Msi1基因沉默对人肝癌HepG2细胞的影响

目的:探讨siRNA沉默Msi1基因表达后,人肝癌HepG2细胞的增殖与凋亡的情况。方法:设计合成针对Msi1 mRNA序列的siRNA多条序列,分别转染人肝癌HepG2细胞。使用RT–PCR方法检测各组细胞Msi1基因表达情况;Western blot法检测survivin蛋白、caspase3蛋白表达情况;MTT法、平皿克隆实验检测HepG2细胞增殖情况;流式细胞术检测各组HepG2细胞凋亡情况。结果:(1)RT-PCR结果:转染后24 h后,序列a,b,c转染效率分别为65%,64%及62%。其抑制率分别是Msi1 siRNAa(68%)、Msi1 siRNAb(56%)、Msi1 siRNAc(35%)。(2)流式细胞术检测各组细胞凋亡:空白组、阴性组、脂质体组、Msi1 siRNAa组凋亡率分别为(4.14±0.26)%、(4.51±0.78)%、(4.19±1.21)%,(16.8±0.26)%,Msi1 siRNAa组与空白对照组比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。(3)Msi1 siRNAa最能有效抑制肝癌HepG2细胞中Msi1表达,与空白对照组比较,Msi1 siRNAa组HepG2细胞生长、增殖速度明显减缓(P<0.05);survivin蛋白表达水平显著下调(P<0.05),而caspase3蛋白表达水平上调(P<0.05);Msi1 siRNAa组凋亡率增高(P<0.05)。结论:沉默Msi1可抑制人肝癌HepG2细胞的增殖,诱导其凋亡。

Isolation and Expression Analysis of MaPRMT1 Gene in Banana

[Objective] The aim of experiment was to lay molecular foundation for studying maturity mechanism of banana after harvest. [Method] The combined method of suppressing subtractive hybridization and cDNA micro-array were used to obtain cDNA segment of one PRMT gene in banana and the whole cDNA sequence of the gene was cloned.The bioinformatics analysis was operated on it,in addition, the expression profile analysis was conducted in different organs and different mature periods of banana.[Result] The whole length of cDNA in MaPRMT1 was 1 158 bp and possessed a complete open reading frame,which could encode 385 amino acids.It had high homology with PRMT in plant,containing one Methyltransf_1 domain.The MaPRMT1 gene was expressed in root,stem,leaf and fruit of banana and the expression levels in stem and leaf were relatively high.As the increase of days after harvest,the expression level declined gradually,however it reached maximum when ethylene release was biggest,then it declined.[Conclusion] MaPRMT1 belonged to the first kind of arginine methyltransferase and it was expressed differently in different organs and fruits at different mature periods.

Relationship between vascular invasion and microvessel density and micrometastasis

AIM： To evaluate the relationship between vascular invasion and microvessel density （MVD） of tissue and micrometastasis in blood. METHODS： Vascular invasion was detected by both hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemiscal staining. Blood samples were collected from 17 patients with vascular invasion and 29 patients without vascular invasion and examined for cytokeratin20 （CK20） expression by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） analysis. Microvessel density of tissue samples was also determined by immunohistochemistry using antibodies to CD105. RESULTS： CK20 was detected in 12 of the 17 patients with vascular invasion and in 9 of the 29 patients without vascular invasion. Positive RT-PCR was significantly correlated with vascular invasion （70.6% vs 30.0%, P 〈 0.05）. The average MVD was significantly higher in patients with positive vascular invasion than in patients with negative vascular invasion （29.2 ± 3.3 vs 25.4 ± 4.7, P 〈 0.05）. The vascular invasion detected with hematoxylin-eosin staining was less than that with immunohistochemical staining. There was a significant difference between the two staining methods （19.6% vs 36.9%, P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Positive CK20 RT-PCR, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node status, metastasis and MVD are significantly correlated with vascular invasion. Immunohistochemical staining is more sensitive than hematoxylin-eosin staining for detecting vascular invasion.

