Globular adiponectin induces esophageal adenocarcinoma cell pyroptosis via the miR-378a-3p/UHRF1 axis.

BACKGROUND: Antiapoptosis is a major factor in the resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Thus, activation of cell pyroptosis may be an effective option to deal with antiapoptotic cancers such as esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). METHODS: Differential expression of ubiquitin-like versus PHD and ring finger structural domain 1 (UHRF1) in EAC and near normal tissues was analyzed, as well as the prognostic impact on survival in EAC. Also, the same study was done for globular adiponectin (gAD). Simultaneously, the mRNA expression of UHRF1 was observed in different EAC cell lines. Real time cellular analysis (RTCA) was used to detect cell proliferation, and flow cytometry and inverted fluorescence microscopy were used to detect pyroptosis. Biocredit analysis was conducted to observe the correlation between UHRF1 and key pyroptosis proteins. OD values and CCK8 assay were used to determine the effect of miR-378a-3p on EAC cells. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to detect the correlation between UHRF1, gAD, and miR-378a-3p in EAC cells. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to detect the relevant effects on tumor migration and invasion after inhibiting UHRF1 expression. RESULTS: UHRF1 was negatively correlated with the survival of patients with EAC, while miR-378a-3p showed the opposite effect. Additionally, gAD promoted EAC cell pyroptosis, upregulated miR-378a-3p, and significantly inhibited the proliferation of EAC cells. gAD directly reduced UHRF1 expression in EAC cells by upregulating miR-378a-3p. In cell migration and invasion assays, inhibition of UHRF1 expression significantly suppressed EAC cell metastasis. In animal experiments, we again demonstrated that gAD induced pyroptosis in EAC cells by inhibiting the expression of UHRF1. CONCLUSION: gAD-induced upregulation of miR-378a-3p significantly inhibited the proliferation of EAC by targeting UHRF1. Therefore, gAD may serve as an alternative therapy for chemotherapy- and radiation-refractory EAC or other cancers with the same mechanism of pyroptosis action.

Characterization and Developmental Expression Patterns of Four Hexamerin Genes in the Bumble Bee, Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

Hexamerins are members of the hemocyanin superfamily and play essential roles in providing amino acids and energy for the nonfeeding stages of insects. In this study, we cloned and analyzed the expression patterns of four hexamerin genes (hex 70a, hex 70b, hex 70c, and hex 110) at different worker development stages and queen diapause statuses in the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris. The results of this study showed that hex 110 has the longest open reading frame (ORF; 3,297 bp) compared to the ORFs of hex 70a (2,034 bp), hex 70b (2,067 bp), and hex 70c (2,055 bp). The putative translation product of Hex 70a, Hex 70b, Hex70c, and Hex 110 has 677, 688, 684, and 1,098aa with predicted molecular mass of 81.13, 79.69, 81.58, and 119 kDa. In the development stages of workers, the expression levels of hex 70a, hex 70b, and hex 70c increased gradually from the larval stage and exhibited high expression levels at the pink eyed and brown eyed pupae stage, whereas hex 110 exhibited the highest expression level at the larval period. Four hexamerin genes were highly expressed at the prediapause status of queen (P < 0.05), and compared to the eclosion queen, the lowest upregulation was 3.7-fold, and the highest upregulation was 1,742-fold. The expression levels of hex 70b, hex 70c, and hex 110 at diapause were significantly higher than those at postdiapause (P < 0.05). In conclusion, hexamerins may play important roles in queen diapause and metamorphosis of larval and pupal stages.

Chinese Sacbrood virus infection in Asian honey bees (Apis cerana cerana) and host immune responses to the virus infection.

