Isolation and characterization of novel EST-SSRs in the showy dendrobium, Dendrobium nobile (Orchidaceae).

Expressed sequence tag (EST)-derived simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers could enrich the current resource of molecular markers. In this study, microsatellite markers were developed for Dendrobium nobile Lindl. by mining the ESTs. Twenty-eight EST-SSRs amplified 2 to 6 nucleotide repeats with a mean number of 2.82 alleles per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosities per locus ranged from 0.158 to 0.579 and 0.422 to 0.752, respectively. These novel EST-SSRs enriched the current resource of molecular markers for the Dendrobium genus and would facilitate further applications in germplasm appraisal, evolution and genetic diversity studies, genetic mapping, and plant breeding of D. nobile and other congeneric species.

Plasma soluble HLA-G is a potential biomarker for diagnosis of colorectal, gastric, esophageal and lung cancer.

Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is a novel tumor marker and its soluble isoforms produce secretory proteins. Increased soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) levels have been reported in patients with melanoma, neuroblastoma, lymphoproliferative disorders, breast, ovarian and colorectal carcinoma when compared to healthy controls or subjects with benign neoplasms. The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not plasma sHLA-G can be used as a potential biomarker for cancer diagnosis. We measured plasma sHLA-G levels in 166 patients with early stages of colorectal cancer (CRC, n = 37), gastric cancer (GC, n = 28), esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC, n = 58) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, n = 43), and compared them to healthy controls (n = 260) by using a specific HLA-G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that plasma sHLA-G levels were significantly higher in cancer patients than in healthy controls (all P < 0.0001). The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves for sHLA-G were 0.97, 0.91, 0.98 and 0.80 for healthy controls vs CRC, GC, ESCC and NSCLC, respectively. At 100% specificity, the highest sensitivity achieved to detect CRC, GC, ESCC and NSCLC was 94% [95% confidence interval (CI), 89-99], 85% (95% CI, 76-94), 91% (95% CI, 88-94) and 51% (95% CI, 43-59) at a cutoff value of 49 U/ml, respectively. These findings suggest that plasma sHLA-G may be a useful molecule in the differential diagnosis of these malignancies against healthy controls.

Effect of static magnetic fields on the amplitude of action potential in the lateral giant neuron of crayfish.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether exposure to static magnetic field (SMF) affects the passive properties of neurons that mediate tail-flip escape behavior in crayfish. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A permanent magnet was placed under the isolated nerve cord of crayfish to experience SMF at 4.74 to 43.45 mT intensity for various period of time (20 seconds to 3 hours). An intracellular electrode was impaled on the axon of the lateral giant neuron (LG) of the last abdominal ganglion of crayfish to record the evoked action potential (AP) and excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP). The amplitudes of evoked AP and EPSPs before and after SMF exposure were measured to study the effect of SMF exposure. RESULTS: The exposure to SMF increased the amplitude of AP in the LG depending upon both the intensity of field and duration of field exposure. The changes in AP by field exposure are likely to be mediated by the increasing level of intracellular Ca2+ in the LG because the chelating of intracellular Ca2+ would block the effects by SMF exposure, while the injection of Ca2+ into the LG could mimic the effects of SMF exposure. SMF exposure also increases the input resistance of the LG membrane. Therefore, the magnitude of the EPSP in LG evoked by electrical shock on the sensory nerves was found to be enhanced after SMF exposure. CONCLUSION: SMF is usually considered to be safe for the biological issues since no electrical current is induced via the Faraday effect. Our results showed that some passive membrane properties of neurons are affected by SMF exposure. The increase in magnitude of evoked AP and EPSP suggests an increase in the sensitivity of the LG neuron. These changes by SMF exposure may not necessarily to be harmful to animals; however, further study is needed to address the biological effects from SMF exposure, especially in nervous systems.

[Outcome of HCV infection in intravenous drug addicts and influential factors].

A total of 154 intravenous drug addicts with antibody to hepatitis C virus (Anti-HCV) were followed up for 6 and 15 months, respectively. The corresponding negative conversion rates of anti-HCV were 11.0% (17/154) and 33.3% (29/87), respectively. The data were analysed by logistic curve fitting. Results showed that marriage and income status have significant influence on negative conversion rate of anti-HCV.