Driver mutations in ADGRL3 are involved in the evolution of ependymoma.

Although there have been recent advances in the molecular pathology of ependymomas, little is known about the underlying molecular evolution during its development. Here, we assessed the clinical, pathological and molecular evolutionary process of ependymoma recurrence in a 9-year-old patient who had seven recurrences of supratentorial ependymoma and died from intracranial multiregional recurrences at the age of 19 years old. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 7 tumor samples (1 primary and 6 subsequent recurrent tumors) was performed to elucidate the mutation landscape and identify potential driver mutations for tumor evolution. The genetic profiles of the seven tumor specimens showed significant heterogeneity and suggested a highly branched evolutionary pattern. The mutational signatures and chromothripsis changed with treatments. Strikingly, adhesion G protein-coupled receptor L3 (ADGRL3, also known as Latrophilins 3, LPNH3) was found to be consistently mutated during the entire disease process. However, Sanger sequencing of other 78 ependymoma patients who underwent surgery at our institution showed no genetic alteration of ADGRL3, as found in the present case. The mRNA levels of ADGRL3 were significantly lower in ependymomas (n = 36), as compared with normal brain tissue (n = 3). Grade III ependymomas had the lowest ADGRL3 expression. Moreover, ependymomas with lower mRNA level of ADGRL3 had shorter overall survival. Our findings, therefore, demonstrate a rare evolutionary process of ependymoma involving ADGRL3.

Radiographic analysis of dynamic lumbar motion during the five-repetition sit-to-stand test in degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the mechanisms of low back pain triggered by the five-repetition sit-to-stand test (5R-STS test) in degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS) from radiographic perspective, as well as to determine the most useful diagnostic modalities in the evaluation of segmental instability. METHODS: We retrospectively performed a study of 78 patients (23 men and 55 women) with symptomatic DLS at L4/5 in our institution between April 2020 and December 2021. Each patient was assessed by using the 5R-STS test and received a series of radiographs including the upright standing, normal sitting, standing flexion-extension radiographs, and supine sagittal MR images. Enrolled patients were divided into two groups based on the 5R-STS test score: severe group and mild group. Translational and angular motion was determined by comparing normal sitting radiograph (N) with upright standing radiograph (U) (Combined, NU), flexion/extension radiographs (FE) as well as normal sitting radiograph (N) with a supine sagittal MR image (sMR) (Combined, N-sMR). RESULTS: Overall, 78 patients were enrolled, and there were 31(39.7%) patients in group S and 47(60.3%) patients in group M, with an average age of 60.7 ± 8.4 years. The normal sitting radiograph demonstrated the maximum slip percentage (SP) and the highest kyphotic angle both in group S and group M. Compared with group M, group S revealed significantly higher SP in the normal sitting position (24.1 vs 19.6; p = 0.002). The lumbar slip angular in group S with a sitting position was significantly higher than that in group M (-5.2 vs -1.3; p < 0.001). All patients in group S had objective functional impairment (OFI) and 28 patients of them were diagnosed with lumbar instability by using the combination of normal sitting radiograph (N) and supine sagittal MR image (sMR) (Combined, N-sMR). CONCLUSION: DLS patients with positive sign of the 5R-STS test is a distinct subgroup associated with lumbar instability. The modality of the combination of normal sitting radiograph (N) and supine sagittal MR image (sMR) had a significant advantage in terms of the ability to identify segmental instability.

