Mapping of spastic muscle activity after stroke: difference between passive stretch and active contraction.

BACKGROUND: Investigating the spatial distribution of muscle activity would facilitate understanding the underlying mechanism of spasticity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of spastic muscles during passive stretch and active contraction by high-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG). METHODS: Fourteen spastic hemiparetic subjects and ten healthy subjects were recruited. The biceps brachii (BB) muscle activity of each subject was recorded by HD-sEMG during passive stretch at four stretch velocities (10, 60, 120, 180˚/s) and active contraction at three submaximal contraction levels (20, 50, 80%MVC). The intensity and spatial distribution of the BB activity were compared by the means of two-way analysis of variance, independent sample t-test, and paired sample t-test. RESULTS: Compared with healthy subjects, spastic hemiparetic subjects showed significantly higher intensity with velocity-dependent heterogeneous activation during passive stretch and more lateral and proximal activation distribution during active contraction. In addition, spastic hemiparetic subjects displayed almost non-overlapping activation areas during passive stretch and active contraction. The activation distribution of passive stretch was more distal when compared with the active contraction. CONCLUSIONS: These alterations of the BB activity could be the consequence of deficits in the descending central control after stroke. The complementary spatial distribution of spastic BB activity reflected their opposite motor units (MUs) recruitment patterns between passive stretch and active contraction. This HD-sEMG study provides new neurophysiological evidence for the spatial relationship of spastic BB activity between passive stretch and active contraction, advancing our knowledge on the mechanism of spasticity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR2000032245.

Development of Bio-Voltage Operated Humidity-Sensory Neurons Comprising Self-Assembled Peptide Memristors.

Biomimetic humidity sensors offer a low-power approach for respiratory monitoring in early lung-disease diagnosis. However, balancing miniaturization and energy efficiency remains challenging. This study addresses this issue by introducing a bioinspired humidity-sensing neuron comprising a self-assembled peptide nanowire (NW) memristor with unique proton-coupled ion transport. The proposed neuron shows a low Ag+ activation energy owing to the NW and redox activity of the tyrosine (Tyr)-rich peptide in the system, facilitating ultralow electric-field-driven threshold switching and a high energy efficiency. Additionally, Ag+ migration in the system can be controlled by a proton source owing to the hydrophilic nature of the phenolic hydroxyl group in Tyr, enabling the humidity-based control of the conductance state of the memristor. Furthermore, a memristor-based neuromorphic perception neuron that can encode humidity signals into spikes is proposed. The spiking characteristics of this neuron can be modulated to emulate the strength-modulated spike-frequency characteristics of biological neurons. A three-layer spiking neural network with input neurons comprising these highly tunable humidity perception neurons shows an accuracy of 92.68% in lung-disease diagnosis. This study paves the way for developing bioinspired self-assembly strategies to construct neuromorphic perception systems, bridging the gap between artificial and biological sensing and processing paradigms.

DJ-1 preserves ischemic postconditioning-induced cardioprotection in STZ-induced type 1 diabetic rats: role of PTEN and DJ-1 subcellular translocation.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic postconditioning (IPostC) has been reported as a promising method for protecting against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury. Our previous study found that the infarct-limiting effect of IPostC is abolished in the heart of diabetes whose cardiac expression of DJ-1 (also called PARK7, Parkinsonism associated deglycase) is reduced. However, the role and in particular the underlying mechanism of DJ-1 in the loss of sensitivity to IPostC-induced cardioprotection in diabetic hearts remains unclear. METHODS: Streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic rats were subjected to MI/R injury by occluding the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and followed by reperfusion. IPostC was induced by three cycles of 10s of reperfusion and ischemia at the onset of reperfusion. AAV9-CMV-DJ-1, AAV9-CMV-C106S-DJ-1 or AAV9-DJ-1 siRNA were injected via tail vein to either over-express or knock-down DJ-1 three weeks before inducing MI/R. RESULTS: Diabetic rats subjected to MI/R exhibited larger infarct area, more severe oxidative injury concomitant with significantly reduced cardiac DJ-1 expression and increased PTEN expression as compared to non-diabetic rats. AAV9-mediated cardiac DJ-1 overexpression, but not the cardiac overexpression of DJ-1 mutant C106S, restored IPostC-induced cardioprotection and this effect was accompanied by increased cytoplasmic DJ-1 translocation toward nuclear and mitochondrial, reduced PTEN expression, and increased Nrf-2/HO-1 transcription. Our further study showed that AAV9-mediated targeted DJ-1 gene knockdown aggravated MI/R injury in diabetic hearts, and this exacerbation of MI/R injury was partially reversed by IPostC in the presence of PTEN inhibition or Nrf-2 activation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that DJ-1 preserves the cardioprotective effect of IPostC against MI/R injury in diabetic rats through nuclear and mitochondrial DJ-1 translocation and that inhibition of cardiac PTEN and activation of Nrf-2/HO-1 may represent the major downstream mechanisms whereby DJ-1 preserves the cardioprotective effect of IPostC in diabetes.

