[Correlations between the average Young's modulus and histopathological characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinoma].

Objective: To explore the histopathological factors affecting the stiffness of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: Ninety-six patients with PTC confirmed by surgery and pathology in Shanxi Bethune Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020 were selected, including 101 nodules. Two-dimensional ultrasound and shear-wave elastography (SWE) were performed before surgery and the average Young's modulus (Emean) of PTC nodules were measured. Histopathological examinations on the nodules were conducted after surgery to decide the lesion size, number of lesions, calcification type, presence or absence of capsular and extracapsular invasion, degree of fibrosis, microvessel density, and number of tumor cells. The correlations between the lesion size, degree of fibrosis, microvessel density, and number of tumor cells and the Emean were analyzed. The Emeans of nodules with different numbers of lesions, presence or absence of capsular and extracapsular invasion, and different pathological calcification types were compared. The multiple linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the histopathological factors influencing the Emean. Results: The ranges of the lesion sizes, degrees of fibrosis, microvascular density, numbers of tumor cells, and the Emeans of the 101 investigated PTC nodules were (1.29±0.95) cm, (30.64±18.37)%, (101.64±30.7) vessels per high power field, (373.52±149.87) cells per high power field, and (36.47±19.62) kPa, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that the lesion size of PTC and the degree of fibrosis were positively correlated with the Emean (r=0.660, P＜0.001; r=0.789, P＜0.001), while the microvessel density was negatively correlated with the Emean (r=-0.198, P=0.047). The Emean of the group with capsular and extracapsular invasion was higher than that of the group without (P=0.014). There were statistical differences in the Emeans among different types of pathological calcification (P＜0.001). The multiple linear regression analysis showed that the lesion size (ß=0.325, P＜0.001), degree of fibrosis (ß=0.563, P＜0.001), psammoma bodies (ß=0.177, P=0.001), stromal calcification (ß=0.164, P=0.003), and mixed calcification of both psammoma bodies and stroma (ß=0.163, P=0.003) were independent influencing factors for the Emean. The degree of fibrosis had the greatest impact on the Emean. Conclusions: The Emean of PTC lesions was correlated with the histopathological characteristics of PTC. The lesion size, degree of fibrosis, and calcification had significant impact on the Emean, among which the degree of fibrosis had the greatest impact.

[Effects of microRNA-34a on regulating silent information regulator 1 and influence of the factor on myocardial damage of rats with severe burns at early stage].

