Targeted peptide-modified oxidized mesoporous carbon nanospheres for chemo-thermo combined therapy of ovarian cancer in vitro

Ovarian cancer remains one of serious hazards to human health due to many drawbacks of existing available treatment options. In this study, a multifunctional chemo-thermo combined therapy nanoplatform (OMCNPID) was successfully prepared, which is composed of I₆P₈ peptide as a targeting moiety to interleukin-6 receptors (IL-6Rs), oxidized mesoporous carbon nanospheres (OMCN) as a near infrared (NIR)-triggered drug carrier and doxorubicin (DOX) as a chemotherapeutic drug and fluorescent agent. The synthesized multifunctional nanoplatform displayed high storage capacity for drugs and excellent photothermal properties. Besides, DOX was rapidly released from OMCNPID at the condition of low pH and NIR laser irradiation due to the dissociation of DOX from graphitic cores of OMCN. In vitro experimental results verified that OMCNPID could be markedly taken up by SKOV-3 monolayer cells and tumor spheroids, and revealed a remarkable synergistic chemo-photothermal effect against ovarian cancer. All the results demonstrated that OMCNPID is a pH/NIR dual-stimulus responsive nanoplatform and can achieve efficient chemo-thermo combined therapy.     

参蛤河车胶囊治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病160例

目的:观察补气健脾、益肾活血类中药配伍治疗高寒地区慢性阻塞性肺疾病的疗效。方法:采用参蛤河车胶囊(西洋参、蛤蚧、紫河车、桑白皮、杏仁、川贝母、茯苓、桃仁等)治疗本病160例。结果:总有效率达76.8%。提示:本方具有补肺健脾,益肾活血的功效。     

The cell cycle inhibitor P21 promotes the development of pulmonary fibrosis by suppressing lung alveolar regeneration

The cell cycle inhibitor P21 has been implicated in cell senescence and plays an important role in the injury–repair process following lung injury. Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a fibrotic lung disorder characterized by cell senescence in lung alveolar epithelial cells. In this study, we report that P21 expression was increased in alveolar epithelial type 2 cells (AEC2s) in a time-dependent manner following multiple bleomycin-induced PF. Repeated injury of AEC2s resulted in telomere shortening and triggered P21-dependent cell senescence. AEC2s with elevated expression of P21 lost their self-renewal and differentiation abilities. In particular, elevated P21 not only induced cell cycle arrest in AEC2s but also bound to P300 and β-catenin and inhibited AEC2 differentiation by disturbing the P300–β-catenin interaction. Meanwhile, senescent AEC2s triggered myofibroblast activation by releasing profibrotic cytokines. Knockdown of P21 restored AEC2-mediated lung alveolar regeneration in mice with chronic PF. The results of our study reveal a mechanism of P21-mediated lung regeneration failure during PF development, which suggests a potential strategy for the treatment of fibrotic lung diseases.     

Rapid detection of hysteromyoma and cervical cancer based on serum surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and a support vector machine

In this study, we investigated the feasibility of using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) combined with a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm to discriminate hysteromyoma and cervical cancer from healthy volunteers rapidly. SERS spectra of serum samples were recorded from 30 hysteromyoma patients, 36 cervical cancer patients as well as 30 healthy subjects. SVM was used to establish the classification models, and three types of kernel functions, namely linear, polynomial, and Gaussian radial basis function (RBF), were utilized for comparison. When the polynomial kernel function was employed, the overall diagnostic accuracy for classifying the three groups could achieve 86.5%. In addition, when the optimal kernel function was selected, the diagnostic accuracy for identifying healthy versus hysteromyoma, healthy versus cervical cancer, and hysteromyoma versus cervical cancer reached 98.3%, 93.9%, and 90.9%, respectively. The current results indicate that serum SERS technology, together with the SVM algorithm, is expected to become a clinical tool for rapid screening of hysteromyoma and cervical cancer.     

Effect of Rapamycin on TGF-β1- induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in LoVo colonic adenocarcinoma cells

Objective:To investigate the effect of Rapamycin on epithelial-mesenchyrnal transition(EMT) of LoVo colonic adenocarcinoma cells in vitro.Methods:Cultured LoVo colonic adenocarcinoma cells were divided into three groups: negative control group,EMT-inducing group(TGF-β1) and EMT-interfering group(TGF-β1 plus Rapamycin).E-cadherin expression in LoVo cells was detected by Western Blot,while the expression of vimentin was evaluated through immunocytochemistry.The Snail mRNA in LoVo cells was examined by RT-PCR.Results:TGF-β1 induced LoVo cell switching from polygonal to spindle-shaped.TGF-β1 enhanced the expression of vimentin,but lowered the level of E-cadherin.In contrast,Rapamycin impaired the transition induced by TGF-β1.Rapamycin dramatically abrogated TGF-β1-induced vimentin expression and restored E-cadherin expression in LoVo cells.Rapamycin significantly repressed the up-regulation of Snail mRNA expression induced by TGF-β1.Conclusion:Rapamycin dramatically abrogated TGF-β1 induced Snail mRNA expression in LoVo cells,hence inhibiting EMT of these cells in vitro.     

MRI成像对子宫内膜癌侵犯肌层的评估

目的探讨MRI对子宫内膜癌肌层浸润深度的评估价值。方法回顾性分析67例经分段刮宫并施行手术治疗的子宫内膜癌患者MRI表现,并与术后病理结果进行对照。结果 MRI判断子宫内膜癌局限于内膜、浸润浅肌层、浸润深肌层及浸透浆膜层的准确性分别为92.5%、80.5%、88.0%、80.5%。结论磁共振可多方位、多序列、多角度成像,对软组织有较高分辨率,对准确判断子宫内膜癌肌层有无浸润具有明显优势。     

荔枝核皂苷对小鼠学习记忆障碍的改善

目的:探讨荔枝核皂苷对D-半乳糖诱致小鼠学习记忆障碍的改善作用。方法:50只昆明种小鼠完全随机分为正常对照组、模型对照组、石杉碱甲组(0.4 mg/kg·d)、荔枝核皂苷低(15 g/kg·d)和高(60 g/kg·d)剂量组。上述动物除空白对照组外,均皮下(sc)注射D-半乳糖(500 mg/kg·d)8周,并于第5周起分别灌胃相应药物。采用水迷宫和自主活动仪测试小鼠学习和记忆能力,测定血清糖基化;醛糖还原酶活性;采用高效液相库仑阵列电化学检测系统检测人神经氨酸酶(NA)、多巴胺(DA)、5-羟色胺(5-HT)、5-羟吲哚乙酸(5-HIAA)二羟苯乙酸(DOPAC)的含量变化。结果:荔枝核皂苷明显改善模型小鼠学习和记忆能力,各给药组与模型对照组相比单胺类递质含量差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:荔枝核皂苷具有改善D-半乳糖诱致小鼠学习记忆障碍的作用;其作用可能与其减少抑制对脑神经细胞的损伤作用有关。