Circulating hTERT mRNA as a tumor marker in cholangiocarcinoma patients

AIM： To investigate human telomerase reverse transcriptase （hTERT） mRNA in the serum of cholangiocarcinoma patients. METHODS： The serum of thirty three cholangiocarcinoma patients, forty one benign biliary tract disease patients and ten healthy volunteers were collected and analyzed for the expression of hTERT mRNA by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. We then examined the correlation between values of serum hTERT mRNA and the pathological staging of cholangiocarcinoma. RESULTS： hTERT mRNA was detected in 28 of 33 （84.85%） of serum obtained from cholangiocarcinoma patients and 9 of 41 （21.9%） of serum obtained from benign biliary tract disease patients, hTERT mRNA was not detected in any serum obtained from healthy volunteers, on the other hand the common tumor marker, CA19-9 was detected in 20 of 33 （60.6%） of serum obtained from cholangiocarcinoma patients and 8 of 41 （19.5%） of serum obtained from benign biliary tract disease patients. However, no correlation was found between the present of serum hTERT mRNA and tumor staging. CONCLUSION： These results indicate that the detection of circulating hTERT mRNA was identified in almost all cholangiocarcinoma patients. It offers a novel tumor marker, which can be used as a complementary study for diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma .

Detection of Grass Carp Hemorrhage Virus (GCHV) from Vietnam and Comparison with GCHV Strain from China

Grass carp plays an important role in small-scale aquaculture in Vietnam. However, a severe disease, known in Vietnam as "Red Spot Disease", is causing significant economic loss in grass carp aquaculture. In this study, the tissue samples isolated from the grass carp with Red Spot Disease in Vietnam are investigated and comparied with the control GCHV isolated in China by experimental infection, culture cell infection, serological cross reactivity, and RT-PCR amplification. Infected grass carp exhibits hemorrhage symptoms about 5 days after experimental injection with GCHV-V (Vietnam) strain. The symptoms and lethality induced by the GCHV-V strain are identical to that induced by the Chinese GCHV-9014 strain. The Chinese GCHV-873 strain induces typical cytopathogenic effects in 4 cell lines, such as CIK, CAB, FHM and GCO, from the 6 fish cell lines examined. No cytopathogenic effects are observed in all the 6 examined cell lines, including CAB, FHM, CIK, EPC, CCO and GCO, infected by the GCHV-V strain and GCHV-9014 strain. Immunodiffusion assays demonstrate an obvious cross-reactivity among three GCHV strains. Precipitin lines are clearly observed not only between the anti-GCHV-873 serum and the two strains GCHV-873 and GCHV-9014, but also between the anti-GCHV-873 serum and the GCHV-V strain. GCHV can be detected by immunodiffusion assays after three generations of blind propagations in the cell lines inoculated by GCHV-V strain. This implicates that GCHV-V viruses have been replicated and amplified despite there being no cytopathogenic effects observed in these examined cell lines. Three genome segments of GCHV, including S8, S9 and S10, are amplified by three sets of PCR primers designed according to the segment sequences published recently. The Q8fp and Q8rp primer set specific for genome segment S8 amplifies a 955 bp fragment from the extracted sample of diseased fish with Red Spot Disease, and the fragment size is identical to that amplified by the same primer set from control GCHV-873 strain. Simultaneously, the Q9fp and Q9rp primer set specific for genome segment S9 generates a same 635 bp product, and the Q10fp and Q10rp primer set specific for genome segment S10 produces a same 697 bp fragment from both template samples of diseased fish with Red Spot Disease and control GCHV-873 strain. The RT-PCR amplification and corresponding size comparison data indicate that the three GCHV-V genome segments extracted from the diseased grass carp with Red Spot Disease in Vietnam should be identical to that in control GCHV-873 strain from China. The data confirm that the causative agent of grass carp Red Spot Disease in Vietnam is a virus, and the virus is closely similar to GCHV strain in China.