Chinese Sacbrood virus (CSBV) is a positive-stranded RNAvirus that infects both the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the Asian honey bee (A. cerana). However, CSBV has much more devastating effects on Asian honey bees than on European honey bees, posing a serious threat to the agricultural and natural ecosystems that rely on A. cerana for pollination service. Using quantitative RT-PCR method, we conducted studies to examine the CSBV infection in Asian honey bee colonies and immune responses of individual bees in response to CSBV infection. Our study showed that CSBV could cause infection in different developmental stages of workers including eggs, larvae, pupae, newly emerged workers, and foraging workers. In addition, evaluating the tissue tropism and transmission of CSBV in infected bees showed that CSBV was detected in the ovaries, spermatheca, and feces of queens as well as semen of drones of the same colonies, suggesting an existence of vertical transmission of CSBV in Asian honey bees. Further, the detection of CSBV in colony food suggests that healthy bees could pick the infection by the virus-contaminated food, and therefore, a possible existence of a food-borne transmission pathway of CSBV in Asian bee colonies. The expression analysis of transcripts (defensin, abaecin, apidaecin, and hymenoptaecin) involving innate antiviral immune pathways showed that CSBV infection could induce significant immune responses in infected bees. However, the immune responses to CSBV infection varied among different development stages with eggs exhibiting the lowest level of immune expression and forager workers exhibiting the highest level of immune gene expression. The results obtained in the study yield important insights into the mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis of CSBV infections in Asian honey bees and provide valuable information for a rational design of disease control measures.

Emotional social support and access to care among older people living with HIV in rural China.

OBJECTIVES: Globally, the number of older people living with HIV (PLH) is growing. Additionally, older PLH are facing particular challenges related to accessing health care. The objective of this study is to investigate the older PLH's access to care and its relationship to emotional and tangible social support. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 225 PLH who were 50 years of age or older in Anhui, China. A computer-assisted personal interview was used to collect the participants' demographic characteristics, perceived health status, and access to care. The following two dimensions of social support were measured: emotional support and tangible support. The association between emotional/tangible support and access to care was calculated using Pearson's/point-biserial correlations and with multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Higher tangible support was reported by the participants who were married or living with a partner, those who had higher annual income levels, and those with better perceived health status. Emotional support was correlated with higher education, higher income, and better perceived health status. Multiple regression analyses showed that access to care was significantly associated with emotional support (ß = 0.2807, p < 0.0001) but not with tangible support (ß = -0.0183, p = 0.7922). CONCLUSIONS: The study findings point to the importance of providing emotional support for older PLH. It is suggested that emotional support should be provided for older PLH in addition to tangible assistance, in order to engage them in treatment and care.

Bioinformatics identify the role of chordin-like 1 in thyroid cancer.

The abnormal expression of chordin-like 1 (CHRDL1) is identified in many cancers, while the effect of CHRDL1 in thyroid cancer (THCA) remains unclear. The University of California Santa Cruz, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer, and Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE33570, GSE33630, and GSE60542) were used for determining the mRNA and methylation expression of CHRDL1 in tumor and normal tissues. Human Protein Atlas was used for exploring the protein expression level of CHRDL1. The genes correlated to CHRDL1 were assessed by cBioPortal database. The prognostic value of CHRDL1 was evaluated through Kaplan-Meier method, cox regression, and nomogram analysis. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, Gene Ontology, and gene set enrichment analysis were used for predicting potential function of CHRDL1. The relationship between CHRDL1 and immune cell infiltration was determined by Pearson method. The downregulated mRNA and protein expressions of CHRDL1 were identified in THCA through the analysis of data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus, and Human Protein Atlas database. The survival analysis showed that the CHRDL1 expression significantly affected disease-free interval (DFI) and progression-free interval, and CHRDL1 was an independent predictor of DFI. Besides, we found that C-C motif chemokine ligand 21 could significantly affect DFI time when it was co-expressed with CHRDL1. Additionally, the function of CHRDL1 was enriched in cell migration, apoptosis, and immune cell receptor. The downregulated expression of CHRDL1 was observed in THCA and caused poor prognosis. CHRDL1 may be involved in signal pathway related to cancer development and immune response, which suggested it could be a potential biomarker.

Evaluation and identification of morphological characters suitable for delimitation of Taraxacum species distributed in northeastern China.

Taraxacum germplasm resources in northeastern China are not current and do not accurately reflect the actual distribution of the species. The objective of this study was to investigate the morphological traits of Taraxacum species distributed in northeastern China and identify those that will facilitate their classification in this region. Leaf, flower, and achene characteristics of 18 species were used for morphological classification. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine pollen morphology. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences were analyzed to determine sequence differences among the species and their utility in delimitation. Taxa were classified into groups based on their morphology. The ITS sequence analysis supported the taxon classification, but the genetic distances among the taxa did not reflect morphological differences. Phylogenetic analysis was used to divide the 18 species into three groups. Group I: T. coreanum (which has white flowers). Group Ⅱ: T. heterolepis, T. sinomongolicum, T. variegatum, T. asiaticum var. lonchophyllum, T. falcilobum, T. brassicaefolium, and T. erythropodium (outer involucre bracts, narrow membranous or nonmembranous). Group Ⅲ: T. formosanum, T. liaotungense, T. mongolicum, T. borealisinense, T. ohwianum, T. platypecidum, T. urbanum, T. antungense, T. asiaticum, and T. junpeianum (outer involucre bracts, broad membranous). The main taxonomic characteristics of Taraxacum floral organs and achene morphology.

Circular RNA NF1-419 Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis by Regulating Lipid Metabolism in Astroglioma Cells.

BACKGROUND: Astroglioma is the most common primary tumor of the central nervous system. Currently, there is no effective treatment for astroglioma. In the present study, the extract (L3) from Ganoderma Lucidum (G. lucidum) was found to inhibit the growth of astroglioma U87 cells and change the expression of circular RNAs (circRNAs). One of these, including the circular NF1-419 (circNF1-419), was of interest because NF1 gene is a classic tumor suppressor gene. OBJECTIVES: The functional role of circ-NF1-419 in the inhibition of astroglioma cells remains unknown. This study focuses on the role of circNF1-419 in functional abnormalities of U87 astroglioma cells and aims to elaborate on its regulatory mechanism. METHODS: The circNF1-419 overexpressing U87 (U87-NF1-419) cells were constructed. We generated U87-NF1-419 to evaluate the role of circNF1-419 on cell cycle, apoptosis, proliferation, tumor growth and metabolic regulation. Finally, we used docking screening to identify compounds in G. lucidum extracts that target circ-419. RESULTS: U87-NF1-419 can promote cell apoptosis and regulate lipid metabolism through glycerophospholipid metabolism and retrograde endocannabinoid signaling. Further examinations revealed that the expression of metabolic regulators, such as L-type voltage-operated calcium channels (L-VOCC), phospholipase C-ß3 (PLCß3), Mucin1, cationic amino acid transporter 4 (CAT4), cationic amino acid transporter 1 (CAT1) and a kinase (PRKA) anchor protein 4 (AKAP4) was inhibited, while phosphatidylserine synthase 1 (PTDSS1) was enhanced in U87-NF1-419 cells. In vivo experiments showed that circNF1-419 inhibits tumor growth in BALB/C nude mice, and enhanced AKAP4 and PTDSS1 in tumor tissues. The virtual docking screening results supported that ganosporeric acid A, ganodermatriol, ganoderic acid B and α-D-Arabinofuranosyladenine in L3 could activate circNF1-419 in astroglioma treatment. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that circNF1-419 could be a therapeutic target for the clinical treatment of astroglioma. L3 from Ganoderma Lucidum (G. lucidum) could inhibit astroglioma growth by activating circNF1-419.

A case of human rabies with a long incubation period in Wuhan.

Rabies remains endemic in China and continues to pose a major threat to public health with a nearly 100 % case fatality rate in humans. We confirmed a case of human rabies in Wuhan, in May 2018. The patient had got a dog bite wound 3 years before symptoms of confusion, hydrophobia, and photophobia onset. On May 14, our laboratory confirmed that the patient was infected with a rabies virus that circulates in dogs in China and died on May 24, two weeks later after admission. Complete glycoprotein gene sequences determined for this isolate indicated the source of a RABV infection was dog-related RABV variants.

Vaccination with a potent DNA vaccine targeting B-cell epitopes of hGRP induces prophylactic and therapeutic antitumor activity in vivo.

Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), a bombesin-like peptide, is an autocrine or paracrine growth factor that can stimulate the growth of various cancer cells, making it an ideal target antigen to develop vaccines against cancer. In this study, we developed a novel DNA vaccine that encodes six tandem repeats of B-cell epitope GRP(18-27) (GRP6) flanked by HSP65 as carrier and four tandem repeats of mycobacterial HSP70(407-426) (M4) as helper T-cell epitopes for enhancement of immunogenicity. When intramuscularly immunized to mice, this anti-GRP DNA vaccine-induced GRP-specific antibody (Ab) responses that were at least 10-fold higher in magnitude compared with HSP65-GRP6 protein vaccine. Both prophylactic and therapeutic antitumor immunities induced by vaccination significantly suppressed the growth of GRP-dependent prostate carcinoma RM-1 in vivo and prolonged the survival of tumor-inoculated mice. Out results also showed that the immune sera with high titer of GRP-specific Abs effectively inhibited the growth of tumor in mice and dose dependently inhibited proliferation of cultured RM-1 cells in vitro, suggesting that the GRP neutralizing Ab is responsible for the protective and therapeutic antitumor activity of vaccination. These findings may be of great importance in the further exploration of the applications of growth factors identified in human in cancer therapy.

Hydration process and microstructure of magnesium potassium phosphate cement with nitrate solution.

Magnesium phosphate potassium cement (MKPC) can be potentially used for solidification/stabilization (S/S) treatment of hazardous wastes. The influence of inorganic salts on the hydration process and microstructure of cementitious materials must be considered, especially to assess the performance of the S/S treatment of wastes with a high nitrate content. Hence, in this study, the hydration process and microstructure of MKPC specimens were investigated, along with their variations in compressive strength setting time, pH, and conductivity. The pore structure, phases composition, and elemental composition of the specimens were investigated using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results showed that although the potassium nitrate (KNO3) solution did not affect the formation of struvite-K, it affected the crystallization degree of struvite-K, where its microstructure changed from dense, plate-like and prismatic crystals into loose, cluster-like crystals at higher amounts of nitrate. Furthermore, the addition of nitrate delayed the setting time and slowed the pH growth during the hydration process of the MKPC. The nitrate solution hindered the hydration process of the MKPC specimens and increased their porosity. When the amount of nitrate was less than 5 wt%, the effect of nitrate on the hydration and hardening of the MKPC was small. However, at higher amounts of nitrate, the nitrate ions had a negative effect on the compressive strength development of the MKPC and the hydration process was delayed.

Is image everything? The role of self-image in the relationship between family functioning and substance use among Hispanic adolescents.

This cross-sectional self-report study examined (1) whether family functioning (Family Functioning in Adolescence Questionnaire, FFAQ) and self-image (Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale) have independent associations with smoking and alcohol use and (2) whether self-image mediates the relationship between family functioning, smoking, and alcohol use among 1,598 Hispanic males and females in grades 7 through 12 in Los Angeles County, California, in 2001. The findings supported the main effects and, to some degree, the mediational effects that were hypothesized. Limitations and implications for this study are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested. This study was funded by the California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program.

Association of Helicobacter pylori infection with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

OBJECTIVE: Many studies have shown that Helicobacter pylori ( Hp) is negatively correlated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Moreover, some studies deny that eradication of Hp increases the incidence of GERD. Therefore, we investigated the association of Hp infection with GERD. METHODS: In this retrospective analysis, patients with peptic ulcers were used as a blank control group. We used logistic regression to analyze the relationship between Hp infection and GERD. We analyzed 953 patients with peptic ulcers, 180 patients with both peptic ulcers and GERD, and 298 patients with GERD. RESULTS: Among the patients with GERD, 75.6% (136/180) and 36.2% (108/298) of those with and without peptic ulcers, respectively, had Hp infection, and the difference was statistically significant. Among patients with peptic ulcers, 75.6% (136/180) and 67.4% (642/953) of those with and without GERD, respectively, had Hp infection. The incidence of GERD in patients with Hp-positive and -negative peptic ulcers was 17.5% (136/778) and 12.4% (44/355), respectively. These differences were also statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In the analysis of patients with GERD, the prevalence of Hp infection was higher among patients with than without peptic ulcers.

In situ analysis of deformation twins within a magnesium polycrystal: (II) twin growth.

The process of twin growth is difficult to be captured instantaneously. Synchrotron polychromatic X-ray microdiffraction (micro-XRD) is applied to in situ study twin growth in extruded Mg-3Al-1Zn polycrystal subjected to uniaxial tension. The micro-XRD data is used to map an area of 396 × 200 µm2 under the loading levels from 12 MPa to 73 MPa. The orientations of seven parents and ten resultant twins are determined by indexing Laue patterns, while their morphologies are mapped by the integrated intensities of particular reflections. {101¯2} twins are detected at 64 MPa. The maximum SF criterion for twin variant selection is invalid here. Twin growth rates are deduced from the variation of integrated intensities between 64 MPa and 68 MPa. It is found that twin growth rates in the HCP material are not proportional to active twin's SF values, though the SF value is related to the magnitude of driving resource. Twin growth rate exhibits obvious anisotropy, either for lengthwise growth rate or thickness growth rate. When two twins within a parent belong to the same twin variant, they exhibit similar growth rates. Meanwhile, when two twins within a parent come across, one can block the other and the latter occur shrinking.

