Bibliometric and visualized analysis of DME from 2012 to 2022.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the main cause of irreversible vision loss in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), resulting in a certain burden to patients and society. With the increasing incidence of DME, more and more researchers are focusing on it. METHODS: The papers related to DME between 2012 and 2022 from the Web of Science core Collection were searched in this study. Based on CiteSpace and VOS viewer, these publications were analyzed in terms of spatiotemporal distribution, author distribution, subject classification, topic distribution, and citations. RESULTS: A total of 5165 publications on DME were included. The results showed that the research on DME is on a steady growth trend. The country with the highest number of published documents was the US. Wong Tien Yin from Tsinghua University was the author with the most published articles. The journal of Retina, the Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases had a large number of publications. The article "Mechanisms of macular edema: Beyond the surface" was the highly cited literature and "Aflibercept, bevacizumab, or ranibizumab for diabetic macular edema" had the highest co-citation frequency. The treatment, diagnosis, pathogenesis, as well as etiology and epidemiological investigation of DME, have been the current research direction. Deep learning has been widely used in the medical field for its strong feature representation ability. CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed the important authoritative literature, journals, institutions, scholars, countries, research hotspots, and development trends in in the field of DME. This indicates that communication and cooperation between disciplines, universities, and countries are crucial. It can advance research in DME and even ophthalmology.

Effects of aqueous extracts and volatile oils prepared from Huaxiang Anshen decoction on p-chlorophenylalanine-induced insomnia mice.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Insomnia occurs frequently in modern society, and its common symptoms include difficulty in falling asleep and decreased sleep quality and time, memory, and attention. With the advantages of having few side-effects and reduced drug-dependence, a compound traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription called Huaxiang Anshen Decoction (HAD) has been widely used in clinical practice in China mainly for primary insomnia treatment. Although the effects of volatile oils from TCM herbs have been increasingly reported, volatile oils in HAD are conventionally neglected because of its preparation process and clinical usage. Therefore, exploring the anti-insomnia effects of volatile oils from HAD is of great importance. AIM OF THE STUDY: The sedative and hypnotic effects of the conventional aqueous extracts, the volatile oils from HAD, and their combinations were investigated. METHODS: The main components in HAD volatile oils (HAD-Oils), were analyzed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The HAD volatile oil inclusion complex (HAD-OIC) was prepared with ß-cyclodextrin, and characterized. P-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) was used to induce insomnia mice model and the test groups of HAD aqueous extract (HAD-AE), HAD-OIC and their combination (AE-OIC). An open field test was used in evaluating the mice's activities, and the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in mice sera, glutamate (Glu) in the hypothalamus, and γ-aminobutyric acid (γ-GABA) and dopamine (DA) in the brain tissues were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: A total 74 components in HAD-Oil were determined by GC/MS, and cyperenone (20.46%) and α-cyperone (10.39%) had the highest relative content. The characterization results of the physical phase showed that volatile oils were successfully encapsulated by ß-cyclodextrin and HAD-OIC was produced. The average encapsulation rates of cyperenone and α-cyperone were 79.93% and 71.96%, respectively. The results of pharmacology study showed that all the test groups increased the body weight and decreased voluntary activity when compared with the model group (P < 0.05). The HAD-AE, HAD-OIC, and AE-OIC groups increased the levels of 5-HT in the sera and DA and Glu/γ-GABA in the brains, and AE-OIC groups showed better performance than the other test groups. CONCLUSIONS: HAD-Oil exerts sedative and hypnotic effects, which are increased when it is used with HAD-AEs. This result provides a favorable experimental evidence that volatile oils should be retained for the further development of HAD.

CISD2 Promotes Proliferation of Colorectal Cancer Cells by Inhibiting Autophagy in a Wnt/ß-Catenin-Signaling-Dependent Pathway.

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of CDGSH iron-sulfur domain 2 (CISD2) in colorectal cancer (CRC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of CDGSH iron-sulfur domain 2 (CISD2) in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. The expression of CISD2 in CRC cell lines was measured by western blotting. Functional assays including MTT assays and colony formation assays were performed to explore the role of CISD2 in regulating tumor growth. Flow cytometry analysis was used to examine the percentage of apoptotic CRC cells. Expression of apoptosis-related gene, autophagy-related markers, and the protein included in Wnt/ß-Catenin signaling was also determined by western blotting. The in vivo role of CISD2 was also examined in a xenograft model. CISD2 expression was significantly increased in CRC cells. CISD2 promoted the CRC cell proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis and autophagy of CRC cells. Moreover, knockdown of CISD2 inhibited the activation of Wnt/ß-Catenin-signaling pathway. Knockdown of CISD2 inhibited the tumor growth in nude mice. CISD2 promoted colorectal cancer development by inhibiting CRC cell apoptosis and autophagy depending on activating Wnt/ß-Catenin-signaling pathway.