Analysis of lumbar lateral instability on upright left and right bending radiographs in symptomatic patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate lumbar mobility in various positions using upright left and right bending radiographs in patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS), as well as to assess the impact of lateral instability on patient-reported outcomes. METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed a consecutive series of patients with DLS between January 2019 and October 2020. The enrolled patients were divided into two groups: the lateral instability group (group L) and non-lateral instability group (group NL). Translational and angular motion in both sagittal and coronal planes and patient-reported outcomes were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were 104 (59.8%) patients in group L and 70 (40.2%) patients in group NL, with an average age of 60.6 ± 7.8 years. Patients with a right bending posture in group L had a higher slip percentage (14.2 ± 7.4% vs 9.2 ± 3.2%, p = 0.01) and slip angle (6.3 ± 1.5° vs 2.2 ± 0.8°, p = 0.021). Compared with group NL, group L demonstrated significantly larger angular motion in the coronal plane (2.4 ± 1.3° vs 1.0 ± 0.7°, p = 0.008). Patients with lateral instability had worse preoperative back pain (6.1 ± 1.6 vs 2.7 ± 1.9, p = 0.01) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores (37.7 ± 5.5 vs 25.6 ± 2.6, p = 0.002). In terms of pain characteristics, group L was characterized by pain when getting out of a car, when rising from a chair, and when climbing stairs (all p values < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Lumbar lateral instability, that is, increased mobility in the coronal plane on lateral bending radiographs, translational and/or angular, correlates to more pronounced patient related symptoms in degenerative L4-5 spondylolisthesis. The existence of lumbar lateral instability leads to worse impacts on patient-reported outcomes when patients change their positions including getting out of a car, rising from a chair, and climbing stairs.

Direct Electrochemical Selenylation/Cyclization of Alkenes: Access to Functionalized Benzheterocycles.

A catalyst-free, environmentally friendly, and efficient electrochemical selenylation/cyclization of alkenes has been developed with moderate to excellent yields. This selenylated transformation proceeds smoothly and tolerates a wide range of synthetically useful groups to deliver diverse functionalized benzheterocycles, including iminoisobenzofuran, lactones, oxindoles, and quinolinones. Moreover, the present synthetic route could also be readily scaled up to gram quantity with convenient operation in an undivided cell.

Dual antivascular function of human fibulin-3 variant, a potential new drug discovery strategy for glioblastoma.

The ECM protein EFEMP1 (fibulin-3) is associated with all types of solid tumor through its cell context-dependent dual function. A variant of fibulin-3 was engineered by truncation and mutation to alleviate its oncogenic function, specifically the proinvasive role in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells at stem-like state. ZR30 is an in vitro synthesized 39-kDa protein of human fibulin-3 variant. It has a therapeutic effect in intracranial xenograft models of human GBM, through suppression of epidermal growth factor receptor/AKT and NOTCH1/AKT signaling in GBM cells and extracellular MMP2 activation. Glioblastoma multiforme is highly vascular, with leaky blood vessels formed by tumor cells expressing endothelial cell markers, including CD31. Here we studied GBM intracranial xenografts, 2 weeks after intratumoral injection of ZR30 or PBS, by CD31 immunohistochemistry. We found a 70% reduction of blood vessel density in ZR30-treated xenografts compared with that of PBS-treated ones. Matrigel plug assays showed the effect of ZR30 on suppressing angiogenesis. We further studied the effect of ZR30 on genes involved in endothelial transdifferentiation (ETD), in 7 primary cultures derived from 3 GBMs under different culture conditions. Two GBM cultures formed mesh structures with upregulation of ETD genes shortly after culture in Matrigel Matrix, and ZR30 suppressed both. ZR30 also downregulated ETD genes in two GBM cultures with high expression of these genes. In conclusion, multifaceted tumor suppression effects of human fibulin-3 variant include both suppression of angiogenesis and vasculogenic mimicry in GBM.

Skp2 modulates proliferation, senescence and tumorigenesis of glioma.

