Study on the mechanism of quercetin inducing mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into fibroblasts through TGF-ß1 and IGF-1.

BACKGROUND: Stem cell differentiation has opened up new avenues for disease treatment, tissue repair, and drug development in the study of regenerative medicine, and has huge application prospects. This study aimed to explore the mechanism of quercetin on the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into fibroblasts. METHODS: In this study, cell differentiation experiments and flow cytometry were used to detect the successful isolation of bone marrow MSCs from SD rats. Quercetin at 5, 10, and 20 µM was used as low, medium, and high doses to intervene in MSCs. The cell viability changes of ligament fibroblasts at 24, 48, and 72 hours after quercetin treatment were detected using a CCK-8 cell counting kit. Cell proliferative capacity was determined by flow cytometry. RT-qPCR measured the relative expression levels of TGF-ß1, IGF-1, COL-Ⅰ, COL-Ⅲ, FN (fibronectin), and TNMD (Tenomodulin) in different experimental groups. Molecular docking experiments were conducted to explore the binding effect of quercetin on TGF-ß1 and IGF-1 proteins. RESULTS: Flow cytometry verified the successful isolation of MSCs, which had high expression of CD29 and CD73, while lower expression of CD90 and CD45. Experimental results show that low and medium doses of quercetin can enhance cell proliferation, while high doses have no significant effect on cells. Detection of cell proliferation through flow cytometry yielded similar results to CCK-8. Transwell experiments have shown that low and medium doses of quercetin can increase cell migration ability. In addition, RT-qPCR detection showed that quercetin can increase the mRNA expression of TGF-ß1 and IGF-1, and promote the expression of COL-Ⅰ, COL-Ⅲ, FN, and TNMD genes in ligament fibroblasts. Molecular docking results showed that quercetin can bind firmly to TGF-ß1 and IGF-1. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study revealed the morphological characteristics and identification of MSCs, as well as the regulatory mechanism of quercetin on the behavior of ligament fibroblasts. Quercetin affects the proliferation and gene expression of ligament fibroblasts by regulating the expression of TGF-ß1 and IGF-1, which may provide a new perspective for biomedical research on the skeletal system.

Non-Destructive Determination of Bayberry Sugar and Acidity by Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Si-Sensor and Low-Cost Portable Instrument Development.

The digitalization of information is crucial for the upgrading of the bayberry digital agriculture industry, while the low-cost information detection sensing equipment for bayberry are a bottleneck for the digital development of the industry. The existing rapid and non-destructive detection devices for fruit acidity and sugar content mainly use near-infrared and mid-infrared spectral characteristic for detection. These devices use expensive InGaAs sensor, which are difficult to promote and apply in the bayberry digital industry. This study is based on the high-spectral range of 454-998 nm in bayberry fruit to study the mechanism of fruit sugar and acidity content detection and to develop a portable bayberry fruit sugar and acidity detection device using Si-sensor in order to achieve low-cost quality parameter detection of bayberry fruit. The research results show that: Based on the hyperspectral of bayberry fruit, the sensitive wavelength for sugar content inversion is 610 nm, and the inversion accuracy (RMSE) is 1.399Brix; the sensitive wavelength for pH inversion is 570 nm, and the inversion accuracy (RMSE) is 0.1329. Based on the above spectroscopic detection mechanism and spectral dimension reduction methods, combined with low-cost Si-sensor (400-1000 nm), a low-cost non-destructive portable bayberry fruit sugar and acidity detection device has been developed, with detection accuracies of 94.74% and 97.14%, respectively. This bayberry fruit sugar and acidity detector provides a low-cost portable non-destructive quality detection instrument of bayberry, which is in line with the industrial group of low consumption in which the bayberry is mainly cultivated on a small scale, accelerating the digitalization process of the bayberry industry.

Granularity and Entropy of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Information and Their Applications.