The intervention of curcumin on rodent models of hepatic fibrosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the intervention effect of curcumin on hepatic fibrosis in rodent models through systematic review and meta-analysis, in order to provide meaningful guidance for clinical practice. METHODS: A systematic retrieval of relevant studies on curcumin intervention in rats or mice hepatic fibrosis models was conducted, and the data were extracted. The outcome indicators included liver cell structure and function related indicators, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), albumin (ALB), ratio of albumin to globulin (A/G), total bilirubin (TBIL), bax protein, bcl-2 protein and index of liver, as well as the relevant indicators for evaluating the degree of hepatic fibrosis, such as hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), type I collagen (Collagen I), type III collagen (Collagen III), type III procollagen (PCIII), type III procollagen amino terminal peptide (PIIINP), type IV collagen (IV-C), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), α-Smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), hydroxyproline (HYP), platelet derived factor-BB (PDGF-BB), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1), and oxidative stress-related indicators, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). These results were then analyzed by meta-analysis. Studies were evaluated for methodological quality using the syrcle's bias risk tool. RESULTS: A total of 59 studies were included in the meta-analysis, and the results showed that curcumin can reduce the levels of ALT, AST, ALP, TBIL, bax protein, and index of liver in hepatic fibrosis models. It can also reduce HA, LN, Collagen I, Collagen III, PCIII, PIIINP, IV-C, TNF-α, α-SMA, HYP, PDGF-BB, CTGF, TGF-ß1 and MDA, and increase the levels of ALB, A/G, SOD, and GSH-Px in the hepatic fibrosis models. However, the effects of curcumin on bcl-2 protein, IL-6 in hepatic fibrosis models and index of liver in mice were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The analysis results indicate that curcumin can reduce liver cell apoptosis by maintaining the stability of liver cell membrane, inhibit the activation and proliferation of hepatic stellate cells by reducing inflammatory response, and alleviate tissue peroxidation damage by clearing oxygen free radicals.

Association between diabetes mellitus and primary biliary cholangitis: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Previous observational studies have demonstrated a link between diabetes mellitus(DM) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Nevertheless, since these relationships might be confused, whether there is any causal connection or in which direction it exists is unclear. Our investigation aimed to identify the causal associations between DM and PBC. Methods: We acquired genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets for PBC, Type 1 diabetes(T1DM), and Type 2 diabetes(T2DM) from published GWASs. Inverse variance-weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median (WM), Simple mode, and weighted mode methods were used to determine the causal relationships between DM(T1DM or T2DM) and PBC. Sensitivity analyses were also carried out to ensure the results were robust. To determine the causal relationship between PBC and DM(T1DM or T2DM), we also used reverse MR analysis. Results: T1DM was associated with a higher risk of PBC (OR 1.1525; 95% CI 1.0612-1.2517; p = 0.0007) in the IVW method, but no evidence of a causal effect T2DM on PBC was found (OR 0.9905; 95% CI 0.8446-1.1616; p = 0.9071) in IVW. Results of the reverse MR analysis suggested genetic susceptibility that PBC was associated with an increased risk of T1DM (IVW: OR 1.1991; 95% CI 1.12-1.2838; p = 1.81E-07), but no evidence of a causal effect PBC on T2DM was found (IVW: OR 1.0101; 95% CI 0.9892-1.0315; p = 0.3420). Conclusion: The current study indicated that T1DM increased the risk of developing PBC and vice versa. There was no proof of a causal connection between PBC probability and T2DM. Our results require confirmation through additional replication in larger populations.

