[Expression of secreted frizzled-related protein-1 in patient with oral submucous fibrosis]

Objective: To investigate the concentrations and clinical significance of secreted frizzled-related protein-1(SFRP1) insaliva and gingival crevicular fluid of patients with oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) as well as the expression of SFRP1 in patients' OSF buccal mucosa. Methods: Twenty OSF patients aged 20 to 40 years old were recruited and randomly divided into two experimental groups, of which were triamcinolone acetonide group and combined triamcinolone acetonide and salvia miltiorrhiza group, respectively. Ten healthy volunteers matchable in sex and age with the patients were recruited as control group. Concentrations of SFRP1 in saliva and gingival crevicular fluid were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay before and after a continuous treatment of 4 weeks. The visual analogue scale(VAS) pain scores and opening size were also recorded. The expression of SFRP1 in samples from OSF patients' buccal mucosa was also detected using immunohistochemical method. SPSS 16.0 was applied to analyze the results of the experiments. Results: The concentrations of SFRP1 in saliva and gingival crevicular fluid before treatment were (105.8±27.6) ng/L and (84.7±33.2) ng/L in triamcinolone acetonide group, and (86.6±23.2) ng/L and (97.0±23.2) ng/L in combining group, which were both significantly lower(P<0.01) than that in normal group([153.0±32.8] ng/L and [157.5±31.1] ng/L), respectively. The positive expression rate of SFRP1 in OSF group(10%[2/20]) was significantly lower than that of the control group(10/10)(P<0.01). After the treatment for 4 weeks, the concentrations of SFRP1 increased to (141.2±35.3) ng/L and (130.6±31.3) ng/L in triamcinolone acetonide group, and to (148.5±65.9) ng/L and (123.0±27.4) ng/L in combining group, which were both significantly higher than those of pre-treatment, respectively(P<0.01). Conclusions: The concentrations of SFRP1 in saliva and gingival crevicular fluid of OSF patients, which positively corelated to the expression of SFRP1 in OSF patients' buccal mucosa, were significantly lower than that of normal individuals and increased significantly after treatments of local injections of triamcinolone acetonide only or combined with salvia miltiorrhiza.

[An analysis of clinical features of celiac disease patients in different ethnic]

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the clinical features of different racial patients with celiac disease (CD) and analyze the disease prevalence, diagnosis and treatment in Chinese population.

METHODS

All the patients were diagnosed as CD and enrolled in Beijing United Family Hospital between January 2005 and July 2015.Clinical data including nationality, age, symptoms, endoscopic and pathological findings, outcome were collected and compared in patients from different countries.

RESULTS

A total of 87 patients were enrolled including 63 Caucasians, 18 Asian patients and 6 Middle East patients.The peak age of disease onset was 40-60 years old.Patients with typical symptoms such as chronic diarrhea and weight loss only accounted for 20.7%(18/87) and 9.2%(8/87) respectively.Some patients presented with nonspecific symptoms such as abdominal pain and bloating [32.2%(28/87)], even constipation [5.7%(5/87)].13.8%(12/87) patients were previously diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome.The incidence of abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea and constipation between Asians and Caucasians had no statistical significance (P>0.05); but the proportions of weight loss, growth retardation, iron deficiency anemia and dermatitis herpetiformis in Asian group were significantly higher than that in Caucasian group (P<0.05). IgA type of anti-gliadin antibody (AGA), endomysium antibody (EMA) and tissue transglutaminase antibody (tTGA) were dominant autoimmune antibodies in patients with CD, which accounted for 58.6%(51/87), 44.8%(39/87) and 36.8%(32/87) respectively.The endoscopy showed that the lesion of CD was mainly located in small intestine, with reducing severity from the proximal to the distal small intestine.The lesions of duodenal bulb and descending duodenum appeared more significant in Asian group.Accordingly pathological intestinal atrophy and the degree of intraepithelial lymphocytosis were more severe in Asian patients.All 87 cases took the gluten-free diet (GFD). Eighty-one cases received serological follow up and 8 with endoscopic intestinal biopsy.The celiac disease antibodies in 47 patients turned negative from 6-9 months after GFD treatment, while 34 patients turned negative from 12-18 months after GFD.All patients reported disease remission to some extent.After 1 year GFD treatment, the pathology of endoscopic intestinal biopsy in 8 patients showed significant improvement of villous atrophy and lymphocyte infiltration.

