胃癌基因表达谱的cDNA微阵列与聚类分析

目的 分析胃癌与非肿瘤胃组织中基因表达特征，探讨其生物学意义。方法 提取18例进展期胃癌患者术前未行治疗的新鲜肿瘤和非肿瘤胃组织总RNA，逆转录标记cy5和cy3制备cDNA探针，与148个基因组成的cDNA微阵列杂交，应用平均联接等级聚类和微阵列数据显著差异分析(significance analysis of microarrays，SAM)方法分析146个符合入选条件基因的实验数据。结果 胃癌与非肿瘤胃组织各被聚为一类，胃癌和非肿瘤胃组织又分别聚为两个亚类。基因在两种组织表达有3个特征，明显基因表达差异表现在特征B和特征C．特征B基因在胃癌组织呈低表达或不表达，特征C基因在胃癌组织呈高表达。在特征A，T2-S2亚类与T1和T2-S1亚类的基因表达存在差异性，然而13例患者的配对胃癌与非肿瘤胃组织有相似基因表达。结合SAM分析，从特征B和特征C分别检出19个和12个在两种组织间呈差异性表达基因。结论 cDNA微阵列实验结果客观地反映了胃癌和非肿瘤胃组织的基因表达特征，可以将胃癌与非肿瘤胃组织各聚为一类．胃癌组织之间基因表达既有相似性，又有异质性，反映了胃癌基因表达变异的复杂性．应用cDNA微阵列技术研究胃癌基因差异性表达特征，有助于阐明胃癌发生、发展的分子基础，为胃癌早期诊断和预后评估的生物标记物研究提供科学依据．     

A prospective, randomized study: day 3 versus hatching blastocyst stage

BACKGROUND: Recently, advances in human IVF-embryo transfer (ET) have been reported using sequential media and blastocyst stage ET. In our previous report, using a prospective, randomized study, no advantage was found using the blastocyst stage ET compared with day 3 ET. This study was performed in order to evaluate implantation and pregnancy rates of hatching blastocyst stage ET compared with conventional day 3 ET. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 480 patient cycles were evaluated using a prospective, randomized study. The pregnancy rate and implantation rate were compared between the day 3 ET (n = 240) and hatching blastocyst stage ET (Hat ET; n = 240). The Hat ET group had a pregnancy rate of 29.3% (55 out of 188) and an implantation rate of 21.4% (67 out of 313). The day 3 ET group had a pregnancy rate of 29.2% (70 out of 240) and an implantation rate of 19.1% (93 out of 488). In the Hat ET group, the pregnancy rate, implantation rate and ongoing pregnancy rate of day 5 ET and day 6 ET were all higher than the respective rates in the day 7-9 ET group. CONCLUSION: We found that the pregnancy rate and implantation rate of ET with hatching stage blastocysts had no advantage compared with the conventional day 3 ET.     

用基因芯片研究人肺癌转移相关基因

目的 自制肿瘤转移相关基因芯片研究人肺癌高、低转移细胞系PG和PAa间以及肺癌、淋巴结转移癌与正常肺组织间的基因表达谱差异，筛选与肺癌转移相关的特异基因。方法 提取2种肺癌细胞系、人肺癌、淋巴结转移癌及周围正常肺组织的mRNA后逆转录标记cDNA探针，与自制的含399个肿瘤转移相关基因的微阵列膜杂交，QuantArray软件分析杂交信号强度获得差异表达基因。结果 正常肺组织与肺原发癌的基因表达谱有显著差异。淋巴结转移癌组织与PG高转移细胞系表达基因行聚类分析，共同表达且最具统计学意义的基因有64个，包括上调基因27个，下调基因37个。结论 多基因参与肺癌的转移过程，肺转移癌与高转移细胞系共同差异表达的基因可能与肺癌的高转移特性密切相关。     

基因芯片技术检测子宫内膜异位症相关细胞因子及其受体基因的表达谱

目的:研究与子宫内膜异位症(EM)发生和发展相关的细胞因子(CK)基因的表达,进一步阐明子宫内膜异位症的发病机制。方法:应用含有1200条基因的基因芯片,用同位素探针标记,探讨EM组织与正常子宫组织相关CK基因的表达谱。结果:在3例EM组织与3例正常的子宫内膜组织中,共筛选出差异表达基因119条,其中CK及CKR基因表达上调15条,包括IL1、IL2、IL6、IL8、VEGFR、TGF、EGF、FGF和EPOR等。结论:表达差异基因有助于揭示EM发生发展的分子机制,基因表达谱芯片能有效地筛选EM相关的CK及CKR基因,为了解疾病发生机制提供了高效、准确的研究工具。     

Cruciate thinning of the zona pellucida for more successful enhancement of blastocyst hatching in the mouse.

