Exosomal microRNA-23b-3p promotes tumor angiogenesis and metastasis by targeting PTEN in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.

MicroRNA (miR)-23b-3p is known to target various genes that are involved in cancer-related pathways. Exosomes are emerging intercellular communication agents. Exosomes secreted by cancer cells can deliver active molecules to the surrounding stromal cells, thereby influencing the recipient cells and promoting the development of cancers. However, the role of exosomal miR-23b-3p in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) is not yet clear. In this study, we set out to investigate the potential role of cancer-derived exosomal miR-23b-3p-related phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 in the alteration of angiogenesis and vascular permeability in SACC. We investigated the effect of exosomal miR-23b-3p on the progression of SACC. In vitro experiments indicated that exosomal miR-23b-3p led to an upregulation of vascular permeability, and reduced expression of tight junction proteins. In addition, exosomal miR-23b-3p also enhanced angiogenesis and migration. Next, the angiogenic effect of exosomal miR-23b-3p was validated in vivo, as it led to an increase in the tumor microvasculature. Furthermore, the growth rate of SACC was faster after injection of exosomes loaded with cholesterol-modified miR-23b-3p in mice. In conclusion, these results revealed that SACC cell-derived exosomes play an important role in promoting angiogenesis and local vascular microleakage of SACC by transporting miR-23b-3p, which suggests that miR-23b-3p in the exosomes may be a potential biomarker for distant metastasis of SACC. This suggests the potential of a novel therapeutic target by delivering anti-miR-23b-3p that focuses on exosomes.

Metabolomic Analysis Reveals that SPHK1 Promotes Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression through NF-κB Activation.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic disorders are significant in the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. Changes of specific metabolites and metabolic pathways are molecular therapeutic targets. This study aims to determine the metabolic differences between oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues and paired adjacent noncancerous tissues (ANT) through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). SPHK1 is a key enzyme in sphingolipid metabolism. This study also investigates the potential role of SPHK1 in OSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used LC-MS to analyze metabolic differences between OSCC tissues and paired ANT. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were applied to explain the significance of phospholipid metabolism pathways in the occurrence and development of OSCC. Through further experiments, we confirmed the oncogenic phenotypes of SPHK1 in vitro and in vivo, including proliferation, migration, and invasion. RESULTS: The sphingolipid metabolic pathway was significantly activated in OSCC, and the key enzyme SPHK1 was significantly upregulated in oral cancer tissues, predicting poor OSCC prognosis. In this study, SPHK1 overexpression was associated with high-grade malignancy and poor OSCC prognosis. SPHK1 targeted NF-κB by facilitating p65 expression to regulate OSCC tumor progression and promote metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified metabolic differences between OSCC and paired ANT, explored the carcinogenic role of overexpressed SPHK1, and revealed the association of SPHK1 with poor OSCC prognosis. SPHK1 targets NF-κB signaling by facilitating p65 expression to regulate tumor progression and promote tumor metastasis, providing potential therapeutic targets for diagnosing and treating oral tumors.

Identification of pivotal microRNAs involved in the development and progression of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: miRNAs and mRNAs have been significantly implicated in tumorigenesis and served as promising prognostic biomarkers for human cancer. Hence, this study was aimed to develop the pivotal miRNA biomarkers-based prognostic signature for salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma. METHODS: The miRNA and mRNA expression data were integrated from the gene expression omnibus database to study their involvement in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma development and progression. Gene ontology and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes were conducted to analyze the biological pathways. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was used to verify the expression of selected miRNAs in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma and corresponding normal tissues. RESULTS: There were 386 differentially expressed genes: 158 upregulated and 228 downregulated genes and 102 differentially expressed miRNAs: 78 upregulated and 24 downregulated miRNAs in the salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma samples. A miRNA-mRNA network containing 11 miRNAs and 199 genes was subsequently constructed. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analysis revealed that the genes targeted by the 11 miRNAs were mostly involved in tumor-related pathways and processes, such as miRNAs in cancer, focal adhesion, neurotrophin signaling pathway, and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Among them, 4 miRNAs (miR-375, miR-494, miR-34c-5p, and miR-331-3p) were selected to verify by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR in 36 pairs of collected salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma and adjacent nontumor samples. Overall survival analysis revealed that the higher expression of miR-331-3p was significantly associated with a worst overall survival and multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that hsa-miR-331-3p could be an independent prognostic factor for salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Our results revealed that 4-miRNAs signature was a powerful prognostic biomarker for salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, which provide a basis for exploring deeper mechanisms regarding the progression of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, and leading to the development of potential therapeutic strategies.

