Effects of miR-145 targeting rab5c and regulating MAPK / ERK signaling pathway on proliferation and invasion of thyroid papillary carcinoma cells.

The objective of this research was to analyze the miR-145 function in thyroid papillary carcinoma cells and explore its possible mechanism. For this purpose, the TPC-1 cell line was selected, miR-145 overexpression and rab5c shRNA lentiviral vector were constructed, and transfected into PTC cells. Luciferase reporter gene was performed to determine the relationship between miR-145 and rab5c, Western blot and qPCR were performed to detach the expression of the related genes, CCK-8 cell proliferation assay and Transwell cell invasion assay were used to determine the proliferation and invasion ability of PTC-1 cells. Results showed that MiR-145 overexpression inhibited the wt-rab5c (wild-type rab5c)luciferase activity, decreased the expression of rab5c mRNA and protein levels in the TPC-1 cell line, inhibited the proliferation and invasion of PTC cell line TPC-1(P < 0.05). In TPC-1 cells, both miR-145 overexpression and RNA interference with rab5c could increase the expression of the p-ERK protein (P < 0.05). In conclusion, MiR-145 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of PTC cells by downregulating rab5c and activating MAPK/ERK pathway in vitro.

Neurotransmitters and Receptors Changes in Medial Nucleus of the Trapezoid Body (MNTB) of Early-Developmental Rats with Single-Side Deafness.

BACKGROUND Congenital single-side deafness (SSD) affects sound localization even after cochlear implantation (CI) in some conditions. The medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) plays an important role in binaural benefit and sound localization, but little is known about intrinsic molecular changes in MNTB with SSD. We aimed to observe changes in MNTB in early-developmental SSD rats, including the key neurotransmitters (GABA, Gly, Glu) and major receptors (GABAa-R/GABAb-R for GABA, Gly-R for Gly, and AMPA/NMDA for Glu). MATERIAL AND METHODS The model of early-developmental SSD was acquired by right cochlear ablation at P12 and confirmed by ABR. High-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) was performed to measure the levels of neurotransmitters in MNTB. The relative expression of neurotransmitter receptors was tested by quantitative real-time PCR analysis. RESULTS (1) The right MNTB of experimental rats had an increase in GABA, Gly, and Glu at 4 weeks after right cochlear ablation (P<0.05). (2) At 2 weeks, the left MNTB of experimental rats showed increases in GABAa-R, GABAb-R, Gly-R, and AMPA, while the right MNTB showed lower expression of NMDA (P<0.05). The higher receptors in left MNTB decreased to a level at which we found no difference at 1 week for GABAa-R and GABAb-R (P>0.05), and was even reversed for Gly-R and AMPA (P<0.05). (3) Gly level was significantly increased at 2 weeks bilaterally and continued to 4 weeks in the left MNTB (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Early-developmental SSD can lead to asymmetric distribution of neurotransmitters and receptors in MNTB, which can be the fundamental cause of defective sound localization after cochlear implantation.

Imaging and anatomical features of ethmomaxillary sinus and its differentiation from surrounding air cells.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the imaging anatomical characteristics and clinical significance of the ethmomaxillary sinus (EMS). METHODS: The study included a total of 280 ENT Outpatient Department patients with nasal symptoms whose paranasal sinus CT scans were analyzed from January 2012 to December 2016. The anatomical imaging characteristics of EMS were observed. RESULTS: EMS was observed in 23 of 280 patients, with an incidence of 8.2%. Bilateral EMS appearance in 17 cases (73.9%) was significantly higher than that of unilateral EMS in 6 cases (26.1%) (P < 0.01). EMS occurs when there are anterior or anterior-inferior cells of the posterior ethmoidal sinus (PEs) extending toward the maxillary sinus (MS) and entering the MS through the maxillary hiatus rather than spreading from outside of the MS. EMS is surrounded by five walls, and the main position of EMS was invariably located in the posterior-superior corner of the MS and draining to the superior nasal meatus (SNM). EMS must be differentiated from SNM, sphenoid sinus, and retromaxillary pneumatization of PEs, because they may appear between the MS and the orbital floor. CONCLUSION: EMS was not a rare variation that should be careful identification during endoscopic sinus surgery. Accurately confirming EMS is the key to completely opening and removing lesions in the MS and EMS.

