Biomedical subjects

Ming Gao

Publications and source records attributed to Ming Gao.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2025

Chemoselective Tagging of Protein Methacrylation.

Protein lysine methacrylation (Kmea) is a recently identified post-translational modification whose biofunction remains poorly understood. Until now, there has been no chemical labeling method for Kmea modification, which has severely hindered the discovery and functional studies of methacrylated proteins. Here, we developed a photocatalytic thia-Michael reaction system for the chemoselective labeling of protein methacrylation. By exploiting the dual effect of steric hindrance and the stability of the generated C-center radical, the reaction interference of the structural isomer crotonylation can be efficiently avoided. Based on this reaction, a multifunctional water-soluble benzenethiol-azide probe azDSH was designed and synthesized, and a workflow for the specific labeling, enrichment, and identification of Kmea proteins was developed. Proteomic identification of histone and nuclear protein extracts and whole-cell lysate revealed a number of novel Kmea proteins and modification sites besides histones, such as HMGB1, TdIF2, UHRF1, HNRPD, BRWD1, TAF1, TACC1, and SETD3, providing new targets for the study of epigenetic regulation. This study provides an effective method for the analysis of protein methacrylation modifications in biological systems.

Humans↗

PubMed2025

WRKY14-DPB Module Enhances Drought Tolerance by Activating the Expression of UGT84B1 Involved in Hydrolyzable Tannin Biosynthesis.

Drought stress severely limits the growth and development of trees. Tannins, which serve as vital secondary metabolites in plant roots, help mitigate drought stress. The Lauraceae family, which holds major economic and ecological value, faces substantial developmental challenges due to its sensitivity to drought conditions. Despite this, research on the regulatory mechanisms governing tannin-specific accumulation under drought stress remains limited. In this study, we aim to explore how WRKY14 interacts with DPB to regulate the metabolism of hydrolyzable tannin (HT) via the key enzyme UGT84B1, thereby enhancing drought tolerance in Litsea cubeba, a main species within the Lauraceae family. The WRKY-DPB-UGT84B1 module was specifically expressed in roots in response to drought stress. LcUGT84B1 was found to generate 1-O-Galloyl-β-d-glucose in vitro and in overexpressing L. cubeba. Moreover, molecular biology and transformation experiments demonstrated that LcWRKY14 and LcDPB formed a complex that directly bound to the LcUGT84B1 promoter, activating its expression and thereby facilitating HT synthesis. Co-overexpression of LcWRKY14 and LcDPB significantly enhanced drought tolerance by increasing HT accumulation. These findings provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of the WRKY-DPB-UGT84B1 module in promoting drought tolerance and offer a potential breeding strategy for developing drought-resistant varieties.

Drought Resistance↗

PubMed2006

An unusual beta-vinyl effect leading to high efficiency and enantioselectivity of the amidase, nitrile biotransformations for the preparation of enantiopure 3-arylpent-4-enoic acids and amides and their applications in synthesis.

Biotransformations of 3-arylpent-4-enenitriles catalyzed by Rhodococcus erythropolis AJ270, a nitrile hydratase/amidase-containing microbial whole-cell catalyst were studied, and an unusual beta-vinyl effect of the substrate on the biocatalytic efficiency and enantioselectivity of the amidase was observed. While 3-arylpent-4-enenitriles and 3-phenylpentanenitrile were efficiently hydrated by the action of the less R-enantioselective nitrile hydratase, the amidase showed greater activity and higher enantioselectivity against 3-arylpent-4-enoic acid amides than 3-arylpentanoic acid amides. Under very mild conditions, nitrile biotransformations provided an efficient synthesis of highly enantiopure (R)-3-arylpent-4-enoic acids and (S)-3-arylpent-4-enoic acid amides, and their applications were demonstrated by the synthesis of chiral gamma-amino acid, 2-pyrrolidinone, and 2-azepinone derivatives.

Amides↗

PubMed2006

Sex difference of adenine effects in rats: renal function, bone mineral density and sex steroidogenesis.

