Interactions between the Astrocytic Volume-Regulated Anion Channel and Aquaporin 4 in Hyposmotic Regulation of Vasopressin Neuronal Activity in the Supraoptic Nucleus.

We assessed interactions between the astrocytic volume-regulated anion channel (VRAC) and aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in the supraoptic nucleus (SON). Acute SON slices and cultures of hypothalamic astrocytes prepared from rats received hyposmotic challenge (HOC) with/without VRAC or AQP4 blockers. In acute slices, HOC caused an early decrease with a late rebound in the neuronal firing rate of vasopressin neurons, which required activity of astrocytic AQP4 and VRAC.

Oxytocin Modulation of Maternal Behavior and Its Association With Immunological Activity in Rats With Cesarean Delivery.

Oxytocin (OT), a neuropeptide produced in the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei, is not only essential for lactation and maternal behavior but also for normal immunological activity. However, mechanisms underlying OT regulation of maternal behavior and its association with immunity around parturition, particularly under mental and physical stress, remain unclear. Here, we observed effects of OT on maternal behavior in association with immunological activity in rats after cesarean delivery (CD), a model of reproductive stress.

Use and Cost-Effectiveness of a Telehealth Service at a Centralized COVID-19 Quarantine Center in Taiwan: Cohort Study.

Background: Telehealth is a recommended method for monitoring the progression of nonsevere infections in patients with COVID-19. However, telehealth has not been widely implemented to monitor SARS-CoV-2 infection in quarantined individuals. Moreover, studies on the cost-effectiveness of quarantine measures during the COVID-19 pandemic are scarce.

Effect of danefukang on symptoms and biomarkers in women with endometriosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to observe the efficacy of Danefukang (DEFK) soft extract for the treatment of symptoms associated with endometriosis, and its effect on quality of life, the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores, and on levels of carbohydrate antigen (CA)-125, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6.

Materials And Methods: A total of 174 patients with endometriosis treated from January 2010 to December 2013 were randomly divided into a control group treated with mifepristone (n = 87) or DEFK (n = 87). Both groups were treated for 3 months.

Fibroblast activation proteins-α suppress tumor immunity by regulating T cells and tumor-associated macrophages.

Fibroblast activation protein-α (FAPα) is a type-II cell-surface-bound integral transmembrane serine protease and selectively overexpressed by tumor-associated stromal fibroblasts (TAFs), which are the main components in the tumor microenvironment, in >90% of malignant epithelial carcinomas. FAPα regulates the immunosuppression of tumor cells in the tumor microenvironment. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the major immunosuppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment.

[Research advances of anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody].

CD40 and its receptor CD40L are a very important pair of co-stimulating molecule in immune response, which have extensive biological effects. After stimulating CD40 signal, it can exert corresponding function through MAPK (JNK, ERK, p38) pathway, PI3K cascade, as well as NF-κB and STAT. The CD40 signal is closely related to tumor immunity, this moleculer has already become targeted-molecule for cancer treatment.

[Hyperactivation of c-Jun NH(2)-terminal protein kinase contributes to the proliferation of B lymphoma cells].

This study was purposed to explore the effect of hyperactivation of c-Jun NH(2)-terminal protein kinase (JNK) on the proliferation of B lymphoma cells. The human B lymphoma cell lines Daudi and Raji were chosen as research objects. The expression of JNK protein was determined by Western blot.

[Influence of excessive complement activation on pathological process of acute graft versus host disease in mice].

This study was aimed to explore the influence of excessive complement activation on the pathological process of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in mice. A murine model with aGVHD was established by injecting cell mixture containing splenocytes and bone marrow cells at 2:1 ratio from donor C57BL/6(H-2K(b)) mice into recipient BALB/c (H-2K(d)) mice within 4-6 hours after 8 Gy (60)Co γ-ray total body irradiation. The mice received syngeneic bone marrow transplantation were used as control group.

CD3 mAb treatment ameliorated the severity of the cGVHD-induced lupus nephritis in mice by up-regulation of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in the target tissue: kidney.

