ECSM2, an endothelial specific VE-cadherin binding protein, has a tyrosine phosphorylation site essential to cell migration.

Endothelial cell-specific molecule 2 (ECSM2) is a transmembrane protein located in cell-cell junction of endothelial cells (EC). ECSM2 was determined to play an important role in vascular development, EC migration, apoptosis and proliferation, however, no functional domains were determined in intracellular and extracellular region of ECSM2. In current work, functional domains of ECSM2, the relationship of ECSM2 with other endothelial specific protein such as VE-cadherin and the role of ECSM2 in neovascular diseases were determined.

IRAK-M alters the polarity of macrophages to facilitate the survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Background: Intracellular bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), infects specifically macrophages as host cells. IRAK-M, a member of IRAK family, is a negative regulator in TLR signaling and specifically expresses in monocytes and macrophages.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha regulates autophagy to activate hepatic stellate cells.

The role of autophagy in Hif-1α modulated activation of hepatic stellate cells was illustrated in current work. Autophagy markers were determined in livers of Schistosoma japonicum infected mice and hypoxia or LPS treated human hepatic stellate cell, LX-2 cells. The action of Hif-1 to autophagy was defined as increase of autophagy markers was significantly suppressed in Hif-1α siRNA transfected cells upon hypoxia or LPS stimulation.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha and MAPK co-regulate activation of hepatic stellate cells upon hypoxia stimulation.

Background: Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) plays a key role in pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. During liver injury, hypoxia in local micro-environment is inevitable. Hif-1α is the key transcriptional regulation factor that induces cell's adaptive responses to hypoxia.

Epidemiological distribution and genotype characterization of hepatitis C virus and HIV co-infection in Wuhan, China, where the prevalence of HIV is low.

Little is known about the epidemiological characteristics of HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection in cities in China with low HIV prevalence. This study evaluated the level of exposure to different risk factors associated with HCV transmission and characterized the distribution of HCV genotypes in 356 HIV-1-positive patients in Wuhan, central China. HIV transmission routes were distributed as follows: heterosexual contact, male-to-male sexual contact, intravenous drug use, blood transfusion, and unknown route.

Hair selenium levels in hepatic steatosis patients.

The purpose of this study was to assess hair selenium levels of liver patients suffering from hepatic simple steatosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in central areas of China. Selenium was measured by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer equipped with the hydride generation system. The levels of selenium in healthy individuals ranged between 0.

Identification of novel splice variants and exons of human endothelial cell-specific chemotaxic regulator (ECSCR) by bioinformatics analysis.

Recent discovery of biological function of endothelial cell-specific chemotaxic regulator (ECSCR), previously known as endothelial cell-specific molecule 2 (ECSM2), in modulating endothelial cell migration, apoptosis, and angiogenesis, has made it an attractive molecule in vascular research. Thus, identification of splice variants of ECSCR could provide new strategies for better understanding its roles in health and disease. In this study, we performed a series of blast searches on the human EST database with known ECSCR cDNA sequence (Variant 1), and identified additional three splice variants (Variants 2-4).

[Impacts of HIV-1 resistance mutations associated with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors on viral fitness].

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors which act as a major component of highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens are widely used in treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. However, the emergence of drug-resistant variants of HIV-1 severely limits the effectiveness of these drugs. Many drug resistance mutations confer a fitness cost, which can be partially overcome by compensatory mutations or other molecular mechanisms.

Structural and functional characterization of two alternative splicing variants of mouse Endothelial Cell-Specific Chemotaxis Regulator (ECSCR).

Endothelial cells (ECs) that line the lumen of blood vessels are important players in blood vessel formation, and EC migration is a key component of the angiogenic process. Thus, identification of genes that are specifically or preferentially expressed in vascular ECs and in-depth understanding of their biological functions may lead to discovery of new therapeutic targets. We have previously reported molecular characterization of human endothelial cell-specific molecule 2 (ECSM2)/endothelial cell-specific chemotaxis regulator (ECSCR).

Genetic characterization of Human astrovirus infection in Wuhan, People's Republic of China, 2007-2008.

Human astrovirus (HAstV) was an important cause of viral gastroenteritis in infants in Wuhan city based on our previous study. The aim of the study was to investigate the nature of HAstV infection in Wuhan, People's Republic of China, especially in adults. Stool specimens were collected from 361 children and 301 adults with diarrhea from July 2007 to June 2008 and were tested for HAstV RNA by RT-PCR.

Endothelial cell-specific molecule 2 (ECSM2) localizes to cell-cell junctions and modulates bFGF-directed cell migration via the ERK-FAK pathway.

Background: Despite its first discovery by in silico cloning of novel endothelial cell-specific genes a decade ago, the biological functions of endothelial cell-specific molecule 2 (ECSM2) have only recently begun to be understood. Limited data suggest its involvement in cell migration and apoptosis. However, the underlying signaling mechanisms and novel functions of ECSM2 remain to be explored.

