Design, synthesis, and evaluation of a carboxylesterase detection probe with therapeutic effects

In this study, a lysosomal targeting fluorescent probe recognition on CEs was designed and synthesized. The obtained probe BF2-cur-Mor demonstrated excellent selectivity, sensitivity, pH-independence, and enzyme affinity towards CEs within 5 min. BF2-cur-Mor could enable recognition of intracellular CEs and elucidate that the CEs content of different cancer cells follows the rule of HepG2 > HCT-116 > A549 > HeLa, and the CEs expression level of hepatoma cancer cells far exceeds that of normal hepatic cells, being in good agreement with the previous reports. The ability of BF2-cur-Mor to monitor CEs in vivo was confirmed by zebrafish experiment. BF2-cur-Mor exhibits some pharmacological activity in that it can induce apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells but is weaker in normal hepatocyte cells, being expected to be a potential "diagnostic and therapeutic integration" tool for the clinical diagnosis of CEs-related diseases.

Genetics and evolution of plumage color in Crested Ibis: Analysis of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R)

The melanocortin-1-recepter gene (MC1R), an important regulator in melanin synthesis, may cause different plumage color patterns in birds: gain-of-function mutations lead to the synthesis of eumelanin, whereas loss-of-function mutations help to generate pheomelanin synthesis. We had chosen MC1R as a candidate gene for the depigmentation of crested ibis, cloned and sequenced the crested ibis MC1R gene the first time. The crested ibis MC1R sequence, highly conserved with other birds during evolution, had seven transmembrane domains which played an indispensable function through evolution. We did not found any substitution on this sequence among all the sample individuals. The phylogenetic tree showed that crested ibis separated early in the evolution of birds. TYR, TYRP1, TYRP2 and MC1R were expressed in blood and the expression of the four genes showed no significant difference (p>0.05) between normal and albinism individuals, and this result demonstrated that melanic pigments are not involved in the production of red pigmentation in birds. Further study of the crested ibis albinism should focus on analyzing carotenoid-based genes.

Hepatic adenoma: report of three cases and review of the literature

Pathologically confirmed hepatic adenoma (HA) was observed in two women who were not using contraceptives and one 60-year-old man. All three cases had a mass in the right lobe of the liver and almost normal laboratory results. One case that had a movable pedunculated mass mimicked an extrahepatic tumor preoperatively, and two cases associated with acute abdominal pain resulting from intratumor hemorrhage were misdiagnosed as hepatoma and given interventional therapy prior to liver biopsy. In hepatic arterial DSA of two cases, the tumor appeared as hypervascular with peripheral blood supply and regularly parallel branches coursing centrally. On CT scans, the tumor appeared to be surrounded by a low-density ring in two cases, and an intratumor hyperdense area of fresh blood was noted in one case. Analysis of the three cases in this series and a review of the literature indicated that if the DSA and CT findings described above were revealed in a patient, particularly a young woman, with a mass of the right lobe of the liver (with or without acute abdominal pain) and normal laboratory results, HA should be strongly suspected, and CT-guided biopsy should be performed for pathological diagnosis, particularly when an equivocal diagnosis is made.