The CGG repeat expansion in RILPL1 is associated with oculopharyngodistal myopathy type 4.

Recent studies indicate that CGG repeat expansions in LRP12, GIPC1, and NOTCH2NLC are associated with oculopharyngodistal myopathy (OPDM) types 1, 2, and 3, respectively. However, some clinicopathologically confirmed OPDM cases continue to have unknown genetic causes. Here, through a combination of long-read whole-genome sequencing (LRS), repeat-primed polymerase chain reaction (RP-PCR), and fluorescence amplicon length analysis PCR (AL-PCR), we found that a CGG repeat expansion in the 5' UTR of RILPL1 is associated with familial and simplex OPDM type 4 (OPDM4). The number of repeats ranged from 139 to 197. Methylation analysis indicates that the methylation levels in RILPL1 were unaltered in OPDM4 individuals. Analyses of muscle biopsies suggested that the expanded CGG repeat might be translated into a toxic poly-glycine protein that co-localizes with p62 in intranuclear inclusions. Moreover, analyses suggest that the toxic RNA gain-of-function effects also contributed to the pathogenesis of this disease. Intriguingly, all four types of OPDM have been found to be associated with the CGG repeat expansions located in 5' UTRs. This finding suggests that a common pathogenic mechanism, driven by the CGG repeat expansion, might underlie all cases of OPDM.

IL-21 promoting angiogenesis contributes to the development of psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: Elevated IL-21 expression which can effectively induce Th17 cell differentiation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, but its role in angiogenesis remains poorly understood. METHODS: PASI and PSI score assessment was applied to evaluate the severity of psoriatic lesions. The expression of IL-21, IL-21 receptor (IL-21R), CD31, VEGFA, MMP-9, and ICAM-1 in skin was determined by immunohistochemistry or quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The serum level of IL-21 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Then, their correlation was analyzed statistically. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cocultured with conditional medium from normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) were treated with IL-21 and/or M5 cocktail (mixture of IL-1α, IL-17A, IL-22, TNF-α, and oncostatin M). The migration and tube formation of HUVECs were detected, and the levels of VEGFA, MMP-9, and ICAM-1 in NHEKs were measured by Western blotting or ELISA. RESULTS: Increased IL-21 and IL-21R expression was observed in psoriatic sera or skin specimens, with IL-21R mainly locating in keratinocytes and IL-21 in immune cells. Pearson analysis showed significantly positive correlation between IL-21/IL-21R and erythema scores/microvessel density in psoriatic lesions. Moreover, the expression of proangiogenic genes, VEGFA, ICAM-1, and MMP-9 was upregulated in skins of psoriasis. Additionally, in M5 microenvironment, migration and tube formation could be magnified in HUVECs using IL-21 pre-treated NHEK medium. Mechanically, the co-stimulation of IL-21 and M5 to NEHKs increased the expression of ICAM-1. CONCLUSION: IL-21 could regulate keratinocytes to secrete ICAM-1, thereby promoting angiogenesis in psoriasis.

Non-coding CGG repeat expansion in LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1 is associated with a phenotype of oculopharyngodistal myopathy.

BACKGROUND: Oculopharyngodistal myopathy (OPDM) is a rare adult-onset neuromuscular disease, associated with CGG repeat expansions in the 5' untranslated region of LRP12, GIPC1, NOTCH2NLC and RILPL1. However, the genetic cause of a proportion of pathoclinically confirmed cases remains unknown. METHODS: A total of 26 OPDM patients with unknown genetic cause(s) from 4 tertiary referral hospitals were included in this study. Clinical data and laboratory findings were collected. Muscle samples were observed by histological and immunofluorescent staining. Long-read sequencing was initially conducted in six patients with OPDM. Repeat-primed PCR was used to screen the CGG repeat expansions in LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1 in all 26 patients. RESULTS: We identified CGG repeat expansion in the non-coding transcripts of LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1 in another two unrelated Chinese cases with typical pathoclinical features of OPDM. The repeat expansion was more than 70 times in the patients but less than 40 times in the normal controls. Both patients showed no leucoencephalopathy but one showed mild cognitive impairment detected by Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Rimmed vacuoles and p62-positive intranuclear inclusions (INIs) were identified in muscle pathology, and colocalisation of CGG RNA foci with p62 was also found in the INIs of patient-derived fibroblasts. CONCLUSIONS: We identified another two unrelated cases with CGG repeat expansion in the long non-coding RNA of the LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1 gene, presenting with a phenotype of OPDM. Our cases broadened the recognised phenotypic spectrum and pathogenesis in the disease associated with CGG repeat expansion in LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1.

