Sui et al: The Role of Wnt/β-catenin Signal Pathway The purpose of this study was to analyze the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rats and study the efficacy of atorvastatin intervention. One hundred Sprague Dawley rats were selected as test system. These rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, the control group, the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease group, high-dose atorvastatin group, medium-dose atorvastatin group and low-dose atorvastatin group, each containing 20 animals. An equal dose of sodium carboxymethylcellulose was applied to the model group and the control group; while atorvastatin perfusion was given to the other 3 groups. The levels of serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein and malondialdehyde were compared among the groups. The serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, triacylglycerol and total cholesterol of the high-fat diet model group were significantly higher; moreover, the expression levels of MMP2, MMP9, Wnt1, Wnt4, host-catenin were significantly elevated. Treatment with atorvastatin could effectively ameliorate this abnormal condition but at high doses. Atorvastatin appears to inhibit the Wnt/ β-catenin signal pathway and achieve good curative effect against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
The rabbit, as a laboratory animal model, has several advantages in the study of human physiological disorders. In this study, stable putative pluripotent rabbit embryonic stem cells (rESCs) were derived from in vivo-fertilized and in vitro-cultured blastocysts. The rabbit ICMs were obtained by 0.05% trypsin–0.008% EDTA treatment and mechanical separation; the ES-like cell colonies seen several days later. ICM-derived outgrowths which were treated with 5 mg/mL-1 dispase, followed by 0.05% trypsin–0.008% EDTA, were mechanically disaggregated into small clumps and reseeded on MEFs. The putative ES cell lines maintained expression of pluripotent cells markers and normal XY karyotype for long periods of culture (>1 month). The putative rESCs expressed alkaline phosphatase, transcription factor Oct-4, stage-specific embryonic antigens (SSEA-1, SSEA-3, and SSEA-4), and tumor-related antigens (TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81). The morphological characteristics of the putative ESCs are closer to those of human ESCs; their high speed of proliferation, however, is closer to that of mouse ESCs. Putative rabbit ESCs were induced to differentiate into many cell types including trophoblast cells, similar to primate ESCs, in vitro, and formed teratomas with derivatives of the 3 major germ layers in vivo when injected into SCID mice. Using RT-PCR measurement, but with some differences in ligands and inhibitors, and comparing with human and mouse ESCs, the putative rabbit ESCs expressed similar genes related to pluripotency (Oct-4, Nanog, SOX2, and UTF-1) and similar genes of FGF, WNT, and TGF signaling pathways related to the proliferation and self-renewal. Our further research work showed that TGF beta and FGF pathways cooperate to maintain pluripotency of rabbit ESCs similar to those of human ES cells.
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