Identification and functional analysis of the hub Ferroptosis-Related gene EZH2 in diabetic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a common microvascular complication and one of the main causes of death in diabetes. Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent mode of cell death characterized by lipid ROS accumulation, was found to be associated with a number of diseases and has great potential for kidney diseases. It has great value to identify potential ferroptosis-related genes and their biological mechanisms in DKD. METHODS: We obtained the GSE30122 dataset from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and ferroptosis-related genes from the Ferrdb database. After differential expression analysis, and three machine learning algorithms, the hub ferroptosis-related gene EZH2 was identified. In order to investigate the function of EZH2, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) and single cell analysis were conducted. The expression of EZH2 was validated in DKD patients, HK-2 cell models and DKD mouse models. EZH2 knockdown HK-2 cells and HK-2 cells treated with GSK126 were performed to verify whether EZH2 affected ferroptosis in DKD. CHIP assay was used to detect whether EZH2 regulated ferroptosis by suppressing SLC7A11. Molecular docking was performed to explore EZH2 and four traditional Chinese medicine (Sennoside A, Berberine, Umbelliferone, Platycodin D) related to ferroptosis in DKD treatment. RESULTS: According to the GSE30122 dataset in GEO and ferroptosis-related genes from the Ferrb database, we obtained the hub ferroptosis-related gene EZH2 in DKD via diversified machine learning methods. The increasing of EZH2 expression was shown in single cell analysis, DKD patients, DKD mouse models and high glucose induced DKD cell models. Further study showed that EZH2 knockdown and inhibition can alleviate HG-induced ferroptosis in vitro. CHIP assay showed EZH2-mediated epigenetic silencing regulated the expression of SLC7A11. Molecular docking results showed that EZH2 had strong binding stability with Sennoside A, Berberine, Umbelliferone, and Platycodin D. CONCLUSION: Overall, our data shouwed that histone H3K27 methyltransferase EZH2 could regulate the renal tubular epithelial cell ferroptosis by suppressing SLC7A11 in DKD, which may serve as a credible reliable indicator for diagnosing DKD and a potential target for treatment.

Schiff base functionalized dialdehyde starch for enhanced removal of Cu (II): Preparation, performances, DFT calculations.

Dialdehyde starch modified by 2-hydrazinopyridine (HYD-DAS) based on the reaction of dialdehyde starch (DAS) and 2-hydrazinopyridine was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR spectra, element analysis and SEM. HYD-DAS can efficiently adsorb Cu (II) ion to demonstrate visual color changes from yellow to dark brown in aqueous solutions. The influence on HYD-DAS to Cu (II) adsorption including pH value of solution, isotherm, kinetics, thermodynamics and possible mechanism had also been examined. Batch experiments indicate that HYD-DAS's to Cu (II) adsorption reaches equilibrium within 250 min, and its adsorption capacity and rate are 195.75 mg/g and 98.63 %, respectively. Moreover, HYD-DAS to Cu (II) adsorption remains robust and underscoring after five cycles to exhibit good selectivity and reusability. Kinetics studies suggest the absorption process follows a quasi-second-order with isotherms aligning to the Langmuir monolayer model, and thermodynamics reveals that it is a spontaneous endothermic nature of adsorption. Based on the analyses of XPS and DFT calculations, a possible mechanism for HYD-DAS to Cu (II) adsorption is that Cu (II) combined with nitrogen atoms from Schiff base and hydrazine pyridine ring in HYD-DAS.

Probing the occurrence, sources and cancer risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in PM2.5 in a humid metropolitan city in China.

Fifty-two consecutive PM2.5 samples from December 2021 to February 2022 (the whole winter) were collected in the center of Chongqing, a humid metropolitan city in China. These samples were analysed for the 16 USEPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (16 PAHs) to explore their composition and sources, and to assess their cancer risks to humans. The total concentrations of the 16 PAHs (ng m-3) ranged from 16.45 to 174.15, with an average of 59.35 ± 21.45. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) indicated that traffic emissions were the major source (42.4%), followed by coal combustion/industrial emission (31.3%) and petroleum leakage/evaporation (26.3%). The contribution from traffic emission to the 16 PAHs increased from 40.0% in the non-episode days to as high as 46.2% in the air quality episode during the sampling period. The population attributable fraction (PAF) indicates that when the unit relative risk (URR) is 4.49, the number of lung cancer cases per million individuals under PAH exposure is 27 for adults and 38 for seniors, respectively. It was 5 for adults and 7 for seniors, when the URR is 1.3. The average incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for children, adolescents, adults and seniors was 0.25 × 10-6, 0.23 × 10-6, 0.71 × 10-6, and 1.26 × 10-6, respectively. The results of these two models complemented each other well, and both implied acceptable PAH exposure levels. Individual genetic susceptibility and exposure time were identified as the most sensitive parameters. The selection and use of parameters in risk assessment should be further deepened in subsequent studies to enhance the reliability of the assessment results.