Enhancing the spatial resolution of time-of-flight based non-line-of-sight imaging via instrument response function deconvolution.

Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) imaging retrieves the hidden scenes by utilizing the signals indirectly reflected by the relay wall. Benefiting from the picosecond-level timing accuracy, time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) based NLOS imaging can achieve theoretical spatial resolutions up to millimeter level. However, in practical applications, the total temporal resolution (also known as total time jitter, TTJ) of most current TCSPC systems exceeds hundreds of picoseconds due to the combined effects of multiple electronic devices, which restricts the underlying spatial resolution of NLOS imaging. In this paper, an instrument response function deconvolution (IRF-DC) method is proposed to overcome the constraints of a TCSPC system's TTJ on the spatial resolution of NLOS imaging. Specifically, we model the transient measurements as Poisson convolution process with the normalized IRF as convolution kernel, and solve the inverse problem with iterative deconvolution algorithm, which significantly improves the spatial resolution of NLOS imaging after reconstruction. Numerical simulations show that the IRF-DC facilitates light-cone transform and frequency-wavenumber migration solver to achieve successful reconstruction even when the system's TTJ reaches 1200 ps, which is equivalent to what was previously possible when TTJ was about 200 ps. In addition, the IRF-DC produces satisfactory reconstruction outcomes when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is low. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed method has also been experimentally verified. The proposed IRF-DC method is highly applicable and efficient, which may promote the development of high-resolution NLOS imaging.

Pseudoexon activation by deep intronic variation in GNE myopathy with thrombocytopenia.

INTRODUCTION/AIMS: GNE myopathy is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the GNE gene, which is essential for the sialic acid biosynthesis pathway. Although over 300 GNE variants have been reported, some patients remain undiagnosed with monoallelic pathogenic variants. This study aims to analyze the entire GNE genomic region to identify novel pathogenic variants. METHODS: Patients with clinically compatible GNE myopathy and monoallelic pathogenic variants in the GNE gene were enrolled. The other GNE pathogenic variant was verified using comprehensive methods including exon 2 quantitative polymerase chain reaction and nanopore long-read single-molecule sequencing (LRS). RESULTS: A deep intronic GNE variant, c.862+870C>T, was identified in nine patients from eight unrelated families. This variant generates a cryptic splice site, resulting in the activation of a novel pseudoexon between exons 5 and 6. It results in the insertion of an extra 146 nucleotides into the messengerRNA (mRNA), which is predicted to result in a truncated humanGNE1(hGNE1) protein. Peanut agglutinin（PNA） lectin staining of muscle tissues showed reduced sialylation of mucin O-glycans on sarcolemmal glycoproteins. Notably, a third of patients with the c.862+870C>T variant exhibited thrombocytopenia. A common core haplotype harboring the deep intronic GNE variant was found in all these patients. DISCUSSION: The transcript with pseudoexon activation potentially affects sialic acid biosynthesis via nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, or resulting in a truncated hGNE1 protein, which interferes with normal enzyme function. LRS is expected to be more frequently incorporated in genetic analysis given its efficacy in detecting hard-to-find pathogenic variants.