Implantation rates remain low following human in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Suboptimal culture conditions may limit the ability of embryos to hatch as blastocysts, and artificial opening of the zona pellucida has been proposed as a means to promote subsequent hatching (assisted hatching). Such techniques must have minimal adverse effects on the embryos, while maximizing the potential for an embryo to hatch fully as a blastocyst. In a mouse model, we compared embryonic development after zona drilling, and cruciate thinning of the zona (CTOZ) intended to simulate the natural thinning of the zona pellucida. Using acidic Tyrode's solution both zona drilling and cruciate-thinning were performed on day 3 morulae. On day 4 the rates of complete hatching of blastocysts were 0/165, 24/172 and 72/175 in control, zona drilled and thinned groups respectively (P less than 0.0001). On day 5 the rates of complete hatching in the same groups were 20/165, 54/172 and 120/175 respectively (P less than 0.00001) and by day 6, 66/165, 74/172 and 130/175 respectively (P less than 0.00001). The rate of arrest at the morula stage was 24/172 versus 8/175 in the zona drilled and thinned groups respectively (P less than 0.005, whilst the rate of arrest at the blastocyst stage was 21/172 versus 14/175 respectively (NS). Hence cruciate thinning of the zona appears less detrimental at the morula stage than zona drilling, but eventual rates of arrest at the blastocyst stage were comparable. Both techniques significantly increased the rate of hatching, but zona drilling did not guarantee complete hatching.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Improved hatching in mouse embryos brought about by combined partial zona dissection and co-culture

In this study 874 mouse embryos were allocated to six groupsincluding a control, co-culture, and four groups that underwentpartial zona dissection (PZD): at the 2-cell (PZD-2) and morulastages (PZD-M) both with and without co-culture. Rates of completeblastocyst hatching on day 5 increased in the following order:control, co-culture alone, PZD-2 alone, PZD-M alone, PZD-2 withco-culture and PZD-M with co-culture (P < 0.00001). PZD-Mled to significantly higher rates of complete blastocyst hatchingcompared to PZD-2 (P < 0.03). This study showed also thatco-culture apparently compensates for any minor damage incurredduring the PZD technique at the 2-cell and morula stages, (P< 0.01 and P < 0.01) respectively. Therefore PZD and co-cultureseem mutually beneficial techniques that promote early blastocysthatching in the mouse.     

人骨髓间充质干细胞基因表达谱的芯片分析

目的：探讨骨髓间充质干细胞（MSCs）作为组织工程种子细胞的分子遗传学基础和临床应用价值。方法：通过密度梯度离心法和贴壁筛选法的联合应用，分离人骨髓间充质干细胞，流式细胞仪分析细胞同源性，UNIQ-10柱式Trizol总RNA抽提法获取足量的RNA，用于MSCs基因表达谱的分析研究。结果：流式细胞仪检测表明了所分离hMSCs的高度同源性，基因表达谱芯片分析首次揭示了MSCs表达多种间充质细胞和非间充质细胞的特异性mRNA，如脂肪细胞、成软骨细胞、成骨细胞、成肌细胞、造血支持基质、神经元、神经胶质细胞和上皮／内皮细胞等。结论：hMSCs具有高度可塑性和广泛分化潜能，是以干细胞工程为代表的现代组织工程的重要细胞来源。     