A granular structure of intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) information presents simultaneously the similarity and diversity of samples. However, this structural representation has rarely displayed its technical capability in data mining and information processing due to the lack of suitable constructive methods and semantic interpretation for IF information with regard to real data. To pursue better performance of the IF-based technique in real-world data mining, in this article, we examine information granularity, information entropy of IF granular structures, and their applications to data reduction of IF information systems. First, several types of partial-order relations at different hierarchical levels are defined to reveal the granularity of IF granular structures. Second, the granularity invariance between different IF granular structures is characterized by using relational mappings. Third, Shannon's entropies are generalized to IF entropies and their relationships with the partial-order relations are addressed. Based on the theoretical analysis above, the significance of intuitionistic attributes using the information measures is then introduced and the information-preserving algorithm for data reduction of IF information systems is constructed. Finally, by inducing substantial IF relations from public datasets that take both the similarity/diversity between the samples from the same/different classes into account, a collection of numerical experiments is conducted to confirm the performance of the proposed technique.

A case report of atypical nodular cutaneous lupus mucinosis.

RATIONAL: Nodular cutaneous lupus mucinosis is regarded as a distinctive cutaneous mucinosis deposition with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE). All typical cases occurred as asymptomatic cutaneous papules, nodules, or plaques on the trunk, upper and lower extremities, and face. Histopathology is mainly revealed abundant mucin deposits among splayed collagen bundles in the dermis. At the same time we can find A the typical clinical manifestations and biological evidence of SLE. Here, we report the first case of nodular cutaneous lupus mucinosis that did not present with any prior symptoms or history of SLE. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report the first case of nodular cutaneous lupus mucinosis that did not present with any prior symptoms or history of SLE. The patient was 34 years old. One year before admission, nodules began to appear on the elbows, chest, and back, and 2 months before admission erythema occurred on the face. Other notable clinical symptoms were not observed and had no prior history of SLE. DIAGNOSES: Initially, this patient was misdiagnosed by other clinics as having eczema. After histopathological assessment of skin biopsy and examination of antinuclear antibody signals, the patient was correctly diagnosed with nodular cutaneous lupus mucinosis. INTERVENTIONS: Followed administration of systemic steroids and hydroxychloroquine. OUTCOMES: the eruptions quickly disappeared and laboratory indicators improved. LESSONS: This case highlights the need for diagnostic vigilance in cases involving papules and nodules initially developing on the chest and elbows in the absence of obvious lupoid symptoms. We recommend a lower threshold for performing histopathological analysis and examination of antinuclear antibody signals in view of the rare but serious possibility of nodular cutaneous lupus mucinosis.

Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery for Mid-Low Rectal Cancer: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Short- and Long-Term Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The safety of laparoscopic surgery for mid-low rectal cancer treatment has remained controversial, especially regarding the long-term outcomes. The aim of this study was to demonstrate whether the laparoscopic technique is feasible. METHODS: We searched all of studies that compared the short- or long-term outcomes regarding laparoscopic and open rectal cancer surgeries (the tumour distance from anal verge within 10 cm). The data sources included PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases. The combined outcome of the dichotomous variables was expressed as an estimation of the odds ratios and continuous variables were presented in the form of weighted mean differences with 95% credible intervals. Subgroup, publication bias and sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: Thirteen studies met the final inclusion criteria (total n = 3,678). The pooled analyses showed, despite longer operation times, that there were significantly less blood loss, fewer transfusions, shorter times to bowel function recovery, resumed diet and hospital durations, and lower overall complication and wound infection rates. The compared results of the lymph node harvest number, distal resection margin, circumferential resection margin involvement, local and distant recurrences, disease-free survival and overall survival were similar between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic surgery appear to be equivalent to open surgery for treatment of mid- low rectal cancer, with the more favourable short-term benefits, fewer complications, comparable pathological outcomes and long-term outcomes.

Mutation analysis of the IL36RN gene in Chinese patients with generalized pustular psoriasis with/without psoriasis vulgaris.

