1.circHERC4_041 Inhibits the Fibrotic Phenotype of Cardiac Fibroblasts by Encoding Protein
Yuan GAO ; Chuan-Meng ZHOU ; Hua-Yan WU ; Ya WANG ; Ru-Shi WU ; Pei-Ying GUAN ; Jun-Tao FANG ; Jin-Dong XU ; Yu-Peng LIU ; Zhi-Qin HU ; Zhi-Xin SHAN
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(3):393-403
A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P<0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P<0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.
2.circHERC4_041 Inhibits the Fibrotic Phenotype of Cardiac Fibroblasts by Encoding Protein
Yuan GAO ; Chuan-Meng ZHOU ; Hua-Yan WU ; Ya WANG ; Ru-Shi WU ; Pei-Ying GUAN ; Jun-Tao FANG ; Jin-Dong XU ; Yu-Peng LIU ; Zhi-Qin HU ; Zhi-Xin SHAN
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(3):393-403
A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P<0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P<0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.
3.Advances in mechanism of mitochondrial quality control system in endometriosis
Yuan-huan CHEN ; Bin YUE ; Hai-yan MAO ; Can-can HUANG ; Xiao-hua ZHANG ; Peng FENG ; Quan-sheng WU
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(3):406-410
Endometriosis(EMs)is a common estrogen-depend-ent clinical disease with the pathological characteristics of malig-nant tumors,which has great impact on women's physical and mental health.In recent years,experimental exploration has re-vealed that ectopic foci are in a hypoxic environment outside the uterine cavity,and mitochondria,as the"functional factories"of the cells,play an important role in the process of planting and in-vasion,and the mitochondrial quality control system,which in-cludes mitochondrial oxidative stress,kinetics,autophagy,bio-genesis and calcium homeostasis,is a key mechanism for the e-quilibrium of the mitochondrial function.The mitochondrial quality control system,including mitochondrial oxidative stress kinetics,autophagy,biogenesis and calcium homeostasis,is a key mechanism for mitochondrial functional balance.Therefore,to clarify the role of the mitochondrial quality control system in the development of EMs with the help of rational and rigorous experi-mental and clinical studies can not only help to clarify the patho-genesis of the disease,but also explore the key targets in the prevention and treatment of the disease.Therefore,this article summarizes the research progress of mitochondrial quality control system in endometriosis,with a view to providing reference and theoretical basis for the etiology,pathogenesis and prevention strategies of EMs.
4.Factors affecting the effectiveness of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury
Yixing LU ; Xiaolong SUN ; Xiao XI ; Xiangbo WU ; Tao HAN ; Xinyu LIU ; Qiaozhen LI ; Guiqing CHENG ; Chunqiu DAI ; Ying LIANG ; Hua YUAN
Chinese Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2025;47(3):226-231
Objective:To explore the factors associated with the efficacy of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of neuropathic pain (NP) following spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods:This was a retrospective study of 89 SCI survivors with NP receiving high-frequency rTMS. Those with a ≥30% reduction in their Numeric Rating Scales (NRS) scores after 2 weeks of treatment were termed Responders ( n=36), with the others classified as non-responders ( n=53). Demographic data (gender, education level, age), SCI characteristics (injury etiology, injury severity, neurological injury level, injury duration), NP characteristics (pain type, pain intensity, analgesic use), functional assessment (Modified Ashworth Scale score, Spinal Cord Independence Measure score, Modified Barthel Index score, American Spinal Injury Association motor/sensory score) were collected. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used for variable selection, followed by binary logistic regression to identify factors associated with treatment efficacy. Results:Among the 89 patients, 36 (40.4%) were Responders to high-frequency rTMS. Binary logistic regression revealed that those with a cervical spinal cord injury and/or spasticity and women were more likely to respond to high-frequency rTMS.Conclusions:Female gender, cervical spinal cord injury, and spasticity are independent factors predicting rTMS efficacy in treating SCI, with spasticity demonstrating the strongest association.
5.Theme identification and evolution analysis of compensation mechanism reform policy in public hospitals since the new healthcare reform
Zhi-yuan LI ; Hui-bin JI ; Shan LI ; Hua-zhang WU
Chinese Journal of Health Policy 2025;18(7):9-17
Objective:To analyze the thematic distribution characteristics and evolution trends of the compensation mechanism reform policies for public hospitals in China since the new healthcare reform,and to provide references for correctly understanding the basic connotation and extension of the reform of compensation mechanism.Methods:A total of 75 documents issued at the national level were collected.The BERTopic topic model was used for thematic identification.The dynamic topic modeling method of BERTopic was adopted to conduct policy evolution analysis.Result:Since the new medical reform,the reform policy of compensation mechanism in public hospitals can be divided into eight themes,such as strengthening the operation management of public hospitals and adjusting the price of medical services.It shows an evolutionary trend of emphasizing the control of excessive growth of medical expenses and the implementation of government investment responsibilities in the early stage,focusing on the elimination of drug additions and the adjustment of medical service prices in the middle stage,and strengthening the reform of medical insurance payment methods in the later stage.Conclusions:The reform of the compensation mechanism for public hospitals is essentially a systematic reconstruction of the operation mechanism of public hospitals.Adjusting and optimizing medical service prices and reforming the medical insurance payment method are the key and focus of improving the compensation mechanism for public hospitals.
6.Predictive Value of Peripheral Blood cfDNA Combined with IL-10 in Central Nervous System Infiltration of Diffuse Large B-Cell lymphoma
Yuan ZHANG ; Li-Hua WANG ; Yan GUO ; Guo-Qing LYU ; Sun WU ; Jing-Hang ZHANG
Journal of Experimental Hematology 2025;33(4):1063-1068
Objective:To investigate the predictive value of circulating free DNA(cfDNA)combined with interleukin 10(IL-10)in predicting central nervous system infiltration(CNSI)in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(DLBCL).Methods:The clinical data of 63 patients with DLBCL in our hospital from May 2021 to April 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.The 63 patients were divided into CNSI group(15 cases)and non-CNSI group(48 cases)base on whether CNSI occurred.The age,sex,Ann Arbor stage,ECOG score,IPI risk,CNS-IPI risk,number of extranodal sites involved,bone marrow involvement,hypertrophic disease,B symptoms,source cells,glucose quantification,Pandy test,cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)chlorine,CSF nucleated cell count,CSF protein,peripheral blood cfDNA,and IL-10 status were compared between the two groups.The correlation between cfDNA,IL-10 in peripheral blood and CSF protein was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the predictive value of peripheral blood cfDNA and IL-10 on secondary CNSI in DLBCL patients.The last follow-up was on November 30,2023.Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the time of secondary CNSI in the non-CNSI group.Results:The IPI risk,CNS-IPI risk,number of extranodal sites involved,and CSF protein in the CNSI group were significantly higher than those in the non-CNSI group(all P<0.05).The levels of cfDNA and IL-10 in peripheral blood of CNSI group were significantly higher than those of non-CNSI group(both P<0.01).cfDNA and IL-10 in peripheral blood were both positively correlated with CSF protein(r=0.402 4,0.315 1).ROC curve analysis showed that peripheral blood cfDNA and IL-10 had certain predictive value for CNSI,and the area under the curve(AUC)was 0.829 and 0.742,respectively.The AUC of the combined detection was 0.910,with a sensitivity of 80.00%and a specificity of 93.70%.The diagnostic efficacy was significantly higher than that of the two prediction values alone.The median follow-up time was 20(6-31)months.Non-CNSI patients were grouped based on peripheral blood cfDNA combined with IL-10 positive or negative pairs.The time of secondary CNSI in positive group was significantly shorter than that in negative group(P<0.05).Conclusion:cfDNA and IL-10 in peripheral blood of DLBCL patients with CNSI are significantly increased,and the combined detection of cfDNA and IL-10 has good predictive value for CNSI.