基因芯片在宫颈癌、卵巢癌和乳腺癌相关基因表达研究中的运用

目的 应用基因微矩阵芯片筛查妇科恶性肿瘤相关基因表达。方法 分别提取癌组织和正常对照组织mRNA，分别用Cv3—dCTP和Cy5—dCTP经反转录荧光标记cDNA，获得两组探针，将探针混合后与基因芯片H40s(基因点数为4096点，上海联合基因公司提供)杂交，经严格洗片后用GenePix4000B扫描仪进行扫描，获得荧光信号图像，GenePixPro3．0图像处理软件对图像进行处理，获得两种组织中差异表达的基因信息。结果 在子宫颈癌组织中差异表达的基因24．61％(1008／4096)，其中表达降低(下调趋势)占11．28％(462／4096)；表达增高(上调趋势)占13．32％(546／4096)。在卵巢癌组织中差异表达的基因24．02％(984／4096)，其中表达降低(下调趋势)占12．67％(519／4096)，表达增高(上调趋势)占11．35％(465／4096)；在乳腺癌组织中差异表达的基因占9．67％(396／4096)，其中表达降低(下调趋势)占4．59％(188／4096)，表达增高(上调趋势)的5．08％(208／4096)。在3种癌组织中同时出现表达差异的基因有1．37％。结论 子宫颈癌、卵巢癌和乳腺癌有多种基因表达失衡。     

基因芯片研究与衰老相关免疫基因的表达

目的:利用基因表达谱芯片,研究免疫相关基因在衰老过程中表达水平的改变。方法:分别提取20只20月龄SD大鼠和20只4月龄SD大鼠的脾脏mRNA,并通过逆转录制备成杂交探针;老年大鼠用Cy5d-UTP标记,青年大鼠用Cy3 d-UTP标记。将两种探针等量混合后与包含416个免疫相关基因的cDNA芯片进行杂交。通过扫描仪扫描芯片荧光信号和计算机分析,比较老年组和青年组大鼠脾脏的基因表达水平的差异。同步检测老年组大鼠和青年组大鼠的心、肝、肾和血液中的与自由基相关的生化指标。结果:生化指标检测证实20月龄老年大鼠与4月龄青年大鼠清除自由基的能力有显著的差异,说明其生理机能有显著差异,适用于芯片的研究。而芯片结果显示在所研究与免疫相关的基因中,13个基因在老年大鼠脾脏中表达下调,其中包括参与应激和免疫应答的基因,部分参与细胞增殖、分化的调节基因和参与DNA/RNA修复基因;只有1个基因,即编码良性肿瘤淀粉酶的基因在老年大鼠脾脏中表达特异增高。结论:运用基因表达谱芯片可以帮助我们了解免疫系统在衰老过程中的变化,深入理解衰老的发生和发展机制。     

A comparison of four different techniques of assisted hatching

BACKGROUND: Assisted hatching (AH) has been proposed as a means to increase the implantation rate in patients with poor prognosis for pregnancy. The procedure appears to be effective when used selectively. Several different methods for AH have been introduced over the years but comparative studies are lacking. The aim of the current study was to compare retrospectively the efficacy of AH performed with four different methods in patients undergoing IVF or ICSI. METHODS: AH was performed prior to day 3 embryo transfer in 794 IVF/ICSI cycles. Indications for AH were females aged >35 years and/or elevated follicular phase FSH levels, previous failed IVF/ICSI cycles, poor embryo quality, and thick zona pellucida (>15 microm). Assignment to one of the four methods of AH was according to the availability of the particular method during the study period. The study was not randomized. RESULTS: Partial zona dissection was used in 239, acid Tyrode in 191, diode laser in 219 and pronase thinning of the zona pellucida in 145. Mean female age, mean number of previous failed IVF/ICSI cycles, number of oocytes retrieved, fertilization and cleavage rates, good quality embryos and zona thickness on day 3 did not differ between groups. Mean number of embryos transferred, implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and abortion rates were likewise similar. CONCLUSIONS: Selective AH using four different methods yields similar implantation and pregnancy rates.     

