JNK3 involvement in nerve cell apoptosis and neurofunctional recovery after traumatic brain injury

Increasing evidence has revealed that the activation of the JNK pathway participates In apoptosis o1 nerve cells and neurological function recovery after traumatic brain injury. However, which genes inI the JNK family are activated and their role in traumatic brain injury remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, in situ end labeling, reverse transcription-PCR and neurological function assessment were adopted to investigate the alteration of JNK1, JNK2 and JNK3 gene expression in cerebral injured rats, and their role in celt apoptosis and neurological function restoration. Results showed that JNK3 expression significantly decreased at 1 and 6 hours and 1 and 7 days post injury, but that JNK1 and JNK2 expression remained unchanged. In addition, the number of apoptotic nerve cells surrounding the injured cerebral cortex gradually reduced over time post injury. The Neurological Severity Scores gradually decreased over 1,3, 5, 14 and 28 days post injury. These findings suggested that JNK3 expression was downregulated at early stages of brain injury, which may be associated with apoptosis of nerve cells. Downregulation of JNK3 expression may promote the recovery of neurological function following traumatic brain injury.

Electroacupuncture-regulated neurotrophic factor mRNA expression in the substantia nigra of Parkinson's disease rats

Acupuncture for the treatment of Parkinson＇s disease has a precise clinical outcome. This study investigated the effect of electroacupuncture at Fengfu （GV16） and Taichong （LR3） acupoints in rat models of Parkinson＇s disease induced by subcutaneous injection of rotenone into rat neck and back. Reverse transcription-PCR demonstrated that brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA expression was significantly increased in the substantia nigra of rat models of Parkinson＇s disease, and that abnormal behavior of rats was significantly improved following electroacupuncture treatment. These results indicated that electroacupuncture treatment upregulated brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA expression in the substantia nigra of rat models of Parkinson＇s disease. Thus, electroacupuncture may be useful in the treatment of Parkinson＇s disease.

Effect of sericin on diabetic hippocampal growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor 1 axis

Previous studies have shown that sericin extracted from silk cocoon significantly reduces blood glucose levels and protects the nervous system against diabetes mellitus. In this study, a rat type 2 diabetes mellitus model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 25 mg/kg streptozotocin for 3 successive days, following which the rats were treated with sericin for 35 days. After treatment, the blood glucose levels of the diabetic rats decreased significantly, the growth hormone level in serum and its expression in the hippocampus decreased significantly, while the insulin-like growth factor-1 level in serum and insulin-like growth factor-1 and growth hormone receptor expression in the hippocampus increased significantly. The experimental findings indicate that sericin improves disorders of the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor 1 axis to alleviate hippocampal damage in diabetic rats.

Increased CD133^+ cell infiltration in the rat brain following fluid percussion injury

The prominin-1/CD133 epitope is expressed in craniocerebral trauma in animal models of fluid undifferentiated cells. Studies have reported that percussion injury induces production of a specific stem cell subgroup. It has been hypothesized that fluid percussion injury induces CD133＋ cell infiltration in the brain tissue. The present study established a traumatic brain injury model through fluid percussion injury. Immunohistochemical staining showed significantly increased CD133 antigen expression in the rat brain following injury. CD133＋ cells were mainly distributed in hippocampal CA1 3 regions, as well as the dentate gyrus and hilus, of the lesioned hemisphere. Occasional cells were also detected in the cortex. In addition, reverse transcription-PCR revealed that no change in CD133 mRNA expression in injured brain tissue. These results suggested that fluid percussion injury induced CD133 antigen expression in the brain tissues as a result of conformational epitope changes, but not transcriptional expression.

Stem cell properties and neural differentiation of sheep amniotic epithelial cells

This study was designed to verify the stem cell properties of sheep amniotic epithelial cells and their capacity for neural differentiation. Immunofluorescence microscopy and reverse transcription-PCR revealed that the sheep amniotic epithelial cells were positive for the embryonic stem cell marker proteins SSEA-1, SSEA-3, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81, and the totipotency-associated genes Oct-4, Sox-2 and Rex-1, but negative for Nanog. Amniotic epithelial cells expressed β-Ⅲ-tubulin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, nestin and microtubule-associated protein-2 at 28 days after induction with serum-free neurobasal-A medium containing B-27. Thus, sheep amniotic epithelial cells could differentiate into neurons expressing β-Ⅲ-tubulin and microtubule-associated protein-2, and glial-like cells expressing glial fibrillary acidic protein, under specific conditions.

Expression of PKD2 gene in human renal tissue and other tissues

Objective: To study the expression of PKD2 gene in human kidney and other tissues. Methods: The expression of PKD2 was detected by reverse transcription PCR(RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization(ISH) . The results of ISH were analyzed by micromegakargooytes. Results: Distribution of pkd-2 in normal adult kidney was stronger in proximal convoluted tubule, Henle's loop ascending branch, distal convoluted tubule and cortical collecting ducts, and inferior signal were observed in fetal kidney. Negative was seen in ADPKD 2 kidney. Conclusion: Down-regulation of PKD2 gene expression in kidney may take effect on the occurrence and development of ADPKD2.

Molecular cloning and identification of naturally occurring human antisense angiopoietin-1: Gna-1

One novel cDNA fragment was obtained from vascular endothelial cells by differential display reverse transcription PCR technique. By using this fragment as probe, we screened the human artery cDNA library and obtained one cDNA clone which is 2198 bp in length. After sequencing and homology researching, we found that the clone contained a region of 851 bp in length complementary to that of human angiopoietin-1 cDNA, encoding the partial fibrinogen-like domain and 3′ non-translational region. It was inferred that this clone was a naturally occurring antisense RNA of human angiopoietin-1, designated as Gna-1. Gna-1 does not encode protein. The tran-scription of Gna-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and ECV304 cells was confirmed by RT-PCR method. Gna-1 may be involved in regulating the function of angiopoietin-1, and play a significant role in angiogenesis.