An 86 amino acids motif in CAPN3 is essential for formation of the nucleolus-localized Def-CAPN3 complex.

Digestive-organ expansion factor (Def) is a nucleolar protein that recruits cysteine proteinase Calpain3 (CAPN3) into the nucleolus to form the Def-CAPN3 complex in both human and zebrafish. This complex mediates the degradation of the tumor suppressor p53 and ribosome biogenesis factor mitotic phosphorylated protein 10 (Mpp10) in nucleolus, demonstrating the importance of this complex in regulating cell cycle and ribosome biogenesis. However, the Def and CAPN3 interacting motifs have yet been identified. In this report, by using a series of truncated or internally deleted human CAPN3 (hCAPN3) derivatives we identify that an essential motif of 86 amino acids (86-aa) (430-515aa) in hCAPN3 for its interaction with human Def (hDef), and this 86-aa motif is highly conserved in zebrafish Capn3b (zCapn3b) and is also required for the interaction between zebrafish Def (zDef) and zCapn3b. We further identify the 2/3 C-terminus of hDef is responsible for mediating the hDef-hCAPN3 interaction, and the corresponding region is conserved for the zDef and zCapn3b interaction. Our results lay the ground to resolve the structure of the Def-CAPN3 complex in the future.

LncRNA DLEU2 silencing impedes the migration, invasion and EMT in gastric cancer cell by suppressing PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Context: The high expression of long non-coding RNA deleted in lymphocytic leukaemia 2 (lncRNA DLEU2) has been confirmed in gastric cancer (GC).Objective: However, the detailed mechanism concerning its involvement in GC remained unclear, which we aimed to explore in this study.Materials and methods: LncRNA DLEU2 expression in GC was estimated by bioinformatic analysis, and the relationship between the expression of DLEU2 and the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with GC was performed. qRT-PCR was employed to detect the expression of lncRNA DLEU2 and confirm the transfection efficiency following the knockdown or overexpression of DLEU2. Functional assays, including CCK-8, flow cytometry, scratching test and Transwell assays, were used to determine the role of DLEU2 in tumor phenotypes. The effects of DLEU2 on the PI3K/Akt pathway were detected by western blot. For elucidating the functions of DLEU2/PI3K/Akt axis in GC, we inhibited the PI3K/Akt pathway in rescue experiments, and evaluated the expression levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins by western blot.Results: The expression of DLEU2 was aberrantly up-regulated in GC tissues and cells, which was correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation, cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and Lauren histologic classification of patients with GC. Silencing of DLEU2 induced apoptosis, attenuated viability, migration and invasion as well as inhibited the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in GC cells. Mechanistically, the DLEU2/PI3K/Akt axis promoted the progression of GC and the EMT by down-regulating the expression of E-Cadherin and up-regulating those of N-Cadherin and Vimentin.Discussion and conclusions: LncRNA DLEU2 promoted the migration, invasion and EMT in GC by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway.

Biguanides decorated albumin nanoparticles loading nintedanib for synergic enhanced hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.

Nintedanib (ND) was known as a triple tyrosine kinase inhibitors, inhibiting angiogenesis and tissue fibrosis. Biguanide group has attracted much attention for its great penetrating ability to the lipid bilayer of cytomembrane and potential anti-cancer efficacy. In this study, a biguanide group (p-biguanidinobenzoic acid, CBH) decorated bovine serum albumin (CBH-AB) was synthesized as a novel functional biomaterial to prepare the ND loaded CBH-AB nanoparticles (ND-CBH-AB NPs). The results of physical and chemical properties showed that ND-CBH-AB NPs possessed high encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency. In vitro cell study indicated that CBH modification on ND-CBH-AB NPs enhanced the cyctotoxicities to HepG2 cells. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic study showed that ND-CBH-AB NPs had good stability in circulation. Finally, pharmacodynamic studies were conducted, the results indicated that ND-CBH-AB NPs exhibited excellent anti-tumor effect and tumor microenvironment regulation effect. Thereby, this work provides a potential function albumin delivery system for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.