Objective: To explore the effects of microRNA-34a on regulating silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) and influence of SIRT1 on myocardial damage of rats with severe burns at early stage. Methods: (1) Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into sham injury (SI) group, simple burns (SB) group and SIRT1 agonist (SA) group according to the random number table (the same grouping method below), with 8 rats in each group. Rats in groups SB and SA were inflicted with 30% total body surface area full-thickness scald (hereinafter referred to as burns) on the back, and rats in group SI were sham injuried on the back. Immediately after injury, rats in groups SI and SB were intraperitoneally injected with normal saline of 50 mL/kg, and rats in group SA were intraperitoneally injected with normal saline of 50 mL/kg and 1 mg/mL resveratrol of 50 mg/kg. At 6 h post injury, abdominal aortic blood was collected to make serum and myocardial tissue of rats was collected. (2) Myocardial cells of twelve neonatal SD rats were collected and divided into microRNA-34a mimic control (MMC) group, microRNA-34a mimic (MM) group, microRNA-34a inhibitor control (MIC) group, and microRNA-34a inhibitor (MI) group, which were respectively transfected with gene sequences of mimic control, mimic, inhibitor control, and inhibitor of microRNA-34a. The microRNA-34a expression level and protein expression level of SIRT1 in myocardial cells were respectively detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. Another batch of myocardial cells were divided into microRNA-34a inhibitor control+ burn serum (MCB) group, microRNA-34a inhibitor+ burn serum (MB) group, and microRNA-34a inhibitor+ burn serum + EX527 (MBE) group. Myocardial cells in group MCB were transfected with gene sequence of inhibitor control, and myocardial cells in the later groups were transfected with gene sequence of inhibitor of microRNA-34a. After transfection of 48 h, myocardial cells in group MBE were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) solution for 6 hours, with serum in group SB of volume fraction of 10% and final amount-of-substance concentration of 1 mol/L, and myocardial cells in the other 2 groups were cultured in DMEM solution with serum from rats of group SB of volume fraction of 10%. The protein expression levels of myocardial cells of SIRT1, cleaved-caspase-3, and Bax were detected by Western blotting. (3) Myocardial tissue from (1) was collected to detect expression levels of microRNA-34a and mRNA of SIRT1 in groups SI and SB by real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. Morphology of myocardial tissue of rats in groups SI, SB, and SA was observed with biological image navigator. The mRNA expression levels of interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) of rats in groups SI, SB, and SA were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. The expression levels of cleaved-caspase-3, and Bax of myocardial tissue of rats in groups SI, SB, and SA were detected by Western blotting. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance and least-significant difference test. Results: (1) After transfection of 48 h, the expression level of microRNA-34a of myocardial cells in group MM was 4.67±0.92, significantly higher than 1.03±0.04 in group MMC (P<0.01); the protein expression level of SIRT1 of myocardial cells in group MM was 0.35±0.06, significantly lower than 1.12±0.11 in group MMC (P<0.01). After transfection of 48 h, the expression level of microRNA-34a of myocardial cells in group MI was 0.26±0.07, significantly lower than 1.33±0.07 in group MIC (P<0.01); the protein expression level of SIRT1 of myocardial cells in group MIC was 1.12±0.16, significantly lower than 1.74±0.34 in group MI (P<0.01). At 6 h after culture, compared with those in group MCB, the SIRT1 protein expression level of myocardial cells in group MB was significantly increased (P<0.05), while cleaved-caspase-3 and Bax protein expression levels of myocardial cells in group MB were significantly decreased (P<0.05). Compared with those in group MB, the SIRT1 protein expression level of myocardial cells in group MBE was with no significantly statistical difference (P>0.05), and cleaved-caspase-3 and Bax protein expression levels were significantly increased (P<0.05). (2) At 6 h post injury, compared with that in group SI, the microRNA-34a expression level of myocardial tissue in group SB was significantly increased (P<0.01), and the mRNA expression level of SIRT1 of myocardial tissue in group SB was significantly decreased (P<0.01). At 6 h post injury, myocardial cells in group SI arranged neatly with normal nucleus and no inflammatory cells infiltration; myocardial cells in group SB arranged disorderly, with no abnormal nucleus, and obvious inflammatory cells infiltration; myocardial cells in group SA arranged neatly, with normal nucleus and little inflammatory cells infiltration. At 6 h post injury, compared with those in group SB, the mRNA expression levels of IL-1ß and TNF-α, and the protein expression levels of cleaved-caspase-3 and Bax of myocardial tissue in groups SI and SA were significantly decreased (P<0.01). Conclusions: The microRNA-34a expression level of myocardial tissue of rats with severe burns at early stage increases, which decreases the expression level of SIRT1, and increases the expression levels of IL-1ß, TNF-α, cleaved-caspase-3 and Bax, leading to obvious myocardial damage. Activation of SIRT1 can alleviate myocardial damage of rats with severe burns at early stage through decreasing expression levels of IL-1ß, TNF-α, cleaved-caspase-3, and Bax.

[Effects of activating silent information regulator 1 on early kidney damage in rats with severe burn].

