散发性帕金森病患者γ-synuclein基因的研究

目的 探讨γ-synuclein基因C243G和A377T多态在散发性帕金森病(Parkinson’s disease，PD)的疾病易感性中的意义。方法 采用聚合酶链反应-限制性片段长度多态法，对上海汉族人中145例PD患者和184名正常人进行γ-synuclein基因C243G和A377T多态分型，并作与PD的遗传关联研究。结果 PD患者与正常对照间γ-synuclein基因C243G和A377T多态分布的差异无显著性，两种多态与PD亦无关联(P值均大于0．05)。结论 上海地区汉族人群中γ-synuclein基因C243G和A377T多态与散发性PD无关。     

低氧诱导因子1α诱导卵巢癌细胞周期阻滞的研究

目的：探讨低氧诱导因子1α（HIF-1α）对卵巢癌细胞周期的阻滞作用。方法: 采用化学性低氧诱导剂氯化钴（CoCl2）和物理性低氧培养箱两种方法对体外培养的卵巢癌SW626细胞诱导低氧，用诱骗法（decoy）阻断HIF-1α功能，Western blotting、RT-PCR和流式细胞术分别检测HIF-1α蛋白、mRNA的表达水平和细胞周期比率。结果： B1组(3.75±1.31)和C1组(3.48±1.01) HIF-1α蛋白表达水平明显高于A1组(0.97±0.31)（P<0.05), decoy法对HIF-1α蛋白表达没有明显影响(P>0.05)；A1组（0.65±0.32）和B1组（0.64±0.34）HIF-1α mRNA表达水平明显低于C1组（1.28±0.62）（P<0.05），decoy法对HIF-1α mRNA 表达没有明显影响（P>0.05）；流式细胞术检测发现B1组（81.78±24.33）和C1组（77.62±22.76）G0/G1期细胞比率显著高于A1组（49.49±18.54）（P<0.05）；B2组（61.54±20.84）明显低于B1组（P<0.05），C2组明显低于C1组（56.03±21.42），而A1组和A2组之间无明显差异（P>0.05）。结论：CoCl2或物理性低氧均能明显诱导卵巢癌细胞SW626 G0/G1期细胞周期阻滞和HIF-1α的表达，HIF-1α在低氧引起的卵巢癌细胞SW626的细胞周期阻滞中起重要作用。     

Molecular cytogenetic characterization of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines and xenografts by comparative genomic hybridization and spectral karyotyping

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell lines and xenografts represent valuable models for functional and therapeutic studies on this common malignancy in Southeast Asia. The karyotypic information in most NPC cell lines and xenografts, however, remains largely unclear to date. We have characterized the chromosomal aberrations in six commonly used human NPC cell lines and xenografts using the molecular cytogenetic technique of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Genomic imbalances identified in cell lines were further correlated with structural abnormalities indicated from spectral karyotyping (SKY) analysis. CGH revealed consistent overrepresentations of 8q (six out of six cases) with a smallest overlapping region identified on 8q21.1q22. Other common gains included 7p (4/6 cases), 7q (4/6 cases), 12q (4/6), and 20q (4/6 cases), where minimal overlapping regions were suggested on 7p15p14, 7q11.2q21, and 12q22q24.1. Common losses were detected on 3p12p21 (4/6 cases) and 11q14qter (4/6 cases). Although SKY analysis on cell lines revealed predominantly unbalanced rearrangements, reciprocal translocations that involved chromosome 2 [i.e., t(1;2), t(2;3), and t(2;4)] were suggested. Furthermore, SKY examination illustrated additional breakpoints on a number of apparently balanced chromosomes. These breakpoints included 3p21, 3q26, 5q31, 6p21.1p25, 7p14p22, and 8q22. Our finding of regional gains and losses and breakpoints represents information that may contribute to NPC studies in vitro.     

