Killing effect of the combined treatment of ultrasound and hypocrellin B on Candidaalbicans

OBJECTIVE To investigate the killing effect of the combined treatment of ultrasound and hypocrellin B,an active component isolated from a natural product Hypocrella bambuase,on Candida albicans.METHODS At first,Candida albicans are incubated with hypcrellin B and the uptake of hypocrellin B in Candida albicans was determined using fluorescence intensity analysis.And then the sensitized Candida albicans were exposed to low-intensity of ultrasound.After the combined treatment of ultrasound and hypocellin B,the growth of Candida albicans was evaluated using the colony counting method,and membrane integrity of Candida albicans was also analyzed by a flow cytometry with propidium iodide staining.RESULTS Hypocrellin B was fast absorbed by candida albicans.The growth of candida albicans was more significantly inhibited by the combined treatment of ultrasound and hypocrellin B than the controls(P<0.05).The more marked damages to membrane integrity were found in the combined treatment than the controls(P<0.05).CONCLUSION The combined treatment of ultrasound and hypocrellin B had significant killing effect on Candida albicans,indicating sonodynamic therapy with hypocrellin B from natural product might be a potential approach for combating fungal infections.

Effect of sonodynamic action of hypocrellin B on biofilm-producing Enterococcus faecalis

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of sonodynamic action on biofilm-producing Enterococcus faecalis using hypocrellin B from a natural product Hypocrella bambuase as a sensitizer.METHODS The uptake of hypocrellin B in biofilm-producing Enterococcus faecalis was measured using the fluorescent analysis method.After the combined treatment of hypocrellin B and ultrasound,the growth of biofilm-producing Enterococcus faecalis was measured using the colony counting method,the membrane integrity was detected using a flow cytometric analysis with propidium iodide staining.Chromosomal DNA of bacteria was analysed using apulsed-field gel electrophoresis(PFGE).RESULTS The uptake of hypocrellin B in biofilm-producing Enterocuccus faecalis reached a high peak at the 20 min incubation.After the combined treatment of hypocrellin B,the growth of biofilm-producing Enterocuccus faecalis significantly descreased and membrane integrity was remarkably damaged.However,no remarkable change in bacterial DNA was found.CONCLUSION Sonodynamic action of hypocrellin B had significant killing activity on Enterocuccus faecalis.

PFMG1 promotes osteoblast differentiation and prevents osteoporotic bone loss

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of Pinctadafucata mantle gene 1(pfmg1)on osteoporotic bone lossand the role in osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization,and to explore the molecular mechanismof how PFMG1 functions through both animal and cellular experiments.METHODS For animal experiments,female BALB/c mice were subjected to sham-operation(sham)or ovariectomy(ovx)at 5weeks of age,control and pfmg1 lentiviral particles were packaged and injected through tail vein to ovx mice(2×107TU/mouse),respectively.Bone mineral density(BMD)was detected 2 months after the surgery,and the proximal tibia was scanned in three dimensions byμCT.For cellular experiments,GST-PFMG1 protein was expressed and purified,then added to MC3T3E1 cell culture medium.MTT,ALP activity and the level of matrix mineralization were detected after the treatment.RESULTSEctopic expression of pfmg1 gene enhanced the BMD level of ovx mice.μCT images revealed that PFMG1 improvedthe osteoporotic characteristics caused by ovariectomy,including the decreases in trabecular number(Tb.N),trabecular thickness(Tb.Th),and in trabecular bone volume as a percentage of total bone volume(BV/TV);and the increases in trabecular spacing(Tb.Sp)and trabecular bone pattern factor(TBPf).The alkaline phosphatase(ALP)activity and the level of matrix mineralization increased,while the MTT activity decreased after treated with PFMG1 in the osteoblast cell line MC3T3E1.CONCLUSION PFMG1 from the mental of P.fucatacould promote osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization in vitro,and couldprevent bone loss caused by ovariectomy in vivo.These findings showed the potential of PFMG1 from nacre as a therapeutic drug for osteoporosis.

A Multimedia Intelligent Meta-synthesis System Oriented to Remote Diagnoses and Education

The paper specifically introduces the composition, principle and realization ofa distributed mutlimedia intelligent meta-synthesis system oriented to remote diagnoses and education--Lower Mandibular Third Molar Intelligent Meta-synthesis System. With the OOL--Delphi3.0/4.0, the expert intelligent subsystem implements the function of resistance analysis and the computer aided decision-making to the disign of drawing teeth of lower mandibular third molar. For the sake of remote diagnoses, the system adopts FrontPage98 to design home pages which can be interfaced in IE and NETSCAPE easily.