Adenine is widely used in clinical field, however, an excess of adenine is harmful. It is known that the feeding of an adenine-rich diet induces renal failure and decreases bone mineral density (BMD) and the serum testosterone level in male rats. However, there is little information about the influence of adenine on female animals. We compared the effects of adenine treatment between male and female rats. Young male and female rats were administered adenine adjusted with distilled water (6 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml) for 8 weeks (3 times/week, 8-16 week old). In male rats, renal failure was induced by 100 mg/ml adenine treatment and renal dysfunction was induced by 50 mg/ml adenine treatment. Bone loss and the reduction of the testosterone level were also caused by both concentrations of adenine. However, the serum testosterone level and BMD in male rats were decreased by 6 mg/ml adenine treatment by which renal dysfunction was not caused. It is suggested that adenine directly affected bone metabolism and sex steroidgenesis in male animals, not through altering renal dysfunction. In female rats, conversely, renal dysfunction was induced only in the 100 mg/ml group, which was somewhat different from the observation in male rats. The serum 17-beta estradiol level and the BMD in female rats were not affected by adenine treatment at all. In conclusion, there is a significant difference of the effects of adenine, which is commonly contained in medicine and general foods, on steroidgenesis and renal function between male and female rats.

Adenine↗

PubMed2006

HCV-NS3 Th1 minigene vaccine based on invariant chain CLIP genetic substitution enhances CD4(+) Th1 cell responses in vivo.

BACKGROUND: HCV is a major cause of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and death of end-stage liver disease worldwide. Therapy regimen based on IFN-alpha combined with ribavirin can induce a sustained virological and biochemical response in 20-60% of treated patients depending on the HCV genotype, the virus load and the age of the patients. So the development of a preventive or a therapeutic vaccine is very desirable. METHODS: Thirty female BALB/c mice of 6-8 weeks old were randomly divided into five groups of six each to receive injection with experimental vaccine (pHCV-NS3, pHCV-NS3-Th1) and experimental controls (saline, pCI-neo, pCI-neo-Ii), respectively. After the fifth immunization, humoral and cellular immune responses were estimated. The therapeutic efficacy was also evaluated with BALB/c mice carried tumor cells expressing HCV-NS3 protein. RESULTS: Specific antibodies to HCV-NS3 could be detected only in pHCV-NS3 immunized group. The antibody titers reach up to 1/1024. For CD4(+) Th cell proliferation assay, only the pHCV-NS3 and pHCV-NS3-Th1 treated groups were positive according to absorbance assayed at 450nm. The absorbance of the pHCV-NS3-Th1 treated group was significant higher than that of pHCV-NS3 treated group (P<0.01, 0.002). Only the pHCV-NS3-Th1 immunized group produced detectable IFN-gamma, the concentration was 33.65pg/ml. For IL-4 detection, only pHCV-NS3 immunized group produced tiny IL-4 cytokine, the concentration was 4.55pg/ml. pHCV-NS3 and pHCV-NS3-Th1 immunized mice showed significantly lower tumorigenesis rate and higher survival rate compared to experimental controls, but no significant differences were observed in our experiment between the two vaccine immunized groups. CONCLUSIONS: Minigene vaccine based on invariant chain CLIP genetic substitution might be a potential candidate for HCV therapeutic vaccine development. The results might also have some inspiring significance for the therapeutic vaccine development against other chronic infectious diseases and tumor.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Target HCV NS3 CD4+ Th1 epitope to major histocompatibility complex class II pathway.

A hepatitis C virus (HCV) plasmid vaccine was constructed, based on class II-associated invariant chain peptide (CLIP) substitution which endogenously targets HCV non-structure protein 3 (NS3) CD4+ T helper 1(Th1) epitope (1248AA-1261AA) to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigen. The in vitro expression results demonstrated that the vaccine was expressed efficiently in COS-7 cell line. The expressed protein could co-localize in endo-membrane system with BALB/c mouse MHC class II molecule I-Ad. The recombinant invariant chain molecule could aggregate with BALB/c mouse I-Ad molecule and form the theoretical nonomer structure in the COS-7 cell line. The assembled molecules migrate to the cell surface by exocytosis. This has implications for HCV vaccine development.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Glucocorticoids enhance cytotoxicity of cisplatin via suppression of NF-{kappa}B activation in the glucocorticoid receptor-rich human cervical carcinoma cell line SiHa.

