Ginkgolide K delays the progression of osteoarthritis by regulating YAP to promote the formation of cartilage extracellular matrix.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease characterized by cartilage wear and degradation. Ginkgolide K (GK) is a natural compound extracted from Ginkgo biloba leaves and possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects. We found that the biological characteristics of GK were highly consistent with those of OA medications. This study aimed to determine and verify the therapeutic effect of GK on OA and mechanism of its therapeutic effect. For the in vivo experiment, OA rats were regularly injected in the articular cavity with GK, and the curative effects were observed after 4 and 8 weeks. For the in vitro experiment, we treated OA chondrocytes with different concentrations of GK and then detected the related indices of OA. Through the in vivo and in vitro experiments, we found that GK could promote the production of major components of the cartilage extracellular matrix. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that GK may activate hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha via the hypoxia signaling pathway, which, in turn, activates yes-associated protein and inhibits apoptosis of OA chondrocytes. GK has a therapeutic effect on OA and, therefore, has the potential to be developed into a new drug for OA treatment.

Sinensetin attenuates IL-1ß-induced cartilage damage and ameliorates osteoarthritis by regulating SERPINA3.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease characterized by articular cartilage degeneration, subchondral bone sclerosis, synovial hyperplasia and osteophyte formation as the main pathological manifestations. Age, mechanical stress and inflammation are the main factors that induce joint degeneration in the pathogenesis of OA. Sinensetin (SIN) is a natural flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study aims to investigate the effect of SIN on OA. We have investigated the anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective effects of SIN on IL-1ß-induced human OA chondrocytes and a rat OA model. In vitro, human chondrocytes were induced by 5 ng mL-1 IL-1ß and treated with different concentrations of SIN. The results suggest that SIN can inhibit IL-1ß-induced overproduction of pro-inflammatory mediators in human OA chondrocytes, including COX2, iNOS, TNF-α and IL-6, and also reduce the production of MMP13 and MMP9, thus protecting the degradation of the extracellular matrix. In addition, SIN can inhibit the activation of NF-κB by regulating the expression of SERPINA3. In an in vivo experiment, rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, namely the sham operation group, OA model group and SIN group, and were given normal saline or 20 mg kg-1 SIN, respectively. The knee cartilage tissue was removed 6 weeks after surgery for analysis and detection, and our studies have shown that SIN can effectively delay the progression of OA in rats and protect cartilage. In conclusion, our study shows that SIN has good application potential in the treatment of OA.

Multi-mode of Four and Six Wave Parametric Amplified Process.

Multiple quantum modes in correlated fields are essential for future quantum information processing and quantum computing. Here we report the generation of multi-mode phenomenon through parametric amplified four- and six-wave mixing processes in a rubidium atomic ensemble. The multi-mode properties in both frequency and spatial domains are studied. On one hand, the multi-mode behavior is dominantly controlled by the intensity of external dressing effect, or nonlinear phase shift through internal dressing effect, in frequency domain; on the other hand, the multi-mode behavior is visually demonstrated from the images of the biphoton fields directly, in spatial domain. Besides, the correlation of the two output fields is also demonstrated in both domains. Our approach supports efficient applications for scalable quantum correlated imaging.