MiR-122 exerts anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

To investigate the effects of microRNA-122 (miR-122) on the proliferation and apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) HONE-1 cells, and its correlation with the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway. Human NPC cell line (HONE-1) was transfected with miR-122 inhibitor (anti-miR-122 group), negative controls (vector control group) via lipofectamines, and HONE-1 cell lines undergoing no transfection were selected (non-transfection group). The expression of miR-122, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and expressions of PI3K/AKT pathway and downstream target proteins in the three groups were determined using fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), cell counting kit-8 (CCK8), immunofluorescence (IF) and Western blotting, respectively. The expression of miR-122 in the anti-miR-122 group was significantly lower than corresponding expressions in the non-transfection and vector control groups after 48h of transfection (p <0.05). The proliferation of cells in the anti-miR-122 group was significantly reduced with time after transfection (p <0.05). After 48h of transfection, the extent of apoptosis in the anti-miR-122 group (47.11 ± 1.95%) was significantly higher than that in normal control (7.37 ± 0.82%) and vector control group (8.54 ± 0.96%; p <0.05). There were no significant differences in the expressions of PI3K, AKT, mTOR protein, and the downstream signal proteins (p70S6K and 4E-BP1) in the three groups (p >0.05). However, the expressions of phosphorylated forms of these proteins were significantly lower in the anti-miR-122 group than in the non-transfection and vector control groups (p <0.05). IF results revealed that there were no significant differences in the fluorescence intensity value of PI3K and Akt among the three groups of patients (p>0.05). Inhibition of the expression of miR-122 in NPC suppresses the proliferation, and promotes their apoptosis through the PI3K/AKT signal transduction pathway.

Postoperative analgesic effect of different doses of naloxone combined with butorphanol and psychological nursing intervention.

Cesarean section, as a stressor, inevitably produces negative emotions such as anxiety and may cause intraoperative discomfort and postoperative pain. Butorphanol is a commonly used analgesic in cesarean section. Butorphanol's postoperative analgesia can reduce the incidence of postoperative respiratory depression and play a good sedative effect. In this study, we observed the effect of the combination of naloxone and butorphanol on postoperatively analgesia. The result proved that the effect of naloxone and butorphanol on postoperative intravenous analgesia was significant, and the adverse effects of narcolepsy, dizziness, nausea and vomiting after operation were less. Medium concentration of naloxone and high concentration of naloxone had better effect on labor pain, but the adverse reaction rate of high concentration naloxone was higher. Therefore, we suggest that the concentration of naloxone should be 0.20~0.30 µg⋅kg-1⋅h-1. At the same time, research shows that good psychological nursing can obviously relieve patients' anxiety, and also has a certain effect on reducing pain during and after operation.

Tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells may be used as clinicopathologic prognostic factors in endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the distribution of dendritic cells (DCs) at different development status in endometrial carcinoma and their relationship with clinical pathology. METHODS: Samples were collected from 95 patients with endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma treated in Peking University People's Hospital from 2002 to 2010. Normal endometrial tissue was obtained from 40 women and served as controls. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of S100-, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR-, and CD1a-positive DCs within the tumor glandular epithelium, the surrounding tumor interstitial tissue, and the equivalent normal endometrial tissue. The relationship of these DCs with clinical stage, pathology grade, myometrial invasion, and lymph node metastasis was analyzed. RESULTS: The rate of S100-positive DCs in the endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma glandular epithelium samples from the 95 patients was 48.4% (46/95), and that of the HLA-DR-positive DCs was 27.4% (26/95), which were both significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that in the control group. CD1a-positive DC was rarely expressed in endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma glandular epithelium. The rates of the S100- and HLA-DR-positive DCs in tumor interstitial tissue were similar to that of the control group (both, P > 0.05). The proportion of invasion of the S100- and HLA-DR-positive DCs was negatively correlated with the clinical stage and lymph node metastasis but was not correlated with the pathological grade and myometrial invasion. CONCLUSIONS: Dendritic cell invasion was detected in endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma. S100- and HLA-DR-positive DCs may have functions related to the delay of tumor progression and lymph node metastasis.

De novo transcriptome sequencing in Salvia miltiorrhiza to identify genes involved in the biosynthesis of active ingredients.

Medicinal Salvia miltiorrhiza is a Chinese herb commonly used for treating cardiovascular diseases and neuroasthenic insomnia. However, little is known at the genetics level about how its compounds are synthesized in that plant. Here, we obtained 56,774 unigenes (average length = 467 bases) in its transcriptome by performing Solexa deep sequencing over the entire growing cycle. Unigenes (34,340; 60.49%) were annotated and 2545 unigenes were assigned to specific pathways. Unigenes (1539) were identified as part of five major, secondary-metabolite pathways, covering almost all nodes in the phenylpropanoid and terpenoid pathways. Using Blast search against AGRIS, 1341 unigenes were found homologous to 686 Arabidopsis transcription factor genes. Real-time PCR was also used to verify the spatio-temporal expression patterns of several novel transcripts related to biosynthesis of active ingredients in that species. These results not only enrich the gene resource but also benefit research into its molecular genetics and functional genomics.