Expression of Concern: LncRNA MEG3 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of synovial cells in rats with knee osteoarthritis by regulating PTEN.

The Editorial Board of European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences would like to issue an Expression of Concern for "LncRNA MEG3 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of synovial cells in rats with knee osteoarthritis by regulating PTEN", by K. Han, F.-R. Wang, M.-Q. Yu, B. Xu, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (10): 5242-5248-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202005_21306-PMID: 32495857. Following  publication, the authors wrote to the Journal and stated "Part of the experiments in this paper were performed by a third party. Reports on the science integrity of the third-party academic institutions in China made us aware of the reliability and originality of the data provided by them. The matter has been referred to our institution for further investigation". Hence, the Editorial Office of European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences decided to publish an expression of concern to notify readers while the investigation is underway. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

LncRNA MEG3 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of synovial cells in rats with knee osteoarthritis by regulating PTEN.

OBJECTIVE: To study the influences of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) on the proliferation and apoptosis of synovial cells in rats with knee osteoarthritis by regulating phosphate and tension homology deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experiment, rat synovial cell (RSC)-364 cells were cultured in vitro. Then, they were treated with PBS or lncRNA MEG3 overexpression lentiviruses and divided into normal control (NC) group and lncRNA MGE3 overexpression group (LncRNA MEG3 group). The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of lncRNA MEG3 and PTEN in rat synovial cells were measured via qRT-PCR in each group, and Western blotting (WB) was performed to determine the protein levels of PTEN, cyclin D1, P21, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and tubulin in rat synovial cells in both groups. The proliferation of rat synovial cells was detected via MTT assay, and the apoptosis was evaluated using FITC/PI double staining and flow cytometer. RESULTS: Compared with NC group, LncRNA MEG3 group had notably overexpressed lncRNA MEG3 in RSC-364 cells (p<0.01), and an extremely substantially elevated mRNA level of PTEN (p<0.05). Besides, it was found through WB that the protein expression level of PTEN had a consistent trend with that of the mRNA level. The proliferation ability of cells was weakened (p<0.05), and the number of apoptotic cells was increased (p<0.05) in LncRNA MEG3 group compared with those in NC group. Finally, LncRNA MEG3 group had remarkably lower protein levels of cyclin D1 and Bcl-2, but a markedly higher protein level of P21 than NC group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA MEG3 can raise the level of PTEN to weaken the proliferation ability but elevate the apoptosis level of RSC-364 cells.

MicroRNA-21-5p promotes the inflammatory response after spinal cord injury by targeting PLAG1.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression level of microRNA-21-5p and its target gene PLAG1 in the serum of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), as well as the role and mechanism of microRNA-21-5p in lipopolysaccharide-induced primary microglial inflammation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The levels of microRNA-21-5p and PLAG1 in the peripheral blood of 24 patients with spinal cord injury and 24 healthy people were examined by quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) analysis. The expressions of inflammatory factors, including IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). After microglial BV2 cells were treated with different concentrations of LPS, microRNA-21-5p, and PLAG1 expressions were examined by qPCR, while IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α levels in cell supernatant were measured by ELISA. Finally, the binding relationship between microRNA-21-5p and its target gene was analyzed by Luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: The data showed that microRNA-21-5p was upregulated in the serum of SCI patients, and also increased in LPS-treated cells, with a certain concentration dependence. On the contrary, PLAG1 was remarkably downregulated, suggesting that the above two genes were negatively correlated in SCI patients. ELISA results indicated that the knockdown of microRNA-21-5p or overexpression of PLAG1 reduced the levels of IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α in BV2 cells. Meanwhile, microRNA-21-5p might be involved in regulating the inflammatory response of BV2 cells by modulating PLAG1. CONCLUSIONS: MicroRNA-21-5p promotes the inflammatory response after SCI by targeting PLAG1.

Genetic relationship between lodging and lodging components in barley (Hordeum vulgare) based on unconditional and conditional quantitative trait locus analyses.

Lodging (LD) is a major constraint limiting the yield and forage quality of barley. Detailed analyses of LD component (LDC) traits were conducted using 246 F2 plants generated from a cross between cultivars ZQ320 and 1277. Genetic relationships between LD and LDC were evaluated by unconditional and conditional quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping with 117 simple sequence repeat markers. Ultimately, 53 unconditional QTL related to LD were identified on seven barley chromosomes. Up to 15 QTL accounted for over 10% of the phenotypic variation, and up to 20 QTL for culm strength were detected. Six QTL with pleiotropic effects showing significant negative correlations with LD were found between markers Bmag353 and GBM1482 on chromosome 4H. These alleles and alleles of QTL for wall thickness, culm strength, plant height, and plant weight originated from ZQ320. Conditional mapping identified 96 additional QTL for LD. Conditional QTL analysis demonstrated that plant height, plant height center of gravity, and length of the sixth internode had the greatest contribution to LD, whereas culm strength and length of the fourth internode, and culm strength of the second internode were the key factors for LD-resistant. Therefore, lodging resistance in barley can be improved based on selection of alleles affecting culm strength, wall thickness, plant height, and plant weight. The conditional QTL mapping method can be used to evaluate possible genetic relationships between LD and LDC while efficiently and precisely determining counteracting QTL, which will help in understanding the genetic basis of LD in barley.

The pharmacokinetics of C-glycosyl flavones of Hawthorn leaf flavonoids in rat after single dose oral administration.

