Comparative study of regulatory T cells expanded ex vivo from cord blood and adult peripheral blood.

In this study, we expanded regulatory T cells (Tregs) ex vivo from CD4(+) CD25(+) T cells from cord blood (CB) and CD4(+) CD25(+) CD127(-) T cells from adult peripheral blood (APB) and compared the suppressive functions of the newly generated Tregs. The Tregs from CB and APB were expanded either in two cycles with a polyclonal stimulus or in two cycles with an alloantigen stimulus in the first cycle and a polyclonal stimulus in the second cycle. Cell yield after Treg expansion with polyclonal stimulation was greater than that of Tregs expanded with combined alloantigen and polyclonal stimulation.

Tanshinone IIA in acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Introduction: The prognosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has been significantly improved by the use of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO). However, the utility of these drugs is limited by resistance to ATRA and the side effects of ATO. It has been reported that Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA), a diterpene quinone isolated from Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bunge, induces apoptosis in the APL cell line, NB4.

Bioaccumulation and translocation of cadmium in cole (Brassica campestris L.) and celery (Apium graveolens) grown in the polluted oasis soil, Northwest of China.

A pot experiment was conducted to study the bioaccumulation and translocation of cadmium (Cd) in cole (Brassica campestris L.) and celery (Apium graveolens) grown in the Cd-polluted oasis soil, Northwest of China. The results showed that Cd in the unpolluted oasis soil was mainly bound to carbonate fraction (F2) and Fe-Mn oxide fraction (F3).

Amelioration of acute graft-versus-host disease by adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded human cord blood CD4+CD25+ forkhead box protein 3+ regulatory T cells is associated with the polarization of Treg/Th17 balance in a mouse model.

Background: Human cord blood (CB) is a superior source of regulatory T cells (Tregs) compared with peripheral blood. Initial studies have shown that CB-derived Tregs can be effectively expanded ex vivo. However, in vitro suppressor activity of expanded CB-Tregs and their efficacy in the prevention of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in vivo are poorly understood.

[A preliminary study on the influence of human plasma exosomes-like vesicles on macrophage Wnt5A-Ca²+ pathway].

Objective: To study the influence of human plasma exosomes-like vesicles on the regulatory function of macrophages.

Methods: The exosomes-like vesicles were purified from healthy donors plasma with a series of high-speed centrifugation and ultrafiltration. Macrophages were derived from cultured human blood monocytes.

[Treatment of growing Class II division 1 patients with varying degrees of anteroposterior and vertical dysplasias].

Purpose: To evaluate the difference of treatment on growing patients with Class II division 1 using various anteroposterior and vertical skeletal dysplasias.

Methods: Twenty-eight moderate to severe Class II division 1 malocclusion patients with Class I molar and canineocclusion after treatment were selected. The subjects were divided into 3 groups based on the initial ANB and FMA angles.

Chemical fractionations and bioavailability of cadmium and zinc to cole (Brassica campestris L.) grown in the multi-metals contaminated oasis soil, northwest of China.

A pot experiment was conducted to study the relationship between distribution of cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) and their availability. to cole (Brassica campestris L.) grown in the multi-metal contaminated oasis soil in northwest of China.

[Non-extraction treatment in borderline class III malocclusion].

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of non-extraction treatment protocol combined with rapid palatal expansion and lower molar distalization in borderline Class III malocclusion in adolescents.

Methods: Nine borderline Class III patients (average age: 13.4 ± 0.

Structural and stereochemical studies of five new pregnane steroids from the stem bark of Toona ciliata var. pubescens.

Five new pregnane steroids, toonasterones A (1), B (2), (Z)-aglawone (3), (Z)-toonasterone C (4), and (E)-toonasterone C (5), were isolated from the stem bark of Toona ciliata var. pubescens. Their structures were elucidated by means of detailed spectroscopic (IR, MS, and 2D NMR) analysis, and the stereochemistry of 1 was secured by X-ray diffraction analysis.

