非小细胞肺癌的治疗方案及影响预后的重要因素

目的:回顾分析各种非小细胞肺癌(non-small cell lung cancer,NSCLC)的治疗方案及影响其治疗预后的因素,为合理制定个体化的综合治疗方案提供参考。方法:回顾分析近年来NSCLC治疗的研究报道,分析如病理分期、实验室检查结果(VEGF、WBC、Hg等)影响治疗预后的因素,建议相应的治疗对策。结果:1.Ⅰ期、Ⅱ期及部分Ⅲa期NSCLC的患者治疗措施首先以手术治疗为主,同步放化疗比单纯放、化疗及序贯放化疗更能有效改善晚期NSCLC的预后;2.个体相关因素、肿瘤相关因素和治疗相关因素影响NSCLC治疗预后。结论:同步放化疗在晚期NSCLC的治疗中有重要作用,肿瘤的病理分期、血浆VEGF浓度是影响NSCLC预后的独立因素。     

Comparative life table analysis of Trichogramma bournieri Pintureau and Babault and Trichogramma sp. nr. mwanzai Schulten and Feijen (Hym., Trichogrammatidae) from Kenya

Abstract: Egg parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma (Hym., Chalcidoidea: Trichogrammatidae) have been successfully utilized for biocontrol of several lepidopteran pests world‐wide. Trichogramma bournieri Pintureau and Babault and Trichogramma sp. nr. mwanzai Schulten and Feijen, which are native to Kenya and recovered from Chilo partellus eggs, were compared with the aim of evaluating them for field releases in Kenya for the control of lepidopteran pests, particularly Helicoverpa armigera and Plutella xylostella in tomato and kale, respectively. Age‐specific life tables were constructed at the Institute for Biological Control (BBA), Darmstadt, Germany in 1999 using a cohort of 60 mated females each at 26 ± 1°C, 70 ± 10% relative humidity and 16 h light : 8 h dark photoperiod. The adult female performance and population growth statistics with associated standard errors were computed. There was no significant difference in adult longevity between selected strains of the two species. Trichogramma sp. nr. mwanzai showed significantly higher cumulative as well as daily mean fertility (75.97 and 18.11, respectively) compared with T. bournieri (47.83 and 13.24, respectively), and the respective proportion of female progenies were 52 and 72%. The intrinsic rate of natural increase was 0.309 and 0.306, while the net reproductive rate was 35.16 and 31.22 for T. sp. nr. mwanzai and T.bournieri strains, respectively. The study has also shown that there is no significant difference in the intrinsic rate of natural increase and the net reproductive rate between the two native species. In summary, there is difference between the two strains in their parasitization potential but not in population growth potential. Consequently, no preference can be given to one species when selecting for mass rearing purposes. Adult female performance is superior in T. sp. nr. mwanzai than in T. bournieri. Hence, the former strain should receive particular attention in future studies.     

Enhancement of short- and medium-term expression of transgenes in embryogenic suspensions of Picea abies (L.) Karst

Biolistic transfer and subsequent reporter gene expression wasenhanced 3–20-fold in embryogenic suspension culturesof Picea abies by treatment with osmotica before and after bombardment.Myoinositol was more effective than mannitol + sorbitol andabout as effective as sucrose in enhancing expression 1 d afterbombardment. For both myoinositol and sucrose the optimal concentrationwas 0.25 M. Abscisic acid interacted with myoinositol to givea further enhancement. Maintaining the cells on 0.25 M myoinositolafter bombardment enhanced the expression measured 10 d later.These results provide evidence for a metabolic component ofthe mechanism of osmotic enhancement in addition to an effectdepending on partial plasmolysis at the time of bombardment.Expression driven by the polyubiquitin promoter 10 d after bombardmentwas more than twice that driven by an enhanced 35S, and 20 timesthat driven by a simple 35S promoter. Experiments using plasmidswith and without scaffold attachment regions indicated thata greater proportion of the cells that expressed the reportergene at 6 d compared with 1 d after bombardment had been integrativelytransformed. Key words: Abscisic acid, biolistics, osmotic enhancement, polyubiquitin promoter, scaffold attachment regions     

Specific high-affinity binding of host cell proteins to the 3' region of rubella virus RNA