Do Statins Have a Positive Impact on Patients with Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction on Long-Term Clinical Outcome? A Large Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the influence of statins on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMVD). PARTICIPANTS: 23,494 patients who received coronary angiography (CAG) were included. Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction, Myocardial Perfusion Grading (TMPG), a useful angiographic method, was used to evaluate CMVD. RESULTS: Using multivariate analysis, NYHA III/IV (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.03-2.01; P=0.031), PCI history (HR, 3.69; 95% CI, 2.57-5.31; P<0.001), TG (HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.06-1.26; P=0.001), creatinine (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 1.00-1.01; P<0.001), cTnT (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99; P<0.001), heart rate (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.97-0.99; P=0.001), ß-blocker (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51-0.91; P=0.008), aspirin (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.24-0.61; P<0.001), and statins (HR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.19-0.60; P<0.001) significantly correlated with reduced MACE in CMVD patients. In subgroups analysis, statins decreased MACE overall (HR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.19-0.59; P<0.001) and in CMVD patients with smoking history (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.43-0.93; P=0.014), diabetes (HR,0.27; 95% CI,0.12-0.61; P=0.002), hypertension (HR, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.03-0.36; P=0.001), and hypertension and diabetes (HR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.014-0.53; P=0.008). CONCLUSION: Statins could reduce MACE in patients with CMVD.

A novel vaccine targeting gastrin-releasing peptide: efficient inhibition of breast cancer growth in vivo.

Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), a bombesin-like peptide, is an autocrine growth factor that can stimulate the growth of various cancer cells. We developed a novel protein vaccine HSP65-(GRP-10)(6) (HG6) that consists of six copies of a 10-amino acid residue epitope of GRP C-terminal fragment carried by mycobacterial 65 kDa HSP65 and then immunized mice via subcutaneous injection. Strong humoral and cell-mediated immune responses were induced. High titer of anti-GRP antibodies was detected in immunized mice sera by ELISA and verified by Western blot analysis. Activity of CD4+T lymphocytes, especially high levels of interferon (INF)-gamma, were developed in mice immunized with HG6 when compared with HSP65 or PBS. We found that immunogene tumor therapy with a vaccine based on GRP was effective at both protective and therapeutic antitumor immunity in breast tumor models in mice. The purified GRP monoclonal antibody (McAb) was proved to be potential in inhibiting EMT-6 tumor cell proliferation in vitro. The attenuation induced by active immune responses on tumor-induced angiogenesis was observed with an intradermal tumor model in mice. Taken together, we demonstrate for the first time that immune responses that are elicited by a novel chimeric protein vaccine targeting GRP can suppress the proliferation of breast tumor cell EMT-6 in mice, and it may be of importance in the further exploration of the applications of other autocrine growth factor identified in human and other animal in cancer therapy.

Construction, expression, purification and immunology effect of an anti-atherosclerosis chimeric enzyme vaccine in Escherichia coli.

In order to prevent atherosclerosis, a chimeric enzyme vaccine of AnsB-TTP-PADRE-CETPC was successfully constructed, expressed and purified to immunize New Zealand white rabbits for inducing high titers of anti-CETP antibodies to improve lipid abnormality. The protein was expressed as soluble protein in Escherichia coli and purified by anion exchange column and Sephadex G-100 size-exclusion chromatography. After immunizing rabbits with the purified protein, high titer anti-CETP antibodies were induced and lasted more than nineteen weeks in vivo; High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) content in the serum was elevated to 61% while decreased low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) to 37.2% compared with control rabbits in the presence of Al(OH) (3).