Regulation of intestinal flora in patients with chronic atrophic gastritis by modified Chai Shao Liu Jun Zi decoction based on 16S rRNA sequencing.

Chai Shao Liu Jun Zi decoction (CSLJZD) is an effective Chinese medicine for the treatment of chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG). However, the effect of CSLJZD on the intestinal flora of patients with CAG remains unclear. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to investigate the regulatory effects of CSLJZD on intestinal microflora in patients with CAG. Eight patients with CAG were randomly selected as the model group and 8 healthy medical examiners as the control group; the treatment group comprised patients with CAG after CSLJZD treatment. High-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of the V3V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene of intestinal bacteria obtained from the intestinal isolates of fecal specimens from all participants were performed separately. A rarefaction curve, species accumulation curve, Chao1 index, and ACE index were calculated to assess the alpha diversity. Principal component analysis (PCA), non-metric multi-dimensional scaling, and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean were used to examine beta diversity. The LEfSe method was used to identify the differentially expressed bacteria. Differential function analysis was performed using PCA based on KEGG function prediction. Rarefaction and species accumulation curves showed that the sequencing data were reasonable. The Chao1 and ACE indices were significantly increased in patients with CAG compared with those in the healthy group. Following CSLJZD and vitacoenzyme treatment, Chao1 and ACE indices decreased. The PCA, non-metric multi-dimensional scaling, and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean results showed that the CAG group was distinct from the healthy and treatment groups. The LEfSe results showed that the abundances of the genus Bilophila, family Desulfovibrionaceae, order Desulfovibrionales and genus Faecalibacterium were significantly higher in the healthy group. The abundance of genus Klebsiella, order Deltaproteobacteria, genus Gemmiger, and other genera was significantly higher in the treatment group. Treatment with CSLJZD had a therapeutic effect on the intestinal flora of patients with CAG.

Time-varying and speed-matched model for the evaluation of stroke-induced changes in ankle mechanics.

The ankle mechanics (stiffness and moment) are modulated continuously when interacting with the environment during human walking. However, it remains unclear how ankle mechanics vary with walking speeds, and how they are affected by stroke. This study aimed to determine time-varying ankle stiffness and moment in stroke participants during walking, comparing them with healthy participants at matched speeds. A motion capture system, surface electromyography (EMG) system and force plates were used to measure biomechanics of seven healthy participants walking at 5 controlled speeds and ten patients with stroke at self-selected speeds. The ankle moment and stiffness during the stance phase were calculated using an EMG-driven musculoskeletal model. Surface equations of ankle moment and stiffness in healthy participants, with walking speed and stance phase as variables, were proposed based on polynomial fitting. Results showed that as walking speed increased, there was an increase in the ankle stiffness and moment of healthy participants during 77 %-89 % and 63 %-91 % of stance phase, respectively. Patients with stroke had lower ankle stiffness and moment at self-selected walking speed than healthy participants at 1.04 m/s walking speed during 52 %-87 % and 52 %-91 % of stance phase, respectively. At matched walking speed, the peak values of ankle stiffness and moment in patients with stroke were significantly less than those in healthy participants (p = 0.007; p = 0.028, respectively). This study proposes a novel approach to evaluate the ankle mechanics of patients with stroke using the speed-matched model of healthy participants and may provide insights into understanding speed-dependent movement mechanisms of human walking.

Dietary supplementation with inulin improves burn-induced skeletal muscle atrophy by regulating gut microbiota disorders.

