Objective To investigate the role of Osteonectin secreted by skeletal muscle in promoting the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells(BMSC)in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis(AIS).Methods Thirty patients with AIS were included and divided into the mild AIS group and the severe AIS group based on the Cobb angle measured on the X-ray films.The bone mineral density(BMD)of the lumbar spine and skeletal muscles was compared between the two groups.BMSC were collected from patients in the both groups,and the protein expression of CD73 and CD90 were detected by flow cytometry,the mRNA expression levels of Runx2,Osterix,and Osteocalcin were detected by qRT-PCR,and the activity of alkaline phosphatase(ALP)was detected by ELISA.The skeletal muscle from both groups was collected to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels of Osteonectin,and the serum Osteonectin levels in both groups were detected by ELISA.The BMSC cultured in vitro were divided into the BMSC group(no special treatment)and the BMSC+Osteonectin group(addition of Osteonectin),and the mRNA expression levels of Runx2,Osterix and Osteocalcin,as well as ALP activity were detected.Results Compared with the mild AIS group,the severe AIS group had significantly lower BMD of the lumbar spine and skeletal muscle(P<0.05),lower mRNA expression levels of Runx2,Osterix and Osteocalcin(P<0.05)and lower ALP activity in BMSC(P<0.05),lower mRNA and protein expression levels of Osteonectin in skeletal muscle(P<0.05)and lower serum Osteonectin levels(P<0.05).Compared with the BMSC group,the mRNA expression levels of Runx2,Osterix and Osteocalcin,as well as ALP activity in the BMSC+Osteonectin group were significantly increased(P<0.05).Conclusion In patients with AIS,the secretion of Osteonectin by skeletal muscle is reduced,and the osteogenic differentiation ability of BMSC is decreased.Exogenous addition of Osteonectin can improve the osteogenic differentiation of BMSC,which may contribute to the recovery of AIS.

As a ligand-dependent transcription factor,retinoid-associated orphan receptor γt(RORyt)that controls T helper(Th)17 cell differentiation and interleukin(IL)-17 expression plays a critical role in the pro-gression of several inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.An emerging novel approach to the therapy of these diseases thus involves controlling the transcriptional capacity of RORyt to decrease Th17 cell development and IL-17 production.Several RORyt inhibitors including both antagonists and inverse agonists have been discovered to regulate the transcriptional activity of RORyt by binding to orthosteric-or allosteric-binding sites in the ligand-binding domain.Some of small-molecule inhibitors have entered clinical evaluations.Therefore,in current review,the role of RORyt in Th17 regulation and Th17-related inflammatory and autoimmune diseases was highlighted.Notably,the recently developed RORyt inhibitors were summarized,with an emphasis on their optimization from lead compounds,ef-ficacy,toxicity,mechanisms of action,and clinical trials.The limitations of current development in this area were also discussed to facilitate future research.

There is still a serious challenge of the measurement of critical quality attributes (CQAs) related to clinical efficacy for Chinese materia medica manufacturing. To overcome this challenge, an integrated strategy of biosensor and ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was proposed using Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills as a trial. Firstly, an original biosensor was created using a semiconductor chip material high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) as the transducer and the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) as the identification element. By this MIF-HEMT biosensor, the efficacy on stoke of different components from Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills was measured. It was clear that all three components of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills had strong therapeutic effects on stroke, especially the section A, the K_D of which reached to 8.722×10^-10 g·mL^-1. Furthermore, MIF-HEMT biosensor integrated UPLC-MS/MS was introduced to identify the efficacy CQAs of different components of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills. As a result, 19 potential CQAs, such as albiforin, paeoniflorin, and prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, were measured as the efficacy CQAs of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills on stroke treatment by MIF. These results provided vital measurement techniques and methodological guidance for the CQAs study of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills intervention in MIF-induced stroke treatment. This also provided an essential guideline for the efficient utilization and quality control measurement of high-quality classical recipes.

