Rapid Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation Synthesis of Intermetallic PtBi/MgO/Mg Monolithic Catalyst for Efficient Removal of Organic Pollutants.

The intermetallic PtBi/MgO/Mg monolithic catalyst was first prepared using non-equilibrium plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) technology. Spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (ACTEM) observation confirms the successful synthesis of the PtBi intermetallic structure. The efficiency of PtBi/Mg/MgO catalysts in catalyzing the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of NaBH4 was demonstrated. The activity factor for the catalyst is 31.8 s-1 g-1, which is much higher than reported values. In addition, the resultant catalyst also exhibits excellent catalytic activity in the organic pollutant reaction of p-nitrobenzoic acid (p-NBA) and methyl orange (MO). Moreover, benefiting from ordered atomic structures and the half-embedded PtBi nanoparticles (NPs), the catalyst demonstrates excellent stability and reproducibility in the degradation of 4-NP. This study provides an example of a simple method for the preparation of intermetallic structures as catalysts for organic pollutant degradation.

hOGG1: A novel mediator in nitrosamine-induced esophageal tumorigenesis.

BACKGROUND: The effect of human 8-Oxoguanine DNA Glycosylase (hOGG1) on exogenous chemicals in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remain unclear. The study plans to determine hOGG1 expression levels in ESCC and possible interactions with known environmental risk factors in ESCC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed levels of exposure to urinary nitrosamines in volunteers from high and low prevalence areas by GC-MS. And we performed the interaction between hOGG1 gene and nitrosamine disinfection by-products by analyzing hOGG1 gene expression in esophageal tissues. RESULTS: In ESCC, nitrosamine levels were significantly increased and hOGG1 mRNA expression levels were significantly decreased. There was a statistically significant interaction between reduced hOGG1 mRNA levels and non-tap drinking water sources in ESCC. The apparent indirect association between ESCC and NMEA indicated that 33.4% of the association between ESCC and NMEA was mediated by hOGG1. CONCLUSION: In populations which exposed to high levels of environmental pollutants NDMA, low expression of hOGG1 may promote the high incidence of esophageal cancer in Huai'an. hOGG1 may be a novel mediator in nitrosamine-induced esophageal tumorigenesis.

Morphological changes in the meibomian gland in children with tic disorders.

Background: Since blinking accelerates meibomian gland (MG) expression, abnormal blinking in children with tic disorders may be associated with the morphological changes of the MGs. Our study aimed to quantitively evaluate the morphology of the MG in these children. Methods: In this prospective case-control study, we examined 68 eyes of 68 children with tic disorders, 47 eyes of 47 children with dry eye, and 45 eyes of 45 healthy children at the Hangzhou Branch of the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from October 2020 to March 2021. We used an Oculus Keratograph 5M (K5M) to capture the MG images, noninvasive breakup time (NIBUT), and tear meniscus height (TMH). An automated method was used to analyze MG length, width, area, gland diameter deformation index (DI), and gland signal index (SI). Parameters across the three groups were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Results: The eyes in the tic disorders group exhibited lower MG length and area values compared with those of the other groups (all P values <0.001) and lower MG width values compared with those of children in the dry eye group (P=0.009). The tic disorder and dry eye groups both had a larger percentage of eyes with a U-shaped MG duct when compared with the control group (P<0.001 and P=0.017). The dry eye group had the lowest TMH and NIBUT values (both P values <0.001). The NIBUT values in the tic disorder group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.001). No significant correlations were detected between clinical tests and MG morphology in any of the groups. Conclusions: Blinking disorders have a significant impact on MG morphology. In children with tic disorders, more attention should be devoted to monitoring the MG over time.