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are commonly co-administered with cisplatin in the treatment of patients with carcinomas to prevent drug-induced allergic reaction, nausea and vomiting. Although GC receptor (GR) is ubiquitous in carcinoma cells and has been linked to signal transduction pathways pertinent to cell growth and apoptosis, little is known regarding the possible effect of GC on the chemosensitivity of carcinomas. Our previous study demonstrated that dexamethasone (DEX) enhances the cytotoxicity to cisplatin in a GR-rich human cervical carcinoma cell line, SiHa. In this study, we found that this cisplatin cytotoxicity-enhancing effect of DEX correlated well with its effect on abrogating the cisplatin-induced activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). RU486, a structural homologue of DEX, partially reversed this cytotoxicity-enhancing effect of DEX, a finding consistent with the well-known partial reversing effect of RU486 on DEX-induced NF-kappaB suppression. Furthermore, expression of a dominant-negative truncated IkappaBalpha gene in SiHa cells completely abolished the cisplatin cytotoxicity-enhancing effect of DEX. Our data suggest that the specific action of DEX on GR may enhance the cytotoxicity of cisplatin in selected GR-rich cancer cells by suppressing NF-kappaB activation.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗

PubMed2006

[Research on real-time data collection and demonstration system for acupuncture manipulation].

OBJECTIVE: To apply the real-time data collection and demonstration system for acupuncture manipulation to quantitative analysis of acupuncture manipulation for acupuncture teaching and research. METHODS: The real-time observation and analysis of parameter changes of acupuncture manipulation were implemented by this system. RESULTS: During the course of lifting and thrusting manipulation, the needle body moved in a uniform variable motion, and the action force was still kept while the arrival of Qi was achieved. During the course of twirling manipulation, the variations of twirling number and radian caused the changes of resistance moment, and this reaction was related to the body response. During the course of rotating and shaking manipulation, the radius for rotating and shaking was related to such factors as the force, the action point and the direction. CONCLUSION: The real-time data collection and demonstration system for acupuncture manipulation can provide a new experimental method for quantitative data analysis, standardized research and teaching demonstration of acupuncture.

Acupuncture↗

PubMed2006

[Suicidal behaviors and correlated psychological factors in secondary school students].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of suicide ideation, suicide plan and suicide attempts in middle school students in Hefei, Anhui province, and to determine correlated factors. METHODS: The investigation was administered to 3127 middle school students from 7 schools in Hefei, Anhui province. All participants completed an anonymous questionnaire concerning their experiences with specific suicide behaviors during the 12 months preceding the survey. School life satisfaction, coping style were evaluated by School Life Satisfaction Rating Questionnaire for Adolescent and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire, respectively. Chi-squared test was used to assess gender difference of suicide ideation, suicide plan and suicide attempt. Logistic regression analyses were applied to identify factors associated with adolescent suicide behaviors. RESULTS: Of the subjects investigated, 28.0 percent had thought seriously about attempting suicide, 11.9 percent had made a specific plan to attempt suicide, and 4.0 percent actually had attempted suicide. It was found that main risk factors among three specific suicide behaviors were related to negative coping style. School life satisfaction was protecting factor of suicide ideation and suicide attempt. CONCLUSION: It was suggested that focusing on these psychosocial factors would help enhance suicide assessment and prevention efforts with adolescents.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

[Electrical acupoint stimulation increases athletes' rapid strength].

OBJECTIVE: To search for a stimulation method for increasing athletes' performance. METHODS: One hundred and fifty athletes were randomly divided into a trial group and a control group, 75 athletes in each group. Acupoints were stimulated with audio frequency pulse modulated wave and multi-blind method were used to investigate effects of the electric stimulation of acupoints on 30-meter running, standing long jumping and Cybex isokinetic testing index. RESULTS: The acupoint electric stimulation method could significantly increase athlete's performance (P < 0.05), and the biomechanical indexes, maximal peak moment of force (P < 0.05), force moment accelerating energy (P < 0.05) and average power (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Electrical acupoint stimulation can enhance athlete's rapid strength.