Objective: To investigate the effects of activating silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) on the early kidney damage in rats with severe burn. Methods: Thirty healthy male SD rats were divided into sham injury group (SI), pure burn group (PB), and SIRT1 activator group (SA) according to the random number table, with 10 rats in each group. Rats in groups PB and SA were inflicted with 30% total body surface area full-thickness scald (hereinafter referred to as burn) on the back. Immediately after injury, rats in group PB were intraperitoneally injected with normal saline in the dosage of 50 mL/kg, and those in group SA with 1 mg/mL (final mass concentration) resveratrol in the dosage of 50 mL/kg. Rats in group SI were sham injured and intraperitoneally injected with normal saline in the dosage of 50 mL/kg immediately after injury. Kidney tissue and abdominal aorta blood of rats in the three groups were collected at 24 hours after injury. The morphology of kidney tissue was observed after HE staining. The serum content of creatinine and urea nitrogen was determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Protein expressions of SIRT1, Bax, and Bcl-2 in kidney tissue were determined with Western blotting. mRNA expressions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1ß), and IL-10 in kidney tissue were determined with real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance and LSD-t test. Results: (1) In rats of group SI, structures of kidney tubules and glomeruli were intact. In rats of group PB, structures of kidney tubules were not clear with casts in them, and glomeruli showed pyknosis. In rats of group SA, structures of kidney tubules were relatively intact, and the pyknosis of glomeruli were slighter as compared with that of group PB with fewer glomeruli showing pyknosis. (2) The serum content of creatinine and urea nitrogen in rats of group PB was (67±14) µmol/L and (22.0±4.4) mmol/L, respectively, which was significantly higher than that of group SI [(28±7) µmol/L and (5.5±1.2) mmol/L respectively, with t values respectively 6.07 and 11.53, P values below 0.01]. The serum content of creatinine and urea nitrogen in rats of group SA was (39±9) µmol/L and (14.1±1.7) mmol/L, respectively, significantly lower than that of group PB (with t values respectively 4.09 and 4.17, P values below 0.01). (3) Compared with those of group SI, protein expressions of SIRT1 and Bcl-2 in kidney tissue of rats in group PB were significantly decreased (with t values respectively 16.32 and 19.58, P values below 0.01), while the protein expression of Bax was significantly increased (t=5.98, P<0.01). Compared with those of group PB, protein expressions of SIRT1 and Bcl-2 in kidney tissue of rats in group SA were significantly increased (with t values respectively 6.94 and 5.37, P values below 0.01), while the protein expression of Bax was significantly decreased (t=3.44, P<0.01). (4) mRNA expressions of TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-10 in kidney tissue of rats in group PB were 17.0±4.0, 2.27±0.59, and 2.5±0.9, respectively, significantly higher than those of group SI (1.0, 1.00, and 1.0, respectively, with t values from 3.27 to 8.93, P<0.05 or P<0.01). mRNA expressions of TNF-α and IL-1ß in kidney tissue of rats in group SA were 6.8±1.2 and 1.18±0.26, respectively, significantly lower than those of group PB (with t values respectively 4.59 and 4.32, P values below 0.01). mRNA expression of IL-10 in kidney tissue of rats in group SA was 5.0±1.0, significantly higher than that of group PB (t=5.51, P<0.01). Conclusions: Activating SIRT1 on early stage of severe burn in rats can decrease levels of creatinine and urea nitrogen, thus improving the kidney function. It can down-regulate the protein expression of Bax and up-regulate the protein expression of Bcl-2, thus reducing the apoptosis in kidney tissue. Meanwhile, it can inhibit expressions of TNF-α and IL-1ß and promote the expression of IL-10, thus alleviating the inflammatory response in kidney.

[Effects of human amniotic epithelial stem cells-derived exosomes on healing of wound with full-thickness skin defect in rats].

Objective: To investigate the effects of human amniotic epithelial stem cells-derived exosomes on healing of wound with full-thickness skin defect in rats. Methods: (1) Human amniotic epithelial stem cells were isolated from the amnion tissue of 5 full-term pregnant women in Department of Obstetrics of our hospital by the method of trypsin digestion, and their morphology was observed. The third passage of cells were stained with rhodamine-phalloidin for cytoskeleton observation. The third passage of cells were identified with flow cytometry through the detection of expressions of cell surface markers CD29, CD31, CD34, CD90, CD105, SSEA3, SSEA4 and immunity-related marker human leukocyte antigen-D related site (HLA-DR). The third passage of cells were also assessed the ability of adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation. (2) The third passage of human amniotic epithelial stem cells were cultured in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% exosome-free fetal bovine serum. Exosomes were isolated from culture supernatant by the method of ultracentrifugation and represented with scanning electron microscope for morphologic observation. (3) Six adult SD rats were anesthetized, and four 1 cm×1 cm sized wounds with full-thickness skin defect were made on the back of each rat. The wounds on the back of each rat were divided into control group, 25 µg/mL exosomes group, 50 µg/mL exosomes group, and 100 µg/mL exosomes group according to the random number table (with 6 wounds in each group), and a total volume of 100 µL phosphate buffered saline, 25 µg/mL exosomes, 50 µg/mL exosomes, and 100 µg/mL exosomes were evenly injected around the wound through multiple subcutaneous sites, respectively. The wound healing rate was calculated based on measurement on post injury day (PID) 7, 14, and 21. On PID 21, the healed wound tissue of each group was collected and stained with HE to observe and count skin accessories, and the arrangement of collagen fibers was observed with Masson staining. Data were processed with analysis of variance for repeated measurement, analysis of variance of randomized block design, one-way analysis of variance, and Bonferroni test. Results: (1) The cells, which were isolated and cultured, displayed typical cobblestone morphology with many microvilli on cell surface. Among the cells, the positive expression rates of CD29, CD90, SSEA3, and SSEA4 were above 50.0%, and the rate of CD105 was 8.0%, while the rates of CD31, CD34, and HLA-DR were almost 0. The cells could differentiate into adipocytes and osteoblasts. The above results revealed that the cells cultured were human amniotic epithelial stem cells. (2) Human amniotic epithelial stem cells-derived exosomes were round or oval vesicles with diameter from 50 to 150 nm. (3) On PID 7 and 21, wound healing rates of the four groups were close (with P values above 0.05). On PID 14, wound healing rates of 50 and 100 µg/mL exosomes groups were (89.8±4.3)% and (92.0±4.6)% respectively, significantly higher than the wound healing rate of control group [(80.3±6.4)%, P<0.05 or P<0.01]. Moreover, the wound healing rate of 100 µg/mL exosomes group was significantly higher than that of 25 µg/mL exosomes group [(83.3±5.1)%, P<0.05]. On PID 21, the numbers of skin accessories in 50 and 100 µg/mL exosomes groups were 4.3±1.4 and 5.1±1.6 respectively, obviously more than those of control group and 25 µg/mL exosomes group (respectively 1.4±0.5 and 1.8±0.6, with P values below 0.01). Well reorganized collagen fibers were observed just in the healed wound tissue of 50 and 100 µg/mL exosomes groups. Conclusions: Human amniotic epithelial stem cells-derived exosomes can promote healing of wound with full-thickness skin defect in rats.