Association between preoperative diagnosis of sarcopenia and postoperative pneumonia in resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Postoperative outcomes for patients suffering from resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are related to sarcopenia. In patients with resectable ESCC, this study investigated the link between sarcopenia and postoperative pneumonia. Methods: The McKewon procedure was the only one used to treat resectable ESCC patients from January 2018 to December 2021 in this retrospective analysis. Sarcopenia was assessed using skeletal muscles at L3 and planning CT scans. It was defined when PMI was below 6.36 cm2/m2 and 3.92 cm2/m2 for men and women, separately. Analyses of multivariate and univariate logistic regression were applied for identifying the risk factors for postoperative pneumonia. Results: The study included 773 patients with resectable ESCC in total. Sarcopenia was an independent risk factor for postoperative pneumonia in individuals with resectable ESCC based on univariate and multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). The stratified analysis indicated that neither of the clinical outcomes in the logistic regression model were affected by gender, age, BMI, smoking, or pre-albumin (P for interaction > 0.006). Conclusion: Following the McKewon procedure, patients with resectable ESCC who were sarcopenic had a higher postoperative pneumonia rate. To prevent the development of postoperative pneumonia during the perioperative period, it may be important to control the incidence of sarcopenia.

Rapid and sensitive detection of dextran sulfate sodium based on supramolecular self-assembly of a perylene diimide derivative in aqueous solution.

Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) is a heparin polysaccharide, whose overuse would cause many adverse effects, such as stiff and painful joints and loss of hair. It is crucial to search after a rapid and accurate approach for the determination of DSS in the clinical treatment and diagnosis. Regrettably, there are few literatures about analytical methods for detecting DSS at present. In this research, a sensitive and selective method for detecting DSS based on the hydrosoluble perylene diimide (PDI) derivative was established in pure aqueous solution. The sensing mechanism and performance of PDI-PdEC were systematically investigated by ultraviolet and fluorescence spectroscopy. Non-covalent interactions between DSS and PDI-PdEC, like π-π stacking, electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction, promote the aggregation of PDI-PdEC and form supramolecular aggregates, which realize the sensitive and rapid detection of DSS in aqueous system. The detection limit for DSS is as low as 5.51 ng/mL and the linear range is 20-500 ng/mL. Furthermore, this probe was triumphantly applied in the detecting of DSS in serum. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fluorescent probe for detecting DSS in aqueous media. We consider that our study will not only broaden the range of applications of perylene diimide fluorescent sensors, but also provide valuable reference for the design of new sensors for the rapid determination method of DSS.

Ilyocyprisleptolinea Wang & Zhai, sp. nov., an ostracod (Ostracoda, Crustacea) from the late Quaternary of Inner Mongolia, northern China.

Ilyocyprisleptolinea Wang & Zhai, sp. nov. is described from late Quaternary sediments in central-eastern Inner Mongolia, northern China. The new species, which has a carapace shape and pitted surface typical of the genus, is characterised by double rows of fine, densely arranged marginal ripplets, separated by an inner list, along both anterior and posterior calcified inner lamellae in the left valve. Outline analysis and Principal Component Analysis indicate that its morpho-space overlaps with I.bradyi Sars, 1890, I.japonica Okubo, 1990, and I.mongolica Martens, 1991, which have living or fossil representatives in Inner Mongolia, but it is clearly discriminated from I.innermongolica Zhai & Xiao, 2013. Judging from the relatively coarse lithology dominated by silt and sand, and the lack of accompanying brackish-water ostracods, I.leptolinea Wang & Zhai, sp. nov. may have lived in a relatively shallow freshwater lake. It perhaps can be added to the list of species that went extinct during the Quaternary, but the timing and process of extinction await further investigation.

Three new species of non-marine ostracods (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from small water bodies of northern China.