Aiming at the hysteresis and destructiveness of off-line static detection of critical quality attribute of the moisture content of the raw material unit of the traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing process, honey-processed Tussilago farfara, honey-processed Astragalus and honey-processed Glycyrrhiza uralensis were used as the research carriers, and the drying method was used to measure the moisture content as a reference value. The moving stage was used to simulate the movement process of samples on the conveyor belt in the actual on-site production process, and near-infrared (NIR) spectra were collected, combined with machine learning, to establish NIR on-site dynamic detection model of moisture content in multi-variety honey-processed Chinese herbal slice. The results show that the second derivative method is used to preprocess the spectrum. The number of decision trees (ntree), the number of random features (max feature), and the minimum number of samples for generating leaf nodes (node size) are selected: 46, 76, and 8, respectively. The quantitative analysis model of moisture content has the best effect. The prediction coefficient of determination (the prediction coefficient of determination, R²_pre) and the root mean square error of prediction (root mean square error of prediction, RMSEP) of the model were 0.903 2 and 0.330 2, respectively. The NIR quantitative model for the moisture content of multi-variety honey-processed Chinese herbal slice established in this study has good predictive performance, and can achieve rapid, accurate and non-destructive quantitative analysis of the moisture content of honey-processed Tussilago farfara, honey-processed Astragalus and honey-processed Glycyrrhiza uralensis at the same time, and provides a method for determining the moisture content of honey-processed Chinese herbal slice of the raw material unit of the traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing process.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of electroacupuncture (EA) in experimental models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in vivo. METHODS: Senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice were used as AD models and received EA at Yingxiang (LI 20, bilateral) and Yintang (GV 29) points for 20 days. For certain experiments, SAMP8 mice were injected intravenously with human fibrin (2 mg). The Morris water maze test was used to assess cognitive and memory abilities. The changes of tight junctions of blood-brain barrier (BBB) in mice were observed by transmission electron microscope. The expressions of fibrin, amyloid- β (Aβ), and ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (IBa-1) in mouse hippocampus (CA1/CA3) were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blot or immunohistochemical staining. The expression of fibrin in mouse plasma was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expressions of tight junction proteins zonula occludens-1 and claudin-5 in hippocampus were detected by qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. Apoptosis of hippocampal neurons was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. RESULTS: Fibrin was time-dependently deposited in the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice and this was inhibited by EA treatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Furthermore, EA treatment suppressed the accumulation of Aβ in the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice (P<0.01), which was reversed by fibrin injection (P<0.05 or P<0.01). EA improved SAMP8 mice cognitive impairment and BBB permeability (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Moreover, EA decreased reactive oxygen species levels and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice, which was reversed by fibrin injection (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Mechanistically, EA inhibited the promoting effect of fibrin on the high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1)/toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)/nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) signaling pathways (P<0.01). CONCLUSION EA may potentially improve cognitive impairment in AD via inhibition of fibrin/A β deposition and deactivation of the HMGB1/TLR4 and RAGE/NADPH signaling pathways.
Mice ; Humans ; Animals ; NADP/metabolism* ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; HMGB1 Protein/metabolism* ; Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products/metabolism* ; Blood-Brain Barrier/metabolism* ; Neuroinflammatory Diseases ; Electroacupuncture ; Alzheimer Disease/therapy* ; Hippocampus/metabolism* ; Amyloid beta-Peptides/metabolism*

