[Symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis: angiographic classifications and stent-assisted angioplasty].

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of stent-assisted angioplasty (SAA) for symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis, and to evaluate preliminarily the significance of classification of location, morphology and access (LMA classification) of intracranial artery stenosis in SAA.

Methods: Forty-two patients with symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis (diameter reduction: 50% - 74%, n = 15; >or= 75%, n = 27), located in middle cerebral artery (n = 27), intracranial internal carotid artery (n = 4), intracranial vertebral artery (n = 7) and basilar artery (n = 4) respectively, refractory to medical therapy were enrolled in this study.

Results: LMA classification: 23 of the forty-two lesions (54.

[Application of Arai's experimental spectral distribution data].

A new spectral distribution data file is set up by handling Arai's experimental data of spectral distribution, through the procession of interpolation and fitting. The distance of wavelength is 0.002 nm.

Hippuristerones E-I, new polyoxygenated steroids from the gorgonian coral Isis hippuris.

Five novel (22R,23S,24S)-steroids, hippuristerones E-I (1-5), have been isolated from the gorgonian coral Isis hippuris. The structures of steroids 1-5 were deduced by extensive 1D and 2D NMR studies ((1)H, (13)C, (1)H-(1)H COSY, HMQC, HMBC, and NOESY experiments). The structure of 1 was further supported by molecular mechanics calculations.

[Application of the nasal lining flap to correct the wide unilateral complete cleft lip].

Objective: To study use of nasal lining flap in correction of the wide complete unilateral cleft lip.

Methods: 78 patients with wide complete cleft lip were. operated, firstly to be sure.

Pachyclavulariolides M-R, six novel diterpenoids from a Taiwanese soft coral Pachyclavularia violacea.

Six novel diterpenoids, pachyclavulariolides M-R (1-6), have been isolated from a Taiwanese soft coral Pachyclavularia violacea. The structures and relative stereochemistry of compounds 1-6 were established by spectroscopic analyses. Compound 1 has been shown to exhibit significant cytotoxicity toward P-388 cancer cells.

[Lipid peroxidation in microalgae cells under simulated microgravity].

Objective. To provide direct evidences for effects of microgravity on structure and function of plasma membrane. Method.

Pachyclavulariaenones D-G, new diterpenoids from the soft coral Pachyclavularia violacea.

Four new diterpenoids, pachyclavulariaenones D-G (1-4), have been isolated from the soft coral Pachyclavularia violacea. The structures and relative stereochemistry of metabolites 1-4 were established on the basis of extensive NMR studies and chemical methods. The structure, including the relative configuration of pachyclavulariaenone F (3), was further confirmed by a single-crystal X-ray analysis.

Two new subergane-based sesquiterpenes from a Taiwanese Gorgonian coral Subergorgia suberosa.

Chemical investigation of the ethyl acetate extract of the Taiwanese Gorgonian coral Subergorgia suberosa has resulted in the isolation of two new subergane-based sesquiterpenes, subergorgiol (1) and 2beta-acetoxysubergorgic acid (2), along with four known compounds, subergorgic acid methyl ester (3), 2beta-acetoxy methyl ester of subergorgic acid (4), 2beta-hydroxysubergorgic acid (5), and subergorgic acid (6). The structures of the new metabolites 1 and 2 were determined on the basis of extensive spectral analyses. Subergorgiol (1) may be the biosynthetic precursor of 2-6.

Suberosols A-D, four new sesquiterpenes with beta-caryophyllene skeletons from a Taiwanese gorgonian coral Subergorgia suberosa.

Four new beta-caryophyllene-derived sesquiterpenes alcohols, suberosols A (1), B (2), C (3), and D (4), along with two known beta-caryophyllene-derived sesqueterpene ketones, buddledins C (5) and D (6), were isolated from a Taiwanese gorgonian coral Subergorgia suberosa. The structures of 1-4 were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses. Cytotoxicity of these compounds toward various cancer cell lines is also described.

Development and Preliminary Application of a Peptide Mass Fingerprinting Technique in Proteome Research.

Proteome means the total proteins expressed by the genome in a cell or tissue. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) is now the most powerful separating technique and the key separation method used in proteome. Peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) is becoming a widely used and vastly developed technique for protein identification in 2-D gels.

Anatomy of the nasal cartilages of the unilateral complete cleft lip nose.

The purpose of this study was to disclose the relationship between the anomaly of the cartilaginous framework and the nasal deformity of cleft lip. The noses of six stillborn infants with unilateral complete cleft lip were carefully dissected. The size and weight of the lower lateral cartilages were measured to determine whether there was a significant difference between the normal and involved sides.

[Studies of single nucleotide polymorphism of PPAR gene and its associations with fattiness trait in chicken].

In this experiment, the AA broiler fat traits and three Chinese special breeds (Shiqiza, Beijing youji and Baier) were used to study the effect of PPAR-alpha gene on fat trait. Coding region of the gene was amplified by seven pairs of primers, and then single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected by the technique of single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and finally confirmed by sequencing. One nucleotide variation was found, the result of chi 2 analysis showed that the distribution of three genotypes was very different among different breeds(P < 0.

