Significance of decreased serum interleukin-10 levels in the progression of cerebral infarction

Anti-inflammatory cytokine and its serological detection may have an important role in the process of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. We investigated whether serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) is associated with cerebral infarction or not in the general population. Identified comprehensive searching was performed covering PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CISCOM, CINAHL, Google Scholar, China BioMedicine, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Two reviewers extracted data and assessed studies independently. Information was extracted separately and classed into Asians and Caucasians. Summary standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were used with the utilization of Z test. Nine studies ranged from 2003 to 2014 were collected for meta-analysis. Results identified a negative association between serum IL-10 levels and cerebral infarction (SMD = 1.80, 95 % CI 0.79-2.81, P < 0.001). Country-subgroup analysis showed that low IL-10 level may be the main risk factor for cerebral infarction in India (SMD = 1.44, 95 % CI 1.13-1.75, P < 0.001) and Croatia (SMD = 2.96, 95 % CI 2.48-3.44, P < 0.001). In the ethnicity-stratified subgroup analysis, serum IL-10 levels were negatively correlated with cerebral infarction in Asians (SMD = 2.52, 95 % CI 0.47-4.57, P = 0.016), while not in Caucasians (P > 0.05). The lower serum IL-10 concentration was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of cerebral infarction in this meta-analysis. More prospective studies should be conducted to provide stronger evidence justifying the use of IL-10 as new biomarker to identify a predisposition toward cerebral infarction.

BMP-2 promotes chondrogenesis of rat adipose-derived stem cells by using a lentiviral system

Osteoporosis poses a major public health threat in aging societies. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are multipotent adult stem cells that have the ability to yield mesenchymal stem cells, and have the potential to undergo osteogenesis and bone regeneration. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have been demonstrated to upregulate bone gene expression after mechanical injury and to improve bone injury repair. This study aimed to produce BMP-2 expression in ADSCs by using lentiviral vectors. Subcutaneous adipose tissue from 4-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats was used. Oil red O staining was used to detect adipocyte formation from ADSCs. Induction of ADSC osteogenesis was confirmed with Alizarin red S staining. The recombinant lenti-hBMP-2/neo was constructed to infect ADSCs, BMP-2 expression was measured by immunoblotting analysis, and cellular alkaline phosphatase levels were examined. We found that >70% of ADSC cells could be induced to differentiate into osteocytes or adipocytes. Under osteogenic induction, ADSCs showed increased intracellular calcium deposition, the formation of calcium tubercles, and the disappearance of cellular structures in calcium tubercles. After infection of ADSCs by lenti-hBMP-2/neo, BMP-2 was expressed after doxycycline induction. We, thus, conclude that ADSCs maintain vigorous growth ex vivo and possess stem cell-like properties. When infected with lenti-hBMP-2/neo, ADSCs can be induced to promote BMP-2 expression.

Inhibitory effect of piperlonguminine/ dihydropiperlonguminine on the production of amyloid beta and APP in SK-N-SH cells

The study was undertaken to explore whether piperlonguminine/dihydropiperlonguminine could inhibit the production of amyloidbeta (Abeta) in human neuroblastoma cells (SK-N-SH) and to examine the underlying mechanism of this effect. Piperlonguminine/dihydropiperlonguminine components (1:0.8) were extracted from Futokadsura stem, and then used to treat SK-N-SH cells at three different concentrations: 3.13 microg/ml, 6.25 microg/ml and 12.50 microg/ml. Subsequently, the production of Abeta42 and Abeta40 were measured by Western blot analysis and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). On the other hand, the expressions of amyloid precursor protein (APP), Notch1 (Notch intracellular domain) and beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleavage enzyme (BACE-1) were also examined by Western blot assay. The activities of beta-secretase and gamma-secretase were detected at the same time. Furthermore, Abeta42 level was detected by immunocytochemistry staining. We demonstrated that the treatment of piperlonguminine/dihydropiperlonguminine could significantly decrease the levels of APP, Abeta42 and Abeta40 peptide in SK-N-SH cells, despite the fact that the activities of beta-secretase and gamma-secretase were not affected significantly. These data suggest that piperlonguminine/dihydropiperlonguminine components could significantly inhibit the level of APP, Abeta42 and Abeta40 peptide without affecting the activity of beta-secretase and gamma-secretase in SK-N-SH cells.

[Expression, characterization of recombinant human soluble BAFF secreted from CHO cell]

B cell-activating factor of the TNF family (BAFF) is critical for B cell maturation and survival. Here, we constructed a stable CHO cell line, in which the expression level of soluble form of BAFF (sBAFF) was raised from 0.13 microg/ml to 0.55 microg/ml. Purified recombinant sBAFF from these CHO cells not only bound to its receptors but also co-stimulated the proliferation of human peripheral blood B lymphocyte in vitro. These results provided us with a useful basis for further studies about sBAFF-related research.