Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are widely involved in lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism, cell growth and differentiation, and inflammation in the human body. PPARγ agonists can inhibit skin inflammatory response, protect epidermal barrier function, and repair skin injury. This review summarizes various roles of PPARγ in skin biology, and discusses its function in skin diseases, such as psoriasis and skin tumors.

Objective: To construct and identify an overexpression recombinant adenovirus vector carrying the mouse PTG gene(NM＿016854), and to lay a foundation for in-depth study of the function of PTG. Methods: The coding sequence of the mouse PTG gene was chemically synthesized, amplified by polymerase chain reaction(PCR), digested with restriction enzymes, and inserted into the GV314 vector(CMV-MCS-3 FLAG-SV40-EGFP) to obtain the recombinant shuttle plasmid pGV314-PTG. BamHⅠ/AgeⅠ double enzyme digestion was further carried out, and the product was transferred into linearized expression vector pDC315 to construct recombinant adenovirus Ad-PTG, which was transfected into HEK293 T cells and packaged into recombinant virus particles. After repeated amplification of several generations of HEK293 T cells, the recombinant adenovirus was purified and titer detected. Finally, PCR, Western blot and sequencing were used to verify the recombinant adenovirus. Results: After PCR, Western blot and sequencing, the results showed that the pGV314-CMV-MCS-3 FLAG-SV40-EGFP-PTG overexpression adenovirus vector(Ad-PTG) was successfully constructed, and the virus titer measured by end-point dilution method was 4×1010PFU/ml, Western blot and RT-qPCR showed that the protein and mRNA expression levels of PTG increased significantly. Conclusion The recombinant adenovirus vector carrying mouse PTG gene is successfully constructed, and the expression of PTG gene in hepatocytes is effectively up regulated.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application of a three-dimensional (3D) printing personalized guide for medial open wedge high tibial osteotomy(MOWHTO) in the treatment of knee varus osteoarthritis.Methods A retrospective study was conducted of the 16 patients with knee varus osteoarthritis who had been treated at Department of Orthopaedics,Zhengzhou Central Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2016 to January 2017.They were 6 men and 10 women,aged from 49 to 65 years (mean,55.8 years).Bilateral knees were involved in 2 cases and a unilateral knee was involved in 14 cases.Their disease duration ranged from one to 12 years (mean,5.3 years).A personalized guide for MOWHTO was designed and manufactured by 3D printing for every patient preoperatively.All the patients underwent knee arthroscopy before osteotomy which was assisted by the personalized guide.The femorotibial angle (FTA),medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA),weight bearing line (WBL),posterior tibial slope (PTSA) and the patellofemoral height Insall-Salvati index (IS index) were measured on their X-ray radiographs preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively.The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score and visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the outcomes at the final follow-ups.Results All surgeries were successful.The 16 patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months (mean,9.1 months).The FTA,MPTA,WBL and IS index at postoperative 6 months were significantly improved than the preoperative values (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference between postoperative PTSA and preoperative PTSA (P =0.990).The mean VAS scores for the 16 patients at the final follow-ups were 0.8 ± 0.7 peints,significantly better than the preoperative ones (4.2 ± 0.9 points) (P ＜ 0.05);their mean postoperative HSS scores (89.3 ± 6.7 points) were also significantly improved than the preoperative ones (61.9 ± 10.5 points) (P ＜ 0.05).According to the HSS scores at the final follow-ups,the surgical outcomes were excellent in 14 knees,good in 3 and fair in one.Conclusion A 3D printed osteotomy guide can be used to perform precise osteotomy in MOWHTO for knee varus osteoarthritis,leading to effective correction of the alignment of the lower limb and good short-term surgical outcomes.