Expression pattern of matrix metalloproteinases-13 in a rat model of alcoholic liver fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Interstitial collagenase has been considered as an essential enzyme for collagenolysis in liver fi-brosis, because type Ⅰ and Ⅲ collagens increase predominantly in liver fibrosis. The present study aimed to demonstrate the gene expression of matrix metalloproteinases-13 (MMP-13) in the progressive phases of ethanol induced experimental liver fibrosis in rats. METHODS: Thirty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group (24 rats) was given ethanol (44% , 7 g/kg) every day and the control group (10) was given normal saline. Liver samples were harvested from experimental rats at 4, 12 and 24 weeks respectively. The kinetics of MMP-13 mRNA expression was assayed by semi-quantity reverse transcriptase-poly-merase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: In normal rat liver, a faint band for MMP-13 mRNA was observed by RT-PCR (0.24±0.41). The gene expression of MMP-13 was increased in the liver of the rats treated with ethanol for 4 weeks (0. 62 ±0. 54), but it was not considered statistically significant (P >0.05). And the livers from 12-week-treated rats showed a marked mRNA expression(1.65 ±0.47, P <0. 01). Once fibrosis became prominent (24 weeks), a faint band of MMP-13 mRNA was observed (0.39±0.25). CONCLUSION: MMP-13 participates in the degradation of newly-formed matrix in the early phase of rat liver fibrosis induced by ethanol, and it was induced in a distinct time frame.

Expression of Transforming Growth Factor-β in Cultured Normal Human Lens Epithelia Cells

Summary: In order to investigate whether cultured normal human lens epithelial cells (LEC) express transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemical methods were used for detection of TGF-β mRNA and protein in cultured normal human LEC. The results showed that a single RT-PCR amplified product about 310bp was obtained, and the sequence was homologous to the known sequence. TGF-β immunostain was positive in the plasma of LEC. It was suggested that normal human LEC could produce TGF-β, and LEC could be affected by TGF-β through autocrine action.

CONSTRUCTION OF EUKARYOTIC EXPRESSION VECTOR WITH GRANULOCYTE-MACROPHAGE COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR GENE

Objective: To construct the eukaryotic expression vector that express human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (hGM-CSF) gene for making highly express in mammalian cells. Methods: Extract totally RNA from the induced human fetal lung (HFL) cell line. HGM-CSF cDNA was obtained by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and then directionally subcloned into the HindIII and EcoRI site on the pcDNA3.1 plasmid, which was controlled by the CMV promoter, to form the recombinant expressing vector pcDNA3.1-GM-CSF. Results: The PCR amplification was identified and the sequence was analyzed, the results showed that hGM-CSF was properly inserted into the vector and the sequence was correct.

Differential gene expression between asymptomatic HBV carriers and normal adults

BACKGROUND: There are more than 100 million wa symptomatic HBV carriers (ASCs) in China and they are at a high risk of developing liver disease, which creates a serious health problem. But more than 90% of normal adults clear virus from primary HBV infection, so the difference of gene expression between ASCs and normal adults determines the differential outcomes. To identify differentially expressed genes in ASCs compared to normal adults, we used suppression subtractive hybridization to compare gene expression. METHODS: cDNA subtracted libraries were constructed by suppression subtracted hybridization from peripheral blood monocytes of ASCs and normal adults, the subtracted clones were prescreened by dot blot hybridization, and the levels of genes of interest were confirmed by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: One hundred and two and 96 positive clones were acquired from the A-N and N-A libraries, respectively, and 14 and 11 clones were identified by dot blot hybridization in the A-N and N-A libraries. Two genes were confirmed as differentially expressed between a set of ASC and normal adult samples by real-time RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: Differentially expressed genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells between ASCs and normal adults were isolated by suppression subtractive hybridization, and included some new genes. Of the upregulated genes in ASCs, checkpoint suppressor I is associated with DNA damage-induced cell cycle arrest. Perforin I is associated with inflammation. The information about such alterations in gene expression could be useful for elucidating the mechanisms of ASC pathogenesis.

Myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 overexpression is associated with poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients

AIM: To investigate the expression of myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 (MR-1) in relation to clinicopathological parameters and postoperative survival in a group of Chinese patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: In our previous study of human wholegenome gene expression profiling, the differentially expressed genes were detected in the gastric cancer and its adjacent noncancerous mucosa. We found that MR-1 was associated with the location and differentiation of tumors. In this study, MR-1 protein expression was determined by immunohistochemistry in specimens of primary cancer and the adjacent noncancerous tissues from gastric cancer patients. A set of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays based on the Universal ProbeLibrary-a collection of 165 presynthesized, fluorescence-labeled locked nucleic acid hydrolysis probes-was designed specifically to detect the expression of MR-1 mRNA. The correlation was analyzed between the expression of MR-1 and other tumor characteristics which may influence the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. A retrospective cohort study on the prognosis was carried out and clinical data were collected from medical records. RESULTS: MR-1 mRNA and protein could be detected in gastric cancer tissues as well as in matched noncancerous tissues. MR-1 was up-regulated at both mRNA (5.459 ± 0.639 vs 1.233 ± 0.238, P < 0.001) and protein levels (34.2% vs 13.2%, P = 0.003) in gastric cancer tissues. Correlation analysis demonstrated that high expression of MR-1 in gastric cancer was significantly correlated with clinical stage (P = 0.034). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the postoperative survival of the MR-1 positive group tended to be poorer than that of the MR-1 negative group, and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.002). Among all the patients with stageⅠ-Ⅳ carcinoma, the 5-year survival rates of MR-1 positive and negative groups were 50.40% and 12.70%, respectively, with respective median survival times of 64.27 mo (95%CI: 13.41-115.13) and 16.77 mo (95%CI: 8.80-24.74). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to compare the impact of MR-1 expression and other clinicopathological parameters on prognosis. In a univariate analysis on all 70 specimens, 6 factors were found to be significantly associated with the overall survival statistically: including MR-1 expression, depth of invasion, distant metastasis, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion and the tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage based on the 7th edition of the International Union against Cancer TNM classification. To avoid the influence caused by univariate analysis, the expressions of MR-1 as well as other parameters were examined in multivariate Cox analysis. Clinicopathological variables that might affect the prognosis of gastric cancer patients were analyzed by Cox regression analysis, which showed that MR-1 expression and TNM stage were independent predictors of postoperative survival. The best mathematical multivariate Cox regression model consisted of two factors: MR-1 expression and TNM stage. Our results indicated that MR-1 protein could act as an independent marker for patient overall survival [Hazard ratio (HR): 2.215, P = 0.043]. CONCLUSION: MR-1 is an important variable that can be used to evaluate the outcome, prognosis and targeted therapy of gastric cancer patients.

Quantified gene expression levels for phase Ⅰ/Ⅱ metabolizing enzyme and estrogen receptor levels in benign prostate from cohorts designated as high-risk （UK） versus low-risk （India）for adenocarcinoma at this organ site：a preliminary study

Risk of clinically significant prostate adenocarcinoma （CAP） varies worldwide,although there is a uniform prevalence of latent disease. A hormone-responsive tissue,the prostate possesses the metabolizing capacity to biotransform a variety of environmental procarcinogens or endogenous hormones. Whether such metabolizing capacity or estrogen receptor （ER） status underlies these demographic differences in susceptibility to CaP remains unclear. With appropriate ethical permission,verified-benign tissues were obtained following transurethral resection of the prostate from a high-risk region （n = 12 UK-resident Caucasians） and a typically low-risk region （n = 14 India-resident Asians）. Quantitative gene expression analysis was employed for cytochrome P450 （CYP）1B1,N-acetyltransferase （NAT）1,NAT2,catechol-O-methyl transferase （ COMT）,sulfotransferase （ SULT） 1A1,ERα,ERβ and aromatase （CYP To quantify the presence or absence of CYP1B1,ERα or ERβ,and to identify ther in situ localization,immunohistochemistry was carried out. The two cohorts had reasonably well-matched serum levels of prostate-specific antigen or hormones. Expression levels for the candidate genes investigated were similar.However,clear differences in protein levels for CYP1B1 and ERβ were noted. Staining for CYP1B1 tended to be nuclear-associated in the basal glandular epithelial cells,and in UK-resident Caucasian tissues was present at a higher （P = 0.006） level compared with that from India-resident Asians. In contrast,a higher level of positive ERβ staining was noted in prostates from India-resident Asians. These study findings point to differences in metabolizing capacity and ER status in benign prostate tissues that might modulate susceptibility to the emergence of clinically significant CaP in demographically distinct populations.

