Dendritic cells fused with allogeneic breast cancer cell line induce tumor antigen-specific CTL responses against autologous breast cancer cells

Dendritic cell (DC)/tumor cell fusion vaccine has been revealed as a promising tool for the antitumor immunotherapy. Previous research has shown that fusion hybrids of human DCs and autologous tumor cells can induce cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses against autologous tumor cells in animal models and human clinical trials. However, a major restriction factor for the clinical use is the difficulty for preparation of sufficient amount of autologous tumor cells especially for the patients with metastasis cancer whose primary tumor lesion is not clear or has been resected. In this study, allogeneic breast cancer cell line MCF-7 cells were electrofused to autologous DCs from patient with breast cancer as a strategy to deliver shared breast cancer antigens to DCs. Fusion cells generated by autologous DCs and allogeneic MCF-7 were able to induce autologous T lymphocytes proliferation, high levels of IFN-gamma production and CTL responses. CTLs induced by DCs/allogeneic MCF-7 fusion cells were able to kill autologous breast cancer cells in an antigen specific and HLA restriction manner. Our study may provide the experiment basis for the use of allogeneic breast cancer cell line in the DC/tumor cell fusion cell vaccination strategy.     

Is high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasonography better for prediction of clinical events induced by carotid vulnerable lesions?

OBJECTIVE: To find a better way to predict the clinical events caused by carotid vulnerable lesions via comparison study on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasonography (US). METHODS: Twenty-seven symptomatic stroke patients were recruited, all of which were given both high-resolution MRI and US at bilateral carotids. Respective correlations of high-resolution MRI and US outcomes with clinical events were performed and the lesion numbers identified by high-resolution MRI and US were statistically analysed. RESULTS: Six carotid arteries in six patients were excluded because of uninterpretable high-resolution MRI findings or patients' intolerance. In the remaining 48 carotids analysed, the number of carotid with vulnerable/stable lesion was 17/31 by high-resolution MRI and 25/23 by US, respectively. Contingency coefficient was 0.40 between vulnerable lesion by high-resolution MRI and clinical event (p=0.004), and 0.19 (p=0.221) by US and clinical event, respectively. The difference of detected lesion numbers between high-resolution MRI and US was statistically significant p=0.039) through matched chi-square test. CONCLUSION: High-resolution MRI may be a better way than US in predicting the clinical events caused by carotid vulnerable lesions.     

Role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase signal transduction pathway in anxiety

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signal transduction pathway is widely implicated in multiple physiological processes. However, it remains to be determined whether ERK pathway plays roles in anxiety. Here we investigated the changes of phosphorylated ERK1/2 (pERK1/2) and c-Fos expression by immunostaining in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of anxious rats. The results indicated that the levels of pERK and c-Fos were significantly increased during anxiety. Inhibition of ERK phosphorylation blocked the anxiety-induced c-Fos expression. In the animal behavioral tests, the PD98059-treated anxious rats had a significant increase in the numbers of the open-arm entries, the time spent in the open-arms and the numbers of head-dipping in EPM test, and increase the inner locomotion in the open field test compared with the anxious rats. The results suggested that the ERK signal transduction pathway might play an important role in anxiety, and inhibition of the ERK pathway in the mPFC could produce anxiolysis effect.     

医学生应对方式分析

目的 了解医学生在面对生活、学习和就业等应激事件时所采用的应对方式,进一步研究应对方式的影响因素奠定基础.方法 应用简易应对方式问卷对医学院部分学生进行现场自填式问卷调查,调查结果进行统计分析. 结果 分析结果显示医学生积极应对得分为:1.88±0.48;消极应对得分为:1.08±0.48;不同性别医学生积极应对方式的得分差异有统计学意义( P =0.019),同性别医学生消极应对方式的得分差异有统计学意义( P =0.008);不同年级医学生消极应对方式的得分差异有统计学意义(P =0.000);不同专业医学生消极应对得分差异有统计学意义( P =0.030).结论 女生相对于男生更倾向于采用高积极应对方式,生相对于女生更倾向于采用低消极应对方式.     

人体解剖学考试设计的探讨

人体解剖学是医学的一门重要基础课,传统的人体解剖学考试存在一定的不足,现在考试中利用教学过程和学生学习中经常使用的图谱对学生进行考核,效果比较理想。     

Efficacy of rabdosia rubescens in the treatment of gingivitis

This study evaluated the efficacy ofrabdosia rubescens against gingivitis and compared the therapeutic efficacy of different dosage forms of rabdosia rubescens. A multi-center, randomized, double-blind, double-simulation, positive-controlled and parallel trial was conducted. A total of 136 patients exhibiting clinical symptoms of gingivitis were enrolled. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups： test group （n=67）, in which rabdosia rubescens drop pill （960 mg） and 4 tablets of simulation agent of rabdosia rubescen were orally given to the subjects three times a day for 5 days; and control group （n=69）, in which the subjects were administered the tablets of rabdosia rubescens （1000 mg） and 24 drop pills of simulation agent of rabdosia rubescens thrice daily for 5 days. The experimental protocols and diagnostic criteria were established by expert panel prior to the experiment. The clinical symptoms were graded according to the severity of the disease and quantified. The total scores and scores for each clinical symptom of gingivitis were assessed at baseline and on the 6th day post-treatment. The therapeutic efficacy was compared between the two groups and in each group itself before and after the treatment. The results showed that in the two groups, the subjects who were given rabdosia rubescens, drop pill or tablet, had a decrease in total scores and scores for each clinical symptom when compared with those before treatment （P〈0.01）. There was significant difference in the therapeutic efficacy between the test group and the control group with the efficacy rate being 92.54% and 79.71% respectively （P〈0.05）. It was concluded that rabdosia rubescens showed great promise in treating gingivitis. And rabdosia rubescens drop pill was more efficacious than rabdosia rubescens tablet.