compared to both the control and preconditioning groups (Fig 2A). Intriguingly, in contrast to our finding in neurons, where mitochondrial partitioning of Drp1 decreases during ischaemia, in cardiac tissue we observed recruitment of Drp1 to mito-chondria, with no change in total protein levels. Furthermore, Drp1 recruitment to mitochondria was increased by precondi-tioning. In the I/R group, in which cells are undergoing apop-tosis, levels of Drp1 at the mitochondria are similar to controls (Fig 2B). Abstract 229 Figure 2 Conclusion Taken together our data suggest a delicate balance between SUMOylation and deSUMOylation that regulates the recruitment of Drp1 to mitochondria. This pathway plays an important role in the vulnerability of cardiomyocytes to ischaemic damage and myocardial reperfusion injury. Interestingly , the interplay between the relevant proteins appears to differ between heart and brain cells.

The DNA methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-aza-CdR) is widely used as an anticancer drug for the treatment of leukemia and solid tumors. Gastric cancer (GC) patients who were positive for caudal type homeobox transcription factor 2 (CDX2) expression showed a higher survival rate compared with those who were CDX2 negative, which suggests that CDX2 performs a tumor suppressor role. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to the inactivation of CDX2 remain unclear. In the present study we demonstrated that the expression levels of CDX2 and DNA methyltransferase enzyme 1 (DNMT1) mRNA were significantly higher in GC compared with distal non-cancerous tissue. The expression of CDX2 mRNA was significantly correlated with Lauren classification, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. DNMT1 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with TNM stage, pathological differentiation and lymph node metastasis. The expression of CDX2 mRNA was inversely correlated with that of DNMT1 mRNA in GC. Hypermethylation of the CDX2 gene promoter region, extremely low expression levels of CDX2 mRNA and no expression of CDX2 protein were the characteristics observed in MKN-45 and SGC-7901 GC cell lines. Following the treatment of MKN-45 cells with 5-aza-CdR, the hypermethylated CDX2 gene promoter region was demethylated and expression of CDX2 was upregulated, while DNMT1 expression was downregulated. Furthermore, a concentration- and time-dependent growth inhibition as well as increased apoptosis were observed. Caspase-3, −8 and −9 activities increased in a concentration-dependent manner following exposure to different concentrations of 5-aza-CdR. Therefore, our data show that the overexpression of DNMT1 and methylation of the CDX2 gene promoter region is likely to be responsible for CDX2 silencing in GC. 5-Aza-CdR may effectively induce re-expression of the CDX2 gene, inhibit cell proliferation and enhance the caspase-independent apoptosis of MKN-45 cells in vitro.

Surgical denervation of rabbit ear blood vessel beds was combined with the isolated perfused rabbit ear technique to investigate the mechanism of atropine's vasodilator action. Intramuscular injection of atropine 0.2 mg/kg dilated the denervated blood vessels in the rabbit ear like innervated ones in vivo. Atropine at the maximal concentration (Cmax) of 3 x 10(-6) to 3 x 10(-4) M did not increase effluent flow of the isolated perfused denervated rabbit ear under constant perfusion pressure, but chlorpromazine at a Cmax of 10(-6) M and acetylcholine (ACh) at 2.5 x 10(-7) M significantly increased it and noradrenaline (NA) at 10(-7) M significantly decreased it. Atropine at Cmax of 3 x 10(-7) M did not affect, but at 3 x 10(-6) M it abolished the increase of the effluent flow induced by ACh 2.5 x 10(-7) M. Atropine at 3 x 10(-7) M did not affect it, but at 10(-6), 3 x 10(-6), and 10(-5) it significantly alleviated the decrease of effluent flow induced by NA 10(-7) M. Because the increase of effluent flow of rabbit ear under constant perfusion pressure reflects vasodilation of the ear to some extent, the study suggests that atropine has no direct vasodilator action; its vasodilator action is not attributed to blockade of M-cholinoreceptors located on the vascular wall; however, the alpha1-adrenoceptor might be a target site mediating atropine's vasodilator action in vivo.

The molecular mechanisms leading to gastric carcinogenesis still remain unclear. Recently, several studies demonstrated that over-expression of guanylyl cyclase C (GCC) has been detected in intestinal-type gastric cancer (GC) and precursor lesions. Our objective was to explore the expression levels of GCC and endogenous ligands guanylin (GN) and uroguanylin (UGN) and the correlation between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and GCC, GN, and UGN expressions in patients at different stages from normal mucosa to superficial gastritis, atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia (IM), dysplasia, and finally adenocarcinoma. The expression of GCC and GN was absent in the distal normal gastric tissues and superficial gastritis in all cases, whereas they were measured in IM, dysplasia, and GC. The expression of GCC and GN was closely related to intestinal-type GC. From superficial gastritis to gastric carcinomas, the H. pylori positive rate was 19.7, 33.3, 69.6, 80.0, and 82.1%, respectively. The positive correlation was found between GCC and GN in IM, dysplasia, and GC. Also, the positive correlation was found between GCC, GN, and H. pylori infection in them. These results demonstrate that the detection of GCC and GN will be beneficial to diagnosis human gastric carcinoma and precancerous lesions. Ectopic expression of GCC and GN in human gastric mucosa and H. pylori infection may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of the intestinal-type GC.

提要：针刺患侧阳白透鱼腰、攒竹、太阳、头维、中渚和内庭穴，同时激光照射患侧眉 毛正中约 1 cm处，治疗了 23 例眶上神经痛患者。治疗 10 次后，痊愈 19 例，显效 4 例。 关键词：神经痛；针刺疗法；针灸疗法 Summary: 23 cases of the patients with supraorbital neuralgia were treated by puncturing Yangbai (GB 14) toward Yuyao (Extra), Zanzhu (BL 2), Taiyang (Extra), Touwei (ST 8), Zhongzhu (TE 3) and Neiting (ST 44) on the sick side, plus laser radiation on a site about 1 cm apart from the midpoint of the eyebrow of the sick side. After 10 treatments, the results showed cure in 19 cases and remarkable effect in 4 cases.