Effect of triterpene acids of Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. leaf and MAPK signal transduction pathway on inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in alveolar macrophage of chronic bronchitis rats

The goal of this study was to investigate the possible therapy mechanism of triterpene acids of Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. Leaf (TAL) in alveolar macrophage (AM) of chronic bronchitis (CB) rats. CB model was established by injection of bacillus calmette guein (BCG) plus lipopolisacharide (LPS) in rats. TAL significantly inhibited the increased NO concentration, iNOS expression and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in alveolar macrophages (AMs) of CB rats. Using in vivo test, we found that SB203580, a p38 MAPK inhibitor, (10 muM) significantly inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression in AM. This data indicate that TAL highly decreases excessive iNOS expression and NO induction, and p38 MAPK signal transduction participates in iNOS expression and NO induction in AM of CB rats. The effect of TAL on iNOS expression in AM may be related to its inhibition of p38 MAPK signal transduction.

Abdominal compartment syndrome associated with capillary leak syndrome after liver transplantation

Orthotopic liver transplantation was performed in a 49-year-old man with metastatic liver sarcoma. After surgery, both abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) and capillary leak syndrome (CLS) developed. Exploratory laparotomy and colon exteriorization were performed. Five days later, a diagnosis of severe CLS was established, and hydroxyethyl starch was infused to prevent leakage of albumin. The patient gradually recovered over 3 weeks. Awareness of ACS and CLS is important to improve outcome because early diagnosis and immediate therapy are essential. Bladder pressure is a key factor in diagnosing ACS, and pressure of 35 mm Hg is an indication for decompressive laparotomy. During the early stage of CLS, hydroxyethyl starch but not albumin should be used to alleviate edema and hypoalbuminemia.

Expression of Notch1, Jagged1 and beta-catenin and their clinicopathological significance in hepatocellular carcinoma

The Notch/Jagged signaling pathway is important for cellular differentiation and proliferation. Notch1/Jagged1 can either suppress or promote tumors depending on the cell type and context. beta-catenin, one of the mediators of the Wnt signalling pathway, represents a key element in one of the most important pathways of carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of Notch1/Jagged1 and beta-catenin in hepatocellular carcinoma and to assign clinicopathological correlations. Immunohistochemical detection of Notch1/Jagged1 and beta-catenin was performed in tissue microarrays including 339 Hepatocellular carcinomas, 174 adjacent non-tumor livers and 94 normal livers. The results showed that the rate of expression was 66%, 98% and 97% for Notch1 and 36%, 85% and 92% for Jagged1 respectively in hepatocellular carcinoma, adjacent non-tumor liver and normal liver. Decreased expression of Notch1/Jagged1 was correlated significantly with Edmondson-Steiner grade. However, nuclear beta-catenin was expressed in 37% of hepatocellular carcinoma tissue, which was significantly higher than its non-tumor counterparts. Increased nuclear beta-catenin expression was correlated with HBs-Ag status and Edmondson-Steiner grade. Moreover, The positive expression of Notch1 was parallel with Jagged1 expression (r =0.235, p=0.000) and reduced Notch1 expression was associated with increased beta-catenin expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (r =-0.125, p =0.023). In conclusion, Notch1/Jagged1 were frequently low expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and correlated with the high expression of beta-catenin suggesting that downregulation of Notch1/Jagged1 signaling may sustain tumor progression.

Combustion smoke exposure induces up-regulated expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, aquaporin 4, nitric oxide synthases and vascular permeability in the retina of adult rats

Retinal cells respond to various experimental stimuli including hypoxia, yet it remains to be investigated whether they react to smoke inhalation. We show here that retinal cells in rats, notably the ganglion cells, Müller cells, astrocytes and blood vessels responded vigorously to a smoke challenge. The major changes included up-regulated expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), aquaporin 4 (AQP4) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS). VEGF expression was localized in the ganglion cells, Müller cells, astrocytes and associated blood vessels. AQP4 was markedly enhanced in both astrocytes and Müller cells. Increase in vascular permeability after smoke exposure was evidenced by extravasation of serum derived rhodamine isothiocyanate which was internalized by Müller cells and ganglion cells. The tracer leakage was attenuated by aminoguanidine and N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) treatment which suppressed retinal tissue NOS and nitric oxide (NO) levels concomitantly. It is suggested that VEGF, AQP4 and NO are involved in increased vascular permeability following acute smoke exposure in which hypoxia was ultimately implicated as shown by blood gases analysis. NOS inhibitors effectively reduced the vascular leakage and hence may ameliorate possible retinal edema in smoke inhalation.

