Silicosis is a leading cause of occupational disease-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, but the molecular basis underlying its development remains unclear. An accumulating body of evidence supports gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis as a key component in the development of various pulmonary diseases. However, there is little experimental evidence connecting silicosis and GSDMD-driven pyroptosis. In this work, we investigated the role of GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis in silicosis. Single-cell RNA sequencing of healthy and silicosis human and murine lung tissues indicated that GSDMD-induced pyroptosis in macrophages was relevant to silicosis progression. Through microscopy we then observed morphological alterations of pyroptosis in macrophages treated with silica. Measurement of interleukin-1β release, lactic dehydrogenase activity, and real-time propidium iodide staining further revealed that silica induced pyroptosis of macrophages. Additionally, we verified that both canonical (caspase-1-mediated) and non-canonical (caspase-4/5/11-mediated) signaling pathways mediated silica-induced pyroptosis activation, in vivo and in vitro. Notably, Gsdmd knockout mice exhibited dramatically alleviated silicosis phenotypes, which highlighted the pivotal role of pyroptosis in this disease. Taken together, our results demonstrated that macrophages underwent GSDMD-dependent pyroptosis in silicosis and inhibition of this process could serve as a viable clinical strategy for mitigating silicosis.

Objective:To investigate the contamination status of SARS-CoV-2 in imported frozen seafood from a Russia cargo ship in Qingdao and to analyze the risk factors for infection in local stevedores.Methods:The method of "two-stage, full coverage and mixed sampling" was used to collect the seafood packaging samples for the nucleic acid detection of SARS-CoV-2 by real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR. A unified questionnaire was designed to investigate 71 stevedores in two shifts through telephone interview. The stevedores were divided into two groups, with 23 in the shit with two infections was group A and 48 in the shift without infection was group B. Software Epi Info7.2 was used to identify the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections in the stevedores.Results:In the frozen seafood from a Russia cargo ship, the total positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in the frozen seafood was 11.53% (106/919). The positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in the frozen seafood unloaded by group A (14.29%,70/490) was significantly higher than that in the frozen seafood unloaded by group B (8.39%,36/429)( χ2=7.79, P=0.01) and the viral loads detected in the frozen seafood unloaded by group A were higher than those detected in the frozen seafood unloaded by group B. The scores of personal protection and behaviors in the stevedores in group A were significantly lower than those in group B ( P<0.05), and toilet use, smoking and improper hand washing before meals were the risk factors for the infection. Conclusions:The imported frozen seafood was contaminated by SARS-CoV-2 and the contamination distribution was uneven. Supervision and management of personal occupational protection and behaviors of workers engaged in imported frozen food transportation should be strengthened. It is suggested that a closed-loop monitoring and management system for the whole process of "fishing-transport- loading/unloading" should be established by marine fishery authority.

Objective: To explore the application value of closed negative pressure drainage technique in wound healing of hand trauma. Methods: From August 2013 to October 2017, 80 patients with hand trauma in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Cixi were divided into two groups according to the random principle, with 40 cases in each group.The control group was treated with conventional wound repair, and the observation group was treated with closed negative pressure drainage.The repair effect, healing, secondary operation, antibiotic use, hospitalization, histopathological score and patients' satisfaction were observed. Results: The total effective rate of the observation group (97.50%) was obviously higher than that of the control group(80.00%)(χ²=6.13, P<0.05). The time of healing, length of hospital stay and the use time of antimicrobial agents in the observation group were (15.11±2.43)d, (16.27±1.79)d and (6.06±0.65)d, respectively, which were all lower than those in the control group(t=14.43, 13.31, 23.29, all P<0.05). The second operation rate of the observation group (5.00%) was lower than that of the control group(P<0.05), and the histopathological score in the observation group (7.11±0.53) was higher than that in the control group(P<0.05). The satisfaction rate of the observation group (100.00%) was obviously higher than that of the control group(χ²=6.49, P<0.05). Conclusion In the treatment of wound healing of hand trauma, the application of closed negative pressure drainage technology is better, which can effectively control the disease and is worthy of further promotion and use.

