Ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cell by fusion protein TAT-Zfx.

The relative inability of hemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to reproduce themselves (self-renew) ex vivo imposes substantial limitations on the current use of HSC transplantation. Recently, the transcription factor Zfx has been demonstrated that played an important in controlling the self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells. Here, we reported that Zfx could enable high-level expansion of HSCs in vitro, by combination of protein transduction domain, TAT.

[Tumor necrosis factor-alpha upregulates the protein levels of adipose differentiation-related protein in rat differentiated adipocytes].

Objective: To investigate the effect and basis of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on the lipid droplet associating protein adipose differentiation-related protein(ADRP) in rat differentiated adipocytes.

Methods: Differentiated rat adipocytes derived from epididymal fat pads of Sprague-Dawley rats were incubated in the presence or absence of TNF-alpha (25 microg/L). Glycerol level released in the culture medium was determined by a colorimetric assay and served as an index of lipolysis.

WITHDRAWN: The nonstructural protein-1 of influenza virus A.

This article has been retracted; please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief of The International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, as the authors have plagiarised sections of several other papers that had been previously published (Hale et al.

Mechanisms of metformin inhibiting lipolytic response to isoproterenol in primary rat adipocytes.

The mobilization of free fatty acids (FFA) from adipose tissue to the bloodstream primarily depends on triacylglycerol lipolysis in adipocytes. Catecholamines are major hormones that govern lipolysis through elevating cellular cAMP production and activating protein kinase, cAMP dependent, catalytic, alpha (PKA) and mitogen-activated protein kinase 1/2 (MAPK1/3). Obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with elevated levels of systemic FFA, which restricts glucose utilization and induces insulin resistance.

Aberrant methylation of EphA7 in human prostate cancer and its relation to clinicopathologic features.

EphA7 is a member of Eph/ephrins family and play diverse roles in carcinogenesis. The aim of our study was to investigate functional and structural alterations of EphA7 in prostate cancer and determine if those findings correlate with the clinicopathologic features of prostate cancer. Forty-eight prostate carcinomas, 31 benign prostate hyperplasias, 5 normal prostate tissues and 3 prostate cell lines (LNCaP, DU145 and PC-3) were examined with quantitative RT-PCR, methylation-specific PCR and immunohistochemistry.

[The mechanisms of stimulated lipolysis by high concentration of glucose in primary rat adipocytes].

Objective: To investigate the cellular mechanisms of adipocyte lipolytic response to a high concentration of glucose, which liberates free fatty acids (FFA) efflux from adipose cells to plasma.

Methods: Adipocytes were isolated from epididymal fat pads of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, and were incubated in the presence or absence of excess glucose (25 mmol/L). Glycerol released in the culture medium was determined by use of a colorimetric assay and served as an index of lipolysis.

[Prognostic factors for childhood acute non-mature B-lymphoblastic leukemia].

Objective: To study the prognostic factors for events-free survival (EFS) in children with acute non-mature B-lymphoblastic leukemia.

Methods: One hundred and sixty-one children with newly diagnosed acute non-mature B-lymphoblastic leukemia received the ALL-XH-99 protocol treatment. Their medical data, including clinical, biological and molecule features, early responses to treatment (bone marrow evaluation on the 19th day of induction therapy), minimal residual disease (MRD) in bone marrow after remission induction therapy, the risk grade of disease before the beginning of chemotherapy and the outcome, were retrospectively studied.

EGFR/KRAS mutations and gefitinib therapy in Chinese NSCLC patients.

Background: For gefitinib treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), KRAS mutations reportedly behave as a resistance marker, and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as a responsive marker. It is known that Asians and Caucasians have different responses to gefitinib. We investigated the KRAS and EGFR mutation status in a group of Chinese patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with gefitinib after a failed chemotherapy.

[Adipose triglyceride lipase regulates adipocyte lipolysis].

Obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes are associated with elevated concentration of circulating free fatty acids (FFAs), which are critically governed by the process of triglyceride lipolysis in adipocytes. Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) are two major enzymes in the control of triacylglycerol hydrolysis in adipose tissue. ATGL expressed predominantly in white adipose tissue specifically initiates triacylglycerol hydrolysis to generate diacylglycerols and FFA, a role distinguished from HSL that mainly hydrolyzes diacylglycerols.

Pigment epithelium-derived factor inhibits glioma cell growth in vitro and in vivo.

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults, and it is among the most lethal of all cancers. Recent studies have shown that pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) can induce differentiation and inhibit angiogenesis of several tumors. This study was designed to determine whether gliomas angiogenesis and tumor growth could be inhibited by PEDF.

Salicylate blocks lipolytic actions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in primary rat adipocytes.

Increased systemic free fatty acids (FFA) impair insulin sensitivity. In obese and diabetic subjects, production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a proinflammatory cytokine, is elevated. TNF-alpha has a variety of effects by inducing inflammation, decreasing glucose utilization, and stimulating adipocyte lipolysis to release FFA to plasma.

[A cross-sectional study on snoring in Boertala Mongolia Autonomous Prefecture].

Objective: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of snoring in Boertala Mongolia Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang.

Methods: A random sample of 4444 people, aged > or = 30, from Mongolian, Kazakh, Uygur, and Han population in Boertala Mongolia Autonomous Prefecture was investigated for the presence of snoring and the risk factors.

Results: The incidence of snoring was 21.

Adenovirus-mediated PEDF expression inhibits prostate cancer cell growth and results in augmented expression of PAI-2.