Factors Associated with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: A Chinese Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common and most successfully treated vestibular disorders. However, there is a lack of predictive factors for BPPV in clinical practice. We aimed to explore several possible predictive factors for BPPV in the Chinese population. MATERIAL AND METHODS We enrolled 240 patients with BPPV from Beijing Chaoyang Hospital between July 2013 and July 2016. Biochemical and hematological markers were obtained along with the history of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. RESULTS Serum uric acid (SUA) [279.0±84.7 vs. 331.0±82.7], hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) [5.75±1.17 vs. 6.61±1.00], albumin [38.1±3.71 vs. 40.9±4.1], and creatinine [68.4±19.3 vs. 81.5±24.1] were significantly lower in patients with BPPV compared with controls (P<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that lower levels of HbA1c and albumin were independently associated with BPPV (P<0.05), with odds ratio (OR) 0.680 (95% CI 0.551-0.839) and 0.338 (95% CI 0.190-0.603), respectively. However, the level of SUA was not independently related with BPPV [OR=0.999 (95% CI 0.991-1.006), P=0.713]. There were no significant differences between the parameters of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, blood routine examination, lipid profiles, homocysteine, pre-albumin, and blood urea nitrogen in patients with BPPV vs. controls (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Lower levels of HbA1c and albumin were independently associated with BPPV. Although the level of SUA was lower in BPPV patients, SUA was not an independent risk factor for BPPV.

Bidirectional remodeling of the central auditory system caused by unilateral auditory deprivation.

Unilateral auditory deprivation (UAD) results in cross-modal reorganization of the auditory cortex (AC), which can impair auditory and cognitive functions and diminish the recovery effect of cochlear implantation. Moreover, the subcortical areas provide extensive ascending projections to the AC. To date, a thorough systematic study of subcortical auditory neural plasticity has not been undertaken. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the current evidence on the bidirectional remodeling of the central auditory system caused by UAD, particularly the changes in subcortical neural plasticity. Lateral changes occur in the cochlear nucleus, lateral superior olive, medial nucleus of the trapezoid body, inferior colliculus, and AC of individuals with UAD. Moreover, asymmetric neural activity becomes less prominent in the higher auditory nuclei, which may be due to cross-projection regulation of the bilateral pathway. As a result, subcortical auditory neural plasticity caused by UAD may contribute to the outcomes of cochlear implantation in patients with single-sided deafness (SSD), and the development of intervention strategies for patients with SSD is crucial. Considering that previous studies have focused predominantly on the neural plasticity of the AC, we believe that bidirectional remodeling of subcortical areas after UAD is also crucial for investigating the mechanisms of interventions.

Brain-wide inputs to the non-lemniscal inferior colliculus in mice.

The inferior colliculus (IC) is the hub along the auditory pathway. Although it is fundamentally an auditory structure, the neurons in the IC, especially its non-lemniscal part also respond to multimodal stimuli. However, the sources of these non-auditory inputs are unclear. In this study, we injected the rAAV2-retro virus, a virus with efficient retrograde function, into the non-lemniscal IC of the Ai14 reporter line. The majority of cortical and subcortical brain areas, including cognitive, motor, somatosensory, auditory, and visual-related regions were revealed. The quantified whole brain input data have showed that the non-lemniscal IC received a higher proportion of inputs from ipsilateral cortical brain regions. The non-lemniscal IC integrates different multimodal patterns, for the dorsal cortex (ICD) receives primarily auditory inputs, and the external cortex (ICE) receives primarily auditory and somatosensory inputs. These findings demonstrate that auditory integration is shaped by a network of multi-sensory connections in the non-lemniscal IC subregions.

Mini-review: The neural circuits of the non-lemniscal inferior colliculus.

The inferior colliculus (IC) is a critical hub of the central auditory system (CAS), and a majority of the ascending and descending auditory synapses converge in the IC. With considerable methodological advances in neural tract tracing techniques, one can clearly visualize various sub-compartments of the IC. Herein, we compared the inputs and outputs between the two sub-regions of the non-lemniscal IC, namely, the dorsal and external cortex of the IC. The non-lemniscal IC plays a crucial role in multisensory integration and animal behavior, and the dorsal and external regions are distinct in many aspects, including molecular expression and neural circuits. They may serve integration and regulation functions via parallel pathways. As previous studies have mostly treated these two parts as a whole, we suggest that the two sub-regions of the non-lemniscal IC should be studied separately in future IC functional investigations.

