Anti-tumor effect of bufalin on the orthotopic transplantation tumor model of human hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice

Objective: To investigate anti-tumor effect of bufalin on the orthotopic transplantation tumor model of human hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice. Methods: BEL-7402 cells of human hepatocellular carcinoma were inoculated to form subcutaneous tumors in nude mice by subcutaneous injection. Then the subcutaneous tumors were implanted into the liver of nude mice, and the orthotopic transplantation tumor models of human hepatocellular carcinoma were established. Seventy-five models were randomized into 5 groups ( n = 15) . Bufalin was injected intraperitoneally into the 3 groups at dose of 1.5,1 and 0.5 mg/kg for day 15 - 24, respectively. NS group were injected equal volume saline as above and adriamycin were injected intraperitoneally into ADM group at dose of 8.0 mg/kg for day 15. Ten mice in each group were killed at day 25 and detected on morphological and ultrastructural changes in myocardium, brain, liver, kidney and tumor tissues by pathology and electron microscope. The survival time in each group     

The remedial effect of soluble interleukin-1 receptor type Ⅱ on endometriosis in the nude mouse model

Objective： Recent studies have shown that the local expression of soluble interleukin （IL） -1 receptor type Ⅱ （slL-1 R Ⅱ ） in endometrial tissue of women with endometriosis is decreased, and the depression of IL-1 R Ⅱ was more significant in infertile women than that in fertile women with endometriosis. In this research, we investigated the remedial effect of slL-1-R Ⅱ administration on endometriosis in the nude mouse model. Methods： Nineteen nude model mice with endometriosis were randomly divided into three groups： group A was treated by intraperitoneal administration with only slL-1 R Ⅱ for two weeks, group B was similarly treated with only IL- 1, and group C （control） was administered saline. After 2 weeks, the size of the ectopic endometrial lesions was calculated, and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） and B-cell lymphoma leukemia-2 （Bcl- 2） were detected by immunohistochemistry. The IL-8 and VEGF levels in the peritoneal fluid （PF） and serum were also measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Results： The mean size of ectopic endometrial lesion did not differ between the three groups （P 〉 0.05）. Compared with the control, the expression of VEGF and Bcl-2 was significantly lower in group A, and higher in group B. In the three groups, the levels of IL-8 in the PF and serum were highest in group A, and lowest in group B. Conclusion： slL-1 R Ⅱ may suppresse hyperplasia of ectopic endometriosis, perhaps by reducing the expression of certain cytokines, such as VEGF, IL-8, and Bcl-2, which could provide a new clinical strategy for the treatment of endometriosis.     

Estrogen receptor a variant ERa46 mediates growth inhibition and apoptosis of human HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma cells in the presence of 17β-oestradiol

Background Estrogen is involved in suppression of colon cancer development and exerts its function via estrogen receptors α and β （ERa, ERβ）. The recently identified ERα46 resulted from exon 1-deletion from the 66-kDa full length form of ERa66 is devoid of the transactivation domain AF-1, whose function remains largely unknown.
Methods In this study, we compared the expression of ERa46 mRNA in 32 normal colorectal tissues and their matched colorectal cancer tissues by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （PCR）. Human colon adenocarcinoma cell HT-29, that has low endogenous expression of ERα46, was transfected with ERα46-expression vector; methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium （MTT） assay, flow cytometry, DNA fragmentation and TUNEL staining were used to evaluate the proliferation and apoptosis status of the cells in the presence of 17β-oestradiol.
Results Higher ERα46 mRNA levels were observed in normal colorectal tissues than in the corresponding cancer tissues. ERα46-transfected cells showed a significantly decreased growth rate than control cells and an accumulation of cells in the G0/1 phase and a reduced proportion of cells in G2/M phase after exposed to 10^-8 mol/L 17β-oestradiol. There were also more positive TUNEL stained cells in ERα46-transfected cells than the control cells in the presence of 17β-oestradiol （P 〈0.05）.
Conclusions These data suggest that ERα46 may be involved in the development and/or progression of colorectal cancer via mediating growth inhibition and apoptosis of cancer cells in the presence of 17β-oestradiol.     

Expression of chemokine receptors CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 on CD4^＋ T cells in CBA/J×DBA/2 mouse model,selectively induced by IL-4 and IL-10, regulates the embryo resorption rate

Background Chemokines and their receptors have been a research focus in transplantation immunology. Chemokines and their receptors play a role in lymphocyte recruitment and differentiation process. This study aimed to observe whether IL-4 and IL-10 may regulate the expression of chemokine receptors CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 on CD4^＋ T cells in CBA/J×DBA/2 mouse model and to explore the role of CCR3, CCR5, CXCR3 in immune tolerance in pregnancy. Methods The mouse model of spontaneous abortion （CBA/J×DBA/2） and the normal pregnant mouse model （CBA/J×BALB/c） were used. CBA/J×DBA/2 mice were injected with IL-4 （CBA/J×DBA/2-IL-4）, IL-4 and IL-10 （CBA/J×DBA/2-IL-4＋IL-10）, or normal saline （CBA/J×DBA/2-NS） as a control. The expression of CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 on CD4^＋ T cells from mouse peripheral blood was measured by the double-labelled FCM method, and the embryo resorption rate was also examined. Results The embryo resorption rate in the CBA/J×DBA/2 group without any treatment was significantly higher than that in the CBA/J×BALB/c group （17.9% vs 3.7%, P 〈0.01）. The embryo resorption rate in the CBA/J×DBA/2 group immunized with IL-4 or IL-4 together with IL-10 was significantly decreased, compared with that in the control and NS groups respectively. CCR3 expression on CD4^＋ T cells in the CBA/J×DBA/2 group without any treatment was significantly lower than that in the CBA/J×BALB/c group （0.3738±0.3575 vs 1.2190±0.2772, P 〈0.01）; both CCR5 （3.0900±1.5603 vs 1.2390±0.6361, P〈0.01） and CXCR3 （2.4715±0.9074 vs 0.9200±0.5585, P 〈0.01） expressions on CD4^＋ T cells of the CBA/J×DBA/2 group without any treatment were significantly higher than those of the CBA/J×BALB/c group. Significant up-regulation of CCR3 and down-regulation of CXCR3 were found in the CBA/J×DBA/2 group treated with IL-4 （CCR3： 2.0360±0.6944, CXCR3： 1.3510±0.5263, P〈0.01） or IL-4 and IL-10 （CCR3： 1.8160±1.0947, CXCR3：1.0940±0.7168, P〈0.01）. Because of the CCR5, IL-4 and IL-10 （1.9400±0.8504 vs 3.0900±1.5603, P 〈0.05）, but IL-4 alone （2.5310±1.3595 vs 3.0900±1.5603, P 〉0.05） treatment significantly decreased the expression of CCR5 in CBA/J×DBA/2. Conclusions The abnormal expression of CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 on CD4^＋ T cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of spontaneous abortion. The pregnancy immune tolerance may be induced through selective induction of CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR3 expressions by IL-4 together with IL-10.