Tumor metastasis is one of the important biological characteristics of malignant tumor,which is closely related with the prognosis of the cancer patients.High expression of ADAM8 in varieties of tumors was revealed in many recent studies,and such aberrant expression played a crucial role in regulating of tumor metastasis.Studies showed that overexpression of ADAM8 attenuated the intercellular adhesion effect,promoted tumor angiogenesis,and enhanced the degradation of ECM as well as the releasing of cytokines.Therefore,suppression of ADAM8 may lead to inhibition of tumor metastasis,which makes ADAM8 a particular attractive target as it can be used as a prognostic indicator and a potential therapeutic target of malignant tumor.A review about the relations between ADAM8 protein′s abnormal expression and tumor occurrence was discussed in this paper,also include discussion about the mechanisms of ADAM8 protein′s disorder-induced tumor formation,as well as therapeutic strategies based on ADAM8-targeted,which may provide references for follow-up research and clinical treatment.

The study on tumor metabolism has been gradually be-come a hot spot in recent years .A lot of proteins involved in the regulation of tumor metabolism especially the glucose transporter protein 1(GLUT1).As a key regulatory factor mediating energy metabolism within tumor cells , GLUT1 can regulate the glucose intake and maintain the basic level of metabolism in tumor cells . More importantly, the abnormal expression of GLUT1 was asso-ciated with many kinds of tumors , of which GLUT1 was used to meet the energy requirement for the fast growth of tumor .Thus GLUT1 also played a crucial role in growth , differentiation and metastasis of tumor cells and prognosis of tumors .Meanwhile , as three-dimensional crystal structure of GLUT 1 was determined , it is possible to design the small molecular inhibitors of GLUT 1, which can realize “starve to death” tumor cells.GLUT1 can be a particularly attractive target for tumor treatment and interfer-ence.The relationship between abnormal expression of GLUT 1 protein and tumor metabolism was reviewed . Moreover , the mechanism of tumor metabolism regulated by GLUT 1 protein ex-pression and treatment of cancers were discussed , which may provide references for future research and clinical treatment .

BACKGROUND:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in a variety of diseases. Investigation of miRNA expression profile in degenerative lumbar scoliosis is beneficial for understanding its pathogenesis, providing a novel therapeutic target. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that miRNAs promote intervertebral disc degeneration through the interleukin-10/STAT3 signaling pathway, a potential regulator of intervertebral disc degeneration.
OBJECTIVE:To compare the differentialy expressed miRNAs in the intervertebral disc tissues from patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis and normal controls and to identify specific miRNAs in degenerative lumbar scoliosis folowed by functional validation.
METHODS: An initial screening of miRNA expression in nucleus pulposus tissues by miRNA Solexa Sequencing was performed in samples from 10 patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis and 10 controls, respectively. Subsequently, differentialy expressed miRNAs were validated using qRT-PCR. The level of differentialy expressed miRNAs in degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues was investigated. Then, functional analysis of the miRNAs in regulating type II colagen expression was carried out. Western blot and luciferase reporter assay were used to further confirm the target gene.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We identified 30 miRNAs that were differentialy expressed (16 upregulated and 14 downregulated) in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis compared with controls. Folowing qRT-PCR confirmation, Has-let-7f was significantly down-regulated in degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues as compared with controls. Moreover, its level was correlated with the severity of disc degeneration. Overexpression of Has-let-7f promoted type II colagen expression in nucleus pulposus cels. Knockout of interleukin-10 induced effects on nucleus pulposus cels similar to Has-let-7f. Bioinformatics target prediction identified interleukin-10 as a putative target of Has-let-7f. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that Has-let-7f altered the expression of STAT3 and matrix metaloproteinase-2. These findings indicate that the downregulation of Has-let-7f induces type II colagen loss by directly targeting inleukin-10, thereby resulting in intervertebral disc degeneration and degenerative lumbar scoliosis. Has-let-7f is likely to be a novel therapeutic target for degenerative lumbar scoliosis.

BACKGROUND:MicroRNAs are widely involved in the regulation of protein expression, and play a critical role in many physiological and pathological processes in the body. But microRNA expression profile in degenerative lumbar scoliosis is rarely reported and understood. OBJECTIVE:To compare the microRNA expression profile in the normal intervertebral disc and degenerative lumbar scoliosis and to identify degenerative lumbar scoliosis-specific microRNAs, folowed by functional validation. METHODS: Total RNA samples were extracted from the nucleus pulposus tissues of 57 patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis as experimental groups and the normal nucleus pulposus tissues of 42 patients with lumbar fractures as control group. An initial screening of differentialy expressed microRNAs in the nucleus pulposus tissues by microRNA microarray was performed in 10 samples from each group. Subsequently, differentialy expressed microRNAs were validated using real-time quantitative RCR. The level of differentialy expressed microRNAs in the degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues was investigated. Then, the functional analysis of microRNAs in regulating colagen II expression was carried out. Western blot and luciferase reporter assay were also used to detect target genes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:We identified 22 microRNAs that were differentialy expressed (17 upregulated and 5 downregulated) in degenerative lumbar scoliosis patients compared with the controls. Folowing real-time quantitative RCR confirmation, miR-491-5p was significantly down-regulated in degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues in comparison with the controls. Moreover, its level was closely correlated with the pathological grading of disc degeneration. Overexpression of miR-491-5p promoted type II colagen expression in nucleus pulposus cels. Bioinformatics target prediction identified matrix metaloproteinase-9 as a putative target of miR-491-5p. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that miR-491-5p directly targeted matrix metaloproteinase-9 and affected its protein expression in nucleus pulposus cels. These results show that the downregulation of miR-491-5p induces type II colagen loss by directly targeting matrix metaloproteinase-9, thereby resulting in degeneration of the intervertebral disc and degenerative lumbar scoliosis. This study also underscores the potential of miR-491-5p as a novel therapeutic target in degenerative lumbar scoliosis.

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated protein 1 (TRAP1),as one of the main members of the heat shock protein 90 family, resists oxidative stress-induced apoptosis as well as predominantly maintains the integrity of mitochondria and cellu-lar homeostasis. Abnormal expression of TRAP1 was herein closely related to the onset and progression of a wide variety of tumors. As a key regulatory factor mediating energy metabolism within tumor cells, TRAP1 may be able to kill them by interfer-ing with such metabolism. More importantly, the abnormal ex-pression of TRAP1 played a less important role in normal cells, allowing TRAP1 to be a particularly attractive target as it can be used in tumor treatment or interference. The relationship be-tween abnormal expression of TRAP1 protein and tumor onset was reviewed. Besides, the mechanism by which disordered TRAP1 protein expression induced tumor formation was postula-ted, which may provide references for future research and clini-cal treatment.

Aim To screen the potential inhibitors of post-transcriptional activity of pro-inflammatory media-tor TNF-α from the lipophilic constituents in Chinese Medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge ( Danshen) , we es-tablished dual luciferase reporter gene system pGL3-TNF-α3′UTR ( 3′untranslated region ) co-transfected with Renilla control gene. Methods Complementary DNA ( cDNA) template was obtained from human um-bilical vein endothelial cells ( HUVECs ) . The full length DNA of TNF-α 3′-UTR was amplified through PCR, and then connected the luciferase reporter vector pGL3-control after enzyme digestion. pGL3-TNF-α 3′UTR constructs were co-transfected with pSVRenilla into the mononuclear macrophages RAW264. 7 cells. The relative activity of reporter genes was measured by dual luciferase reporter ( DLR ) assay system after the stimulus of lipopolysaccharide ( LPS ) in presence or absence of tanshinones compounds. Results The pGL3-TNF-α3′UTR luciferase reporter gene was suc-cessfully constructed. The cloning DNA fragment and sequence were both consistent with the GENBANK da-tabase. LPS significantly induced the relative reporter activityof RAW264 . 7 cells transfected with pGL3-TNF-α 3′UTR. Among four tanshinones compounds, we found only cryptotanshinone could significantly de-crease LPS-induced relative reporter activity. Conclu-sion The pGL3-TNF-α 3′UTR construct combined with DLR assay system was successfully established, which can be used to discover the agents such as cryp-totanshinone that regulate the post-transcription of TNF-α in treatment of inflammatory and malignant dis-eases.

Tumor metastasis is one of the most important biologi-cal characteristics of malignant tumor, and it is also the main factors that cause treatment failure and poor prognosis. Clinical studies have shown that the number of platelets in patients with malignant tumor increased more significantly than that in benign tumor patients and healthy people, which indicate that platelet might be involved in the development process of tumor. Further study found that in the process of cancer spreading to blood, platelet could interact with tumor cells to form tumor emboli, helped tumor cells escape from immune surveillance, thus pro-moted the tumor metastasis. In recent years, related mechanisms on platelets in promoting tumor metastasis were revealed gradual-ly, and several targeted therapies based on platelets were also carried out. This paper reviews the role of platelet in mediating tumor metastasis by hematogenous spread and its mechanisms and discusses the therapy strategies that target platelet, which may provide references for follow-up research and clinical treat-ment.