[Clinical and genetic analysis of a patient with Desminopathy manifesting initially with myalgia after lower limb activity].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics and genetic variant of a patient with desminopathy manifesting with atypical symptoms. METHODS: A patient who was admitted to the Department of Neurology of Jing'an District Central Hospital on February 24, 2021 was selected as the study subject. Clinical data, laboratory tests, muscle pathology, muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and genetic testing of the patient were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The patient had developed myalgia after lower limb activity, and gradually developed asymmetrical muscle weakness and atrophy of the lower limbs. Cardiac examination revealed atrioventricular block and decreased left ventricular diastolic function. Muscle MRI showed that semitendinosus, sartorius, gracilis, fibula, gastronemius and supinator muscles were selectively involved at the early stage. Muscle biopsy confirmed pathological changes of desmin positive myofibrils. Genetic testing revealed that the patient has harbored a c.1024A>G (p.n342d) missense variant in exon 6 of the DES gene. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), the variant was rated as likely pathogenic (PS4_moderate+PM2_supporting+PP3_moderate+PP1). CONCLUSION: Desmin disease has a great clinical heterogeneity. Postexercise myalgia of lower limbs is a rare clinical phenotype. For patients harboring the c.1024A>G (p.n342d) variant of the DES gene, in addition to semitendinosus and fibula, Cardiac involvement is relatively insidious and easy to be ignored in clinic. Timely muscle MRI, muscle biopsy and gene detection will help the early diagnosis of the disease.

Underwater single photon 3D imaging with millimeter depth accuracy and reduced blind range.

Mono-static system benefits from its more flexible field of view and simplified structure, however, the backreflection photons from mono-static system lead to count loss for target detection. Counting loss engender range-blind, impeding the accurate acquisition of target depth. In this paper, count loss is reduced by introducing a polarization-based underwater mono-static single-photon imaging method, and hence reduced blind range. The proposed method exploits the polarization characteristic of light to effectively reduce the count loss of the target, thus improving the target detection efficiency. Experiments demonstrate that the target profile can be visually identified under our method, while the unpolarization system can not. Moreover, the ranging precision of system reaches millimeter-level. Finally, the target profile is reconstructed using non-local pixel correlations algorithm.

SLC38A6 expression in macrophages exacerbates pulmonary inflammation.

Pulmonary inflammation involves complex changes of the immune cells, in which macrophages play important roles and their function might be influenced by metabolism. Slc38a6 acts as a carrier of nutrient for macrophages (Mφ) to exert the function. In this study, pneumonia patient blood was found up-regulated SLC38A6 expression, which correlated with monocytes number and white blood cell number. The similar result was also shown in LPS induced sepsis mice. To reveal the key role of Slc38a6, we used systemic and conditional knock-out mice. Either systemic or LyzCRE specific knock-out could alleviate the severity of sepsis mice, reduce the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α and IL-1ß expression in serum and decrease the monocytes number in bronchial alveolar lavage and peritoneal lavage via flow cytometry. In order to reveal the signal of up-regulated Slc38a6, the Tlr4 signal inhibitor TAK242 and TLR4 knock-out mice were used. By blocking Tlr4 signal in macrophages via TAK242, the expression of Slc38a6 was down-regulated synchronously, and the same results were also found in Tlr4 knock-out macrophages. However, in the overexpressed Slc38a6 macrophages, blocking Tlr4 signal via TAK242, 20% of the mRNA expression of IL-1ß still could be expressed, indicating that up-regulated Slc38a6 participates in IL-1ß expression process. Collectively, it is the first time showed that an amino acid transporter SLC38A6 up-regulated in monocytes/macrophages promotes activation in pulmonary inflammation. SLC38A6 might be a promising target molecule for pulmonary inflammation treatment.

8-0 Polypropylene Suture Looping and Overhand Knot: Transconjunctival Approach to Four-Point Scleral Fixation of an Akreos Adapt Intraocular Lens.

