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Biomedical subjects

H Cui

Publications and source records attributed to H Cui.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

RNA trafficking signals in human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

Intracellular trafficking of retroviral RNAs is a potential mechanism to target viral gene expression to specific regions of infected cells. Here we show that the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome contains two sequences similar to the hnRNP A2 response element (A2RE), a cis-acting RNA trafficking sequence that binds to the trans-acting trafficking factor, hnRNP A2, and mediates a specific RNA trafficking pathway characterized extensively in oligodendrocytes. The two HIV-1 sequences, designated A2RE-1, within the major homology region of the gag gene, and A2RE-2, in a region of overlap between the vpr and tat genes, both bind to hnRNP A2 in vitro and are necessary and sufficient for RNA transport in oligodendrocytes in vivo. A single base change (A8G) in either sequence reduces hnRNP A2 binding and, in the case of A2RE-2, inhibits RNA transport. A2RE-mediated RNA transport is microtubule and hnRNP A2 dependent. Differentially labelled gag and vpr RNAs, containing A2RE-1 and A2RE-2, respectively, coassemble into the same RNA trafficking granules and are cotransported to the periphery of the cell. tat RNA, although it contains A2RE-2, is not transported as efficiently as vpr RNA. An A2RE/hnRNP A2-mediated trafficking pathway for HIV RNA is proposed, and the role of RNA trafficking in targeting HIV gene expression is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Allele-specific in situ hybridization (ASISH).

An unexpected outcome of the diploid genome is that evolutionary strategies have evolved to express only one of the alleles (1). The rapidly expanding list of genes that are expressed monoallelically fall into three main categories: random inactivation, allelic exclusion, and genomic imprinting. These categories are distinguished by whether the expressed and inactivated alleles are maintained from one cell division to the next (random inactivation occurs with each cell division, compared to stable propagation through subsequent cell divisions as seen for allelic exclusion and genomic imprinting) and whether allele inactivation or expression is determined by parent of origin of inheritance (this differentiates allelic exclusion from genomic imprinting). Genomically imprinted genes are currently more numerous than members of the other categories. This fact is likely to reflect that the persistent (in)activation of one allele in a parent of origin-specific manner has facilitated the detection of monoallelic expression patterns in RNA extracted from homogenized tissue. This crude approach does not take into account, however, different imprinted states within a tissue, or, indeed, random allelic (in)activation. It is not surprising, therefore, that well-known genes, such as Il2 (2), were only recently found to be monoallelically expressed in a random manner (1).

Alleles↗
PubMed2001

[Changes in erythrocyte rheologic properties after mild burn injury].

The changes in erythrocyte deformability and osmotic fragility were studied with an animal model of mild burn injury. The results showed that after the burn injury there was a gradual decrease with time at first and then a recovery in erythrocyte deformability. Maximum deformation index [(DI)max], integration deformation index (IDI) and osmotic fragility of RBCs drawn just after burn were almost identical to those before burn injury. (DI)max and IDI significantly decreased at 1, 2 h but not at 4, 7 h when compared with those before burn injury, however, the RBCs were less deformable at 4, 7 h. Erythrocyte osmotic fragility significantly increased only at 4 h after burn injury when compared at the time points of 0, 1, 2, 4, 7 h after burn with that before burn injury. The results indicated that the lesion in (DI)max and IDI, and the increase in osmotic fragility might be only related to the body fluid factors in this animal model. The decrease in erythrocyte deformability and the increase in erythrocyte osmotic fragility did not synchronize, suggesting that the changes might come about not by the same mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Evaluation of cold knife urethrotomy for the treatment of anastomotic stricture after radical retropubic prostatectomy.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the efficacy of cold knife urethrotomy for anastomotic stricture after radical retropubic prostatectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We contacted all patients who underwent cold knife urethrotomy for a symptomatic anastomotic stricture from May 1, 1992 through January 1, 2000 at our institution. A control group of patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy but did not complain of a decreased urine stream was similarly evaluated. Maximum urinary flow rate, post-void residual urine volume, American Urological Association (AUA) symptom index for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and continence status with a questionnaire adapted from the RAND-University of California-Los Angeles Prostate Cancer Index were determined in each study participant. RESULTS: We identified and contacted 61 patients. Complete data were collected on 36 of the 52 patients (59%) who agreed to participate. Mean time after urethrotomy was 31 months (range 1 to 77). In the control group the mean time after prostatectomy was 18.6 months (range 3 to 95). There was no statistically significant difference in the measured urinary parameters of maximum flow rate, post-void residual urine volume, AUA symptom index or continence status in the study and control groups. CONCLUSIONS: Cold knife urethrotomy provides a safe and effective response for the initial treatment of patients with anastomotic stricture after radical retropubic prostatectomy. Maximum urinary flow, post-void residual volume, AUA symptom score and perceptions of continence are similar to those in patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy and had no complaints of a weak urine stream.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Clinical study on treatment of senile vascular dementia by acupuncture.

