mRNA expression of Rho GTPase-related signaling molecules during rat hippocampal development

BACKGROUND： Rho GTPase family members have been shown to participate in neurite growth by regulating the neuronal cytoskeleton. However, there are very few reports of developmental roles of signaling molecules related to Rho GTPases. OBJECTIVE： To investigate messenger ribonucleic acid mRNA expression of signaling molecules associated with Rho GTPases, including Rho-A, Rac-1, collapsin response mediator protein 1 （CRMP-1）, and tubulin 133 （Tub/33） during rat hippocampus development. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING- A non-randomized, controlled, animal experiment, based on different developmental stages of the rat hippocampus, was performed at the Guangdong Key Laboratory of Tissue Construction and Detection, Institute of Clinical Anatomy, Southern Medical University between December 2005 and July 2007. MATERIALS： Trizol reagent was purchased from Invitrogen, USA. RNA PCR kit （AMV） Ver 3.0 and 150 bp DNA Ladder Marker were purchased from TaKaRa, Japan. Unless otherwise specified, all other reagents were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, USA. METHODS： Twenty-five Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to five groups （n = 5） according to developmental stages： embryonic （embryonic 15 days）, neonatal （postnatal 5 days）, juvenile （postnatal 1 month）, adult （postnatal 3 months）, and senile （postnatal 18 months）. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Detection of mRNA expression of Rho-A, Rac-1, CRMP-1, and Tub β3 during various hippocampal developmental stages by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS： Hippocampal mRNA expression of Rho-A, as well as Rac-1, reached peak levels at embryonic, juvenile, and senile stages, and was relatively less during neonatal and adult stages. mRNA expression of Rac-1 was greater than Rho-A during each hippocampal developmental stage. CRMP-1 mRNA expression levels were as follows： embryonic 〉 neonatal 〉 juvenile 〉 adult 〈 senile, while Tubβ3 mRNA expression was embryonic 〉 neonatal 〉 juvenile 〉 adult = senile. CONCLUSION： Rho-A and Rac-1 shared similar expression profiles, which demonstrated similar variations during the entire rat hippocampus developmental process. However, Rac-1 mRNA expression remained greater than Rho-A. Both CRMP-1 and Tubβ3 mRNA expression profiles gradually declined during hippocampal development from embryonic to adult stages. Tubβ3 mRNA expression arrested during the adult stage, and CRMP-1 mRNA expression increased during the senile stage.

A Meta-Analysis of Lymphatic Vessel Invasion Correlated with Pathologic Factors in Invasive Breast Cancer

Objectives: The invasive breast cancer is divided into four clinical subtypes: Luminal A-like, Luminal B-like, HER-2 positive, and triple-negative according to the expression status of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor(PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) and Ki-67. The prognosis and treatment strategy vary with subtypes. The current studies have reported the relation between lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) and the expression status of ER, PR, HER-2, Ki-67 in invasive breast cancer, but the results were debatable. So the meta-analysis was conducted to confirm the relation between LVI and the four factors. Methods: Literature was searched by entering the terms: breast AND (neoplasm OR cancer OR carcinoma) AND (lymphovascular OR “lymph vessel” OR “lymphatic vessel” invasion OR carcinoma embolus) AND (ER OR estrogen receptor OR PR OR progesterone receptor OR HER-2 OR human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 OR Ki-67 OR clinicopathological) in Pubmed. The merged odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using fixed-effect model. Review Manager 5.2 was used to analysis the relation between LVI and the expression status of ER, PR, HER-2, Ki-67 in invasive breast cancer respectively. The fail-safe number was used to estimate publication bias. Results: The analysis included 5 studies, LVI positive rate was significant lower in ER positive, PR positive, HER-2 negative, low Ki-67 expression group statistically. The OR and 95% CI were 0.6(0.44 - 0.81), 0.64(0.43 - 0.95), 1.52(1.03 - 2.24), 5.29(1.53 - 18.35) respectively.Conclusions:?LVI was significantly correlated with the expression status of ER, PR, HER-2 and Ki-67 in invasive breast cancer. Furthermore, LVI was consistent with poor prognostic expression status of the four factors.

Application of three-dimensional digitalized reconstruction of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap

Developments of digital technology and three-dimensional(3D)reconstruction allowed a precise description of anatomic structures.With the introduction of Visible Human Project and Virtual Chinese Human(VCH)techniques,more detailed anatomic images could be obtained.Digitized visible models of these structures can be applied as a useful tool in clinical training.The aim of this study was to reconstruct the normal structures of thoracodorsal artery in 3D images and to establish the digitized visible models of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous(LDM)flap.The cross-sectional images from the four VCH datasets were reviewed to study LDM and thoraco-dorsal artery structures on a section-by-section basis.Next,two adult fresh cadaver specimens were perfused with lead oxide-gelatine mixture and subject to radio-graphic CT scanning on their torsos.The cross-sectional images from the CT images were reviewed to study thor-acodorsal artery structures.Three-dimensional computer-ized reconstructions of LDM flap structures were conducted from these datasets by using Amira 3.1(TGS)software respectively.The 3D reconstructed visible models established from these datasets perfectly displayed the anatomic characteristics of LDM flap.