Inulin, as a prebiotic, could modulate the gut microbiota. Burn injury leads to gut microbiota disorders and skeletal muscle catabolism. Therefore, whether inulin can improve burn-induced muscle atrophy by regulating microbiota disorders remains unknown. This study aimed to clarify that inulin intake alleviates gut microbiota disorders and skeletal muscle atrophy in burned rats. Rats were divided into the sham group, burn group, prebiotic inulin intervention group, and pseudo-aseptic validation group. A 30% total body surface area (TBSA) third-degree burn wound on dorsal skin was evaluated in all groups except the sham group. Animals in the intervention group received 7 g/L inulin. Animals in the validation group received antibiotic cocktail and inulin treatment. In our study inulin intervention could significantly alleviate the burn-induced skeletal muscle mass decrease and skeletal myoblast cell apoptosis. Inulin intake increased the abundances of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria but decreased the abundance of Proteobacteria. The biosynthesis of amino acids was the most meaningful metabolic pathway distinguishing the inulin intervention group from the burn group, and further mechanistic studies have shown that inulin can promote the phosphorylation of the myogenesis-related proteins PI3K, AKT and P70S6K and activate PI3K/AKT signaling for protein synthesis. In conclusion, inulin alleviated burn induced muscle atrophy through PI3K/AKT signaling and regulated gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Hierarchies in Visual Pathway: Functions and Inspired Artificial Vision.

The development of artificial intelligence has posed a challenge to machine vision based on conventional complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits owing to its high latency and inefficient power consumption originating from the data shuffling between memory and computation units. Gaining more insights into the function of every part of the visual pathway for visual perception can bring the capabilities of machine vision in terms of robustness and generality. Hardware acceleration of more energy-efficient and biorealistic artificial vision highly necessitates neuromorphic devices and circuits that are able to mimic the function of each part of the visual pathway. In this paper, we review the structure and function of the entire class of visual neurons from the retina to the primate visual cortex within reach (Chapter 2) are reviewed. Based on the extraction of biological principles, the recent hardware-implemented visual neurons located in different parts of the visual pathway are discussed in detail in Chapters 3 and 4. Furthermore, valuable applications of inspired artificial vision in different scenarios (Chapter 5) are provided. The functional description of the visual pathway and its inspired neuromorphic devices/circuits are expected to provide valuable insights for the design of next-generation artificial visual perception systems.

Ni Single-Atoms Based Memristors with Ultrafast Speed and Ultralong Data Retention.

Memristor with low-power, high density, and scalability fulfills the requirements of the applications of the new computing system beyond Moore's law. However, there are still nonideal device characteristics observed in the memristor to be solved. The important observation is that retention and speed are correlated parameters of memristor with trade off against each other. The delicately modulating distribution and trapping level of defects in electron migration-based memristor is expected to provide a compromise method to address the contradictory issue of improving both switching speed and retention capability. Here, high-performance memristor based on the structure of ITO/Ni single-atoms (NiSAs/N-C)/Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)/Au is reported. By utilizing well-distributed trapping sites , small tunneling barriers/distance and high charging energy, the memristor with an ultrafast switching speed of 100 ns, ultralong retention capability of 106  s, a low set voltage (Vset ) of ≈0.7 V, a substantial ON/OFF ration of 103 , and low spatial variation in cycle-to-cycle (500 cycles) and device-to-device characteristics (128 devices) is demonstrated. On the premise of preserving the strengths of a fast switching speed, this memristor exhibits ultralong retention capability comparable to the commercialized flash memory. Finally, a memristor ratioed logic-based combinational memristor array to realize the one-bit full adder is further implemented.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Gibberellic Acid-Stimulated Arabidopsis Gene Family in Pineapple (Ananas comosus).

The gibberellic acid-stimulated Arabidopsis (GASA) gene family plays a crucial role in growth, development, and stress response, and it is specific to plants. This gene family has been extensively studied in various plant species, and its functional role in pineapple has yet to be characterized. In this study, 15 AcGASA genes were identified in pineapple through a genome-wide scan and categorized into three major branches based on a phylogenetic tree. All AcGASA proteins share a common structural domain with 12 cysteine residues, but they exhibit slight variations in their physicochemical properties and motif composition. Predictions regarding subcellular localization suggest that AcGASA proteins are present in the cell membrane, Golgi apparatus, nucleus, and cell wall. An analysis of gene synteny indicated that both tandem and segmental repeats have a significant impact on the expansion of the AcGASA gene family. Our findings demonstrate the differing regulatory effects of these hormones (GA, NAA, IAA, MeJA, and ABA) on the AcGASA genes. We analyzed the expression profiles of GASA genes in different pineapple tissue parts, and the results indicated that AcGASA genes exhibit diverse expression patterns during the development of different plant tissues, particularly in the regulation of floral organ development. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of GASA family genes in pineapple. It serves as a valuable reference for future studies on the functional characterization of GASA genes in other perennial herbaceous plants.