63 patients with senile vascular dementia were randomly divided into the treatment group (treated by acupuncture) and the control group (treated with piracetam). The authors observed the changes in the score of Hasegawa's dementia scale (HDS), p300, rheoencephalogram, topographic EEG, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in erythrocytes, and lipid peroxide (LPO) level in plasma before and after treatment. The statistical data showed that the total effective rate in the treatment group (80.6%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (25%), and the differences in the observed indexes before and after treatment were significant (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) in the treatment group but not in the control group (P > 0.05), indicating that the acupuncture treatment was superior in immediate therapeutic effect on senile vascular dementia to drug treatment.

Acupuncture Therapy↗
PubMed2001

[Influences of rearing style on the intellectual development of infants].

The factors causing the imbalance on intellectual development of infants in the early period after birth were studied and some better styles of rearing infants were found. The developmental quotient in 68 infants of 3-months-old was tested with Gesell Developmental Schedules and the style for rearing infants was obtained by inquiring their parents. The results showed that: (1) the development of adaptive behavior, language and personal--social behavior was better than that of gross motor and fine motor; (2) giving infants opportunity to move could make the development of adaptive behavior, gross motor and fine motor better. The development of fine motor could be hampered if a pair of mitten was put on hands to avoid scratching infant own face. Out doors activities were more important on the development of adaptive behavior, gross motor, fine motor and personal--social behavior; (3) in addition to the mother, with the cooperation of grandparents or father to look after infants was better. The higher education level of parents always associated with a better mental development of infants; (4) the complex structure with more people in a family make the development of language better. It is suggested that if parents have more knowledge on caring infants, give infants more opportunity to move and communicate with other people, it would be beneficial to the development of infants.

Child Development↗
PubMed2001

[Analysis of the essential oil of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. with GC/MS].

AIM: To detect chemical components of the essential oil of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.. METHODS: The essential oil was analyzed with GC/MS, heuristic evolving latent projections(HELP) resolution and overall volume integration method. RESULTS: HELP method along with the data from GC/MS can be used to conduct the peak purity examination and resolution of overlapping peaks to obtain pure chromatogram and MS spectrum of each component. Fifty six components were separated and 49 of them were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. All the components represent about 98.27% of the total content. CONCLUSION: The resolved pure chromatogram and MS spectrum can greatly enhance the reliability of similar searches in the commercial MS database and thus contribute to the accuracy of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essential oil.

Fruit↗
PubMed2000

Glutathione stimulates sulfated estrogen transport by multidrug resistance protein 1.

Multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1) is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter that transports a range of hydrophobic xenobiotics, as well as relatively hydrophilic organic anion conjugates. The protein is present at high levels in testicular Leydig and Sertoli cells. Studies with knockout mice suggest that MRP1 may protect germ cells from exposure to some cytotoxic xenobiotics, but potential endobiotic substrates in this organ have not been identified. Previously, we have shown certain D-ring, but not A-ring, estrogen glucuronides can act as competitive inhibitors of MRP1 mediated transport, suggesting that they are potential substrates for the protein. In the case of 17 beta-estradiol-17 beta-d-glucuronide, this has been confirmed by direct transport studies. The Leydig cell is the major site of estrogen conjugation in the testis. However, the principal products of conjugation are A-ring estrogen sulfates, which are then effluxed from the cell by an unknown transporter. To determine whether MRP1/mrp1 could fulfill this function, we used membrane vesicles from MRP1-transfected HeLa cells to assess this possibility. We found that estradiol and estrone 3-sulfate alone were poor competitors of MRP1-mediated transport of the cysteinyl leukotriene, leukotriene C(4). However, in the presence of reduced glutathione (GSH), their inhibitory potency was markedly increased. Direct transport studies using [(3)H]estrone 3-sulfate confirmed that the conjugated estrogen could be efficiently transported (K(m) = 0.73 microm, V(max) = 440 pmol mg(-)1 protein min(-)1), but only in the presence of either GSH or the nonreducing alkyl derivative, S-methyl GSH. In contrast to previous studies using vincristine as a substrate, we detected no reciprocal increase in MRP1-mediated GSH transport. These results provide the first example of GSH-stimulated, MRP1-mediated transport of a potential endogenous substrate and expand the range of MRP1 substrates whose transport is stimulated by GSH to include certain hydrophilic conjugated endobiotics, in addition to previously identified hydrophobic xenobiotics.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗
PubMed2000

The effects of dietary selenomethionine on polyamines and azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypts.