Colored Dimeric Alkaloids from the Barks of Erythrina variegata and Their Neuroprotective Effects.

Five dimeric Erythrina alkaloids, named erythrivarines J-N, were isolated from the barks of Erythrina variegata L. (Fabaceae). The erythrivarines J-L featured a 6/6/5/6/6/5/6/6/6 ring system and super conjugated double bond systems, causing intense color from blue to wine red, while erythrivarines M-N looked orange. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR experiments combined with MS and confirmed by the X-ray crystal diffraction technique. The performed bioassay using HEI-OC-1 cells revealed neuroprotective properties of erythrivarine N against the hearing loss causing antibiotics, neomycin.

Analysing the Zenith Tropospheric Delay Estimates in On-line Precise Point Positioning (PPP) Services and PPP Software Packages.

As Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals travel through the troposphere, a tropospheric delay occurs due to a change in the refractive index of the medium. The Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique can achieve centimeter/millimeter positioning accuracy with only one GNSS receiver. The Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD) is estimated alongside with the position unknowns in PPP. Estimated ZTD can be very useful for meteorological applications, an example is the estimation of water vapor content in the atmosphere from the estimated ZTD. PPP is implemented with different algorithms and models in online services and software packages. In this study, a performance assessment with analysis of ZTD estimates from three PPP online services and three software packages is presented. The main contribution of this paper is to show the accuracy of ZTD estimation achievable in PPP. The analysis also provides the GNSS users and researchers the insight of the processing algorithm dependence and impact on PPP ZTD estimation. Observation data of eight whole days from a total of nine International GNSS Service (IGS) tracking stations spread in the northern hemisphere, the equatorial region and the southern hemisphere is used in this analysis. The PPP ZTD estimates are compared with the ZTD obtained from the IGS tropospheric product of the same days. The estimates of two of the three online PPP services show good agreement (<1 cm) with the IGS ZTD values at the northern and southern hemisphere stations. The results also show that the online PPP services perform better than the selected PPP software packages at all stations.

Determination of the potential implementation impact of 2016 ministry of environmental protection generic assessment criteria for potentially contaminated sites in China.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection of China issued a 3rd draft edition of risk-based Generic Assessment Criteria (the MEP-GAC) in March 2016. Since these will be the first authoritative GAC in China, their implementation is likely to have a significant impact on China's growing contaminated land management sector. This study aims to determine the potential implementation impact of the MEP-GAC through an in-depth analysis of the management context, land use scenarios, health criteria values adopted and exposure pathways considered. The MEP-GAC have been proposed for two broad categories of land use scenarios for contaminated land risk assessment, and these two categories of land use scenarios need to be further delved, and a MEP-GAC for Chinese cultivated land scenario ought to be developed, to ensure human health protection of Chinese farmers. The MEP-GAC have adopted 10-6 as the acceptable lifetime cancer risk, given the widespread extent and severe level of land contamination in China, consideration should be given to the decision on excess lifetime cancer risk of 10-5. During risk assessment process in practice, it is better to review the 20% TDI against local circumstances to determine their suitability before adopting it. The MEP-GAC are based on a SOM value of 1%, for regions with particularly high SOM, it might be necessary to develop regional GAC, due to SOM's significant impact on the GAC developed. An authoritative risk assessment model developed based on HJ25.3-2014 would help facilitate the DQRA process in practice. The MEP-GAC could better reflect the likely exposures of China's citizens due to vapour inhalation by using characteristics of Chinese exposure scenarios, including China-generic building stock, as inputs into the Johnson and Ettinger model as opposed to adoption of the US EPA parameters. The MEP-GAC once implemented will set the trajectory for the development of the investigation, assessment and remediation of land contamination for years.

One-Pot Three-Component Synthesis of Novel Diethyl((2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinolin-3-yl)(arylamino)methyl)phosphonate as Potential Anticancer Agents.

