Ceramide production mediates cinobufotalin-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive and lethal neoplasm with poor prognosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the anticancer activity of cinobufotalin, a bufadienolide isolated from toad venom, in cultured HCC cells, and to study the underlying mechanisms. We found that cinobufotalin (at nmol/L) significantly inhibited HCC cell growth and survival while inducing considerable cell apoptosis.

Synergistic effect of lidocaine with pingyangmycin for treatment of venous malformation using a mouse spleen model.

Aims: To explore whether lidocaine has the synergistic effect with pingyangmycin (PYM) in the venous malformations (VMs) treatment.

Methods: The mouse spleen was chosen as a VM model and injected with different concentration of lidocaine or PYM or jointly treated with lidocaine and PYM. After 2, 5, 8 or 14 days, the mouse spleen tissues were acquired for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, TUNEL assay and quantitative RT-PCR analysis to examine the toxicological effects of lidocaine and PYM on splenic vascular endothelial cells.

[Study of Fermi resonance by means of solution concentration variation].

The values of Raman scattering coefficients of some molecules in which Fermi resonance occurs vary with solution concentration variation. We measured the Raman spectra of some solvents such as CCl4, CS2, C6H6, etc by changing the concentration of the solutions ranging from 10% to 100% in volume. As a result, the authors obtained the general law of Fermi resonance.