Effect of PPARγ agonist (rosiglitazone) on the secretion of Th2 cytokine in asthma mice

AbstractObjectiveTo explore the effect of PPARγ agonist (rosiglitazone) on the secretion of Th2 cytokines and the proportion of immune cell subsets in asthma mice.MethodsOvalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice were used to build asthma models. Those mice were divided into the normal control group, model group and rosiglitazone group. Differences of the changes in lung histopathology of mice in the three groups were observed through hematoxylin and eosin (HE) strain, and the numbers of the total cells, eosinophils and neutrophils in BALF of mice in the three groups were compared. ELISA and real-time PCR were employed to detect the protein levels of interleukin (IL)-5, IL-13, IL-4 and IL-10 and mRNA level, respectively. Flow cytometry number was implied to analyze the proportion of immune cell subsets in peripheral blood of mice.ResultsCompared with the mice in the control group, and mice of the model group, the infiltration of inflammatory cells in BALF increased, bronchial smooth muscle became thickened, a large amount of collagen deposited, the secretion of Th2 cytokine increased significantly, the ratio of regulatory T cells (Treg) decreased, the ratio of T17 cells rose distinctly; while in mice of the rosiglitazone group, the changes of their lung histopathology were improved obviously, the number of infiltration of inflammatory cells declined, the thickened smooth muscle relieved, the deposition of collagen decreased, the secretion of Th2 cytokine was inhibited, the ratio of Treg went up, and the increased of the ratio of T17 cells was inhibited but still not return to normal level.ConclusionsRosiglitazone can regulate the proportion of Treg and Th17 cells and inhibit the secretion of Th2 cytokines, which inhibit the airway inflammatory response for asthma mice effectively

An oligonucleotide microarray for microRNA expression analysis based on labeling RNA with quantum dot and nanogold probe

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important regulatory roles in animals and plants by targeting mRNAs for cleavage or translational repression. They have diverse expression patterns and might regulate various developmental and physiological processes. Profiling miRNA expression is very helpful for studying biological functions of miRNAs. We report a novel miRNA profiling microarray, in which miRNAs were directly labeled at the 3′ terminus with biotin and hybridized with complementary oligo-DNA probes immobilized on glass slides, and subsequently detected by measuring fluorescence of quantum dots labeled with streptavidin bound to miRNAs through streptavidin–biotin interaction. The detection limit of this microarray for miRNA was ∼0.4 fmol, and the detection dynamic range spanned about 2 orders of magnitude. We made a model microarray to profile 11 miRNAs from leaf and root of rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) seedlings. The analysis results of the miRNAs had a good reproducibility and were consistent with the northern blot result. To avoid using high-cost detection equipment, colorimetric detection, a method based on nanogold probe coupled with silver enhancement, was also successfully introduced into miRNA profiling microarray detection

Transgenic mice exhibiting inducible and spontaneous Cre activities driven by a bovine keratin 5 promoter that can be used for the conditional analysis of basal epithelial cells in multiple organs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cre/<it>lox</it>P-mediated genetic modification is the most widely used conditional genetic approach used in the mouse. Engineered Cre and the mutated ligand-binding domain of estrogen receptor fusion recombinase (CreER^T) allow temporal control of Cre activity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we have generated two distinct transgenic mouse lines expressing CreER^T, which show 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT)-inducible and spontaneous (4-OHT-independent) Cre activities, referred to <it>Tg(BK5-CreER</it>^<it>T</it><it>)I </it>and <it>Tg(BK5-CreER</it>^<it>T</it><it>)S</it>, respectively. The transgenic construct is driven by the bovine Keratin 5 promoter, which is active in the basal epithelial lineage of stratified and pseudo-stratified epithelium across multiple organs. Despite the difference in 4-OHT dependency, the <it>Tg(BK5-CreER</it>^<it>T</it><it>)I </it>and <it>Tg(BK5-CreER</it>^<it>T</it><it>)S </it>mouse lines shared similar Cre-mediated recombination among various organs, except for unique mammary epithelial Cre activity in <it>Tg(BK5-CreER</it>^<it>T</it><it>)S </it>females.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These two new transgenic mouse lines for the analysis of basal epithelial function and for the genetic modification have been created allowing the identification of these cell lineages and analysis of their differentiation during embryogenesis, during perinatal development and in adult mice.</p

Prenatal genetic diagnosis associated with fetal ventricular septal defect: an assessment based on chromosomal microarray analysis and exome sequencing

