Intravenous high mobility group box 1 upregulates the expression of HIF-1α in the myocardium via a protein kinase B-dependent pathway in rats following acute myocardial ischemia.

The effects of intravenous high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains to be elucidated. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of intravenous HMGB1 on the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in the myocardium of rats following acute myocardial ischemia, and to examine the effects of intravenous HMGB1 on myocardial I/R injury. Male Wistar rats were divided into the following groups: Sham operation group (n=10), a group exposed to ischemia for 30 min and reperfusion for 4 h (I/R group) as a control (n=10), an HMGB group, in which 100 ng/kg HMGB was administered intravenously 30 min prior to ischemia (n=10), an LY group, in which LY294002, an inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), was administered intravenously (0.

Postconditioning with simvastatin decreases myocardial injury in rats following acute myocardial ischemia.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether postconditioning with simvastatin attenuated myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury by inhibiting the expression of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in rat myocardium following acute myocardial ischemia. In total, 30 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into sham operation (sham; n=10), acute myocardial infarction (AMI; n=10) and simvastatin (sim; n=10) groups. The AMI and sim groups were subjected to ischemia for 30 min, followed by reperfusion for 180 min.

Retigeric acid B-induced mitophagy by oxidative stress attenuates cell death against prostate cancer cells in vitro.

Aim: Retigeric acid B (RAB), a pentacyclic triterpenic acid from Lobaria kurokawae Yoshim, has been found to induce apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of mitochondrial damage-caused mitophagy in RAB-induced prostate cancer cell death in vitro.

Methods: Human prostate cancer PC3 and LNCaP cells were tested.

Human leukocyte antigen-C and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor gene polymorphisms among patients with syphilis in a Chinese Han population.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum spirochete bacterium. The killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR), interacting with human leukocyte antigens (HLA), regulate the activations of natural killer (NK) cells and certain T-cell subsets in response to microbe infection. The objective of this study was to explore whether KIR and HLA-C gene polymorphisms were associated with syphilis in a Chinese Han population.

Preventive action of curcumin in experimental acute pancreatitis in mouse.

Background & Objectives: Curcuma longa (turmeric) has a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for inflammatory conditions. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the preventive effects of curcumin against acute pancreatitis (AP) induced by caerulein in mouse and to elucidate possible mechanism of curcumin action.

Methods: Curcumin (50 mg/kg/day) was intraperitoneally injected to Kun Ming male mice for 6 days, followed by injection of caerulein to induce AP.

Growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells by oridonin nanosuspension.

The mechanism for anti-tumor activity of oridonin (ORI) nanosuspension, prepared by the high pressure homogenization method, was studied using MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells in vitro. MTT assay, observation of morphologic changes, flow cytometric analysis, and western blot analysis indicated that ORI nanosuspension could significantly intensify the in vitro anti-tumor activity to MCF-7 cells, as compared with ORI solution. Furthermore, ORI nanosuspension induced G₂/M stage proliferation arrest and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells depending on its concentration.

[Effects of 9-cis-retinoic acid on cell cycle and expression of cyclin D1 and cdk4 in lung cancer cells].

Aim: To study the effects of 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis-RA) on cell cycle and expression of cyclin D1 and cdk4 in lung cancer cells.

Methods: 9-cis-RA (1 x 10(-6) mol.L-1) was used to treat lung cancer cells for 24 h; Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to detect the percent of G0/G1 phase and S phase cells of three groups including blank control, DMSO control and 9-cis-RA groups; RT-PCR was used to analyze the expression changes of cyclin D1 and cdk4 before and after treatment with 9-cis-RA in lung cancer cells.

Conversion of an obligate autotrophic bacteria to heterotrophic growth: expression of a heterogeneous phosphofructokinase gene in the chemolithotroph Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans.

A plasmid pSDK-1 containing the Escherichia coli phosphofructokinase-1 gene (pfkA) was constructed, and transferred into Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans Tt-7 by conjugation. The pfkA gene from E. coli could be expressed in this obligately autotrophic bacterium but the enzyme activity (18 U g-1) was lower than that in E.

Clinical significance of plasma D-dimer and von Willebrand factor levels in patients with ulcer colitis.

Aim: To investigate the levels of D-dimer(DD) and von Willebrand factor(vWF) and the relationship between DD and vWF in ulcerative colitis(UC) patients.

Methods: A total of 29 plasma specimens were obtained from patients with ulcerative colitis (male 13, female 16) aged 21-47 years (33+/-11). Disease activity was assessed by Truelove-Writeria.