An improved mechanical technique for assisted hatching

BACKGROUND: Varied clinical outcomes of assisted hatching (AH) have been reported. We attempt to investigate whether the size of the zona opening created by AH is adequate for blastocyst hatching, and, if not, set up a new method to improve it. METHODS: A new AH technique, long zona dissection (LZD), was established, and experiments were performed to compare the effects of different sizes of zona opening on complete hatching of blastocysts in mouse and human embryos in vitro. RESULTS: The LZD technique can create a long zona slit on early embryos, even blastocysts, with the slit size beyond two-thirds of zona diameter. Compared with three-dimensional partial zona dissection, LZD can significantly enhance the hatching speed and the rate of complete hatching of mouse blastocysts (93.9%). All (100%) human blastocysts completely hatched following LZD; however, when the slit size after AH was about two-fifths of zona diameter, more of the larger inner cell masses (ICM) became trapped by the zona opening during hatching than the smaller ICM (53.3 versus 12.5%, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Zona opening of moderate size following AH is inadequate for the completion of blastocyst hatching in vitro; in some cases, however, it can be significantly improved by LZD.     

Uterine contractility decreases at the time of blastocyst transfers

High-frequency uterine contractions at the time of non-cavitating embryo transfer influence adversely IVF-embryo transfer outcome. This prompted us to quantify prospectively the possible decline in uterine contraction frequency occurring during later stages of the luteal phase of ovarian stimulation, up to the time of blastocyst transfers, in 43 IVF-embryo transfer candidates. Contractility was assessed on the day of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) administration, 4 days after HCG (non-cavitating embryo transfer; HCG + 4), and 7 days after HCG (blastocyst transfers; HCG + 7). For this, 2 min sagittal uterine scans were obtained by ultrasound and digitized with a computerized system for the assessment of uterine contraction frequency. Our results indicated that a slight, yet significant, decrease in uterine contraction frequency, observed from the day of HCG (4.4 +/- 0.2 contractions/min) to HCG + 4 (3.5 + 0.2 contractions/min), was followed by a more pronounced, additional decrease between HCG + 4 and HCG + 7 (1.5 +/- 0.2 contractions/min; P < 0.001). In conclusion, during the luteal phase of ovarian stimulation, uterine contractility decreases progressively, and reaches a nearly quiescent status 7 days after HCG administration, at the time of blastocyst transfers. It is possible that such a uterine relaxation assists blastocyst implantation.     

A comparison between quarter, partial and total laser assisted hatching in selected infertility patients

BACKGROUND: The object of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of laser assisted hatching (LAH) of embryos on implantation and pregnancy rates of a selected group of infertility patients. METHODS: A total of 322 cycles using LAH was undertaken in our Centre between June 1998 and September 1999. Patients were offered LAH if they fell in either one or more of the following categories: (i) Patients over 37 years of age undergoing either IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment cycles; (ii) patients with more than 2 previous treatment cycle failures; (iii) patients undergoing frozen embryo replacement cycles and (iv) women who were considered to be poor responders. The initial results of totally breaching the zona pellucida (total LAH; group 1) did not meet with our expectations. We subsequently modified the technique to thinning one area of the zona pellucida (partial LAH; group 2) and this thinned area was then extended to a quarter segment (quarter LAH; group 3). RESULTS: In group 1, the pregnancy rate was 14.6% with a clinical pregnancy rate of 5.2%. In group 2 the pregnancy rate was 20.9% with a clinical pregnancy rate of 18% and for patients in group 3 the pregnancy rate was 29.0% with a clinical pregnancy rate of 22.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Overall there was firm statistical evidence that the pregnancy and clinical pregnancy rates arising from quarter LAH were higher in comparison with partial and total LAH.     

人脑胶质瘤基因表达谱芯片的构建和初步验证

目的：构建人脑胶质瘤特异的基因表达谱芯片,促进大规模胶质瘤表达谱的研究。方法：采用389条基因探针,优化基因芯片制作的各个条件：片基、点样液、点样大小、紫外交联、采集信号强度等。使用自制芯片检测20例胶质瘤标本的基因表达谱,并与以前报道的实验结果对比,验证芯片的特异性和灵敏度。结果：构建了针对人脑胶质瘤的基因表达谱芯片,并用于脑胶质瘤的基因表达谱分析,证实本产品可以有效地高通量检测相关基因的表达水平。结论：构建的胶质瘤芯片有望用于胶质瘤基因表达谱分析。     

Impact of assisted hatching on ART outcome in women with endometriosis

BACKGROUND: Assisted hatching can improve the implantation rate in cycles with poor outcome. The impact of assisted hatching in embryos from women with endometriosis is not known. Therefore, the hypothesis that the implantation potential of embryos obtained from women with endometriosis can be improved with assisted hatching was tested. METHODS: In a prospective randomized study, transfer embryos obtained from 60 women with endometriosis were hatched using a laser system and compared to embryos obtained from patients with the same diagnosis which were left intact (n = 30). RESULTS: The characteristics of cycles were similar between groups. The pregnancy (40% zona intact, 28.3% assisted hatching), and implantation rates (19.4% zona intact, 17.8% assisted hatching) did not differ in endometriosis cycles regardless of assisted hatching. CONCLUSION: Assisted hatching does not improve outcome in women with endometriosis undergoing assisted reproduction.     