PURPOSE: To evaluate a novel surgical technique for transscleral fixation of the intraocular lens (IOL) with four hollow haptics using 8-0 polypropylene suture looping and overhand knot. METHODS: An 8-0 polypropylene suture was tied to a 10-0 polypropylene suture with an overhand knot. One set of 8-0 polypropylene suture was then passed through the IOL four haptics. The suture knot was buried by rotating into the sclera tunnel. Best-corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and complications were determined. RESULTS: The IOLs were fixed with using an 8-0 polypropylene suture in 13 eyes of 11 patients with aphakia and dislocated crystalline lens. The mean preoperative corrected distance visual acuity was 0.71 ± 0.58 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (Snellen 20/103), and it improved to 0.24 ± 0.25 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (Snellen 20/35) at the final follow-up ( P < 0.05). No vitreous hemorrhage, hypotony, suture exposed, and pupillary capture of the IOL were observed in any of the patients. CONCLUSION: The authors have developed a new technique for transscleral IOL fixation with one set of an 8-0 polypropylene suture tied to a 10-0 polypropylene suture with an overhand knot. The overhand knot offers the opportunity to use an 8-0 polypropylene suture for the long-term safety and may not require the surgeon to learn any new technique.

Magnetic flux leakage detection based on a sensitivity-enhanced fiber Bragg grating magnetic field sensor.

We propose a sensitivity-enhanced fiber Bragg grating (FBG) magnetic field sensor for magnetic flux leakage (MFL) detection. The testing system consists of the FBG, suspended strain concentration structure, and two ceramic tubes bonded on a Terfenol-D base. We show the relation between the MFL and the width and depth of the crack, the lift-off of the sensor away from the surface of the workpiece, and the angle between the orientation of the sensor and the magnetization direction. The experimental results are very consistent with those obtained from finite element analysis simulations. The sensitivity of the sensor is increased to 81.11 pm/mT for increasing magnetic fields and 91.55 pm/mT for decreasing magnetic fields. The MFL test demonstrates that the sensor can identify a crack with a width of 0.5 mm and depth of 2 mm in an 8 mm thick workpiece. To the best of our knowledge, the magnetic field sensor proposed in this work has the highest sensitivity compared with the same types of sensors. Moreover, the application of an FBG-Terfenol-D based magnetic field sensor in the MFL test shows good performance. Compared with traditional electrical MFL testing technologies, the sensitivity-enhanced optical fiber magnetic field sensor has a higher resolution and longer survival time in harsh environments.

SLC7A5 expression is up-regulated in peripheral blood T and B lymphocytes of systemic lupus erythematosus patients, associating with renal damage.

Metabolic reprogramming of immune cells has been proven to be important for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study aims to understand the role of SLC7A5, an amino acid transporter, in SLE. We analyzed SLC7A5 mRNA expression of SLE patients compared to healthy controls using GEO database, and found that it was increased in CD4+ T cells and CD19+ B cells. We then confirmed the expression up-regulation using flow cytometry and found that the proportion of SLC7A5+ cells and its expression were increased in peripheral blood T and B cells from SLE patients. Importantly, SLC7A5 expression in T and B cells was positively correlated with blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine. Therefore, we conclude that SLC7A5, up-regulating in circulating T and B cells, correlates with kidney function, suggesting its potential role in mediating renal damage in SLE, which provides novel insight into SLE pathogenesis and provides a potential biomarker for disease.

Plasma exchange versus intravenous immunoglobulin in AChR subtype myasthenic crisis: A prospective cohort study.