Can feeding sound attract flower fish (Ptychobarbus kaznakovi)?

The use of acoustic attractants may have the potential to guide native migratory species towards safe passage. Flower fish Ptychobarbus kaznakovi, a short-distance migratory fish whose population is in decline in the past decades, was exposed to three acoustic stimuli (feeding sound, ambient riverine noise and the pure tone 1000 Hz) to examine the phonotaxic responses using playbacks approaches in a fibreglass tank. The results showed that the flower fish showed significantly greater positive phonotaxis and swam towards the sound sources significantly faster in response to the feeding sounds than to ambient riverine noise and the pure tone during the 5-min exposure. Distribution experiments were conducted to study the preference of flower fish to the three sounds stimuli. The results showed that the experimental fish in feeding sound trials spent significant more time in areas closer to the sound sources than that in the pure tone and the ambient riverine noise trials, respectively. This study indicates that the feeding sounds may serve as potential acoustic attractants to guide flower fish to safe passage routes.

SHP-2 Interacts with CD81 and Regulates the Malignant Evolution of Colorectal Cancer by Inhibiting Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition.

PURPOSE: Colon cancer is a common malignant tumor of the digestive system. This project verified the negative role of protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP-2) in the regulation of colon cancer and further clarified the key targets and molecular mechanisms in the regulation process. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression levels of SHP-2 in colon cancer tissues, adjacent tissues, normal colon cell lines, and cancer cell lines were detected via Quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The effect of SHP-2 on colon cancer cell function was verified using cell proliferation, Transwell, scratch, and apoptotic assays. CD81 was identified as the interaction protein of SHP-2 by immunoprecipitation. RESULTS: The expression of SHP-2 was decreased in colorectal cancer compared with that in adjacent tissues. This expression was also decreased in colon cancer cells compared with that in intestinal epithelial cells. In addition, the tumor tissues of patients with metastatic colon cancer exhibited downregulated expression of SHP-2 compared with those of patients with non-metastatic colon cancer. Cell proliferation, Transwell, scratch, and apoptotic assay showed that the overexpression of SHP-2 inhibited proliferation, adhesion, and metastasis of colon cancer cell lines and promoted apoptosis. CO-IP proved that SHP-2 could interact with CD81 and inhibit the function of CD81. Recovery experiments confirmed that the overexpression of CD81 reversed the anti-cancer effect of SHP-2. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of SHP-2 inhibited malignant progression of colon cancer. Mechanism experiments showed that the anti-cancer effect of SHP-2 was realized through the interaction with CD81. This study elucidated the molecular mechanism of SHP-2 regulation in colon cancer and provided guidance for the diagnosis and prognosis assessment of colon cancer.

The association between expressions of Ras and CD68 in the angiogenesis of breast cancers.

OBJECTIVE: Angiogenesis is a critical step of breast cancer metastasis. Oncogenic Ras promotes the remodeling of cancer microenviroment. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a prominent inflammatory cell population emerging in the microenviroment and facilitating the angiogenesis and metastasis. In the present study, we tried to investigate the relationship between the expression of Ras and infiltration of TAM, both of which could further promote angiogenesis. METHODS: Expressions of Ras, CD68 and CD34 were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The infiltration of macrophages was evaluated by counting the number of CD68(+) cells. Vessel endothelial cells were defined as CD34(+) cells. Angiogenesis vascularity was defined by microvessel density (MVD) assay through counting the number of vessels per field counted in the area of highest vascular density. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate the overall survival (OS). Macrophages were derived from monocytes in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating-factor (MCSF). Breast cancer cells were treated with macrophage-conditioned medium (MCM) and tested the expressions of K-, H- and N-Ras by using realtime-PCR. RESULTS: Ras positive status was correlated with ER, PR and Her-2 positivity, larger tumour size and lymph node metastasis, as well as higher TNM stages. A higher number of CD68(+) cells was correlated with larger tumour size, higher TNM stages and Her-2 positivity. Both Ras positivity and infiltration of CD68(+) macrophages correlated with poor OS. The number of CD68(+) cells was positively correlated with the expression of Ras. Treatment with MCM did not up-regulate but repressed the expression of Ras. Both up-regulation of Ras and infiltration of TAMs correlated with increased MVD. CONCLUSION: Expression of Ras and infiltration of TAM were positively correlated, and both participated in angiogenesis. Elevated Ras could be responsible for the infiltration of TAM.