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Biomedical subjects

L Wang

Publications and source records attributed to L Wang.

At least 649 records · Page 36Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

[The experimental study of the delayed replantation after cryopreservation of mature tooth in dogs].

OBJECTIVE: To study the conditions of healing of mature tooth in dogs after long cryopreservation followed by replantation. METHODS: The tooth was extracted after filling the root canals and then preserved for one week and three months respectively by Schwartz's method of cryopreservation of periodontal membrane. The specimens were took out eight weeks after replantation. It was demineralized in a 5% solution of formic acid,and then sectioned perpendicular to the long axes of tooth at a thickness of 5microm. The tooth were sectioned in step-serial sections at 500 microm intervals. The sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and followed by evaluation according to Andreasen. RESULTS: The percentage of healing of periodontal membrane (PHPM) of the group of cryopreservation for one week was 64.53%. It was lower than the PHPM of the group of immediate replantation (85%), but the difference demonstrated no significance (P>0.05). The PHPM of the group of cryopreservation for three months was 50.3%. It was lower than the PHPM of the group of immediate replantation significantly (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The human's periodontal membrane may be cryopreserved longly and heals after the replantation of tooth as the human's tissues of corneas, skin, islets, et al may be done. The alveolar cavities to be newly made affect the healing of periodontal membrane in some degree.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2001

[The efficacy of controlling of house dusts in attacks of mite sensitive asthmatics].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of controlling of house dusts in attacks of mite sensitive asthmatics (DMSA). METHODS: Dust in mattresses, sofas, beddings and pillows were calculated for 43 cases of DMSA every season meanwhile the asthmatic symptoms, amount of drugs taken, PEF value in morning and evening were daily recorded by patients, then the patients were divided into two groups i.e. treatment group (A group, 22 cases) and no treatment group ( B group, 21 cases) randomly. The controlling measures included well-ventilation, washing clothes and bedclothes and catching dust frequently and exposing of clothing or bedclothes in the sun. RESULTS: Correlation was found between house dust density and asthmatic attacks. The number of dust mites was lower after treatment than before in A group [(N/g): spring 62 vs 103, summer 105 vs 132, autumn 163 vs 231, winter 9 vs 13]. Concomitant asthmatic symptoms and amount of drugs taken and total IgE reduced [(0.6 vs 1.6) mg/L] and PEF values or PEF difference improved. CONCLUSION: Control of dust mites growth could alleviate the asthmatic symptoms and decrease the attacks.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

[Clinical significance of antibiotic prophylaxis for transrectal prostate biopsy].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of single-dose oral antibiotic prophylaxis in the METHODS: Between prevention of post-procedure infections in patients undergoing transrectal prostate biopsy. September 1998 and March 2001, a total of 192 patients who had an abnormal digital rectal examination and/or prostate specific antigen 4 ng/ml or greater underwent transrectal ultrasound guided systematic 13 cores prostate biopsy. The patients were randomly divided into three groups. Group A (62) received a placebo (Vit C) tablet twice a day for 3 days, group B (64) a single dose of ciprofloxacin (0.5 g) and metronidazole (0.4 g), and group C (66) the same combination twice a day for 3 days. Urine cultures were obtained 48 h after the biopsy and blood cultures when patients who developed fever. RESULTS: Noninfective complications included were rectal bleeding, haematuria and pain. Infective complications included urinary tract infection and fever. There was no significant difference among the three groups in noninfective complications but the incidence of infective complications in group A was significantly higher than in groups B and C (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference among group B and C in infective complications (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows single-dose oral antibiotic prophylaxis is effective and safe to prevent infectious complications follow transrectal prostate biopsy.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

[Re-surgical treatment for postoperative anastomotic recurrence of adenocarcinoma of gastric cardia].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate indications and approaches of re-surgical treatment for postoperative anastomotic recurrence of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia. METHOD: Clinical date on 23 patients who had received re-surgical treatment for postoperative anastomotic recurrence of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The rate of tumor resection, incidence of complications, and mortality in the patients were 69.6%, 17.4% and 8.7% respectively. The percentage of patients with pleural and peritoneal adhesion was 87.0%. The mean survival time of the patients with tumors resected was 15.0 months, much longer than 4.1 months of the patients who underwent exploration (P < 0.05). The mean survival time of the patients with no lymph node metastasis and those with lymph node metastasis was 21.3 months and 10.2 months respectively (P > 0.05). The mean survival time of the patients with radical resection was 15.8 months, and that of the patients with palliative resection was 13.3 months (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Because of extensive pleural and peritoneal adhesion as well as re-building of the alimentary tract, the operation for anastomotic recurrence of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia is difficult and the mortality is high. Moreover, the prognosis of the patients with adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia is poor. Indications for re-surgical treatment should be strictly selected. Operative approach should depend on the stage of disease.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2000

