ABSTRACT
Bidens pilosa is an annual invasive and Cd-hyperaccumulator herb. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of the B. pilosa is 150,542 bp in length, which is composed of a large single-copy region of 83,542 bp, a small single-copy region of 17,624 bp and a pair of inverted repeat regions of 24,688 bp. It encodes a set of 114 genes, consisting of 80 protein coding, 30 tRNA and 4 rRNA genes. Among all of these genes, 2 genes possess double introns, and 16 genes have a single intron. Phylogenetic analysis showed that B. pilosa clustered together with Marshallia obovata.
ABSTRACT
We have synthesized a turn-on fluorescent probe, termed NB4OH, to detect cellular hypochlorite. NB4OH is mainly localized in the endoplasmic reticulum and detects ClO- in foam cells. The fluorescence change of the probe was explained by theoretical calculation as a PET process. The probe holds great promise for application in biomedical research, including atherosclerosis research.
Subject(s)
Atherosclerosis/metabolism , Endoplasmic Reticulum/metabolism , Foam Cells/metabolism , Hypochlorous Acid/metabolism , Molecular Probes/metabolism , Humans , Spectrometry, FluorescenceABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AIMS: Dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy has recently been reported frequently in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, its efficacy remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of DC-based immunotherapy on HCC by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science were searched to identify clinical trials on DC-based immunotherapy for HCC published up to January 31, 2018. The articles were selected according to pre-established inclusion criteria and methodologic quality, and publication bias were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 1276 cases from 19 clinical trials were included. Compared with traditional treatment, further DC-based therapy enhanced the CD4+ T/CD8+ T ratio (standardized mean difference: 0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.46-0.89, P < 0.001); increased the 1-year, 18-month and 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate and the 1-year, 18-month and 2-year overall survival (OS) rate (relative risk > 1, P < 0.05), prolonged the median PFS time (median survival ratio [MSR]: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.60-2.46, P < 0.001) and median OS time (MSR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.51-1.96, P < 0.001). Adverse reactions were mild. CONCLUSIONS: DC-based therapy not only enhanced anti-tumor immunity, improved the survival rate and prolonged the survival time of HCC patients, but it was also safe. These findings will provide encouraging information for further development of DC-based immunotherapy as an adjuvant treatment for HCC. However, the results must be interpreted with caution because of the small study numbers, publication bias and the various of study designs, pre-treatment and therapeutic processes of DCs.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/therapy , Dendritic Cells/transplantation , Immunotherapy, Adoptive/methods , Liver Neoplasms/therapy , Adjuvants, Immunologic/therapeutic use , Cancer Vaccines/therapeutic use , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/mortality , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology , Combined Modality Therapy , Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells/immunology , Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells/transplantation , Dendritic Cells/immunology , Humans , Immunotherapy, Adoptive/adverse effects , Immunotherapy, Adoptive/statistics & numerical data , Liver Neoplasms/mortality , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Progression-Free Survival , Survival Rate , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between knee osteoarthritis (OA) and intercondylar notch narrowing based on the notch width index. METHODS: Magnetic resonance (MR) images were collected from middle-aged and elderly patients with a definite diagnosis of knee OA, including 42 with mild OA and 37 with moderate to severe OA, with 70 healthy individuals serving as the control group. The notch width indexes NWI, NWI-A, and NWI-P on the coronal images at different levels were calculated, and the intercondylar notch was classified, according to the features on axial MR images, into types A, U, and W. The association of OA with NWI, NWI-A, NWI-P, and notch type was determined, and the cutoff values were obtained based on the ROC curves at different levels as indicators for diagnosis of intercondylar notch stenosis. RESULTS: In the control, mild OA, moderate to severe OA groups, the NWI value on coronal MR images were 0.252±0.019, 0.251±0.017, and 0.240±0.020, NWI-A were 0.261±0.024, 0.259±0.023, and 0.245±0.023, and NWI-P were 0.271±0.026, 0.270±0.024, and 0.254±0.022, respectively. Patients with moderate to severe OA had significantly smaller NWI, NWI-A, and NWI-P than the other two groups (P<0.05), and a significant association was found between NWI values at each level and the occurrence of moderate to severe OA (P<0.01). A NWI value<0.248, NWI-A<0.256, and NWI-P<0.266 supported a diagnosis of intercondylar notch narrowing. Type A intercondylar notch was found in the majority of patients with intercondylar notch narrowing (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Patients with moderate to severe OA have significant intercondylar notch narrowing, and patients with a type A intercondylar notch are more likely to have intercondylar notch narrowing than those with type U notch.