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A visible light-driven metal- and oxidant-free procedure for the decarboxylative alkylation of Baylis–Hillman acetates with N-(acyloxy)phthalimides to access trisubstituted alkyl acrylates under mild reaction conditions is reported.

An efficient procedure for p-toluenesulfonic acid-catalyzed iodination of isoquinolin-1(2H)-ones with N-iodosuccinimide under mild reaction conditions is reported. This methodology features scalable synthesis, wide substrate scope, and high functional-group tolerance.

A metal-free and oxidant-free procedure for the sulfonylation of Baylis–Hillman acetates with sulfonyl hydrazides under the irradiation of visible light and open-air conditions at room temperature is described. This transformation has high yields (up to 92%), excellent stereoselectivity, broad substrate scope, good functional group tolerance, and mild reaction conditions. Moreover, mechanistic studies indicate that a sulfonyl radical pathway is involved in this reaction.

To investigate the effect of catalase (CAT) on engraftment of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) by co-transplanting umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC) with over-expressed CAT and human HSC into NOD/SCID mice.The UC-MSC cultured in vitro were transfected by the retrovirus containing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and GFP-CAT genes respectively. MSC-GFP and MSC-GFP-CAT cell lines were sorted by flow cytometry. Co-culture and co-transplant experiments were performed to detect the effects of CAT on expansion and engraftment of human HSC.The percentage of GFP(+) cells were approximately 97.6% and 96.8% after sorting. The mRNA expression of CAT in MSC-GFP-CAT was 23.9-fold higher than that in UC-MSC. The activity of CAT in UC-MSC, MSC-GFP, MSC-GFP-CAT cells were 19.5, 20.3 and 74.1 Unit respectively. There was no significant differences in the percentage of CD34(+) cells between 3 groups in co-culture experiment. And the percentage of human CD45(+) cells in NOD/SCID mice were (3.22 ± 3.1)%, (4.26 ± 3.56)% and (7.37 ± 4.51)% respectively.MSC-GFP-CAT significantly improves the engraftment of human HSC in NOD/SCID mice, whereas co-culture with the MSC-GFP-CAT can not promote the expansion of HSC in vitro.

To explore the deletion rate, clinical correlation and prognostic significance of 1p21 deletion, a novel genetic prognostic index, in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).The interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (I-FISH) was performed on purified CD138⁺ plasma cells from 78 newly diagnosed patients from Sep 2007 to Sep 2012 receiving thalidomide-based chemotherapy by using BAC probe covered 1p21.2 region that contains the human cell division cycle 14A (HCDC14A) gene. Deletion rate, the cell percentage of deletion, clinical relevance and prognostic significance were analyzed in myeloma patients.Among 78 patients, there were 51 males and 27 females, the median age was 59(42-81). The deletion rate of 1p21.2 was 23.1%. Some patients had amplification (amp) of 1p with amp rate of 5.1% in 1p21.2, the amp rate was significantly lower than the deletion rate (P=0.001). 1p21.2 deletion was positively correlated with renal lesion (Cr≥177 μmol/L), high percentage of plasma cells in bone marrow, high LDH (≥220 U/L) and high β2-MG (P=0.014, 0.000, 0.010 and 0.022, respectively). With a median follow-up time of 15.0(1.0-53.5) months, the estimated median progressionfree survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) time for patients with 1p21 deletion was (12.0±2.7) and (14.0±3.4) months, however those were (30.0±8.0) and (38.5±1.8) months in patients without 1p21 deletion, respectively (P=0.000). On multivariate analysis, which included complex karyotype, LDH≥220 U/L, renal lesion and del(17p13), 1p21 deletion remained as an independent risk factor for PFS (HR: 3.312, 95% CI: 1.095-10.017, P=0.034) and OS (HR: 4.961, 95% CI: 1.487-16.552, P=0.009).1p21 deletion is an important genetic prognosis indicator in multiple myeloma patients.