Three new species, Pseudocandonacheni sp. nov., Cyclocyprispangi sp. nov., and Tonnacyprisrectangularis sp. nov., collected from northern China, are described in this study. Pseudocandonacheni, of the compressa group, is difficult to be distinguished from other members of the same group by carapace morphology alone, but can be readily recognised by the structure of the hemipenis comprised of a long lobe a, distally inflated lobe h, and exteriorly pointed lobe b, as well as thick trunks of the male fifth limb endopodites. Cyclocyprispangi, despite its similarity in carapace morphology to its congeners, can be identified based on the morphology of the hemipenis, which bears a slender, slightly curved lobe h, and an S-shaped process accompanying lobe b, in addition to the rectangular trunk of the male fifth limb endopodite. On the other hand, Tonnacyprisrectangularis, described on the basis of females only, can be distinguished from other Tonnacypris Diebel & Pietrzeniuk, 1975 representatives by its distinct sub-rectangular carapace alone. Other differences include the length of the swimming setae, the length of the distal claws on the second antennae, and the morphology of the pincer organ on the seventh limb. This study contributes to the poorly known extant non-marine ostracod fauna of Inner Mongolia and Beijing, and generally to the central-eastern Palaearctic region. In addition, the known distribution range of Tonnacypris is extended eastwardly by T.rectangularis. The valve-morphology data are useful for identifying fossil/sub-fossil representatives.

LINC00511 promotes gastric cancer progression by regulating SOX4 and epigenetically repressing PTEN to activate PI3K/AKT pathway.

Gastric cancer (GC) serves as a common malignancy. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been proven to regulate many cancers, including GC. Long intergenic non-protein-coding RNA 511 (LINC00511) has been poorly studied in GC, but its detailed regulatory mechanism has not been identified. Here, LINC00511 was detected to be highly expressed in GC cells. Functional assays were conducted and uncovered that LINC00511 boosted cell proliferation, migration, stemness and EMT process while inhibiting the apoptosis of GC cells. From a series of mechanism experiments, it was found that at the transcriptional level, LINC00511 recruited EZH2 (enhancer of zeste 2 polycomb repressive complex 2 subunit) to the promoter of PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog) and facilitated methylation of PTEN promoter. LINC00511 epigenetically repressed PTEN to activate the PI3K/AKT pathway. Moreover, SRY-box transcription factor 4 (SOX4) activated the transcription of LINC00511. At the post-transcriptional level, LINC00511 sponged miR-195-5p to elevate SOX4 expression in GC cells. On the whole, the present study disclosed that SOX4-induced LINC00511 activated SOX4 via competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) pattern and epigenetically repressed PTEN to activate PI3K/AKT pathway by recruiting EZH2, thus facilitating GC cell proliferation, migration and stemness while inhibiting GC cell apoptosis.

On some modern Ostracoda (Crustacea) from the Tibetan Plateau in SW China, with descriptions of three new species.

Studies of Holocene ostracods of the Tibetan Plateau have mostly centred around valves and carapaces collected from lake sediments, some at or near the substrate surface and others from short cores. Reports from habitats other than lakes are scarce, and few living species found in this region have appendages described, hindering further taxonomic and phylogenetic work. For this study collections of living ostracods were made in mostly ponds, as well as two rivers and one lake. Six species, including three previously undescribed, were recovered: Tonnacypris estonica (Järvekülg, 1960), Arctocypris edita n. sp., Cypris pubera O.F. Müller, 1776, Potamocypris variegata (Brady Norman, 1889), Ilyocypris tibeta n. sp., and Fabaeformiscandona monticulus n. sp. Specimens of Tonnacypris estonica include males, previously unknown for this species, and suggesting it is a geographical parthenogen. A revision of the fifth limb morphology of the genus Arctocypris, and a subsequent amended diagnosis of the genus are given. Based on carapace and appendage features, Eucypris mareotica (Fischer, 1855) is transferred to this genus: Arctocypris mareotica (Fischer, 1855) com. nov. There are now ca. 100 ostracod species reported from modern or subsurface sediments on the Tibetan Plateau, but only 19 of those can be confirmed as alive when collected (i.e. had appendages intact). The families Limnocytheridae and Ilyocyprididae are both relatively diverse on the plateau compared with the Palaearctic zoogeographical region generally. About one third of ostracod species reported from the Tibetan Plateau are only known from there, suggesting a potentially very high rate of endemism.

A Novel Method of Natural Orifice Specimen Extraction Surgery (NOSES) during Laparoscopic Anterior Resection for Rectal Cancer.