The Whole Lateral Type of the Sphenoethmoidal Cell and Its Relevance to Endoscopic Sinus Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The sphenoethmoidal cell and the sphenoid sinus (SS) show great similarity in endoscopy and imaging. Hence, it is important to accurately identify the sphenoethmoidal cell preoperatively to prevent injury of the nerve and artery during endoscopic surgery. The aim of the present study was to investigate a special type of sphenoethmoidal cell. METHODS: A total of 365 inpatients whose paranasal sinus computed tomography (CT) was collected and reviewed from May 2018 to September 2019 were included. The anatomical imaging characteristics of the sphenoethmoidal cell were observed. RESULTS: A special type of the sphenoethmoidal cell was found on 9 sides in 730 sides (1.3%), according to its extension to the SS. Unlike Onodi cell (49.6%) and Jinfeng cell (1.3%), this cell simultaneously extends toward the superolateral, lateral, and inferolateral regions of the SS and is simultaneously closely attached to the optic canal and the maxillary nerve. Presently, this cell is named as the whole lateral type of the sphenoethmoidal cell, and the SS is located at the medial or inferomedial of it. CONCLUSIONS: When evaluating the paranasal sinus CT preoperatively, attention must be paid to the possibility of the whole lateral type of sphenoethmoidal cell appearing, not just Onodi cell, extending into the SS.

Intrinsic and Miniature Postsynaptic Current Changes in Rat Principal Neurons of the Lateral Superior Olive after Unilateral Auditory Deprivation at an Early Age.

Unilateral auditory deprivation results in lateralization changes in the central auditory system, interfering with the integration of binaural information and thereby leading to a decrease in binaural auditory functions such as sound localization. Principal neurons of the lateral superior olive (LSO) are responsible for computing the interaural intensity differences that are critical for sound localization in the horizontal plane. To investigate changes caused by unilateral auditory deprivation, electrophysiological activity was recorded from LSO principal neurons in control rats and rats with unilateral cochlear ablation. At one week after unilateral cochlear ablation, the excitability of LSO principal neurons on the side ipsilateral to the ablation (the ablated side) was greater than that on the side contralateral to the ablation (the intact side); however, the input resistance increased on both sides. Furthermore, by analysing the miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents and miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents, we found that unilateral auditory deprivation weakened the inhibitory driving force on the intact side, whereas it strengthened the excitatory driving force on the ablated side. In summary, asymmetric changes in the electrophysiological activity of LSO principal neurons were found on both sides at postnatal day 19, one week after unilateral cochlear ablation.

Responses from two firing patterns in inferior colliculus neurons to stimulation of the lateral lemniscus dorsal nucleus.

The γ-aminobutyric acid neurons (GABAergic neurons) in the inferior colliculus are classified into various patterns based on their intrinsic electrical properties to a constant current injection. Although this classification is associated with physiological function, the exact role for neurons with various firing patterns in acoustic processing remains poorly understood. In the present study, we analyzed characteristics of inferior colliculus neurons in vitro, and recorded responses to stimulation of the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus using the whole-cell patch clamp technique. Seven inferior colliculus neurons were tested and were classified into two firing patterns: sustained-regular (n = 4) and sustained-adapting firing patterns (n = 3). The majority of inferior colliculus neurons exhibited slight changes in response to stimulation and bicuculline. The responses of one neuron with a sustained-adapting firing pattern were suppressed after stimulation, but recovered to normal levels following application of the γ-aminobutyric acid receptor antagonist. One neuron with a sustained-regular pattern showed suppressed stimulation responses, which were not affected by bicuculline. Results suggest that GABAergic neurons in the inferior colliculus exhibit sustained-regular or sustained-adapting firing patterns. Additionally, GABAergic projections from the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus to the inferior colliculus are associated with sound localization. The different neuronal responses of various firing patterns suggest a role in sound localization. A better understanding of these mechanisms and functions will provide better clinical treatment paradigms for hearing deficiencies.