Objective To explore the effects and mechanisms of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (HUC-MSC)-derived exosomes (Exo) pretreated with Huangkui capsules on renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Methods HUC-MSCs were cultured in media containing different concentrations of Huangkui capsules for 24 hours to determine cell viability and select an appropriate concentration for subsequent experiments. HUC-MSCs were pretreated with 50 μg/mL Huangkui capsules for 24 hours, and Exo were extracted using an exosome extraction kit. The morphology was observed under a transmission electron microscope, particle size was measured by nanoparticle tracking analysis, and the expression of exosomal membrane surface marker proteins was detected by Western blot. Human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2 cells) were randomly divided into hypoxia/reoxygenation group (M group), hypoxia/reoxygenation + Exo group (E group), and hypoxia/reoxygenation + Huangkui capsules pretreated Exo group (H group). Western blotting was used to measure the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related proteins, and real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression of ERS-related gene messenger RNA (mRNA). Mice were randomly divided into sham operation group (Sham group), ischemia-reperfusion group (I/R group), ischemia-reperfusion + Exo group (E group), and ischemia-reperfusion + Huangkui capsules pretreated Exo group (H group). Renal histological assessment, serum creatinine (Scr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) measurement and inflammatory factor detection were performed 24 hours later. Results Both Exo and Huangkui capsules prereated Exo had a bilayer membrane structure and a cup-shaped morphology; their average particle sizes were 116.8 nm and 81.3 nm, respectively. Both expressed CD9, CD63, TSG101. Compared with the M group, the E group had decreased relative expression of transcription factor 6 (ATF6) and protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) proteins, increased mRNA relative expression, increased relative expression of C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) protein, and decreased mRNA relative expression. Compared with the E group, the H group had decreased relative expression of ATF6, PERK, CHOP proteins, and decreased mRNA relative expression of ATF6 and PERK (all P<0.05). Animal experimental results showed that compared with the Sham group, the I/R group had increased renal tubular injury scores, Scr, BUN, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-10, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels. Compared with the I/R group, the E and H groups had decreased renal tubular injury scores and Scr, BUN, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-18, TNF-α levels. Compared with the E group, the H group had decreased renal tubular injury scores and Scr, BUN, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-18, TNF-α levels (all P<0.05). Conclusions Huangkui capsules pretreatment HUC-MSC-derived Exo may alleviate renal IRI by inhibiting ERS.

BACKGROUND: Renal osteodystrophy (ROD) is a skeletal pathology associated with chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) that is characterized by aberrant bone mineralization and remodeling. ROD increases the risk of fracture and mortality in CKD patients. The underlying mechanisms of ROD remain elusive, partially due to the absence of an appropriate animal model. To address this gap, we established a stable mouse model of ROD using an optimized adenine-enriched diet and conducted exploratory analyses through ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-seq). METHODS: Eight-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were randomly allocated into three groups: control group ( n = 5), adenine and high-phosphate (HP) diet group ( n = 20), and the optimized adenine-containing diet group ( n = 20) for 12 weeks. We assessed the skeletal characteristics of model mice through blood biochemistry, microcomputed tomography (micro-CT), and bone histomorphometry. RNA-seq was utilized to profile gene expression changes of ROD. We elucidated the functions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using gene ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). DEGs were validated via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: By the fifth week, adenine followed by an HP diet induced rapid weight loss and high mortality rates in the mouse group, precluding further model development. Mice with optimized adenine diet-induced ROD displayed significant abnormalities in serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels, accompanied by pronounced hyperparathyroidism and hyperphosphatemia. The femur bone mineral density (BMD) of the model mice was lower than that of control mice, with substantial bone loss and cortical porosity. ROD mice exhibited substantial bone turnover with an increase in osteoblast and osteoclast markers. Transcriptomic profiling revealed 1907 genes with upregulated expression and 723 genes with downregulated expression in the femurs of ROD mice relative to those of control mice. Pathway analyses indicated significant enrichment of upregulated genes in the sphingolipid metabolism pathway. The significant upregulation of alkaline ceramidase 1 ( Acer1 ), alkaline ceramidase 2 ( Acer2 ), prosaposin-like 1 ( Psapl1 ), adenosine A1 receptor ( Adora1 ), and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 5 ( S1pr5 ) were successfully validated in mouse femurs by qRT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS Optimized adenine diet mouse model may be a valuable proxy for studying ROD. RNA-seq analysis revealed that the sphingolipid metabolism pathway is likely a key player in ROD pathogenesis, thereby providing new avenues for therapeutic intervention.
Animals ; Mice ; Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder/genetics* ; Male ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Sphingolipids/metabolism* ; Transcriptome/genetics* ; Signal Transduction/genetics* ; X-Ray Microtomography ; Adenine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2022.05.019.].