Chromosome 13q14 deletion is one of the most common cytogenetic abnormalities in multiple myeloma (MM). LSI (locus-specific identification)-RB1 (13q14.1-14.2 region) and LSI-D13S319 (13q14.3 region) probes are usually used to detect 13q14 deletion. The aims of this study was to compare the incidence of chromosome 13q14.1-14.2 and 13q14.3 deletion and to detect 13q14 deletion size and number of involved cells in MM patients. The chromosome 13q14 region was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization using probes LSI-RB1 and LSI-D13S319 in plasma cells of 112 MM patients. The results showed that 47.3% (53 out of 112) MM patients had both LSI-RB1 and LSI-D13S319 13q14 deletion (cut-off value: 7%), and the deletion rates detected by probes LSI-RB1 and LSI-D13S319 were accordant. The positive rates of 13q14 deletion were 46.4% and 47.3% respectively when the cut-off level was increased to 20%, and the corresponding rate was 98%. MM patients carrying 13q14 deletion showed 18% - 98% (median value: 72.5%) and 22% - 98.5% (median value: 76.5%) of deleted nuclei involving the RB1 and the D13S319 locus (P = 0.38). There were 67.9% (36 out of 53) and 66% (35 out of 53) cases carrying65% of 13q14.1-14.2 and 13q14.3 deleted nuclei as high proportion deletion patients, respectively (P = 0.188). The positive rate of the high proportion deletion patients had still no difference between LSI-RB1 and LSI-D13S319 groups when the cut-off value was defined as 85% (P = 0.439). In conclusion, in this cohort of 112 MM patients, there was no significant difference between the LSI-RB1and LSI-D13S319 probes to detect 13q14 deletion. Both LSI-RB1 and LSI-D13S319 probes can be selected to detect 13q14 deletion in MM patients. All the 53 MM patients with 13q14 deletion had deletions of 13q14.1-14.2 and 13q14.3 regions, which is a large deletion as one of the important characters in MM patients with 13q14 deletion.

This study was aimed to establish a smear protocol for preparing bone marrow cells and investigate its effect on fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) signal. Probe DNA (C-myc, MDM2, STK6) was labeled with Spectrum Green, PromoFluor-555 and PromoFluor-415 by nick translation. Five bone marrow samples were tested by two methods separately. Traditional method: after removing the erythrocytes by hypoosmotic solution, the bone marrow cells were fixed in methanol/acetic acid (3:1). Improved method: erythrocytes were removed using density gradient centrifugation and fixed in methanol. The samples were then fixed again in 2 formaldehyde for 5 min. The FISH signal was assessed by comparing the relative signal intensity of each fluorophore with the autofluorescence background. The results indicated that improved method greatly increased the ratio of fluorescence signal intensity in the Spectrum Green, PromoFluor-555 and PromoFluor-415 channel (traditional method: 4.3 ± 0.19, 3.52 ± 0.04, 3.07 ± 0.08; improved method: 9.89 ± 0.41, 7.55 ± 0.5, 5.67 ± 0.18, n = 5, P0.01) respectively. The signal intensity increased 2.32, 2.14 and 1.85-fold in the Spectrum Green, PromoFluor-555 and PromoFluor-415 channel respectively. In addition, the improved method decreased the split signals [traditional method: (15.8 ± 1.74), (20.42 ± 2.88), (23.2 ± 3.02); improved method: (8.6 ± 1.2), (12.28 ± 1.33), (12.6 ± 2.56), n = 5, P0.05]. It is concluded that the improved optimal procedure which facilitates FISH intensity on bone marrow cells is developed, showing potential for wide application in the diagnosis of hematologic diseases.

This study was aimed to investigate the growth and multiple differentiation potential of human umbilical cord tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) transfected by a retroviral vector with catalase (CAT) gene. The UC-MSCs cultured in vitro were transfected by using pMSCV carrying GFP (pMSCV-GFP) and pMSCV carrying CAT (pMSCV-GFP-CAT) respectively, then the MSC-GFP cell line and MSC-GFP-CAT cell line were obtained by sorting of flow cytometry. The GFP expression was observed by a fluorescent microscopy at 48 hours after CAT gene transfection. The GFP+ cells were sorted by flow cytometry. The activity of CAT in GFP+ cells was detected by catalase assay kit. The proliferative capacity of transfected UC-MSCs was determined by cell counting kit-8. The differentiation ability of gene-transfected GFP+ cells into osteogenesis and adipogenesis was observed by von Kossa and oil red O staining. The results indicated that green fluorescence in UC-MSCs was observed at 48 hours after transfection, and the fluorescence gradually enhanced to a steady level on day 3. The percentage of MSCs-GFP was (25.54+/-8.65)%, while the percentage of MSCs-GFP-CAT was (35.4+/-18.57)%. The activity of catalase in UC-MSCs, MSCs-GFP, MSCs-GFP-CAT cells were 19.5, 20.3, 67.2 U, respectively. The transfected MSCs-GFP-CAT could be induced into osteoblasts and adipocytes. After 21 days, von Kossa staining showed induced osteoblasts. Many lipid droplets with high refractivity occurred in cytoplasm of the transfected UC-MSCs, and showed red fat granules in oil red O staining cells. There were no significant differences between transfected and non-transfected UC-MSCs cells (p0.05). It is concluded that UC-MSCs are successfully transfected by retrovirus carrying GFP or CAT gene, the activity of catalase increased by 3.4-fold. The transfected UC-MSCs maintain proliferation potential and ability of differentiation into osteoblasts and adipocytes.