Teff/Treg imbalance orchestrated the onset and the progression of the lupus nephritis in a DBA/2→B6D2F1 murine model with cGVHD. In this paper, we first used 145-2C11 Ab to treat these human SLE-like diseased animals. The results showed that short-term low-dose anti-CD3 antibody treatment induced a significant remission of established proteinuria, production of autoantibodies, immune complex deposition and renal parenchyma lesions in lupus nephritic mice.

[Establishment and evaluation of experimental sepsis mouse model].

After treating with chemotherapy or immunosuppressant, malignant diseases of hematopoietic system such as leukemia, malignant lymphoma and aplastic anemia usually induced severe infection such as sepsis. Sepsis which is hard to be diagnosed causes high death rate. This study was purposed to establish an experimental sepsis mouse model so as to provide a basis for pathogenesis and intervention study.

Inhibition of IgE Activity to Bind its High Affinity Receptor (FcεRIα) by Mouse Anti-IgE Cε3∼4 Monoclonal Antibody (QME5).

Using computer-guided homology modeling method, the 3-D structure of the Fv fragment of a functional anti-IgE antibody (MAE11) was constructed and the spatial structure of E24-MAE11 complex was modeled based on the crystal structure of IgE-Fc (abbr. E24) and molecular docking method. Then the identified epitope of IgE was determined theoretically, which showed the key role of IgE-Cɛ3 in interacting with both FcɛRIα and MAE11.

[Separation of immortalized mesenchymal stem cell like stromal cells of mouse embryonic aorta-gonad-mesonephros region and their biological characteristics].

To investigate the effects of microenvironment of aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) on embryonic hematopoiesis, mesenchymal stem cell like stromal cells (MSC like stromal cells) derived from dorsal aorta (DA) in AGM region were separated and identified by their growth characteristics, related molecules expression and mesenchymal lineage potentials. Stromal cells from DA region in mouse embryos (E11.5) were isolated and cultured in vitro.

Identification of mesenchymal stem cells in aorta-gonad-mesonephros and yolk sac of human embryos.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can generate various microenvironment components in bone marrow, ensuring a precise control over self-renewal and multilineage differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells. Nevertheless, their spatiotemporal correlation with embryonic hematopoiesis remains rudimentary, particularly in relation to the human being. Here, we reported that human aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) resided with bona fide MSCs.

[Histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA induces inactivation of MAPK signaling and apoptosis in HL-60 cells].

The study was aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA-induced apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60. The effect of SAHA on HL-60 cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay and the cell morphological changes were observed with Wright-Giemsa and Hoechst33342 staining. The cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry and the expression of cell signaling proteins were detected by Western-blot analysis.

Apoptosis induced by depsipeptide FK228 coincides with inhibition of survival signaling in lung cancer cells.

Background: Whereas histone deacetylase inhibitors are known to modulate chromatin structure, the precise mechanisms by which these novel agents induce apoptosis in cancer cells remain unknown. Previously we reported that depsipeptide FK228 depletes epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), erbB2, and Raf-1 kinases in non-small cell lung cancer cells. In the present study we sought to further define the mechanisms by which FK228 modulates oncoprotein signaling and to ascertain whether altered signal transduction contributes to FK228-mediated apoptosis in lung cancer cells.

Functional and phenotypic alteration of intrasplenic lymphocytes affected by mesenchymal stem cells in a murine allosplenocyte transfusion model.

Previous data have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can exert immunomodulatory activity in vitro, in which of the process nearly all kinds of immune cell subsets are involved. However, there is still a paucity of information about whether and why MSCs inhibit the ongoing immune responses in vivo. Working in a murine splenocyte transfusion model across the major histocompatibility barrier (C57BL/6 -BALB/c, H2b --> H2d), we have found that MSC coinfusion prolongs the mean survival time (MST) of the recipient mice in a dose-dependent manner and reduces graft-versus-host-associated histopathology in comparison to the allosplenocyte transfusion controls.

FK228 inhibits Hsp90 chaperone function in K562 cells via hyperacetylation of Hsp70.

Some pan-histone-deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have recently been reported to exert their anti-leukemia effect by inhibiting the activity of class IIB HDAC6, which is the deacetylase of Hsp90 and alpha-tubulin, thereby leading to hyperacetylation of Hsp90, disruption of its chaperone function and apoptosis. In this study, we compared the effect of a class I HDAC inhibitor FK228 with the pan-HDAC inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) on the Hsp90 chaperone function of K562 cells. We demonstrated that, although having a weaker inhibitory effect on HDAC6, FK228 mediated a similar disruption of Hsp90 chaperone function compared to SAHA.