Objective: In the study, we investigated the genetic etiology of the ventricular septal defect (VSD) and comprehensively evaluated the diagnosis rate of prenatal chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and exome sequencing (ES) for VSD to provide evidence for genetic counseling.Methods: We carried out chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) on 468 fetuses with VSD and exome sequencing (ES) on 51 fetuses.Results: In our cohort, 68 (14.5%) VSD fetuses received a genetic diagnosis, including 61 (13.03%, 61/468) cases with chromosomal abnormalities and seven (13.7%, 7/51) cases with gene sequence variants. The detection rate of total pathogenic and likely pathogenic gene variations in the non-isolated VSD group (61/335, 18.2%, 55 by QF-PCR/karyotype/CMA + 6 by ES) was significantly higher than that in the isolated VSD group (7/133, 5.3%, 6 by QF-PCR/karyotype/CMA + 1 by ES, p = 0.000). The most common copy number variation (CNV) was 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome. Additionally, we found six previously unreported variants, which expanded the variation spectrum of VSD-related genes.Conclusion: In this study, CNVs and sequence variants were found in 13.03% and 13.7% of cases, respectively. ES can be recommended for fetuses with VSD without chromosome abnormalities and pathogenic CNVs, especially those that are combined with other ultrasound abnormalities

Prognosticators and Risk Grouping in Patients with Lung Metastasis from Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A more accurate and appropriate assessment of prognosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lung metastases arising from nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) have a relatively favourable prognosis. The purpose of this study was to identify the prognostic factors and to establish a risk grouping in patients with lung metastases from NPC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 198 patients who developed lung metastases from NPC after primary therapy were retrospectively recruited from January 1982 to December 2000. Univariate and multivariate analyses of clinical variables were performed using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Actuarial survival rates were plotted against time using the Kaplan-Meier method, and log-rank testing was used to compare the differences between the curves.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median overall survival (OS) period and the lung metastasis survival (LMS) period were 51.5 and 20.9 months, respectively. After univariate and multivariate analyses of the clinical variables, age, T classification, N classification, site of metastases, secondary metastases and disease-free interval (DFI) correlated with OS, whereas age, VCA-IgA titre, number of metastases and secondary metastases were related to LMS. The prognoses of the low- (score 0-1), intermediate- (score 2-3) and high-risk (score 4-8) subsets based on these factors were significantly different. The 3-, 5- and 10-year survival rates of the low-, intermediate- and high-risk subsets, respectively (P < 0.001) were as follows: 77.3%, 60% and 59%; 52.3%, 30% and 27.8%; and 20.5%, 7% and 0%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study, clinical variables provided prognostic indicators of survival in NPC patients with lung metastases. Risk subsets would help in a more accurate assessment of a patient's prognosis in the clinical setting and could facilitate the establishment of patient-tailored medical strategies and supports.</p

Model selection approaches for predicting future order statistics from type II censored data

[[abstract]]This paper studies a discriminant problem of location-scale family in case of prediction from type II censored samples. Three model selection approaches and two types of predictors are, respectively, proposed to predict the future order statistics from censored data when the best underlying distribution is not clear with several candidates. Two members in the location-scale family, the normal distribution and smallest extreme value distribution, are used as candidates to illustrate the best model competition for the underlying distribution via using the proposed prediction methods. The performance of correct and incorrect selections under correct specification and misspecification is evaluated via using Monte Carlo simulations. Simulation results show that model misspecification has impact on the prediction precision and the proposed three model selection approaches perform well when more than one candidate distributions are competing for the best underlying distribution. Finally, the proposed approaches are applied to three data sets.[[notice]]補正完

Identifikasi Dan Problematika Penggunaan Lahan Lingkungan Bantaran Sungai Terhadap Peraturan Pemerintah Dan Daerah Di Kota Banjarmasin

AIMS:The role of adoptive immunotherapy (AIT) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have received curative therapy is still not well illustrated. This timely meta-analysis aims to update the current evidence on efficacy and safety of AIT for patients with HCC who have received curative therapy. METHODS:We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and the Cochrane Library Through January 2017 for relevant studies. Mortality and tumor recurrence were compared between patients with or without adjuvant AIT. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS:Eight studies involving 1861 patients met the eligibility criteria and were meta-analyzed. Adjuvant AIT was associated with significantly lower mortality at 1 year (RR 0.64, 95%CI 0.52-0.79), 3 years (RR 0.73, 95%CI 0.65-0.81) and 5 years (RR 0.86, 95%CI 0.79-0.94). Similarly, adjuvant AIT was associated with significantly lower recurrence rate than curative therapies alone at 1 year (RR 0.64, 95%CI 0.49-0.82), 3 years (RR 0.85, 95%CI 0.79-0.91) and 5 years (RR 0.90, 95%CI 0.85-0.95). Short-term outcomes were confirmed in sensitivity analyses based on randomized trials or choice of random- or fixed-effect meta-analysis model. None of the included patients experienced grade 4 adverse events. CONCLUSIONS:This timely meta-analysis confirms the evidence that adjuvant AIT for patients with HCC after curative treatment lowers risk of mortality and tumor recurrence