Generation and comparative analysis of approximately 3.3 Mb of mouse genomic sequence orthologous to the region of human chromosome 7q11.23 implicated in Williams syndrome.

Williams syndrome is a complex developmental disorder that results from the heterozygous deletion of a approximately 1.6-Mb segment of human chromosome 7q11.23. These deletions are mediated by large (approximately 300 kb) duplicated blocks of DNA of near-identical sequence. Previously, we showed that the orthologous region of the mouse genome is devoid of such duplicated segments. Here, we extend our studies to include the generation of approximately 3.3 Mb of genomic sequence from the mouse Williams syndrome region, of which just over 1.4 Mb is finished to high accuracy. Comparative analyses of the mouse and human sequences within and immediately flanking the interval commonly deleted in Williams syndrome have facilitated the identification of nine previously unreported genes, provided detailed sequence-based information regarding 30 genes residing in the region, and revealed a number of potentially interesting conserved noncoding sequences. Finally, to facilitate comparative sequence analysis, we implemented several enhancements to the program, including the addition of links from annotated features within a generated percent-identity plot to specific records in public databases. Taken together, the results reported here provide an important comparative sequence resource that should catalyze additional studies of Williams syndrome, including those that aim to characterize genes within the commonly deleted interval and to develop mouse models of the disorder.     

Classification of Breast Masses Using Selected Shape,Edge-sharpness,and Texture Features with Linear and Kernel-based Classifiers

Breast masses due to benign disease and malignant tumors related to breast cancer differ in terms of shape, edge-sharpness, and texture characteristics. In this study, we evaluate a set of 22 features including 5 shape factors, 3 edge-sharpness measures, and 14 texture features computed from 111 regions in mammograms, with 46 regions related to malignant tumors and 65 to benign masses. Feature selection is performed by a genetic algorithm based on several criteria, such as alignment of the kernel with the target function, class separability, and normalized distance. Fisher's linear discriminant analysis, the support vector machine (SVM), and our strict two-surface proximal (S2SP) classifier, as well as their corresponding kernel-based nonlinear versions, are used in the classification task with the selected features. The nonlinear classification performance of kernel Fisher's discriminant analysis, SVM, and S2SP, with the Gaussian kernel, reached 0.95 in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve. The results indicate that improvement in classification accuracy may be gained by using selected combinations of shape, edge-sharpness, and texture features.     

Gamma delta T cells in rhesus monkeys and their response to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection.

The principal cause of IL-2 deficiency, a common feature of both murine lupus and human SLE, remains obscure. Recent studies of our own as well as others have shown that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an intermediate compound in testosterone synthesis, significantly up-regulates IL-2 production of T cells, and that administration of exogenous DHEA or IL-2 via a vaccinia construct to murine lupus dramatically reverses their clinical autoimmune diseases. Thus, we have examined serum levels of DHEA in patients with SLE to test whether abnormal DHEA activity is associated with IL-2 deficiency of the patients. We found that nearly all of the patients examined have very low levels of serum DHEA. The decreased DHEA levels were not simply a reflection of a long term corticosteroid treatment which may cause adrenal atrophy, since serum samples drawn at the onset of disease, which are devoid of corticosteroid treatment, also contained low levels of DHEA. In addition, exogenous DHEA restored impaired IL-2 production of T cells from patients with SLE in vitro. These results indicate that defects of IL-2 synthesis of patients with SLE are at least in part due to the low DHEA activity in the serum.     

细胞内抗原免疫金银染色技术的改进

为解决细胞内抗原应用免疫金银法染色时背景过重的问题,建立了甘氨酸二次阻断的处理方法,效果较好。     

Isolation, affinity purification, and identification of piglet small intestine mucosa receptor for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli k88ac+ fimbriae

An affinity chromatography technique was utilized to isolate and purify the receptors of Escherichia coli K88ac(+) fimbriae from the mucus of the small intestines of newborn piglets. Purified K88ac+ fimbriae were covalently immobilized onto a beaded agarose matrix (Sepharose 4B). The immobilized fimbriae were used for the affinity purification of the K88ac+ receptors. Only two major proteins were tightly and specifically bound to the immobilized fimbriae after the column containing bound receptor was washed exhaustively with a buffer containing a high concentration of salt and a detergent. The receptors were eluted as a single component at a low pH. The isolated proteins were then subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and Western blot (immunoblot) analyses. The two proteins were of high purity, were responsible for nearly all of the fimbrial binding capacity of the crude mucus, and had molecular masses of 26 and 41 kDa. The method for isolation of E. coli binding proteins is simple and yields purified intestinal receptors in a single chromatographic run. The intestinal mucus of different piglets has different proportions of the two receptor proteins.     

川芎嗪对内毒素脂多糖诱导的体外血脑屏障模型通透性增高的保护作用及其机制

目的:探讨川芎嗪对内毒素脂多糖(LPS)诱导的体外血脑屏障模型通透性增高的保护作用及其调控机制。方法:利用脑微血管内皮细胞与星型胶质细胞共培养建立体外大鼠血脑屏障模型,随机分为正常对照组、川芎嗪对照组、LPS干预组和川芎嗪治疗组。采用γ计数仪检测~(125)I-BSA通透量观察体外血脑屏障模型通透性的改变,Western印迹法检测紧密连接蛋白(zonula occludens-1,ZO-1)表达量的变化。结果:LPS使体外血脑屏障模型对~(125)I-BSA的通透量明显增加,脑微血管内皮细胞ZO-1蛋白表达下降,川芎嗪治疗组能明显拮抗LPS的上述作用。结论:川芎嗪对LPS诱导的体外血脑屏障通透性增高具有保护作用,其机制与它能影响血脑屏障紧密连接蛋白ZO-1表达有关。     