Photocatalytic Radical Cascade Dehalogenation/Carbo-cyclization/Sulfonylation Leading to Indole- and Benzofuran-Based Benzylic Sulfones.

This study presents a convenient approach to the synthesis of indole- and benzofuran-based benzylic sulfones using unactivated alkynes containing aryl iodides and sodium sulfinates under visible light irradiation. The procedure involves a sequential series of dehalogenation, carbo-cyclization, and radical sulfonylation. Plausible insights into the reaction mechanism are derived from control experiments, leading to the proposal of a radical cascade reaction pathway.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine based regimen in locally advanced rectal cancer: A retrospective study.

Capecitabine-based neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is the standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. The objective of this study is to analyze overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and prognostic factors of patients with stage II to III rectal cancer treated with nCRT in our institution. Between March 2014 to June 2020, 121 locally advanced rectal cancer patients were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. All of the enrolled patients were treated with capecitabine-based nCRT (pelvic radiotherapy: 45-50.4 Gy, 1.8 Gy/d plus concomitant capecitabine-based chemotherapy), total mesorectal excision surgery (surgery was carried out 8-12 weeks after the end of CRT), and capecitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy. We examined the pathological complete response rate, 3-year OS, 3-year DFS and the other prognostic factors. Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test were used to estimate and compare survival rate. With a median follow-up of 36 months, 3-year DFS and 3-year OS was 74.4% and 83.2%, respectively. Among the 121 patients, 24 achieved pathological complete remission (19.8%). After multivariate analysis, ypTNM stage (TNM stage after neoadjuvant therapy) was significantly associated with DFS. Positive mesorectal fasciae (MRF) status on magnetic resonance imaging and ypTNM stage were significantly related to OS. CRT with capecitabine based regimen provides high rates of survival and sphincter preservation with acceptable toxicity. YpTNM stage was significantly associated with DFS; magnetic resonance imaging MRF status and ypTNM stage were significant factors for OS after multivariate analysis. Distant metastasis is the dominant mode of treatment failure, and it is crucial to optimize systemic treatment for newly diagnosed patients.

Decreased MFN2 activates the cGAS-STING pathway in diabetic myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion by triggering the release of mitochondrial DNA.

BACKGROUND: The cause of aggravation of diabetic myocardial damage is yet to be elucidated; damage to mitochondrial function has been a longstanding focus of research. During diabetic myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion (MI/R), it remains unclear whether reduced mitochondrial fusion exacerbates myocardial injury by generating free damaged mitochondrial DNA (mitoDNA) and activating the cGAS-STING pathway. METHODS: In this study, a mouse model of diabetes was established (by feeding mice a high-fat diet (HFD) plus a low dose of streptozotocin (STZ)), a MI/R model was established by cardiac ischaemia for 2 h and reperfusion for 30 min, and a cellular model of glycolipid toxicity induced by high glucose (HG) and palmitic acid (PA) was established in H9C2 cells. RESULTS: We observed that altered mitochondrial dynamics during diabetic MI/R led to increased mitoDNA in the cytosol, activation of the cGAS-STING pathway, and phosphorylation of the downstream targets TBK1 and IRF3. In the cellular model we found that cytosolic mitoDNA was the result of reduced mitochondrial fusion induced by HG and PA, which also resulted in cGAS-STING signalling and activation of downstream targets. Moreover, inhibition of STING by H-151 significantly ameliorated myocardial injury induced by MFN2 knockdown in both the cell and mouse models. The use of a fat-soluble antioxidant CoQ10 improved cardiac function in the mouse models. CONCLUSIONS: Our study elucidated the critical role of cGAS-STING activation, triggered by increased cytosolic mitoDNA due to decreased mitochondrial fusion, in the pathogenesis of diabetic MI/R injury. This provides preclinical insights for the treatment of diabetic MI/R injury. Video Abstract.