Polypeptide Daintain as a New Biomarker for Detecting Breast Tumor

Daintain, a novel bioactive peptide produced and secreted by macrophages, was expressed in breast tumor tissues. The spatial distributions of daintain in 66 breast tumor specimens were investigated with immuno-histochemistry method. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） and in situ hybridization inspection system were also used to detect daintain in 45 cases of malignant breast tumors. The final results show that 93% high positive responses to daintain on breast cancer tumors. RT-PCR demonstrated that, no smear of daintain transcripted in benign tissues was found, and light smear in peri-cancer tissue was observed. Distribution of daintain was distinguishable among benign tissues, hyperplasia tissues, immature hyperplasia and invasive breast cancer, which can be used to mark the progression of the malignant lesion development. We conclude that the expression of daintain is up-regulated in breast cancers, which indicates that the peptide is closely associated with the disease progression. So daintain could be used as the biomarker for detecting breast cancer.

The detection of micrometastases in the peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer for hSBEM mRNA and CD44V6 mRNA

Objective： Successful treatment of breast cancer greatly depends on the early detection of its metastasis, therefore a sensitive and specific biomarker for detecting dissemination of the cancer cells will help to achieve this goal. This study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of human small breast epithelial mucin （hSBEM） and CD44V6 in breast cancer. Methods： The expressions of hSBEM mRNA and CD44V6 mRNA were detected with nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction （nested RT-PCR） in 67 samples of breast cancer and adjacent normal breast tissue, 16 samples of breast benign lesions tissue, and 67 specimens of peripheral blood from patients with breast cancer, 16 specimens of benign breast lesions, 20 specimens of healthy volunteers, and 25 （each five cases） other carcinomas tissue samples, including those of gastric carcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, lung carcinoma, and ovary carcinoma, were analyzed for hSBEM mRNA expression by nested RT-PCR. Results： hSBEM mRNA expression was observed in 62/67 （92.54%） of breast cancer, 14/16 （87.50%） of breast benign lesions and 59/67 （88.05%） of normal breast tissue, with no significant differences between them （P 〉 0.05）. None of the samples from other cancer tissues were positive. In peripheral blood the expression of hSBEM mRNA was detected in 34/67 （50.75%） from patients with breast cancer, with significant increasing （P 〈 0.05） in the cases of metastatic disease （stage Ⅳ） and those with lymph node metastasis compared with localized disease （stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ） and without lymph node metastasis, but its expression was not found in peripheral blood of patients with benign breast lesions or healthy volunteers. Although CD44V6 mRNA was significantly higher in breast cancer than in benign breast lesions tissue and normal breast tissue, its expression in peripheral blood show no significant difference （P 〉 0.05） in the patients with breast cancer （82.09%）, benign breast lesion （75.00%）, or healthy volunteers （70.00%）. The expressions of hSBEM mRNA and CD44V6 mRNA had no correlation with the age of the patients, size of primary tumor, histological type and estrogen or progestin receptor status （P 〉 0.05）. Conclusion： hSBEM mRNA, as assessed by nested RT-PCR, shows a mammary-specific and mammary-sensitive expression, and is a sensitive indicator of hematogeneous spread of breast cancer cell, while CD44V6 shows low sensitivity and specificity in detecting dissemination of breast cancer cell in peripheral blood, hSBEM mRNA is a promising molecular biomarker for detecting breast cancer micrometastases.

