Effects of nitric oxide donors on the afferent resting activity in the cephalopod statocyst

The effects of bath applications of the nitric oxide (NO) donors sodium nitroprusside (SNP), diethylamine sodium (DEA), 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1), and S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP) on the resting activity (RA) of afferent crista fibers were studied in isolated statocysts of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis. The NO donors had three different effects: inhibition, excitation, and excitation followed by an inhibition. The SNAP analog N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (xSNAP; with no NO moiety) had no effect. When the preparation was pre-treated with the NO synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitric-L-arginine methyl ester HCl (L-NAME), the NO donors were still effective. When the preparation was pre-treated with the guanylate cyclase inhibitors methylene blue (M-BLU) or cystamine (CYS), NO donors had only excitatory effects, whereas their effects were inhibitory only when pre-treatment was with the adenylate cyclase inhibitors nicotinic acid (NIC-A), 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine (DDA), or MDL-12330A. When pre-treatment was with a guanylate and an adenylate cyclase inhibitor combined, NO donors had no effect; in that situation, the RA of the afferent fibers remained and the preparation still responded to bath applications of GABA. Selective experiments with statocysts from the squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana and the octopod Octopus vulgaris gave comparable results. These data indicate that in cephalopod statocysts an inhibitory NO-cGMP and an excitatory NO-cAMP signal transduction pathway exist, that these two pathways are the key pathways for the action of NO, and that they have only modulatory effects on, and are not essential for the generation of, the RA.     

Clinicopathologic and genetic profile of intracranial marginal zone lymphoma: a primary low-grade CNS lymphoma that mimics meningioma.

PURPOSE: Although rare overall, marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (MZBCL) is the most common primary low-grade CNS lymphoma reported in the literature. The aim of this study is to elucidate the biology and genetic features of this unusual tumor. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen CNS MZBCLs were studied clinically, pathologically, and genetically, including fluorescent in situ hybridization analyses with commercially available MALT1 and IgH break-apart and centromere 3, 7, 12, and 18 probes. RESULTS: CNS MZBCLs preferentially affect middle-aged women (female-to-male ratio, 4:1), with 93% presenting as dural-based masses mimicking meningioma. Ten patients with 1 to 7.6 years of follow-up after diagnosis showed no evidence of disease after radiation and/or chemotherapy. Like MZBCLs outside of the CNS, they consisted of CD20+, CD3- small B lymphocytes with varying degrees of plasmacytic differentiation and predominantly kappa light-chain restriction (78%). Lymphoid follicles with follicular colonization were seen in three patients and deposition of amyloid was noted in samples from two patients, one of which was tumefactive. Neither Bcl-6 protein nor Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA was expressed. Trisomy 3 was detected in six of 12 patients, with no rearrangements of MALT1 or IgH and no trisomies of 7, 12, or 18 detected. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that intracranial MZBCL is an indolent primary CNS lymphoma that typically presents as a meningioma-like dural-based mass. Trisomy 3, but not MALT1 or IgH translocation, is a common genetic abnormality that may contribute to the pathogenesis of this CNS lymphoma.     

Challenging surgical treatment of giant retroperitoneal liposarcoma: A case report

Liposarcoma is a rare malignant tumor type and surgical resection is the gold standard treatment. The present study reported on the case of a 51-year-old woman who presented with a mass in the left upper abdomen. Computed tomography revealed a 32-cm giant retroperitoneal liposarcoma. Complete tumor resection was performed without the removal of other organs. Postoperative pathological examination indicated retroperitoneal well-differentiated liposarcoma and immunohistochemistry revealed S-100(−), MDM2(+), vimentin(+), CDK4(+), p16(+) and STAT6(+) results. The patient recovered well after the surgery. Complete tumor resection during the first surgery is key to cure liposarcoma. The present case report will be helpful for clinical oncologists to fully understand giant retroperitoneal liposarcoma and treat it accordingly.     

我国放射卫生学学科建设与放射卫生工作回顾

随着人们对电离辐射对人类健康危害的认识,以及随之开展的电离辐射生物效应及防护措施的研究,逐步形成了放射卫生学。因此作为传统的公共卫生体系下的五大卫生之一,放射卫生主要围绕电离辐射对人体健康有害影响及其综合防护措施开展工作。从上世纪三、四十年代起,经过近百年的蓬勃发展,现阶段我国的放射卫生学学科水平和放射卫生工作成效等有了很大提升。本文就放射卫生学研究与我国放射卫生工作的历史、现状、工作内容等情况进行简单的概述,以期为我国放射卫生工作今后的发展提供助力。     

五仁液有效成分分析

应用GC/MS联用技术研究了五仁液有效成分及其相对含量,发现五仁液中含有丰富的酚类、苯甲酸类、脂肪酸等抗微生物的有效成分。该结果证实了五仁液消毒、杀菌和治疗皮肤病的有效性。     

Xanthone glycosides from Polygala tenuifolia and their conformational analyses

Seven xanthone glycosides were isolated from the cortexes of Polygala tenuifolia, and their structures were identified as polygalaxanthones VIII-XI (1-4), sibiricoxanthone B (5), 7-O-methylmangiferin (6), and lancerin (7), on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 1-4 are new xanthone glycosides, and compounds 4 and 5 exist as rotamers. To explain this phenomenon, conformational analyses were performed on compounds 4 and 5 and other compounds with similar skeletons that were isolated from P. tenuifolia.     

扶桑花抗生育成分对早孕小鼠黄体影响的定量研究

本文处用图像分析仪 ,以核浆比和数密度为指标 ,研究了不同浓度的扶桑花提取物—HR 1对早孕小鼠黄本组织学的影响。结果表明 :(1)小鼠黄体细胞的核浆比和数密度 ,随给药剂量 (0、 4、 10、 10 0、10 0 0mg/kg/d)的增加而增加 ,其中 10 0和 10 0 0mg/kg/d两组的黄体细胞核浆比和数密度明显高于对照组(p <0 .0 5) ;(2 )黄体组织学的定性观察显示 ,给药各组的黄体细胞明显退化 ,细胞缩小 ,细胞界限不清。这些结果提示 ,扶桑花提取物的抗早孕作用与妊娠黄体受损有关。     

Biomaterial-based platforms for cancer stem cell enrichment and study

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a relatively rare subpopulation of tumor cell with self-renewal and tumorigenesis capabilities. CSCs are associated with cancer recurrence, progression, and chemoradiotherapy resistance. Establishing a reliable platform for CSC enrichment and study is a prerequisite for understanding the characteristics of CSCs and discovering CSC-related therapeutic strategies. Certain strategies for CSC enrichment have been used in laboratory, particularly fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and mammosphere culture. However, these methods fail to recapitulate the in vivo chemical and physical conditions in tumors, thus potentially decreasing the malignancy of CSCs in culture and yielding unreliable research results. Accumulating research suggests the promise of a biomaterial-based three-dimensional (3D) strategy for CSC enrichment and study. This strategy has an advantage over conventional methods in simulating the tumor microenvironment, thus providing a more effective and predictive model for CSC laboratory research. In this review, we first briefly discuss the conventional methods for CSC enrichment and study. We then summarize the latest advances and challenges in biomaterial-based 3D CSC platforms. Design strategies for materials, morphology, and chemical and physical cues are highlighted to provide direction for the future construction of platforms for CSC enrichment and study.