Binding of FADD and caspase-8 to molluscum contagiosum virus MC159 v-FLIP is not sufficient for its antiapoptotic function.

Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV), a member of the human poxvirus family, encodes the MC159 protein that inhibits Fas-, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-, and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligant (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. We used site-directed mutagenesis to change charged or hydrophobic amino acid residues to alanines to identify regions of MC159 that are critical for protection from apoptosis and for protein-protein interactions. Surprisingly, while MC159 is thought to block apoptosis by binding to Fas-associated death domain (FADD) or caspase-8, several mutants that lost apoptosis blocking activity still bound to both FADD and caspase-8.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal status of plants and the spore density of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the tropical rain forest of Xishuangbanna, southwest China.

The arbuscular mycorrhizal status of 112 plant species and the spore density of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the rhizosphere soil of these plants in the tropical rain forest of Xishuangbanna, southwest China, were surveyed. It was found that 56% of the surveyed species were arbuscular mycorrhizal, 31% were possibly arbuscular mycorrhizal and 13% were non-mycorrhizal. The spore density of AMF ranged from 55 to 1,908 per 100 g soil, with an average of 476.

Altered proteasomal function due to the expression of polyglutamine-expanded truncated N-terminal huntingtin induces apoptosis by caspase activation through mitochondrial cytochrome c release.

Expansion of CAG repeats within the coding region of target genes is the cause of several autosomal dominant neurodegenerative diseases including Huntington's disease (HD). A hallmark of HD is the proteolytic production of N-terminal fragments of huntingtin containing polyglutamine repeats that form ubiquitinated aggregates in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the affected neurons. In this study, we used an ecdysone-inducible stable mouse neuro2a cell line that expresses truncated N-terminal huntingtin (tNhtt) with different polyglutamine length, along with mice transgenic for HD exon 1, to demonstrate that the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of HD.

[Construction of linkage map and mapping resistance gene of Scterotinia scterotiorum in Brassica napus].

Scterotinia scterotiorum (Lib.) de by is a world-wide disease, which seriously decreases the yield and the quality of oil of rapeseed. Mapping resistance genes of S.

New cytotoxic sesquiterpenes from the gorgonian Isis hippuris.

Five new suberosane sesquiterpenes, suberosenol A (1), suberosenol B (2), suberosanone (3), suberosenol A acetate (4), and suberosenol B acetate (5), along with the known sesquiterpene subergorgic acid (6), have been isolated from the gorgonian Isis hippuris. The structures of these metabolites were established by spectroscopic and chemical methods. Metabolites 1 and 3-5 were found to exhibit potent cytotoxicity toward P-388, A549, and HT-29 cancer cell lines.

Polyglutamine length-dependent interaction of Hsp40 and Hsp70 family chaperones with truncated N-terminal huntingtin: their role in suppression of aggregation and cellular toxicity.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by polyglutamine expansion in the disease protein, huntingtin. In HD patients and transgenic mice, the affected neurons form characteristic ubiquitin-positive nuclear inclusions (NIs). We have established ecdysone-inducible stable mouse Neuro2a cell lines that express truncated N-terminal huntingtin (tNhtt) with different polyglutamine lengths which form both cytoplasmic and nuclear aggregates in a polyglutamine length- and inducer dose-dependent manner.

Caspase activation during apoptotic cell death induced by expanded polyglutamine in N2a cells.

Huntington disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder. To investigate the mechanism of neurodegeneration induced by mutant huntingtin, we developed a stable neuro2a cell line expressing truncated N-terminal huntingtin (tNhtt) with EGFP using the ecdysone-inducible system. The formation of aggregates and the cell death induced by expression of tNhtt with expanded polyglutamine was repeat length- and dose-dependent.

The murine gammaherpesvirus-68 M11 protein inhibits Fas- and TNF-induced apoptosis.

The murine gammaherpesvirus-68 (MHV-68) M11 gene encodes a protein predicted to have limited homology to the bcl-2 family of proteins. Unlike most of the other viral bcl-2 homologues, which have both BH1 and BH2 domains conserved with respect to bcl-2, the M11 protein has a BH1 domain, but apparently lacks a BH2 domain. Transfection of HeLa cells with an epitope-tagged MHV-68 M11 construct showed that the protein is predominantly located in the cytoplasm of cells.

Excavatolides U-Z, new briarane diterpenes from the gorgonian briareum excavatum.

A recent study of the EtOAc extract of the gorgonian Briareum excavatum afforded six new diterpenes of the briarane skeleton, excavatolides U-Z (1-6). The structures and relative stereochemistry of metabolites 1-6 were assigned on the basis of NMR studies and chemical methods. The structure, including the relative configuration of excavatolide U (1), was further confirmed by a single-crystal X-ray analysis.

Excavatolides F-M, new briarane diterpenes from the gorgonian Briareum excavatum.

Eight new briarane-type diterpenes, excavatolides F-M (1-8), have been isolated from the gorgonian Briareum excavatum. The structures and relative stereochemistry of these compounds were established by spectral analysis and chemical methods. The cytotoxicity of these compounds toward various cancer cell lines has also been determined.