[Methodology and purposes of establishing mouse and rat models for syndrome differentiation and treatment].

Methodology of syndrome differentiation and syndrome-based treatment in rats and mice has professional characteristics and caters to the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this paper, the authors introduced their systematic research in five aspects. 1) Rats and mice can be used to simulate TCM clinical practice.

Aminoglycoside antibiotics may interfere with microbial amino sugar analysis.

The amino sugars (e.g., glucosamine, galactosamine, mannosamine, muramic acid) in soils are frequently employed as biomarkers of microbial residues.

C-terminal domain of SARS-CoV main protease can form a 3D domain-swapped dimer.

SARS coronavirus main protease (M(pro)) plays an essential role in the extensive proteolytic processing of the viral polyproteins (pp1a and pp1ab), and it is an important target for anti-SARS drug development. We have reported that both the M(pro) C-terminal domain alone (M(pro)-C) and the N-finger deletion mutant of M(pro) (M(pro)-Delta7) exist as a stable dimer and a stable monomer (Zhong et al., J Virol 2008; 82:4227-4234).

Renoprotective effect of total glucosides of paeony (TGP) and its mechanism in experimental diabetes.

Total glucosides of paeony (TGP), extracted from the root of Paeonia lactiflora pall, has been shown to have ant-inflammatory and antioxidative actions. The aims of this study were to elucidate the renoprotective effect of TGP and its mechanism in experimental diabetes. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were treated with TGP for 8 weeks.

Nephrin and podocin loss is prevented by mycophenolate mofetil in early experimental diabetic nephropathy.

Several works in the setting of early experimental diabetic nephropathy using anti-inflammatory drugs, such as mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), have shown that prevention of the development or amelioration of renal injury including proteinuria. The exact mechanisms by which anti-inflammatory drugs lower the albuminuria have no still to clarify well. In this study, diabetes was induced by injection of streptozotocin after uninephrectomy.

Evaluation of recombinant Onchocerca volvulus activation associated protein-1 (ASP-1) as a potent Th1-biased adjuvant with a panel of protein or peptide-based antigens and commercial inactivated vaccines.

Alum, the only adjuvant approved for clinical applications, can induce strong humoral (Th2) but weak cellular (Th1) immune responses. It is necessary to develop safe and effective adjuvants capable of inducing both humoral and cellular immune responses. We previously showed that activation-associated protein-1 (ASP-1) derived from Onchocerca volvulus has potent adjuvant activity.

[Differentially expressed genes in adrenal gland of H22 liver cancer mice with different syndromes and in different stages].

Objective: To reveal the characteristics of gene expression in adrenal gland of H22 tumor mice with typical syndromes and in different liver cancer stages.

Methods: By the quantitative four diagnosis and syndrome differentiation methods and GeneChip Mouse Exon 1.0 ST Array, we observed adrenal gland gene expression in H22 tumor mice with pathogenic factor-toxin predominance syndrome and qi deficiency syndrome in the earlier stage, yang-qi deficiency syndrome in the intermediate stage, and qi-yin-yang deficiency syndrome in the advanced stage.

Reliability of muramic acid as a bacterial biomarker is influenced by methodological artifacts from streptomycin.

The muramic acid (MurA) assay is a powerful tool for the detection and quantification of bacteria with no need to enrich samples by culturing. However, the analysis of MurA in mixed biological and environmental matrices is potentially more complex than analysis in isolated bacterial cells. In this study, we employed one commonly used procedure for extraction of MurA from environmental samples and found that the presence of streptomycin interfered with the determination of MurA by creating chemical species that coeluted with the aldononitrile derivative of MurA prepared in this method.

Without its N-finger, the main protease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus can form a novel dimer through its C-terminal domain.

The main protease (M(pro)) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) plays an essential role in the extensive proteolytic processing of the viral polyproteins (pp1a and pp1ab), and it is an important target for anti-SARS drug development. It was found that SARS-CoV M(pro) exists in solution as an equilibrium of both monomeric and dimeric forms, and the dimeric form is the enzymatically active form. However, the mechanism of SARS-CoV M(pro) dimerization, especially the roles of its N-terminal seven residues (N-finger) and its unique C-terminal domain in the dimerization, remain unclear.

Recovery of transgenic plants by pollen-mediated transformation in Brassica juncea.

The aroA-M1 encoding the mutant of 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) was introduced into the Brassica juncea genome by sonication-assisted, pollen-mediated transformation. The plasmid DNA and collected pollen grains were mixed in 0.3 mol/L sucrose solution and treated with mild ultrasonication.

[Photodynamic therapy of pigmented choroidal melanomas in rabbits using hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether].

Objective: The purpose is to determine the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy of experimental choroidal melanoma in rabbits using hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME).

Methods: Pigmented choroidal melanomas were established in 46 New Zealand albino rabbit eyes. The animals were treated with daily injection of cyclosporine A.

FRET analysis of in vivo dimerization by RNA-editing enzymes.

Members of the ADAR (adenosine deaminase that acts on RNA) enzyme family catalyze the hydrolytic deamination of adenosine to inosine within double-stranded RNAs, a poorly understood process that is critical to mammalian development. We have performed fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments in mammalian cells transfected with fluorophore-bearing ADAR1 and ADAR2 fusion proteins to investigate the relationship between these proteins. These studies conclusively demonstrate the homodimerization of ADAR1 and ADAR2 and also show that ADAR1 and ADAR2 form heterodimers in human cells.

[Effects of early intestinal application of sijunzi decoction on immune function in post-operational patients of gastrointestinal tumor].

Objective: To assess the effects of early intestinal application of sijunzi decoction (SJZD) on the immune function in post-operational patients of gastrointestinal tumor.

Methods: Ninety-two patients with malignant gastrointestinal tumor were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in both groups were given the isocaloric and isonitrogenous enteral nutritional support starting from the first day after operation for 1 week, but to the tested group, SJZD was given additionally.

[Effects of root-applied glycinebetaine on the composition and function of wheat thylakoid membrane under drought stress].

Two wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.), HF9703 tolerant to drought and SN215953 sensitive to drought, were used to study the effects of glycinebetaine on the composition and function of thylakoid membrane. The wheat seedlings with two leaves were pretreated with Hoagland solution containing 1.

Head and neck nodal station images: guidance for three-dimensional radiation therapy treatment planning.

When we use radiation to treat cancer patients, the irradiated volume usually encloses the detectable tumor and any metastatic areas that are thought to be at risk. Usually, in three-dimensional (3D) radiation therapy, we need to define the clinical target volume (CTV), which identifies the areas suspected of containing microscopic metastasis. We can use a set of computed tomographic (CT) images to define these suspected areas, which we relate to nodal station distributions.

MET3 promoter: a tightly regulated promoter and its application in construction of conditional lethal strain.

The beta-galactosidase activity driven by MET3 promoter was assayed in the absence of methionine and in the presence of different concentration of methionine in medium. To compare its activity with GAL1 promoter and the data reported by Mumburg about MET25 promoter, the MET3 promoter was a weak but tightly controlled promoter. Its successful application in the construction of methionine-sensitive tri-mutant ( cln1 Delta cln2 Delta pho85 Delta) demonstrated that the MET3 promoter is a useful promoter in construction of conditional lethal strain and heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.