We propose a modification to the reconstruction method of natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) during laparoscopic anterior resection (LAR) for rectal cancer (RC) and evaluated its feasibility and short-term safety by comparing surgical and postoperative outcomes with those of conventional LAR. Twenty patients with RC underwent "double-purse" NOSES-LAR from October 2017 to June 2018. Data of clinicopathological characteristics, surgical and postoperative outcomes, and follow-up findings in NOSES-LAR cases were collected and retrospectively compared with those of conventional LAR to clarify the clinical benefits. The median postoperative hospital stay was lower in the double-purse NOSES group than the conventional group (6.6 vs. 7.1 days, respectively). In the conventional group, anastomotic leakage and incision site infection occurred in one patient each. In contrast, there were no complications in the double-purse group. There were no significant differences in blood loss, surgical duration, and time of the first flatus between the two groups. Additionally, "double-purse" NOSES-LAR was more economical than the conventional LAR. "Double-purse" NOSES-LAR is a safe, feasible, and minimally invasive promising procedure for LAR of RC with faster recovery, while requiring less surgical skills and lower clinical costs.

Agreement between anterior segment parameters obtained by a new ultrasound biomicroscopy and a swept-source fourier-domain anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To evaluate the agreement between anew UBM and an SS-OCT. Methods: The scans of the right eye of each volunteer were obtained using the two devices. Data were fitted and recorded including: central corneal thickness (CCT), aqueous depth (AQD) (the distance from endothelium to lens), angle-to-angle distance (ATA), lens thickness (LT), diameter of the lens in the horizontal direction (LDiaangle: distance between the sharp angles on both sides of the lens, LDiaarc: distance between the vertex of the circular arcs on both sides of the lens), anterior and posterior corneal radius (Rf and Rb). Results: 25 eyes were included in this study. It could be seen that the differences in CCT, LDiaangle, Rf measured by the two instruments were not statistically significant. Bland-Altman analysis plots of CCT, LDiaangle and Rf showed mean differences of 0.2 µm, 0.01mm and 0.0mm for the 2 devices, respectively. Conclusion: The values of CCT, LDiaangle and Rf obtained via two instruments were not clinically interchangeable and the AQD, ATA, LT, and Rb have poor agreement affected by accommodation. We can estimate the real lens diameter by subtracting 0.61 ± 0.43mm when the lens diameter can only be simulated with SS-OCT.

Clinical Characteristics and Surgical Safety in Congenital Cataract Eyes with Three Pathological Types of Posterior Capsule Abnormalities.

PURPOSE: To observe the clinical characteristics of 3 pathological types of posterior capsule abnormalities (PCAs) in congenital cataracts (CCs) and evaluate the surgical safety in these eyes. METHODS: This study involved 239 children (367 eyes) with CC who underwent cataract surgery at the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. All surgery videos were collected for detailed reviews. Intraoperative and postoperative complications (within 3 months) were all recorded. RESULTS: The 3 pathological types of PCAs, namely, persistent fetal vasculature (PFV), posterior capsule defect (PCD), and posterior lenticonus (PLC), presented in 129 (35.1%) CC eyes, while 238 (64.9%) eyes were recorded as CC without PCA. The percentages of PFV, PCD, and PLC were 10.9%, 26.7%, and 5.4% in CC eyes (n = 367), respectively. The most common concomitant of PFV eyes was PCD (42.5%), and PFV was the most frequent (17.3%) one in PCD eyes. PLC was only associated with PFV (15%) and PCD (50%). The occurrence rates of surgical complications ranged from 0 to 5.4%, and no statistical difference was found between the eyes with and without PCA (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PFV, PCD, and PLC play a very important role in the CCs. The effect of fetal vessels in PFV eyes might be an abnormally strong attachment on the posterior capsule, leading to PLC and PCD. Even in PCA patients, severe surgical complication can also be avoided with well-designed and skilled operation. This trial is registered with NCT03905044 at http://ClinicalTrials.gov.

