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Biomedical subjects

Z H Li

Publications and source records attributed to Z H Li.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Phylogenetic analysis of the S7 gene does not segregate Chinese strains of bluetongue virus into a single topotype.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) infection of ruminants is endemic throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The S7 gene segments of prototype Chinese strains of BTV serotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 15, and 16 were sequenced and compared to the same genes of prototype strains of BTV from the US, Australia, and South Africa. The S7 genes and predicted VP7 proteins of the Chinese viruses were relatively conserved, with the notable exception of serotype 15. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis of the S7 genes did not predict geographic origin of the various strains of BTV.

Animals↗

Enhancement of proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitors by co-transduction of erythropoietin receptor and H-ras cDNAS into single CD34(3+) cord blood cells.

Our previous studies have demonstrated that retrovirus-mediated gene transduction of either the human erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) or H-ras cDNA into single purified hematopoietic progenitor (HPC), CD34(3+), cells from cord blood (CB) resulted in increased numbers and sizes of erythroid cell containing colonies. We therefore evaluated if there were further effects when H-ras and EpoR genes were co-transduced into the same progenitor cells. Highly purified single sorted CD34(3+) CB cells were transduced with retroviral vectors encoding EpoR or H-ras cDNA. At the single cell level, and in response to stimulation by a combination of growth factors, including Epo, the number of colonies formed by BFU-E and CFU-GEMM was significantly increased in cells transduced with either single H-ras or EpoR cDNA compared to mock virus-transduced cells as previously described. Increased numbers of BFU-E, but not CFU-GEMM, colonies were produced from cells simultaneously co-transduced with both EpoR and Hras genes. Little or no growth was seen in transduced cells without exogenously added cytokines. The size of all types of colonies including CFU-GM was increased in cells transduced with H-ras and/or EpoR cDNAs, and the greatest increase was noticed in cells co-transduced with both genes. Integration and expression of either gene in individual colonies as assessed by PCR and RT-PCR analysis were 45-62% and 48-58%, respectively, with approximately 31% of the cells containing and expressing both genes. These results add to information suggesting an enhancing interacting role of H-ras and EpoR in erythroid proliferation/differentiation.

Antigens, CD34↗

[Production of u-PA with rCHO cell culture on porous microcarriers in serum-free growth medium].

A novel technique was developed to deal with apoptosis in large-scale animal cell culture. By means of replacing part of Cytopore porous microcarriers at regular intervals, a rCHO cell line, which produces urokinase-type plasminogen activitor(u-PA), was cultivated continuously with serum-free medium in a 30 L stirred tank for 91 days. The cell density was maintained at (1.3-2.6) x 10(7)/mL, and > 90% of cells was viable. In order to reduce the effect of cell density on cell growth and expression, a cyclic pressure oscillation was exerted on a 7.5 L reactor headspace to enhance cell expression at high cell density to a certain extent. During the 67 days of medium-replacement culture, the maximal cell density reached 2.64 x 10(7)/mL, and cell viability was always kept above 95% when combined with microcarrier-replacement. Compare to control culture, culture with cyclic pressure oscillation could enhance cell expression level and reduce the ratio of glucose metabolized anaerobically to produce lactate. With four-step purification process, about 80 g u-PA(approximately 90% scu-PA) was recovered from approximately 2100 liters supernatant which contained approximately 135 g u-PA.

Animals↗

Effect of nitric oxide on electric and mechanical activities of gastric antral circular muscles in guinea pigs.

AIM: To study the effect of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) on electric and mechanical activities of gastric antral circular muscle in guinea pigs in vitro. METHODS: Mechanical and electric activities of gastric antral circular muscle in guinea pigs were recorded simultaneously. RESULTS: Sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 0.5 mumol.L-1), an NO donor, inhibited the frequency and amplitude of fast wave and spontaneous contraction of the strips (P < 0.01). SNP-induced inhibition was not blocked by tetrodotoxin, atropine, phentolamine, and propranolol (P > 0.05), but diminished by methylene blue (P < 0.01) and oxyhemoglobin (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Exogenous NO inhibits gastric antral myoelectric and mechanical activities in guinea pigs. The inhibitions are produced by NO acting on extracellular membrane and enhancing the level of cGMP.