Myasthenic crisis (MC) is a life-threatening state with respiratory failure in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). The fast-acting immunomodulatory therapies for treating MC included plasma exchange (PE) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). However, the efficacy and the impact on antibody changes remained unknown. We prospectively followed 40 anti-acetylcholine receptors (AChR) antibody-positive MC patients who received either PE (n = 12) or IVIG (n = 28) at crisis. PE was associated with a reduced ICU stay length (p = 0.018) and an early response by the average changes in MGFA-QMG (p = 0.003), MMT (p = 0.020), and ADL (p = 0.011) at one-week off-ventilation. However, the clinical efficacy was equally comparable in both groups after 1 month. Post-treatment hemoglobin drop was significant in both groups, while IVIG was associated with a significant reduction in anti-AChR antibody titers (p < 0.001). This analysis provides real-world evidence in supporting the use of PE as a fast-acting therapy for shortening the ICU stay in AChR-associated MC.

Loss of microRNA-147 function alleviates synovial inflammation through ZNF148 in rheumatoid and experimental arthritis.

MicroRNA-147 (miR-147) had been previously found induced in synoviocytes by inflammatory stimuli derived from T cells in experimental arthritis. This study was designed to verify whether loss of its function might alleviate inflammatory events in joints of experimental and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Dark Agouti (DA) rats were injected intradermally with pristane to induce arthritis, and rno-miR-147 antagomir was locally administrated into individual ankle compared with negative control or rno-miR-155-5p antagomir (potential positive control). Arthritis onset, macroscopic severity, and pathological changes were monitored. While in vitro, gain or loss function of hsa-miR-147b-3p/hsa-miR-155-5p and ZNF148 was achieved in human synovial fibroblast cell line SW982 and RA synovial fibroblasts (RASF). The expression of miRNAs and mRNAs was detected by using RT-quantitative PCR, and protein expression was detected by using Western blotting. Anti-miR-147 therapy could alleviate the severity, especially for the synovitis and joint destruction in experimental arthritis. Gain of hsa-miR-147b-3p/hsa-miR-155-5p function in TNF-α stimulated SW982 and RASF cells could upregulate, in contrast, loss of hsa-miR-147b-3p/hsa-miR-155-5p function could downregulate the gene expression of TNF-α, IL-6, MMP3, and MMP13. Hence, such alteration could participate in synovial inflammation and joint destruction. RNAi of ZNF148, a miR-147's target, increased gene expression of TNF-α, IL-6, MMP3, and MMP13 in SW982 and RASF cells. Also, mRNA sequencing data showed that hsa-miR-147b-3p mimic and ZNF148 siRNA commonly regulated the gene expression of CCL3 and DEPTOR as well as some arthritis and inflammation-related pathways. Taken together, miR-147b-3p contributes to synovial inflammation through repressing ZNF148 in RA and experimental arthritis.

Femtosecond laser plane-by-plane inscribed ultrahigh-order fiber Bragg grating and its application in multi-wavelength fiber lasers.

We propose an ultrahigh-order fiber Bragg grating (UHO-FBG) containing dense resonants and its application as a novel filtering device in multi-wavelength lasers. The UHO-FBG is fabricated by femtosecond laser plane-by-plane direct inscription. Thanks to the plane-by-plane inscription, high-order Bragg resonances can be formed with multiple reflectance peaks of comparable reflectance in the range of the fiber operating bandwidth and without the transmission depression of long-period gratings in the transmission spectrum. We also experimentally demonstrate the use of UHO-FBG pairs in a distributed Bragg reflector laser, enabling the excitation of multi-wavelength lasers.

Upregulated PKM2 in Macrophages Exacerbates Experimental Arthritis via STAT1 Signaling.