We evaluated the effects of dietary selenomethionine supplementation on colonic polyamine levels and the ability of L-selenomethionine supplementation to modulate the carcinogenic activity of azoxymethane (AOM) in the rat colon. Four-week-old male F344 rats were treated with 15 mg/kg body weight of AOM once a week for 2 weeks. Dietary selenomethionine at a concentration of either 1 or 2 ppm was administered in AIN-76A rodent diet to AOM-treated animals for 16 weeks. Aberrant crypt foci (ACF), precursor lesions of colon cancer, were investigated after the 16 week treatment course. Selenomethionine given in the diet at 2 ppm markedly reduced the number of aberrant crypt foci. The multiplicity of ACFs (i.e. the number of aberrant crypts/focus) and the percentage of microadenomas were also affected by selenomethionine in a dose dependent manner. However, evaluation of the colonic tissue polyamine levels between control and treated groups showed no significant difference. These results demonstrate that selenomethionine can modulate the development of AOM-induced premalignant lesions through a polyamine-independent mechanism.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed2000

External beam radiotherapy and hyperthermia in the treatment of patients with locally advanced prostate carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The current study was conducted to evaluate the combination of external beam radiation therapy and hyperthermia in the treatment of patients with locally advanced prostate carcinoma. METHODS: Twenty-six patients were treated on a Phase I/II protocol between June 1990 and April 1993. The median age of the patients was 69 years. Nine patients had well differentiated adenocarcinoma, ten patients had moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, and six patients had poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. All patients had American Urologic Society Stage C2-D1 adenocarcinoma. The median pretreatment prostate specific antigen (PSA) level was 29 ng/mL (range, 6-104 ng/mL). All patients received external beam radiation therapy using a four-field technique. The median radiation dose was 6,800 centigrays (cGy) given in 200-cGy fractions. Hyperthermia was administered concurrently with radiation therapy to temperatures of 42.5 degrees C for 30 minutes using a transrectal ultrasound applicator with 3 thermometry probes, given as either a single treatment (9 patients) or as two treatments (17 patients). Overall survival (OS) and biochemical no evidence of disease (bNED) status were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. A consensus conference definition of PSA failure was used. The Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. The median follow-up for all patients was 71 months. RESULTS: The median time to PSA nadir was 15 months with a median PSA nadir value of 1.0 ng/mL. The median and 5-year OS was 88 months and 73%, respectively, and the median and 5-year bNED survival was 36 months and 35%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed only the pretreatment PSA level (P = 0.03) and the PSA nadir reached (P < 0.01) to be significant predictors of bNED survival. The duration of hyperthermia therapy showed a trend toward significance for OS (P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: The current Phase I/II protocol evaluating the combination of prostate hyperthermia and external beam radiation therapy for the treatment of patients with locally advanced prostate carcinoma suggests prostate hyperthermia to be feasible with no apparent significant increased toxicity, although there was no significant improvement in treatment outcome when compared with other studies reported in the literature evaluating external beam radiation therapy with or without androgen suppression. However, further investigation into the duration as well as the temperature of the hyperthermia with a greater number of patients is warranted.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2000

Determination of tripolyphosphate in frozen cod and scallop adductor by ion chromatography.

We introduce a method for the determination of tripolyphosphate in frozen cod and scallop adductor by using ion chromatography. The tripolyphosphate was extracted from minced cod and scallop adductor with deionized water by ultrasonic leaching, and then the proteins soluble in water were precipitated with trichloroacetic acid and removed by filtering. An ion chromatograph with an ionpac AS11-HC anion-exchange column, an ASRS (Anion Self Regenerating Suppression), a conductivity detector and a gradient pump (sodium hydroxide gradient) was used. The detection limit was below 5 mg tripolyphosphate/kg cod or scallop adductor. This method is applicable to the determination of polyphosphates in aquatic products and the procedures are easy to implement.

Chromatography, Ion Exchange↗
PubMed2000

Analysis of oligomannuronic acids and oligoguluronic acids by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Oligomannuronic acids and oligoguluronic acids were prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis of alginate with alginate lyases. The oligosaccharides generated up to degree of polymerization 16 were characterized by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Acetate buffer linear gradients were used as mobile phases for separations of oligosaccharides. ESI-MS and HPAEC-PAD are very effective for the analysis and characterization of anionic oligosaccharides.

Anion Exchange Resins↗
PubMed2000

Hot-stop PCR: a simple and general assay for linear quantitation of allele ratios.