Animals↗

[Clinical analysis of vocal cord leukoplakia in 32 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the types and curative effects of the leukoplakia of the vocal cord. METHOD: From 1990 to 1996, 32 patients (38 sides) with leukoplakia of vocal cord were operated in our hospital, postoperative follow-up ranged from 2 to 7 years. RESULT: There were eighteen cases of simple leukoplakia and fourteen cases of leukoplakia with mild, moderate and severe atypical hyperplasia in this study. None of simple leukoplakia had malignant change. But there were 33%, 75% and 75% of cases had malignant change in the leukoplakia with mild, moderate and severe atypical hyperplasia respectively. To surgical methods, there was no significant difference, in the rate of malignant change either by the microlaryngoscopy or thyrotomy. CONCLUSION: Simple leukoplakia can be cured. More attention should be paid to the leukoplakia with any types of atypical hyperplasia during clinical management. The postoperative results were not depend on the surgical methods.

Adult↗

[Gas chromatographic determination of camphor, menthol, methyl salicylate, thymol in JEIL COOL PAP].

The contents of camphor, menthol, methyl salicylate and thymol in JEIL COOL PAP were determined with gas chromatography by using a stainless steel column (2 m x 3 mm i.d.) packed with 15% DEGS, Chromosorb W (AW-DMCS) 80-100 mesh. Temperature programming was from 70 degrees C to 180 degrees C. The quantitative determination was performed with diphenyl as the internal standard. The internal standard method showed good linearity (r = 0.9995-0.9999). The average recoveries were 99.63% (camphor), 99.83% (menthol), 100.0% (methyl salicylate) and 100.4% (thymol).

Camphor↗

Anatomic basis of iliac crest flap pedicled on the iliolumbar artery.

This paper presents the anatomy and clinical applications of an iliac crest flap pedicled on the iliolumbar artery. 54 iliolumbar arteries were filled with pink plastic in 27 adult cadavers. Their origin, course and branches, and the surroundings were investigated, and the external diameter, length of segments and terminal distribution were measured. The iliolumbar artery was constant, but with a few variations. Its length was 7.0 +/- 3.9 cm, and the outer diameter 2.0 +/- 0.4 mm at the lateral edge of the psoas major muscle. Based on the anatomic findings, the surgical technique for a bone flap based on the iliolumbar artery was designed. Its clinical applications included both free bone grafting (in 2 patients) and pedicled bone transfer (in another 2 patients). The clinical results were satisfactory. The iliac crest flap pedicled on the iliolumbar artery is a reliable bone flap for clinical usage.

Adult↗

[Construction of expressing vector for phage display scFv and a mouse unspecified antibody library].

The display of antibody gene library on the surface of E. coli filamentous phage offers a new method of obtaining antibodies against specific antigens. In the paper, it is reported that a phagemid for phage display antibody, named after pFUW80, characterized expressing scFv either secretly or stickily. With a series of designed PCR primers, heavy-chain and light-chain variable region genes of mice antibodies were amplified and a mouse unspecified single-chain antibody library with the size of 1.2 x 10(6) clones was constructed. From this library, phage was selected out against antigen human IgG and detected by ELISA and partial sequence analysis. These primary results established the foundation for future research using this system.

Animals↗

[Observation of repair of wounded rat skin by affinity histochemical method of SJA].

Time expression of SJA tissue receptors surrounding wounded skin of 40 rats was studied by affinity histochemical method. The results were compared to that by EGFR immunohistochemical method and c-myc situ hydridization method. It was observed that SJA receptors began to decrease after the skin was injured and reached the lowest quantities in 15 minutes. After that, they began to increase and reached the highest quantities in 2 hours. It needs to be further studied whether there is the correlation between SJA receptors and EGFR has the function of repairing wounded skin.

Animals↗

A live non-neurovirulent herpes simplex virus vector expresses beta-galactosidase in the nervous system of the Wistar and Sprague-Dawley strain rat for a prolonged period.

