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Wen-Qin Cai

Publications and source records attributed to Wen-Qin Cai.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Recent advances on the study between steroids and brain function].

It is vital for steroid hormones synthesized in the gonad gland, adrenal gland and placenta to the development and physiological metabolism of the body. In particular, its regulatory effect on brain functions has attracted more and more attention, as nearly all the steroid hormones can be synthesized de novo in the brain. This means steroids derived from brain and peripheral gland can modulate the physiology and pathology of the brain reciprocally and importantly on many aspects such as learning and memory, synaptic transmission, neuroprotection, neurodegenerative diseases (especially Alzheimer's disease), emotion, stress, and menstrual-cycle-linked disorders. In the present review, some new advances are summarized.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Immunolocalization of estrogen receptor beta in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of female mice during pregnancy, lactation and postnatal development.

Previous studies have shown that estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) is the predominant estrogen receptor in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of mouse, mediating estrogen regulation of the neuroendocrine activities of the PVN, but the exact roles that ERbeta plays in the PVN remain unclear. In this study, we used immunocytochemistry to investigate the expression of ERbeta in the maternal PVN of mice during pregnancy (pregnant days 8, 10, 12, 15 and 18), lactation (postpartum days 1, 4 and 8) as well as in the PVN of the females from postnatal days 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 30 and 70. We found out that ERbeta was predominantly localized in the magnocellular divisions of PVN. In the pregnant female brain, generally, the ERbeta was lower than that of the postnatal development, the lowest level was found at gestational days 10-12; then from gestational day 18 to postpartum day 1, it increased to higher levels, followed by a decrease from postpartum day 4. During the postnatal development, the highest level of ERbeta was found at early postnatal days (before postnatal day 15), thereafter, it decreased to a lower level. The above results indicate that circulating sex steroids may differentially regulate the expression of ERbeta in the PVN of mice. It also suggests that this receptor may play important roles in the regulation of parturition and in the development, food intake and body weight increases of the newborns by acting on the neuropeptides, which were also detected in the PVN.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

SVZa neural stem cells differentiate into distinct lineages in response to BMP4.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) reside in the anterior portion of the forebrain subventricular zone (SVZa) and generate the progenitors which will differentiate into neurons, and via a tangential migratory pathway, known as the rostral migratory stream (RMS), migrate to the olfactory bulbs (OB). Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) play significant roles in neural development at different stages and locations, but their roles have not been determined in the SVZa. To explore possible roles of BMPs in SVZa NSCs, BMP4 at various concentrations were tested for their capacity to induce SVZa NSCs. The expression of BMP4 was also examined in living cells using a reportor vector, in which the BMP4 promotor was conjugated with red fluorescent protein (RFP). In the meantime, the differentiation of SVZa NSCs was dynamically monitored by using reportor vectors of the Nestin enhancer and the promoters of TH and GFAP. In the OB, high expression of BMP4 was found using both promoter activity analysis and in situ hybridization. However, low BMP4 expression was found in the RMS and only moderate expression of BMP4 was displayed in the SVZa. The results also demonstrated that low concentrations (1-5 ng/ml) of BMP4 promoted the proliferation of SVZa NSCs but high concentrations (10-100 ng/ml) of BMP4 inhibited this proliferation. BMP4 enhanced neuron commitment before 4 days but inhibited it after 4 days. As the antagonist of BMP4, Noggin almost completely blocked all these BMP4 responses. Thus, our findings indicate that BMP4 promotes the exit from the cell cycle and triggers the differentiation of neuron progenitors in the OB. BMP4 also promotes the proliferation of the committed neuron progenitors in the RMS, but in the SVZa, BMP4 may facilitate the commitment of NSCs into astrocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

[Construction and expression of adeno-associated virus vectors of Smad 6 and Smad 7 genes in human renal tubule epithelial cells].

AIM: To construct the adeno-associated virus(AAV) vectors of Smad 6 and Smad 7 genes and observe their expressions in human renal tubule epithelial cells. METHODS: The plasmids pcDNA3-Smad 6/flag and pcDNA3-Smad 7/flag were digested with BamH I and Xho I. Then the Smad 6/flag and Smad 7/flag gene fragments were cloned into plasmid pAAV-MCS, respectively to construct the recombinant pAAV-Smad 6/flag and pAAV-Smad 7/flag plasmids. The recombinant expression plasmid or pAAV-LacZ plasmid were co-transfected into the HEK 293 cells with pHelper and pAAV-RC by calcium-phosphate precipitation method. Recombinant AAV-2 viral particles were prepared from infected HEK293 cells and then were used to infect human renal tubule epithelial cells (HKCs), The expressions of Smad 6 and Smad 7 in HKCs were demonstrated by immunocytochemical staining. RESULTS: The recombinant AAV vectors of Smad 6 or Smad 7 genes were constructed and expressed in the HKCs successfully. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that AAV can deliver Smad 6 and Smad 7 genes to renal cells in-vitro, suggesting the recombinant AAV can be used for gene therapy of renal fibrosis.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed2003

Effect of antisense oligonucleotide of noggin on spatial learning and memory of rats.

AIM: To investigate the effect of antisense oligonucleotide (ASODN) of noggin on rat spatial learning and memory. METHODS: Expression of noggin mRNA was measured by in situ hybridization method and the ability to spatial learning and memory was tested with Morris water maze. RESULTS: Compared with control rats, noggin mRNA positive neurons in dentate gyrus (DG) and CA3 region of hippocampus were markedly increased after the Morris water maze training (P<0.01). The increase of noggin mRNA positive neurons in hippocampus following maze training could be significantly blocked by icv injection of antisense noggin ODN, and the injection also impaired the learning and memory formation as compared to that in control rats. But the sense oligonucleotide (SODN) had no effect. CONCLUSION: Noggin, as an embryonic gene expressed in adult hippocampus, plays an important role in the process of learning and memory formation.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

[Progress in the study of CCN family].

The last 5-6 years have seen the emergence of a new gene family that currently comprises CTGF, Cyr61, nov, elm1, HICP and WISP-3. The translational products of most CCN family members are secreted proteins that contain 343 to 381 amino-acid residues to compose 4 distinct structural modules, each having 38 conserved cysteine residues. These proteins have a variety of properties to affect the cellular behaviors such as growth, differentiation, adhesion and locomotion. They may play important roles in pregnancy, development and differentiation, angiogenesis, wound repair, fibrotic disorders, inflammation and tumor genesis.

Animals↗