Simple and efficient synthesis of 3,4-dihydro-2-pyridones via novel solid-supported aza-annulation

A diverse array of 3,4-dihydro-2-pyridones 13 were produced utilizing the unique properties of solid-supported reactions to both drive the reactions to completion and isolate the desired products. The pyridones were synthesized in high purity by a simple sequence of novel steps commencing from an acetophenone-functionalized resin. The para-substituted acetophenone 9 could be anchored to the resin through either a sulfonamide or a carboxamide linkage. The sulfonamide resin 9a, which gave the best results, was treated with several aryl aldehydes and ethoxide to give a variety of chalcones 10a-k in excellent yield (82-99%) upon TFA cleavage. Addition of either methyl or allyl malonate and DBU to 10a-k afforded smoothly the Michael adducts 11a-j (70-99%) which were subsequently cyclized in one step employing acetic acid as a catalyst and several diverse amines to give pure 3,4-dihydro-2-pyridones 13a-p in moderate to excellent yields (30-98%).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

CARD9 is a novel caspase recruitment domain-containing protein that interacts with BCL10/CLAP and activates NF-kappa B.

BCL10/CLAP is an activator of apoptosis and NF-kappaB signaling pathways and has been implicated in B cell lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue. Although its role in apoptosis remains to be determined, BCL10 likely activates NF-kappaB through the IKK complex in response to upstream stimuli. The N-terminal caspase recruitment domain (CARD) of BCL10 has been proposed to function as an activation domain that mediates homophilic interactions with an upstream CARD-containing NF-kappaB activator. To identify upstream signaling partners of BCL10, we performed a mammalian two-hybrid analysis and identified CARD9 as a novel CARD-containing protein that interacts selectively with the CARD activation domain of BCL10. When expressed in cells, CARD9 binds to BCL10 and activates NF-kappaB. Furthermore, endogenous CARD9 is found associated with BCL10 suggesting that both proteins form a pre-existing signaling complex within cells. CARD9 also self-associates and contains extensive coiled-coil motifs that may function as oligomerization domains. We propose here that CARD9 is an upstream activator of BCL10 and NF-kappaB signaling.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2000

Specific amelogenin gene splice products have signaling effects on cells in culture and in implants in vivo.

Low molecular mass amelogenin-related polypeptides extracted from mineralized dentin have the ability to affect the differentiation pathway of embryonic muscle fibroblasts in culture and lead to the formation of mineralized matrix in in vivo implants. The objective of the present study was to determine whether the bioactive peptides could have been amelogenin protein degradation products or specific amelogenin gene splice products. Thus, the splice products were prepared, and their activities were determined in vitro and in vivo. A rat incisor tooth odontoblast pulp cDNA library was screened using probes based on the peptide amino acid sequencing data. Two specific cDNAs comprised from amelogenin gene exons 2,3,4,5,6d,7 and 2,3,5,6d, 7 were identified. The corresponding recombinant proteins, designated r[A+4] (8.1 kDa) and r[A-4] (6.9 kDa), were produced. Both peptides enhanced in vitro sulfate incorporation into proteoglycan, the induction of type II collagen, and Sox9 or Cbfa1 mRNA expression. In vivo implant assays demonstrated implant mineralization accompanied by vascularization and the presence of the bone matrix proteins, BSP and BAG-75. We postulate that during tooth development these specific amelogenin gene splice products, [A+4] and [A-4], may have a role in preodontoblast maturation. The [A+4] and [A-4] may thus be tissue-specific epithelial mesenchymal signaling molecules.

Amelogenin↗
PubMed2000

Roles for the C-terminal region of sigma 54 in transcriptional silencing and DNA binding.

Twenty-one conserved positively charged and aromatic amino acids between residues 331 and 462 of sigma 54 were changed to alanine, and the mutant proteins were studied by transcription, band shift analysis, and footprinting in vitro. A small segment corresponding to the rpoN box was found to be most important for binding duplex DNA. Two amino acids, 52 residues apart, were found to be critical for maintaining transcriptional silencing in the absence of activator. These two activator bypass mutants and several other mutants failed to bind the type of fork junction DNA thought to be required to maintain silencing. The two bypass mutants showed a binding pattern to DNA probes that was unique, both in comparison to other C-terminal mutants and to previously known N-terminal bypass mutants. On this basis, a model is proposed for the role of the C terminus and the N terminus of sigma 54 in enhancer-dependent transcription.