One of the basic questions in the aging field is whether there is a fundamental difference between the aging of lower invertebrates and mammals. A major difference between the lower invertebrates and mammals is the abundancy of noncoding RNAs, most of which are not conserved. We have previously identified a noncoding RNA Terc-53 that is derived from the RNA component of telomerase Terc. To study its physiological functions, we generated two transgenic mouse models overexpressing the RNA in wild-type and early-aging Terc-/- backgrounds. Terc-53 mice showed age-related cognition decline and shortened life span, even though no developmental defects or physiological abnormality at an early age was observed, indicating its involvement in normal aging of mammals. Subsequent mechanistic study identified hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (Hmmr) as the main effector of Terc-53. Terc-53 mediates the degradation of Hmmr, leading to an increase of inflammation in the affected tissues, accelerating organismal aging. adeno-associated virus delivered supplementation of Hmmr in the hippocampus reversed the cognition decline in Terc-53 transgenic mice. Neither Terc-53 nor Hmmr has homologs in C. elegans. Neither do arthropods express hyaluronan. These findings demonstrate the complexity of aging in mammals and open new paths for exploring noncoding RNA and Hmmr as means of treating age-related physical debilities and improving healthspan.
Animals ; Mice ; RNA, Untranslated/metabolism* ; Aging/genetics* ; Mice, Transgenic ; Telomerase/metabolism* ; RNA/genetics* ; Hippocampus/metabolism* ; Humans ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

Traditional in vitro models have inevitable limitations and there are significant differences in assessing drug efficacy and side effects as compared to human trials.Organ-on-a-chip technology simulates human organs in a physiological environment and functional chip with a high fidelity physiological or pathophysiological level,offering great innovative prospects for drug development.This paper mainly introduces the research progress and application of organ chip from the perspective of various systems in vivo.At the same time,the limitations of the current devel-opment process of organ chip and the future development direction are proposed.

More and more in-depth tumor mechanism research and clinical precision treatment have put forward higher requirements for the technology for the establishment of tumor models.More and more tumor organoids have been applied.This model is able to reproduce the genomic,transcriptome,proteome and other omics features of pa-rental tumors without heterogeneity found in cell line models.Based on these characteristics,tumor organoids have gradually become a representative preclinical model,facilitating the translation of new research results and precision treatment of patients.This article summarizes the latest progress of tumor organoids on R&D of technology and appli-cation,focusing on the current methods of establishing tumor organoids,opportunities and challenges in clinical and research application.

Objective To establish breast cancer organoids for a long time and to characterize their molecular ex-pression and test their sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs.Methods Breast cancer specimens were digested with col-lagenase to release cancer cells for organoid culture.The organoids were characterized by morphology and ER,PR,HER-2,CK expression by technology of histoimmunofluorescence.Among them,three were tested for paclitaxel,doxorubicin and cisplatin sensitivity.Results A total of 44 cases of breast cancer organoids were established,all of which showed dense spherical-like growth and ER,PR,HER-2,CK,matching their clinical counterpart.Breast cancer organoids were sensitive to chemotherapy drugs paclitaxel,doxorubicin and cisplatin.Conclusions Organoid model,as a new in vitro may reproduce the pathophysiology features with heterogeneity.

