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Objective To investigate the mechanism of kaempferol in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on network pharmacology and in vitro experiments. Methods Kaempferol targets were queried by TCMSP and SwissTarget databases, and RA related functional targets were searched in the GeneCards and DisGeNET databases. After the cross between kaempferol and RA targets through Venny2.1.0, STRING database was used for protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, and molecular docking between kaempferol and the targets was conducted. Mouse mononuclear leukemia RAW264.7 cells were treated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and kaempferol, and divided into control group, LPS group, LPS+Kaempferol group. MTT assay was used to determine the cytotoxicity of RAW264.7 cells after kaempferol treatment. LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells were used to construct a cellular inflammatory model. The change in aging and aging-related inflammatory factors were detected in each treatment group. The content of β-galactosidase was detected by SA-β-Gal, and the expression of IL-6 was detected by cellular immunofluorescence assay. Results A total of 138 targets of kaempferol and 76 potential targets of kaempferol against RA were obtained. PPI analysis showed that TNF, EGFR, PTGS2 and AKT1 may be the core targets of kaempferol against RA. The results of molecular docking indicated that kaempferol could form stable complexes with the core targets of TNF, EGFR, PTGS2 and AKT1. The results of MTT assay displayed that the treatment of 0.125 to 16 μmol/L kaempferol for 24 h promoted the proliferation of RAW264.7 cells (P < 0.05), the doses of 0.125 to 8 μmol/L for 48 h exerted similar effect on the proliferation (P < 0.05), but the dose of 0.125 to 16 μmol/L for 72 h had no such significant effect. The results of qPCR and Western blotting showed that kaempferol decreased the expression of cell senescence markers p16 and p21 and promoted the expression of cell cycle markers CCND1 and CCNE1 (P < 0.05). Cellular immunofluorescence assay indicated that kaempferol reduced the expression of IL-6 (P < 0.05). SA-β-Gal staining displayed that LPS treatment promoted β-galactosidase level in RAW264.7 cells (P < 0.05), and this effect was reversed by kaempferol treatment (P < 0.05). Conclusion Kaempferol may regulate the expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α and p16/p21 senescence related genes, prevent premature aging of immune cells, and thus play a therapeutic role for RA. [

Next generation sequencing (NGS) has developed very rapidly in the last decade. Compared with Sanger sequencing, NGS has the advantages of high sensitivity and high throughput. Movement disorders are a common type of neurological disease. Although traditional linkage analysis has become a standard method to identify the pathogenic genes in diseases, it is getting difficult to find new pathogenic genes in rare Mendelian disorders, such as movement disorders, due to a lack of appropriate families with high penetrance or enough affected individuals. Thus, NGS is an ideal approach to identify the causal alleles for inherited disorders. NGS is used to identify genes in several diseases and new mutant sites in Mendelian movement disorders. This article reviewed the recent progress in NGS and the use of NGS in Mendelian movement disorders from genome sequencing and transcriptome sequencing. A perspective on how NGS could be employed in rare Mendelian disorders is also provided.

Objective: To investigate the expressions of vinculin (VCL) and the androgen receptor (AR) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa) and analyze their relationship with the clinical stage and pathological grade of PCa and the level of PSA., Methods: We detected the expressions of VCL and AR in 18 cases of BPH and 38 cases of PCa by immunohistochemistry, analyzed the differences of VCL and AR expressions in BPH and PCa in different clinical stages and pathological grades of PCa, compared the primary levels of PSA, and studied their correlations., Results: The positive rate of VCL was significantly higher in PCa than in BPH tissues (P < 0.05), while that of AR showed no significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05). Both the expressions of VCL and AR were closely related with the clinical stage and pathological grade of PCa (P < 0.05), but not with the PSA level (P > 0.05). There was a positive correlation between the expressions of VCL and AR in PCa tissues (r = 0.489, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: VCL is expressed differently in BPH and PCa, which may serve as an indicator for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant prostate diseases. The expressions of AR and VCL are gradually reduced with the progression of PCa, with a positive correlation between them, and could be used jointly to evaluate the progression and prognosis of PCa.