Preoperative Phenacetin Metabolism Test in the Prediction of Postoperative Liver Dysfunction of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND The risk of postoperative liver dysfunction (PLD) in patients with injured livers, such as in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is still not negligible. Phenacetin metabolism test can reflect hepatic functional reserve in patients with chronic hepatic damage. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of phenacetin metabolism test to predict PLD in patients with HCC receiving partial hepatectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty-nine patients with HCC undergoing partial hepatectomy between 2014 and 2016 were included at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University. The phenacetin metabolism test was used to assess the hepatic functional reserve. The ratio of total plasma paracetamol to phenacetin was collected in patients at 2 h after oral administration of 1.0 g phenacetin, recorded 5 days prior to surgery and on the fifth postoperative day. Phenacetin metabolism test, Child-Pugh classification, and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score were correlated with PLD. RESULTS Of 49 patients with HCC, 13 patients (26.5%) had PLD. The association between the ratio of total plasma paracetamol to phenacetin and PLD was statistically significant (p=0.0061) and the correlation coefficient was -0.647 (p=0.0082). The phenacetin metabolism test showed a larger area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve value (0.735) than Child-Pugh's classification (0.472) and MELD score (0.419). Using the calculated cutoff of 0.6, the lower ratio of total plasma paracetamol to phenacetin preoperatively was chosen to specifically identify patients with PLD. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.657 and 0.892, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Phenacetin metabolism test could be preoperatively used in predicting PLD in HCC patients receiving partial hepatectomy. It potentially provides better prediction than Child-Pugh classification and MELD score.

Butyrate protects liver against ischemia reperfusion injury by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B activation in Kupffer cells.

BACKGROUND: The inflammatory response after hepatic ischemia reperfusion (I/R) contributes to liver dysfunction and failure after transplantation. Butyrate is a four-carbon fatty acid, normally produced by bacterial fermentation of fiber in mammalian intestines, with anti-inflammatory activities. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of butyrate preconditioning, if any, against hepatic I/R injury in rats and the underlying mechanisms involved. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a partial (70%) hepatic ischemia for 60 min after pretreatment with either vehicle or butyrate, followed by 3, 6, and 24 h of reperfusion. Hepatic injury was evaluated by biochemical and histopathologic examinations. Neutrophil infiltration was measured by myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) and Real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) p65 was determined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Butyrate treatment markedly improved hepatic function and histology, as indicated by reduced transaminase levels and ameliorated tissue pathologic changes. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and myeloperoxidase activity was attenuated by butyrate. Butyrate also reduced I/R-induced nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 in Kupffer cells. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that butyrate alleviates I/R-induced liver injury, possibly by suppressing inflammatory factors production and preventing NF-κB activation in Kupffer cells.

Cellular prion protein accelerates colorectal cancer metastasis via the Fyn-SP1-SATB1 axis.

The cellular prion protein (PrPc) is a glycoprotein anchored by glycosylphosphatidylinositol to the cell surface and is abundantly expressed in various tissues. The putative roles of PrPc are thought to be related to cell signaling, survival, and differentiation and cancer progression. In this study, we demonstrated that the expression of PrPc correlates with a more aggressive and histologically unfavorable disease in colorectal carcinomas. Moreover, we found that PrPc mediates the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and, thereby, promotes CRC metastasis. Transcriptome profiling of PrPc-depleted cells revealed downregulation of the special AT-rich sequence-binding protein-1 (SATB1). PrPc is demonstrated to be involved in regulating SATB1 expression via the Fyn-SP1 pathway. Since SATB1 has been previously proposed as a key protein that controls tumor development and progression, knockdown of PrPc resulted in a reduced metastatic capacity in CRC cells, as well as a reduction in distant metastases in vivo. In conclusion, our data characterize a novel molecular mechanism that links PrPc expression to the regulation of CRC metastasis. Targeting PrPc will, therefore, be a promising strategy to overcome the metastatic advantage in colorectal tumors.

Recent acquisition of imprinting at the rodent Sfmbt2 locus correlates with insertion of a large block of miRNAs.

