711／2001HA基因编码的氨基酸序列中有8个糖基化位点，5个位于HAl基因的第27、28、40、104和287位点，3个位于HA2基因的21、153和213位点。与H1N1亚型猪流感经典毒株比较后发现，血凝素糖基化位点并不是高度保守的。将A／Swine／Guang Dong／711／2001与自Gen Bank读取的1918年人流感毒株A／South Carolina／1／18、1991年人流感毒株A／MD／12／91和1997年猪流感毒株A／Swine／Wisconsin／238／97等进行核苷酸同源性比较分析，A／Swine／Guang Dong／711／2001与A／SouthCarolina／1／18、A／MD／12／91和A／Swine／Wisconsin／238／97等毒株的核苷酸同源性分别为93．9％、94．7％和93．9％。从系统发生树来看，A／Swine／Guang Dong／711／2001与A／South Carolina／1／18和A／Swine／Wisconsin／238／97的亲缘关系相近。     

表达H3N2亚型猪流感病毒HA基因重组伪狂犬病病毒的构建

将SV40启动子控制下的LacZ基因表达盒和CMV启动子控制下的H3N2亚型猪流感病毒（SIV H3N2）的HA基因插入到伪狂犬病病毒（PRV）通用转移载体pBdTK-Uni中，获得转移载体pLTK-HA。将该载体与PRV Bartha-K61株基因组DNA通过脂质体法共转染Vero细胞，经过10代蓝斑筛选、纯化和PCR鉴定获得了一株插入SIV HA基因的重组伪狂犬病病毒，命名为rPRV-HA。Western blotting和间接免疫荧光试验证实HA基因在重组病毒感染的细胞中获得了表达。用不同的细胞（PK-15、IBRS-2、Vero和鸡胚成纤维细胞）对该重组病毒与亲本病毒的增殖滴度和致细胞病变进行比较，未见显著差异，对第30代重组病毒的HA基因进行序列分析，表明该重组病毒遗传性状稳定。