Objective To comprehensively investigate the subcomponent characteristics of inhibitory control for children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD)aged 4-5 years under experimental and natural environments.Methods Thirty children with ASD aged 4-5 years and 30 chronological-age and intellectual level-matched typically developing children were recruited.The Simon task,Go/nogo task,and Stroop task were used to examine the conflict response inhibition,prepotent response inhibition,and interference control subcomponents of inhibitory control,respectively.The inhibit subscale of the behavior rating inventory of executive function-preschool version was employed to assess children's inhibition in daily natural situations.Results Under the incongruent condition of the Simon task,there were no significant differences in mean reaction time and accuracy between ASD group and the control group(P>0.05).In the Go/nogo task,the ASD group demonstrated elevated false positive errors compared to the controls[3.10%(0,6.20%)vs.0(0,0.78%),P=0.005].However,there were no significant differences in mean reaction time and false alarm error between ASD group and the control group(P>0.05).In the Stroop task,there were no significant differences in the accuracy and mean reaction time between ASD group and the control group(P>0.05).Additionally,the ASD group scored significantly worse than the controls in the inhibit subscale of BRIEF-P[(60.47±9.63)vs.(54.23±7.45),P=0.007].Conclusions The inhibitory control of children with ASD aged 4-5 years are partially impaired in a structural experimental setting while severely deficient in a natural environment.

Objective To evaluate the value of coronary CT angiography(CCTA)radiomics machine learning(ML)model combined with pericoronary fat attenuation index(FAI)for predicting coronary plaques progression.Methods Totally 194 patients with CCTA showing coronary plaques and received at least one CCTA review afterwards were retrospectively collected.The annual change value of total plaque burden(△TPB/y)was calculated based on the first and last CCTA to assess plaque progression.All patients were categorized into non-progressive(△TPB/y＜median △TPB/y)and progressive(△ TPB/y≥median △ TPB/y)groups.The patients were divided into training set(n=155)and validation set(n=39)at the ratio of 8∶2.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to screen clinical and primary CCTA related factors for plaque progression,and CCTA model was constructed.Radiomics features were extracted and screened based on primary CCTA to build ML models using random forest(RF),Gaussian process(GP),partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA),quadratic discriminant analysis(QDA)and support vector machine(SVM)algorithms.The effectiveness of all models was verified in validation set and the optimal ML model was selected.And its combination with CCTA model constructed combined model.The efficacy of each model for predicting coronary plaques progression was evaluated.Results Of 194 cases,97 were in progressive group and 97 were in non-progressive group.The training set included 77 cases of plaques progression and 78 of plaques non-progression,and the validation set included 20 of plaques progression and 19 of plaques non-progression.FAI was the independent predictor of plaque progression(OR=1.08,P＜0.001)and CCTA model was constructed.Ten optimal radiomics features based on training set were selected to build RF,GP,PLS-DA,QDA and SVM models.The area under the curve(AUC)of RF model in training set and validation set were both high,was considered as the optimal ML model.The AUC of CCTA,RF and combined models in training set was 0.684,0.847 and 0.861,respectively,while was 0.629,0.768 and 0.821 in validation set,respectively.Conclusion CCTA radiomics ML model combined with FAI could effectively predict coronary plaques progression.