With the aim of discovering new anticancer agents, we have designed and synthesized novel α-aminophosphonate derivatives containing a 2-oxoquinoline structure using a convenient one-pot three-component method. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for antitumor activities against the A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma cell), HeLa (human cervical carcinoma cell), MCF-7 (human breast cancer cell), and U2OS (human osteosarcoma cell) cancer cell lines in vitro, employing a standard 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results of pharmacological screening indicated that many compounds exhibited moderate to high levels of antitumor activities against the tested cancer cell lines and that most compounds showed more potent inhibitory activities comparable to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) which was used as a positive control. The mechanism of representative compound 4u (diethyl((2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinolin-3-yl)(phenyl-amino)methyl)phosphonate) indicated that the compound mainly arrested HeLa cells in S and G2 stages and was accompanied by apoptosis in HeLa cells. This action was confirmed by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, Hoechst 33342 staining, and flow cytometry.

Inhibition of GluN2D-Containing NMDA Receptors Protects Dopaminergic Neurons against 6-OHDA-Induced Neurotoxicity via Activating ERK/NRF2/HO-1 Signaling.

Abnormal glutamate signaling is implicated in the heightened vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease (PD). NMDA receptors are ion-gated glutamate receptors with high calcium permeability, and their GluN2D subunits are prominently distributed in the basal ganglia and brainstem nuclei. Previous studies have reported that dopamine depletion led to the dysfunctions of GluN2D-containing NMDA receptors in PD animal models. However, it remains unknown whether selective modulation of GluN2D could protect dopaminergic neurons against neurotoxicity in PD. In this study, we found that allosteric activation of GluN2D-containing NMDA receptors decreased the cell viability of MES23.5 dopaminergic cells and the GluN2D inhibitor, QNZ46, showed antioxidant effects and significantly relieved apoptosis in 6-OHDA-treated cells. Meanwhile, we demonstrated that QNZ46 might act via activation of the ERK/NRF2/HO-1 pathway. We also verified that QNZ46 could rescue abnormal behaviors and attenuate dopaminergic cell loss in a 6-OHDA-lesioned rat model of PD. Although the precise mechanisms underlying the efficacy of QNZ46 in vivo remain elusive, the inhibition of the GluN2D subunit should be a considerable way to treat PD. More GluN2D-selective drugs, which present minimal side effects and broad therapeutic windows, need to be developed for PD treatment in future studies.

Dimeric alkaloids from the barks of Erythrina variegata as well as their occurrence.

Thirteen undescribed dimeric Erythrina alkaloids, named as erythrivarines A1-A13, were isolated from the barks of Erythrina variegata L. and. Their structures were determined on the basis of NMR, UV and mass spectral analyses. Dimeric Erythrina alkaloid with a C-8/8' linkage in erythrivarine A1 was not yet reported. Representative dimers from titled plant were used to prove their occurrence as natural products by LC - MS detection. Additionally, simultaneous investigation enabled us to propose the natural property of seemingly artificial Erythrina alkaloid with acetonyl group.

Size distribution and lung-deposition of ambient particulate matter oxidative potential: A contrast between dithiothreitol and ascorbic acid assays.

Particulate matter (PM) inhaled into human lungs causes oxidative stress and adverse health effects through antioxidant depletion (oxidative potential, OP). However, there is limited knowledge regarding the association between the lung-deposited dose (LDD) of PM and OP in extrathoracic (ET), tracheobronchial (TB), and pulmonary (P) regions of human lungs. Dithiothreitol (DTT) and ascorbic acid (AA) assays were employed to measure the OP of PM size fractions to investigate OP distribution in human lungs and identify the chemical drivers. Quasi-ultrafine particles (quasi-UFP, ≤0.49 µm) exhibited high OP deposition in the TB and P regions, while coarse particles (CP, ≥3.0 µm) dominated in the ET region. A plot of extrinsic (per air volume) and intrinsic (per PM mass) OP versus LDD revealed that the OP for fine and coarse particles was greatest in the ET region, whereas the OP of quasi-UFP was greatest in alveoli. The study also demonstrated that extrinsic OP and PM doses are not strongly related. The decline in OP with increasing PM dose reveals the need for further investigation of the antagonistic effects of the chemical compositions. Overall, the results presented herein help address the gap in knowledge regarding the association between the OP and LDD of ambient particles in specific regions of human lungs.

