Analysis of the Effect of Lyophilized Recombinant Human Brain Natriuretic Peptide on Endothelial Function in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze the effect of lyophilized recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide on the endothelial function of patients with acute myocardial infarction. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-six patients with acute myocardial infarction in our hospital were randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group (68 cases each). The patients in the control group were treated by conventional treatment. The patients in the experimental group were treated with lyophilized recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide besides the conventional treatment. The levels of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), serum nitric oxide (NO), and endothelin-1 were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: Before treatment, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the level of FMD (P>0.05); after treatment, the level of FMD in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05); before treatment, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the levels of serum NO and endothelin-1 (P>0.05); after treatment, the levels of serum NO and endothelin-1 in the experimental group significantly improved, which were better than those in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Lyophilized recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide can improve the FMD, increase the content of NO in the blood, and effectively reduce the level of endothelin-1, which is of great significance to improve the endothelial function of patients with acute myocardial infarction and is worth clinical application.

Baicalein and baicalin inhibit colon cancer using two distinct fashions of apoptosis and senescence.

Baicalein and baicalin are active components of the Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and both have broad anti-tumor activity. However, how and whether baicalein and baicalin inhibit colon cancer is unclear. Here we demonstrate that baicalein and baicalin can significantly inhibit human colon cancer cell growth and proliferation. Furthermore, both can induce cell cycle arrest, and suppress cancer cell colony formation and migration. The suppressive effects are mechanistically due to the induction of colon cancer cell apoptosis and senescence mediated by baicalein and baicalin, respectively. Furthermore, we revealed that baicalin-induced senescence in tumor cells is due to its inhibition of telomerase reverse transcriptase expression in tumor cells, and that MAPK ERK and p38 signaling pathways are causatively involved in the regulation of colon cancer cell apoptosis and senescence mediated by baicalein and baicalin. In addition, our in vivo studies using human colon cancer cells in humanized mouse xenograft models, further demonstrated that baicalein and baicalin can induce tumor cell apoptosis and senescence, resulting in inhibition of tumorigenesis and growth of colon cancer in vivo. These data clearly suggest that baicalein and baicalin have potent anti-cancer effects against human colon cancer and could be potential novel and effective target drugs for cancer therapy.

Baicalin induces cellular senescence in human colon cancer cells via upregulation of DEPP and the activation of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling.

Baicalin is a natural flavonoid glycoside which has potent anti-tumor and antioxidant activity in cancer cells. In the present study, we found that baicalin treatment significantly induced senescence in colon cancer cells. Furthermore, baicalin upregulated the expression of decidual protein induced by progesterone (DEPP) in HCT116 colon cancer cells, which accompanied with the activation of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and p16INK4A/Rb signaling pathways. Meanwhile, these phenomena also appeared under the anti-oxidation effect exerted by baicalin. In addition, ectopic expression of DEPP in HCT116 cells significantly induced the activity of senescence-associated ß-galactosidase (SA-ß-Gal) in tumor cells regulated by Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway. Knockdown of DEPP by RNA interference efficiently counteracted the baicalin-mediated growth inhibition, senescence and cell cycle arrest in cancer cells. Importantly, in a xenograft mouse model of human colon cancer, we further confirmed that baicalin treatment dramatically inhibited tumor growth, which was due to the induction of tumor cellular senescence via the upregulation of DEPP and the activation of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling in vivo. In addition to baicalin treatment, we found that the hypoxia-response protein DEPP functions as a positive regulator involving the regulations of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway and inhibition of human colon cancer by other anti-oxidative drugs, such as curcumin and sulforaphane, resulting in tumor cellular senescence. These results collectively suggest that baicalin upregulates the expression of DEPP and activates its downstream Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and p16INK4A/Rb pathways by acting as an antioxidant, leading to senescence in colon cancer cells.

Titania-coated polystyrene hybrid microballs prepared with miniemulsion polymerization.

Hybrid microballs with polystyrene cores coated by titania nanoparticles were prepared in miniemulsion polymerization. Acrylic acid was used as a comonomer to promote locating titania nanoparticles on the polymer's surface. The addition of a hydrophobic agent effectively prevents monomer diffusing into the aqueous phase. The morphology of hybrid particles was examined with the transmission electron microscope, and its change pattern with reactive conditions was observed. The infrared spectra of hybrid nanoparticles showed that there existed a certain interaction between titania nanoparticles and polymers. The crystallization morphology of hybrid particles before and after calcination was characterized with X-ray diffraction.