Objective To investigate the effects of chronic fluorosis on the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) mRNA and protein and the differentiation and maturation process of bone cell in the osteoclast of bone tissue of rats.Methods According to body weight,thirty-six healthy SD rats(body mass 100-120 g) were divided into three groups by random number table,twelve in each group,half male and half female.The rats of control group were given tap water(NaF ＜ 1 mg/L),and rats of low-fluorine and high-fluorine groups were fed with tap water containing 5 and 50 mg/L NaF to establish chronic fluorosis model.Rats were sacrificed after eight months; the contents of urinary fluoride in 24 hours and bone fluoride were analyzed by fluoride selective electrode.Serum content of tartrate resistant acid phosphatase 5b(TRACP5b)was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The paraffin section of bone tissue was stained by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and pathological morphometry was observed under optical microscope.The protein and mRNA levels of MMP-9 in the osteoclast of bones were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH),respectively.Results The differences of fluoride contents of urine and bone in rats were statistically significant between groups(F =400.612,48.229,all P ＜ 0.05).Fluoride contents of urine and bone were increased in lowfluorine and high-fluorine groups[(6.09 + 0.56),(7.69 + 0.64)mg/L,(12.65 ± 3.07),(26.53 + 5.88)mg/kg] compared to the control groups[(1.36 ± 0.51)mg/L,(0.67 ± 0.16)mg/kg,all P ＜ 0.05],and the fluoride contents of urine and bone were gradually increased with increasing fluoride doses(all P ＜ 0.05).The difference of TRACP5b content in serum was statistically significant between groups (F =9.607,P ＜ 0.05),in low-fluorine and high-fluorine groups,the TRACP5b contents[(1.86 ± 0.13),(1.92 ± 0.22)U/L] were higher than that of control group [(1.57 + 0.20)U/L,all P ＜ 0.05].The pathological examination showed osteosclerosis in fluoride exposed groups.The differences of MMP-9 mRNA and protein expressions were statistically significant between groups (F =365.727,331.382,all P ＜ 0.05).Compared to the control groups(97.22 ± 2.24,78.51 ± 1.16),the expressions of MMP-9 protein(108.18 ± 1.97,119.28 ± 1.76) and mRNA(89.44 ± 2.86,102.14 ± 2.39) were increased(all P ＜ 0.05),and the expressions of MMP-9 mRNA and protein were gradually increased with increasing fluoride doses (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Chronic fluorosis might influence osteoclast differentiation and maturation process through regulating the expression levels of MMP-9 protein and mRNA.

Ascites ; Humans ; Language ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Translations