LRRK2 G2019S promotes astrocytic inflammation induced by oligomeric α-synuclein through NF-κB pathway.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the irreversible loss of dopaminergic neurons and the accumulation of α-synuclein in Lewy bodies. The oligomeric α-synuclein (O-αS) is the most toxic form of α-synuclein species, and it has been reported to be a robust inflammatory mediator. Mutations in Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) are also genetically linked to PD and neuroinflammation. However, how O-αS and LRRK2 interact in glial cells remains unclear. Here, we reported that LRRK2 G2019S mutation, which is one of the most frequent causes of familial PD, enhanced the effects of O-αS on astrocytes both in vivo and in vitro. Meanwhile, inhibition of LRRK2 kinase activity could relieve the inflammatory effects of both LRRK2 G2019S and O-αS. We also demonstrated that nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway might be involved in the neuroinflammatory responses. These findings revealed that inhibition of LRRK2 kinase activity may be a viable strategy for suppressing neuroinflammation in PD.

Paeoniflorin, a constituent of Kami-shoyo-san, suppresses blood glucose levels in postmenopausal diabetic mice by promoting the secretion of estradiol from adipocytes.

Ovarian functional deterioration in women with climacteric disorders increases the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Therefore, we revealed that paeoniflorin (PF), an ingredient of paeony root (PR), which is a constituent of Kami-shoyo-san (KS), promotes glucose uptake by increasing estradiol secretion from adipocytes. Adipocytes differentiated from 3T3-L1 cells were incubated in culture medium containing the extracts of KS, PR, KS excluding PR (KS-PR), or PF for 5 d at 37 °C and 5% CO2. The estradiol and glucose concentrations in the medium were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Next, PF (1 or 10 mg/kg) was subcutaneously injected into ovariectomized mice (12-week-old, ICR strain) once daily for 19 d to perform the glucose tolerance test and determine blood estradiol and adiponectin levels. The release of estradiol from 3T3-L1 adipocytes was significantly increased by KS, PR, KS-PR, and PF, and the increased estradiol level caused by KS was significantly decreased by excluding PF from KS (KS-PR). Glucose concentration in the medium was significantly decreased by KS and PF. In in vivo experiments, the 10 mg/kg PF-treated group showed significantly suppressed blood glucose levels at 0 and 30 min after d-glucose loading by intraperitoneal injection. These findings indicate that KS, which includes PR-containing PF as the main ingredient, may have the potential to prevent T2D caused by ovarian dysfunction in menopausal women by increasing estradiol secretion from adipocytes.

Molecular biological mechanism of action in cancer therapies: Juglone and its derivatives, the future of development.

Juglone (5 - hydroxy - 1, 4 - naphthalene diketone) is a kind of natural naphthoquinone, present in the roots, leaves, nut-hulls, bark and wood of walnut trees. Recent studies have found that Juglone has special significance in the treatment of cancer, which plays a significant role in the resistance of cancer cell proliferation, induction of cancer cell apoptosis, induction of autophagy, anti-angiogenesis and inhibition of cancer cell migration and invasion, etc. Additionally, its derivatives also play a tumor suppressive effect. In conclusion, Juglone and its derivatives have been identified as effective anticancer drugs. This paper reviews action mechanisms of Juglone and its derivatives in cancer treatment.

Dimeric Erythrina alkaloids as well as their key units from Erythrina variegata.

Ten dimeric and two monomeric Erythrina alkaloids, all of them are undescribed, were isolated from the bark of Erythrina variegata L. and named as erythrivarines O-Z. Their structures were determined on the basis of NMR and UV-spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Dimeric Erythrina alkaloids with a C-10/11' linkage in erythrivarine O and a C-7/10' connectivity in erythrivarines P-U are not yet reported. The two identified monomeric alkaloids may be the precursors of the described dimeric derivatives. These co-occurring dimeric and monomeric alkaloids enabled us to propose a possible biosynthetic pathway leading to these dimers. Their effects of preventing hearing loss were additionally evaluated and erythrivarine T showed as a potential protector of the House Ear Institute-Organ of Corti 1 (HEI-OC-1) cells against neomycin.

Anticancer activity of oleanolic acid and its derivatives: Recent advances in evidence, target profiling and mechanisms of action.