BACKGROUND: Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare type of psoriasis with potentially life-threatening implications. Mutations in IL36RN gene have been suggested to be causative or predisposing factors for GPP. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the genetic heterogeneity of GPP, PV and GPP alone, GPP with PV. METHODS: We performed a sanger sequencing identify IL36RN mutations in 62 Chinese Han patients with sporadic GPP, including 17 GPP without psoriasis vulgaris (PV) (GPP alone) cases vs. 45 GPP with preceding, later or accompanied by PV (GPP with PV) cases; 16 patients with pediatric-onset GPP (PGPP) vs. 46 adult-onset GPP (AGPP). We included 96 healthy controls and 174 sporadic patients with PV. RESUTS: We found 2 new variants and 4 known IL36RN variants in 29 GPP patients, 18 individuals carried recessive (homozygous/compound heterozygous) alleles and 11 cases harbored a single heterozygous change. Twelve PV patients and six controls harbored a single heterozygous for three out of the six variants. Significant differences were observed between GPP and PV groups, GPP alone and GPP with PV groups when compared frequencies of IL36RN variants, but we did not found association between PGPP and AGPP groups. CONCLUSION: Our study provided more evidence that GPP and PV are distinct subtypes of psoriasis caused by different pathogenesis, and GPP alone could be regarded as an especial entities of GPP which is different from GPP with PV on the etiology.

Functional characterization of Nicotiana benthamiana chromomethylase 3 in developmental programs by virus-induced gene silencing.

DNA methylation is essential for normal developmental processes and genome stability. DNA methyltransferases are key enzymes catalyzing DNA methylation. Chromomethylase (CMT) genes are specific to the plant kingdom and encode chromodomain-containing methyltransferases. However, the function of CMT genes in plants remains elusive. In this study, we isolated and characterized a CMT gene from Nicotiana benthamiana, designated NbCMT3. Alignment of the NbCMT3 amino acid sequence with other plant CMT3s showed conservation of bromo-adjacent-homology and methyltransferase catalytic domains. We investigated the expression patterns of NbCMT3 and its function in developmental programs. NbCMT3 was expressed predominately in proliferating tissues such as apical shoots and young leaves. NbCMT3 protein showed a nuclear location, which could be related to its putative cellular functions. Knocking down NbCMT3 expression by virus-induced gene silencing revealed its vital role(s) in leaf morphogenesis. The formation of palisade cells was defective in NbCMT3-silenced plants as compared with controls. NbCMT3 has a role in developmental programs.

Aesthetic fingertip reconstruction with partial second toe transfer.

BACKGROUND: Fingertip defect significantly affects the appearance of the hand. The aim of this research was to evaluate the clinical effect of aesthetic fingertip reconstruction with partial second toe transfer. METHODS: Between July 2005 and December 2008, 17 patients underwent aesthetic fingertip reconstruction with partial second toe transfer. The mean size of fingertip defects was 0.7 cm (ranging from 0.5 - 1.1 cm). Anastomosis was performed between one dominant plantar digital artery and one proper digital artery, between two dorsal digital veins of the toe and two dorsal digital veins of the finger, respectively, for the reconstruction of blood supply to the reconstructed finger. Two plantar digital nerves of the toe were then sutured to two proper digital nerves of the finger for the restoration of fingertip sensation. RESULTS: All reconstructed fingers survived completely. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 24 months, and the appearance of the reconstructed fingertip was similar to that of the normal fingertip. Two-point discrimination of the reconstructed fingertip was (7.8 ± 1.3) mm. The recovered pinch strength of the reconstructed finger was about (89.0 ± 5.1)% of that of the normal finger. Donor site healed well without complications. CONCLUSIONS: Partial second toe transfer is an ideal aesthetic reconstruction method for fingertip defects; it can not only achieve a satisfactory appearance of the fingertip, but can also obtain excellent sensory and motor functions.