Acupuncture Points↗

PubMed2006

[Smoking and subjective life qualities in middle school students].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the tendency of smoking in middle school students during the last 5 years and to identify the relationship between subjective life qualities and different smoking behaviors in order to determine the possible effects on tobacco use. METHODS: Six middle schools were chosen in the city and rural areas of Hefei in 1998 and 2003, respectively. Smoking behaviors such as ever smoking, smoking before 13 years old, current smoking, regular smoking and addictive smoking were surveyed. Emotional symptoms, satisfaction on school life and on general life were chosen to estimate subjective life qualities. Relationship between subjective life qualities and smoking behaviors was analyzed. RESULTS: Prevalence rates of smoking before 13 years old, current smoking, regular smoking and addictive smoking in 2003 (8.8%, 12.0%, 5.6% and 1.7%, respectively) were higher in 1998 (3.1%, 3.0%, 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively). The prevalence rates of depression and anxiety were high among students with ever smoking, current smoking, regular smoking, addictive smoking, smoking before 13 years old and no attempt to quit cigarette smoking. Lower school life satisfaction and general estimation of life were found among these students. Higher satisfaction on school life (OR = 0.657) and on ordinary life (OR = 0.766) were protecting factors of current smoking but comorbid depression and anxiety were risk factors (OR = 2.181). Higher school life satisfaction (OR = 0.388) seemed to be protecting factor of addictive smoking while depression was risk factor of addictive smoking (OR = 2.753) and regular smoking (OR = 1.676). CONCLUSION: Smoking behaviors were common in middle school students and affected by several emotional and cognitive factors of subjective life qualities. Longitudinal designs are required to clarify the causal relationship between these factors and smoking behaviors in adolescents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

[Progress of clinical pathology and application of PET-CT on thyroid carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: Identify the significance of variants in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the role of extracellular matrix (ECM), MMPs, cell adhesion molecular (CAM) and cytokine in lymphatic metastasis in PTC and the value of PET-CT in diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: Five hundred and five cases of PTC which had complete medical records and followed up surveys were selected from the files. Clinical biological characteristic of the histological variants was investigated. Sixty cases of PTC were selected. As the important parts of micro ecosystems, ECM, MMPs, CAMs and cytokine were investigated in use of tissue chip and method of immunohistochemistry. In addition, a group of cases of thyroid carcinoma including PTC was analyzed, follicular thyroid carcinoma and medulla thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and their reports of PET-CT as the initiation. RESULTS: The variants could be divided into three groups in terms of the rate of cervical lymph node metastasis. The high-metastases group included diffuse sclerosing variant, tall cell variant, column cell variant and diffuse follicular variant. The low-metastases group included macrofollicular variant and papillary microcarcinomas. Others are included in the moderate-metastases group. The rate of cervical lymph node metastasis of each group were 83.0% , 55.5% and 34.1% (P < 0. 05), respectively. The 10-year-survival were 75.3% , 95.8% and 100.0% , respectively. The 20-year-survival were 31.2%, 80.3% and 87.5%, respectively. The positive rate of LN, FN, MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-2, CD, Integrinbeta-1, ICAM-1, EGFR, TGFR-beta, VEGF-C and E-Cad in metastasis ranged from 51.6% (Integrinbeta-1) to 98.3% (CD), and that in primartumor ranged from 46.7% (FN) to 98.3% (ICAM-1). The expression of E-cad in primartumor was lower than that in normal tissues (P < 0.05). The sensitivity of PET-CT was 100% and the specificity was 85.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristic has significant difference among the variants. Individual treatment should be performed in terms of different variants. Furthermore, some molecules play an important role in the lymph node metastasis of PTC and may be considered as the focus of future study. In addition, compared with CT and Bus, PET-CT is more sensitive and has its unquestionable advantage as a whole body examination, especially for staging and detecting micro metastases, though it requires a high expense.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

[Responses of regional ecological service value to land use change: A case study of Shapingba County in Chongqing].