Oleanolic acid (OA, 3 ß - hydroxyoleanolic acid-12-en-28-oic acid) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid present in many plants. As a new framework for development of semi synthetic triterpenoids, OA is of great significance in the discovery of anticancer drugs. Some of these derivatives, such as CDDO (2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1, 9 (11)-dien-28-oic acid) have been verified in clinical trials, while other derivatives studied previously, such as SZC014, SZC015 and SZC017 (OA derivatives respectively), are also candidate drugs for cancer treatment. This paper reviews the preclinical studies, literature evidence, target analysis and anticancer mechanism of OA and its derivatives. The mechanism of action of its derivatives mainly includes anti-cancer cell proliferation, inducing tumor cell apoptosis, inducing autophagy, regulating cell cycle regulatory proteins, inhibiting vascular endothelial growth, anti angiogenesis, inhibiting tumor cell migration and invasion. In recent years, the molecular mechanism of OA and its derivatives has been elucidated. These effects seem to be mediated by the alterations in a variety of signaling pathways induced by OA and its derivatives. In conclusion, OA and its derivatives are considered as important candidate drugs for the treatment of cancer, indicating that OA and its derivatives have the potential to be used as anticancer drugs in practice.

In vitro experimental study on the formation of microRNA-34a loaded exosomes and their inhibitory effect in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Studies have shown the inhibitory effect of microRNA-34a on proliferation, migration, and invasion of oral squamous cell carcinoma. However, the lack of a safe and effective delivery system limits the clinical application of microRNA-34a in oral cancer treatment. An exosome is a small extracellular vesicle that mediates intercellular communication by delivering proteins, nucleic acids, and other contents, and functions as a natural drug delivery carrier. Here, we aimed to explore whether exosomes could be used to load microRNA-34a via co-incubation and further used to treat OSCC. Ultracentrifugation was used to obtain exosomes derived from HEK293T cells and the extracted exosomes were analyzed via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and Western blotting. Subsequently, we loaded cholesterol-modified microRNA-34a into HEK293T cell exosomes by co-incubation. Then, PKH67 and Cy3 co-labeled exo-microRNA-34a were co-incubated with HN6 cells and exosome entry into the HN6 cells was observed using a confocal laser scanning microscope. The cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were assessed by CCK-8 and Transwell assay analysis. SATB2 expression in HN6 cells was analyzed via western blotting. In this study, cholesterol-modified microRNA-34a was loaded into exosomes of HEK293T cells by co-incubation. The microRNA-34a-loaded exosomes were secreted from HEK293T cells and were absorbed by HN6 oral squamous carcinoma cells. Further, microRNA-34a-loaded exosomes led to a significant inhibition of HN6 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by down regulating SATB2 expression. These results report a new delivery method for microRNA-34a, providing a new approach for the treatment of oral cancer.

Veterinary antibiotics can reduce crop yields by modifying soil bacterial community and earthworm population in agro-ecosystems.

Veterinary antibiotics are intensively and widely used in animal farming to treat or prevent diseases, as well as improve growth rate and feed efficiency. Animal manure is an important reservoir of veterinary antibiotics due to their high excretion rates, and thus manure application has been a critical source of veterinary antibiotics in agro-ecosystems. However, how veterinary antibiotics affect agroecosystem functions is still unclearly understood. In this study, we evaluated the effects of veterinary antibiotics on soil bacteria and earthworms in agricultural land with long-term manure application. The potential mechanisms of antibiotic-induced changes in crop yields were also revealed. The results showed that the increasing prevalence of veterinary antibiotics in agro-ecosystems inhibited earthworm abundance and bacterial diversity, and then decreased the bioavailability of soil nutrients. Furthermore, high-dose exposure to veterinary antibiotics improved the abundance of plant pathogenic bacteria. Analysis indicated that veterinary antibiotics played an important underlying role in driving the negative effects on peanut grain yields via disturbing microbe- and earthworm-mediated soil available nutrient contents. The direct toxicity effects of antibiotics on peanut relative yields were stronger than their indirect mediating effects. Additionally, the tradeoffs between antibiotics and agroecosystem functions increased at low exposure levels and then decreased at high exposure levels, which indicated the effects of antibiotics on agroecosystem functions were dose-dependent, except for earthworm biomass. Antibiotic contamination which will impose threats to agricultural sustainability was highlighted and should be paid more attention.

The removal of arsenic from solution through biochar-enhanced precipitation of calcium-arsenic derivatives.