BACKGROUND: Gliomas represent the largest class of primary central nervous system neoplasms, many subtypes of which exhibit poor prognoses. Surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy has been used as a standard strategy but yielded unsatisfactory improvements in patient survival outcomes. The S-phase kinase protein 2 (Skp2), a critical component of the E3-ligase SCF complex, has been documented in tumorigenesis in various cancer types but its role in glioma has yet to be fully clarified. In this study, we investigated the function of Skp2 in the proliferation, stem cell maintenance, and drug sensitivity to temozolomide (TMZ) of glioma. METHODS: To investigate the role of Skp2 in the prognosis of patients with glioma, we first analyzed data in databases TCGA and GTEx. To further clarify the effect of Skp2 on glioma cell proliferation, we suppressed its level in glioblastoma (GBM) cell lines through knockdown and small molecule inhibitors (lovastatin and SZL-P1-41). We then detected cell growth, colony formation, sphere formation, drug sensitivity, and in vivo tumor formation in xenograft mice model. RESULTS: Skp2 mRNA level was higher in both low-grade glioma and GBM than normal brain tissues. The knockdown of Skp2 increased cell sensitivity to TMZ, decreased cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. In addition, Skp2 level was found increased upon stem cells enriching, while the knockdown of Skp2 led to reduced sphere numbers. Downregulation of Skp2 also induced senescence. Repurposing of lovastatin and novel compound SZL-P1-41 suppressed Skp2 effectively, and enhanced glioma cell sensitivity to TMZ in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrated that Skp2 modulated glioma cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, stem cell maintenance, and cell sensitivity to TMZ, which indicated that Skp2 could be a potential target for long-term treatment.

Transferrin receptor 1 targeted optical imaging for identifying glioma margin in mouse models.

OBJECTIVE: Optical molecular imaging technology that indiscriminately detects intracranial glioblastoma (GBM) can help neurosurgeons effectively remove tumor masses. Transferrin receptor 1 (TfR 1) is a diagnostic and therapeutic target in GBM. A TfR 1-targeted peptide, CRTIGPSVC (CRT), was shown to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) and accumulate at high levels in GBM tissues. In this study, we synthesized a TfR 1-targeted near-infrared fluorescent (NIRF) probe, Cy5-CRT, for identifying the GBM tissue margin in mouse models. METHODS: We initially confirmed the overexpression of TfR 1 in GBM and the tumor-specific homing ability of Cy5-CRT in subcutaneous and orthotopic GBM mouse models. We then examined the feasibility of Cy5-CRT for identifying the tumor margin in orthotopic GBM xenografts. Finally, we compared Cy5-CRT with the clinically used fluorescein sodium in identifying tumor margins. RESULTS: Cy5-CRT specifically accumulated in GBM tissues and detected the tumor burden with exceptional contrast in mice with orthotopic GBM, enabling fluorescence-guided GBM resection under NIRF live imaging conditions. Importantly, Cy5-CRT recognized the GBM tissue margin more clearly than fluorescein sodium. CONCLUSIONS: The TfR 1-targeted optical probe Cy5-CRT specifically differentiates tumor tissues from the surrounding normal brain with high sensitivity, indicating its potential application for the precise surgical removal of GBM.

Targeting ARNT attenuates chemoresistance through destabilizing p38α-MAPK signaling in glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and lethal brain tumor in adults. This study aimed to investigate the functional significance of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) in the pathogenesis of GBM. Analysis of public datasets revealed ARNT is upregulated in GBM tissues compared to lower grade gliomas or normal brain tissues. Higher ARNT expression correlated with the mesenchymal subtype and poorer survival in GBM patients. Silencing ARNT using lentiviral shRNAs attenuated the proliferative, invasive, and stem-like capabilities of GBM cell lines, while ARNT overexpression enhanced these malignant phenotypes. Single-cell RNA sequencing uncovered that ARNT is highly expressed in a stem-like subpopulation and is involved in regulating glycolysis, hypoxia response, and stress pathways. Mechanistic studies found ARNT activates p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling to promote chemoresistance in GBM cells. Disrupting the ARNT/p38α protein interaction via the ARNT PAS-A domain restored temozolomide sensitivity. Overall, this study demonstrates ARNT functions as an oncogenic driver in GBM pathogenesis and represents a promising therapeutic target.

Hypermethylation of HIC2 is a potential prognostic biomarker and tumor suppressor of glioma based on bioinformatics analysis and experiments.