CONCLUSIONS

CD patients with typical clinical manifestations are not the majority.Serological celiac disease antibodies (AGA, EMA and tTGA) have a high diagnostic value.GFD treatment is effective on majority of celiac patients.Clinical manifestations, endoscopy, intestinal pathology, and response to GFD in Chinese patients are not the same as Caucasians.Clinicians need to pay attention to the differential diagnosis.

[Regulation effect of β-catenin pathway on TGF-β1 induced pulmonary pro-fibrosis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the regulation effect of β-catenin pathway on transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) induced pulmonary pro-fibrosis.

METHODS

The rat alveolar typeⅡ cells (RLE-6TN) were divided into four groups: A1.control group; B1.TGF-β1 group was treated with 5 μg/L TGF-β1; C1.pcDNA+ TGF-β1 group was transiently transfected with eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.0 (pcDNA) and followed by TGF-β1 treatment (5 μg/L); D1.F-(β-TrCP)-Ecad+ TGF-β1 group was transiently transfected with β-catenin protein knockout vector [F-(β-TrCP)-Ecad] and followed by TGF-β1 treatment (5 μg/L). After 24 hours, cells were observed under the inverted phase contrast microscope, then the expressions of E-cadherin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and fibronectin (Fn) in each group were measured by Western blot and the mRNA levels of Snail which was the downstream profibrotic transcription production in cell culture supernatants of each group were detected by real-time fluorescence quantification-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) .The rat alveolar macrophages (CRL-2192) were divided into five groups: A2.control group; B2.Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) group was treated by 20 μg/L IFN-γ; C2.TGF-β1+ IFN-γ group was treated by 20 μg/L IFN-γ with 10 μg/L TGF-β1; D2.F-(β-TrCP)-Ecad+ TGF-β1+ IFN-γ group was transfected with F-(β-TrCP)-Ecad and other dispose was the same as group C2; E2.WTβ-catenin+ TGF-β1+ IFN-γ group was transfected with WTβ-catenin and other dispose was the same as group C2.After 24 hours, protein levels of β-catenin in group A2, B2, C2 were determined by Western blot.Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA levels of each group were detected by RT-PCR.

RESULTS

The RLE-6TN cells of group B1, C1 showed a change in morphology to spindle-shaped cells, the cells of group D1 maintained a cobblestone morphology. Protein expressions of the fibroblast markers α-SMA and Fn, and mRNA expressions of the downstream profibrotic transcription production Snail of group B1, C1 were significantly higher than group A1, while protein expressions of the epithelial marker E-cadherin were significantly lower.The protein expressions of α-SMA, Fn and mRNA expressions Snail of group D1 were significantly lower than group C1 (0.352±0.076 vs 0.937±0.303, 0.319±0.072 vs 0.903±0.211, 3.675±0.642 vs 9.708±2.031), while the protein expressions of E-cadherin were significantly higher (1.482±0.227 vs 0.604±0.121) (all P<0.05). The steady state protein levels of β-catenin in CRL-2192 cells was low and β-catenin protein expressions of CRL-2192 cells in group A2, B2 and C2 had no significantly statistical differences.The mRNA expressions of iNOS of group B2 cells were significantly higher than group A2, C2, D2, E2 (64.95±4.47 vs 9.87±0.73, 21.32±2.41, 18.35±3.61, 22.87±3.14) (all P<0.01), the expressions of iNOS of group C2, D2, E2 were all higher than group A2 (all P<0.05), but there were no significant differences among group C2, D2 and E2.

CONCLUSIONS

Inhibition of β-catenin pathway inhibits TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and has no effect on its anti-inflammation effect.Therefore, β-catenin pathway regulates the pulmonary pro-fibrosis effect of TGF-β1.

