ObjectiveTo observe the effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) on bone mineral density (BMD) of spinal cord injuried (SCI) patients. MethodsThe PEMFs group was composed of 12 SCI patients received regular PEMFs treatment as the treatment group, 12 SCI patients treated without PEMFs were as the control group.BMD of total proximal femur, Ward's trigonum and great trochanter of all patients were detected by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry before and after treatment.ResultsBMDs of total proximal femur and great trochanter of patients of the treatment group were a little increased after PEMFs treatment, with no significant difference (P>0.05), but BMD change was significantly different compared with the control group (P<0.05～0.01).ConclusionPEMFs treatment along with routine exercise may help to reduce the loss of bone after SCI.

OBJECTIVETo develop an effective method for isolating and culturing single cancer stem cells.

METHODSThe capillary glass tube was stretched on fire and connected to a sterile plastic tube to prepare the single cell separation apparatus. Single SW480 cell clone spheres in serum-free culture were marked with CD133 and CK7, and the single cancer stem cells were separated and cultivated in 96-well plates or microdrop covered by paraffin.

RESULTSSW480 cell clone formation rate was about 1.04%, and the cell clone spheres highly expressed CD133 with low CK7 expression. The isolation of the single cancer stem cells showed a success rate of 98.99% using the separation device. The cell division profile was comparable between the cell cultures in microdrop and 96-well plates in the initial 2 cell divisions (P>0.05), whereas prolonged cell division occurred afterwards in the microdrop culture as compared to 96-well plate culture. The cell population expansion of the single cancer stem cells was similar between microdrop culture (11.5%, 22/192) and 96-well plate culture (9.2%, 17/184) (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSSingle SW480 cells can develop into cancer stem cell spheres. Microdrop culture is convenient and stable, and can be the primary choice for single cancer stem cell culture.

Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Separation ; methods ; Humans ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; cytology

Purpose: Ischemic brain injury results in high mortality and serious neurologic morbidity. Here, we explored the role of SNHG15 in modulating neuronal damage and microglial inflammation after ischemia stroke. Materials and Methods: The hypoxia/ischemia models were induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice and oxygenglucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) in vitro. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were conducted to determine the levels of SNHG15, miR-302a-3p, and STAT1/NF-κB. Moreover, gain- or loss-of functional assays of SNHG15 and miR-302a-3p were conducted. MTT assay was used to evaluate the viability of HT22 cells, and the apoptotic level was determined by flow cytometry. Furthermore, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators in the ischemia cortex and OGD/R-treated BV2 microglia. Results: The SNHG15 and STAT1/NF-κB pathways were both distinctly up-regulated, while miR-302a-3p was notably down-regulated in the ischemia cortex. Additionally, overexpressing SNHG15 dramatically enhanced OGD/R-mediated neuronal apoptosis as well as the expression of oxidative stress and inflammation factors from microglia. In contrast, knocking down SNHG15 or overexpressing miR-302a-3p relieved OGD/R-mediated neuronal apoptosis and microglial activation. Moreover, the rescue experiment testified that overexpressing miR-302a-3p also attenuated SNHG15 up-regulation-induced effects. In terms of the mechanisms, SNHG15 sponged miR-302a-3p and activated STAT1/NF-κB as a competitive endogenous RNA, while miR-302a-3p targeted STAT1 and negatively regulated the STAT1/NF-κB pathway. Conclusion SNHG15 was up-regulated in the hypoxia/ischemia mouse or cell model. The inhibition of SNHG15 ameliorates ischemia/hypoxia-induced neuronal damage and microglial inflammation by regulating the miR-302a-3p/STAT1/NF-κB pathway.

Recent clinical studies have shown that mutation of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) gene in cancer cells may be associated with immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and poor response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Therefore, efficiently restoring PTEN gene expression in cancer cells is critical to improving the responding rate to ICB therapy. Here, we screened an adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid for efficient PTEN gene delivery into B16F10 tumor cells. We demonstrated that intratumorally injected AAV6-PTEN successfully restored the tumor cell PTEN gene expression and effectively inhibited tumor progression by inducing tumor cell immunogenic cell death (ICD) and increasing immune cell infiltration. Moreover, we developed an anti-PD-1 loaded phospholipid-based phase separation gel (PPSG), which formed an in situ depot and sustainably release anti-PD-1 drugs within 42 days in vivo. In order to effectively inhibit the recurrence of melanoma, we further applied a triple therapy based on AAV6-PTEN, PPSG^@anti-PD-1 and CpG, and showed that this triple therapy strategy enhanced the synergistic antitumor immune effect and also induced robust immune memory, which completely rejected tumor recurrence. We anticipate that this triple therapy could be used as a new tumor combination therapy with stronger immune activation capacity and tumor inhibition efficacy.