Objective To discover the influence of thiomersalate exposure on the behavior and humoral immunity of premature rats.Methods According to common thiomersalate dose of vaccine used in human,the surface conversation method was used to change the dose to 1,2,3,4 times for rats(32.8,65.6,98.4 and 131.2 μg/kg),and the thiomersalate was separately injected to the gluteus maximus of premature rats respectively,which were delivered on the 20th day of gestation by cesarean for the injection on day 1 (premature).Simultaneously,saline was injected to the control group.On day 44 to 48 after injection,the Morris water maze test was used to evaluate the spatial learning and memory abilities of rats and on the post-injection day 49,immunoglobulin content in rat blood and cerebrospinal fluid was measured.Results The spatial learning abilities of rats in 131.2 μg/kg group and the memory abilities in 65.6 μg/kg,98.4 μg/kg and 131.2 μg/kg group were significantly weaker than those in 9 g/L saline group(all P ＜0.001).The immunoglobulin content in blood and cerebrospinal fluid changed in different groups exposed to thiomersalate.The levels of IgG,IgA,IgE,IgM in 98.4 μg/kg group and 131.2 μg/kg group rose significantly higher than those in 9 g/L saline group(all P ＜ 0.01).Analysis of rectilinear correlation between the immunoglobulin and learning abilities of rats revealed that IgG,IgA,IgE levels in the blood were correlated with the spatial learning abilities (r =0.36,0.47,0.50,all P ＜ 0.05) and the levels of IgG,IgA,IgE,IgM in blood were rectilinear correlated with the memory abilities of rats (r =-0.39,-0.43,-0.49,-0.38,all P ＜ 0.05).In rats'cerebrospinal fluid,IgG,IgA,IgE,IgM levels were rectilinear correlative with both the spatial learning and memory abilities (r =0.48,0.59,0.54,0.41,all P＜0.05;r=-0.39,-0.61,-0.57,-0.44,all P＜0.05).Conclusion With the dose ofthiomersalate increased,the learning and memory and humoral immunity are sustained damaged for premature rats.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors and treatment outcome of recurrent Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) after corneal transplantation. Methods:A serial case-observational study was carried out.Twenty-eight eyes of 28 patients with AK who underwent corneal transplantation in Shandong Eye Hospital from January 2012 to January 2019 were enrolled.All the eyes received corneal transplantation from failing to respond to topical and systemic anti- Acanthamoeba medical therapy, including 13 eyes that received penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) and 15 eyes that received lamellar keratoplasty (LKP). The corneal lesion was removed by a trephine with a diameter of 0.5 mm over infiltration area during PKP or LKP.The clinical features of recurrent AK were summarized, including recurrence time, site and signs, and the risk factors of AK recurrence were analyzed.Local and systemic anti- Acanthamoeba medical therapy was performed in all relapsed eyes, and secondary surgery was performed for the eyes with poor response to medication.The therapeutic outcome of recurrent AK was evaluated.The study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki.This study protocol was approved by an Ethics Committee of Shandong Eye Hospital (No.201112). Results:In the 28 eyes, 7 eyes (25%) appeared recurrent AK after keratoplasty, including 2 eyes after PKP and 5 eyes after LKP.There was no significant difference in the recurrence rate between the two methods ( P=0.396). The recurrence rate of eyes that had used glucocorticoids drugs before operation was 57.14% (4/7), which was significantly higher in comparison with 14.29% (3/21) of eyes without glucocorticoids before surgery ( P=0.043). The recurrence rate of eyes with ulcer diameter ≥8.2 mm was 50.00% (5/10), which was significantly higher than 11.11% (2/18) of eyes with ulcer <8.2 mm ( P=0.036). The recurrent lesions began at the edge of implant bed accounted for 85.71% (6/7), and the recurrent lesions located below graft accounted for 14.29% (1/7). In 7 eyes with recurrent AK, 6 eyes were completely cured.Among recurrent AK eyes after LKP, 2 eyes were cured by long-term medical therapy, and 2 eyes were cured by extended-diameter LKP, and another 1 eye was cured by conjunctival flap covering surgery.One eye with recurrent AK after PKP was cured by extended-diameter PKP. Conclusions:The risk factors of recurrent AK after surgery are application of glucocorticoids before surgery and big lesions.Recurrent AK after surgery is curable by individualized therapy targeting to different clinical characteristics.

We studied the function and mechanism of miR-24 in regulating beta-like globin gene expression. We first detected the expression of miR-24 during erythroid differentiation and also detected the globin gene expression in miR-24 overexpressing K562 cells through q-PCR. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and Western blotting were used to identify target genes of miR-24. "Rescue experiment" was further used to investigate the regulation of miR-24 on globin gene expression whether depending on targeting Sp1 or not. We found that miR-24 increased during hemin-induced K562 cells and EPO-induced HPCs (hematopoietic progenitor cells) erythroid differentiation. Overexpression of miR-24 in K562 cells promoted the epsilon- and gamma-globin gene expression during hemin-induced erythroid differentiation through targeting the negative globin regulator Sp1. These results suggested that miR-24 can improve the expression of beta-like globin gene through targeting Sp1.
Cell Differentiation ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; metabolism ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Sp1 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; epsilon-Globins ; genetics ; gamma-Globins ; genetics

Objective:To investigate the role of nicotinamide (NIC) in the differentiation of neural crest cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), and lay the foundation for the induction of hESC-derived corneal endothelial cells.Methods:hESCs line H1 cultured for 5-7 days was used for induction.According to the different components of the neural crest induction medium, cells were assigned into different groups for 7-days induction, including group treated without NIC cultured in induction medium only, group treated with NIC cultured in induction medium containing 10 mmol/L NIC, NIC+ resveratrol (Res) group cultured in induction medium containing 10 mmol/L NIC and 10 μmol/L Res and Sirtinol group cultured in induction medium containing 10 μmol/L Sirtinol.Res and Sirtinol were used as SIRT1 activity agonist and inhibitor, respectively.The relative mRNA expression levels of hESCs and neural crest cell markers were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR at 1, 3, 5 and 7 days during the induction.The expression of neural crest cells markers after 7 days of induction was assayed by immunofluorescence staining.The induction efficiency of NIC and the effect of SIRT1 regulation on human natural killer 1 (HNK-1) positive cells expression were evaluated through flow cytometry analysis of percentages of nerve growth factor receptor (P75) and HNK-1 + cells. Results:Compared with the group treated without NIC, the mRNA expressions of totipotent genes octamer transcription factor 4 (OCT4) and homeodomain proteins (NANOG) were significantly decreased, and the mRNA expression levels of neural crest cell markers P75, HNK-1, SRY-related HMG box (SOX) 9 and SOX10 were significantly increased in the group treated with NIC after 5 days of induction (all at P<0.05). In the group treated without NIC, P75 was weakly expressed, and HNK-1 was sporadically expressed, and transcription factor AP-2β (AP-2β) and paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2 (PITX2) were not detected.In the group treated with NIC, P75, HNK-1, AP-2β and PITX2 were strongly expressed.The proportion of P75 + HNK-1 + cells and P75 + cells were both significantly higher in the group treated with NIC than without NIC ( t=8.481, P=0.001; t=2.987, P=0.041). The percentage of HNK-1 + cells in groups treated without and with NIC, NIC+ Res group and Sirtinol group were (34.267±12.522)%, (89.633±1.358)%, (64.667±6.429)% and (86.300±3.460)%, respectively, with a statistically significant overall difference ( F=36.799, P<0.001). The proportion of HNK-1 + cells in NIC+ Res group was significantly lower than that in the groups treated with NIC and Sirtinol (all at P<0.05). Conclusions:NIC promotes the differentiation of hESCs-derived neural crest cells by inhibiting the activity of SIRT1 to enhance the expression of HNK-1.NIC treatment may provide a new strategy for source of seed cells in the treatment of neural crest cell-related diseases, such as corneal endothelial transplantation.

Due to the serious shortage of corneal donor, the development of penetrating keratoplasty and corneal endothelial transplantation is severely restricted in clinical practice.The root cause is the limited proliferation capacity of healthy corneal endothelial cells.With the continuous development of tissue engineering technology and cell engineering technology, the research of tissue-engineered cornea has made some progress. In vitro culture of corneal endothelial cells with high density and healthy endothelial function for transplantation is a hot topic in current tissue engineering research.The keys of tissue-engineered corneal endothelial technology include seed cells, vector materials and the strategy of cell transplantation.At present, many research teams domestic and abroad have reported that the source of seed cells includes human corneal endothelial cells, stem cells, vascular endothelial cells and human amniotic epithelial cells.Vector materials include amniotic membrane, acellular corneal stroma, posterior elastic layer, anterior capsular membrane and various biomaterials.The cultured cells are transplanted by penetrating keratoplasty, corneal endothelial transplantation or anterior chamber injection.This review summarized the latest progress in the research on the source of corneal endothelial seed cells, the selection of vectors and the methods of corneal endothelial transplantation, and summed up the problems faced in the current research and looked forward to its prospects.

