Quantitative Relaxometry Assessment of Brain Microstructural Abnormality of Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder With Synthetic Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to perform an assessment of brain microstructure in children with autism aged 2 to 5 years using relaxation times acquired by synthetic magnetic resonance imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-four children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (ASD group) and 17 children with global developmental delay (GDD) (GDD group) were enrolled, and synthetic magnetic resonance imaging was performed to obtain T1 and T2 relaxation times. The differences in brain relaxation times between the 2 groups of children were compared, and the correlation between significantly changed T1/T2 and clinical neuropsychological scores in the ASD group was analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the GDD group, shortened T1 relaxation times in the ASD group were distributed in the genu of corpus callosum (GCC) ( P = 0.003), splenium of corpus callosum ( P = 0.002), and right thalamus (TH) ( P = 0.014), whereas shortened T2 relaxation times in the ASD group were distributed in GCC ( P = 0.011), left parietal white matter ( P = 0.035), and bilateral TH (right, P = 0.014; left, P = 0.016). In the ASD group, the T2 of the left parietal white matter is positively correlated with gross motor (developmental quotient [DQ] 2) and personal-social behavior (DQ5), respectively ( r = 0.377, P = 0.028; r = 0.392, P = 0.022); the T2 of the GCC was positively correlated with DQ5 ( r = 0.404, P = 0.018); and the T2 of the left TH is positively correlated with DQ2 and DQ5, respectively ( r = 0.433, P = 0.009; r = 0.377, P = 0.028). All significantly changed relaxation values were not significantly correlated with Childhood Autism Rating Scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: The shortened relaxometry times in the brain of children with ASD may be associated with the increased myelin content and decreased water content in the brain of children with ASD in comparison with GDD, contributing the understanding of the pathophysiology of ASD. Therefore, the T1 and T2 relaxometry may be used as promising imaging markers for ASD diagnosis.

[Expression of BCR/ABL fusion gene in circulating endothelial cells from chronic myelogenous leukemia patients and its clinical significance].

Several studies have shown that the tumor endothelial cells are different from the normal tissue endothelial cells. These tumor endothelial cells may contribute to tumor neo-vasculogenesis. This study was purposed to analyze the biologic features and determine the expression level of CD133 and BCR/ABL fusion gene in circulating endothelial cells (CEC) isolated from peripheral blood of CML patients, as well as to investigate the role of CEC in disease progression. Mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood by density gradient centrifugation; CEC were sorted by MACS and harvested in the endothelial growth medium. The morphologic features of CEC were observed by microscopy, the cell growth rate was calculated by cell counting, and the cells were identified by immunofluorescence staining for the expression of CD31,CD34,VWF and CD133. The expression of BCR/ABL fusion gene was examined by FISH in 12 CML patients. The results indicated that the isolated CEC displayed the typical cobble-stone morphology. These cells could be identified by the positive immunofluorescence staining for CD31, CD34 and VWF, and showed more increased proliferative potential as compared to that of healthy donors. It was found that the positive rate of CD133 was 31.29% in CML patients, which was significantly different from that of healthy donors (P < 0.05). In 12 CML patients, CEC carried the same chromosome aberration as the leukemia cells (10.77%). Higher expression level of CD133 and BCR/ABL fusion gene positively correlated with progression of disease. It is concluded that the CEC may participate in invasion and angiogenesis in patients with CML and possibly correlate to the spreading and progression of the disease.

[Construction and expression of the recombinant plasmid containing BddhFVIII in HepG2 cells].

OBJECTIVE: To get stable cell line expressing B domain-deleted human FVIII (BDDhFVIII) by constructing the eukaryotic expression plasmid. METHODS: Eukaryotic expression plasmid containing BDDhFVIII was constructed and transfected into HepG2 cells via electroporation. The expression and purification of the target protein was detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Results of enzyme digestion and sequence analysis demonstrated that the gene of BDDhFVIII was correctly inserted into the eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA4/v5-his. Western blot confirmed the successful expression of BDDhFVIII at the protein levels in HepG2 cells. CONCLUSION: The constructed eukaryotic expression vector was able to generate high level expression of human FVIII in HepG2 cells, thus could construct human blood coagulation FVIII stable cell line successfully.