Electroporation -mediated gene transfer relies upon direct delivery of plasmids into cells permeabilized by electric fields, a method more efficient than transfer using nonviral vectors, although neither approaches the transfer efficiency of viral vectors. Here we studied electrotransfer of a gene encoding an angiogenesis inhibitor ( endostatin ) into primary tumors and muscle tissues, which would serve as a site of synthesis and secretion into the bloodstream of a therapeutic antimetastatic protein with systemic effects. Optimum electroporation conditions ( voltage, number and duration of impulses, separation of caliper electrodes ) were first established to maximize expression of a reporter gene transferred into murine Renca kidney carcinoma, B16( F10 ) melanoma, or skeletal muscle tissues. In neoplastic tissues, electrotransfer of plasmid DNA was far more efficient than electroporation with lipoplexes, but no differences between naked DNA and lipoplexes were found in case of electroporated muscles. We then studied the electrotransfer of plasmid DNA carrying the endostatin gene into pre -established experimental Renca tumors. A significant inhibition of tumor growth was observed in animals electroporated with this construct. Electrotransfer of the endostatin gene into muscle tissues resulted in reduced numbers of experimental B16( F10 ) metastases in the lungs. This study clearly shows that electroporation may be used to efficiently transfer antiangiogenic genes into both normal and neoplastic tissues.
SummaryStudy aim: To compare the perception of own body by adolescent boys with an external assessment. Material and methods: Two groups of boys (45 from Warsaw, aged 15 -16 years, and 49 from a small town in SouthEastern Poland, aged 16 years) were studied by using standard body image templates containing 9 shapes. Every boy indicated the perceived shape and that he wished to have. The external assessment was done by the same investigator and that assessment served to classify boys as underweight (n = 4), normal (n = 51) or overweight (n = 39; Shapes 1 -2, 3 -4 and 5 -9, respectively) and to correlate the scores with BMI. Results: The external and self-assessments were concordant in overweight boys, the desired shapes being significantly lower only in Group 1. The percentage of overweight boys was significantly (p<0.05) higher in Group 1 than in Group 2. "Normal" boys from Group 1 significantly (p<0.001) overrated their body shape compared with external rating. External ratings of body shape significantly correlated with BMI values in both groups alike (r = 0.82, p<0.001).
Conclusions:The presented approach to body shape studies may contribute to preventing biosocial disorders in adolescent boys brought about by thoughtless striving for an ideal shape promoted by mass media.
Abstract:One of the more interesting cells present in the umbilical cord blood -as far as their potential clinical use is concerned -are stem cells not presenting the CD34 antigen.. These are the pluripotential cells with their biological properties similar to mesenchymal stem cells, with the ability to differentiate into such tissue types as bone, cartilage, nervous (to some extent), glia and muscle. The authors compared the activity of genes coding the proteins in mitogenic signal paths activated by kinin receptors using oligonucleotide microarrays in adherent and non-adherent CD 34-cells derived from umbilical cord blood. In the linear regression model with a 95% prognosis area for differentiating genes outside this area, the following genes were selected: c-jun (present in 3 isoforms) and c-fos. The fos and jun genes create the AP-1 transcriptive factor which regulates the expression of genes taking part in numerous cellular processes, including the cell cycle and mitosis. The obtained results shed some light on the molecular processes behind the MSC proliferation and are a starting point for further studies on the mesenchymal stem cell biology.
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