7.Factors affecting the effectiveness of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury
Yixing LU ; Xiaolong SUN ; Xiao XI ; Xiangbo WU ; Tao HAN ; Xinyu LIU ; Qiaozhen LI ; Guiqing CHENG ; Chunqiu DAI ; Ying LIANG ; Hua YUAN
Chinese Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2025;47(3):226-231
Objective:To explore the factors associated with the efficacy of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of neuropathic pain (NP) following spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods:This was a retrospective study of 89 SCI survivors with NP receiving high-frequency rTMS. Those with a ≥30% reduction in their Numeric Rating Scales (NRS) scores after 2 weeks of treatment were termed Responders ( n=36), with the others classified as non-responders ( n=53). Demographic data (gender, education level, age), SCI characteristics (injury etiology, injury severity, neurological injury level, injury duration), NP characteristics (pain type, pain intensity, analgesic use), functional assessment (Modified Ashworth Scale score, Spinal Cord Independence Measure score, Modified Barthel Index score, American Spinal Injury Association motor/sensory score) were collected. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used for variable selection, followed by binary logistic regression to identify factors associated with treatment efficacy. Results:Among the 89 patients, 36 (40.4%) were Responders to high-frequency rTMS. Binary logistic regression revealed that those with a cervical spinal cord injury and/or spasticity and women were more likely to respond to high-frequency rTMS.Conclusions:Female gender, cervical spinal cord injury, and spasticity are independent factors predicting rTMS efficacy in treating SCI, with spasticity demonstrating the strongest association.
8.Study on the ultrasonic cleaning effect and influencing factors of emergency laparoscopic surgical instruments at night
Bing-jie SUN ; Yu-qing CAI ; Gao-feng YUAN ; Ju-hua WU
Journal of Regional Anatomy and Operative Surgery 2025;34(2):121-124
Objective To explore the ultrasonic cleaning effect and influencing factors of emergency laparoscopic surgical instruments at night.Methods A total of 698 emergency laparoscopic surgical instruments cleaned by ultrasound at night were selected as the research subjects,and the unqualified ultrasonic cleaning of instruments was statistically analyzed.Univariate and multivariate binary Logistic regression equations were used to analyze the factors that may lead to unqualified ultrasonic cleaning.Results Among 698 ultrasonic cleaning sessions for emergency laparoscopic surgical instruments at night,a total of 55 times(7.88%)were unqualified.The results of univariate and multivariate binary Logistic regression analysis showed that the time from cleaning to the end of surgery≥10 hours,luminal surgical instruments,nonstandard pretreatment,unqualified cleaning water quality,and unqualified cleaning medium were the risk factors that lead to the occurrence of unqualified ultrasonic cleaning of emergency laparoscopic surgical instruments at night(OR>1,P<0.05),while manual+ultrasonic cleaning was the protective factor to avoid the occurrence of unqualified ultrasonic cleaning of emergency laparoscopic surgical instruments at night(OR<1,P<0.05).Conclusion The unqualified rate of ultrasonic cleaning of emergency laparoscopic surgical instruments at night is relatively high,so it should be cleaned as early as possible after the surgery.Before ultrasonic cleaning,manual clean-ing should be carried out as much as possible,especially for luminal surgical instruments that are difficult to clean,standardized pretreatment should be carried out,and qualified cleaning water quality and medium should be selected.
9.Advances in mechanism of mitochondrial quality control system in endometriosis
Yuan-huan CHEN ; Bin YUE ; Hai-yan MAO ; Can-can HUANG ; Xiao-hua ZHANG ; Peng FENG ; Quan-sheng WU
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(3):406-410
Endometriosis(EMs)is a common estrogen-depend-ent clinical disease with the pathological characteristics of malig-nant tumors,which has great impact on women's physical and mental health.In recent years,experimental exploration has re-vealed that ectopic foci are in a hypoxic environment outside the uterine cavity,and mitochondria,as the"functional factories"of the cells,play an important role in the process of planting and in-vasion,and the mitochondrial quality control system,which in-cludes mitochondrial oxidative stress,kinetics,autophagy,bio-genesis and calcium homeostasis,is a key mechanism for the e-quilibrium of the mitochondrial function.The mitochondrial quality control system,including mitochondrial oxidative stress kinetics,autophagy,biogenesis and calcium homeostasis,is a key mechanism for mitochondrial functional balance.Therefore,to clarify the role of the mitochondrial quality control system in the development of EMs with the help of rational and rigorous experi-mental and clinical studies can not only help to clarify the patho-genesis of the disease,but also explore the key targets in the prevention and treatment of the disease.Therefore,this article summarizes the research progress of mitochondrial quality control system in endometriosis,with a view to providing reference and theoretical basis for the etiology,pathogenesis and prevention strategies of EMs.
