Bioinformatics analysis of paravertebral muscles atrophy in adult degenerative scoliosis.

Paravertebral muscles (PVM) act as one of the major dynamic factors to maintain human upright activities and play a remarkable role in maintaining the balance of the trunk. Adult degenerative scoliosis (ADS) has become one of the important causes of disability in the elderly population owing to the changes in spinal biomechanics, atrophy and degeneration of PVM, and imbalance of the spine. Previously, many studies focused on the physical evaluation of PVM degeneration. However, the molecular biological changes are still not completely known. In this study, we established a rat model of scoliosis and performed the proteomic analysis of the PVM of ADS. The results showed that the degree of atrophy, muscle fat deposition, and fibrosis of the PVM of rats positively correlated with the angle of scoliosis. The proteomic results showed that 177 differentially expressed proteins were present in the ADS group, which included 105 upregulated proteins and 72 downregulated proteins compared with the PVM in individuals without spinal deformities. Through the construction of a protein-protein interaction network, 18 core differentially expressed proteins were obtained, which included fibrinogen beta chain, apolipoprotein E, fibrinogen gamma chain, thrombospondin-1, integrin alpha-6, fibronectin-1, platelet factor 4, coagulation factor XIII A chain, ras-related protein Rap-1b, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1, complement C1q subcomponent subunit A, cathepsin G, myeloperoxidase, von Willebrand factor, integrin beta-1, integrin alpha-1, leukocyte surface antigen CD47, and complement C1q subcomponent subunit B. Further analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) and immunofluorescence showed that the neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation signaling pathway plays a major role in the pathogenesis of PVM degeneration in ADS. The results of the present study preliminarily laid the molecular biological foundation of PVM atrophy in ADS, which will provide a new therapeutic target for alleviating PVM atrophy and decreasing the occurrence of scoliosis.

The ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic Acid Enhances NK-Cell Antitumor Effector Functions.

ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are known to directly repress tumor development and progression. In this study, we explored whether docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a type of ω-3 PUFA, had an immunomodulatory role in inhibiting tumor growth in immunocompetent mice. The number of natural killer (NK) cells but not the number of T or B cells was decreased by DHA supplementation in various tissues under physiologic conditions. Although the frequency and number of NK cells were comparable, IFNγ production by NK cells in both the spleen and lung was increased in DHA-supplemented mice in the mouse B16F10 melanoma tumor model. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that DHA promoted effector function and oxidative phosphorylation in NK cells but had no obvious effects on other immune cells. Using Rag2-/- mice and NK-cell depletion by PK136 antibody injection, we demonstrated that the suppression of B16F10 melanoma tumor growth in the lung by DHA supplementation was dependent mainly on NK cells. In vitro experiments showed that DHA directly enhanced IFNγ production, CD107a expression, and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) activity and slightly increased proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) protein expression in NK cells. The PGC-1α inhibitor SR-18292 in vitro and NK cell-specific knockout of PGC-1α in mice reversed the antitumor effects of DHA. In summary, our findings broaden the current knowledge on how DHA supplementation protects against cancer growth from the perspective of immunomodulation by upregulating PGC-1α signaling-mediated mitochondrial OXPHOS activity in NK cells.