An anatomic and clinical study of the adductor magnus tendon-descending genicular artery bone flap.

The composite tissue flap of the descending genicular vessels with the adductor magnus tendon is a newly developed, reliable method to repair the Achilles tendon and relevant skin defects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anatomy of the adductor magnus tendon-descending genicular artery bone flap, and the feasibility and value for the repair of the Achilles tendon and relevant skin defects. There were 34 adult specimens used for the anatomy of this flap. The descending genicular artery originates 10.5 ± 1.6 cm above the adductor tubercle, with a diameter of 1.8 ± 0.6 mm and a length of 1.2 ± 0.5 cm. Its articular branch is distributed in the adductor magnus tendon and the medial condyle of the femur. The saphenous branch has a diameter of 1.1 ± 0.3 mm and is distributed in the skin of the upper medial calf. A total of 16 cases of trauma-induced Achilles tendon damage and calcaneus and skin defects were repaired with the vascularized adductor magnus tendon bone flap, including the reconstruction of Achilles tendon insertion and repair of relevant skin defects. All of the composite tissue flaps were viable, the skin sensation of the flaps was recovered, and all patients walked with a normal gait. Our results suggested that the adductor magnus tendon-descending genicular artery bone flap is an alternative method to repair composite tissue defects of the Achilles tendon.

Functional and aesthetic results of immediate reconstruction of traumatic thumb defects by toe-to-thumb transplantation.

Traumatic thumb defects significantly affect the function and appearance of the hand; thus, thumb reconstruction is very important in clinical practice. In our report, three reconstruction strategies of toe-to-thumb transplantation, based on the amputation level of the thumb, were used for immediate thumb reconstruction in 27 patients with traumatic thumb defects. All procedures were performed successfully. Patients were satisfied with the function and appearance of the reconstructed thumb. These results indicate that if the reconstruction method is properly selected based on the amputation level of the thumb, toe-to-thumb transplantation is feasible for the immediate reconstruction of the thumb.

An alternative approach in the treatment of thumb web contracture skin defects: lateral tarsal artery flap.

BACKGROUND: Thumb web contracture is a common complication after hand injury, and can markedly affect whole hand function. Therefore, surgery involving thumb web reconstruction is often necessary to restore normal function of the involved hand. In this study, we present the application of the lateral tarsal artery (LTA) flap in first web reconstruction. METHODS: From November 1, 2005 to October 31, 2007, seven patients with severe post trauma or burn contractures around the first web space were treated with a LTA flap. All the patients were followed up. RESULTS: All flaps survived, with an average size of 6.7 cm x 4.8 cm. There were no complications or recurrent contractures during follow-up. All patients were satisfied with the esthetic appearance and functional outcome of the reconstruction. CONCLUSION: The LTA flap could be an excellent option for covering various defects in the thumb web space, serving as an excellent alternative for the thumb web space reconstruction.

Reconstruction of soft tissue defect of the extremity with the perforator flap from inguinal region.

BACKGROUND: The perforator flap has become a very useful reconstructive means of soft tissue defect of extremities. The perforator flap from the inguinal region has advantages that include the ability to cover a large area with little donor site morbidity and provision of suitable thickness for reconstruction. METHODS: From July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007, 10 patients with various types of soft tissue defect underwent reconstruction with 10 perforator flaps from the inguinal region. Six flaps were applied to the upper extremities and four flaps to the lower extremities. The dimensions of the transferred flaps ranged from 7-30 cm in length and 4-10 cm in width. RESULTS: The postoperative course of all 10 flaps was uneventful and all flaps survived. Distal small partial necrosis was observed in one case due to arterial insufficiency of the distal part of the flap. All patients were satisfied with the functional and esthetic resurfacing outcome. CONCLUSION: Use of perforator flap from the inguinal region could overcome the disadvantages of the traditional free groin flap, and represents a safe and useful tool for coverage of soft tissue defects.