INTRODUCTION: Glioma is the most common primary tumor in the central nervous system, and prognostic biomarkers are still lacking. HIC ZBTB transcriptional repressor 2 (HIC2) is a hypermethylated gene that plays an important functional role in cardiac development. However, the actual role of HIC2 in glioma progression remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the function of HIC2 and whether it could be a prognostic biomarker in glioma. METHODS: The DNA methylation and mRNA expression profiles of HIC2 were downloaded from public databases. The prognostic prediction ability and mechanism research of HIC2 were evaluated. RESULTS: We found that HIC2 was hypermethylated and expressed at low levels in glioma samples. Hypermethylation and low expression of HIC2 predicted poor prognosis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that HIC2 was an independent prognostic factor for gliomas. Co-IP assays demonstrated that HIC2 interacts with RNF44, and dual-luciferase reporter assays and ChIP assays revealed that HIC2 transcriptionally inhibits PTPRN2 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that HIC2 represents a tumor suppressor gene and prognostic biomarker for glioma progression and that overexpression of HIC2 inhibits the proliferation of glioma in vitro and in vivo by interacting with RNF44 and PTPRN2.

Three nervous system-specific expressed genes are potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis through a bioinformatic analysis.

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common neurodegenerative disease in adults. However, ALS, especially sporadic ALS (sALS), is difficult to diagnose due to the lack of biomarkers. RESULTS: We used the bioinformatics technology to find the potential biomarker and we found that two hundred seventy-four DEGs were identified and enrichment analysis showed DEGs were involved in nervous system activity, like axon_guidance and the neurotrophin_signaling_pathway. Five nervous system-specific expressed hub genes were further validated by three GEO datasets. APP, LRRK2, and PSEN1 might be potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of sALS, and NEAT1-miR-373-3p/miR-302c-3p/miR-372-3p-APP, circ_0000002-miR-302d-3p/miR-373-3p-APP and XIST-miR-9-5p/miR-30e-5p/miR-671-5p might be potential ceRNA regulatory pathways. APP SNP analysis showed subjects harboring the minor G allele of rs463946, minor G allele of rs466433 and minor C allele of rs364048 had an increased risk of sALS development. CONCLUSIONS: Our results identified three nervous system-specific expressed hub genes that might be diagnostic and prognostic markers of sALS and APP might be a genetic susceptibility factor contributing to sALS development.

Selenium-Electrocatalytic Cyclization of 2-Vinylanilides towards Indoles of Peptide Labeling.

A novel selenium-electrocatalytic intramolecular cyclization of 2-vinylanilides for synthesis of functionalized indoles and azaindoles has been developed. In contrast to the previous synthetic methods, this sustainable protocol enabled unparalleled broad substrates scope for viable indoles with highly functional and sensitive groups by employing recyclable selenium catalyst, under mild, metal- and external-oxidant-free conditions. The approach can be used to the late-stage modification of complex bioactive molecular system, thereby setting the stage for versatile syntheses of decorated indoles with peptide labeling. A plausible catalytic pathway was proposed.

The pseudogene PRELID1P6 promotes glioma progression via the hnHNPH1-Akt/mTOR axis.

Research over the past decade has suggested important roles for pseudogenes in glioma. This study aimed to show that pseudogene PRELI domain-containing 1 pseudogene 6 (PRELID1P6) promotes glioma progression. Aberrant expression of genes was screened using The Cancer Genome Atlas database. We found that mRNA level of PRELID1P6 was highly upregulated in glioma and was associated with a shorter survival time. Functional studies showed that the knockdown of PRELID1P6 decreased cell proliferation, sphere formation, and clone formation ability and blocked the cell cycle transition at G0/G1, while overexpression of PRELID1P6 had the opposite effects. Mechanistically, knockdown of PRELID1P6 changed the cellular localization of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H1 (hnRNPH1) from nucleus to cytoplasm, which promoted ubiquitin-mediated degradation of hnRNPH1. RNA-sequence and gene set enrichment analysis suggested that knockdown of PRELID1P6 regulates the apoptosis signaling pathway. Western blotting showed that PRELID1P6 increased TRF2 expression by hnRNPH1-mediated alternative splicing effect and activated the Akt/mTOR pathway. Furthermore, Akt inhibitor MK2206 treatment reversed the oncogenic function of PRELID1P6. PRELID1P6 was also found to be negatively regulated by miR-1825. Our result showed that PRELID1P6 promotes glioma progression through the hnHNPH1-Akt/mTOR pathway. These findings shed new light on the important role of PRELID1P6 as a novel oncogene for glioma.

