多发性骨髓瘤患者血清IL-6活性与急性相蛋白浓度的相关性研究

运用敏感的B_9细胞增殖试验检测了81例多发性骨髓瘤(MM)患者血清IL-6活性,同时分析了标本的几种急性相蛋白含量,结果表明,68％MM患者血清中IL-6活性大于5μ/ml(正常对照为5μ/ml以下),几种急性相蛋白中C-反应性蛋白(CRP)在MM时升高(P<0.01),平均达正常对照组的17倍以上,MM患者补体C_4与正常对照组无差异(p>0.05),C_3、白蛋白及转铁蛋白在MM时分别比正常下降24.42％、38.83％和32.80％,且与疾病分期有关,在血清IL-6大于5μ/ml的55例中,IL-6活性与CRP、C_3、白蛋白的相关系数分别为0.46,-0.34和-0.29,IL-6与转铁蛋白浓度相关不明显。本文结果提示:CRP、C_3及白蛋白等含量的变化可作为反映MM病情的简易而敏感的指标。     

氧分压在体监测仪的研制

作者报道一种稳定性较高的氧分压在体监测，为医学研究、临床诊断提供一种新的可靠的测试方法及设备，具有较大的应用价值。     

大白鼠前脑、脑干和小脑向孤束核的纤维投射——HRP法和ARG法研究

本实验用HRP法、WGA—HRP法和ARG法进一步研究了大白鼠前脑、脑干和小脑向孤束核的纤维投射及其局部定位关系。作者发现皮质32及8区、三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核投射到孤束核头段;皮质24及8a区、三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核投射到孤束核中段;皮质23及13区,中脑导水管周围灰质和三叉神经脊束核尾侧亚核投射到孤束核尾段。此外,结果还证明室旁核、下丘脑外侧区、兰斑核、K—F氏核、小脑顶核、中缝大核、网状大细胞核、外侧网状核、及延髓网状结构向孤束核的纤维投射,均存在着一定的局部定位关系。本文结合前脑、脑干向孤束核的纤维投射讨论了内脏活动调节及针刺镇痛效应的中枢机理并对大白鼠孤束核的分段(头、中及尾段)标准提出了新建议。     

Integrins and adhesion molecules: Tumour necrosis factor-{alpha}-mediated dyscohesion of epithelial cells is associated with disordered expression of cadherin/{beta}-catenin and disassembly of actin filaments

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)- induced, in a time- and dose-dependentfashion, dyscohesion (cell-cell dissociation) of the endometrialepithelial cells. TNF- impaired the ability of cells to aggregateand to attain compaction. The cell-cell adherent junction isa specialized region of the plasma membrane where cadherin moleculesact as adhesion molecules and actin filaments are densely associatedwith the plasma membrane through a well-developed plasmalemmalundercoat. Dyscohesion induced by TNF- was associated with thedisordered expression of cadherin\-catenin at the sites of cell-cellcontact. In addition, within the time-frame that dyscohesionwas induced, TNF- down-regulated the expression of actin mRNAonly at 100 ng/ml without modulating the overall amount of actinprotein, its -isoform or the amount of ribosylated actin. However,TNF--mediated dyscohesion of epithelial cells was associatedwith loss of plasmalemmal undercoat as well as intracytoplasmicaggregates of F-actin and a simultaneous increase in G-actin.The effect of cytochalasin-B, which disrupts actin filamentson cell-cell binding, was less pronounced than the effect ofTNF-, suggesting that the effect of this cytokine on dyscohesionis not solely dependent on the disassembly of actin filaments.These findings show that the induction of disordered expressionof adhesion molecules, as well as disassembly of actin filaments,are implicated in the dyscohesion induced by TNF-.     

IL-17 Eliminates the Therapeutic Effects of Myelin Basic Protein-Induced Nasal Tolerance in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Activating IL-6

Interleukin (IL)-17 is a proinflammatory cytokine primarily secreted by Th17 cells, which are a CD4⁺ T-cell subset. Th17 cells and IL-17 are important in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and in its established animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, it is unclear whether IL-17 contributes to EAE immune tolerance. We used the myelin basic protein (MBP) peptide MBP 68–86 to induce nasal tolerance to EAE, and simultaneously interfered with the tolerance by treatment with different doses of IL-17. We found that IL-17 dramatically interfered with MBP 68–86-induced immune tolerance. IL-17 administration increased IL-6 release, skewing T cell differentiation towards Th17 cells and decreasing the number of Treg cells. This led to an imbalance between Treg cells and Th17 cells and spurred the development of EAE.     

Nuclear and cytoplasmic bcl-2 expression in endometrial hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma

The bcl-2 proto-oncogene, which inhibits programmed cell death (apoptosis), has recently been found to be cyclically expressed in human endometrium. In order to investigate its role in endometrial hyperlasia and neoplasia, bcl-2 expression was studied in 25 cases of endometrial carcinoma and 20 cases of endometrial hyperplasia (eight simple, two complex, and ten atypical hyperplasias). Uniform intense cytoplasmic bcl-2 expression was found in all cases of non-atypical hyperplasia, and less strong positivity in eight out of ten cases of atypical hyperplasia. In well-differentiated carcinomas, nine out of ten showed weak to moderate bcl-2 expression, whereas six out of seven poorly differentiated carcinomas were bcl-2-negative. Moderately differentiated tumours were an intermediate group, with six out of eight being positive. Widespread localization of bcl-2 protein to the chromosomes of dividing cells was also demonstrated, regardless of cytoplasmic bcl-2 expression, with rare staining of interphase nuclei. Our findings suggest a role for bcl-2 in the natural history of endometrial neoplasia and studies are needed to determine its usefulness as a prognostic marker. The finding of bcl-2 localization to chromosomes has important implications for its mode and site of action.     

