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The hot springs in certain areas of Ramsar contain (226)Ra and (222)Rn. The effects of natural radiation on the inhabitants of these areas and the inhabitant's radiosensitivity or adaptive responses were studied. One group of volunteers from areas with high natural background radiation and another group from areas with normal background radiation were chosen as the case and control group respectively. The frequency of micronuclei, apoptosis, and DNA damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were measured following gamma irradiation (4 Gy). The incidence of micronuclei in the case group was significantly lower than that in the control group while their frequency of apoptosis was higher (P < 0.05). However, the rates of induced DNA damage and repair were significantly higher in the case group (P < 0.05). Smaller number of micronuclei and higher levels of apoptosis in the case group could be the result of higher resistance to radiation stress and a more rigorous checkpoint at cell division. However, regarding the alkaline labile sites, the individuals in the case group are more sensitive and susceptible to DNA damage. The results of micronuclei, apoptosis and repair studies suggest that an adaptive response might be induced in people residing in areas with high background radiation.

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This procedure is feasible and reliable for kidney transplantation of donors with duplicated ureters.

Background: Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is a multi-functional protein with a sequence "aa 1-34" similar to that of parathyroid hormone (PTH). In spite of growth factor activity, there is no standardized analytical method to determine the biological activity of recombinant PTHrP. Methods: The current study isolated the cDNA encoding 141 N-terminal amino acid sequence of PTHrP, cloned it in plasmid vector pET32a, and produced recombinant PTHrP in Escherichia coli. The biological activity analysis of the recombinant protein was evaluated using a precise and practical method that measured PTHrP-mediated cell proliferation of a breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Additionally, to investigate the accuracy and precision of MCF-7 method used, chondrogenic differentiation condition of PTHrP treated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) was evaluated. Results: DNA sequencing and protein mass spectrometry analysis confirmed the accuracy of cloned cDNA sequence and expressed the protein. Biological activity analysis showed the increasing effect of recombinant PTHrP on cell proliferation of cancer cell line MCF-7. Alkaline phosphatase and gene expression analysis validated the anti-hypertrophy effects of recombinant PTHrP on chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. Conclusions: The current study removed potential challenges and errors in comparability and reproducibility studies focusing on stem cell differentiation and pathogenesis of breast cancer arising from PTHrP biological activity analysis.