Changes in PGRMC1, a potential progesterone receptor, in human myometrium during pregnancy and labour at term and preterm.

This study assesses the role of progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1) in actions of progesterone (P4) on human myometrium during pregnancy and labour. Myometrial tissues were obtained from non-pregnant patients during hysterectomy or pregnant women undergoing C-section at term and preterm, before and during labour. PGRMC1 expression in myometrial tissues and in a human myometrial cell line (HM9) was assessed by western blots and RT-PCR.

Prospective study of colonization and infection because of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mechanically ventilated patients at a neonatal intensive care unit in China.

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is an important nosocomial infection at neonatal intensive care units (NICU), frequently caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A 6-month prospective study from January 2009 through June 2009 was performed to investigate the respective contribution of endogenous and exogenous transmission of P aeruginosa in the respiratory colonization or/and infection in the mechanically ventilated patients at a NICU to identify routes of lung infection with P aeruginosa and to assess risk factors for colonization or respiratory infection with P aeruginosa.

Methods: Samples from oropharyngeal swab, tracheobronchial aspirates, gastric aspirate, and rectal swab were obtained in each patient after intubation and then twice a week.

Reduced antigenicity of naturally occurring hepatitis B surface antigen variants with substitutions at the amino acid residue 126.

Background: Substitutions at amino acid residue 126 of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) occur frequently in hepatitis B virus (HBV) isolates from patients with chronic HBV infection. These substitutions occur naturally, but their significance for viral persistence is unclear and requires further investigation.

Methods: We amplified coding regions of HBsAg by PCR using sera from 1 patient chronically infected with HBV.

Downregulation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase through anti-C-myc siRNA in human colon cancer Colo 320 cells.

The c-Myc and human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (hTERT) gene are frequently deregulated and overexpressed in malignancy. hTERT activity is induced by c-Myc and strategies designed to inhibit c-Myc expression in cancer cells may have considerable therapeutic value. We designed and used a short hairpin RNA to inhibit c-Myc expression in Colo 320 cells and validated its effect on cell proliferation.

Genetic immunization with Hantavirus vaccine combining expression of G2 glycoprotein and fused interleukin-2.

In this research, we developed a novel chimeric HTNV-IL-2-G2 DNA vaccine plasmid by genetically linking IL-2 gene to the G2 segment DNA and tested whether it could be a candidate vaccine. Chimeric gene was first expressed in eukaryotic expression system pcDNA3.1 (+).

Relationship between genomic types of Escherichia coli and clinical diseases.

In this study, by analysis of genome structures of E. coli, the relationships between the genomic types of E. coli and the associated diseases were investigated.

siRNA directed against c-Myc inhibits proliferation and downregulates human telomerase reverse transcriptase in human colon cancer Colo 320 cells.

The c-Myc and human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (hTERT) gene are frequently deregulated and overexpressed in malignancy. hTERT activity is induced by c-Myc and strategies designed to inhibit c-Myc expression in cancer cells may have considerable therapeutic value. We designed and used a short hairpin RNA to inhibit c-Myc expression in Colo 320 cells and validated its effect on cell proliferation.

Depletion of c-Myc inhibits human colon cancer colo 320 cells' growth.

Human colon cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women worldwide. The c-Myc gene is frequently deregulated and overexpressed in this malignancy, and strategies designed to inhibit c-Myc expression in cancer cells may have considerable therapeutic value. We design and use short hairpin RNA (shRNA) to inhibit c-Myc expression in Colo 320 cells and validat its effect on cell proliferation.

Identification of new subtype of astrovirus type 3 from an infant with diarrhea in Wuhan, China.

Human astrovirus is one of the important causes for viral gastroenteritis in young children. In previous study where we examined the molecular epidemiology of human astrovirus (HAstV) infection in infants in Wuhan City, we isolated and identified a new subtype (WH1859) of HAstV genotype 3 from an infant with diarrhea. The sequence analysis of this strain showed that the complete region of ORF2 of WH1859 contains 2385-bp of nucleotides that encode 795 amino acids.

Neuroprotective effects of purslane herb aquenous extracts against D-galactose induced neurotoxicity.

In order to evaluate mechanisms of natural plant purslane herb aquenous extracts (PHAS) for neuroprotective, we assessed neuroprotective effects of PHAS at doses of 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/(kg day) on SD mice injected daily with D-gal (50 mg/(kg day)) by behavioral tests. PHAS-fed mice showed higher activity upon induction by new environmental stimuli, lower anxiety and higher novelty-seeking behavior in the open field tasks, and significantly improved learning and memory ability in step-through compared with D-gal-treated mice.

Study on the blood-borne virus co-infection and T lymphocyte subset among intravenous drug users.

Aim: To investigate the features of various blood-borne virus infections and co-infection in intravenous drug users (IDUs), and to examine the correlation of T lymphocyte subsets with virus co-infection.

Methods: Four hundred and six IDUs without any clinical manifestation of hepatitis and 102 healthy persons were enrolled in this study. HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA were detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR.