OBJECTIVES: To propose a hypothesis that aloe-emodin may inhibit scar tissue fibrosis through thrombospondin-1(THBS1)-PI3K-Akt pathway. METHODS: By cultivating fibroblasts derived from scar tissue after cleft palate surgery in humans, aloe emodin of different concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 μmol/L) was added to the cells which activity was detected. At the same time, transcriptome sequencing was performed on scar tissue and cells, and bioinformatics methods were used to explore potential targets and signaling pathways of scar tissue fibrosis. RESULTS: Aloe-emodin had a concentration dependent inhibitory effect on fibroblast proliferation,with the 40 μmol/L concentration group showing the most significant effect. The results of tissue and cell sequencing indicated that differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in extracellular matrix-receptor interaction pathway, and shared a common differential gene which was THBS1. The ORA analysis results indicated that differentially expressed genes, including THBS1, were significantly enriched in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS Aloe emodin may inhibit the PI3K-Akt pathway by downregulating THBS1, thereby reducing the proliferation activity of fibroblasts derived from postoperative palatal scar tissue.
Thrombospondin 1/genetics* ; Humans ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Fibroblasts/cytology* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Fibrosis ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Cicatrix/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Anthraquinones/pharmacology* ; Cells, Cultured

Objective:To construct an early prediction model for post cardiopulmonary resuscitation-acute kidney injury (PCPR-AKI) by machine learning and provide a basis for early identification of acute kidney injury (AKI) high-risk patients and accurate treatment.Methods:It was a single-center retrospective study. The clinical data of patients admitted to Tianjin Medical University General Hospital after cardiopulmonary resuscitation following cardiac arrest from January 1, 2016 to October 31, 2023 were collected. The end-point event of the study was defined as AKI occurring within 48 hours after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The patients were divided into AKI group and non-AKI group according to the AKI diagnostic criteria, and the differences of baseline clinical data between the two groups were compared. The patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly (using the train_test_split function, set the random seeds to 1, 2, and 3) divided into training and validation sets at a ratio of 7∶3. Random forest (RF), support vector machine, decision tree, extreme gradient boosting and light gradient boosting machine algorithm were used to develop the early prediction model of PCPR-AKI. The receiver-operating characteristic curve and decision curve analysis were used to evaluate the performance and clinical practicality of the predictive models, and the importance of variables in the optimal model was screened and ranked.Results:A total of 547 patients were enrolled, with age of 66 (59, 70) years old and 282 males (51.6%). There were 238 patients (43.5%) having incidence of AKI within 48 hours after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In the AKI group, 182 patients (76.5%) were in stage 1, 47 patients (19.7%) were in stage 2, and 9 patients (3.8%) were in stage 3. There were statistically significant differences in the age, time to reach resuscitation of spontaneous circulation, time from cardiac arrest to starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation, proportion of initial defibrillation rhythm, proportion of electric defibrillation, proportion of mechanical ventilation, adrenaline dosage, sodium bicarbonate dosage, proportion of coronary heart disease, proportion of hypertension, proportion of diabetes, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, blood lactic acid, blood potassium, brain natriuretic peptide, troponin, D-dimer, neuron specific enolase, and 24 hours urine volume after cardiopulmonary resuscitation between AKI group and non-AKI group (all P<0.05). Among the five machine learning algorithms, RF model achieved the best performance and clinical practicality, with area under the curve of 0.875, sensitivity of 0.863, specificity of 0.956, and accuracy rate of 90.7%. In the variable importance ranking of RF model, the top 10 variables were as follows: time to reach resuscitation of spontaneous circulation, time from cardiac arrest to starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation, initial defibrillable rhythm, serum creatinine, mechanical ventilation, blood lactate acid, adrenaline dosage, brain natriuretic peptide, D-dimer and age. Conclusions:An early predictive model for PCPR-AKI is successfully constructed based on machine learning. RF model has the best predictive performance. According to the importance of the variables, it can provide clinical strategies for early identification and precise intervention for PCPR-AKI.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of small nuclear noncoding RNA 7SK in embryonic stem cell (ESCs) proliferation and the value of 7SK as a target for early diagnosis and treatment for primordial dwarfism (PD). METHODS: ESC line R1 was transfected with the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and sequencing of the PCR product and glycerol gradient analysis were performed to identify novel 7SK deletion mutations. A lentivirus system was used to knock down cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) in clones with 7SK deletion mutations, and the effect of CDK9 knockdown on the protein level of cell division cycle 6 (CDC6) was analyzed with Western blotting. RESULTS: We identified a novel deletion mutation of 7SK at 128-179 nt in the ESCs, which resulted in deficiency of cell proliferation. 7SK truncation at 128-179 nt significantly reduced the protein expressions of La-related protein 7 (LARP7) and CDC6. CONCLUSIONS 7SK truncation at 128-179 nt can significantly impair proliferation of ESCs by downregulating CDC6. 7SK is a key regulator of proliferation and mediates the growth of ESCs through a mechanism dependent on CDK9 activity, suggesting the value of 7SK truncation at 128-179 nt as a potential target for early diagnosis and treatment of PD.
Cell Cycle Proteins ; Cell Proliferation ; Embryonic Stem Cells/metabolism* ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Nuclear Proteins ; Positive Transcriptional Elongation Factor B/metabolism* ; RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics* ; RNA-Binding Proteins ; Ribonucleoproteins ; Transcription Factors

OBJECTIVE：To study the intervention effects of Huan gqi injecti on on leucopenia model mice. METHODS ： Kunming mice were randomly divided into normal group ，model group and drug group ，with 8 mice in each group. Model group and drug group were given intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide to induce leukopenia model. Normal group was given intraperitoneal injection of equal volume of sterile water. After modeling successfully ，normal group and model group were given intraperitoneal injection of equal volume of sterile water ；drug group was given intraperitoneal injection of Huangqi injection 0.04 mL/10 g，once a day ，for consecutive 7 d. Based on the detection of blood routine indexes （leukocyte，lymphocyte，neutrophil， monocyte count ）of mice in each group ，the metabolites in serum were analyzed by LC-MS. Principal component analysis （PCA）， partial least squares discriminant analysis （PLS-DA），orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA），HMDB， METLIN， KEGG and other databases as well as related literatures were used to identify the differential metabolites. The metabolic pathways of differential metabolites were analyzed with MetPA online tools ，and the correlation of blood routine indexes and differential metabolites were analyzed on the basis of Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS： Compared with normal group ， blood rountine indexes of model group were decreased significantly （P＜ 0.01）. Compared with model group ，above blood r ountine indexes of drug group were all increased siginificantly （P＜0.01）. LC-MS chromatogram of serum samples in normal group and model group were significantly different ，and LC-MS metabonomics data of serum samples in drug group were similar to those of normal group. Multivariate statistical analysis and correlated database analysis revealed that compared with normal group ，serum contents of 17 metabolites as L-isoleucine，eicosapentaenoic acid were increased significantly in model group ，while the contents of 4 metabolites as spermidine were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with model group ，Huangqi injection could reverse the serum contents of 9 metabolites in mice ，such as citric acid ，L-proline，acetylcarnitine，L-isoleucine， L-phenylalanine，sphingosine-1-phosphate，lysophosphatidylinositol，eicosapentaenoic acid and linoleic acid （P＜0.05 or P＜ 0.01），which were associated with linoleic acid metabolism ，biosynthesis of phenylalanine ，tyrosine and tryptophan ，and phenylalanine metabolism （metabolism pathway influential values were all higher than 0.1）. Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between blood routine indexes and the contents of D-sphingosine，linoleic acid and citric acid in model group（the absolute values of r were generally greater than 0.5）. CONCLUSIONS ：Huangqi injection can increase the counts of leukocytes，lymphocytes，neutrophils and monocytes in leucopenia model mice. The increase of leukocytes may be related to linoleic acid metabolism ，biosynthesis of phenylalanine ，tyrosine and tryptophan ，and phenylalanine metabolism.

Environmental chemical pollutants are increasing, which brings various harms to human health. Epigenetics may be an important medium between exposure to environmental chemical contaminants and adverse health effects. Many environmental chemical pollutant exposures can regulate gene expression and promote disease occurrence and development through epigenetic mechanisms. This review outlines the mechanisms of epigenetics and the latest research advances in exposure and epigenetics of several environmental chemical substances (heavy metal arsenic, bisphenol A, dioctyl phthalate and benzene). To further understand and study the relationship between environmental chemical pollutant exposures and epigenetics in order to elucidate the mechanisms of disease occurrence and development.

Environmental chemical pollutants are increasing, which brings various harms to human health. Epigenetics may be an important medium between exposure to environmental chemical contaminants and adverse health effects. Many environmental chemical pollutant exposures can regulate gene expression and promote disease occurrence and development through epigenetic mechanisms. This review outlines the mechanisms of epigenetics and the latest research advances in exposure and epigenetics of several environmental chemical substances (heavy metal arsenic, bisphenol A, dioctyl phthalate and benzene). To further understand and study the relationship between environmental chemical pollutant exposures and epigenetics in order to elucidate the mechanisms of disease occurrence and development.

Objective To explore the influencing factors of serum uric acid (UA) level and its relationship with SLC2A9 gene polymorphism. Methods A total of 2000people in the health examination center of Yangpu District Central Hospital were selected to examine their blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipid and other biochemical indicators. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) locus rs2241480 of SLC2A9 gene was detected and analyzed. According to UA level, UA was divided into high UA group (n=217), middle UA group (n=1705) and low UA group (n=78). The biochemical indexes and SLC2A9 genotype of each group were compared, and the relationship between UA and SLC2A9 gene polymorphism was analyzed. Results The prevalence of hyperuricemia (HUA) was 10.85% in physical examination population, 12.92% in males, which was significantly higher than 8.48% in females (P﹤0.05). With the increase of UA level, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr) increased significantly, and high density lipoprotein (HDL-C-c) increased significantly.) there was a significant decrease, with statistical significance (P﹤0.05). The genotyping of rs2241480 locus in different UA levels showed significant difference (P﹤0.05). Male (OR=1.99), BMI (OR=3.01), SBP (OR=3.77) were independent risk factors for HUA, while HDL-C (OR=0.27) and rs2241480 locus genotype (CC, OR=0.41) were protective factors (P﹤0.05). Conclusion Traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure and lipid are independent risk factors for UA level. SLC2A9 gene polymorphism may be associated with the occurrence of HUA.

Objective To knockout the MATP gene of mouse melanoma cell line B16F10 using CRISPR/Cas9 system,and to lay foundation for the functional study of MATP gene.Methods Specific primers of MATP were designed according to the report in http://crispr.mit.edu/ website.The primers were linked to pCAS9/gRNA1 vector.Then the positive vector was transfected into mouse melanoma B16F10 cells,and monoclonal cell lines were obtained by the infinite dilution method.After the genomes of different monoclonal cell lines were extracted and sequenced,the cell lines with MATP gene cleavage were screened,and the expression of MATP in these cell lines was verified by Western-blot analysis.Results Three MATP gene knockout cell lines were successfully obtained.The western-blot results showed that the cell lines did not express MATP protein.Conclusions The knockout of MATP gene in B16F10 cell line can be successfully achieved using the pCAS9/gRNA1 vector.

ABSTRACT:Hypertension,the first risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease in the Chinese population, seriously endangers people’s health.At present,China has more than 270 million people with hypertension and an annual increase rate of 1 0 million people.Then how to improve prevention and treatment of hypertension has become an urgent need to solve major medical and social problems.In the past,research on hypertension mainly focused on the peripheral area,while recent research has shown that the central regulation plays an important role in the development of hypertension. Hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN ), which plays a key role in maintaining cardiovascular activity, can directly control the sympathetic preganglionic neurons and regulate peripheral sympathetic nerve activity,thus being closely related to the development of hypertension.Research in recent years shows that the comprehensive effects of proinflammatory cytokines (PIC ),reactive oxygen species (ROS),renin-angiotensin system (RAS),neurotransmitter (NT)and nuclear factorκB (NF-κB)are involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension.However,it is unclear how these neurohormones in PVN are activated,how they interact with each other and what role they play in the regulatory mechanism of hypertension.Therefore,the key focus of this research is to explore the impact of activated neurohormones in PVN on hypertension.This study will provide new content for the study on hypertension.

Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome,and impaired filling or ejection disorders result from any ventricular structure or dysfunction can cause heart failure.The prevalence of heart failure in adult populations in developed countries has reached 1% to 2%,while the prevalence in elderly people over 70 years of age has increased to ≥ 10%. With the population aging and the prevalence of coronary heart disease increased, the prevalence of heart failure has increased,becoming a disable and fatal disease.The changes of the central nervous system hormones such as renin-angiotensin system (RAS),inflammatory cytokines (proinflammatory cytokines,PIC),and reactive oxygen species (ROS)may be closely related to increased central activity in heart failure,which can significantly alter the activities of peripheral sympathetic nerves. Constant sympathetic nervous activity is an important cause of development of heart failure,so reducing the sympathetic excitability of heart failure is regarded as one of the focuses of treatment and research.This paper focuses on the influence of central neurohormone on heart failure and possible central mechanism.