To investigate whether the expression of exogenous heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) gene within vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) could protect the cells from free radical attack and inhibit cell proliferation, we established an in vitro transfection of human HO-1 gene into rat VSMC mediated by a retroviral vector. The results showed that the profound expression of HO-1 protein as well as HO activity was 1.8-and 2.0-fold increased respectively in the transfected cells compared to the non-transfected ones. The treatment of VSMC with different concentrations of H 2 O 2 led to the remarkable cell damage as indicated by survival rate and LDH leakage. However, the resistance of the HO-1 transfected VSMC against H 2 O 2 was significantly raised. This protective effect was dramatically diminished when the transfected VSMC were pretreated with ZnPP-IX, a specific inhibitor of HO, for 24 h. In addition, we found that the growth potential of the transfected cells was significantly inhibited directly by increased activity of HO-1, and this effect might be related to decreased phosphorylation of MAPK. These results suggest that the overexpression of introduced hHO-1 is potentially able to reduce the risk factors of atherosclerosis, partially due to its cellular protection against oxidative injury and to its inhibitory effect on cellular proliferation.

In this paper, we investigate an acoustic remote control technology through the annulus channel in an oil-well. To establish a reliable communication, we first evaluated the acoustic charateristic of the aunnulus channel through field experiments. Then, a remote control system was implemented with a ground equipment serving as an acoustic source, and an underground equipment used as a receiver. A demonstrative experiment, in which we succeded in remoting an intelligent valve over 1257 m, has been presented to verify the proposed technology.