Three-Tesla magnetic resonance elastography for hepatic fibrosis:Comparison with diffusion-weighted imaging and gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

AIM: To evaluate the feasibility of 3-Tesla magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for hepatic fibrosis and to compare that with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

Valproic Acid Enhances the Anti-tumor Effect of(-)-gossypol to Burkitt Lymphoma Namalwa Cells

Burkitt lymphoma is a highly aggressive B-cell neoplasm. New therapeutic methods are needed to overcome the adverse effect of intensive chemotherapy regimens. Valproic acid and （-）-gossypol are two kinds of chemical compounds used as new anti-tumor drugs in recent years.

Retinoic acid enhances expression of neural specific genes in Sca-1^+ cells of mouse fetal liver through activating protein kinase C

BACKGROUND： Interstitial stem cell is charactenzed by multiple differentiations, and retinoic acid （RA） can induce differentiation of stromal cells into nerve tissue cells in fetal liver of mice, so, its signal transduction pathway should be discussed to trigger differentiation. OBJECTIVE ： To study the effect of RA on expression of neural specific gene and its signal transduction in fetal liver of mice.DESIGN ： Paired controlled study on the basis of cell.SETTING ： Institute of Hematology, Medical College of Jinan University.MATERIALS： The experiment was completed in the Institute of Hematology, Medical College of Jinan University from April to December 2005. C57BL/6 mice, of clean grade, aged 8-10 weeks, weighting 20-35 g, 10 females and 4 males, were selected in this study.METHODS： Sca-1^＋ cells in fetal liver were prepared with MACS kit and cultured with DMEM ＋ 10% fetal bovine serum （FBS）. On the fourth day, it was added with or without protein kinase C （PKC） inhibitor chelerythrine chloride （3μmol/L） and 5×10^-7 mol/L RA for 24 hours, and then incubated in serum-free medium for 5 days. Expressions of genes were assayed by Westem blotting and semi-quantitative RT-PCR.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES ： Expression of neural specific gene NF-L, NF-H, BF-1 and TH.RESULTS： Expression of neural specific gene NF-L, NF-H, BF-1 and TH was significantly increased after treatment with RA and they were increased 5.06, 5.15, 4.63 and 3.33 times, respectively. However, chelerythrine chloride could inhibit expression of neural specific gene NF-L, NF-H, BF-1 and TH induced by RA.CONCLUSION ： RA can promote the expression of neural specific genes in Sca-1^＋ cells of fetal liver, and its pathway may be related to PKC.

Enhanced bio-decolorization of1-amino-4-bromoanthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid by Sphingomonas xenophaga with nutrient amendment

Bacterial decolorization of anthraquinone dye intermediates is a slow process under aerobic conditions. To speed up the process, in the present study, effects of various nutrients on 1-amino-4-bromoanthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid（ABAS） decolorization by Sphingomonas xenophaga QYY were investigated. The results showed that peptone, yeast extract and casamino acid amendments promoted ABAS bio-decolorization. In particular,the addition of peptone and casamino acids could improve the decolorization activity of strain QYY. Further experiments showed that L-proline had a more significant accelerating effect on ABAS decolorization compared with other amino acids. L-Proline not only supported cell growth, but also significantly increased the decolorization activity of strain QYY. Membrane proteins of strain QYY exhibited ABAS decolorization activities in the presence of L-proline or reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, while this behavior was not observed in the presence of other amino acids. Moreover, the positive correlation between L-proline concentration and the decolorization activity of membrane proteins was observed, indicating that L-proline plays an important role in ABAS decolorization. The above findings provide us not only a novel insight into bacterial ABAS decolorization, but also an L-proline-supplemented bioaugmentation strategy for enhancing ABAS bio-decolorization.

Enhancement of a recombinase-aided amplification assay using betaine and pullulan

Background:Nucleic acid amplification enhancers suitable for use in a recombinase-aided amplification(RAA)assay were studied for the first time,and amplification of a long-fragment(509 bp)was initially explored.Methods:Using recombinant plasmids and clinical samples,RAA fluorescence and basic methods were used to evaluate the efficacy.The fluorescence method was evaluated by threshold time and fluorescence value,and the basic method was characterized by 2%agarose gel electrophoresis.Results:Taking a previously established RAA assay for HPV18 as an example,we demonstrated that the addition of 0.2 M,0.4 M,and 0.6 M betaine and 10%pullulan could enhance the RAA.The new RAA assays with betaine and pullulan were named B-RAA and P-RAA,respectively.Using the B-RAA and P-RAA fluorescence methods,the threshold time values could be shortened by 1.72-2.32 minutes and 2.60 minutes,respectively,and the fluorescence values could be enhanced by 8847.25-9094.37 mv and 5250 mv,respectively.Using the basic method,the sensitivity could be increased 10-fold.We successfully amplified a long-fragment of 509 bp using a P-RAA assay with a sensitivity of 102 copies/μL(compared with 103 copies/μL in the RAA assay).Conclusions:Thus,we concluded that betaine and pullulan are effective additives to enhance the sensitivity of RAA assays.