Gene therapy of liver cancer

The application of gene transfer technologies to the treatment of cancer has led to the development of new experimental approaches like gene directed enzyme/pro- drug therapy (GDEPT), inhibition of oncogenes and restoration of tumor-suppressor genes. In addition, gene therapy has a big impact on other fields like cancer immunotherapy, anti-angiogenic therapy and virotherapy. These strategies are being evaluated for the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancer and some of them have reached clinical phases. We present a review on the basis and the actual status of gene therapy approaches applied to liver cancer.

Therapeutic cell engineering:designing programmable synthetic genetic circuits in mammalian cells

Cell therapy approaches that employ engineered mam-malian cells for on-demand production of therapeutic agents in the patient's body are moving beyond proof-of-concept in translational medicine.The therapeutic cells can be customized to sense user-defined signals,pro-cess them,and respond in a programmable and pre-dictable way.In this paper,we introduce the available tools and strategies employed to design therapeutic cells.Then,various approaches to control cell behav-iors,including open-loop and closed-loop systems,are discussed.We also highlight therapeutic applications of engineered cells for early diagnosis and treatment of various diseases in the clinic and in experimental dis-ease models.Finally,we consider emerging technolo-gies such as digital devices and their potential for incorporation into future cell-based therapies.

食道静脉破裂出血内镜治疗中的血浆降钙素基因相关肽(CGRP)变化的临床研究

目的 :探讨食道静脉破裂出血内镜治疗中的血浆降钙素基因相关肽水平变化的机理。方法 :自 1 999年 4月以来 ,在 47例肝硬化食道静脉破裂出血患者中 ,随机选择 2 7例应用硬化剂治疗 ,2 0例使用套扎治疗。应用放射免疫分析法测定 47例患者治疗前后的血浆CGRP水平的变化及临床意义。结果 :硬化剂组血浆CGRP水平治疗前CGRP(87± 2 3)ng/L ,显著高于治疗后 (55± 2 8)ng/L ,P <0 .0 5 ;套扎器组治疗前CGRP(1 0 3± 2 7)显著高于治疗后CGRP(79± 2 0 ) ,P <0 .0 1 ;硬化与套扎二组比较 ,患者的血浆CGRP水平无显著性相关。结论 :在食道静脉破裂出血的内镜治疗中 ,应用硬化剂与套扎是一种有效的方法 ,其机制与影响CGRP基因表达。