We have developed a simple, quantitative assay for measurement of allele ratios that circumvents the problem of heteroduplex formation skewing the results of restriction endonuclease digestion of PCR products. This assay, 'hot-stop PCR', involves addition of a radiolabelled PCR primer at the final cycle. We applied the assay to analysis of loss of imprinting (LOI) of the insulin-like growth factor II gene (IGF2) in tumours.

Alleles↗
PubMed2000

Differences in sexual function and quality of life after nerve sparing and nonnerve sparing radical retropubic prostatectomy.

PURPOSE: We determine the impact of nerve sparing techniques on quality of life after radical retropubic prostatectomy for prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The RAND/UCLA Prostate Cancer Index and several questions about surgical outcomes, including sexual function, were sent to 170 consecutive patients at least 1 year after radical retropubic prostatectomy. Statistical analysis was performed on data for the entire group as well as subgroups of patients after nerve sparing and nonnerve sparing surgery. RESULTS: Nonnerve sparing surgery was performed in 83 of 129 responders (nonnerve sparing group) and the remaining 46 were treated with unilateral nerve sparing surgery (nerve sparing group). Scores for sexual function, sexual bother, physical function and physical limitation domains were significantly better in the nerve sparing group. Spontaneous erectile activity was reported by 50% of nerve sparing group patients. Nerve sparing status did not affect urinary function, bowel function or disease outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Nerve sparing techniques have positive effects on quality of life and sexual function for patients undergoing radical retropubic prostatectomy.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2000

A clinical investigation on zhi ling tang for treatment of senile dementia.

Zhi Ling Tang (ZLT [symbol: see text], a TCM prescription designed for replenishing essence, supplementing marrow, invigorating qi, warming yang, removing blood stasis and phlegm, tonifying the brain, and invigorating mental activity) was used in 32 cases of senile dementia (SD). After treatment, the levels of serum cholesterol (Tch), triglyceride (TG), and plasma lipid peroxides (LPO) were lowered; the content of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in RBC significantly elevated, the cerebral blood flow was increased; latent period of P300 and P3 waves was shortened while the amplitude of P3 elevated; and topographic electroencephalogram, revised Hasegawa dementia scales (HDS) scores (P < 0.05-0.01) and clinical symptoms were improved. The total effective rate was 81.3%, indicating that ZLT exhibits relatively good therapeutic effects for treating senile dementia.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Loss of B7.2 (CD86) and intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (CD54) expression is associated with decreased tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes in diffuse B-cell large-cell lymphoma.

Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T-lymphocytes (T-TILs) are thought to be relevant to immunosurveillance of several tumor types including B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. B- and T-lymphocyte interactions via cellular adhesion molecules (CAMs), recognition molecules (HLAs), and costimulatory molecules (CSMs) are necessary for optimal antigen-specific T-cell activation to occur and may be important in generating effective host T-TIL responses. We previously found that low T-TIL response (CD8+ T cells < 6%) correlates with statistically shorter relapse-free survival in patients with diffuse large-cell lymphoma (DLCL). We now extend our observations in 71 DLCL patients by analyzing malignant B-cell expression of the following molecules important in T-cell activation: (a) recognition molecules [MHC I (MAS and MCA) and MHC II (HLA-DR, -DP, -DQ)]; (b) CAMs [leukocyte function antigen 1 (CD11a and CD18) and intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (CD54)]; and (c) CSMs [B7.1 (CD80) and B7.2 (CD86)]. Eighteen patients (25%) had low a T-TIL response, and 53 patients (75%) had a high T-TIL response. Overall, expression of the MHC class H molecules HLA-DR and HLA-DQ was most conserved. The loss of B7.2 (P = 0.04), intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (P = 0.0004), MAS (P = 0.02), and HLA-DR (P = 0.0004) expression was significantly associated with decreased T-TIL response. In 100% of patients with low T-TIL responses, at least one HLA, CAM, or CSM was undetectable on the malignant B cells by immunohistochemical staining (mean number of molecules lost = 2.67). In contrast, 49% of patients with high T-TIL responses had no losses in HLA, CAM, or CSM expression (mean number of molecules lost = 0.89). The mean number of absent molecules (HLA, CAM, or CSM) was significantly associated with T-TIL response (P = 0.0001). We conclude that loss of HLA, CAM, or CSM expression on malignant B cells is associated with a poor host T-cell immune response. In addition, because patients with low T-TIL response had lost expression of multiple cellular adhesion, recognition, and costimulatory molecules, our results suggest that a combination of immunorestorative therapies may be required to generate effective antitumor T-cell responses in B-cell DLCL.

Antigens, CD↗