Land use has significant effects on the products and services provided by ecosystem, through its interaction with ecosystem processes and services. Taking Shapingba County in Chongqing as an example, and by the Costanza method and ecological sensitivity analysis, this paper analyzed the effects of land use change on ecological service value. The results indicated that from 1992 to 2002, the ecological service value of this County was from dollar 1.74 x 10(7) to dollar 16.8 x 10(7), i. e. , dollar 0.54 x 10(5) was lost. Accordingly, each hectare land suffered an average loss of dollar 13.62. The ecological service value coefficient assigned to different categories of land use had little effects on the total ecological service value, and the total change of ecological service value was inelastic. The summation of the ecological service value coefficients assigned to cultivated land, forestland and garden land was very close to regional actualities. But, the ecological service value coefficient assigned to the waters was higher than the actual value, while rectifying 30 percent of the previous coefficient by 5 667 dollar x hm(-2) x yr(-1) would be very close to the actual one. Applying Costanza method to estimate the change of regional ecological service value was practicable, and would make a reference for the evaluation of land use benefits and the organization of land use planning.

China↗

PubMed2005

A pathway for tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced Bcl10 nuclear translocation. Bcl10 is up-regulated by NF-kappaB and phosphorylated by Akt1 and then complexes with Bcl3 to enter the nucleus.

Bcl10 overexpression and nuclear translocation were originally identified in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma with t(1;14)(p32;q32) chromosome translocation. DNA amplification of Bcl10 was also found in other solid tumors. We have recently shown that nuclear translocation of Bcl10 is a specific molecular determinant of Helicobacter pylori-independent mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (Kuo, S.-H., Chen, L. T., Yeh, K.-H., Wu, M. S., Hsu, H. C., Yeh, P. Y., Mao, T. L., Chen, C. L., Doong, S. L., Lin, J. T., and Cheng, A.-L. (2004) J. Clin. Oncol. 22, 3491-3497). However, the molecular mechanism of Bcl10 nuclear translocation remains unknown. In this study, we observed that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) up-regulates the expression of Bcl10 and induces a fraction of Bcl10 nuclear translocation in human breast carcinoma MCF7 cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays and electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that an NF-kappaB-binding site resides in the Bcl10 5 '-untranslated region. This study also demonstrates that Akt1, activated by TNFalpha, phosphorylates Bcl10 at Ser218 and Ser231 and that phosphorylated Bcl10 subsequently complexes with Bcl3 to enter the nucleus. Either inhibition of Akt1 or depletion of Bcl3 blocks Bcl10 nuclear translocation. In summary, these findings characterize a molecular linkage that directs Bcl10 nuclear translocation in response to TNFalpha treatment.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus↗

PubMed2005

The effect of microwave irradiation on enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw.

A series of experiments involving microwave irradiation were carried out to evaluate the effect of microwave irradiation on enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw. Compared with microwave irradiation free hydrolysis, rice straw pretreated by combining microwave irradiation with alkali could increase the initial hydrolysis rate but the hydrolysis yield remained unchanged. When the enzyme solution was treated by microwave irradiation, the initial hydrolysis rate increased slightly, but the yield was decreased remarkably. Its optimal hydrolysis conditions were temperature (45 degrees C), pH (4.8) and enzyme loading (20 mg g(-1) substrate), which was determined by an orthogonal experiment. When intermittent microwave irradiation was used, initial hydrolysis rate was greatly accelerated but the yield was decreased slightly. Its optimal hydrolysis conditions were temperature (50 degrees C), pH (4.8) and enzyme loading (20 mg g(-1) substrate), which was determined by another orthogonal experiment.

Carbohydrates↗

PubMed2005

Inhibitors of epidermoid growth factor receptor suppress cell growth and enhance chemosensitivity of nasopharyngeal cancer cells in vitro.