DNA↗
PubMed2000

Early DAT is distinguished from aging by high-dimensional mapping of the hippocampus. Dementia of the Alzheimer type.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility of using high-dimensional brain mapping (HDBM) to assess the structure of the hippocampus in older human subjects, and to compare measurements of hippocampal volume and shape in subjects with early dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and in healthy elderly and younger control subjects. BACKGROUND: HDBM represents the typical structures of the brain via the construction of templates and addresses their variability by probabilistic transformations applied to the templates. Local application of the transformations throughout the brain (i.e., high dimensionality) makes HDBM especially valuable for defining subtle deformities in brain structures such as the hippocampus. METHODS: MR scans were obtained in 18 subjects with very mild DAT, 18 healthy elderly subjects, and 15 healthy younger subjects. HDBM was used to obtain estimates of left and right hippocampal volume and eigenvectors that represented the principal dimensions of hippocampal shape differences among the subject groups. RESULTS: Hippocampal volume loss and shape deformities observed in subjects with DAT distinguished them from both elderly and younger control subjects. The pattern of hippocampal deformities in subjects with DAT was largely symmetric and suggested damage to the CA1 hippocampal subfield. Hippocampal shape changes were also observed in healthy elderly subjects, which distinguished them from healthy younger subjects. These shape changes occurred in a pattern distinct from the pattern seen in DAT and were not associated with substantial volume loss. CONCLUSIONS: Assessments of hippocampal volume and shape derived from HDBM may be useful in distinguishing early DAT from healthy aging.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Polymorphisms at the Werner locus: II. 1074Leu/Phe, 1367Cys/Arg, longevity, and atherosclerosis.

Werner syndrome (WS) is a progeroid syndrome caused by autosomal recessive null mutations at the WRN locus. The WRN gene encodes a nuclear protein of 180 kD that contains both exonuclease and helicase domains. WS patients develop various forms of arteriosclerosis, particularly atherosclerosis, and medial calcinosis. The most common cause of death in Caucasian subjects with WS is myocardial infarction. Previous studies have identified specific polymorphisms within WRN that may modulate the risk of atherosclerosis. Population studies of the 1074Leu/Phe and 1367Cys/Arg polymorphisms were undertaken to evaluate the role of WRN in atherogenesis. Frequencies of the 1074Leu/Phe polymorphisms in Finnish and Mexican populations revealed an age-dependent decline of 1074Phe/Phe genotype. In Mexican newborns, but not in Finnish newborns, the 1074Leu/Phe and 1367Cys/ Arg polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium. Among coronary artery disease subjects, there was a tendency for the 1074Phe allele to be associated with coronary stenosis in a gene dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the 1367Arg/Arg genotype predicted a lower degree of coronary artery occlusion, as measured by NV50, when compared to the 1367Cys/Cys or 1367Cys/Arg genotypes. However, these tendencies did not achieve statistical significance. Samples from Mexican patients with ischemic stroke showed a trend of haplotype frequencies different from that in a control group of Mexican adults. These data support the hypothesis that WRN may mediate not only WS, but may also modulate more common age-related disorders and, perhaps, a basic aging process.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Enhanced delivery of AZT to macrophages via acetylated LDL.

It is known that infected macrophages play an important role in HIV pathogenesis acting as a reservoir for dissemination of the virus to various organs. Enhanced and/or specific delivery of anti-HIV agents to infected cells is expected to improve their therapeutic index by increasing efficacy and reducing toxicity. Acetylated low density lipoproteins (AcLDL) are known to be taken up by macrophages via scavenger receptors and appear to be good carriers for targeting drug molecules to macrophages. This study investigated the delivery of 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT), an anti-HIV agent, to macrophages using AcLDL. Since the incorporation of AZT into AcLDL was found to be low, several derivatives of AZT including 5'-O-13-oxamyristate-AZT (5'-O-oxaMyr-AZT) have been synthesized as prodrugs. The prodrugs were incorporated into AcLDL using two different methods, namely the contact method and the microemulsion method. Our results demonstrated that the microemulsion method was more effective. The physicochemical properties of the AcLDL/prodrug complex were evaluated by electrophoresis and electron microscopy (EM). Incubation of the complex with plasma resulted in little distribution of the incorporated drug molecules from AcLDL to other components of the plasma, suggesting that the complex was quite stable. Cellular uptake studies using J774.A and U937 demonstrated that AcLDL/prodrug was taken up about 10 times more than AZT. The presence of excess AcLDL was found to inhibit the cellular uptake of AcLDL/5'-O-oxaMyr-AZT by macrophages while excess high density lipoprotein (HDL) or low density lipoprotein (LDL) was found to have little effect, suggesting that the AcLDL/prodrug complex is taken up into macrophages via the scavenger receptor.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

An oncogenic role of sphingosine kinase.