BACKGROUND: The proximal region of murine Chr 2 has long been known to harbour one or more imprinted genes from classic genetic studies involving reciprocal translocations. No imprinted gene had been identified from this region until our study demonstrated that the PcG gene Sfmbt2 is expressed from the paternally inherited allele in early embryos and extraembryonic tissues. Imprinted genes generally reside in clusters near elements termed Imprinting Control Regions (ICRs), suggesting that Sfmbt2 might represent an anchor for a new imprinted domain. RESULTS: We analyzed allelic expression of approximately 20 genes within a 3.9 Mb domain and found that Sfmbt2 and an overlapping non-coding antisense transcript are the only imprinted genes in this region. These transcripts represent a very narrow imprinted gene locus. We also demonstrate that rat Sfmbt2 is imprinted in extraembryonic tissues. An interesting feature of both mouse and rat Sfmbt2 genes is the presence of a large block of miRNAs in intron 10. Other mammals, including the bovine, lack this block of miRNAs. Consistent with this association, we show that human and bovine Sfmbt2 are biallelic. Other evidence indicates that pig Sfmbt2 is also not imprinted. Further strengthening the argument for recent evolution of Sfmbt2 is our demonstration that a more distant muroid rodent, Peromyscus also lacks imprinting and the block of miRNAs. CONCLUSIONS: These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the block of miRNAs are driving imprinting at this locus. Our results are discussed in the context of ncRNAs at other imprinted loci. Accession numbers for Peromyscus cDNA and intron 10 genomic DNA are [Genbank:HQ416417 and Genbank:HQ416418], respectively.

Identification of potentially damaging amino acid substitutions leading to human male infertility.

There are a number of known genetic alterations found in men with nonobstructive azoospermia, or testicular failure, such as Y microdeletions and cytogenetic abnormalities. However, the etiology of nonobstructive azoospermia is unknown in the majority of men. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility that unexplained cases of nonobstructive azoospermia are caused by nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the coding regions of autosomal genes associated with sperm production and fertility. Using a candidate gene approach based on genetics of male infertility in mice, we resequenced nine autosomal genes from 78 infertile men displaying testicular failure using custom-made next-generation resequencing chips. Analysis of the data revealed several novel heterozygous nonsynonymous SNPs in four of nine sequenced genes in 14 of 78 infertile men. Eight SNPs in SBF1, three SNPs in LIMK2, two SNPs in LIPE, and one SNP in TBPL1 were identified. All of the novel mutations were in a heterozygous configuration, suggesting that they may be de novo mutations with dominant negative properties.

[Impact of PEG-packed islets upon anti-rejection therapy in homogeneous murine islet transplantation].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of polyethylene glycols (PEG) upon islet survival in homogeneous murine islet transplantation and understand the impact of PEGylation in combination with rapamycin upon anti-rejection therapy in homogeneous mice islet transplantation. METHODS: The subcutaneously pre-vascularized STZ-induced diabetic mice treated with transplanted islets of BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 6 groups: Group A with normal mice islets; Group B with PEG-packed islets; Group C with normal mice islets and 1.5 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) rapamycin; Group D with PEG-packed islets and 1.5 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) rapamycin; Group E with normal mice islets and 3 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) rapamycin; Group F with PEG-packed islets and 3 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) rapamycin. The post-transplantation blood glucose was monitored. Transplanted islets were analyzed by H&E and insulin immunostain. RESULTS: The survival time in group B was significantly prolonged as compared with group A (P < 0.01). The survival time in group C were (35.0 +/- 3.1) d and groups D, E, F had survival of up to 6 weeks. Transplantation sites of group A were observed with a more abundant infiltration of immune cells than group B. And the unmodified islets in group A were completely destroyed after transplantation. Insulin-positive islet cells were not detected at the entire transplantation site in group A while the presence was found at the transplantation site in group B. CONCLUSION: PEG-packed islets can significantly improve the survival time of transplanted islets. When combined with rapamycin, it can reduce the dose of rapamycin.