Recent studies indicate that glucose metabolism is altered in rheumatoid arthritis. We hypothesize that Pkm2, as a key regulatory enzyme of glycolysis pathway, triggers the activation of macrophages (Mφ), which results in proinflammatory cytokine production during the arthritis progress. In this study, Pkm2 was found to be overexpressed in ED1-positive Mφ in spleens and synovial tissues from arthritic rats via immunofluorescence, Western blotting, and quantitative RT-PCR. To reveal the role of Pkm2, Dark Agouti rats were treated with either Pkm2 enzyme inhibitor shikonin or the RNA interference plasmids of Pkm2 and negative control plasmids, respectively, via i.p. injection. Pkm2 intervention could alleviate the severity of pristane-induced arthritis in aspects of the macroscopic arthritis score, perimeter changes of midpaw, and the synovitis and destruction of the bone and cartilage as well as reduce the ED1 and p-Stat1-positive cell population in rat synovial tissues. Silencing Pkm2 by RNA interference in classical activated rat and mouse Mφ resulted in less Tnf-α, Il-1ß production via Stat1 signaling. Collectively, Pkm2 is highly expressed in ED1-positive Mφ of spleens and synovial tissues from arthritic rats and promotes Mφ activation via Stat1 signaling. Pkm2 might be a promising selective metabolic target molecule for rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

5' UTR CGG repeat expansion in GIPC1 is associated with oculopharyngodistal myopathy.

Oculopharyngodistal myopathy is a late-onset degenerative muscle disorder characterized by ptosis and weakness of the facial, pharyngeal, and distal limb muscles. A recent report suggested a non-coding trinucleotide repeat expansion in LRP12 to be associated with the disease. Here we report a genetic study in a Chinese cohort of 41 patients with the clinical diagnosis of oculopharyngodistal myopathy (21 cases from seven families and 20 sporadic cases). In a large family with 12 affected individuals, combined haplotype and linkage analysis revealed a maximum two-point logarithm of the odds (LOD) score of 3.3 in chromosomal region chr19p13.11-p13.2 and narrowed the candidate region to an interval of 4.5 Mb. Using a comprehensive strategy combining whole-exome sequencing, long-read sequencing, repeat-primed polymerase chain reaction and GC-rich polymerase chain reaction, we identified an abnormal CGG repeat expansion in the 5' UTR of the GIPC1 gene that co-segregated with disease. Overall, the repeat expansion in GIPC1 was identified in 51.9% independent pedigrees (4/7 families and 10/20 sporadic cases), while the repeat expansion in LRP12 was only identified in one sporadic case (3.7%) in our cohort. The number of CGG repeats was <30 in controls but >60 in affected individuals. There was a slight correlation between repeat size and the age at onset. Both repeat expansion and retraction were observed during transmission but somatic instability was not evident. These results further support that non-coding CGG repeat expansion plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of oculopharyngodistal myopathy.

Pristane promotes anaerobic glycolysis to facilitate proinflammatory activation of macrophages and development of arthritis.

Pristane-induced arthritis (PIA) could be adoptively transferred by splenic T cells in rats, and innate immunity should play critical roles in T cell activation. However, in pre-clinical stage, the activation mechanism of innate cells like macrophages remains unclear. Here we found that PIA was dependent on macrophages since cell depletion alleviated disease severity. Splenic macrophages of PIA rats showed M1 phenotypic shifting. The quantitative proteomics analysis suggested that macrophages initiated metabolic reprogramming with the conversion of aerobic oxidation to glycolysis in response to pristane in vivo. Notably, macrophages treated with pristane showed mitochondrial dysregulation and increased glycolysis flux and enzyme activity. Additionally, TNFα production, strongly associating with the glycolysis enzyme Ldha/Ldhb, could be reduced as glycolysis was inhibited or be enhanced as citrate cycle was blocked. This work provides detailed insights into the molecular mechanisms of pristane-mediated metabolic reprogramming in macrophages and suggests a new therapeutic strategy for arthritic disorders.

Molecular landscape of CAPN3 mutations in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type R1: from a Chinese multicentre analysis to a worldwide perspective.