【Objective】 To investigate the expression of optineurin (OPTN) in multiple myeloma (MM) and explore the mechanism and clinical value of OPTN gene in the occurrence and development of MM. 【Methods】 In this study, three gene expression omnibus (GEO) data sets were used to analyze the expression level of OPTN in MM. Clinical bone marrow samples of MM patients were collected. qRT-PCR was used to further verify the expression of OPTN in MM patients. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to analyze the value of OPTN in the prognosis and diagnosis of MM. At the same time, MM transcriptome data were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. According to the median boundary of OPTN mRNA expression level, the MM patients were divided into OPTN high- and low-expression groups. In order to investigate the possible molecular mechanisms of OPTN in MM, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was made after the differentially expressed genes were filtered using the limma package of the R language. 【Results】 The expression level of OPTN was significantly lower in MM tissues than in normal tissues (P<0.05). OPTN expression level was significantly correlated with International Staging System (ISS) in MM patients (P<0.05). ROC results showed that the expression level of OPTN could distinguish between normal and MM patients. Survival analysis showed that the overall survival (OS) of patients with low OPTN expression was significantly lower than that of patients with high OPTN expression (P<0.05). GO, KEGG and GSEA enrichment analyses indicated that OPTN might affect apoptosis and autophagy, and regulate cellular immune response by regulating Nod-like receptors, NF-κB, TNF and RAS/MAPK pathways. 【Conclusion】 Low expression of OPTN in MM is associated with poor prognosis of patients, and thus may be an important potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of MM.

【Objective】 To investigate the relationship of miRNA gene polymorphisms with blood pressure (BP) responses to the sodium and potassium diet intervention. 【Methods】 In 2004, we recruited 514 participants from 124 families in seven villages of Baoji, Shaanxi Province, China. All subjects were given a three-day normal diet, followed by a seven-day low-salt diet, a seven-day high-salt diet, and finally a seven-day high-salt and potassium supplementation. A total of 19 miRNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected for analysis. 【Results】 Throughout the sodium-potassium dietary intervention, the BP of the subjects fluctuated across all phases, showing a decrease during the low-salt period and an increase during the high-salt period, followed by a reduction in BP subsequent to potassium supplementation during the high-salt diet. MiR-210-3p SNP rs12364149 was significantly associated with systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) responses to low-salt diet. MiR-4638-3p SNP rs6601178 was significantly associated with SBP while miR-26b-3p SNP rs115254818 was significantly associated with MAP responses to low-salt intervention. In addition, miR-26b-3p SNP rs115254818 was significantly correlated with SBP, DBP and MAP responses to high-salt intervention. MiR-1307-5p SNPs rs11191676 and rs2292807 were associated with SBP and MAP responses to high-salt diet. MiR-4638-3p SNP rs6601178, miR-210-3p SNP rs12364149, miR-382-5p SNP rs4906032 and rs4143957 were significantly associated with SBP response to high-salt diet. In addition, miR-26b-3p SNP rs115254818 was significantly associated with SBP, DBP and MAP responses to potassium supplementation. MiR-1307-5p SNPs rs11191676, rs2292807, and miR-19a-3p SNP rs4284505 were significantly associated with SBP responses to high-salt and potassium supplementation. 【Conclusion】 miRNA gene polymorphisms are associated with BP response to sodium and potassium, suggesting that miRNA genes may be involved in the pathophysiological process of salt sensitivity and potassium sensitivity.

【Objective】 Corin, a transmembrane serine protease that can cleave atrial natriuretic peptide precursor (pro-ANP) into atrial natriuretic peptide with smaller bioactive molecules, participates in the pathophysiological process of hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of Corin gene variation with blood pressure responses to sodium and potassium dietary interventions. 【Methods】 In 2004, we recruited 514 participants from 124 families in 7 villages of Baoji, Shaanxi Province, China. All the subjects received a 3-day normal diet, a 7-day low-salt diet, a 7-day high-salt diet, and finally a 7-day high-salt and potassium supplementation. Fifteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Corin gene were selected for final analysis. 【Results】 SNPs rs12509275 were significantly associated with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) response to low-salt diet, while rs3749584 was associated with pulse pressure (PP) response to low-salt diet.SNP rs3749584 and rs10517195 were significantly associated with PP response to high-salt diet. In addition,rs17654278 were significantly associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) response to high-salt and potassium supplementation, rs2271037 was significantly correlated with DBP responses to high-salt and potassium supplementation, and rs4695253, rs12509275, rs2351783, rs36090894 were significantly associated with PP response to high-salt and potassium supplementation. 【Conclusion】 Corin gene polymorphisms were associated with blood pressure response to sodium and potassium, suggesting that Corin gene may be involved in pathophysiological process of salt sensitivity and potassium sensitivity.