Chinese Med J Peking
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Chinese Med J Peking · Feb 2005
Enhancing DNA vaccine potency against hantavirus by co-administration of interleukin-12 expression vector as a genetic adjuvant.
The heavy incidence and mortality of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, as well as no specific drugs in curing the disease, clearly indicate the need for development of the more effective hantavirus vaccine. Refining the DNA vaccination strategy to elicit more clinically efficacious immune responses is now under intensive investigation. In the present study, we examined the effects of using an interleukin-12 expression plasmid as a genetic adjuvant to enhance the immune responses induced by a DNA vaccine based on the S gene encoding nucleocapsid protein against hantavirus. ⋯ Humoral and cytokine responses elicited by pcDNA3.1 + S inoculation can be modulated by co-inoculation with pcIL-12 and efficiently induced Th1-dominant immune responses.
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Chinese Med J Peking · Feb 2005
Morphological and distribution characteristics of sweat glands in hypertrophic scar and their possible effects on sweat gland regeneration.
In hypertrophic scar tissue, no sweet gland and hair follicle exist usually because of the dermal and epidermal damage in extensive thermal skin injury, thus imparing regulation of body temperature. This study was designed to reveal the morphological and distributional characteristics of the sweat glands in normal skin and hypertrophic scar obtained from children and adults, and to study the possible interfering effects of the scar on regeneration of the sweat gland after burn injury. ⋯ There are some residual sweat glands in scar tissues, in which the regeneration process of active sweat glands is present. Possibly the sweat glands could regenerate from adult epidermal stem cells or residual sweat glands in the wound bed after burn injury.
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Chinese Med J Peking · Jan 2005
Effect of mitochondrial KATP channel on voltage-gated K+ channel in 24 hour-hypoxic human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells.
Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH) is initiated by inhibition of O2-sensitive, voltage-gated (Kv) channels in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). The mechanism of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension has not yet been fully elucidated. The mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K+ channel (MitoKATP) is extremely sensitive to hypoxia, and is a decisive factor in the control of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim). This study investigated the changes of cell membrane potential and Kv channel in cultured human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (hPASMC) exposed to 24 hour-hypoxia, and explored the role of MitoKATP and DeltaPsim in this condition. ⋯ The opening of MitoKATP followed by a depolarization of DeltaPsim in hypoxia might contribute to the alterations in the expression of cell membrane Kv1.5 mRNA and protein leading to change in the cell membrane potential of hypoxic hPASMCs. This might be a mechanism of the development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.