We have constructed a live non-neurovirulent herpes simplex virus vector expressing beta-galactosidase under the control of the latency associated transcript promoter without inducing inflammation. Pathogenicity of the recombinant virus (betaH1) was not observed in the cutaneous, intravenous and intracerebral infection in mice. When betaH1 was inoculated at the caudate putamen of rats, beta-galactosidase activity was observed in neurons at the inoculation site and its projecting frontal cortex. Expression of beta-galactosidase was observed in the neurons of the innervating dorsal root ganglia 45 days after inoculation of betaH1 into the hind paws of the rats. Neither inflammation nor tissue destruction was observed in both neural tissues in this study. Thus this non-neurovirulent recombinant virus is a suitable vector for expressing the foreign genes in the nervous system for the prolonged period.

Animals↗

Transduction of recombinant human erythropoietin receptor cDNA into daughter progenitors derived from single CD34(3+) cord blood cells changes the differentiation profile of daughter progenitors.

In this study, we tested the capacity to change the differentiation profile of progenitor cells by retroviral-mediated transduction of EpoR cDNA into one of the paired daughter cells derived from single CD34(3+) CB cells. Our results show that for the non-viral-treated daughter cells, the majority (99.6%) formed the same colony type. However, with cells transduced with viral vectors, 7.1% of the daughter cells transduced with the EpoR cDNA formed either a burst forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E) or a colony-forming unit-granulocyte, macrophage, erythroid, megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM) colony compared to the other daughter cell transduced with viral supernatant lacking EpoR cDNA, which formed either a colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) or a high proliferative potential-colony forming cell (HPP-CFC) colony. Expression of the transduced EpoR cDNA was confirmed in individual colonies by RT-PCR analysis. These results substantiate in a more rigorous fashion our previous results that it is possible to change the Epo-responsive differentiation profile of progenitor cells by transduction into these cells of an EpoR cDNA and this change was apparent only in daughter cells derived from single CD34(3+) kit+ cells transduced with EpoR cDNA.

Antigens, CD↗

Involvement of H-ras in erythroid differentiation of TF1 and human umbilical cord blood CD34 cells.

To investigate the role of the ras gene in erythroid differentiation, a human erythroleukemic cell line, TF1, was transduced with a selectable retroviral vector carrying a mammalian wild type H-ras gene or a cytoplasmic dominant negative RAS1 gene. Transduction of TF1 cells with the wild type H-ras gene resulted in changes of cell types and up-regulation of erythroid-specific gene expression similar to that seen in differentiating erythroid cells. The number of red blood cell containing colonies derived from TF1 cells transduced with wild type H-ras cDNA was significantly increased and the cells in the colonies were more hemoglobinized as estimated by a deeper red color compared to those colony cells from mock or dominant negative RAS1 gene transduced TF1 cells, suggesting increased erythroid differentiation of TF1 cells after transduction of wild type H-ras in vitro. The mRNA levels of beta- and gamma-, but not alpha-, globin genes were significantly higher in H-ras transduced TF1 cells than those in TF1 cells transduced with mock or dominant negative RAS1 gene. Moreover, a 4kb pre-mRNA of the Erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) was highly expressed only in H-ras transduced TF1 cells. Additionally, human umbilical cord blood (CB) CD34 cells which are highly enriched for hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells were transduced with the same retroviral vectors to evaluate in normal primary cells the activities of H-ras in erythroid differentiation. Increased numbers of erythroid cell containing colonies (BFU-E and CFU-GEMM) were observed in CD34 cells transduced with the H-ras cDNA, compared to that from mock transduced cells. These data suggest a possible role for ras in erythroid differentiation.

Antigens, CD34↗

Adipocyte differentiation factor (ADF): a protein secreted by mature fat cells that induces preadipocyte differentiation in culture.

A factor that is released into the culture medium of mature adipocytes and promotes the differentiation (adipogenic conversion) of preadipocytes has been partially characterized. The factor acts in a dose-dependent manner on preadipocytes to produce up to a four-fold increase in triacylglycerol (triglyceride) content and a nine-fold increase in glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity, a marker of the late phase of differentiation of preadipocytes. The material appears to be a protein, since it has a molecular weight (Superose-12 gel exclusion chromatography) of about 53 kDa, an isoelectric point (pl) of 4.7-4.9, and is inactivated by the proteases papain and chymotrypsin and extremes of pH (2 and 12). Considerations of molecular weight, isoelectric point, stability to specific proteases, and especially to the action of chemical agents [the adipogenic activity is not affected by either an oxidizing (KIO4) or a reducing agent (DTT)], lead to the conclusion that the differentiation factor is distinct from known cytokines. The authors suggest that the protein be designated adipocyte differentiation factor (ADF). ADF in vivo may act as a cytokine paracrine agent to regulate the differentiation of preadipocytes.