Two novel mutations in the EPM2A gene in a Korean patient with Lafora's progressive myoclonus epilepsy

The progressive myoclonus epilepsy of the Lafora type (LD; MIM 254780) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by epilepsy, myoclonus, progressive neurological deterioration, and the presence of periodic acid-Schiff-positive polyglucosan inclusions (Lafora bodies). Mutations in the EPM2A gene have recently been found to cause LD and about 30 or more mutations have been reported thus far. LD is relatively common in countries of the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, India, and Pakistan. Although a few sporadic cases with the typical LD phenotype have also been reported in the Far East including Korea and Japan, a recent effort to find mutations in Japanese LD families was not successful. In the present study, we report two novel mutations in a Korean girl with LD; a 1-bp insertion mutation (c.223insC; G75fsX107) in exon 1 and a missense mutation (c.559A>G; T187A) in exon 3 of the EPM2A gene. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a genetically confirmed case of LD in Koreans and also in the Far East.     

质粒型单纯疱疹病毒载体的构建及其在真核细胞中的表达

利用基因工程技术构建成功质粒型Ⅰ型单纯疱疹病毒（ＨＳＶ－１）载体ｐＨＳＶ，其中含有ＨＳＶ－１包装信号序列和ＨＳＶ－１复制起点，以及ＨＳＶ－１ＩＥ６８启动子。为验证其构建是否成功，在其ＩＥ６８启动子下游的多克隆位点上插入了Ｅ．ｃｏｌｉＬａｃＺ基因，构建成ｐＨＳＶＬ质粒。用ＨＳＶ－１温度敏感株（ｔｓＫ株）超感染传代细胞后，将这种质粒转染入该细胞，ｐＨＳＶＬ可在辅助病毒ＨＳＶ－１ｔｓＫ（允许温度为３１℃）存在的条件下被包装成病毒颗粒，由此得到的混合病毒含有ＨＳＶ－１ｔｓＫ和ｐＨＳＶＬ假病毒颗粒，收获后再感染培养的Ｖｅｒｏ细胞，原位检测β－半乳糖苷酶活性呈阳性。同时用ｐＨＳＶＬ病毒接种体外培养的ＳＤ大鼠胚胎脊髓运动神经元，用Ｘ－ｇａｌ原位检测β－半乳糖苷酶的活性，亦发现有阳性的神经元存在。说明载体ｐＨＳＶＬ携带的报告基因ｌａｃＺ在这两种真核细胞中均得以正确表达。报告基因可为其它目的基因所代替，可用于神经生理、病理以及神经系统疾病基因治疗的实验研究。     

培养大鼠皮层神经元NMDA受体蛋白单分子原子力显微镜定位研究

为在纳米尺度对 NMDA受体蛋白分子进行神经细胞膜表面原位定位和探讨原子力显微镜在生物单分子操纵和调控中的应用 ,本研究应用原子力显微镜分别对分布在云母表面的膜 NMDA受体蛋白分子标记物抗 NMDAR1Ig G-葡萄球菌蛋白 A-胶体金复合物分子和结合标记物分子后的神经元膜进行扫描 ,三维形貌测定 ,通过颗粒度分析结果 ,明确标记物分子的特征性三维形貌 ,对比确定经过免疫胶体金结合后的 NMDA受体蛋白单分子在神经元膜表面的定位。结果显示 ,空白云母表面标记物分子为分散均匀的平均粒径为 49nm的球形颗粒 ,在神经元膜表面结合 NMDA目的受体蛋白分子后 ,免疫复合物分子呈现出粒径为 5 3 nm的散在分布球形或短棒状颗粒 ,长径约为宽径的 2倍 ,长轴截面可见典型的双峰三维结构。上述结果表明 ,NMDA受体蛋白单分子可以结合 1个或 1个以上的胶体金标记物分子 ;原子力显微镜可以在纳米尺度对神经元膜 NMDA受体蛋白进行标记和其免疫复合物的三维形貌测定。胶体金颗粒标记 ,原子力显微镜测定是免疫细胞化学新方法。     

Use of a multiplex PCR-based reverse line blot (mPCR/RLB) hybridisation assay for the rapid identification of bacterial pathogens.

The aim of this study was to develop a sensitive and reliable method for the molecular identification of pathogenic bacteria. A multiplex PCR-based reverse line blot (mPCR/RLB) hybridisation assay was developed and evaluated for the rapid identification of 24 systemic and respiratory bacterial pathogens in routine diagnosis. All species-specific probes designed for the RLB hybridised with amplified DNA only from the corresponding species. Sensitivity limits of the mPCR/RLB assay varied among the 24 target organisms from 0.05 pg to 0.5 ng of genomic DNA. The sensitivity of the assay was 2 x 10(2) CFU/mL for Streptococcus pneumoniae and 6 x 10(2) CFU/mL for Escherichia coli. The specificity of each probe was tested against 24 species. There were no cross-reactions among any of the 43 probes. The mPCR/RLB assay appeared to be a useful alternative tool for the molecular identification of common pathogens.