Arsenic (As) pollution remains a major threat to the quality of global soils and drinking water. The health effects of As pollution are often severe and have been largely reported across Asia and South America. This study investigated the possibility of using unmodified biochar derived from rice husk (RB) and aspen wood (WB) at 400 °C and 700 °C to enhance the precipitation of calcium/arsenic compounds for the removal of As(III) from solution. The approach was based on utilizing calcium to precipitate arsenic in solution and adding unmodified biochar to enhance the process. Using this approach, As(III) concentration in aqueous solution decreased by 58.1% when biochar was added, compared to 25.4% in the absence of biochar. Varying the pH from acidic to alkaline enabled an investigation into the pH dependent dynamics of the approach. Results indicated that significant precipitation was only possible at near neutral pH (i.e. pH = 6.5) where calcium arsenites (i.e. Ca(AsO2)2, and CaAsO2OH•½H2O) and arsenates (i.e. Ca5(AsO4)3OH) were precipitated and deposited as aggregates in the pores of biochars. Arsenite was only slightly precipitated under acidic conditions (pH = 4.5) while no arsenite was precipitated under alkaline conditions (pH = 9.5). Arsenite desorption from wood biochar was lowest at pH 6.5 indicating that wood biochar was able to retain a large quantity of the precipitates formed at pH 6.5 compared to pH 4.5 and pH 9.5. Given that the removal of As(III) from solution is often challenging and that biochar modification invites additional cost, the study demonstrated that low cost unmodified biochar can be effective in enhancing the removal of As(III) from the environment through Ca-As precipitation.

Follistatin-like 1 suppresses osteoblast differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal cells during inflammation.

OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to explore the effect of Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) on osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in an inflammatory environment. DESIGN: Animal models of FSTL1-deficiency and wild-type mice were used, and the micro-CT images of the femoral head were evaluated. Mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were treated with various concentrations of recombinant FSTL1 (rFSTL1) in an inflammatory environment in vitro. Meanwhile, overexpression or knockdown of FSTL1 through lentiviral transfection was performed. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was tested, and Alizarin Red staining (ARS) was performed to evaluate osteogenic differentiation ability. The mRNA expression level of osteogenesis-related genes was detected by RT-qPCR. RESULTS: In vivo experiments revealed a higher number of femoral skulls, higher trabecular thickness, smaller trabecular space, and less osteoporosis in FSTL1-knockdown mice than in the wild-type mice. The BMSCs with overexpression of FSTL1 or those treated with recombinant FSTL1 (rFSTL1) showed suppression of ALP activity, calcium nodule formation, and expression of osteogenesis-related genes osteopontin (OPN), osteocalcin (OCN), collagen type I alpha 1 (Col1α1), and more importantly, rFSTL1 functions in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, FSTL1 knockdown promoted the osteogenesis activity and the expression of these osteogenesis-related genes in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: FSTL1 is an osteogenic suppressor that inhibits the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs during inflammation and it can be a new target for bone regeneration.

A review on analysis methods, source identification, and cancer risk evaluation of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have gained attention because of their environmental persistence and effects on ecosystems, animals, and human health. They are mutagenic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic. The review provides background knowledge about their sources, metabolism, temporal variations, and size distribution in atmospheric particulate matter. The review article briefly discusses the analytical methods suitable for the extraction, characterization, and quantification of nonpolar and polar PAHs, addressing the challenges. Herein, we discussed the molecular diagnostic ratios (DRs), stable carbon isotopic analysis (SCIA), and receptor models, with much emphasis on the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, for apportioning PAH sources. Among which, DRs and PCA identified as the most widely employed method, but their accuracy for PAH source identification has received global criticism. Therefore, the review recommends compound-specific isotopic analysis (CSIA) and PMF as the best alternative methods to provide detailed qualitative and quantitative source analysis. The compound-specific isotopic signatures are not affected by environmental degradation and are considered promising for apportioning PAH sources. However, isotopic fractions of co-eluted compounds like polar PAHs and aliphatic hydrocarbons make the PAHs isotopic fractions interpretation difficult. The interference of unresolved complex mixtures is a limitation to the application of CSIA for PAH source apportionment. Hence, for CSIA to further support PAH source apportionment, fast and cost-effective purification techniques with no isotopic fractionation effects are highly desirable. The present review explains the concept of stable carbon isotopic analysis (SCIA) relevant to PAH source analysis, identifying the techniques suitable for sample extract purification. We demonstrate how the source apportioned PAHs can be applied in assessing the health risk of PAHs using the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) model, and in doing so, we identify the key factors that could undermine the accuracy of the ILCR and research gaps that need further investigation.