Functional and Phenotypic Alteration of Intrasplenic Lymphocytes Affected by Mesenchymal Stem Cells in a Murine Allosplenocyte Transfusion Model.

Previous data have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can exert immunomodulatory activity in vitro, in which of the process nearly all kinds of immune cell subsets are involved. However, there is still a paucity of information about whether and why MSCs inhibit the ongoing immune responses in vivo. Working in a murine splenocyte transfusion model across the major histocompatibility barrier (C57BL/6 → BALB/c, H2b → H2d), we have found that MSC coinfusion prolongs the mean survival time (MST) of the recipient mice in a dose-dependent manner and reduces graft-versus-host-associated histopathology in comparison to the allosplenocyte transfusion controls.

[Cloning, expression and purification of human stem cell growth factor cDNA and its species-specificity in hematopoiesis].

Stem cell growth factor (SCGF) is an early-acting hematopoitic cytokine that has two isoforms including hSCGF with full length molecules and hSCGFbeta, 78 amino acids of which lost in the conserved calcium-dependent carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD). It has been demonstrated that hSCGFbeta is strictly species-specific in regulating he-matopoiesis. This study was aimed to explore whether human SCGF can exert synergistic stimulatory effect on heterogenous murine CFU-GM progenitor.

[Establishment of nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation model in H-2 haploidentical mice and its related study].

To explore the feasibility of nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens, hematopoietic reconstitution, chimera level and the occurrence of GVHD after nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation in H-2 haploidentical mice, CB6F1 mice were used as the recipient and were divided into 3 groups, mice were pretreated five days before transplantation. Group A was pretreated with myeloablative conditioning regimens (TBI with 10.5 Gy), group B was pretreated by TBI (2 Gy) + Ara-C + Cy and group C-TBI (2 Gy) + Ara-C + CY + Flu, respectively.

[Development of methodology for isolation and culture of mesenchymal stem cells derived from mouse skeletal muscle].

To address the question whether there exists mesenchymal stem cells in adult mouse skeletal muscle, mononuclear cells from muscle were obtained by digestion and density gradient centrifugation and plated in alpha-MEM/F12 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. Cell biological properties including morphology, cytochemistry, growth pattern and phenotypes as well were evaluated. Likewise, the osteogenesis of cultured cells was also observed.

[Modification of in situ cryopreservation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells].

The study was aimed to evaluate if the modified in situ cryopreservation could affect the biological function of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in vitro. Mesenchymal stem cells from human bone marrow were isolated by standard method and characterized with their morphology, cell-surface antigen profile and differentiation repertoire in vitro. The culture-expanded MSC were cryopreserved in situ with culture medium (DMEM-LG) containing 10% D MSO and 30% selected FCS in -70 degrees C.

[Cyclosporine A and mycophenolate mofetile as prophylactics for GVHD in a murine model of H-2 haploidentical nonmyeloablative bone marrow transplantation].

In order to research the prophylactic effect of cyclosporine A (CSA) and mycophenolate mofetile (MMF) on GVHD in mice with H-2 haploidentical nonmyeloablative bone marrow transplantation, a murine model was established by using of C57BL/6J mouse as donor and (C57BL/6J x BALB/C) F(1) mouse as the recipient. The recipient mice were given CSA + MTX or CSA + MMF for prophylaxis of acute GVHD (aGVHD). The survival rate, hematopoietic recovery, and morbidity and mortality of aGVHD were observed for 50 days after transplantation.

[Investigation of in vitro hematopoietic differentiation of embryonic stem cell line established from C57BL/6 mice].

Embryonic hematopoiesis in mammals is characterized by successive temporal and spatial changes. Previous investigations indicate that in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ES cells) derived from 129 mice can mimic embryonic hematopoiesis to some extent. To investigate the in vitro hematopoietic differentiation capacity of ES cells derived from C57BL/6 mice, the authors initially established the murine ES cell line with standard identification methods employed.