Expression of Notch signalling-related genes in normal and differentiating rat dental pulp cells

Notch signalling is of fundamental importance to various processes during embryonic development and in adults. The possible role of Hey1, an important Notch signalling component, in odontoblast differentiation was evaluated in this study. Primary cultured dental pulp cells, derived from upper incisors of 5-week-old Wistar rats, were placed in α-modification of Eagle's minimal essential medium supplemented with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), and ascorbic acid (AA) and β-glycerophosphate (β-GP), with or without dexamethasone, and cultured on dishes coated with collagen type IA for 7 days. Conventional and real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed to determine the expression of Notch-related genes and dentin sialophosphoprotein as a marker of odontoblast differentiation. Dentin sialophosphoprotein and Hey1 expression was significantly increased and decreased in the presence of AA + β-GP compared with controls, respectively. These findings suggest that Hey1 may be a negative regulator in odontoblast differentiation.     

糖尿病肾病患者Hcy、MMP-2和HbAlc水平联合检测的临床价值

目的探讨同型半胱氨酸(Hcy)、基质金属蛋白酶-2(MMP-2)和糖化血红蛋白(HbAlc)联合检测在糖尿病肾病(DN)中早期诊断中的应用价值。方法将103例DN患者根据尿白蛋白排泄率(UAER)分为无白蛋白尿组、微量白蛋白尿组和临床白蛋白尿组,另取同期门诊的健康体检者37例作为对照组,比较4组间Hcy、MMP-2和HbAlc水平的变化,应用Pearson's相关性分析和ROC曲线对各指标进行评价。结果 DN组患者Hcy和HbAlc水平明显升高,MMP-2水平明显降低,与对照组相比差异有统计学意义(P0.05),且微量白蛋白尿组和临床白蛋白尿组与无蛋白尿组差异存在统计学意义(P0.05);DN患者的Hcy、MMP-2和HbAlc水平与UAER呈显著正相关(r=0.77、0.56、0.63,P0.05);Hcy、MMP-2和HbAlc联合检测的灵敏度、特异度和检出率均高于各独立指标。结论 Hcy、MMP-2和HbAlc联合检测对DN患者早期肾功能的损伤较为敏感,在预防、延缓DN中有重要的临床价值。     

Pelviureteric obstruction in infancy

Of 33 infants with pelviureteric obstruction, most presented in the first month of life with an abdominal mass and most were males. Half of these patients had bilateral renal pathology. The association between cystic dysplasia in the hydronephrotic kidney and contralateral cystic renal abnormality in patients with unilateral pelviureteric obstruction is noted. There were 34 pyeloureteroplasties performed on 27 patients, mostly with good results, even in patients with bilateral renal pathology.     

Silk peptides inhibit adipocyte differentiation through modulation of the Notch pathway in C3H10T1/2 cells

Silk protein is a biocompatible material that has been used in many biotechnological applications and exhibits body fat-lowering effects. Recent studies have shown that silk peptides increase expression of osteogenic markers in osteoblast-like cells. Because osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation from common mesenchymal progenitor cells are inverse processes and often regulated reciprocally, we hypothesized that silk peptides might suppress adipocyte differentiation. We therefore endeavored to evaluate the effects of silk peptides on adipocyte differentiation in C3H10T1/2 cells. We find that silk peptides inhibit lipid accumulation and morphological differentiation in these cells. Molecular studies show that silk peptides block expression of adipocyte-specific genes such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ and its targets, including aP2, Cd36, CCAAT enhancer binding proteinα. Silk peptides appear to inhibit adipogenesis by suppression of the Notch pathway, repressing the Notch target genes Hes-1 and Hey-1. In addition, these peptides inhibit endogenous Notch activation, as shown by a reduction in generation of Notch intracellular domain. N-[N-(3.5-difluorophenacetyl)-L-alanyl]-S-phenylglycine t-butylester, compound E, and WPE-III-31C, which are all known Notch signaling inhibitors, block adipocyte differentiation to an extent similar to silk peptides. Together, our data demonstrate that silk peptides can modulate adipocyte differentiation through inhibition of the Notch signaling and further suggest potential future strategies for treating obesity and its related metabolic diseases.