Replication of rubella virus is initiated at the 3' end of the genomic RNA. An inverted repeat sequence of 12 nucleotides that is capable of forming a stem-loop structure is located at the 3' end of the RNA, 59 nucleotides upstream from the poly (A) tail. We screened the 158-bp region of the 3' end of the virus, including the stem-loop structure, for its ability to bind to host-cell proteins. Specific high-affinity binding of three cytosolic proteins with relative molecular masses (Mr) of 61, 63 and 68 kD to the stem-loop structure was observed by UV-induced covalent crosslinking. Altering the stem structure by removal of specific bases abolished the binding interactions. The binding of the host proteins is greatly increased after infection and coincides with the appearance of negative strand RNA synthesis. The increase in binding is dependent on new protein synthesis. The amount of the 61-kD protein that binds varies in uninfected cells and is maximal in cells that are in the stationary phase of growth. All binding activity could be abrogated by alkaline phosphatase treatment of cell lysates. A possible role of these host proteins in the replication of rubella virus is discussed.     

Characterization of sodium transport in gustatory epithelia from the hamster and rat

The transduction of sodium salts occurs through a variety of mechanisms, including sodium influx through amiloride-sensitive sodium channels, anion-dependent sodium movement through intercellular junctions and unidentified amiloride-insensitive mechanisms. Characterizations of sodium transport in lingual epithelium mounted in Ussing chambers have focused almost exclusively on epithelia containing only fungiform taste buds. In the present study we have investigated sodium transport by measuring NaCl-induced short-circuit current from lingual epithelia containing fungiform, foliate, vallate and palatine taste buds in the hamster and the rat. All areas show measurable sodium transport, yet significant differences were noted between the epithelia from the rat and the hamster and among the different epithelia within a single species in terms of current density, transepithelial resistance and mucosal amiloride sensitivity. In general, epithelia from the anterior tongue were of a lower resistance and transported sodium more effectively than from the posterior tongue. Moreover, fungiform- and vallate-containing epithelia in the rat had a greater current density than did the corresponding tissues in the hamster. Amiloride sensitivity also differed between the rat and the hamster. In the hamster all gustatory areas showed some amiloride sensitivity, while in the rat the vallate-containing epithelia were devoid of amiloride- sensitive sodium transport. The results are consistent with the interpretation that all chemosensitive areas may participate in the detection of salts but the degree of salt transport and the mechanism of transport is variable among different lingual epithelia and different species.      

Noncontact dipole effects on channel permeation. III. Anomalous proton conductance effects in gramicidin

Proton transport on water wires, of interest for many problems in membrane biology, is analyzed in side-chain analogs of gramicidin A channels. In symmetrical 0.1 N HCl solutions, fluorination of channel Trp(11), Trp-(13), or Trp(15) side chains is found to inhibit proton transport, and replacement of one or more Trps with Phe enhances proton transport, the opposite of the effects on K(+) transport in lecithin bilayers. The current-voltage relations are superlinear, indicating that some membrane field-dependent process is rate limiting. The interfacial dipole effects are usually assumed to affect the rate of cation translocation across the channel. For proton conductance, however, water reorientation after proton translocation is anticipated to be rate limiting. We propose that the findings reported here are most readily interpreted as the result of dipole-dipole interactions between channel waters and polar side chains or lipid headgroups. In particular, if reorientation of the water column begins with the water nearest the channel exit, this hypothesis explains the negative impact of fluorination and the positive impact of headgroup dipole on proton conductance.     

Correcting for variable age of onset in the estimation of familial relative risk when there is a secular trend in incidence of disease

We discuss the effects that a secular trend in incidence would have on estimation of familial relative risk (ratio of observed to expected cumulative incidence among relatives of index cases). For example, when age-specific incidence rates of a condition have increased during the lifetimes of relatives among whom relative risk is to be estimated, familial relative risk will be biased downward if cross-sectional, age-specific incidence data are used to estimate expected cumulative incidence among relatives. The stronger the trend and the older the ages of unaffected relatives, the greater the bias will be. Incorporating different age-specific incidence curves for different birth cohorts into the analysis is an approach we suggest for correcting the bias.