A novel retractor for reducing operation time and radiation exposure in percutaneous pedicle screw placement.

AIM: Design a novel hand-held retractor to reduce operation time and radiation exposure in percutaneous pedicle screw placement. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 126 patients with single segment thoracolumbar vertebral fracture were surgically treated with percutaneous pedicle screws through our novel hand-held retractor technique（group A） or conventional fluoroscopic method(group B), the operation time and fluoroscopy shot times were compared, and the accuracy of screw placement were assessed. RESULTS: There was no serious complications occurring during our study, such as infection, blood vessel injury, spinal cord or nerve root injury. We did not find any statistically difference between the two groups in corrected rate of regional Cobb's angle or vertebral body height percentage(P 0.05), however, the mean operation time was found to be 75.9±2.37min in the novel hand-held retractor method group and 94.2±2.19min in the conventional method group. The difference was statistically significant (p﹤0.001). Fluoroscopy shot times averaged 9.01±0.41 in the novel hand-held retractor group versus 16.8±0.56 in the conventional group (P 0.001), the novel hand-held retractor group had apparent advantages over the conventional method in postoperative improvement on visual analog scale (VAS) scores and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at 2days, 3month after operation and last follow-up (P 0.05). There was no statistical difference between group A and B in the radiographic results and screw position violation grade. CONCLUSION: The novel hand-held method retractors have several advantages, including shorter operation time, less fluoroscopy shot times, and better postoperative improvement on visual analog scale (VAS) scores and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). It provides a new alternative method for effective management of thoracolumbar fractures.

LncRNA LINC00998 inhibits the malignant glioma phenotype via the CBX3-mediated c-Met/Akt/mTOR axis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), once considered to be nonfunctional relics of evolution, are emerging as essential genes in tumor progression. However, the function and underlying mechanisms of lncRNAs in glioma remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of LINC00998 in glioma progression. Through screening using TCGA database, we found that LINC00998 was downregulated in glioblastoma tissues and that low expression of LINC00998 was associated with poor prognosis. Overexpression of LINC00998 inhibited glioma cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo and blocked the G1/S cell cycle transition, which exerted a tumor-suppressive effect on glioma progression. Mechanistically, RNA pull-down and mass spectrometry results showed an interaction between LINC00998 and CBX3. IP assays demonstrated that LINC00998 could stabilize CBX3 and prevent its ubiquitination degradation. GSEA indicated that LINC00998 could regulate the c-Met/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, which was further confirmed by a rescue assay using siRNA-mediated knockdown of CBX3 and the Akt inhibitor MK2206. In addition, dual-luciferase assays showed that miR-34c-5p could directly bind to LINC00998 and downregulate its expression. Our results identified LINC00998 as a novel tumor suppressor in glioma, and LINC00998 could be a novel prognostic biomarker, providing a strategy for precision therapy in glioma patients.

Combination of levetiracetam and IFN-α increased temozolomide efficacy in MGMT-positive glioma.