Objective: To explore the diagnostic values of HK2 testing and single-cell sequencing in the urothelial carcinoma (UC). Methods: The qualified urine specimens of 265 suspected UC patients or postoperative patients from the Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China were collected. Both exfoliative cytology and HK2 testing were performed on clinically suspected UC or postoperative patients. The performance of diagnostic cytology and HK2, including consistency, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value, was evaluated based on histopathological, clinical and imaging diagnosis. Isolated HK2 metabolically abnormal cells were subject to single-cell sequencing to verify the reliability of HK2 detection performance and to explore the molecular characteristics of UC. Results: The concordance rate of HK2 testing and cytology for detecting UC was 90.3% (102/113, Kappa=0.604). Compared with cytology, the sensitivity of HK2 was significantly higher (85.2% versus 75.6%, P=0.024). The detection sensitivity of combined HK2 testing and cytology was increased to 91.1%. HK2 testing was significantly more sensitive than cytology for diagnosing UC in the upper urinary tract (81.8% versus 65.5%, P=0.022). It was also more sensitive than cytology for diagnosing early-stage UC (82.6% versus 69.5%, P=0.375) and low-grade UC (69.6% versus 47.8%, P=0.125). Single-cell sequencing of the ten patients, whose samples were positive for HK2, demonstrated highly concordant copy number variations (CNVs) in tumor cells from the same UC patient, with heterogeneity in CNV profiles among different patients. Deletion of chromosome 8p was found in 3 of the 4 urine samples of renal pelvis UC. The 2 patients with benign lesions had no CNVs in all sequenced cells. Conclusions: The test for abnormal urinary glycolytic HK2 metabolism can assist urine cytology to improve the sensitivity of UC diagnosis, and it provides a novel and reliable approach for early detection of upper urinary tract UC and lower grade UC. Meanwhile, this study has preliminarily revealed the feasibility of single-cell sequencing in urinary samples, which is expected to improve the diagnostic specificity of HK2 testing.
Humans ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell/pathology* ; Reproducibility of Results ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Ureteral Neoplasms ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of a modified three-point bending fracture device for establishing a rabbit model of closed tibial fracture. METHODS: The model of closed tibial fracture was established in 40 6-month-old male New Zealand white rabbits with a body weight of 2.5 to 3.0 kg, and the model was verified at 6 weeks after operation. Five rabbits underwent pre modeling without temporary external fixation before modeling, and then were fractured with a modified three-point bending fracture device;35 rabbits underwent formal modeling. Before modeling, needles were inserted, and splints were fixed externally, and then the fracture was performed with a modified three-point bending fracture device. The fracture model and healing process were evaluated by imaging and histopathology at 2 hours, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks after operation. RESULTS: Two hours after modeling, the prefabricated module showed oblique fracture in varying degrees and the broken end shifted significantly;Except for 1 comminuted fracture, 2 curved butterfly fractures and 2 without obvious fracture line, the rest were simple transverse and oblique fractures without obvious displacement in formal modeling group. According to the judgment criteria, the success rate of the model was 85.71%. Four weeks after modeling, the fixed needle and splint of the experimental rabbits were in good position, the fracture alignment was good, the fracture line was blurred, many continuous callus growths could be seen around the fracture end, and the callus density was high. Six weeks after modeling, many thick new bone trabeculae at the fracture, marginal osteoblasts attached, and a small number of macrophages were seen under the microscope. The intramembrane osteogenesis area was in the preparation bone stage, the medullary cavity at the fracture had been partially reopened, the callus was in the absorption plastic stage, and many osteoclasts were visible. The X-ray showed that the fracture line almost disappeared, part of the medullary cavity had been opened, the external callus was reduced around, the callus was in the plastic stage, and the bone cortex was continuous. It suggests that the fracture model showed secondary healing. CONCLUSION The improved three-point bending fracture device can establish a stable rabbit model of closed tibial fracture, and the operation is simple, which meets the requirements of closed fracture model in basic research related to fracture healing.
Rabbits ; Male ; Animals ; Bony Callus ; Fracture Healing ; Tibial Fractures/surgery* ; Osteogenesis ; Radiography

Objective This study aims to analyze the clinical and imaging characteristics of atrial fibrillation(AF)patients with left atrial appendage(LAA)hypoplasia and to explore the effectiveness of anticoagulation in preventing left atrial thrombus.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on five AF patients with LAA hypoplasia.The patients in this study were diagnosed using left atrial computed tomography venography venography(CTV)and/or transesophageal echocardiography(TEE)out of a total of 3 068 patients who were admitted to Zhoupu hospital between July 2018 and October 2023.The analysis included an examination of clinical features,and imaging data,and anticoagulation treatment was analyzed.Results The study found that out of the 5 patients with LAA hypoplasia,only one patient underwent both left atrial CTV and TEE examinations.One patient underwent chest CT scan and TEE,while the remaining three patients underwent complete left atrial CTV and were all diagnosed with LAA hypoplasia.The diagnosis relied on the delay and venous phase of multiplanar reconstruction of left atrial CTV,while TEE was only able to detect small crevices or no abnormalities.The incidence of LAA hypoplasia was 1.63‰.The characteristics of LAA hypoplasia include a small LAA,thick LAA wall,and LAA without cavity or small.All five AF patients were complicated with cardio-cerebrovascular atherosclerosis,one patient underwent cryoablation,and and antiplatelet or anticoagulant regimen or both therapy strategy was selected.Conclusions LAA hypoplasia is a unique subtype of LAA,that can be diagnosed through multi-plane reconstruction in the delayed and venous phase of left atrial CTV.TEE can serve as a supplementary diagnostic tool,and further research is needed to determine the anticoagulation regimen for AF patients with LAA hypoplasia.