Abnormal expression of VEGF and its gene transcription status as diagnostic indicators in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Objective Angiogenesis is known to be essential for the survival,growth,invasion,and metastasis of lung cancer cells. Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is an important factor regulating angiogenesis of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC); however,its pathologic features and significance are unclear. In this study,the tissue VEGF expression levels and its gene transcriptional status,as well as circulating VEGF levels,were investigated in patients with lung disease. Methods VEGF protein and m RNA expression levels in 38 lung tissue samples were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),respectively. Circulating VEGF levels were detected quantitatively by an enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay. Results The level of VEGF expression was significantly higher in lung cancer tissue than in the corresponding paracancerous or non-cancerous tissues. The average level of VEGF-positive staining was 76% in tissue samples from NSCLC patients; the levels were 89% in tissue samples from stage III patients and 92% in stage IV patients. High VEGF expression was also evident in cases with lymph node metastasis(84%),distant metastasis(90%),and lower differentiation degree(89%). VEGF m RNA in cancerous tissues was represented predominantly by the VEGF121 and VEGF165 isoforms. Circulating VEGF levels were significantly higher in NSCLC patients [(840 ± 324) pg/m L] than in patients with benign lung diseases [(308 ± 96) pg/m L] or in healthy individuals serving as controls [(252 ± 108) pg/m L]. Conclusion The over-expression of lung VEGF and its gene transcription status should be useful molecular indicators for NSCLC diagnosis.

EXPRESSION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF PTEN IN ENDOMETRIAL CARCINOMA

Objective: To investigate the expression of PTEN in endometrial carcinoma and its clinical significance. Methods: Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western-blot methods were used to detect PTEN expression in 28 cases of endometrial carcinoma. Results: mRNA and protein expression levels of PTEN in endometrial carcinomas were significantly lower than those in normal endometrium (P<0.01). Conclusion: PTEN may play an important role in the tumorigenesis of endometrial carcinoma.

Transforming Growth Factor-β_2 Gene Cloning and Protein Expression in Human Trabecular Meshwork Cells

Whether cultured human trabecular meshwork cells express transforming growth factor-β 2 (TGF-β 2) messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein was investigated. Total RNA of 10 6 cultured human trabecular meshwork cells was extracted with TRIZOL reagent, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used for detection of TGF-β 2 messenger RNA, and the PCR product was verified by sequencing. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect TGF-β 2 protein. The results showed that a single RT-PCR amplified product was obtained, and the sequence was homologous to the known sequence. TGF-β 2 immunostaining was positive. It was concluded that trabecular meshwork cells could produce TGF-β 2 and contribute to the presence of TGF-β 2 in trabecular meshwork microenvironment as well as aqueous humor. Trabecular meshwork cells were affected by TGF-β 2 not only through paracrine, but also autocrine action. Whether abnormal changes in TGF-β 2 production contribute to the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma is worth further investigation.

Sequence Analysis and Quantitative Detection of Norwalk-like Viruses in Cultured Oysters of China

We isolated 4 Norwalk-like viruses （NLVs） contaminated oysters from 33 Chinese oysters collected from local commercial sources of Shandong Province. After amplification of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase （RdRp） region of NLVs genomes with RT-PCR, the open reading frame 1 （ORF 1） of the RdRp was sequenced and subjected to multiple-sequence alignment. The results showed that NLVs in the four isolates belong to genogroup Ⅱ. The sequence comparison showed that the similarity between four Chinese oyster isolates were higher than 99.0%, which indicated that NLVs prevalent in close areas have high homogeneity in genome sequences. In addition, the most conserved sequences between diverse NLVs were used to design primers and TaqMan probes, then the real-time quantitative PCR assay was performed. According to the standard curve of GII NLVs, the original amounts （copies） of NLVs in positive patient＇s fecal isolate, positive Japanese oyster isolate, and the Chinese oyster isolate were 8.9× 10^8, 1.25× 10^8 and 4.7× 10^1 respectively. The detecting limit of NLVs was 1 × 10^1 copies. This study will be helpful for routine diagnosis of NLVs pathogens in foods and thus for avoiding food poisoning in the future.