Endometrial and subendometrial blood flow measured during early luteal phase by three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound in excessive ovarian responders

BACKGROUND: Impaired implantation in assisted reproduction cycles with high serum estradiol (E(2)) concentrations may be related to suboptimal endometrial perfusion. Endometrial and subendometrial blood flow were compared between excessive responders (serum E(2) on the day of HCG >20 000 pmol/l) and moderate responders (E(2) < or =20 000 pmol/l). METHODS: Three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound examination with power Doppler was performed 2, 4 and 7 days after HCG in 32 patients who did not have embryo transfer in order to measure endometrial thickness, pulsatility index (PI)/resistance index (RI) of uterine vessels, and endometrial volume, vascularization index (VI)/flow index (FI)/vascularization flow index (VFI) of endometrial and subendometrial regions. RESULTS: Excessive responders tended to have lower endometrial and subendometrial VI/VFI on HCG +2 and more absent endometrial/subendometrial blood flow. They had significantly higher endometrial FI and subendometrial VFI than moderate responders on HCG +7. Only in the excessive responder group, uterine PI/RI declined significantly from HCG +2 to HCG +7 and endometrial VI/VFI increased significantly from HCG +4 to HCG +7. CONCLUSION: Changes in uterine Doppler flow indices, and endometrial and subendometrial 3D power Doppler flow indices during the early luteal phase were significantly different between moderate and excessive responders.     

Evaluation and Validation of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and an Immunochromatographic Test for Serological Diagnosis of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

A newly developed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was further validated to confirm cutoff values and evaluate its diagnostic performance with clinical samples. In parallel, an immunochromatographic test was also evaluated. A total of 227 clinical serum specimens collected from SARS patients were used in the study, together with 385 samples from healthy donors. By use of an immunofluorescent (IF) test as the “gold standard, ” both the ELISA and the immunochromatographic test were able to detect immunoglobulin G antibodies to SARS not only from late-convalescent-stage samples (>21 days from the onset of clinical symptoms), as previously established, but also from early-acute-phase samples (1 to 10 days from onset). The ELISA, using an optical density (OD) of 0.25 as its cutoff value, produced the best sensitivity while maintaining high specificity. It detected SARS-specific antibodies in 58, 70, 75, and 95%, respectively, of the four groups of samples collected from patients 1 to 10 days, 11 to 20 days, 21 to 30 days, and more than 30 days after the onset of clinical symptoms. Similarly, the immunochromatographic test detected SARS-specific antibodies in 55, 68, 81, and 79% of the four groups, respectively. The overall specificities for the ELISA and the rapid test were 99.5 and 97.7%, respectively. Although the positive correlation observed between the ELISA OD values and the IF titers was moderate (r = 0.6915; P < 0.001), the detection rates of both the ELISA and the rapid test were found well in agreement with the IF titers.     

Quality Assurance of Clinical MRI Scanners Using ACR MRI Phantom: Preliminary Results

Clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners play an important role in the diagnosis of diseases and management of patient treatment. Quality assurance (QA) of the clinical MRI scanners is mandatory to obtain optimal images in a modern hospital. In this report, the phantom test for the American College of Radiology (ACR) MRI accreditation is used as the essential part of the MRI QA protocols. Seven important assessments of MR image quality are included as follows: geometric accuracy, high-contrast resolution, slice thickness accuracy, slice position accuracy, image intensity uniformity, percent signal ghosting, and low-contrast object detectability. In addition, signal-to-noise ratio and central frequency are monitored as well. The MRI QA procedures were applied to four clinical MRI scanners in our institute twice within 3 months. According to the QA results, the service engineers were more efficient in solving scanners problems when the ACR phantom test was run.     

NF-κB的活性和iNOS基因表达在低氧性肺动脉高压中的变化

目的：探讨NF-κB的活性及iNOS基因表达在低氧性肺动脉高压（HPH）发病过程中的变化。方法：复制低氧性肺动脉高压大鼠模型，用免疫组化、原位杂交、半定量逆转录-聚合酶链式反应（RT-PCR）和Western blot等方法进行检测。结果：iNOS mRNA在腺泡内肺动脉（IAPA）的表达，低氧28 d（H28d）组染色强于正常（N）组、低氧5 d（H5d）组和低氧14 d（H14d）组。半定量RT-PCR证实低氧肺组织iNOS mRNA含量在H28d组分别是N组、H5d组和H14d组的2.1倍、1.9倍和1.8倍。H28d组肺组织NF-κB的核染色增多，I-κBα的含量在N组、H5d组和H14d组分别是H28d组的2.7倍、2.8倍和2.5倍。结论：在HPH中NF-κB的激活可能与低氧肺血管构建及iNOS mRNA的表达有关。