PEDF is one of the most potent inhibitor of angiogenesis. Loss of PEDF was found in human prostate tumors and associated with the progression toward a metastatic phenotype. To test the therapeutic potential of PEDF, we constructed a replication-defective adenoviral vector capable of efficient transduction and expression of PEDF (Ad-PEDF) in PC-3 prostate carcinoma cells.

Effect of flow rate, negative pressure, and duration of modified ultrafiltration on hemodynamics and inflammatory mediators.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of flow rate, negative pressure, and duration on modified ultrafiltration (MUF). Eighty children weighing less than 10 kg with congenital heart disease were randomly divided into four groups: group C (conventional MUF); group H (high flow rate MUF); group P (high negative pressure MUF); and group L (long duration, high flow rate MUF). The changes in body weight, hematocrit, and hemodynamics were recorded.

Characterization of a 60S complex of the adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor protein.

The tumor suppressor protein adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) is a multifunctional protein with a well characterized role in the Wnt signal transduction pathway and roles in cytoskeletal regulation and cell polarity. The soluble pool of APC protein in colon epithelial tumor cells exists in two distinct complexes fractionating at approximately 20S and approximately 60S in size. The 20S complex contains components of the beta-catenin destruction complex and probably functions in the Wnt pathway.

[Expression of retinoblastoma protein in child acute leukemia cells and its clinical significance].

The research was aimed to detect the expression levels of retinoblastoma protein (pRb) in child acute leukemia cells, and to explore its possible association with leukemia cells cycle, the risk of disease, minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring and prognosis of B-ALL. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to detect the expression of pRb in 89 cases of acute leukemia (including 25 AML, 10 T-ALL and 54 B-ALL) and bone marrows from 7 normal children (control group). Meanwhile the cell cycle in some cases was analyzed.

[Perilipin associated with lipid droplets regulates lipolysis].

Perilipins are the proteins associating with the lipid droplets in adipocytes and steroidogenic cells. Unphosphorylated perilipins coat the surface of intracellular lipid droplets to form a barrier that prevents lipase from accessing to triacylglycerol core, thus suppressing lipolysis. Upon activation of protein kinase A (PKA), two proteins, hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and perilipins, are phosphorylated.

[Prognostic significance of lymphocyte function associated anti-gen-3 (CD58) in childhood B cell-acute lymphocytic leukemia].

This study was aimed to investigate the value of CD58 in evaluation of early therapeutic effect on childhood B-ALL. The expression features of CD58 in 135 cases of childhood B-ALL were analyzed by four-color flow cytometry; MRD detection protocol for B-ALL using CD58/CD10/CD34/CD19 combination was established; the correlation between the expression features of CD58 and MRD detection was analyzed for the early therapeutic response in childhood B-ALL. The results showed that the mean value of CD58 MFI in 135 cases of B-ALL was 113.

Multicenter quality control of the detection of HIV-1 genome in semen before medically assisted procreation.

Couples in whom the man is HIV-1-positive may use medically assisted procreation in order to conceive a child without contaminating the female partner. But, before medically assisted procreation, the semen has to be processed to exclude HIV and tested for HIV nucleic acid before and after processing. The performance was evaluated of the technical protocols used to detect and quantify HIV-1 in 11 centers providing medically assisted procreation for couples with HIV-1 infected men by testing panels of seminal plasma and cells containing HIV-1 RNA and/or DNA.

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 episomal cDNA in semen.

Background: Episomal 2-long terminal repeat (LTR) HIV-1 cDNA, a by-product of HIV-1 infection, is used in clinical trials as a marker for ongoing viral replication. It would be useful to employ 2-LTR cDNA to monitor cryptic HIV-1 infection in the genital tract of men on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to predict the evolution of sexually transmissible drug-resistant HIV-1, but studies thus far have failed to detect this marker in semen. The objectives of this study were: 1) to use a technique that maximizes DNA recovery from HIV-1 infected white blood cells in semen to determine if episomal 2-LTR cDNA is detectable in semen of ART-naïve men with other evidence of genital tract HIV-1 infection, and 2) to compare levels of HIV-1 2-LTR cDNA, RNA, and proviral DNA in semen from HIV-1+ men on ART.

Nuclear export of hnRNP Hrp1p and nuclear export of hnRNP Npl3p are linked and influenced by the methylation state of Npl3p.

Eukaryotic mRNA processing and export are mediated by a series of complexes composed of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs). Many of these hnRNPs are methylated at arginine residues within their RGG domains. Although cellular arginine methylation is required for the efficient nuclear export of several hnRNPs, its role in this process is unknown.

Effect of prenatal vitamin supplementation on lower-genital levels of HIV type 1 and interleukin type 1 beta at 36 weeks of gestation.

Micronutrient status has been associated with shedding of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the lower-genital tract in observational studies. We examined the effect of vitamin supplements on genital HIV-1 shedding and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta ), a cytokine marker of vaginal inflammation and promotion of HIV-1 infection. Consenting HIV-1-infected pregnant women were randomized to receive daily supplementation with vitamin A and/or multivitamins B-complex, C, and E with use of a factorial design.

Separation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 from motile sperm by the double tube gradient method versus other methods.

Objective: To compare a new sperm-processing device, utilizing a double tube and gradient, with other commonly used sperm-processing methods for their abilities to exclude human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) from the motile sperm fraction while retaining maximum sperm yield.

Design: Laboratory experiments.

Setting: Academic research environment.

[Characterization of CD10 expression and its significance in minimal residual disease detection in childhood B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia].

To observe the expressions of CD10 in childhood B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and to define the role of CD10 in minimal residual disease (MRD) detection. 58 cases of childhood B-ALL were studied in this program. Four-color flow cytometry was used to analyze the characteristics of B-ALL phenotypes.