The effects of maxillary protraction and its long-term stability--a clinical trial in Chinese adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of reverse pull headgear (RPHG) in the treatment of Class III malocclusions in the late mixed and early permanent dentition and its long-term stability at the time when facial growth was close to completion. The treatment group comprised 22 subjects (12 males and 10 females, mean age: 11.38 ± 0.

[A successful case of tanshinone II A treatment for relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia after maintainance therapy of all-trans retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide].

Objective: To observe the effects of Tanshinone II A (Tan II A) on acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) characterized by resistance to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO).

Methods: A 21-year-old male patient with relapsed APL, who previously received the maintenance therapy with ATRA,ATO, 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) and Methotrexate (MTX) for 1 year, was given Tan II A 80 mg intravenously once a day, and the changes of hematological parameters and side effects of Tan II A were observed.

Results: The patient reached morphologically complete remission after using Tan II A intravenously for 54 days.

Exosomal-like vesicles with immune-modulatory features are present in human plasma and can induce CD4+ T-cell apoptosis in vitro.

Background: Exosomes are small membrane vesicles that are secreted from many cell types into various body fluids. These vesicles are thought to play a role in cell-cell interactions.

Study Design And Methods: Vesicles were isolated from human plasma of healthy donors by differential ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration.

C/EBPβ and CHOP participate in tanshinone IIA-induced differentiation and apoptosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells in vitro.

Our studies indicated that Tanshinone IIA (TanIIA), which is widely applied in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases with a rare occurrence of side effects, could promote APL cell differentiation and apoptosis. We found TanIIA induced the differentiation of NB4 and MR2 cells with elevated C/EBPβ and CHOP. When C/EBPβ was overexpressed in NB4 cells, the level of CD11b in the transfected cells was significantly elevated.

Quantitative metabolic flux analysis revealed uneconomical utilization of ATP and NADPH in Acremonium chrysogenum fed with soybean oil.

A metabolic network was constructed for the Acremonium chrysogenum cultivation fed with soybean oil. Metabolic flux analysis indicated that the shift from exponential growth to rapid cephalosporin C (CPC) formation was accompanied by 1.63- and 5-fold carbon flux enlargement in TCA cycle and glyoxylate by-pass, respectively.

Dietary quercetin combining intratumoral doxorubicin injection synergistically induces rejection of established breast cancer in mice.

Dietary ingredients can decrease the risk of a variety of human cancers. Quercetin (3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) has a long history of consumption as part of the normal human diet and is able to induce growth inhibition in multiple cancer cells. In an attempt to generate more potent therapeutic effect for breast cancer, we have designed a combinative regimen of dietary quercetin with intratumoral doxorubicin injection and evaluated their anti-tumor activity in established breast cancer mouse model.

[Apoptosis of NB4 cells induced by Tanshinone II A combined with arsenic trioxide].

Objective: To evaluate the synergistic effects of Tanshinone II A (Tan II A) combined with arsenic trioxide (ATO) on apoptosis and differentiation of NB4 cells.

Methods: The NB4 cells were treated with Tan II A, ATO, and Tan II A combined with ATO, respectively. The proliferative inhibition rates of NB4 cells induce by Tan II A, ATO and their combination were calculated on the fifth day.

Normal-incidence left-handed metamaterials based on symmetrically connected split-ring resonators.

Normal-incidence left-handed metamaterials (LHMs) based on symmetrically connected split-ring resonators (SC-SRRs) were proposed and investigated numerically and experimentally. The SC-SRR, which can be easily fabricated by conventional printed circuit board technology, is composed of metallic patterns connected by metalized vias through the dielectric substrate. Under normal incidence, SC-SRR exhibits strong magnetic response, leading to negative permeability.

Rapid structural determination of alkaloids in a crude extract of Stemona saxorum by high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.

The electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometric behavior of five Stemona alkaloids, stemokerrin, oxystemokerrin, oxystemokerrilactone, oxystemokerrin N-oxide and stemokerrin N-oxide, was studied using an ESI tandem mass technique (MS(n)). These compounds, isolated from Stemona saxorum endemic in Vietnam, represent a class of alkaloids containing a pyrido[1,2-a]azepine A,B-ring core with a 1-hydroxypropyl side chain attached to C-4. Their fragmentation pathways were elucidated by ESI-MS(n) results and the elemental composition of the major product ions was confirmed by accurate mass measurement.

