BMP/TGF-β signaling as a modulator of neurodegeneration in ALS

This commentary focuses on the emerging intersection between BMP/TGF-β signaling roles in nervous system function and the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease state. Future research is critical to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of this intersection of the cellular processes disrupted in ALS and those influenced by BMP/TGF-β signaling, including synapse structure, neurotransmission, plasticity, and neuroinflammation. Such knowledge promises to inform us of ideal entry points for the targeted modulation of dysfunctional cellular processes in an effort to abrogate ALS pathologies. It is likely that different interventions are required, either at discrete points in disease progression, or across multiple dysfunctional processes which together lead to motor neuron degeneration and death. We discuss the challenging, but intriguing idea that modulation of the pleiotropic nature of BMP/TGF-β signaling could be advantageous, as a way to simultaneously treat defects in more than one cell process across different forms of ALS.     

天麻钩藤汤加减治疗肝阳上亢型原发性高血压疗效观察及对神经递质节律的影响

目的:观察天麻钩藤汤加减治疗原发性高血压肝阳上亢型患者的临床治疗效果及对神经递质节律影响。方法:选取2017年1月至2018年1月郑州市第六人民医院收治的原发性高血压肝阳上亢型患者100例作为研究对象,将达到病例选择范围的93例患者按照治疗药物不同分为对照组(n=44)和观察组(n=49)。对照组采取西药基础治疗,观察组采用西药基础治疗+天麻钩藤汤加减治疗。疗程结束后,观察2组血压水平、神经递质节律、中医症状积分。结果:1)观察组晨起平均收缩压、24 h平均收缩压、夜间平均收缩压、晨起平均舒张压、夜间平均舒张压、24 h平均舒张压明显低于对照组(P<0.05);2)观察组神经肽Y、神经元特异性烯醇化酶、血管加压素、强啡肽-A显著低于对照组(P<0.05),P物质、脑源性神经营养因子显著高于对照组(P<0.05);3)观察组甘氨酸、γ-氨基丁酸显著低于对照组(P<0.05),天冬氨酸、谷氨酸显著高于对照组(P<0.05);4)观察组治疗后中医症状总积分显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。结论:针对原发性高血压肝阳上亢型患者,在西药治疗基础上,增加天麻钩藤汤加减治疗,能够有效促进患者神经递质节律的恢复,调节血压,同时对降低中医症状积分,值得临床推广应用。     

Fibrous dysplasia of the jaws: Integrating molecular pathogenesis with clinical,radiological, and histopathological features

Fibrous dysplasia is a non‐neoplastic developmental process that affects the craniofacial bones, characterized by painless enlargement as a result of bone substitution by abnormal fibrous tissue. Postzygotic somatic activating mutations in the GNAS1 gene cause fibrous dysplasia and have been extensively investigated, as well as being helpful in the differential diagnosis of the disease. Fibrous dysplasia may involve one (monostotic) or multiple bones (polyostotic), sporadically or in association with McCune‐Albright syndrome, Jeffe‐Lichenstein syndrome, or Mazabreud syndrome. This review summarizes the current knowledge on fibrous dysplasia, emphasizing the value of integrating the understanding of its molecular pathogenesis with the clinical, radiological, and histopathological features. In addition, we address important aspects related to the differential diagnosis and patient management.     

Vegetarians have a lower fasting insulin level and higher insulin sensitivity than matched omnivores: A cross-sectional study

Background and aims

Potential associations of vegetarian diet patterns with fasting insulin (FI) and insulin sensitivity remain unclear. We aimed to investigate whether vegetarian diets were associated with FI and insulin sensitivity in a cross-sectional study in Chinese vegetarians and matched omnivores and then to test whether it is independent of body mass index (BMI).

双硫仑对口腔鳞癌细胞上皮-间充质转化的影响及机制探讨

目的 基于Smad4突变状态探讨双硫仑对口腔鳞癌(oral squamous cell carcinoma,OSCC)细胞上皮-间充质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transformation,EMT)的影响。方法 将2017年6月—2018年6月在安徽医科大学附属口腔医院进行肿瘤切除术的46例OSCC患者手术切除的癌组织和癌旁组织切片纳入研究,同时购置人舌鳞状细胞癌细胞系SCC-25和CAL-27。采用免疫组织化学染色观察组织中Smad4的表达情况,Western免疫印迹测定细胞中Smad4的表达情况,分析双硫仑对TGF-β1诱导的细胞EMT迁移、侵袭、形态学以及p38、JNK和ERK表达的影响。采用SPSS 20.0软件包对数据进行统计分析。结果 癌组织中Smad4阳性表达率显著低于癌旁组织(P<0.05)。双硫仑浓度为5、10、20 μmol/L时,SCC-25和CAL-27细胞存活率与对照组相比无显著差异(P>0.05),双硫仑浓度≥30 μmol/L后,SCC-25和CAL-27细胞存活率显著小于对照组(P<0.05)。经TGF-β1处理后,SCC-25和CAL-27细胞形态由上皮样转变为间质样,上皮性钙黏附蛋白(E-cadherin)表达显著降低,波形蛋白(Vimentin)和神经性钙黏附蛋白(Snail)表达显著升高,迁移能力显著增强(P<0.05)。经双硫仑+TGF-β1处理后,随着双硫仑浓度上升,SCC-25和CAL-27细胞形态改变逐渐减小,E-cadherin蛋白表达逐渐升高,Vimentin和Snail蛋白表达逐渐降低,迁移能力逐渐减弱(P<0.05)。TGF-β1刺激后5 min后,SCC-25和CAL-27细胞中p-ERK水平逐渐上升,在15 min时达到最大值,随后逐渐降低(P<0.05)。经20 μmol/L双硫仑+TGF-β1处理后,SCC-25和CAL-27细胞中p-ERK水平随作用时间延长而逐渐下降(P<0.05)。结论 双硫仑可通过阻断MAPK信号通路中ERK磷酸化,达到抑制Smad4突变与Smad4非突变OSCC细胞EMT作用。     