Preliminary clinical experience with human blastocyst development in vitro without co-culture

This preliminary analysis was designed to quantify blastocyst development of supernumerary embryos without the use of feeder cells, conditioned medium or whole serum. Embryos derived from in-vitro fertilization (IVF) that were not transferred or cryopreserved were included in this study. Ova were harvested for IVF after a standard ovarian stimulation with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist/ human menopausal gonadotrophin (GnRHa/HMG) or follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Ova were collected and culture in 150 microliters droplets of P1 medium under mineral oil, in groups at 37 degrees C under 5% CO2, 5% O2, 90% N2 (group A) or under 5% CO2 in air (group B) environment. Embryo transfer was performed 72 h post-harvest. Viable embryos not transferred or cryopreserved were placed in blastocyst medium and cultured for an additional 48 h in 5% CO2 in air. Embryos that exhibited an expanded blastocoelic cavity and well-defined inner cell mass at 120 h were counted. Of 838 supernumerary embryos cultured, 448 (53.5%) reached the expanded blastocyst stage by 120 h of culture. Patients were given the option of cryopreservation at that time. The embryos were cryopreserved using a standard protocol with serial addition of glycerol. Embryos reaching the blastocyst stage after more than 120 h of culture were not included. There was no difference in the proportions of blastocyst development between group A, 217/410 (53.5%) and group B, 231/428 (54%). To date, 16 patients have each had up to three thawed blastocysts transferred, out of whom seven became pregnant. This report demonstrates that a simple system of sequential culture generated acceptable, viable blastocyst development (54%) with supernumerary embryos, without the use of feeder cells, conditioned medium or whole serum. Recognizing the differential metabolic requirements of early and late cleavage stage embryos has enabled the application of a glucose/phosphate-free simple culture medium (P1) for up to 72 h of culture and a complex, glucose-containing medium (blastocyst medium) for subsequent blastocyst development.     

Identification of potential biomarkers of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells by cDNA microarray analysis

In the present study, cDNA microarray analyses were performed with mouse cDNA chips in order to evaluate similarities and differences in the gene expression profiles for compounds differing in their genotoxic and carcinogenic potential. Eight test substances were evaluated, two each from four classes of compounds: genotoxic carcinogens (1,2-dibromoethane and glycidol), genotoxic noncarcinogens (8-hydroxyquinoline and emodin), nongenotoxic carcinogens (methyl carbamate and o-nitrotoluene), and nongenotoxic noncarcinogens (D-mannitol and 1,2-dichlorobenzene). Quadruplicate hybridization experiments were performed in order to identify a set of genes with significant expression changes for these four classes of substances. Twelve genes were consistently altered more than twofold by the genotoxic noncarcinogens while four genes were consistently regulated by the nongenotoxic carcinogens. One gene (Trp63) was identified whose expression was upregulated by all four genotoxic substances regardless of the presence or absence of carcinogenicity; this finding, however, was not confirmed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. RT-PCR did confirm the change in expression of 9 of 15 genes (60%) identified by microarray analysis. Interestingly, the downregulated genes were least likely to be validated by real-time RT-PCR. Those genes showing more than a twofold change in expression level in response to at least one substance were further analyzed with hierarchical clustering after category assignment of each gene according to its main cellular function. Clustering revealed differences in the gene expression profiles between the genotoxic and nongenotoxic substances for genes involved in cell cycle control, the stress response, and the immune response. However, no clustering specific to all four carcinogenic substances was observed in any of the functional categories. Taken together, these results suggest that gene expression profiling in mouse lymphoma cells can provide valuable information for the evaluation of potential genotoxicity but may have limitations in predicting carcinogenicity.