Objective To observe foe microstructure of calcar femorale in young and old people andto investigate its clinical significance. Methods Twelve fresh cadaveric proximal femurs harvested from sixyoung(18~30 years) and six old (over 60 years) adults were used in this study. At first, CT scanning of allproximal femurs were taken. Secondly, the cross section of all calcar femorale were X - rayed and observedunder light microscope and scanning electron microscope. Results The calcar femorale can be divided intothree regions on the cross section. The structure of the medial region is conical bone which unites with medialcortex, and it mainly enhances the strength of the femoral neck. Its middle region is spongy conical bone andits lateral region has become trabecular bone. These two regions can transfer the compressive load that comefrom femoral head to the medial femoral cortex below the lesser trochanter, so they can disperse the load offemoral neck. Severe resorption can occur in the calcar femorale in old people, especially in the lateral region.Conclusion The destruction of three dimensional microstructure and ultra-microstructure of calcar femoralecan result in the decline of its mechanical competence and its ability of load transmission.

Objective To investigate the effect of adenovirus-mediated IL-24 (Ad-IL-24)gene expression on the apoptosis in a human squamous cell carcinoma cell line COLO 16, and to explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Methods Cultured COLO 16 cells were divided into two groups to be transfected with an adenovirus vector carrying the IL-24 gene (Ad-IL-24 group)or green fluorescent protein (Ad-GFP group), while those receiving no treatment served as the control group. After culture for different durations, qPCR was performed to quantify IL-24 gene expression, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay to evaluate the proliferative activity of COLO 16 cells, flow cytometry to detect the apoptosis of COLO 16 cells, laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) to observe the morphological changes of COLO 16 cells, Western blot to determine the levels of Bax and Bcl-2 proteins and to evaluate the activation of caspase-3, qPCR to determine the levels of Bax and Bcl-2 mRNAs, an immunofluorescence assay to observe the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 proteins. Statistical analysis was carried out by a two-sample t-test with the SPSS 19.0 software. Results MTT assay showed that the proliferation of COLO 16 cells in the Ad-IL-24 group was significantly inhibited as early as 4 days after the transfection; thereafter, the inhibitory effect increased in a time-dependent manner, and peaked on day 6(P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in cellular proliferative activity between the Ad-GFP group and control group (P>0.05). Flow cytometry revealed that the apoptosis rate was significantly higher in the Ad-IL-24 group(13.10%± 0.92%)than in the control group(3.69%± 0.36%, P<0.05)and Ad-GFP group(3.39%± 1.06%, P<0.05), but no significant difference was observed between the control group and Ad-GFP group (P>0.05). LSCM demonstrated that the apoptosis of COLO 16 cells was accelerated in the Ad-IL-24 group. The immunofluorescence assay, Western blot and qPCR all showed that the mRNA and protein expressions of Bax were increased, but those of Bcl-2 were decreased in the Ad-IL-24 group compared with the Ad-GFP group and control group. Moreover, Western blot showed a protein band that could specifically bind to the anti-cleaved caspase-3 antibody in the Ad-IL-24 group, but not in the Ad-GFP group or control group. Conclusions Ad-IL-24 can induce apoptosis in human COLO 16 squamous cell carcinoma cells, probably by up-regulating Bax expression, down-regulating Bcl-2 expression, and activating caspase 3.

Objective: To explore the association of TBX5 polymorphisms and environmental exposure index with susceptibility to oral cancer. Methods: A case-control study was conducted to collect 300 oral cancer patients hospitalized in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from September 2010 to December 2016. A total of 445 non-tumor patients were selected as the control group. Questionnaires were used to collect the information of all subjects and 5 ml peripheral blood was collected to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the rs10492336 locus of TBX5 gene. According to the environmental exposure index score, subjects were divided into two groups, low risk group (0-2.31) and high risk group (2.32-11.76). To analyze the association of TBX5 gene rs10492336 SNPs, environmental exposure index and oral cancer and its interactions. Results: The age of all subjects in the case group and control group were (56.19±13.10) years and (54.56±12.48) years old. Compared with CC genotype, the OR (95%CI) values of the co-dominant genetic model AC genotype and the dominant genetic model AC+AA genotype were 0.69 (0.49-0.98) and 0.70 (0.51-0.97), respectively. Compared with the low risk group, the OR (95%CI) risk of oral cancer in the high risk group was 3.72 (2.55-5.43). The results of gene-environment interaction analysis showed that compared with the group with CC genotype and high risk of environmental exposure index, the OR (95%CI) value of oral cancer in the group with AC+AA genotype and low risk of environmental exposure index was 0.18(0.10-0.31). Furthermore there was a multiplicative interaction between rs10492336 SNPs and environmental exposure index (β=-0.405, P<0.001). Conclusion This study suggests that the TBX5 gene rs10492336 SNPs and environmental exposure index were associated with oral cancer. And there was a multiplication interaction between rs10492336 SNPs and environmental exposure index.