Association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with end-stage renal disease and the development of high-turnover renal osteodystrophy in a Chinese population

Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; TaqI and ApaI) in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been identified as risk factors for the progression of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The purpose of our study was to confirm the reported association of these two SNPs with ESRD risk and progression of renal osteodystrophy in a Chinese Han population. A total of 452 ESRD patients and 904 matched-pair controls (based on age, gender, and body mass index) were included. Identification of VDR gene polymorphisms was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method with TaqI and ApaI restriction enzymes. There was no association of the TaqI polymorphism with ESRD risk. However, significant associations were seen between ApaI (rs7975232) polymorphism and ESRD risk in the heterozygote model (AC/ AA; P = 0.002; OR = 1.4, 95%CI = 1.14-1.83), homozygote model (CC/AA; P = 0.007; OR = 1.8, 95%CI = 1.17-2.85) genotypes for rs7975232, allelic model (P < 0.001; OR = 1.4, 95%CI = 1.15-1.64), dominant model (P = 0.001; OR = 1.5, 95%CI = 1.19-1.87), and recessive model (P = 0.046; OR = 0.6, 95%CI = 0.42-1.00) between cases and healthy controls Moreover, we found a significant correlation between the genotype and allele distribution of ApaI and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels, where allele C carriers have increased iPTH levels. The ApaI polymorphism in the VDR gene appears to be a susceptibility locus for ESRD in Chinese individuals, and allele C carriers may have an increased risk of high-turnover renal osteodystrophy.

[Study of the genes correlated with cyst calcification in patients with cystic echinococcosis]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the genes (biomarkers) correlated with cyst calcification in patients with cystic echinococcosis (CE), and to provide the evidence for the judgment on the patients' prognosis at molecular level.

METHODS

The liver tissues from 32 patients with liver CE (10 cases for mRNA microarray and 22 cases for real-time PCR analysis) and 11 patients with hepatic cystadenoma were collected from three hospitals in Ningxia from June, 2013 to December, 2014. A comparison of the different gene-expressions between five patients with calcified lesions and five cases with no calcification was carried out using Significant Analysis of Microarrays (SAM) to select a subset of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) . Fold-change analysis was used to assess the changes of the expression quantity in the same genes between two groups. The verification was conducted among the liver tissues from 22 patients with liver CE (11 in the group of calcified or 11 in that of non-calcified) by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). With GAPDH as a reference-gene and the liver tissues from 11 cases with hepatic cystadenoma as standardized control groups, the relative expressions of galecitin-4 (LGALS4) and acid ceramidase (ASAH1) in patients with calcified and non-calcified were calculated, respectively. The differences between two groups were compared using t'-test.

RESULTS

Five screened genes presented siginificantly different expressions all had showed the low-regulated expressions in the calcified group, with the most distinct low-regulation of LGALS4 and ASAH1 whose fold changes were 0.008 8, and 0.020 3, respectively. The verification by RT-qPCR illustrated that the relative expression of LGALS4 was showed at level of 0.49±0.27 amongst patients with calcified, and at level of 2.70±2.61 amongst non-calcified individuals,,indicating significant differences between two groups (t=-2.59, P=0.026); while the ASAH1 was relatively expressed at levels of 1.36±0.33 and of 1.68±0.67 amongst patients with calcified and non-calcified, respectively, showing insignificant changes statistically (t=-1.44, P=0.167). In the non-calcified group, both LGALS4 and ASAH1 genes expression quantities had a small fluctuation range, but with positively correlated trend (r=0.91, P=0.001), which indicated that a patient with the low LGALS4 expression quantity also had a relative low level of ASAH1 expression quantity.

CONCLUSIONS

Low expression quantity of LGALS4 and ASAH1 genes in patients with CE in the calcification might be potential biomarker for an indication of the disease self-healing.

The effects of bortezomib alone or in combination with 5-fluorouracil on proliferation and apoptosis of choriocarcinoma cells

PURPOSE

To investigate the effects of bortezomib alone and in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on proliferation and apoptosis in the human choriocarcinoma cell line JEG-3.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Cells were treated with bortezomib, 5-FU or with a combination. Proliferation and apoptosis were measured. NF-iB protein expression was examined using immunofluorescence.

RESULTS

Following treatment with ten nM bortezomib, rates of apoptosis were significantly higher than controls (p < 0.05) and NF-kB expression increased. 5-FU at 0.025 μg/ml or 0.25 μg/ml resulted in 60.1 ± 0.4% and 67.0 ± 0.2% growth inhibition, respectively, an increase compared to individual treatment (p < 0.05). Apoptosis in cells treated with bortezomib +5-FU was significantly higher than either treatment alone (p < 0.05). Inhibition of proliferation by the combination treatment was synergistic.