Further Daphniphyllum alkaloids with insecticidal activity from the bark of Daphniphyllum macropodum M(IQ).

Two new Daphniphyllum alkaloids, macropodumines J and K (1 and 2, resp.), together with six known structurally related alkaloids, 3-8, were isolated from the bark of Daphniphyllum macropodum M(IQ). The structures of the new compounds 1 and 2 were elucidated on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of their spectroscopic and chemical data.

[MMP-9 expression profile in inflammatory cells of Mip-1alpha knockout mice and Mip-1alpha receptor knockout mice].

Objective: To explore the MMP-9 expression profile in peritoneal inflammatory macrophages and granulocytes in Mip-1alpha-, CCR1- and CCR5-deficient mice.

Methods: In sodium thioglycolate-induced murine peritonitis models, peritoneal macrophages and granulocytes were harvested, identified and purified from WT mice and Mip-1alpha-, CCR1-, CCR5-deficient mice. The RT-PCR was applied to evaluate the expression of MMP-9 in macrophages and granulocytes of different group of mice.

[Effect of tanshinone II A on NB4 cell induced procoagulant activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells].

Objective: To investigate the effect of tanshinone II A on the procoagulant activity (PCA) of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) induced by acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cell line NB4 cells.

Methods: The HUVEC were incubated for 6, 12, and 24 hours in different tanshinone II A conditioned medias (Tan II A-NB4-24h-CM, Tan II A-NB4-72h-CM, Tan II A-NB4-120h-CM). Then the HUVEC were incubated for 6, 12, 24, and 72 hours with Tan II A-NB4-120h-CM and different concentrations of Tan II A (0, 0.

Two new Daphniphyllum alkaloids from the stems and leaves of Daphniphyllum calycinum.

Two new Daphniphyllum alkaloids, 9,10-epoxycalycinine A (1) and homodaphniphyllate (2), together with eight known related alkaloids, were isolated from the stems and leaves of Daphniphyllum calycinum. The structures of the new compounds 1 and 2 were elucidated on the basis of in-depth spectroscopic-data analysis, by chemical derivatization, and by comparison of their spectroscopic data with those of known compounds.

Luteolin as a glycolysis inhibitor offers superior efficacy and lesser toxicity of doxorubicin in breast cancer cells.

Luteolin (Lu) exhibits a wide spectrum of anti-tumor activities, the present study was to observe whether Lu can sensitize breast cancer cells to doxorubicin (Dox) and to explain the basis underlying this phenomenon. In vitro, Lu at dose less than 100 microM had only slight effect on cells growth and cytotoxicity of Dox in 4T1 and MCF-7 cells under normoxia, but it could reverse tumor resistance to Dox and promote death of tumor cells under hypoxia. In vivo, Lu alone had also no effect on tumor growth delay, however, it could offer superior efficacy and lesser toxicity of Dox in 4T1 and MCF-7 bearing mice.

[The effect of maxillary protraction in early permanent dentition].

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of maxillary protration in skeletal anterior crossbite patients in early permanent dentition and determine the optimal timing for orthopedic treatment.

Methods: 18 patients (11 males and 7 females with a mean age of 11.5 years) with concave profile were treated with protraction headgear.

Precolumn derivatization of cysteine residues for quantitative analysis of five major cytochrome P450 isoenzymes by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.

The development of a novel method for absolute quantification of the five most clinically relevant CYP450 isoenzymes is described based on chemical derivatization of cysteine residues. The sulfhydryl-reactive reagents, 2-bromo-4'-chloroacetophenone (p-CPB) and 2-bromo-4'-bromoacetophenone (p-BPB), are proposed for use in quantitative proteomics. After reducing and denaturing, the P450s are derivatized with p-CPB for sulfhydryl alkylation then subjected to trypsin digestion.