A novel mouse model of human breast cancer stem-like cells with high CD44+CD24-/lower phenotype metastasis to human bone

Abstract #4155

Background: At present, our understanding of the development of bone metastasis is limited. Therefore, little progress has been made in preventing skeletal metastasis in the breast cancer patient. A satisfactory animal model that avoids the species-specific factor and simultaneously shares similarities to the clinical pathophysiological progression of breast cancer metastasizing to bone is unavailable. A subpopulation (CD44+/CD24-/lower) of breast cancer cells possesses stem/progenitor cell properties (cancer stem-like cell). CD44 potentiates the adherence of metastatic breast cancer cells to bone marrow endothelial cells. In the present study, we used hepatocyte growth factor to enhance the proportion of CD44+/CD24-/lower subpopulation in the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. We used these human breast cancer stem-like cells and implantation of human bone to build a novel human-source model of human breast cancer skeletal metastasis.
 Methods: The human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was cultured in serum-free DMEM-F12 supplemented with growth factors. Cells in different subpopulations were separated by Percoll gradient centrifugation and incubated in the presence of 50 ng/mL hepatocyte growth factor. The proportion of CD44+/CD24-/lower subpopulation in the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was detected with flow cytometry. Before injection with human breast cancer stem-like cells, the experimental animals were implanted with human bone in the right or left dorsal flanks. Animals in Groups A, B, and C were injected with 1 X 105, 1 X 106 human breast cancer stem-like cells, and 1 X 106 parental MDA-MB-231 cells, respectively. A positive control group (D) without implantation of human bone (non-human source model) was also injected with 1 X 106 MDA-MB-231 cells. A group of negative controls (E) with human bone implantation was injected with isotonic sodium chloride. For each group, Micro-SPECT was performed at weeks 4 and 7, and all animals were sacrificed at week 8. Immunohistochemistry was performed for CD34, CD105, SMA, CD44, CD24, CK, CXCR4, and OPN. mRNA levels of CD44, CD24, CXCR4, and OPN in bone metastasis tissues were analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
 Results: New vessels and connective tissue were found on the surface of implanted human bones and cells stained positive for antibodies against human CD105, SMA, and CD34, indicating that implanted human bones were viable and functional. Histologic and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the metastases as cancer cells. Importantly, the results demonstrated that cells in implanted human bones of group B, which received 1 X 106 cancer stem-like cells, stained strongly positive for CD44, CXCR4, and OPN, whereas that of other groups showed no or minimum staining. Moreover, group B had the highest incidence of human bone metastasis (77.8%, P = 0.0230) and no accompaniment of other tissue metastasis. The real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed an increase of CD44 mRNA in metastatic bone tissues in group B compared with that of groups C and D (15.2- and 21.1-fold, respectively). The mRNA levels of CXCR4 and OPN (8.4- and 28.4-fold, respectively) in bone metastasis tissues of group B were all higher than that of groups C and D (4.8- and 11.6-fold; respectively). The levels of CD24 mRNA in group B were lowest, measuring only 30 percent of that in groups C and D.
 Conclusion: This study indicates that in the novel human source model of breast cancer, breast cancer stem-like cells demonstrate a higher human bone-seeking ability, which may contribute to increase metastasis incidence and attenuate species-specific influences. Its mechanism might be related to the higher expressions of CD44, CXCR4 and OPN, and the lower expression of CD24 in breast cancer stem-like cells. The model shares more similarities with clinical pathological features of bone metastatic patients. It will be helpful for further study of the mechanisms and subclinical diagnosis of bone metastasis.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 4155.

Degradation rate constants of steroids in sewage treatment works and receiving water

Steroid estrogens are one of the most important groups of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) which can cause adverse effects on wildlife species and humans. Natural estrogens, including estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2), and synthetic estrogen 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) together contribute to most of the estrogenic activity in sewage effluents and receiving water. Degradation, particularly aerobic biodegradation was found to be the dominant removal mechanism in these environments. There are a number of factors such as temperature, pH, SRT, HRT and biomass concentration that can affect the rate of biodegradation. This paper reports the results of investigations in to the relationship between the equivalent biomass concentration and degradation rate constants for compounds E1, E2 and EE2 in various environments. It was found that a higher biomass concentration leads to higher rate constants, and relatively good linear correlations (R2 =0.73, 0.79 and 0.73) between the logarithm of the rate constants and the corresponding logarithm equivalent biomass concentration (EBC) values were obtained.

Investigation of Semiconductor Quantum Dots for Waveguide Electroabsorption Modulator

In this work, we investigated the use of 10-layer InAs quantum dot (QD) as active region of an electroabsorption modulator (EAM). The QD-EAM is a p-i-n ridge waveguide structure with intrinsic layer thickness of 0.4 mum, width of 10 mum, and length of 1.0 mm. Photocurrent measurement reveals a Stark shift of ~5 meV (~7 nm) at reverse bias of 3 V (75 kV/cm) and broadening of the resonance peak due to field ionization of electrons and holes was observed for E-field larger than 25 kV/cm. Investigation at wavelength range of 1,300-1320 nm reveals that the largest absorption change occurs at 1317 nm. Optical transmission measurement at this wavelength shows insertion loss of ~8 dB, and extinction ratio of ~5 dB at reverse bias of 5 V. Consequently, methods to improve the performance of the QD-EAM are proposed. We believe that QDs are promising for EAM and the performance of QD-EAM will improve with increasing research efforts.