CONCLUSION

Bortezomib alone or in combination with 5-FU inhibited JEG-3 cell proliferation and induced apoptosis by increasing NF-kB expression. Combination treatment exerted synergistic effects on growth inhibition.

Espacios verdes urbanos y diversidad vegetal a diferentes escalas espacio-temporales: el ejemplo de Beijing, China

Pekín, la capital de China, es una de las urbes más pobladas y a la vez con una de las tasas de expansión urbana más rápidas del mundo. En el presente trabajo, se presentan los principales resultados tras una década de estudio de los cambios en la vegetación y diversidad vegetal urbana a lo largo de las diferentes unidades estructurales urbanas. La vegetación y la diversidad vegetal urbana se han estudiado a dos niveles: a nivel de paisaje (porcentaje de zonas verdes, grado de fragmentación) y a nivel de especie (estructura, composición y origen). En último lugar se discuten algunos aspectos relacionados con la metodología de estudio de la ecología urbana en Pekín.

Especies y comunidades vegetales del lago Poyang, el lago de agua dulce más grande de China

El estudio de la riqueza y la composición de especies vegetales de un humedal es esencial a la hora de estimar su importancia ecológica y sus servicios ecosistémicos, especialmente cuando éste está sujeto a perturbaciones humanas. El lago Poyang, situado en el curso medio del río Yangtsé (China central) constituye la mayor superfície de agua dulce del país. Alberga una elevada biodiversidad y proporciona hábitats importantes para la flora y fauna locales. En la actualidad existen planes de construir una presa que mantendrá el volumen de agua del lago estable. Sin embargo, y hasta la fecha, apenas existen estudios que hayan abordado la biodiversidad del lago y los posibles efectos negativos de la presa sobre ésta (y en especial sobre las especies endémicas y raras). Así pues, se ha llevado a cabo una intensa campaña de campo combinada con una búsqueda bibliográfica con el objetivo de evaluar la riqueza de especies y comunidades vegetales del lago Poyang y sus humedales asociados. Se han identificado un total de 124 familias, 339 géneros y 512 especies (incluyendo subespecies, variedades y formas) así como ocho comunidades vegetales dominantes, confirmándose así el papel de los humedales del lago Poyang como hotspot regional de biodiversidad. Resulta imperativo estudiar los efectos del represado sobre la vegetación, y, de manera especial, todo aquello concerniente a la protección de la biodiversidad local, el mantenimiento de los servicios ecosistémicos, el control de las especies invasoras y la restauración de los ecosistemas degradados.

Bioequivalence of fixed-dose combination RIN®-150 to each reference drug in loose combination

BACKGROUND

RIN(®)-150 is a fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablet containing rifampicin (RMP, 150 mg) and isoniazid (INH, 75 mg) developed for the treatment of tuberculosis.

SETTING

This study was conducted at a single center: the Pfizer Clinical Research Unit in Singapore.

OBJECTIVE

To demonstrate bioequivalence of each drug component between RIN-150 and individual products in a loose combination.

DESIGN

This was a randomized, open-label, single-dose, two-way crossover study. Subjects received single doses of RIN-150 or two individual reference products under fasting conditions in a crossover fashion, with at least 7 days washout between doses. The primary measures for comparison were peak plasma concentration (Cmax) and the area under plasma concentration-time curve (AUC).

RESULTS

Of 28 subjects enrolled, 26 completed the study. The adjusted geometric mean ratios of Cmax and AUClast between the FDC and single-drug references and 90% confidence intervals were respectively 91.63% (90%CI 83.13-101.01) and 95.45% (90%CI 92.07-98.94) for RMP, and 107.58% (90%CI 96.07-120.47) and 103.45% (90%CI 99.33-107.75) for INH. Both formulations were generally well tolerated in this study.

CONCLUSION

The RIN-150 FDC tablet formulation is bioequivalent to the two single-drug references for RMP and INH at equivalent doses.