[Comparison of clinical effects of minimally invasive femoral head replacement and proximal femoral nail antirotation in the treatment of comminuted intertrochanteric fracture in the elderly].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical effect of minimally invasive femoral head replacement and proximal femoral nail antirotation(PFNA) internal fixation at the same time in the treatment of elderly patients with comminuted intertrochanteric fracture. METHODS: From April 2020 to October 2020, 76 elderly patients with comminuted intertrochanteric fracture treated by minimally invasive femoral head replacement and PFNA were analyzed retrospectively. There were 35 patients in the prosthetic group, including 24 females and 11 males with an average age of (86.2±6.1) years old. There were 41 patients in PFNA group including 28 females and 13 males with an average age of (84.6±5.3) years old. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative ambulation time, hospitalization time and complications were observed and compared between two groups. Harris hip score was performed at 1, 6 and 12 months after operation. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 13 to 17 months with an average of (14.3±1.4) months. The operation time of the prosthesis group was longer than that of the PFNA group (P<0.05);the amount of bleeding in PFNA group was less than that in prosthesis group (P>0.05);the time of ambulation in prosthetic group was earlier than that in PFNA group(P<0.05);the number of complications in the prosthesis group was less than that in the PFNA group(P<0.05); the Harris score of prosthesis group was significantly higher than that of PFNA group at 1 and 6 months after operation (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in Harris score between two groups at 12 months after operation(P>0.05);the number of complications in the prosthesis group was less than that in the PFNA group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive femoral head replacement is a good choice for the elderly patients with commuited intertrochanteric fracture. It can improve the quality of life and reduce the burden of family members and society.

The Role of P53 in Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

PURPOSE: P53 is one of the key tumor suppressors. In normal cells, p53 is maintained at low levels by the ubiquitination of the ubiquitinated ligase MDM2. In contrast, under stress conditions such as DNA damage and ischemia, the interaction between p53 and MDM2 is blocked and activated by phosphorylation and acetylation, thereby mediating the trans-activation of p53 through its target genes to regulate a variety of cellular responses. Previous studies have shown that the expression of p53 is negligible in normal myocardium, tends to increase in myocardial ischemia and is maximally induced in ischemia-reperfused myocardium, demonstrating a possible key role of p53 in the development of MIRI. In this review, we detail and summarize recent studies on the mechanism of action of p53 in MIRI and describe the therapeutic agents targeting the relevant targets to provide new strategies for the prevention and treatment of MIRI. METHODS: We collected 161 relevant papers mainly from Pubmed and Web of Science (search terms "p53" and "myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury"). After that, we selected pathway studies related to p53 and classified them according to their contents. We eventually analyzed and summarized them. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In this review, we detail and summarize recent studies on the mechanism of action of p53 in MIRI and validate its status as an important intermediate affecting MIRI. On the one hand, p53 is regulated and modified by multiple factors, especially non-coding RNAs; on the other hand, p53 regulates apoptosis, programmed necrosis, autophagy, iron death and oxidative stress in MIRI through multiple pathways. More importantly, several studies have reported medications targeting p53-related therapeutic targets. These medications are expected to be effective options for the alleviation of MIRI, but further safety and clinical studies are needed to convert them into clinical applications.

GPD1L inhibits renal cell carcinoma progression by regulating PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy.

Few approaches have been conducted in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after nephrectomy, resulting in a high mortality rate in urological tumours. Mitophagy is a mechanism of mitochondrial quality control that enables selective degradation of damaged and unnecessary mitochondria. Previous studies have found that glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1-like (GPD1L) is associated with the progression of tumours such as lung cancer, colorectal cancer and oropharyngeal cancer, but the potential mechanism in RCC is still unclear. In this study, microarrays from tumour databases were analysed. The expression of GPD1L was confirmed by RT-qPCR and western blotting. The effect and mechanism of GPD1L were explored using cell counting kit 8, wound healing, invasion, flow cytometry and mitophagy-related experiments. The role of GPD1L was further confirmed in vivo. The results showed that GPD1L expression was downregulated and positively correlated with prognosis in RCC. Functional experiments revealed that GPD1L prevented proliferation, migration and invasion while promoting apoptosis and mitochondrial injury in vitro. The mechanistic results indicated that GPD1L interacted with PINK1, promoting PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy. However, inhibition of PINK1 reversed GPD1L-mediated mitochondrial injury and mitophagy. Moreover, GPD1L prevented tumour growth and promoted mitophagy by activating the PINK1/Parkin pathway in vivo. Our study shows that GPD1L has a positive correlation with the prognosis of RCC. The potential mechanism involves interacting with PINK1 and regulating the PINK1/Parkin pathway. In conclusion, these results reveal that GPD1L can act as a biomarker and target for RCC diagnosis and therapy.