This study investigated the role of protein kinase D(PKD)in the replication of human coronavirus 229E(HCoV-229E)and its potential molecular mechanisms.Using MRC-5 cells as a model,we assessed the expression levels of PKD family genes and proteins through qPCR and western blotting.We knocked down Prkd3 with siRNA and inhibited PKD activity with CRT0066101 to examine the replication lev-els of HCoV-229E-infected cells.Cell viability was assessed with CCK8,viral titration was determined with the TCID50,and immunofluorescence staining was used to assess HCoV-229E expression and the structure of the trans-Golgi network(TGN).The level of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate(PI(4,5)P2)was measured to reflect phosphatidylinositol 4-kinaseⅢβ(PI4KⅢβ)activity.PI4KⅢβ activity was inhibited with a PI4KⅢβ inhibitor(BQR695)to observe changes in TGN struc-ture and HCoV-229E replication after cell infection.CRT0066101 was used to inhibit PKD activity in Vero-E6 cells,and HCoV-229E replication levels were examined post-infection.The expression levels of PKD family genes and proteins,including Prkd1,Prkd2 and Prkd3,significantly increased during HCoV-229E infection.Knockdown of PKD3 significantly inhibited HCoV-229E mRNA levels and titers with respect to those in the control group(t=8.999,P＜0.001;t=6.920,P＜0.001),whereas overexpression of PKD3 increased HCoV-229E mRNA levels and titers(t=6.630,P＜0.001;t=5.794,P＜0.001).CRT0066101 also significantly inhibited HCoV-229E mRNA levels and titers(t=6.931,P＜0.001;t=4.055,P＜0.01).Im-munofluorescence staining indicated that CRT0066101 inhibited TGN fission caused by HCoV-229E infection.Inhibition of PI4KⅢβ activity significantly decreased PI(4,5)P2 levels,and BQR695 rescued the elevated PI(4,5)P2 levels caused by PKD overexpression(t=6.671,P＜0.01).BQR695 decreased TGN fission in HCoV-229E-infected cells,and HCoV-229E mRNA levels and titers(t=5.151,P＜0.001;t=7.744,P＜0.001).CRT0066101 inhibited HCoV-229E mRNA levels and titers in Vero-E6 cells(t=7.480,P＜0.001;t=7.228,P＜0.01).This study revealed that PKD regulates TGN fission through modu-latingPI4KⅢβ and is involved in HCoV-229E replication.PKD inhibitors and PI4KⅢβ inhibitors significantly decreased HCoV-229E replication,thus providing important insights for future research onthe treatment of coronavirus infections.

This study is based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography(UPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS), and network pharmacology methods to analyze and predict potential quality markers(Q-markers) of Artemisiae Argyi Folium. First, UPLC and GC-MS techniques were used to analyze the content of 12 non-volatile components and 8 volatile components in the leaves of 33 Artemisia argyi germplasm resources as candidate Q-markers. Subsequently, network pharmacology was employed to construct a "component-target-pathway-efficacy" network to screen out core Q-markers, and the biological activity of the markers was validated using molecular docking. Finally, cluster analysis and principal component analysis were performed on the content of Q-markers in the 33 A. argyi germplasm resources. The results showed that 18 candidate components, 60 targets, and 185 relationships were identified, which were associated with 72 pathways related to the treatment of 11 diseases and exhibited 5 other effects. Based on the combination of freedom and component specificity, six components, including eupatilin, cineole, β-caryophyllene, dinatin, jaceosidin, and caryophyllene oxide were selected as potential Q-markers for Artemisiae Argyi Folium. According to the content of these six markers, cluster analysis divided the 33 A. argyi germplasm resources into three groups, and principal component analysis identified S14 as having the highest overall quality. This study provides a reference for exploring Q-markers of Artemisiae Argyi Folium, establishing a quality evaluation system, further studying its pharmacological mechanisms, and breeding new varieties.
Molecular Docking Simulation ; Network Pharmacology ; Plant Breeding ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Artemisia/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry*