Long non-coding RNA TUG1 contributes to tumorigenesis of human osteosarcoma by sponging miR-9-5p and regulating POU2F1 expression.

Recent studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have critical roles in tumorigenesis, including osteosarcoma. The lncRNA taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) was reported to be involved in the progression of osteosarcoma. Here, we investigated the role of TUG1 in osteosarcoma cells and the underlying mechanism. TUG1 expression was measured in osteosarcoma cell lines and human normal osteoblast cells by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The effects of TUG1 on osteosarcoma cells were studied by RNA interference in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism of competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) was determined using bioinformatic analysis and luciferase assays. Our data showed that TUG1 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation, and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in vitro, and suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Besides, we found that TUG1 acted as an endogenous sponge to directly bind to miR-9-5p and downregulated miR-9-5p expression. Moreover, TUG1 overturned the effect of miR-9-5p on the proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells, which involved the derepression of POU class 2 homeobox 1 (POU2F1) expression. In conclusion, our study elucidated a novel TUG1/miR-9-5p/POU2F1 pathway, in which TUG1 acted as a ceRNA by sponging miR-9-5p, leading to downregulation of POU2F1 and facilitating the tumorigenesis of osteosarcoma. These findings may contribute to the lncRNA-targeted therapy for human osteosarcoma.

Evaluating clinical pharmacists' involvement in postoperative acute pain services: a multicenter survey in Guangdong Province, China.

Objective: Postoperative pain management is an important part of surgical pharmacy. Postoperative acute pain services in China are in their initial stages. This survey aimed to investigate the attitudes, involvement, and knowledge of clinical pharmacists in China regarding postoperative acute pain services. The results can provide valuable information to guide clinical pharmacists in developing targeted strategies to improve their postoperative acute pain service capabilities. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to the pharmacy departments of 133 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong province, and the responses were collected electronically. Results: 123 completed questionnaires were collected from clinical pharmacists. Although 95.93% of clinical pharmacists believed they should participate in postoperative pain services, only 62.6% reported substantial involvement. Overall satisfaction with the postoperative pain service was 93.5%. Understanding of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioid analgesics by clinical pharmacists was comparable (p > 0.05). Furthermore, 98.37% of clinical pharmacists desired systematic learning in postoperative pain management, and 40.65% expressed a strong need. Conclusion: Clinical pharmacists in China demonstrate a positive attitude toward participating in postoperative acute pain services. However, the actual level of involvement was concerning, and the lack of systematic training and well-established work protocols may be contributing factors. Efforts should be made to establish comprehensive and standardized processes and work protocols for postoperative acute pain services and provide systematic and hierarchical professional training to enhance clinical pharmacists' capabilities in postoperative acute pain services.

The effect of pharmacist-initiated perioperative multidisciplinary pharmaceutical care model and clinical pathway on pain management in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery: a before-after study.

BACKGROUND: Poor pain control is common in perioperative orthopedic surgeries. However, there is a lack of exploration of the clinical pharmacy practice model for this population. AIM: To construct a perioperative pharmaceutical care model and clinical pathway for patients undergoing orthopedic surgeries and assess their impact on pain management. METHOD: This historical before-and-after study was conducted in the Department of Orthopedics of a tertiary hospital in Guangdong Province, China. The control group was surgical patients who received routine diagnosis and treatment. The intervention group received pain management from a multidisciplinary team based on a pharmacist-initiated pharmaceutical care practice model and clinical pathways for medication management. The primary outcome measures were postoperative pain at rest (PAR) and movement-evoked pain (MEP) scores, number of breakthrough pains, and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: A total of 320 orthopedic surgery patients were included. Among patients with expected moderate or severe postoperative pain (82.5%), significantly lower PAR and MEP scores were observed in the intervention group 24 h after surgeries compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Compared to the control group, hospital stay in the intervention group was shortened by 2.3 days (p < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the control of breakthrough pain and the incidence of adverse drug reactions (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Multidisciplinary perioperative pain management practice models and clinical pathways initiated by pharmacists could improve outcome indicators related to pain management and support the role and value of pharmacists.

CircSAMD4A regulates cell progression and epithelial­mesenchymal transition by sponging miR­342­3p via the regulation of FZD7 expression in osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant tumor with a complex etiology. Therefore, research into the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma is considered a priority. Circular RNAs play important roles in cell metabolism and in the immune response and are closely associated with cancer treatment. However, research into the association of circular RNAs with osteosarcoma is limited. In the present study, CircSAMD4A was validated by RT­qPCR and agarose gel electrophoresis. CircSAMD4A and miR­342­3p expression was detected by RT­qPCR. The relative protein expression levels were measured by western blot analysis. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to detect cell cytotoxicity and apoptosis, respectively. Transwell assay was applied to assess cell migration and invasion. Dual­luciferase reporter assay was used to determine the association among CircSAMD4A, Frizzled­7 (FZD7) and miR­342­3p. In vivo, subcutaneous tumor formation assay was performed in an experiment with nude mice. The results revealed that the expression levels of CircSAMD4A and FZD7 were upregulated, while those of miR­342­3p were downregulated in OS tissues and cells. The inhibition of CircSAMD4A suppressed cell progression and epithelial­mesenchymal transition (EMT), and promoted cell apoptosis in OS. The reduction of miR­342­3p reversed the effects of CircSAMD4A downregulation on cell cytotoxicity, migration, invasion, apoptosis and EMT in OS, while FZD7 overexpression blocked the effect of miR­342­3p upregulation on OS progression. The suppressive effect of sh­CircSAMD4A on tumor growth was thus verified in OS. Overall, the present study demonstrated that CircSAMD4A affected cell cytotoxicity, invasion, apoptosis, migration and EMT by regulating the miR­342­3p/FDZ7 axis in OS, thereby providing a novel regulatory mechanism and a potential therapeutic target for OS.

Bidirectional association between metabolic syndrome and osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of observational studies.

BACKGROUND: Emerging observational studies suggest an association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and osteoarthritis (OA). This meta-analysis was conducted to examine whether or not there is a bidirectional relationship between MetS and OA. METHODS: The PubMed and Embase databases were searched from their inception to October 2019. We selected studies according to predefined criteria. Random effects were selected to calculate two sets of pooled risk estimates: MetS predicting OA and OA predicting MetS. RESULTS: A total of seven cross-sectional studies and four cohort studies met the criteria for MetS predicting the onset of OA. Another six cross-sectional studies and one cohort study met the criteria for OA predicting the onset of MetS. The pooled odds risk (OR) for OA incidences associated with baseline MetS was 1.45 (95% CI 1.27-1.66). The OR for MetS incidences associated with baseline OA was 1.90 (95% CI 1.11-3.27). In an overall analysis, we found that MetS was associated with prevalent OA in both cross-sectional studies (OR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.21-1.44) and cohort studies (OR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.29-2.42). No indication of heterogeneity was found in the cross-sectional studies (p = 0.395, I2 = 4.8%), whereas substantial heterogeneity was detected in the cohort studies (p = 0.000, I2 = 79.3%). CONCLUSION: Meta-analysis indicated a bidirectional association between MetS and OA. We advise that patients with MetS should monitor their OA status early and carefully, and vice versa.

miR-19 Promotes Cell Proliferation, Invasion, Migration, and EMT by Inhibiting SPRED2-mediated Autophagy in Osteosarcoma Cells.