3T3 Cells↗

Tracing cell fates in human colorectal tumors from somatic microsatellite mutations: evidence of adenomas with stem cell architecture.

Occult aspects of tumor proliferation are likely recorded genetically as their microsatellite (MS) loci become polymorphic. However, MS mutations generated by division may also be eliminated with death as noncoding MS loci lack selective value. Therefore, highly polymorphic MS loci cannot exist unless mutation rates are high, or unless mutation losses are inherently minimized. Mutations accumulate differently when cell fates are determined intrinsically before or extrinsically after division. Stem cell (asymmetrical division as in intestinal crypts) and random (asymmetrical and symmetrical division) proliferation, respectively, represent simulated cell fates determined before or after division. Whereas mutations regardless of selection systematically persist once inherited with stem cell proliferation, mutations are eliminated by the symmetrical losses of both daughter cells with random proliferation. Therefore, greater genetic diversity or MS variance accumulate with stem cell compared with random proliferation. MS loci in normal murine intestinal mucosa and xenografts of cancer cell lines accumulated mutations, respectively, consistent with stem cell and random proliferation. Tumors from patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) demonstrated polymorphic MS loci. Overall, three of five adenomas and one of six cancers exhibited high MS variances. Assuming mutation rates are not significantly greater in adenomas than in cancers, these studies suggest the stem cell proliferation and hierarchy of normal intestines persists in many HNPCC adenomas and some cancers. An adenoma stem cell architecture can explain the complex polymorphic MS loci observed in HNPCC adenomas and account for many adenoma features. In contrast, cancers may lose intrinsic control of cell fate. These studies illustrate a feasible phylogenetic approach to unravel and describe occult aspects of human tumor proliferation. The switch from predominantly stem cell to random proliferation may be a critical and defining characteristic of malignancy.

Adenoma↗

Neurophysiology of magnocellular neuroendocrine cells: recent advances.

Magnocellular neuroendocrine cells of the hypothalamic paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei are responsible for most of the vasopressin and oxytocin in the peripheral blood as well as for central release of these peptides in selected brain areas. As the principal component of the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system, these neurons have been a subject of continual study for half a century. The wealth of solid information from decades of in vivo studies has provided a firm basis for in vitro, brain slice and explant investigations of neural mechanisms involved in the control and regulation of vasopressin and oxytocin neurons. In vitro methods have revealed the presence and permitted the study of monosynaptic projections to supraoptic neurons from the olfactory bulbs, the tuberomammillary nuclei of the posterior hypothalamus and from the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis. Such methods have also facilitated the elucidation of the various ionic currents controlling neurosecretory cell activity as well as the roles of calcium binding proteins and release of calcium from internal stores. This review summarizes recent advances in our understanding of the afferent inputs that impinge upon these two cell types, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms intrinsic to these neurons that determine their activity patterns and, in part, their responses to incoming stimuli.

Action Potentials↗

A novel type of structurally simple nonpeptide inhibitors for alpha-chymotrypsin. Induced-fit binding of methyl 2-allyl-3-benzenepropanoate to the S2 subsite pocket.

Unexpectedly, methyl and benzyl esters of 2-allyl-3-benzenepropanoic acid were found to be not substrates but potent competitive inhibitors for alpha-chymotrypsin. The inhibitory property of the structurally simple nonpeptidic compounds is ascribed to their high binding affinity to the enzyme at the S2 rather than S1 subsite pocket. These inhibitors exist in a flexible form in solution, but as they bind to the enzyme bulky contrained conformers present in a minute concentration play an important role, forming tighter enzyme.inhibitor complexes by binding to the large hydrophobic S2 pocket. The contrained conformers are thought to be resulted from intramolecular CH/pi interactions between a vinylic proton and the aromatic pi-electron cloud in the inhibitor molecules. These compounds constitute novel examples of the induced-fit binding inhibitor of possibly simplest structure.

Allyl Compounds↗