Association between psychological factors and adolescent smoking in seven cities in China.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is a culturally accepted behavior among adult males in China. However, there is limited information on smoking among Chinese adolescents, particularly the information on the relationship between psychological well-being and smoking behavior among this population. PURPOSE: This study explored associations between three psychological factors--anxiety, hostility, and depressive symptoms--and smoking behavior among Chinese adolescents. METHODS: The data presented in this study are a cross-sectional slice from a longitudinal investigation of tobacco use and lifestyle carried out in China. The study population consisted of 4,724 7th and 11th grade students from seven large cities in China. RESULTS: Odds ratios showed that anxiety, hostility, and depressive symptoms were significantly associated with a higher risk of lifetime smoking for both boys and girls. CONCLUSION: Much like their Western counterparts, Chinese adolescents face developmental stress. The resulting distress may increase their risk for substance use and other health-risk behaviors.

One-pot synthesis of nickel-cobalt hydroxyfluorides nanowires with ultrahigh energy density for an asymmetric supercapacitor.

A novel and unique nickel-cobalt hydroxyfluorides (NiCo-HF) nanowires material is fabricated by one-pot solvothermal synthesis method for asymmetric supercapacitor. The synthesis mechanism and factors that influence the formation of the NiCo-HF nanowires have been further discussed. The as-prepared NiCo-HF electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 3,372.6 F g-1, and the capacitance retention of 94.3% can be achieved at a high current density of 20 A g-1 after 10,000 cycles. The outstanding electrochemical performance of the electrode can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the nanowires morphology and complicated redox process of active material. Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor assembled with NiCo-HF nanowires as positive electrode and activated carbon as the negative electrode shows an ultrahigh energy density of 83.6 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 379.4 W kg-1 and an excellent cycling stability with 86.3% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles, indicating that this novel material has great promise for potential application in energy storage device.

Study on preparation and activity of a novel recombinant human parathyroid hormone(1-34) analog with N-terminal Pro-Pro extension.

A recombinant human parathyroid hormone fragment, Pro-Pro-hPTH(1-34), with molecular weight of 4311.46 was acquired through gene engineering. It was then isolated and purified. The homogeneity of this fragment was characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC), isoelectronic focusing (IEF) electrophoresis and mass spectrometry(MS) methods. Its isoelectric point is 8.0 which was determined by IEF. It was found that the hormone fragment significantly induced calcium increment as compared to the control group (P<0.001) in Parsons's Chicken Assay, an established bioassay for the evaluation of the PTH effect. After the 3-month-old ovariectomized (OVXed) rats, the OVXed rat is one of the two models required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the preclinical assessment of drugs for treating osteoporosis [DeLuca PP, Dani BA. Skeletal effects of parathyroid hormone (1-34) in ovariectomized rats with or without concurrent administration of salmon calcitonin. Am Assoc Pharm Sci 2001;3(4):E27 [1]]. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed for 14 weeks, daily subcutaneous injections of Pro-Pro-hPTH(1-34) for 16 weeks (0.4, 0.6 or 0.9 nmol/100 g body weight), reduced the ovariectomy (OVX)-triggered mass loss of vertebral trabecular bone. The mean Bone Material Density (BMD) increased to 29.2-34.5% in 3-month-old OVXed rats compared to control-vehicle group (P<0.001) and increased to 17.5-22.3% compared to sham-operated groups (P<0.01). In short, A recombinant Pro-Pro-hPTH(1-34) was harvested in purified form and its physico-chemical characterization was determined. It showed significantly enhanced activity upon two typical models for PTH fragments. It can increase the mineral density of vertebral trabecular bone just as synthetic hPTH(1-34), and the functional activity of Pro-Pro-hPTH(1-34) should be due to the removing of Pro-Pro- by Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV). This study opened out a simplified method which was cheaper, faster than the conventional one for producing active hPTH fragment, and its applied prospect would be good; Furthermore, it may open up our own path in finding new methods for post-processing of gene-engineering product.

Ethnic variation in the association between weight concern and adolescent smoking.

This study examined differences in associations between weight concern and smoking initiation among culturally diverse adolescents. Statistical analyses were conducted on responses from 3,515 students in the 8th and 9th grades from three school districts in Los Angeles County. The restrained eating scale, adapted from the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, was used to measure students' weight concerns. Our results indicated that weight concern was significantly associated with increased risk for smoking. Those who scored higher on weight concern were approximately 40% more likely to report having tried smoking and smoked in the past 30 days. Compared to White students who reported weight concerns, Asian-American and African-American students were significantly less likely to report having tried smoking whereas Hispanic students were more likely to report having tried smoking. Health educators may wish to design smoking prevention programs which advocate for alternative methods of weight reduction rather than using smoking as a means of weight control.