Objective To establish human and mouse pancreatic cancer cell strains stably expressing Cas9 protein,green fluorescent protein,red fluorescent proteins,luciferase-tdTomato,and to validate the activity of luciferase and gene editing of Cas9 function for pancreatic cancer research using luciferase and CRISPR/Cas9 system.Methods In human pancreatic cancer cells(AsPC-1,CFPAC-1,HPAC,BxPC-3,HS 766T,MIA PaCa-2,PANC-1,and SW 1990),and mouse pancreatic cancer cell(Pan02),the cells were infected with Cas9-expressing plas-mid pLv-EF1α-Cas9m1.1-Puro,and single-cell clones were selected for culture and expansion.After extracting the total protein,Western blot verified the expression level of Cas9;Infected with fluorescent protein expression plasmids pLv-EF1α-EGFP,pLv-EF1α-mCherry,pLv-EF1α-tdTomato,pLv-EF1α-Luc2-tdT,and selected single cell clones stably expressing fluorescent proteins were cultured and amplified under fluorescence microscope.Cas9 stable expression cell line was selected to be infected with pLv-EF1α-Luc2-tdT,and the mono-clonal culture of stable expression of fluorescent proteins was selected for expansion under fluorescence micro-scope.One of the cell lines were selected to be infected with Lv-EF1a-mCherry,and the mCherry-positive cells were sorted out by flow cytometry,and then the guide RNA of mCherry gene was then infected by lentivirus to tar-get the mCherry gene,and after cell expansion,mCherry knockdown was detected by fluorescence microscope observation and flow cytometry;5 BALB/c Nude mice were subcutaneously inoculated with MIA PaCa-2-Luc2-tdT cells(1.0×107/cells each),and imaged in vivo after 36 days.Results 48 human pancreatic cancer cell strains with stable Cas9 expression were screened(including 23 cells expressing Cas9m1.1,25 cells expressing Cas9m1.1-Luc2-tdT),33 pancreatic cancer cell strains with stable expression of fluorescent proteins were screened(8 cells expressing EGFP,7 expressing mCherry,and 9 each expressing Luc2-tdT and tdTomato).Cells expressing mCherry and Cas9 were infected with mCherry gRNA and mCherry was knocked down.In vivo imaging showed that both bioluminescence and fluorescence luminescence were present in MIA PaCa-2 cells ex-pressing Luc2-tdT.Conclusions 33 pancreatic cancer cell strains with stable expression of fluorescent proteins are successfully established,in which the Luc2-tdT-expressing cell strains have luciferase activity;48 pancreatic cancer cell strains with stable expression of Cas9 are successfully established,and the Cas9 protein has gene edi-ting activity,gene editing activity varies depending on the original cell strains.

Objective:To establish a prediction method of diopter based on sequence of ocular biological parameters.Methods:A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to extract the dataset. The dataset consisted of data collected from January 2022 to January 2023 by the Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, from children aged 5 to 13 years in 2 key schools and 2 general schools of Yangpu District, Shanghai. Children’s ocular biological parameters, including sex, age, diopter, axial length, corneal curvature, and anterior chamber depth were collected. The slope of the optimally fitted straight line was calculated using the least squares method. The least square-back propagation (BP) neural network model was established by combining baseline data and the pre-processed rate of the change of ocular biological parameters. The dataset was divided into the training set and the validation set according to the ratio of 8:2 for five-fold cross-validation. The model performance was evaluated by using the mean absolute error (MAE), mean squared error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE), correlation coefficient R, and coefficient of determination R2. Results:The optimal performances of R2, R, RMSE, MAE, and MSE of the least square-BP neural network model were 0.96, 0.981 9, 0.214 2, 0.139 9 D, 0.045 9, respectively. The regression equation between the predicted value and the true value of the diopter was y=0.97 x+ 0.014 8, R2=0.97, with good correlation. In the internal verification, MAE values of the diopter at three, six, nine, and twelve months of follow-up were 0.110 1, 0.136 0, 0.153 7, and 0.184 8 D, respectively, which achieved clinically acceptable performance (less than 0.25 D). In the external validation, the errors were less than 0.25 D at all ages. Conclusions:A prediction method of diopter based on sequence of ocular biological parameters was successfully developed.

Oral diseases concern almost every individual and are a serious health risk to the popula-tion.The restorative treatment of tooth and jaw defects is an important means to achieve oral function and support the appearance of the contour.Based on the principle of"learning from the nature",Deng Xu-liang's group of Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology has proposed a new concept of"microstructural biomimetic design and tissue adaptation of tooth/jaw materials"to address the worldwide problems of difficulty in treating dentine hypersensitivity,poor prognosis of restoration of tooth defects,and vertical bone augmentation of alveolar bone after tooth loss.The group has broken through the bottle-neck of multi-stage biomimetic technology from the design of microscopic features to the enhancement of macroscopic effects,and invented key technologies such as crystalline/amorphous multi-level assembly,ion-transportation blocking,and multi-physical properties of the micro-environment reconstruction,etc.The group also pioneered the cationic-hydrogel desensitizer,digital stump and core integrated restora-tions,and developed new crown and bridge restorative materials,gradient functionalisation guided tissue regeneration membrane,and electrically responsive alveolar bone augmentation restorative membranes,etc.These products have established new clinical strategies for tooth/jaw defect repair and achieved inno-vative results.In conclusion,the research results of our group have strongly supported the theoretical im-provement of stomatology,developed the technical system of oral hard tissue restoration,innovated the clinical treatment strategy,and led the progress of the stomatology industry.