BACKGROUND: Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type R1 (LGMDR1) can be caused by recessive CAPN3 mutations accounting for the majority of LGMD. To date, no systemic evaluation has been performed to analyse the detrimental and normal mutations on CAPN3 and its hotspots. METHODS: CAPN3 variants (n=112) from a total of 124 patients with LGMDR1 recruited in four centres in China were retrospectively analysed. Then external CAPN3 variants (n=2031) from online databases were integrated with our Chinese cohort data to achieve a worldwide perspective on CAPN3 mutations. According to their related phenotypes (LGMDR1 or normal), we analysed consequence, distribution, ethnicity and severity scores of CAPN3 mutations. RESULTS: Two hotspot mutations were identified including c.2120A>G in Chinese population and c.550del in Europe. According to the integrated dataset, 521 mutations were classified as LGMDR1-related and converged on exons 1, 10, 5, 22 and 13 of CAPN3. The remaining 1585 variants were classified as normal-population related. The deleterious ratio of LGMDR1-relevant variants to total variants in each population was 0.26 on average with a maximum of 0.35 in Finns and a minimum of 0.21 in South Asians. Severity evaluation showed that Chinese LGMDR1-related variants exhibited a higher risk (Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion score +1.10) than that from database patients (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed two hotspots and LGMDR1-related CAPN3 variants, highlighting the advantages in using a data-based comprehensive analysis to achieve a genetic landscape for patients with LGMDR1.

Topical Treatment of Colquhounia Root Relieves Skin Inflammation and Itch in Imiquimod-Induced Psoriasiform Dermatitis in Mice.

Itch is one of the major clinical manifestations of psoriasis, which is closely related with neurogenic inflammation and difficult to control. Colquhounia Root (CR) is a Chinese herb exhibiting broad bioactivities on anti-inflammation. This study was designed to explore the antipsoriatic and anti-itch potential of CR and its underlying mechanisms. Mice in a model of imiquimod-induced psoriasiform dermatitis were treated topically with CR for 7 days, and the severity of skin lesions and itch was significantly ameliorated. CR reduced the inflammatory cell infiltration, as well as mast cells in skins. Particularly, the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokine including Il17a, Il22, and Ccl20 and itch-related molecules such as SP, CGRP, and NGF in lesions were decreased in diseased mice upon application with CR. The normal human epidermal keratinocytes were stimulated with the M5 cytokine cocktail, the mixture of IL-17A, IL-22, Oncostatin M, IL-1α, and TNF-α, and cell viability and mRNA expression levels of inflammatory factors and itch-related molecules were measured after being treated with CR. We found that CR inhibited both cell hyperproliferation and overexpression of inflammatory cytokines and itch-related molecules in vitro. Altogether, we conclude that CR relieves psoriatic lesions and itch via controlling immunological and neurogenic inflammation.

Activation of cGAS-STING pathway - A possible cause of myofiber atrophy/necrosis in dermatomyositis and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate the expression of the cGAS-STING pathway-associated protein in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) and to investigate whether it is related to myofiber atrophy/necrosis in patients with dermatomyositis and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Muscle specimens obtained by open biopsy from 26 IIM patients (14 with dermatomyositis (DM), 8 with immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), and 4 with other types of IIM), 4 dystrophinopathy, and 9 control patients were assessed for expression of cGAS-STING pathway members via Western blot, quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR), and immunochemistry. Meanwhile, analysis its location distribution througn immunochemistry. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, the expression of cGAS, STING, and related molecules was obviously increased in muscle samples of IIM patients. Upregulated cGAS and STING were mainly located in the vascular structure, inflammatory infiltrates, and atrophic and necrotic fibers. While comparing to the Dys patients, the mRNA level of cGAS, STING, and TNF-a was upregulated, meanwhile, the protein of the TBK1, P-TBK1, and P-IRF3 associated with interferon upregulation was overexpressed through Western blot in IMNM and DM. Considering that cGAS and STING are located in necrotic and Mx1-positive atrophic fibers, it is really possible that the cGAS-STING pathway may lead to fibers atrophy/necrosis by producing IFNs. CONCLUSION: The cGAS-STING pathway was activated in the muscle samples of IIM patients and its activation may be the reason of myofiber atrophy and necrosis in DM and IMNM patients.