PURPOSE: Glioma, especially glioblastoma (GBM), is the most aggressive malignant brain tumor and its standard therapy is often ineffective because of temozolomide (TMZ) resistance. Reversal of the TMZ resistance might improve the prognosis of glioma patients. We previously found that interferon-α (IFN-α) and anti-epileptic drug levetiracetam (LEV) could sensitize glioma to TMZ, respectively. In this study, we further investigated the efficiency of combining of LEV and IFN-α for improving the efficacy of TMZ. METHODS: We evaluated whether LEV and IFN-α could increase TMZ efficacy using colony formation assay and cell viability assay with MGMT-positive and MGMT-negative glioma cell lines in vitro. Subcutaneous xenografts and orthotopic xenografts mice models were used in vivo to observe the tumor growth and mice survival upon treatments with TMZ, TMZ + IFN-α, TMZ + LEV, or TMZ + LEV + IFN-α. The expression levels of MGMT, markers of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic in tumor samples were analyzed by Western blotting. RESULTS: The combinational use of IFN-α, LEV, and TMZ showed the best anti-tumor activity in MGMT-positive cell lines (U138, GSC-1, U118, and T98 G). TMZ + LEV + IFN-α further obviously increased TMZ + LEV or TMZ + IFN-α efficiency in MGMT-positive cell lines, while not in negative cell lines (SKMG-4, U87, U373, and U251) in vitro, which were also observed in subcutaneous mice models (U138, GSC-1 compared to SKMG-4, U87) and orthotopic models (GSC-1) in vivo. Strikingly, the combination of LEV and IFN-α together with TMZ significantly prolonged the survival of mice with orthotopic GSC-1 glioma. Furthermore, we confirmed that the combination of LEV and IFN-α enhanced the inhibition of MGMT and the activation of apoptosis in U138 tumor on the basis of TMZ treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The combination use of LEV and IFN-α could be an optimal method to overcome TMZ resistance through obvious MGMT inhibition in MGMT-positive glioma.

Association between glioblastoma cell-derived vessels and poor prognosis of the patients.

BACKGROUND: Vessels with different microcirculation patterns are required for glioblastoma (GBM) growth. However, details of the microcirculation patterns in GBM remain unclear. Here, we examined the microcirculation patterns of GBM and analyzed their roles in patient prognosis together with two well-known GMB prognosis factors (O6 -methylguanine DNA methyltransferase [MGMT] promoter methylation status and isocitrate dehydrogenase [IDH] mutations). METHODS: Eighty GBM clinical specimens were collected from patients diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2012. The microcirculation patterns, including endothelium-dependent vessels (EDVs), extracellular matrix-dependent vessels (ECMDVs), GBM cell-derived vessels (GDVs), and mosaic vessels (MVs), were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) staining in both GBM clinical specimens and xenograft tissues. Vascular density assessments and three-dimensional reconstruction were performed. MGMT promoter methylation status was determined by methylation-specific PCR, and IDH1/2 mutations were detected by Sanger sequencing. The relationship between the microcirculation patterns and patient prognosis was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: All 4 microcirculation patterns were observed in both GBM clinical specimens and xenograft tissues. EDVs were detected in all tissue samples, while the other three patterns were observed in a small number of tissue samples (ECMDVs in 27.5%, GDVs in 43.8%, and MVs in 52.5% tissue samples). GDV-positive patients had a median survival of 9.56 months versus 13.60 months for GDV-negative patients (P = 0.015). In MGMT promoter-methylated cohort, GDV-positive patients had a median survival of 6.76 months versus 14.23 months for GDV-negative patients (P = 0.022). CONCLUSION: GDVs might be a negative predictor for the survival of GBM patients, even in those with MGMT promoter methylation.

Tenascin-cmediated vasculogenic mimicry formation via regulation of MMP2/MMP9 in glioma.

Vasculogenic mimicry (VM), the formation of vessel-like structures by highly invasive tumor cells, has been considered one of several mechanisms responsible for the failure of anti-angiogenesis therapy in glioma patients. Therefore, inhibiting VM formation might be an effective therapeutic method to antagonize the angiogenesis resistance. This study aimed to show that an extracellular protein called Tenascin-c (TNC) is involved in VM formation and that TNC knockdown inhibits VM in glioma. TNC was upregulated with an increase in glioma grade. TNC and VM formation are potential independent predictors of survival of glioma patients. TNC upregulation was correlated with VM formation, and exogenous TNC stimulated VM formation. Furthermore, TNC knockdown significantly suppressed VM formation and proliferation in glioma cells in vitro and in vivo, with a reduction in cellular invasiveness and migration. Mechanistically, TNC knockdown decreased Akt phosphorylation at Ser473 and Thr308 and subsequently downregulated matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9, both of which are important proteins associated with VM formation and migration. Our results indicate that TNC plays an important role in VM formation in glioma, suggesting that TNC is a potential therapeutic target for anti-angiogenesis therapy for glioma.