Gefitinib maintenance therapy in Chinese advanced-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients with EGFR mutations treated with prior chemotherapy

The aim of this study was to determine the response of advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with or without EGFR mutations to platinum-based chemotherapy with or without gefitinib maintenance. Patients were treated with four cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with wild-type EGFR were observed (group 1; n=15). EGFR mutation-positive patients were randomly assigned to observation (group 2; n=7) or gefitinib maintenance (group 3; n=7). The median patient age was 59 years. The 1-year progression-free survival rates in groups 1, 2, and 3 were 6.7%, 28.6%, and 57.1%, respectively (p = 0.049); the 1-year overall survival rates were 53.3%, 57.1 %, and 100%, respectively (p = 0.111). The results indicate that patients with advanced-stage NSCLC with EGFR mutations have a better response to chemotherapy followed by gefitinib than chemotherapy alone and a better response to chemotherapy than wild-type patients.

KEYWORDS

chemotherapy, gefitinib, NSCLC, tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Effect of siRNA targeting EZH2 on cell viability and apoptosis of bladder cancer T24 cells

We investigated the effect of siRNA targeting enhancer of EZH2 on cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and apoptosis of human bladder cancer T24 cells. An siRNA-expressing plasmid targeting the EZH2 gene was transfected into T24 cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis were used to detect EZH2 expression at the mRNA and protein levels, respectively. Proliferation, invasion, and migration of T24 cells were examined in vivo using MTT, wound healing, and transwell chamber migration assays, respectively. Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide flow cytometric analysis was performed to determine cell apoptosis levels. Expression of EZH2 in T24 cells was suppressed at the mRNA and protein levels. Following transfection for 48 h, growth was inhibited by 37.9%, which was markedly lower than that in the negative control group (P < 0.05). Following a wound-healing assay for 24 h, transfected cell migration distance was 1.37 ± 0.12, which was markedly less than the horizontal migration distance of negative control group cells (P < 0.01). In addition, the cell invasion ability of EZH2- siRNA group cells decreased by 67% compared with negative control group cells (P < 0.01). Following transfection for 48 h, early- and late-stage apoptosis rates for T24 cells were 22.8 and 3.60%, respectively, which were higher than in the negative control group (P < 0.01). EZH2 gene silencing effectively suppressed the proliferation, invasion, and migration abilities of human bladder cancer cells, promoting apoptosis.

Effects of feeding lutein on production performance, antioxidative status, and milk quality of high-yielding dairy cows

This experiment was conducted to determine the influences of supplementing different levels of an additive containing lutein in the diet of Chinese Holstein lactating cows on production performance, antioxidative plasma metabolites, and milk quality. This study was performed on 60 multiparous Holstein dairy cows in peak lactation. The cows were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 homogeneous treatments, with lutein preparation (extracted from marigolds; effective lutein content was 2%) added at levels of 0, 100, 150, and 200 g/d per head, with the actual available amounts being 0, 2, 3, and 4 g of lutein/d per head, respectively. The experiment lasted for 13 wk, with the first week for adaptation. Milk yield and milk compositions were recorded weekly, and milk concentrations of lutein, dry matter intake, and antioxidative blood index were analyzed in the first, fourth, seventh, and thirteenth week of the study. The results showed that adding lutein in the diet had no effect on dry matter intake compared with the control group; however, it slowed down the trend of decline in milk yield, and had a linear incremental effect on milk yield with increasing concentration of lutein. Dietary lutein tended to quadratically increase the percentage of milk fat, and linearly increased milk lactose concentration, with the highest value when treated at 200 g of lutein preparation/d per head, and decreased somatic cell count, with the lowest values when treated with 150 and 200 g of lutein preparation/d per head. The concentration of lutein in milk linearly increased with the incorporation of the additive, with a value of 0.59, 0.70, 1.20, and 1.50 μg/100mL when treated with 0, 100, 150, and 200 g/d, respectively. Total plasma antioxidant capacity tended to linearly increase in cows fed lutein preparation, whereas plasma superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities did not differ significantly. In conclusion, addition of lutein in the diet could improve the production performance and health status of dairy cows.

Formation, structure and electrochemical performance of nano-sized Li2FeSiO4/C synthesized with the co-incorporation of citric acid and glucose followed by a two-step annealing

Nano-sized Li₂FeSiO₄/C composites are synthesized using a simple recipeviathe co-incorporation of citric acid and glucose with various molar ratios followed by a two-step annealing.

