Modulation of plasmacytoid dendritic cell and CD4+ T cell differentiation accompanied by upregulation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway induced by enterovirus 71.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a neurotropic enterovirus associated with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) fatalities. In this study, we investigated the impact of EV71 on plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and CD4+ T cells. The results showed that pDCs were promptly activated, secreting interferon (IFN)-α and inducing CD4+ T cell proliferation and differentiation during early EV71 infection. This initiated adaptive immune responses and promoted proinflammatory cytokine production by CD4+ T cells. Over time, viral nucleic acids and proteins were synthesized in pDCs and CD4+ T cells. Concurrently, the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) was activated, exhibiting an anti-inflammatory role. With constant viral stimulation, pDCs and CD4+ T cells showed reduced differentiation and cytokine secretion. Defects in pDCs were identified as a key factor in CD4+ T cell tolerance. CAP had a more significant regulatory effect on CD4+ T cells than on pDCs and was capable of inhibiting inflammation in these cells.

Enhanced SMARCD1, a subunit of the SWI/SNF complex, promotes liver cancer growth through the mTOR pathway.

The chromatin remodeling complex SWI/SNF regulates the accessibility of target genes to transcription factors and plays a critical role in the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The SWI/SNF complex is assembled from approximately 15 subunits, and most of these subunits have distinct roles and are often aberrantly expressed in HCC. A comprehensive exploration of the expression and clinical significance of these subunits would be of great value. In the present study, we obtained the gene expression profile of each SWI/SNF subunit and the corresponding clinical information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We found that 14 out of the 15 SWI/SNF subunits were significantly increased in HCC tissues compared with paired normal liver tissues, and 11 subunits were significantly associated with overall survival (OS). We identified a four-gene prognostic signature including actin-like 6A (ACTL6A), AT-rich interaction domain 1A (ARID1A), SWI/SNF related, matrix associated, actin dependent regulator of chromatin subfamily C member 1 (SMARCC1) and SWI/SNF related, matrix associated, actin dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily D, member 1 (SMARCD1) that could effectively predict OS in HCC patients. Among the genes, SMARCD1 has the most prognostic value. We further conducted in vitro and in vivo experiments and revealed that SMARCD1 promotes liver cancer growth by activating the mTOR signaling pathway. In conclusion, our study has revealed that the expression of SWI/SNF complex subunits, especially SMARCD1, is highly associated with HCC development and acts as a promising prognostic predictor.

Mild Mechanic Stimulate on Acupoints Regulation of CGRP-Positive Cells and Microglia Morphology in Spinal Cord of Sciatic Nerve Injured Rats.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to observe the effects of mild mechanical stimulation on acupuncture points of spinal motor neurons and active substances of sciatic nerve injury in rats, and to explore the morphological basis for the recovery of motor function in rats with sciatic nerve injury, using mild acupuncture. Acupuncture in the local area of injury may cause further damage to the peripheral nerve injury. We believe that mild mechanical stimulation on the surface, using some specific acupuncture points can also have a positive effect on nerve repair. This method, called Chinese tuina, has existed for more than 2,000 years in China. METHODS: This study establishes a rat model using sciatic nerve crush injury. Rats received Chinese tuina in accordance with the principle of the three methods and three points, once a day, for 20 days. The rats' status of hindlimb recovery was detected by a sciatic functional index. The labeled neuronal cell body was used to evaluate the fiber recovery after the rats' sciatic nerve injury, using a neural tracing technique. Our team studied motor neuronal cell bodies, CGRP-positive cells, and the microglia of damaged sciatic nerves which were stained with fluorescent triple staining, adopting a confocal multi-layer scanning technique, and then the changes in neuronal activity distribution and expression, and changes of time and treatment were described, using the method of morphological description. RESULTS: Sciatic nerve injury decreased the survival rate of motor neurons, affected CGRP-positive cells, and activated microglia in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. Compared with the model group, the survival of spinal ventral horn motor neurons was increased through tuina intervention. The swelling of CGRP-positive cells was alleviated, and the degree of microglia activation was less than that of the model group. CONCLUSION: This study used visual morphological findings to assess changes in neurons and active substances with time after injury of the peripheral nerve, and demonstrated that peripheral mild acupuncture intervention improved the capacity of neurofibrillary axoplasmic transport, regulated microglia activation, and significantly promoted the recovery of sciatic nerve injury.

Development of quality of life scale in Chinese burn patients: cross-cultural adaptation process of burn-specific health scale - brief.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to develop and test a Chinese burn patient-specific quality of life (QOL) scale based on the burn-specific health scale - brief (BSHS - B) to provide an effective assessment tool to measure quality of life in Chinese burn patients. METHOD: Delphi method was used after the translation, back translation and pre-commissioning tests of BSHS - B, to amend the description of the items for cultural adaptation. The adapted Chinese version (ACV) of the BSHS - B was tested for internal consistency and validity of construct on a group of 271 burn patients from three major burn units in China. RESULTS: Thirty-eight items within six domains of ACV BSHS-B were developed with scoring '0-4' in each item. The mean total score for our study group was 98.36 (standard deviation (S.D.)=37.86), ranging from 13 to 150. The total Cronbach's alpha value was 0.97 and total split-half reliability was 0.98, demonstrating that the internal consistency of the ACV was very high. Pearson correlations among the six domains of ACV BSHS - B were statistically significant. Exploratory factor analysis results showed that the six-factor function explained 78.30% of total variance; each entry in the corresponding domain had a factor-loading value higher than 0.4, indicating that the scale has a good validity. CONCLUSION: The ACV of the BSHS - B showed good reliability and validity, and can be used as a tool for assessing the QOL in Chinese burn patients.