[Rapidly progressive pulmonary malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor: a case report and literature review].

Objective: To analyze the pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of primary perivascular epithelioid cell tumor(PEComa). Methods: The clinical features, auxiliary examinations and diagnosis of a case with rapidly progressive pulmonary malignant PEComa were reported and the related literatures were reviewed.The literature review was carried out respectively in Wanfang Data, CNKI and PubMed from Jan. 1975 to Jul. 2015 with "pulmonary malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor" and "PEComa" being the search terms. Results: A 50 year-old female patient was admitted to the hospital on September 4, 2014 because of cough and dyspnea for 60 days, hemoptysis for 40 days and fever for 7 days.Chest CT scan showed diffuse small nodules with infiltrative border and multiple pure and mixed ground-glass opacity. Transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) was performed and the pathological study confirmed the diagnosis of primary pulmonary malignant PEComa. The patient declined further specific therapy, but followed by rapidly progressive respiratory failure, and died two weeks after the diagnosis. A total of 8 literatures were retrieved from Wanfang Data, CNKI and PubMed and all of them were case reports.There were 3 male and 5 female patients, aging from 50 to 79 years.Radiographically, the previously reported cases presented as round and well-circumscribed masses with or without multiple nodules in both lungs. The symptoms had no specificity. Conclusions: Pulmonary malignant PEComa is a rare disease.It is easily misdiagnosed because of non-specific clinical and imaging manifestations.The final diagnosis depends on pathological biopsy.TBLB is an effective diagnostic method.

Elucidation of gene function using C-5 propyne antisense oligonucleotides.

Identification of human disease-causing genes continues to be an intense area of research. While cloning of genes may lead to diagnostic tests, development of a cure requires an understanding of the gene's function in both normal and diseased cells. Thus, there exists a need for a reproducible and simple method to elucidate gene function. We evaluate C-5 propyne pyrimidine modified phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides (ONs) targeted against two human cell cycle proteins that are aberrantly expressed in breast cancer: p34cdc2 kinase and cyclin B1. Dose-dependent, sequence-specific, and gene-specific inhibition of both proteins was achieved at nanomolar concentrations of ONs in normal and breast cancer cells. Precise binding of the antisense ONs to their target RNA was absolutely required for antisense activity. Four or six base-mismatched ONs eliminated antisense activity confirming the sequence specificity of the antisense ONs. Antisense inhibition of p34cdc2 kinase resulted in a significant accumulation of cells in the Gap2/mitosis phase of the cell cycle in normal cells, but caused little effect on cell cycle progression in breast cancer cells. These data demonstrate the potency, specificity, and utility of C-5 propyne modified antisense ONs as biological tools and illustrate the redundancy of cell cycle protein function that can occur in cancer cells.