Radiosensitization of breast cancer cells by TRAIL-endostatin-targeting gene therapy

One of the key issues in cancer radiotherapy research is to sensitize tumor cells to the cell killing effects of ionizing radiation while leaving normal tissues intact. One potential approach to achieve this is gene-radiotherapy, i.e. a combination of radiation therapy and gene therapy. It is to choose certain exogenous radiation-inducible regulatory genes, for example, early growth response-1 (Egr-1), and transcript its downstream tumor-therapeutic genes under ionizing radiation so as to kill the tumor cells synergistically by the expressed gene products together after transfection and irradiation exposure. In this study, we engineered a plasmid encoding both TRAIL and endostatin under the control of the radiation-inducible Egr-1 promoter, and evaluated its anti-tumor efficacy in combination with radiotherapy. Our plasmid showed significant efficacy in up-regulating the levels of TRAIL and endostatin proteins after transfected into breast cancer cells and exposed to X-ray irradiation. The detected cellular effects in vitro manifested that TRAIL-endostatin-based gene therapy could enhance radiosensitizing effects in breast cancer cells in terms of tumor cell growth inhibition, promoting apoptosis and the induction of cell cycle arrest. In summary, our results suggest that TRAIL-endostain-targeting approach might be a promising method to sensitize solid tumors to radiation therapy.

Bioequivalence of fixed-dose combination Myrin®-P Forte and reference drugs in loose combination

BACKGROUND

Myrin®-P Forte is a fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablet containing rifampicin (RMP, 150 mg), isoniazid (INH, 75 mg), ethambutol (EMB) hydrochloride (275 mg) and pyrazinamide (PZA, 400 mg) developed for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB).

SETTING

This study was conducted at a single centre--the Pfizer Clinical Research Unit in Singapore.

OBJECTIVE

To demonstrate the bioequivalence of each drug component of the Myrin-P Forte FDC and the individual product in loose combination.

DESIGN

In a randomized, open-label, single-dose, two-way, crossover study, subjects received single doses of Myrin-P Forte or four individual products under fasting conditions in a crossover fashion with at least 7 days washout between doses. The primary measures for comparison were peak plasma concentration (C(max)) and the area under plasma concentration-time curve (AUC).

RESULTS

Of 36 subjects enrolled, 35 completed the study. The adjusted geometric mean ratios and 90% confidence intervals for C(max) and AUC values were completely contained within bioequivalence limits (80%, 125%) for all four drugs in both formulations. Both treatments were generally well tolerated in the study.

CONCLUSION

The Myrin-P Forte FDC tablet formulation is bioequivalent to the four single-drug references for RMP, INH, EMB hydrochloride and PZA at equivalent doses.

First Report of the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne arenaria Infecting Noni in China

Noni (Morinda citrifolia) is an important medicinal plant and its fruit and root are of high value. In recent years, noni has been cultivated widely on Hainan Island, China. A survey of eight commercial noni fields in four counties found that most fields had plants with symptoms consistent with damage caused by root-knot nematodes. Above-ground symptoms included reduced vigor, plant stunting, and chlorosis. Affected roots were galled, swollen, cracked, and rotten. Fruit loss associated with diseased plants was quantified as 85%. In each field, three samples were taken consisting of 15 cm wide × 20 cm deep soil (containing roots). The nematode population was extracted and quantified according to Barker (1). Nematodes were found in all soil and root samples with population densities ranging from 450 to 835 eggs and second-stage juveniles (J2s) per 200 g subsample of soil, and 685 to 985 eggs and J2s per 10 g sub-sample of fresh roots. Three single egg masses were respectively hand-picked from one sample of diseased noni roots and inoculated onto tomato plants grown with sterilized soil at 20 to 28°C in the greenhouse. After 8 weeks, nematodes were extracted from the roots of tomato plants and identified by morphology, enzyme analysis, and molecular characterization. Morphology of the female perineal patterns showed a low dorsal arch with large lateral lines separating the striae of the dorsal and ventral sectors, leading to the tail terminus; and wavy, coarse striae with forking at lateral lines and short irregular striae near the lateral lines. Enzyme analysis of the esterase phenotype was also typical of the A1 phenotype in M. arenaria. Based on the perineal pattern and esterase phenotype, the Meloidogyne species was identified as M. arenaria (Est A1) (3). Total genomic DNA was extracted from ca. 10 μl of packed second-stage juveniles (J2s) using the method of Cenis (2). The primers C2F3 (5'-GGTCAATGTTCAGAAATTTGTGG-3') and 1108 (5'-TACCTTTGACCAATCACGCT-3') (4) was used to amplify the intergenic region between COII and LrRNA genes of the mtDNA and an amplification product (1,700 bp) was obtained, similar to M. hispanica, M. incognita, and M. javanica. Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) have been reported to be cause disease on noni in Hawaii. However, to our knowledge, this is the first report of M. arenaria (Est A1) infecting noni in China. References: (1) K. R. Barker. Pp. 19 in: An Advanced Treatise on Meloidogyne. Vol. II, Methodology. K. R. Barker et al. eds. North Carolina State University Graphics, Raleigh, 1985. (2) J. L. Cenis. Phytopathology 83:76,1993. (3) P. E. Esbenshade and A. C. Triantaphyllou. J. Nematol. 17:6,1990. (4) T. O. Power and T. S. Harris J. Nematol. 25:1,1993.