OBJECTIVE: Epidermoid growth factor receptor (EGFR, HER1) is overexpressed in a majority of head-and-neck cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Although EGFR inhibitors appear to be effective for some head-and-neck cancers, their efficacy in NPC remains unclear. METHODS: The effect of EGFR-specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors, including PD153035 and ZD1839, were studied in NPC-TW01, NPC-TW04, and HONE1 cell lines. The effect of combining EGFR inhibitors with cytotoxic agents was evaluated in NPC-TW04 cells. RESULTS: All three NPC cell lines expressed EGFR. PD153035 and ZD1839 inhibited the growth of NPC cells with IC50s around 10 and 20 microM, respectively. These inhibitors, however, effectively suppressed ligand-stimulated EGFR activation in NPC cells with a much lower concentration (> or =0.1 microM). The growth-suppression activity of EGFR inhibitors was closely associated with suppression of AKT phosphorylation. LY294002, a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (P13K)/AKT inhibitor, did suppress the growth of NPC cells. Pretreatment of EGFR inhibitors by 24 h significantly enhanced the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin, paclitaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluororuacil in NPC-TW04 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that inhibition of EGFR activation is not sufficient to induce growth inhibition in NPC cells in vitro. EGFR inhibitors may be useful adjuncts in treating NPC when combined with conventional anticancer drugs.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

PubMed2005

Response of CH4 emission of paddy fields to land management practices at a microcosmic cultivation scale in China.

The terrestrial ecosystem may be either a source or a sink of CH4 in rice paddies, depending, to a great extent, on the change of ecosystem types and land use patterns. CH4 emission fluxes from paddy fields under 4 cultivation patterns (conventional plain culture of rice (T1), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice (T2), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice and wheat (T3), and rice-wheat rotation (T4)) were measured with the closed chamber technique in 1996 and 1998 in Chongqing, China. The results showed that differences existed in CH4 emission from paddy fields under these land management practices. In 1996 and 1998, CH4 emission was 71.48% and 78.82% (T2), 65.93% and 57.18% (T3), and 61.53% and 34.22% (T4) of that in T1 during the rice growing season. During the non-rice growing season, CH4 emission from rice fields was 76.23% in T2 and 38.69% in TI. The accumulated annual CH4 emission in T2, T3 and T4 in 1996 decreased by 33.53%, 63.30% and 65.73%, respectively, as compared with that in T1. In 1998, the accumulated annual CH4 emission in T1, T2, T3 and T4 was 116.96 g/m2, 68.44 g/m2, 19.70 g/m2 and 11.80 g/m2, respectively. Changes in soil physical and chemical properties, in thermal and moisture conditions in the soil and in rice plant growth induced by different land use patterns were the dominant causes for the difference in CH4 emission observed. The relative contribution of various influencing factors to CH4 emission from paddy fields differed significantly under different land use patterns. However, the general trend was that chlorophyll content in rice leaves, air temperature and temperature at the 5 cm soil layer play a major role in CH4 emission from paddy fields and the effects of illumination, relative humidity and water layer depth in the paddy field and CH4 concentration in the crop canopy were relatively non-significant. Such conservative land use patterns as no-tillage and ridge culture of rice with or without rotation with wheat are thought to be beneficial to reducing CH4 emission from paddy fields and are, therefore, recommended as a significant solution to the problems of global (climatic) change.

China↗

PubMed2005

[Effects of manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture on mitochondria of skeletal muscle cells in rats of acute swimming exercise].

OBJECTIVE: To observe effects of acupuncture and electroacupuncture on antioxidant enzyme and Ca2+(-) ATPase activities and Ca2+ content in mitochondria of skeletal muscle cells in rats of acute swimming exercise and explore the mechanism of acupuncture in increasing sport ability. METHODS: Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. The rats in the acupuncture group and the electroacupuncture group were treated respectively with acupuncture and electroacupuncture before acute swimming exercise. After the swimming exercise, the rats were killed and the skeletal muscle was taken, and then the indexes were determined. RESULTS: After acute swimming exercise, the GSH-Px and Ca(2+)-ATPase activities in the mitochondria of the skeletal muscle decreased significantly (P < 0.05) and Ca2+ content increased (P < 0.01) in the swimming group as compared with the control group; in the acupuncture group, SOD activity increased significantly (P < 0.05), GSH-Px and Ca(2+)-ATPase activities increased as compared with the swimming group (P < 0.05); Ca2+ contents in the swimming group and the electroacupuncture group significantly increased as compared with the control group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture can protect cells from injury of acute sports and maintain the functions of mitochondria so as to delay fatigue, prolong working time of muscles and prevent muscles from damage.

Animals↗