The herb medicine formula “Chong Lou Fu Fang” (CLFF) has efficacy in inhibiting the proliferation of human gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo. To explore the potentially useful combination of CLFF with chemotherapeutic agents commonly used in gastric cancer therapy, we assess the interaction between CLFF and these chemotherapeutic agents in both SGC-7901 cell lines and BGC-823 cell lines using a median effect analysis and apoptosis analysis, and we also investigate the influence of CLFF on chemotherapeutic agent-associated gene expression. The synergistic analysis indicated that CLFF had a synergistic effect on the cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in a relative broad dose inhibition range (20–95% fraction affected in SGC-7901cell lines and 5–65% fraction affected in BGC-823 cell lines), while the synergistic interaction between CLFF and oxaliplatin or docetaxel only existed in a low dose inhibition range (≤50% fraction affected in both cell lines). Combination of CLFF and chemotherapeutic agents could also induce apoptosis in a synergistic manner. After 24 h, CLFF alone or CLFF combination with chemotherapeutic agents could significantly suppress the levels of expression of chemotherapeutic agent resistance related genes in gastric cancer cells. Our findings indicate that there are useful synergistic interactions between CLFF and chemotherapeutic agents in gastric cancer cells, and the possible mechanisms might be partially due to the down-regulation of chemotherapeutic agent resistance related genes and the synergistic apoptotic effect.

Background and methodsIt has been reported that C/T dimorphism at position 1418 of the thrombomodulin gene causes a cytosine (C) transition to thymidine (T), resulting in an alanine (A) to valine (V) substitution at amino acid position 455 (TM455). TM455 had been found not only in African American and American whites, but also in whites in The Netherlands and Sweden. Among these populations, the C/C genotype is predominant, although the distribution of this dimorphism is different. Thrombomodulin is an important anticoagulant protein that is downregulated in endothelial cells overlying atherosclerotic plaques and is also an anti-inflammatory molecule. TM455 is located in the last epidermal growth factor-like repeat of thrombomodulin, which is functionally important for protein C activation and thrombin binding. The distribution of thrombomodulin polymorphism and association between TM455, inflammatory cytokines, and carotid atherosclerosis in the Chinese Han population is unclear.MethodsThis thrombomodulin dimorphism was analyzed by allele-specific amplification in 144 patients with carotid atherosclerosis and in 384 healthy controls. TM455 was found in the Chinese Han population, but the genotype frequency and distribution of each genotype in this population differed substantially from that in other ethnic subgroups. The C/T and T/T genotypes were predominant in the Chinese Han population, and the frequency of the T allele in this population (63.8%) was much higher than that in whites in The Netherlands (18%), Sweden (26.1%), and the US (18.4%), and in blacks in the US (7.6%). The frequencies of these single nucleotide polymorphisms complied well with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in healthy individuals. The C allele was significantly more common among patients with carotid atherosclerosis than in controls (P < 0.05). The frequency of the C allele was 45.5% in patients and 36.2% in controls. The thrombomodulin Ala455 genotypes C/C and C/T were significantly more common than the T/T genotype in patients with carotid atherosclerosis in the Chinese Han population. In addition, higher baseline levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (55.45 ± 11.58 pg/mL versus 52.70 ± 10.74 pg/mL; P < 0.05), interleukin-6 (31.53 ± 10.51 pg/mL versus 27.73 ± 8.37 pg/mL; P < 0.01), and C-reactive protein (6.65 ± 2.01 mg/L versus 4.06 ± 1.03 mg/L; P < 0.01) were observed in patients with carotid atherosclerosis than in controls. Interestingly, compared with baseline inflammatory cytokine levels in those with the Val/Val genotype, higher baseline tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein levels were observed for the Ala/Ala genotype in both patients with carotid atherosclerosis and healthy controls.ConclusionOur results support a significant association between thrombomodulin Ala455Val dimorphism, inflammatory cytokines, and carotid atherosclerosis in the Chinese Han population.

Herein, a type of biomass-based electric heating membrane (EHM) with excellent stability was fabricated; this was achieved by incorporating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into the nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) as a natural dispersant and a biological substrate, as well as via the control of ultrasonic dispersion, grammage, and encapsulation using poly­(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) with hot pressing. NFC entangles with CNTs in the form of an intertwined network and non-covalent interactions to fabricate a flexible EHM with steady electric heating performance; this formation is attributed to not only their similar morphology and surface-active groups but also the use of NFC that avoids additional disturbances in the overlapped interface among CNTs as far as possible. The obtained steady resistance varies as low as 5.1% under energized operation. In the encapsulated EHM (EM), PDMS was anchored on its surface by using hot pressing and an intertwined structure to enhance flexibility and robustness. The encapsulated membrane can be used in low-voltage applications, which require flexibility, waterproofing, and insulation.

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