Objective:To investigate the function and mechanism of exosome Linc00665 in modulating CD8+T cell immunoreactivity to promote radiotherapy resistance in OSCC.Methods:HOEC,SCC9 and SCC9-RR exosomes were extracted and identified,and the expression of Linc00665 was detected by qRT-PCR in cell lines and exosomes.The expression of TNF-α,IFN-γ,perforin and granzyme B in each treatment group was detected by ELISA(PBS,SCC9 exo,SCC9-RR exo).The killing ability of CD8+T cells against SCC9 cells in each treatment group was detected by CCK-8 assay.The targets of Linc00665 were further bioinformatically ana-lyzed and verified by qRT-PCR and Western blot.The expression of Linc00665,miR-28-5p and PD-1 in CD8+T cells was exogenous-ly regulated,the expression of immunoreactive factors in the supernatants of each treatment group was detected by ELISA(NC,sh-Linc00665,miR-28-5p inhibitor,sh-PD-1),and the killing ability of cells in each group was detected by CCK-8 method.Results:The concentrations of TNF-α,IFN-γ,perforin and granzyme B in the supernatants of cell culture in the SCC9-RR exo/CD8+T group were significantly decreased compared with those in the PBS/CD8+T group and the SCC9 exo/CD8+T group(P＜0.05),and the kill-ing ability of the cells in the SCC9-RR exo group was significantly decreased compared with those in the PBS group and the SCC9 exo group(P＜0.05),suggesting that SCC9-RR exo could inhibit the tumor killing ability of CD8+T cells.qRT-PCR results suggested that Linc00665 was highly expressed in the SCC9-RR cell line as well as exosome(P＜0.05).It was further verified by bioinformat-ics analysis that Linc00665 could regulate PD-1 expression via miR-28-5p,thereby modulating CD8+T cell immunoreactivity to pro-mote OSCC radiotherapy resistance.Conclusion:Exosome Linc00665 regulates CD8+T cell immunoreactivity through miR-28-5p/PD-1 axis to promote OSCC radiotherapy resistance.

Objective To evaluate the value of coronary CT angiography(CCTA)radiomics machine learning(ML)model combined with pericoronary fat attenuation index(FAI)for predicting coronary plaques progression.Methods Totally 194 patients with CCTA showing coronary plaques and received at least one CCTA review afterwards were retrospectively collected.The annual change value of total plaque burden(△TPB/y)was calculated based on the first and last CCTA to assess plaque progression.All patients were categorized into non-progressive(△TPB/y＜median △TPB/y)and progressive(△ TPB/y≥median △ TPB/y)groups.The patients were divided into training set(n=155)and validation set(n=39)at the ratio of 8∶2.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to screen clinical and primary CCTA related factors for plaque progression,and CCTA model was constructed.Radiomics features were extracted and screened based on primary CCTA to build ML models using random forest(RF),Gaussian process(GP),partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA),quadratic discriminant analysis(QDA)and support vector machine(SVM)algorithms.The effectiveness of all models was verified in validation set and the optimal ML model was selected.And its combination with CCTA model constructed combined model.The efficacy of each model for predicting coronary plaques progression was evaluated.Results Of 194 cases,97 were in progressive group and 97 were in non-progressive group.The training set included 77 cases of plaques progression and 78 of plaques non-progression,and the validation set included 20 of plaques progression and 19 of plaques non-progression.FAI was the independent predictor of plaque progression(OR=1.08,P＜0.001)and CCTA model was constructed.Ten optimal radiomics features based on training set were selected to build RF,GP,PLS-DA,QDA and SVM models.The area under the curve(AUC)of RF model in training set and validation set were both high,was considered as the optimal ML model.The AUC of CCTA,RF and combined models in training set was 0.684,0.847 and 0.861,respectively,while was 0.629,0.768 and 0.821 in validation set,respectively.Conclusion CCTA radiomics ML model combined with FAI could effectively predict coronary plaques progression.

Objective To comprehensively investigate the subcomponent characteristics of inhibitory control for children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD)aged 4-5 years under experimental and natural environments.Methods Thirty children with ASD aged 4-5 years and 30 chronological-age and intellectual level-matched typically developing children were recruited.The Simon task,Go/nogo task,and Stroop task were used to examine the conflict response inhibition,prepotent response inhibition,and interference control subcomponents of inhibitory control,respectively.The inhibit subscale of the behavior rating inventory of executive function-preschool version was employed to assess children's inhibition in daily natural situations.Results Under the incongruent condition of the Simon task,there were no significant differences in mean reaction time and accuracy between ASD group and the control group(P>0.05).In the Go/nogo task,the ASD group demonstrated elevated false positive errors compared to the controls[3.10%(0,6.20%)vs.0(0,0.78%),P=0.005].However,there were no significant differences in mean reaction time and false alarm error between ASD group and the control group(P>0.05).In the Stroop task,there were no significant differences in the accuracy and mean reaction time between ASD group and the control group(P>0.05).Additionally,the ASD group scored significantly worse than the controls in the inhibit subscale of BRIEF-P[(60.47±9.63)vs.(54.23±7.45),P=0.007].Conclusions The inhibitory control of children with ASD aged 4-5 years are partially impaired in a structural experimental setting while severely deficient in a natural environment.

Objective:To investigate the function and mechanism of exosome Linc00665 in modulating CD8+T cell immunoreactivity to promote radiotherapy resistance in OSCC.Methods:HOEC,SCC9 and SCC9-RR exosomes were extracted and identified,and the expression of Linc00665 was detected by qRT-PCR in cell lines and exosomes.The expression of TNF-α,IFN-γ,perforin and granzyme B in each treatment group was detected by ELISA(PBS,SCC9 exo,SCC9-RR exo).The killing ability of CD8+T cells against SCC9 cells in each treatment group was detected by CCK-8 assay.The targets of Linc00665 were further bioinformatically ana-lyzed and verified by qRT-PCR and Western blot.The expression of Linc00665,miR-28-5p and PD-1 in CD8+T cells was exogenous-ly regulated,the expression of immunoreactive factors in the supernatants of each treatment group was detected by ELISA(NC,sh-Linc00665,miR-28-5p inhibitor,sh-PD-1),and the killing ability of cells in each group was detected by CCK-8 method.Results:The concentrations of TNF-α,IFN-γ,perforin and granzyme B in the supernatants of cell culture in the SCC9-RR exo/CD8+T group were significantly decreased compared with those in the PBS/CD8+T group and the SCC9 exo/CD8+T group(P＜0.05),and the kill-ing ability of the cells in the SCC9-RR exo group was significantly decreased compared with those in the PBS group and the SCC9 exo group(P＜0.05),suggesting that SCC9-RR exo could inhibit the tumor killing ability of CD8+T cells.qRT-PCR results suggested that Linc00665 was highly expressed in the SCC9-RR cell line as well as exosome(P＜0.05).It was further verified by bioinformat-ics analysis that Linc00665 could regulate PD-1 expression via miR-28-5p,thereby modulating CD8+T cell immunoreactivity to pro-mote OSCC radiotherapy resistance.Conclusion:Exosome Linc00665 regulates CD8+T cell immunoreactivity through miR-28-5p/PD-1 axis to promote OSCC radiotherapy resistance.

Objective To investigate the neuroprotective effect of Tibetan medicine 70 Wei Pearl Pill(RNSP)on 6-hydroxydopamine(6-OHDA)induced Parkinson's disease model rats and its related mechanism.Methods Totally 48 male SD rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,model plus low-dose RNSP group(90 mg/kg),model plus medium-dose RNSP group(180 mg/kg),model plus high-dose RNSP group(360 mg/kg),and model plus madopar group(50 mg/kg),with 8 rats in per group.Except for the control group,the other rats were treated with 6-OHDA single injection into the striatum to establish the PD model.Each group was given intragastric administration after modeling and the control group and model group were given an equal volume of saline once a day for 4 weeks.The rats were subjected to apomorphine-induced rotation,experiments at the 2nd and 4th week after the completion of modeling,and the open field experiment was conducted the next day after the last rotation experiment to observe the animal behavior.After the behavioral experiment,the rats were stained with tyrosine hydroxylase(TH)in the substantia nigra pars compacta by immunohistochemical method and the positive neurons were counted.The protein levels of Bcl-2,BAX,Caspase-3 in substantia nigra and P38,P-P38,ERK,P-ERK,JNK,P-JNK in the striatum were detected by Western blotting.Results Compared with the control group,the rotation frequency and percentage of rotating rats in the model group increased significantly at the 2nd and 4th weeks after modeling;the open field active distance,average speed and times of crossing the grid were significantly decreased;and the rest time was significantly increased.While the number of TH positive neurons in the substantia nigra was significantly decreased,the BAX and Caspase-3 protein levels were increased significantly,Bcl-2 was decreased significantly,the ratios of P-P38/P38,P-JNK/JNK and P-ERK/ERK in the striatum were significantly increased in PD group.Compared with the model group,the rotation frequency and percentage of rotating rats in the low-,medium-and high-dose groups of RNSP had no significant changes after 2 weeks of administration,the rotation frequency in the high-dose group and percentage of rotating rats in the low-and medium-dose RNSP groups significantly decreased after 4 weeks of administration.The open field active distance,average speed,and times of crossing the grid were significantly increased;the rest time was significantly decreased.The number of TH positive neurons in the substantia nigra was significantly increased,the Bax and Caspase-3 protein levels were decreased significantly while the Bcl-2 was significantly increased.The ratios of P-P38/P38,P-JNK/JNK and P-ERK/ERK in the striatum were significantly decreased.Conclusion Tibetan medicine RNSP can improve the motor ability and reduce the loss of DA neurons in PD rats,and its mechanism may be related to inhibiting P38/JNK/ERK signaling pathway and reducing the apoptosis of midbrain neurons.

Objective To investigate the neuroprotective effect of Tibetan medicine 70 Wei Pearl Pill(RNSP)on 6-hydroxydopamine(6-OHDA)induced Parkinson's disease model rats and its related mechanism.Methods Totally 48 male SD rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,model plus low-dose RNSP group(90 mg/kg),model plus medium-dose RNSP group(180 mg/kg),model plus high-dose RNSP group(360 mg/kg),and model plus madopar group(50 mg/kg),with 8 rats in per group.Except for the control group,the other rats were treated with 6-OHDA single injection into the striatum to establish the PD model.Each group was given intragastric administration after modeling and the control group and model group were given an equal volume of saline once a day for 4 weeks.The rats were subjected to apomorphine-induced rotation,experiments at the 2nd and 4th week after the completion of modeling,and the open field experiment was conducted the next day after the last rotation experiment to observe the animal behavior.After the behavioral experiment,the rats were stained with tyrosine hydroxylase(TH)in the substantia nigra pars compacta by immunohistochemical method and the positive neurons were counted.The protein levels of Bcl-2,BAX,Caspase-3 in substantia nigra and P38,P-P38,ERK,P-ERK,JNK,P-JNK in the striatum were detected by Western blotting.Results Compared with the control group,the rotation frequency and percentage of rotating rats in the model group increased significantly at the 2nd and 4th weeks after modeling;the open field active distance,average speed and times of crossing the grid were significantly decreased;and the rest time was significantly increased.While the number of TH positive neurons in the substantia nigra was significantly decreased,the BAX and Caspase-3 protein levels were increased significantly,Bcl-2 was decreased significantly,the ratios of P-P38/P38,P-JNK/JNK and P-ERK/ERK in the striatum were significantly increased in PD group.Compared with the model group,the rotation frequency and percentage of rotating rats in the low-,medium-and high-dose groups of RNSP had no significant changes after 2 weeks of administration,the rotation frequency in the high-dose group and percentage of rotating rats in the low-and medium-dose RNSP groups significantly decreased after 4 weeks of administration.The open field active distance,average speed,and times of crossing the grid were significantly increased;the rest time was significantly decreased.The number of TH positive neurons in the substantia nigra was significantly increased,the Bax and Caspase-3 protein levels were decreased significantly while the Bcl-2 was significantly increased.The ratios of P-P38/P38,P-JNK/JNK and P-ERK/ERK in the striatum were significantly decreased.Conclusion Tibetan medicine RNSP can improve the motor ability and reduce the loss of DA neurons in PD rats,and its mechanism may be related to inhibiting P38/JNK/ERK signaling pathway and reducing the apoptosis of midbrain neurons.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of tubastatin A (TubA) on pyroptosis during brain injury after cardiac arrest and resuscitation in swine.Methods:Twenty-two conventional male white swine, weighing 34-39 kg, aged 4-6 months, were divided into 3 groups using a random number table: sham operation group (group S, n=6), cardiac arrest-cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CA-CPR) group ( n=8) and CA-CPR+ TubA group ( n=8). The swine model of CA-CPR was established by 9 min of cardiac arrest and 6 min of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in CA-CPR group and CA-CPR+ TubA group. TubA 4.5 mg/kg (in 50 ml of normal saline) was infused over 1 h via the femoral vein starting from 5 min after resuscitation in CA-CPR+ TubA group. Before developing the model and at 1, 2, 4 and 24 h after resuscitation (T 0-4), blood samples were collected from the femoral vein for determination of the concentrations of neuron specific enolase (NSE) and S100β protein in serum (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Neurological deficit score (NDS) was evaluated at T 4. The animals were then sacrificed, and their brain cortex tissues were harvested to measure the expression of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, gasdermin E (GSDME) and GSDME N-terminal (N-GSDME) (by Western blot) and contents of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18 (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Results:Compared with group S, the serum concentrations of NSE and S100β were significantly increased at T 1-4, NDS was increased at T 4, the expression of HDAC6, caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, GSDME and N-GSDME in brain cortex was up-regulated, and the contents of HMGB1, IL-1β and IL-18 were increased in CA-CPR and CA-CPR+ TubA groups ( P<0.05). Compared with group CA-CPR, the serum concentrations of NSE and S100β were significantly decreased at T 3, 4, NDS was decreased at T 4, the expression of HDAC6, caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, GSDME and N-GSDME in brain cortex was down-regulated, and the contents of HMGB1, IL-1β and IL-18 were decreased in group CA-CPR+ TubA ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The mechanism by which TubA alleviates brain injury after cardiac arrest and resuscitation may be related to inhibition of pyroptosis in swine.

BACKGROUND:Intervertebral disc degeneration is clinically considered to be the main cause of low back pain,but due to the unclear pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration,there is still a lack of effective means to delay the progression of the disease.Single-cell RNA sequencing technology can amplify and sequence mRNA at the single-cell level,reveal the gene expression intensity of a single cell,discover different cell subsets in tissues according to the heterogeneity of cells,study the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration at the molecular level,and provide a new theoretical basis for its early diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE:To introduce the basic principles of single-cell RNA sequencing technology and review the research progress of single-cell RNA sequencing technology in intervertebral disc degeneration in recent years. METHODS:A computer was used to search PubMed,Web of Science,CNKI and WanFang databases for the literature published from 2012 to 2022.Key words were"single-cell RNA sequencing,intervertebral disc degeneration,sequencing Technology"in Chinese and English.Duplicate,poor-quality and irrelevant articles were excluded;a total of 70 articles were eventually included. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)We identified new cell subsets such as homeostatic chondrocytes,hypertrophy chondrocyte-like nucleus pulposus cells and fibrous nucleus pulposus cells,identified the marker genes and transcription factors of these cell subsets,and described the functions,differentiation paths and cell fate of these cell subsets during the development and progression of intervertebral disc degeneration,and proposed the concept of progenitor nucleus pulposus cells.A cell subpopulation with progenitor nucleus pulposus cells properties was identified and its effectiveness in treating intervertebral disc degeneration was verified in mice.(2)Fibro chondrocyte-like annulus fibrosus cells and annulus fibrosus stem cells with both cartilage and fiber properties were identified,and a new type of composite hydrogel was prepared by combining fibrous cartilage inducers silk fibroin and hyaluronic acid in vitro.Experiments in mice demonstrated that this hydrogel could repair both annulus fibrosus tissue and cartilage matrix,and was remarkably effective in the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.(3)Regulatory chondrocytes were found in endplate cartilage.Two distinct fates in the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration were analyzed and the differential genes in the two fates were identified.Intercellular communication analysis indicated that regulatory chondrocytes interact with endothelial cells to promote angiogenesis.(4)Immune cells such as macrophages,T cells,myeloid progenitor cells and neutrophils were identified in the degenerated intervertebral disc tissues,demonstrating the existence of immune response during intervertebral disc degeneration.It was found that apolipoprotein induced the polarization of macrophages M1 and M2 subtypes,and this polarization process affected the activity of progenitor nucleus pulposus cells by amplifying the inflammatory response through the MIF signaling pathway.