Maturation of Pulmonary Metastases of Wilms' Tumor after Therapy: A Case Report

A case is reported of Wilms' tumor associated with multiple pulmonary metastases histologically showing maturation of the tumor cells at 9 years after the resection of the primary tumor and intensive therapy. A huge tumor of a 22-month-old patient's right kidney was resected. The tumor was diagnosed as Wilms' tumor of mesenchymal type (stage 1), which consisted of predominantly immature mesenchymal tissue including rhabdomyoblasts, smooth muscle and fibrous tissue, and few blastemal and epithelial components. Intensive preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy with actinomycin D and vincristine and postoperative irradiation therapy totaling 16 Gy were carried out. The patient was regularly followed up uneventfully until 9 years after the surgery. On routine chest x ray at the age of 10 years 11 months, multiple pulmonary nodules were found. The excised nodules from the bilateral lungs disclosed similar histology, exclusively composed of dense collagen bundles and fibrocytes intermingled with mature striated muscle bundles. No immature tumor components were detected. The possible effect of intensive therapy in this maturation was stressed, although spontaneous benign differentiation of tumor cells cannot be excluded.     

Mutations of genetic region fin of F-like plasmid pAP18-1

Department of Biology and General Genetics, Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR T. T. Berezov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 112, No. 11, pp. 532–534, November, 1991.     

Spontaneous and MNNG‐induced reversion of an EGFP construct in HeLa cells: An assay for observing mutations in living cells by fluorescent microscopy

A HeLa cell line stably expressing the enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) gene, interrupted by the HBB IVS2‐654 intron, was studied without treatment and after treatment with a single standard dose of 15 μM of N‐methyl‐N′‐nitro‐N‐nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). This assay was done in order to prove that such a construct can revert by a variety of mechanisms and that it produces a visible phenotype, i.e., green fluorescence. The system permits visual detection of living mutant cells among a background of non‐mutant cells and does not require a selective medium. The results show that the construct reverts by large deletions (–62, –100, and –162 bp), small insertions (+4 bp), small rearrangements (19 bp duplication), base substitutions at purines (G₆₅₂, G₆₅₃, A₆₅₅, G₅₇₉), and a pyrimidine (T₆₅₄) between nucleotide positions 579 and 837. Splice‐site mutations were recovered, and some of the mechanisms underlying these mutations are discussed. Because of the ease of detection of revertant cells under fluorescent light and the wide variety of mutations that can be recovered, further development of this system could make it a useful new mammalian cell mutagenicity assay. Hum Mutat 18:526–534, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Reverse mutations – spontaneous amelioration or cure of inherited disorders?

Some recent publications indicate that inherited disorders can ameliorate or possibly disappear if mutations responsible for the disease revert to normal. This review tries to summarize our current knowledge about reverse mutations as this information may be of special interest for attempts at somatic gene therapy. Received: 14 July 1997 / Accepted: 2 March 1998     

靶向ERCC1 RNA干扰对人肺腺癌细胞顺铂耐药的逆转

目的:探讨利用RNA干扰技术切除修复交叉互补基因1(excision repair cross-completion gene 1,ERCC1)逆转耐顺铂(cisplatin,CDDP)人肺腺癌细胞A549/CDDP的耐药性。方法:(1)常规体外培养A549/CDDP细胞,以脂质体包裹的ERCC1-siRNA转染细胞,转染浓度分别为100、200、300 nmol/L,并设空白转染、Lip转染对照组,观察转染效果。(2)采用免疫组化SABC法及RT-PCR法分别检测肿瘤细胞转染siRNA后ERCC1基因和蛋白的表达。(3)MTT法检测肿瘤细胞耐药指数,观察ERCC1靶向siRNA逆转A549/CDDP细胞顺铂耐药的效果。结果:(1)Lip组、siRNA-neg组转染效率分别为(56.38±9.82)%、(63.54±4.87)%,SiRNA-ERCC1①组、siRNA-ERCC1②组、siRNA-ERCC1③组转染效率分别为(43.62±6.08)%、(65.85±9.61)%和(78.93±4.86)%。(2)针对ERCC1的siRNA转染A549/CDDP后,细胞ERCC1 mRNA及蛋白表达均下调,siRNA-ERCC1(300 nmol/L)组效应最强,分别下降至(11.19±6.82)%和(20.88±6.57)%(P<0.01)。(3)A549/CDDP细胞转染后耐药倍数减为6.05、4.64、2.94,空载体对照组细胞的耐药倍数为9.6。结论:RNA干扰技术封闭ERCC1基因可较大程度逆转耐顺铂人肺腺癌细胞的耐药性,且呈一定的浓度依赖性;ERCC1基因可作为逆转肺癌耐药治疗的有效靶点。     

Evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a clinical and socioeconomical problem that is here to stay. Resistance can be natural or acquired. Some bacterial species, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, show a high intrinsic resistance to a number of antibiotics whereas others are normally highly antibiotic susceptible such as group A streptococci. Acquired resistance evolve via genetic alterations in the microbes own genome or by horizontal transfer of resistance genes located on various types of mobile DNA elements. Mutation frequencies to resistance can vary dramatically depending on the mechanism of resistance and whether or not the organism exhibits a mutator phenotype. Resistance usually has a biological cost for the microorganism, but compensatory mutations accumulate rapidly that abolish this fitness cost, explaining why many types of resistances may never disappear in a bacterial population. Resistance frequently occurs stepwise making it important to identify organisms with low level resistance that otherwise may constitute the genetic platform for development of higher resistance levels. Self-replicating plasmids, prophages, transposons, integrons and resistance islands all represent DNA elements that frequently carry resistance genes into sensitive organisms. These elements add DNA to the microbe and utilize site-specific recombinases/integrases for their integration into the genome. However, resistance may also be created by homologous recombination events creating mosaic genes where each piece of the gene may come from a different microbe. The selection with antibiotics have informed us much about the various genetic mechanisms that are responsible for microbial evolution.     

BSO逆转人肺腺癌细胞株多药耐药性的实验研究

目的研究谷胱甘肽(GSH)合成酶抑制剂——BSO对人肺腺癌多药耐药细胞株A549DDP细胞内GSH含量影响;探讨BSO逆转多药耐药(MDR)作用机制及逆转效果。方法GSH还原酶循环法测定BSO对细胞内GSH含量的影响。MTT比色法测定经BSO预处理后顺氯氨铂(DDP)、阿霉素(ADM)对细胞50%抑制浓度(IC50)的影响。流式细胞仪检测BSO对MDR细胞内柔红霉素(DNR)荧光强度的影响。结果耐药细胞A549DDP细胞内GSH含量较人肺腺癌A549细胞内GSH含量明显增高。BSO在一定浓度范围内(50～200μmol·L-1)对A549细胞和耐药细胞A549DDP无明显细胞毒性作用(抑制率均小于10%)。BSO呈剂量依赖性非线性抑制细胞内GSH的合成,其对MDR细胞内GSH合成影响较为显著,而对A549细胞内GSH合成影响较小。BSO在一定浓度范围内能降低DDP、ADM对A549DDP细胞的IC50,而对A549细胞的IC50无明显影响。A549DDP细胞内DNR荧光强度较A549细胞显著降低,能不同程度提高A549DDP细胞内柔红霉素荧光强度,均较未处理组显著提高;与未经BSO处理的A549细胞比较,细胞内荧光强度轻度增高,但统计学上无显著性差异。结论BSO能有效逆转A549DDP细胞的MDR,其机制与降低MDR细胞内GSH含量有关。     

Noise Reversion of a Dual Chamber Pacemaker without Noise

Three patients are reported whose DDD pacemakers reverted to the asynchronous mode in the absence of skeletal muscle or electromagnetic (EMI) interference. In all three cases, the basic cardiac rhythm was atrial fibrillation with fast ventricular response due to intrinsic AV conduction. Noise reversion was triggered by the patients' own ventricular activity at cycle lengths shorter than the ventricular refractory period of the pulse generator. In one patient, asynchronous AV sequential pacing during atrial fibrillation was noted shortly after resuscitation from ventricular fibrillation; however, the initiation of the malignant ventricular arrhythmia by the pacemaker remains unproven. The mechanism of noise reversion by rapid cardiac activity and possible solutions to the problem by adequate pacemaker design are discussed.     

依贝沙坦对血压昼夜节律变异的影响及护理对策

目的应用依贝沙坦治疗高血压病患者,观察其对血压昼夜节律变异的影响。方法107例初诊的未经治疗的原发性高血压病患者,给予口服依贝沙坦将血压控制在正常范围内。根据治疗前血压昼夜节律和治疗后血压昼夜节律逆转情况分为杓型组（29例）、逆转组（34例）和未逆转组（44例）。每位患者治疗前后均行24 h动态血压监测。结果3组患者在一般情况方面无显著性差异。治疗前逆转组和未逆转组的nSBp、nDBp均显著高于杓型组（P〈0.05）,治疗后逆转组和未逆转组患者dSBp、dDBp、nSBp、nDBp、24 h DBp和24 h SBp均较治疗前显著降低（P〈0.05）;但未逆转组nSBp和nDBp下降幅度明显低于逆转组（P〈0.05）,并且血压昼夜节律仍呈非杓型。结论依贝沙坦可将血压昼夜节律由非杓型部分逆转为杓型,降压效果明显。护士应加强健康教育,指导患者合理、规范用药,有效控制血压,减少并发症的发生。