Traditional Chinese Medicine in Neuroprotection after Brain Insults with Special Reference to Radioprotection

With rapidly increased construction of nuclear power plants worldwide to reduce energy shortage and subsequent environment contamination, routine use of radiotherapy and radiodiagnosis equipment in the clinical medicine, the research on the health effect of radiation exposure has become a very important area to explore. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may be an ideal candidate therapy as it usually produces fewer side effects even with long-term administration. In this paper, we reviewed current therapeutic approaches to prevent radiation-induced brain neuropathological and functional changes. Neuroprotective effects of TCM in different brain injury models have been briefly summarized. We then reviewed the neuroprotective and radioprotective effect of TCM in different radiation exposure models and discussed the potential molecular mechanism(s) of the neuroprotective and radioprotective effect of TCM. The conclusions and future research directions were made in the last part of the paper.

Therapeutic effectiveness of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell administration against acute pulmonary thromboembolism in a mouse model

INSTRUCTION

Acute pulmonary thromboembolism (APTE) is a common clinical condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although promising, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) treatment for thrombus resolution remains controversial. The therapeutic effectiveness of BMSC against APTE has not been evaluated. This study aims to determine whether BMSCs administration is effective in mouse model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Therapeutic efficacy of female and male BMSCs were evaluated by applying serial sectioning analysis method for the whole lungs of APTE mice and calculating each thrombus size in volume. Plasmid construction and stable transfection were used to manipulate expression of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in both genders of BMSCs. Western blot were performed to detect GAPDH and urokinase plasminogen activator expression in BMSCs.

RESULTS

Our data showed, 1) compared with non-serial sectioning method, the serial sectioning method detected more thrombi, larger size ranges of thrombus area, and the volume of each individual thrombus. 2) BMSCs significantly decreased the thrombi size in APTE mice, with female BMSCs superior to male ones. 3) female BMSCs showed a higher GAPDH protein level and manipulations of GAPDH expression in female or male BMSCs profoundly affected their therapeutic efficacies as well as urokinase plasminogen activator expression.

CONCLUSION

This study indicates serial-sectioning analysis method is necessary for evaluating APTE and provides strong evidences for BMSCs possessing therapeutic effectiveness against APTE, with female BMSCs superior to male counterparts. GAPDH played a critical role in the superior function of female BMSCs, possibly by regulating the expression of urokinase plasminogen activator.

Cell‑cell fusion as an important mechanism of tumor metastasis (Review)

Cell‑cell fusion is a dynamic biological phenomenon, which plays an important role in various physiological processes, such as tissue regeneration. Similarly, normal cells, particularly bone marrow‑derived cells (BMDCs), may attempt to fuse with cancer cells to rescue them. The rescue may fail, but the fused cells end up gaining the motility traits of BMDCs and become metastatic due to the resulting genomic instability. In fact, cell‑cell fusion was demonstrated to occur in vivo in cancer and was revealed to promote tumor metastasis. However, its existence and role may be underestimated, and has not been widely acknowledged. In the present review, the milestones in cell fusion research were highlighted, the evidence for cell‑cell fusion in vitro and in vivo in cancer was evaluated, and the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which cell‑cell fusion occurs was summarized, to emphasize their important role in tumor metastasis. The summary provided in the present review may promote further study into this process and result in novel discoveries of strategies for future treatment of tumor metastasis.

Matrine Suppresses Proliferation and Invasion of SGC7901 Cells through Inactivation of PI3K/Akt/uPA Pathway

This study was to examine the inhibitory effect of matrine on the proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer cells, and to explore the possible mechanisms involved in these processes. MTT was used to evaluate the proliferation ability of SGC7901 cells. A two and three-dimensional cell migration assay were performed to determine the effect of matrine on the migration of SGC7901 cells. Then, the changes of the uPA protein and other possible signal molecules were detected by western blot. We found that the proliferation ability of SGC 7901 cells was suppressed by matrine (p<0.05), and the average cell migration velocity was also significantly inhibited by matrine when compared to the control in a two-dimensional cell migration assay. In addition, SGC7901cells treated with matrine (50μg/ml) migrated less than the control cells in a three-dimensional cell migration assay. At the meantime, the decreased uPA protein expression in SGC7901 cells treated with matrine was observed, and the PI3K/Akt pathway was inhibited. These results suggested that matrine can inhibit the proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer cells through the PI3K/Akt/uPA pathway, indicating that matrine might be a potential molecular target for treatment of gastric carcinoma.