Molecular characterization of yolk proteins in the female crab Neptunus pelagicus(A.Milne-Edwards,1861) from the Mediterranean Sea of Alexandria,Egypt

This study aimed to characterize the morphological changes in the ovary of the female crab Neptunus pelagicus and to identify specific fractions of vitelloginin and vitelline molecules during primary and secondary vitellogenesis.Samples of the blue crab were collected from the Mediterranean Sea of Alexandria monthly during 2017.Ovaries and oocytes in primary and secondary vitellogenesis were detached and treated for histological test.Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(PAGE)Bis-Tris Gels was applied to identify vitelloginin(VN)and vitelline(VL)molecules.Protein Analyses were done by PAGE-SDS.The initial degenerate primers were built regarding the conserved amino acid domains of the yolk proteins.Primary and secondary vitellogeneses consisted of 8 phases.Lipoprotein fraction with molecular weight 550 kDa was identified in the hemolymph in secondary vitellogenesis.Two protein fractions(VLI&VLII)were identified in secondary vitellogenic oocytes.The electrophoresis performed with extract of stage I oocyte showed two protein fractions with molecular weights 550 kDa and 460 kDa.In stage II and III oocyte,4 subunits were presented of 180,195,140 and 120 kDa in VLI and 2 subunits with molecular weight of 110 kDa and 95 kDa in VLII.Another two fractions in stage V oocyte presented with molecular weights of 380 kDa and 360 kDa.Western blot analysis proved that both fractions were of four major polypeptide subunits with molecular weight of 180,125,90 and 85 kDa in each of the two VLs.The hybridization signal obtained by the Northern blot was detected in the hepatopancreas during ovarian cycle and in the ovary during secondary vitellogenesis.The result of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)analysis showed that the mRNA that encodes the C-terminal region of the VN cDNA was found in the ovary in secondary vitellogenesis and in the hepatopancreas.

Aberrant Expression of TNF-α and TGF-β_1 mRNA in Spontaneous Abortion

Objective To investigate the aberrant expressions of TNF-α and TGF-β1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells （PBMCs） and placental tissues in patients with early spontaneous abortion Methods Using the technique of semi-quantitative reverse transcript-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）, TNF-α mRNA and TGF-β1 mRNA in PBMCs were measured in spontaneous abortion group （30 cases）, normal pregnancy group （25 cases） and nonpregnant group （25 cases）. The expressive intension of TNF-α protein and TGF-β1 protein in placental tissues was also identified by immunohistochemistry. Results Both levels of TNF-α mRNA and TGF-β1 mRNA expressed in PBMCs were significantly different between the three groups respectively （P〈0.05）. Levels of TNF-α in syncytiotrophoblastic and cytotrophoblastic cells of the two aborted groups were substantially higher than those of the nonregnant group （P〈0.01）, but the levels of TGF-β1 in syncytiotrophoblastic cells of the two aborted groups were markedly lower than those of the non-pregnant group （P〈0.01）. Conclusion There is potential relation between TGF-β at the fetomaternal interface and spontaneous abortion. TGF-β1 may contribute to the maintenance of pregnancy, and low-level expression of TGF-β1 may be associated with pregnancy failure.

OVEREXPRESSION OF Akt-1 GENE IN HUMAN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

Objective: To investigate the expression difference of protein kinase B/Akt (Akt-1) between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent normal liver tissues through the use of semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Northern blot. Methods: RT-PCR of 24 pairs of specimens and Northern blot of 4 pairs of specimens were performed to investigate the expression of Akt-1. Results: Akt-1 gene was overexpressed in 15 of 24 HCC (63.3%) by RT-PCR and in all HCC (4 paired tissues) by Northern blot. Conclusion: Akt-1 activation may play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of HCC. Akt-1 gene is reported to have changed in HCC for the first time. The precise relationship between Akt-1 and HCC is a matter of further investigation.