Hawthorn leaf flavonoids (HLF) are used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Various potential pharmacodynamic effects have been observed for vitexin-4''-O-glucoside (VOG) and vitexin-2''-O-rhamnoside (VOR) which are the main constituents of HLF. The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of VOG and VOR when a single dose of HLF was administrated orally. The levels of VOG and VOR in plasma, tissues (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain), bile, urine and feces were measured by HPLC-UV. The results showed that VOG and VOR have the similar pharmacokinetics. Both of them were absorbed quickly into plasma with maximal plasma concentrations of VOG and VOR being reached within 0.75 h. The mean elimination half-life (t(1/2)) of VOG and VOR were 2.53 h and 2.32 h, respectively. High levels of tissue distribution of VOG and VOR were observed in liver and kidney. No VOG and VOR were detected in brain tissue. There was no long-term accumulation of VOG and VOR in rat tissues examined. The total recovery of the dose in 24 hours was 64.91% (0.70% in urine; 64.21% in feces) for VOG and 89.01% (0.72% in urine; 88.29% in feces) for VOR. The cumulative VOG and VOR excreted in bile represented 0.58% and 13.38% of the doses, respectively. VOG and VOR in HLF were not efficiently absorbed in the rodent gastrointestinal tract.

[Sequences variation and classification of B-hordein genes in hull-less barley from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau].

The goal of this study is to understand the evolution relationship of the members of B-hordein gene family in hull-less barley by analysis of their structure and to explore their utility in grain quality improvement. Six copies of B-hordein gene (Hn1-Hn3, Hn7-Hn9) were cloned from six hull-less barley cultivars collected from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and molecularly characterized. Comparison of their predicted polypeptide sequences with the published suggested that they all share the same basic protein structures. In addition, we found that the C-terminal end sequences of all B-hordeins shared a similar feature. In the six clones and the other three published (Hn4, Hn5 and Hn6) from hull-less barley, Hn2 and Hn7 contained identical C-terminal end sequence DIMPVDFWH, Hn3, Hn4, Hn5, Hn8 and Hn9 also shared the common sequence DIMPPDFWH, which was similar to that of a B-hordein reported previously. Both Hnl and Hn6 exhibited differences in their C-terminal end sequences, and they clustered into different subgroups. The B-hordeins with identical C-terminal end sequences were clustered into a same subgroup, so we believe that B-hordein gene subfamilies possibly can be classified on the basis of the conserved C-terminal end sequences of predicted polypeptide. Phylogenetic analysis also indicated that there is a relatively weak identity between our predicted B-hordeins and those reported from H. chilense and H. brevisubulatum. All of our nine predicted B-hordeins were clustered together and other B-hordeins formed another cluster. The possible use of these genes in relation to the barley quality is discussed.

[Characterization and expression profiling of a novel cereal cyst nematode resistance gene analog in wheat].

Based on the conserved regions of known resistance genes, a NBS-LRR type CCN resistance gene analog was isolated from the CCN resistant E-10 near isogenic lines (NILs) of wheat, designated as CreZ (GenBank Acc. N: EU327996). It contained a complete ORF that was 2775 bp in length and encoded 924 amino acids. Sequence comparison indicated that it shared 92% nucleotide and 87% amino acid identity with those of the known CCN-resistance gene Cre3 and had similar characteristic conserved motifs as those in other established NBS-LRR disease resistance genes. The expression profiling of CreZ indicated that it was specifically expressed in the roots of resistant plants and real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that expression levels drastically increased when the plants were inoculated with cereal cyst nematodes. It could be inferred, then, that CreZ belongs to the NBS-LRR resistance gene family and is a candidate gene for potential resistance to the cereal cyst nematode.

[Determination of syringin and rutin in 11 species of Saussurea by high performance liquid chromatography].

Zorbax ODS column and gradient elution of acetonitrile-acetic acid solution as mobile phase were employed to determine the content of syringin and rutin in 11 species of Saussurea by RP-HPLC. The detection wavelength was 260 nm. The results showed that standard curves of syringin and rutin were linear in the range of 0.0525 microgram-1.05 micrograms and 0.0658 microgram-1.32 micrograms, respectively. The correlation coefficients were 0.9988 and 0.9999. The method provides new indices for quality control of Saussurea.

[Determination of loganin in Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. by TLC scanner].

The content of loganin extracted from Cornus of ficinalis was determined directly on a CS-930 TLC scanner. The method is simple and sensitive, and can serve as an index for checking the quality of C. of ficinalis.

Determination of trace arsenic, antimony, selenium and tellurium in various oxidation states in water by hydride generation and atomic-absorption spectrophotometry after enrichment and separation with thiol cotton.

A novel procedure for determination of trace As(III) and As(V), Sb(III) and Sb(V), Se(IV) and Se(VI), Te(IV) and Te(VI) in water by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry after separation and enrichment with "thiol cotton" and hydride generation has been established. The sorption behaviour of various oxidation states of arsenic, antimony, selenium and tellurium, and the conditions of quantitative sorption and desorption of these species were studied. The procedures for reducing species from higher oxidation states were optimized. Interferences from other species and their elimination were investigated. The selectivity of the procedure for the determination of species in higher and lower oxidation states was examined. The procedure has been successfully used to determine arsenic, antimony, selenium and tellurium in water, in the range from pg ml to ng ml . The recoveries for added spikes were in the range 90-110%, with coefficients of variation in the range 3-8%