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This study aimed to explore the value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in combination with routine blood tests, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and T-lymphocyte subsets for the early diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) combined with Talaromyces marneffei (TM) infection.A total of 166 confirmed AIDS patients were enrolled in this study. The observation group included 80 AIDS patients with TM infection, and the control group consisted of 86 AIDS patients with other complications. Regression analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive value of each index and the combination of these indexes for AIDS combined with TM infection using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.NLR and LDH were significantly higher in patients in the observation group compared with those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P0.05). There was no statistical difference in platelets, infantile granulocytes (IGM), and nucleated red blood cells (NRBC) between the 2 groups (P0.05). The area under the operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the observed indicators were: NLR, 0.628; hemoglobin (HGB), 0.704; LDH, 0.607; lymphocyte (LYM) count, 0.744; CD4+ T lymphocyte count, 0.789; and CD8+ T lymphocyte count, 0.701. The combined AUC of multiple indicators was 0.815, with a sensitivity and specificity of 76.2% and 76.1%, respectively.NLR, HGB, LYM, LDH, and T lymphocyte subsets were diagnostic for early AIDS combined with TM infection , and CD4+ T lymphocytes had the best diagnostic efficacy alone.

To investigate the effect of risperidone on the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptors, tyrosine kinase receptor (TrkB) and P75 neurotrophin receptor (P75NTR) in rat brain.Sixteen SD rats were divided into two groups (n = 8 for each group). The rats in experimental group were treated with risperidone [0.25 mg/(kg · d)] for 14 d, while the control group was given placebo. Total RNA sample in prefrontal cortex, temporal cortex and hippocampus was extracted, and the expression of BDNF, TrkB and P75NTR mRNA were determined by quantitative real-time PCR.The treatment of risperidone significantly up-regulated the expressions of BDNF and TrkB in prefrontal cortex, temporal cortex and hippocampus, while the expression of P75NTR was not significantly changed.Risperidone upregulated BDNF-TrkB signaling, but not BDNF-P75NTR signaling, which may be helpful for the further pharmacological study of risperidone.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a highly infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the SARS-CoV are vital for early diagnosis and pathological studies of SARS. Direct intrasplenic inoculation of plasmid DNA encoding antigen is an effective and fast approach to generate specific mAb when the protein antigen is difficult to prepare or dangerous in use. In this study, we selected one fragment of SARS-CoV spike protein (S1-(3)) as antigenic determinant by immunoinformatics. Single intrasplenic immunization of plasmid DNA encoding S1-(3) induced anti-spike protein antibodies. We established one hybridoma cell line secreting specific mAb and evaluated this mAb with murine leukemia virus pseudotyped with SARS-CoV spike protein (MLV/SARS-CoV). The mAb could recognize the spike protein on the MLV/SARS-CoV-infected Vero E6 cells albeit with no neutralizing effect on the infectivity of the pseudotype virus. Our results show that a single-shot intrasplenic DNA immunization is efficient for the production of specific mAb against SARS spike protein, and a linear epitope of the spike protein is recognized in this study.

The cell cycle, which is precisely controlled by a number of regulators, including cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), is crucial for the life cycle of mammals. Cell cycle dysregulation is implicated in many diseases, including cancer. Recently, compelling evidence has been found that microRNAs play important roles in the regulation of cell cycle progression by modulating the expression of cyclins, CDKs and other cell cycle regulators. Herein, the recent findings on the regulation of the cell cycle by microRNAs are summarized, and the potential implications of miRNAs in anti-cancer therapies are discussed.

To investigate the effect of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) on the human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cell line.The hypoxia environment was achieved by treating cells with cobalt chloride. The shRNA eukaryotic expression vector targeting HIF-1 alpha was constructed, and transfected into MCF-7 cells through lipofectamine 2000. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to study the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The mRNA and protein level of HIF-1 alpha were detected by real-time PCR and Western blot. Sub-G1 apoptotic population analysis, Annexin V/PI binding assay, and DNA ladder analysis were applied to investigate the cell apoptosis. The cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry.The mRNA and protein level of HIF-1 alpha increased after exposure of MCF-7 cells to hypoxia (P0.01). However, apoptosis was lower in hypoxia compared with normoxia (P0.05). The HIF-1 level of MCF-7 transfected with HIF-1 alpha shRNA decreased approximately 91.63% (P0.01). When the cells were treated with or without apoptosis inducer Ara-C, the apoptosis of MCF-7 cells transfected with HIF-1 alpha shRNA increased by 1.75 times (P0.01) and 61. 31 times (P0.01), respectively. The expression of VEGF in MCF-7 cells transfected with HIF-1 alpha shRNA decreased 66.8% compared with untransfected cells (P0.05). Cell cycle progression was inhibited when the MCF-7 cells were transfected with HIF-1 alpha shRNA.HIF-1 alpha plays an anti-apoptotic role in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cell line. The shRNA we designed targeting HIF-1 alpha in MCF-7 can promote cell apoptosis, inhibit the expression of VEGF, and delay cell cycle progression.

To explore the effect of hemangiopoietin (HAPO) on the adhesive properties of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).The adhesion of HUVEC and the expressions of CD54, CD102, CD106, CD31, CD62E, and CD62P were measured by adhesion assay, flow cytometry, and semi-quantitative RT-PCR.HAPO enhanced the total adherence of HUVEC in a concentration-dependent manner. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that the treatment of HAPO resulted in a significantly increased expression of CD106 and CD62E on HUVEC in a time-dependent manner. When HUVEC were incubated with HAPO for 6 h, the percentage of CD106 + HUVEC and CD62E HUVEC increased about 2.10 folds and 5.84 folds, respectively, compared with control. The time-course of adhesive molecules mRNA expression indicated that the expression of CD106 and CD62E reached at the maximum 1.86 folds and 6.16 folds, respectively, compared with control.HAPO may facilitate the homing of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.