To explore the application of fetal DNA in maternal plasma for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis, the DNA template was extracted by hydroxybenzene-chloroform from 44 maternal (7–41 weeks) plasma. The Fetus-derived Y sequence DYZ-1 gene (149bp) was chosen to be amplified by PCR. The fragment was identified in all the plasma of male bearing pregnant women with the diagnostic accordance rate being 100.00%. Two of the 22 female bearing pregnant women had false positive results. Among the 44 pregnant women, the diagnostic accordance rate was 88.89% at early pregnant stage, 100.00% at medium pregnant stage, and 96.55% at late stage respectively. The final accuracy of 95.45% was obtained in all cases. It was concluded that by means of hydroxybenzene-chloroform extraction the authors of this article promoted the concentration and purity of the DNA template, and diagnosed more accurately. The results showed that free fetal DNA in the maternal plasma could be regarded as the gene resource for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis.
To explore the relationship between Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, −II and lung development in neonatal rats. 80 timed pregnant Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=20): group A (Control group), group B (Dexamethasone (DEX) 1 group), group C (DEX 2 group), group D (retinoic acid (RA) group). 20 pregnant rats in group A, B and D were injected subcutaneously or intraperitoneally with vehicle (NS), DEX, or RA respectively during gestational day 16 to 18. All newborn rats in group C were subcutaneously injected with DEX at day 1 to 3 after birth. The lung tissue was obtained at the following times: fetuses at gestational ages of 18, 20 and 21 days, and 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14 and 21 days after birth. Lung tissues were used for histopathological study, the polypeptides analysis of IGF-I, −II (immunohistochemistry and Western blot) and mRNA analysis (RT-PCR). The results showed that the strongest expression of IGF-I in group A and D occurred at ages of 5–7 days (alveolar stage). The stronger their expressions, the better the alveolar develop. The peak stage of expression in group B occurred earlier, on the day 3 after birth. Compared with group A, the expression of IGF-I during gestation age of 18 days to age of 3 days in group B were significantly higher (P<0.01), but significantly lower at other time points (P<0.01). The expression of IGF-I was lower in group C all the time and always higher in group D than those in group A (P<0.01). The peak expression of IGF-II took place at the gestation age of 18 days, then gradually dropped to trace. During 18 days of gestation to age of 3 days, the expression IGF-II in group B was significantly higher than that in group A (P<0.01). No difference was found among all other groups. The change in the expression of IGF-I, −II mRNA in all 4 groups was similar to that of their polypeptides. The results suggested that there is a close linking between IGF-I, −II and lung development in newborns. The IGF-II works at early stage and the that of IGF-I works at the stage of new septa formation and alveoli maturation. The stronger their expressions, the more mature the lung development.
The role of HO-1 inducer, hemin, in chronic renal failure (CRF) rats and its possible mechanism of action was studied. 5/6 subtotal nephrectomy was performed to establish chronic renal failure model. Rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups: sham-operated group, CRF group, ferrous gluconate group and hemin group. At the 10th week after operation, serum creatinine, BUN, RBC, HGB and HCT were measured. Renal pathologic changes were observed. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression and distribution of HO-1. RT-PCR and radioimmunoassay was used to determine the expression of ET-1 in the kidney and plasma. The results showed that as compared with CRF group, serum creatinine and BUN in hemin group were reduced significantly and nephrogenic anemia was improved markedly. Glomerular mesangial proliferation and interstitial lesion were also ameliorated significantly. Hemin not only increased the expression of HO-1 but also reduced the expression of ET-1 in the kidney. The level of ET-1 protein in the plasma was also reduced after hemin treatment. Most of these indexes were not obviously changed in ferrous gluconate group. It was suggested that through inducing the expression of HO-1 and reducing the level of ET-1 in the kidney and plasma, hemin plays an important protective role in 5/6 subtotal nephrectomized rats.
To construct cukaryotic expression vector expressing full length anti-sense pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) mRNA and observe its blocking effect on the potential invasion of human ovarian carcinoma cell line SK-OV-3. PCR primers containing designed enzyme cut sites were used for cloning full-length PTTG gene fragment, and the resulting PCR product was inserted into the eukaryotic vector pcDNA3. 1 in the antisense direction. The recombinant vector was then transfected into SK-OV-3 by Lipofectamine. The positive cell clone was screened by G418, PTTG and hFGF at protein level expression were detected by Western blot. The biological behavior change of transfection positive cells was observed by colony formation in soft agar assay. Our results showed that SK-OV-3 clones stably expressing full-length recombinant pcDNA3. 1-PTTGas were obtained. The expressions of PTTG and bFGF protein in transfected cells were decreased by 61.5 % and 52.3%, respectively as compared with non-transfected ones. The number of colony formation was reduced significantly in transfected cells as compared with empty vector transfected and non transfected cells. It is concluded that the recombinant vector pcDNA3. 1-PTTGas is a novel tool and provides an alternative anti-sense gene therapy targeted at PTTG in human carcinoma.
The effect of antisense oligonucleotide (ASODN) targeting survivin on renal cell carcinoma (RCC) apoptosis, proliferation and sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs was investigated. Antisense oligonacleotide targeting survivin was designed and composed. The cDNA of survivin was transfected into RCC cell lines ACHN and 769-P, respectively. They were both cultured in normal condition. After transfection, ACHN and 769-P cell lines were cultured in a 6-well culture plate. The cultured cells were divided into 6 groups. Twenty-four h after transfection, survivin protein expression was detected by Western blot. Apoptotic index (AI) and proliferative index (PI) were examined by flow cytometry. Rate of inhibition (IR) by chemotherapeutic drugs was determined by the colorimetric MTT cell viability/proliferation assay. The results showed AI and IR of chemotherapeutic drugs in ASODN groups were significantly higher than those in the groups without ASODN. There were statistical differences between ASODN groups and control groups (P< 0.05), but there was no difference among control groups (P>0.05). The PI in the ASODN groups was significantly lower than that in the control groups with the difference being statistically significant (P<0.05). In addition, there were no differences among control groups. It was concluded that the expression of survivin could be down-regulated in 2 cell lines after ASODN transfection. Antisense oligonucleotide targeting survivin could induce RCC apoptosis, inhibit cell proliferation and sensitize RCC to chemotherapy.