Myrtol improves post-traumatic knee osteoarthritis by regulation of reactive oxygen species, transforming growth factor ß1 and apoptosis in a mouse model.

The present study tested whether myrtol improves post-traumatic knee osteoarthritis (PTKO) by regulating the reactive oxygen species (ROS), transforming growth factor ß1 (TGF-ß1) and apoptosis in a mouse model. PTKO model mice were administered with 150, 300 or 450 mg/kg myrtol for 8 weeks. ELISA analysis was used to measure tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, reactive oxygen species and TGF-ß1 levels. Caspase-3 and Bax protein expressions were analyzed using western blot analysis. In the current study, treatment with myrtol improved the tissue damage and osteoarthritis score, while it also reversed the subchondral bone thickness, subchondral bone density, trabecular bone volume/relative trabecular bone volume ratio and trabecular bone spacing in PTKO mice. The activity of tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-6, TGF-ß1, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase and ROS were effectively inhibited, and the protein expression of caspase-3 and Bax were clearly suppressed by treatment with myrtol in a mouse model of PTKO. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that myrtol treatment improved PTKO through the suppression of inflammation, oxidative stress, ROS, TGF-ß1 and Bax/caspase-3 in mice, and myrtol may be a potential agent for clinical therapy.

Surgical Orthopedics in a Spondylometaphyseal Dysplastic Patient.

BACKGROUND: Spondylometaphyseal dysplasia (SMD) is a rare disease characterized by vertebral and metaphyseal abnormalities. The treatment of SMD spinal deformities remains a challenge for spinal surgeons. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of vertebral column resection of SMD by thoracolumbar kyphosis and scoliosis. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 23-year-old man with SMD was referred to us with multivertebral anomalies and scoliosis, and a rigid curved thoracolumbar kyphosis in T11-12. The patient had fixed thoracolumbar kyphosis and scoliosis with neurologic symptoms. The morphology of vertebra was measured and calculated based on radiologic data. A 3-dimensional printing was made to help the spinal orthopedics. The anterior fusion was made with cages reconstruction and posterolateral fusion with screw fixation. CONCLUSIONS: The spinal axes were corrected with obvious and satisfying realignment effects. The neurologic symptoms disappeared after surgery. The 1-year follow-up period was uneventful. Surgical treatment for SMD multiaxial spine malformation is feasible. Posterior column resection with segmental pedicle screw fixation and complementary fusion provides obvious curative effects for adult patients with neurologic complications.

Regulation of apical NHE3 trafficking by ouabain-induced activation of the basolateral Na+-K+-ATPase receptor complex.

The long-term effects of ouabain on transepithelial Na(+) transport involve transcriptional downregulation of apical Na(+)/H(+) exchanger isoform 3 (NHE3). The aim of this study was to determine whether ouabain could acutely regulate NHE3 via a posttranscriptional mechanism in LLC-PK1 cells. We observed that the basolateral, but not apical, application of ouabain for 1 h significantly reduced transepithelial Na(+) transport. This effect was not due to changes in the integrity of tight junctions or increases in the intracellular Na(+) concentration. Ouabain regulated the trafficking of NHE3 and subsequently inhibited its activity, a process independent of intracellular Na(+) concentration. Ouabain-induced NHE3 trafficking was abolished by either cholesterol depletion or Src inhibition. Moreover, ouabain increased the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. Pretreatment of cells with the intracellular Ca(2+) chelator BAPTA-AM blocked ouabain-induced trafficking of NHE3. Also, blockade of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase endocytosis by a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor was equally effective in attenuating ouabain-induced NHE3 trafficking. These data indicate that ouabain acutely stimulates NHE3 trafficking by activating the basolateral Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase signaling complex. Taken together with our previous observations, we propose that ouabain can simultaneously regulate basolateral Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and apical NHE3, leading to inhibition of transepithelial Na(+) transport. This mechanism may be relevant to proximal tubular Na(+) handling during conditions associated with increases in circulating endogenous cardiotonic steroids.