Regulatory immune cells in kidney disease

Lymphocytes and macrophages act as effector immune cells in the initiation and progression of renal injury. Recent data have shown that subpopulations of these immune cells (regulatory T lymphocytes and alternately-activated or regulatory macrophages) are potent modulators of tissue injury and repair in renal disease. Recent animal studies examining the therapeutic effect of these cells raise the exciting possibility that strategies targeting these cell types may be effective in treating and preventing kidney disease in humans. This review will describe their biological role in experimental kidney disease and therapeutic potential in clinical nephrology.

[Analysis of volatile components in Qingshanlvshui tea using solid-phase microextraction/accelerated solvent extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry]

The volatile components of Qingshanlvshui Tea were extracted using solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), and then were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It showed that ninety-one compounds were identified, including forty-nine by SPME, fifty-six by ASE, and fourteen by both of them. The main constituents were beta-myrcene, 3,5,5-trimethyl-1,5-heptadiene, L-limonene, alpha-ocimene, beta-ocimene, beta-pinene, 2-methylbenzaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furfural. Both SPME and ASE have their advantages. SPME is excellent at simplicity, rapidity, solvent-free, high enrichment, low detection limit, environment friendly etc. ASE has characteristics of time and solvent saving, automation, simplicity, as well as high efficiency.

Health risks of heavy metals in contaminated soils and food crops irrigated with wastewater in Beijing, China

Consumption of food crops contaminated with heavy metals is a major food chain route for human exposure. We studied the health risks of heavy metals in contaminated food crops irrigated with wastewater. Results indicate that there is a substantial buildup of heavy metals in wastewater-irrigated soils, collected from Beijing, China. Heavy metal concentrations in plants grown in wastewater-irrigated soils were significantly higher (P<or=0.001) than in plants grown in the reference soil, and exceeded the permissible limits set by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in China and the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, this study highlights that both adults and children consuming food crops grown in wastewater-irrigated soils ingest significant amount of the metals studied. However, health risk index values of less than 1 indicate a relative absence of health risks associated with the ingestion of contaminated vegetables.

Sentinel lymph node micrometastasis detection using immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for cytokeratin 19 in breast cancer

11074

Background: In breast cancer, the sentinel lymph node (SLN) can be used to assess the axillary nodal status to guide the axillary surgery, tumor staging and adjuvant systematic therapy. Histology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) are currently the routine methods of SLN assay. The facts that about 30% of node-negative breast cancer patients relapse within five years and that micrometastasis were found in 9%∼30% negative lymph nodes when they were re-examined using serial sectioning suggest that current histological detection methods are inadequate for identifying metastatic tumor cells in lymph nodes. The primary objective of this study was to develop an assay by using a combination of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry for cytokeratin 19 (KT19) expression in SLN. Methods:139 SLN samples were collected from 139 breast cancer patients undergoing SLN biopsy using Isosulfan Blue dye during modified mastectomy between June 2002 and June 2005. The SLNs were dissected into two parts, half were frozen in liquid nitrogen during sugery for RT-PCR detection and another half were kept in liquor formaldehyde for routine hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) examination and IHC detection. In 62 tumor-negative SLNs at routine H&E examination (pN0), we performed IHC and RT-PCR for KT19. Results: Of the 62 tumor-negative SLNs at routine H&E examination, 11% (7/62) were positive on extensive IHC analyses for KT-19, which were all positively identified by RT-PCR assay. Six SLNs (10%) were negative for micrometastases (with H&E and IHC for KT-19) but RT-PCR positive. There was asignificant difference in detective rate between these two methods statistically (χ2 = 4.1667 , P = 0.0412) and the coincidence were high ( kappa = 0.6483) Conclusions: As IHC analysis resulted in a 11% detection rate in H&E negative SLNs, IHC is essential to avoid false- negative SLN micrometastases. Molecular analysis with KT19 allows detection of breast cancer micrometastases with an additional 10% detection rate in H&E negative SLNs and resulted in a high coincidence with IHC analysis. However, the clinical value of these histologically negative but RT-PCR positive SLNs can only be determined with long term follow up.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Narrow ridge waveguide high power single mode 1.3-μm InAs/InGaAs ten-layer quantum dot lasers

Ten-layer InAs/In_0.15Ga_0.85As quantum dot (QD) laser structures have been grown using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on GaAs (001) substrate. Using the pulsed anodic oxidation technique, narrow (2 μm) ridge waveguide (RWG) InAs QD lasers have been fabricated. Under continuous wave operation, the InAs QD laser (2 × 2,000 μm²) delivered total output power of up to 272.6 mW at 10 °C at 1.3 μm. Under pulsed operation, where the device heating is greatly minimized, the InAs QD laser (2 × 2,000 μm²) delivered extremely high output power (both facets) of up to 1.22 W at 20 °C, at high external differential quantum efficiency of 96%. Far field pattern measurement of the 2-μm RWG InAs QD lasers showed single lateral mode operation.