The N-(m-methylphenyl)-N'-(sodium p-aminobenzenesulfonate)-thiourea (MMPT) was good reagent of water solubility. In the medium of an HAc-NaAc buffer solution and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB), MMPT can react with platinum (IV) and palladium (II) to form green and brown soluble complex. The maximum absorbance of the complex was at lambdaPt(max) = 754.4 nm and lambdaPD(max) = 304.6 nm. Beer's law was obeyed with the concentration in the range of 0-32.0 microg Pt(IV)/25 mL and 0-25.0 microg Pd(II)/25 mL for platinum (IV) and palladium(II) respectively. The correlated coefficient was r754.4 = 0.999 5 for platinum (IV); and r304.6 = 0.999 9 for palladium (II). Their molar absorption coefficients were epsilonPT(754.4 = 8.6 x 10(4) L x mol(-1) x cm(-1) and epsilonPd(304.6) = 7.4 x 10(4) L x mol(-1) x cm(-1) respectively. The contents of platinum (IV) and palladium (II) were converted by determination of the absorbency of mix solution of platinum (IV) and palladium (II) at 754.4 and 304.6 nm. Only Cu2+ and Co2+ interfered with the determination of palladium (II) among 50 coexistent ions, so the selectivity was good. It can be used for the determination of content of synthesis samples. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 2.0%, and the recovery (%) was in the range of 96%-104%. The results are satisfactory. Because the reagent reacts with platinum (IV) and palladium (II) to form water soluble complex and does not require pre-separation for simultaneous determination of platinum (IV) and palladium (II), the method is easy to operate, rapid and environment-friendly.

Objective: To clone a novel human testis-specific gene TDRG1., Methods: A new contig of expression sequence tags (ESTs) Hs.180197 was identified from the testis libraries using digital differential display (DDD) to screen the novel human testis-specific gene. To validate the use of bioinformatics approaches in gene discovery, the ESTs Hs.180197, which was predicted to be testis specific, was chosen for further study. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed on different normal tissues to identify the expression of Hs.180197 in human testis. Using bioinformatics methods and IMAGE cloning of this contig, the full-length cDNA sequence of the noval human gene was cloned., Results: This novel gene was 1197 bp in length, located in chromosome 6p21.1-p21.2. The sequence of the open reading frame was 504-806 bp, as confirmed by RT-PCR and sequencing in human testis. The cDNA encodes a novel protein of 100 amino acids with a theoretical molecular weight of 10 000 and isoelectric point of 6.81. The sequence shares no significant homology with any known protein in the databases. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of multiple tissues further showed that the novel gene was expressed specifically in adult human testis. Considering a possible relation of this novel gene with the function of human testis, we named this new gene TDRG1 (testis development related gene 1, GenBank accession number: DQ168992)., Conclusion: DDD combined with laboratory validation is an efficient method for identifying new human functional genes.

Objective: Studying on the routes of vas deferens to provide anatomy basis for surgical operation, especially, reconstruction of long segment loss of vas deferens., Methods: The routes of vas deferens were observed and anatomic distances along epididymal, infrainguinal, inguinal, retroperitoneal and ampullar segments of vas deferens, the distances from external ring to extremity of vas deferens were measured respectively in 18 formalin fixed adult cadavers., Results: The vas deferens have a large curve from external ring to extremity in its route, draw it out from the external ring. Eliminating this curve will allow to shorten this segment of vas deferens for vasovasostomy by 6.1 - 12.9 (9.31 +/- 1.30) cm. The length of each segment of vas deferens, respectively, is epididymal: 3.2 - 5.6 (4.53 +/- 0.79) cm, infrainguinal: 4.5 - 9.5 (7.31 +/- 1.78) cm, inguinal: 4.4 - 7.5 (5.52 +/- 0.74) cm, retroperitoneal: 12.5 - 19.5 (16.75 +/- 1.87) cm and ampullar: 2.9 - 3.8 (3.63 +/- 0.23) cm. There was no significant differences in segment length and the distances from external ring to extremity of vas deferens between the right and left., Conclusion: Reconstruction of long segment loss of vas deferens can be performed by mobilization retroperitoneal vas deferens and draw it out from external ring. There were no significant differences in lengths of vas deferens and the distances from external ring to vassal extremity between the left and right in adults. The surgical operations of vas deferens are closely related each segment of vasa.

Objective: To determine the relationship between uroflowmetry and age, the course of disease, premicturition volume, transition zone index and proportion of stroma-to-epithelium in benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) patients., Methods: Eighty-nine BPH patients in our hospital from 2000 to 2003 were evaluated. With the CMM3 pathology image analysis system, transrectal ultrasound and Dantec 2000 urodynamic instrument, the value of influence factors was determined. A linear regression was applied to analyze all the data by SPSS software., Results: The flow rate was correlated to premicturition volume ( r = 0. 477, P < 0.01) and proportion of stroma-to-epithelium significantly ( r = - 0.437, P < 0.05) , but was not correlated to the age, the course of disease and transition zone index significantly. The parameter of flow rate/premicturition volume had no difference in 3 micturitions in all patients., Conclusion: The parameter (flow rate/premicturition volume)could be used to evaluate the micturition status of the BPH patients whose bladder volume is less than 200 ml. We should pay more attention to receptor blockers when we treat BPH patients.