Sphingosine kinase (SphK) is a highly conserved lipid kinase that phosphorylates sphingosine to form sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). S1P/SphK has been implicated as a signalling pathway to regulate diverse cellular functions [1-3], including cell growth, proliferation and survival [4-8]. We report that cells overexpressing SphK have increased enzymatic activity and acquire the transformed phenotype, as determined by focus formation, colony growth in soft agar and the ability to form tumours in NOD/SCID mice. This is the first demonstration that a wild-type lipid kinase gene acts as an oncogene. Using a chemical inhibitor of SphK, or an SphK mutant that inhibits enzyme activation, we found that SphK activity is involved in oncogenic H-Ras-mediated transformation, suggesting a novel signalling pathway for Ras activation. The findings not only point to a new signalling pathway in transformation but also to the potential of SphK inhibitors in cancer therapy.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed2000

Acetylation of HIV-1 Tat by CBP/P300 increases transcription of integrated HIV-1 genome and enhances binding to core histones.

The HIV-1 Tat protein is required for viral replication and is a potent stimulator of viral transcription. Although Tat has been extensively studied in various reductive paradigms, to date there is little information as to how this activator mediates transcription from natural nucleosomally packaged long terminal repeats. Here we show that CREB-binding protein (CBP)/p300 interacts with the HIV-1 Tat protein and serves as a coactivator of Tat-dependent HIV-1 gene expression on an integrated HIV-1 provirus. The site of acetylation of Tat was mapped to the double-lysine motif in a highly conserved region, (49)RKKRRQ(54), of the basic RNA-binding motif of Tat. Using HLM1 cells (HIV-1(+)/Tat(-)), which contain a single copy of full-length HIV-1 provirus with a triple termination codon at the first AUG of the Tat gene, we find that only wild type, and not K50A, K51A, or K50A/K51A alone or in combination of ectopic CBP/p300, is able to produce full-length infectious virions, as measured by p24 gag ELISAs. Tat binds CBP/p300 in the minimal histone acetyltransferase domain (1253-1710) and the binding is stable up to 0.85 M salt wash conditions. Interestingly, wild-type peptide 41-54, and not other Tat peptides, changes the conformation of the CBP/p300 such that it can acquire and bind better to basal factors such as TBP and TFIIB, indicating that Tat may influence the transcription machinery by helping CBP/p300 to recruit new partners into the transcription machinery. Finally, using biotinylated wild-type or acetylated peptides, we find that acetylation decreases Tat's ability to bind the TAR RNA element, as well as to bind basal factors such as TBP, CBP, Core-Pol II, or cyclin T. However, the acetylated Tat peptide is able to bind to core histones on a nucleosome assembled HIV-1 proviral DNA.

Acetylation↗
PubMed2000

Differences in epitope recognition, isotype and titer of antisera to Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 4 raised by different modes of DNA or protein immunization.

Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 4 (MSP4) is being developed as a component of a subunit vaccine against asexual stages of malaria. Three DNA constructs were produced that induced expression of MSP4 either in the cytoplasm of transfected cells or secreted from cells under the control of the human tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) signal or the native P. falciparum MSP4 signal. Only the construct containing the TPA signal induced detectable antibodies in mice, although gene expression was demonstrated in all constructs and MSP4 was shown to be secreted using either signal by in vitro transient transfection of COS cells. Two recombinant MSP4 proteins that encoded the same sequence as the plasmid DNA were produced in E. coli (EcMSP4-His) and S. cerevisiae (yMSP4-His) and used to raise antibodies in mice. Comparison of the antibodies elicited by these various antigen formulations showed differences in titer, isotype and epitope recognition. The titer of antibodies induced by DNA vaccination was lower than that induced by yMSP4-His, which in turn was lower than that induced by EcMSP4-His. The isotype profiles of the antibodies were also different, the plasmid DNA induced predominantly IgG(2a) responses whereas the two proteins induced predominantly IgG(1) responses. The antibodies induced by DNA and yMSP4-His recognized predominantly the C-terminal epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domain of the protein, whereas EcMSP4-His induced antibodies recognizing all domains of the protein equally. The antibodies induced by DNA vaccination were directed almost extensively to conformational epitopes so that reactivity with native MSP4 was abolished after disulfide bonds in the protein were disrupted. Antibodies induced by recombinant proteins recognized linear epitopes as well and reactivity to native MSP4 was preserved after reduction and alkylation of parasite proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Palladium-mediated formation of bowl-shaped PAHs: synthesis of as-Indaceno

Bowl-shaped fullerene fragments, as-indaceno[3,2,1,8,7, 6-pqrstuv]picenes, can be synthesized by a double palladium-mediated cyclization in good to excellent yield. The structure of 1, 8-dimethyl as-indaceno[3,2,1,8,7,6-pqrstuv]picene was confirmed by X-ray analysis. The high yields, mild reaction conditions, and wide range of functional group tolerance are advantages of this method over existing FVP and reductive coupling routes to bowl-shaped PAHs.

Journal Article↗