Interpretation,pitfalls of biomarkers in diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases

BackgroundInvasive Fungal Diseases (IFD), account for high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised and seriously ill patients worldwide. Early, faster and accurate diagnosis with timely and appropriate patient management is critical for improved patient outcome and antifungal stewardship. Clinical/radiological presentations in IFD are non-specific and microscopy/culture based tests have low sensitivity and long turnaround time. Biomarkers have clinical utility for diagnosing IFD but their interpretation is not straight forward.ObjectivesThis review discusses the salient characteristics, clinical usefulness and limitations of common biomarkers such as Galactomannan (GM), 1–3, β D glucan (βDG), mannan, anti-mannan antibody (Mn/antiMn), Cryptococcal antigen test (CrAg), Nucleic Acid Amplification (NAA) tests and next generation sequencing for diagnosing IFD.ContentsFungal biomarkers are useful adjuncts as screening and diagnostic tools for IFD and are much more suited for ‘ruling out’ rather than ‘ruling in’ disease. GM, NAA tests are promising biomarkers for screening of invasive Aspergillosis in high risk asymptomatic patients who are not on antifungal therapy and for diagnosis of breakthrough infections in symptomatic patients. 1–3, β D glucan has limitations both as a ‘rule in’ and ‘rule out’ test and is useful in only specific clinical settings. Two consecutive positive 1-3-βDG tests or combined positivity with GM increases its specificity. Mn/antiMn, T2Candida nano diagnostic panel are promising candidates for diagnosing invasive candidiasis. Combining two or more biomarkers improves the sensitivity for prompt initiation of antifungal therapy and the negative predictive value for suspension of empirical treatment.Serum CrAg test is a good ‘rule in’ rather than a ‘rule out’ test in immunocompetent patients but has good diagnostic accuracy in immunocompromised patients. Detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms by next generation sequencing is useful for fungal characterization and identification of host determinants responsible for increased susceptibility to fungal infections but is still in experimental stages.     

High‐risk human papillomavirus load and biomarkers in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer

The purpose of this study was to examine the implication of high‐risk human papillomavirus (HPV) load in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cancer, and to detect biomarkers in cervical disease. We conducted high‐risk HPV DNA load and cervical cytology tests in 343 women, cervical tissue biopsy in 143 women, and immunohistochemistry for p16^INK4A, cyclin D1, p53, cyclooxygenase‐2, Ki‐67, GLUT1, hPygopus2, and beta‐catenin. As a result, HPV load [relative light units (RLU) value] was correlated with the histological severity of cervical disease (p < 0.05). In the ‘atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance’ cytology group, 2.385 of HPV load seemed to be the cut‐off value at which ‘benign’ or CIN I can be differentiated from ‘CIN II or more severe’ (AUC = 0.712), but not statistically significant. The relative risk (odds ratio) of p16^INK4A and GLUT1 overexpression increased gradually according to the histological severity of cervical disease. The p16^INK4A showed statistically significant odds ratios in CIN II, CIN III, and cancer; GLUT1, in CIN II and CIN III; hPygopus2, in CIN III; and beta‐catenin, in CIN III and cancer. Conclusively, HPV load, p16^INK4A, and GLUT1 can be instrumental in predicting the severity of HPV‐related cervical disease. The beta‐catenin/hPygopus2 signaling may be involved in proceeding to CIN III.     

Requirement of the F‐actin‐binding activity of l‐afadin for enhancing the formation of adherens and tight junctions

The apical junctional complex consists of adherens junctions (AJs) and tight junctions (TJs) in polarized epithelial cells, which are attached to each other to form a sheet. Actin filaments (F‐actin) are associated with AJs and TJs and required for the formation and maintenance of this complex. l‐Afadin is an F‐actin‐binding protein, which is localized at AJs through binding to the cell adhesion molecule nectin, and regulates the formation of AJs and TJs. However, the role of the F‐actin‐binding activity of l‐afadin for the formation of the apical junctional complex remains unknown. We generated here the cultured EpH4 mouse mammary epithelial cells in which afadin was genetically ablated. In the Ca²⁺ switch assay, the formation of both AJs and TJs was markedly impaired in the afadin‐deficient cells. Re‐expression of l‐afadin in the afadin‐deficient cells fully restored the formation of both AJs and TJs, but the re‐expression of the l‐afadin mutant lacking the FAB domain did not completely restore the formation of AJs or TJs. These results indicate that the F‐actin‐binding activity of l‐afadin is required for enhancing the formation of both AJs and TJs.