10.Detection and clinical significance of serum thymic stromal lymphopoietin levels in patients with dermatomyositis
Yongheng CHEN ; Kaile HE ; Shile CHEN ; Xinlin SHAO ; Chenyu WU ; Ling JIN ; Weiru YUAN ; Hua CAO
Chinese Journal of Dermatology 2025;58(8):729-735
Objective:To explore the relationship between serum thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) levels and the occurrence of pruritus as well as interstitial lung diseases (ILD) in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) or clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) .Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data from 61 diagnosed DM/CADM patients at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine between February 2019 and March 2022. Thirty-five age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were included as controls. Serum TSLP and anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) . A multiplexed flow cytometry assay was performed to detect the serum levels of 12 cytokines, including interferon (IFN) -α2, IFN-γ, interleukin (IL) -4, IL-5, etc. Pruritus severity in DM/CADM patients was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) . Relationships of serum TSLP levels with skin lesions, inflammatory markers, and the severity of ILD were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 8.0.1 and R (version 4.3.2) software.Results:Among the 61 patients with DM/CADM, 18 were males (13 with DM and 5 with CADM) and 43 were females (30 with DM and 13 with CADM) , with ages of 53.08 ± 14.97 years and disease duration of 6.27 ± 4.27 months. No significant differences were observed in sex or age between the DM/CADM group and the healthy control group (both P > 0.05) . Of the 61 patients, 15 (24.59%) were positive for anti-MDA5 antibodies, and 31 (51.67%) had ILD, including 11 with acute/subacute interstitial pneumonia (A/SIP) . The pruritus VAS score ( M[ Q1, Q3]) among the 61 patients was 3 (0, 6) points; 20 patients (32.79%) reported no pruritus, while 11 (18.32%) , 17 (27.87%) , and 13 (21.31%) experienced mild, moderate, and severe pruritus, respectively. Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in the DM/CADM patients than in the healthy controls (91.0 [34.6, 273.0] vs. 25.0 [0.0, 83.5] pg/ml, Z = 1 502.50, P < 0.001]. The TSLP levels were significantly positively correlated with serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) , lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and ferritin, and significantly negatively correlated with pruritus VAS scores, eosinophil percentages, and eosinophil counts (all P < 0.05) . Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in the anti-MDA5 antibody-positive patients than in the anti-MDA5 antibody-negative patients (273.0 [103.8, 2 576.0] pg/ml vs. 67.4 [16.9, 218.7] pg/ml, P = 0.002) , as well as in the patients with A/SIP than in those without A/SIP (390.0 [168.2, 2 869.6] vs. 67.5 [21.8, 235.9] pg/ml, P < 0.001) . ROC analysis showed that the combined detection of serum TSLP levels and anti-MDA5 antibodies had a higher predictive value for A/SIP in DM/CADM patients (AUC = 0.922) than either the detection of anti-MDA5 antibodies (AUC = 0.831) or TSLP (AUC = 0.824) alone did. Conclusions:Serum TSLP levels were significantly higher in patients with DM/CADM than in healthy controls, with particularly higher levels observed in anti-MDA5 antibody-positive patients and patients with coexisting A/SIP, and were correlated with several indicators of disease activity. The combination of serum TSLP levels and anti-MDA5 antibodies provided greater predictive value for A/SIP than either of them alone did.

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