Model of Differential Susceptibility to Mucosal Burkholderia pseudomallei Infection

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, an infectious disease with protean clinical manifestations. The major route of infection is thought to be through subcutaneous inoculation of contaminated soil and water, although ingestion and inhalation of contaminated aerosols are also possible. This study examines infection through the intranasal route in a murine model to mimic infection through inhalation. Two strains of mice, C57BL/6 and BALB/c, exhibit differential susceptibilities to the infection, with the C57BL/6 mice being considerably more resistant. To examine host factors that could contribute to this difference, bacterial loads and cytokine profiles in the two strains of mice were compared. We found that infected BALB/c mice exhibited higher bacterial loads in the lung and spleen and that they produced significantly higher levels of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in the serum than C57BL/6 mice. Although tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-1 could be detected in the nasal washes and sera of both strains of mice, the production in serum was transient and much lower than that of IFN-gamma. C57BL/6 mice also exhibited memory responses to bacteria upon reinfection, with the production of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and mucosal IgA antibodies. Thus, it is possible that the production of systemic and mucosal antibodies is important for protection against disease in C57BL/6 mice.     

Human macrophages acquire a hyporesponsive state of tumor necrosis factor alpha production in response to successive Mycobacterium avium serovar 4 stimulation.

Human macrophages (M phi) from most donors respond to inoculation with Mycobacterium avium serovar 4 (M. avium) by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) production, which is of critical importance for proper defense against microorganisms. An initial infection of M phi with M. avium results in an incapacity to accumulate TNF-alpha mRNA after reinfection with M. avium, indicating adaptation to a hyporesponsive state by preexposure of the cells to M. avium. Adaptation to stimulation with M. avium is abrogated by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin. In the presence of prostaglandin E2, indomethacin-exposed, M. avium-treated M phi remain unresponsive to a subsequent M. avium stimulus to increase steady-state TNF-alpha mRNA, suggesting that prostaglandin E2 is instrumental for the adaptation to an M. avium challenge. TNF-alpha mRNA accumulation induced by a second M. avium stimulus in the presence of indomethacin is blocked by the protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor herbimycin. In contrast, the initial M phi response to M. avium is inhibited by staurosporin, an inhibitor of phospholipid Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinases, indicating that the initial and the successive TNF-alpha responses to M. avium are dependent on different mechanisms.     

骨水泥强化椎弓根螺钉固定治疗老年退行性腰椎疾病的疗效观察

目的评价骨水泥强化椎弓根螺钉固定治疗老年退行性腰椎疾病的近期临床疗效。方法回顾性分析2011年6月~2013年5月采用聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)骨水泥强化椎弓根螺钉固定结合后路椎体间植入聚醚醚酮(PEEK)材质椎间融合器治疗老年退行性腰椎疾病30例。所有患者术前骨密度检测均符合骨质疏松诊断(超声骨密度值测定-2.5)。结果 30例患者均顺利完成手术,术中无神经及硬膜损伤,骨水泥无严重渗漏,术后复查X线、CT显示骨水泥分布均匀。随访10~21个月,平均(16±2.11)个月,神经受压症状均得到改善。VAS评分术前(7.01±1.44)、术后6个月随访为(3.00±0.57)、末次随访为(2.23±1.19);JOA评分术前为(9.98±5.64)、术后6个月随访为(17.99±1.41)、末次随访为(18.42±1.47);ODI评分术前为(0.64±0.24)、术后6个月为(0.27±0.07)、末次随访为(0.22±0.09)。三项评分术后6个月、末次随访分别与术前对比差异有统计学意义;术后6个月和末次随访对比差异无统计学意义。末次随访时复查X线或CT显示椎弓根螺钉无松动,椎间融合器无下沉,椎间融合满意,融合率为86.7%。结论使用骨水泥强化椎弓根螺钉能够提高螺钉对伴有骨质疏松的椎体的握持力,防止椎弓根螺钉松动,保证较高的椎间融合率,是治疗老年退行性腰椎疾病一种安全而有效的手术方式。     

生物陶瓷微颗粒引发的细胞和组织损害

为论证生物陶瓷烧结不完全形成的微颗粒（〈5μm）引发细胞和组织损害的假设，对该类颗粒在体内和体外的细胞和组织损害进行了研究：（1）对4种双相生物陶瓷（BCP）进行细胞毒性试验。试验发现所有的浸出液出现细胞毒性，但是浸出液经离心后，毒性消失；（2）对羟基磷灰石（HA）、p磷酸三钙（pTCP）和40％pTCP／60％HA混合物微颗粒进行细胞抑制实验。结果显示随着微颗粒的浓度增加，成纤维细胞活力下降；而当微颗粒浓度达到一万个／细胞时，细胞活力和增殖能力完全消失；（3）HA，pTCP和BCP陶瓷颗粒（500-1500um）被植入到兔子股骨远端，种植12周后β-TCP的降解率为40％，BCP为5％，但是HA接近不降解。新骨形成在β-TCP（21％）和HA（18％）比BCP（12％）更为明显。同时BCP颗粒的周围有很多的微颗粒形成，可见吞噬细胞吞噬微颗粒，形成吞噬体。以上结果提示，微颗粒可能是局部炎症和细胞损害的首要原因，而且有可能影响骨形成。因此，我们必须注意生物陶瓷烧结的重要性，它们的烧结不良就可形成微颗粒，引发细胞和组织的损害。特别是BCP陶瓷含有两种需要不同烧结温度的粉体，它的烧结难度较高，很易形成微颗粒。