Early decline and late restoration of spinal cord binding and transganglionic transport of isolectin B4 from Griffonia simplicifolia I after peripheral nerve transection or crush

Isolectin B4 from Griffonia simplicifolia I (B4) has a high binding affinity to a large population of unmyelinated primary sensory neurons (Wang et al., Neuroscience 62 (1994) 539-551). Using immunohistochemical techniques, binding and transganglionic transport of B4 in the spinal cord was investigated, both at short and long survival times, after sciatic nerve transection and ligation or crush in the adult rat. Nerve transection and ligation resulted in nearly complete disappearance of B4 immunolabelling in the sciatic nerve territory of the superficial dorsal horn after B4 binding, as well as after transganglionic transport of B4 by 2 weeks postinjury. Partial recovery of both B4 binding and B4 transport was found by 8 months, and nearly complete recovery by 16 months, indicating that reappearance of B4 binding is not critically dependent on peripheral reinnervation. Crush injury made by jeweller's forceps resulted in partial depletion of binding and transport by 2 weeks and a nearly complete recovery by 10 weeks. The results show that binding and transganglionic transport of B4 can be used to label dorsal horn connections of unmyelinated primary afferents during the process of regeneration after crush injury. Furthermore, as B4 binding and transport recover at long survival times in the absence of reestablished peripheral connections, the same techniques can be used to study central primary afferent connections at long survival times after nerve transection. Binding and transganglionic transport of B4 offer alternatives to the use of previous techniques such as transganglionic transport of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) to study central connections of fine primary afferents after injury.

Transcription levels of sirtuin family in neural stem cells and brain tissues of adult mice

Neural stem cells (NSCs) has been used as a well-known model to investigate apoptosis, differentiation, maintenance of stem cells status, and therapy of neurological disease. The C17.2 NSCs line was produced after v-myc transformation of neural progenitor from mouse cerebellar cortex. Sirtuin family plays important roles involved in neuronal differentiation, genomic stability, lifespan, cell survival. However, little is known about gene expression variation of sirtuin family in C17.2 NSCs, primary NSCs, and different brain tissues in adult mice. Here, we confirmed that the mRNA expression levels of sirt2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in E14.5 NSCs were significantly higher than in C17.2 NSCs, whereas that sirt 6 displayed an opposing mode. Moreover, a higher mRNA level of sirtuin family was observed in the adult mouse brain compared to C17.2 NSCs. In addition, histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors nicotinamide and Trichostatin A (TSA) were used to explore differential changes at the transcriptional level of sirtuins. Results indicated that the expression of sirt1, sirt5 and sirt6 was significant downregulated by nicotinamide treatment. Whereas, a significant downregulation in sirt1 and sirt3 and a significant upregulation in sirt2, sirt4, sirt6, and sirt7 were observed in the treatment of TSA. Thus our studies indicate different sirtuin mRNA expression profiles between C17.2 NSCs, E14.5 NSCs and brain tissues, suggesting the transcriptional regulation of sirtuin family could be mediated by different histone acetylation.