Abstract Background Bone marrow (BM) and umbilical cord (UC) are the main sources of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These two MSCs display significant differences in many biological characteristics, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms need to be explored. Results In this study, to better understanding the biological features of MSCs, we isolated BMMSCs and UCMSCs from inbred Wuzhishan miniature pigs and generated the first global DNA methylation and gene expression profiles of porcine MSCs. The results showed that the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation ability of porcine BMMSCs is stronger than that of UCMSCs. Stem cell surface marker CD90 were positively detected in both BMMSCs and UCMSCs. 587 genes were differentially methylated (280 hypermethylated and 307 hypomethylated) at the promoter regions between BMMSCs and UCMSCs. Meanwhile, 1,979 differentially expressed genes (1,407 up-regulated and 572 down-regulated) were identified between BMMSCs and UCMSCs. Integrative analysis reveals that 120 genes displayed differences in both gene expression and promoter methylation. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis revealed that these differential genes were associated with cell differentiation, cell migration, and immunogenicity properties. Remarkably, skeletal system development related genes were significantly hypomethylated and up-regulated in UCMSCs, while cell cycle genes were significantly higher down-regulated and hypermethylated, implying UCMSCs have higher cell proliferative activity and lower osteogenic differentiation potential than BMMSCs. Conclusions Our results indicate that DNA methylation plays an important role in regulating the biological characteristics differences between BMMSCs and UCMSCs. The study might provide a molecular theory basis for the application of porcine MSCs in human.
The scaling behaviour in acid deposition dynamics of 184 monitoring sites under the National Atmospheric Deposition Programme (NADP) is analysed for the 1978–2001 period. The results show that (i) the distribution of weekly hydrogen deposition (WHD) is consistent with a power law in two different regimes separated by a crossover WHD (CWHD), and both the CWHD and its probability density increase as the power law commensurate with the mean of WHD series; (ii) the distribution of pH values shows a series behaviour similar to that of WHD and can be depicted as a log–linear model with the same form of Gutenberg–Richter model of earthquake occurrence; and (iii) the successive time-duration (weeks) of both acid and non-acid rain also obeys a power law, with the average duration of acid rain scaling as a positive power law and that of non-acid rain as a negative power law of average WHD. The power laws in the acid deposition dynamics are considered to be indicators of self-organisation of the atmosphere under environmental pollution stress.
Objective
To compare the differences between endoscopic resection and laparoscopy-assisted surgery or transanal endoscopic resection for rectal neuroendocrinal tumor.
Methods
Clinical data of patients who underwent endoscopic or surgical resection of neuroendocrinal tumor of less than 2 cm which were confirmed by pathology from December 2010 to November 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results
Twenty cases of endoscopic treatment, including 17 cases of ESD, 3 cases of EMR, were included in endoscopy group; while 18 cases treated with surgery were included in surgery group, among which 12 cases underwent transanal endoscopic microsurgery and 6 cases laparoscopic resection. The mean lesion sizes were 7 mm(4-18 mm)and 8 mm(3-15 mm), respectively. Pathology showed there were 16 cases of grade G1 neurocrinal tumor and 2 G2 cases in surgical group. There was no lymphvascular invasion with clear margin in the endoscopy group, but three cases of lymphvascular invasion in surgical group. No treatment-related severe adverse event occurred in either group. The time for oral food intake was 2.0 d(1-4 d) in endoscopy group, while that in surgery group was 2.4 d(1-7 d)(P=0.295). The hospital stay was(6.80±2.12) d in endoscopy group and(8.59±2.85)d in surgery group, respectively(P=0.034). And the total hospitalization cost was 10 488(4 128-15 296) yuan and 15 590(3 024-40 503) yuan(P=0.031) in the two groups, respectively. The follow-up was 25 months(2-48 months)and no recurrence was found.
Conclusion
Endoscopic resection, especially ESD, is a new approach to treat colorectal neuroendocrinal tumor, advantageous over surgery in shorter hospitalization time, minimal invasiveness, faster postoperative recovery, less complication, and reduced hospitalization cost.
Key words:
Rectum; Neuroendocrine tumors; Laparoscopes; Surgical procedures, operative; Endoscopic submucosal dissection
Ardisia plants have been used as medicinal plants for a long time in China. Traditional techniques such as morphological, microscopic, and chemical identification methods all have limitations in the species identification of Ardisia. For the sake of drug safety, four DNA barcodes (psbA-trnH, ITS, rbcL, and matK) were assessed for Chinese Ardisia plants using a total of 121 individuals from 33 species. Four criteria (The success rates of PCR amplification, DNA barcoding gap, DNA sequence similarity analysis and NJ tree clustering analysis) were used to evaluate the species identification ability of these four DNA barcodes. The results show that ITS had the highest efficiency in terms of PCR and sequencing and exhibited the most apparent inter- and intra-specific divergences and the highest species identification efficiency. There was no significant increase in species identification after combining the three cpDNA fragments with the ITS fragment. Considering the cost and experimental effectiveness, we recommend ITS as the core barcode for identifying Chinese Ardisia plants.
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