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive malignancy with rapid development and poor prognosis. microRNA-19 (miR-19) plays an important role in several biological processes. Sprouty-related EVH1 domain protein 2 (SPRED2) is a suppressor of extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK/MAPK) signaling to inhibit tumor development and progression by promoting autophagy. In this study, we investigated the roles of miR-19, SPRED2, and autophagy in osteosarcoma. We detected the expression of miR-19, SPRED2, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, and autophagy-related proteins via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or western blot. To evaluate the function of miR-19 and SPRED2, we used MTT and colony formation assays to detect cell proliferation, Transwell, and wound-healing assays to detect cell invasion and migration. Targetscan and luciferase reporter assays confirmed the relationship between SPRED2 and miR-19. The expression of miR-19 was significantly upregulated in osteosarcoma, while SPRED2 was downregulated. miR-19 inhibitor reduced cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT, while its cell biological effects were partially reversed by addition of autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or SPRED2 siRNA in osteosarcoma. SPRED2, a suppressor of ERK/MAPK pathway that is known to trigger autophagy, was identified as a direct target of miR-19. SPRED2 overexpression increased cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT by promoting autophagy, and the effects could be inhibited by 3-MA. Collectively, these findings reveal an underlying mechanism for development of osteosarcoma. miR-19 was upregulated in osteosarcoma cells, and negatively regulated SPRED2, thus promoting the malignant transformation of osteosarcoma cells via inhibiting SPRED2-induced autophagy. Therefore, miR-19/SPRED2 may be a potential target for the treatment of osteosarcoma.

LncRNA TUG1 promotes cell proliferation and suppresses apoptosis in osteosarcoma by regulating miR-212-3p/FOXA1 axis.

BACKGROUND: LncRNA taurine upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) was reported to act as a possible oncogene in osteosarcoma (OS) development. However, the underlying molecular basis of TUG1 involved in the progression of OS remains to be thoroughly investigated. METHODS: The expressions of TUG1 and miR-212-3p in OS tissues and cells were examined by RT-qPCR. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, caspase-3 activity, protein levels of BCL2, Bax, and forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) were detected by colony formation assay, MTT assay, flow cytometry analysis, caspase-3 activity assay, and western blot. Luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay, and RT-qPCR were used to explore the interaction between TUG1, FOXA1 and miR-212-3p. Tumor xenograft mouse model was used to confirm the biological role of TUG in OS in vivo. RESULTS: Elevated TUG1 and FOXA1 expression and reduced miR-212-3p expression were observed in OS tissues and cells. TUG1 knockdown suppressed OS cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis. TUG1 functioned as a ceRNA of miR-212-3p and suppressed miR-212-3p expression. miR-212-3p inhibition reversed the effect of TUG1 knockdown on OS cell proliferation and apoptosis. In addition, FOXA1 was identified as a target of miR-212-3p and TUG1 functioned as a ceRNA to upregulate FOXA1 by sponging miR-212-3p in OS cells. FOXA1 up-regulation abolished the effects of miR-212-3p on OS cell proliferation and apoptosis. CONCLUSION: TUG1 promoted OS cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis by regulating the miR-212-3p/FOXA1 axis. Therefore, TUG1/miR-212-3p/FOXA1 axis may be a promising therapeutic target in OS treatment.

Histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate suppresses proliferation and promotes apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells by regulation of the MDM2-p53 signaling.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors have been reported to induce tumor cell growth arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of one histone deacetylase inhibitor - sodium butyrate (SB) - on osteosarcoma (OS) cell proliferation and apoptosis and also the molecular mechanisms by which SB exerts regulatory effects on OS cells. U2OS and MG63 cells were treated with SB at various concentrations. Then, cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and flow cytometry assays, respectively; the expression of Ki67, Bax, Bcl-2, MDM2, and p53 proteins was determined by using Western blot assay. The results showed that SB suppressed proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner and promoted apoptosis of OS cells. In addition, SB enhanced p53 expression and decreased MDM2 expression, indicating that SB can regulate MDM2-p53 feedback loop. p53 inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis, whereas MDM2 promoted proliferation and suppressed apoptosis, which indicated that functional effect of SB on OS cell lines at least in part depended on the MDM2-p53 signaling. We also explored the effect of SB on OS cells in vivo and found that SB suppressed the growth of OS cells with no noticeable effect on activity and body weight of mice in vivo. These findings will offer new clues for OS development and progression and offer SB as a potent targeted agent for OS treatment.