Thoracic spinal cord injury and paraplegia caused by intradural cement leakage after percutaneous kyphoplasty: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) is a pivotal intervention for osteoporotic fractures, pathological vertebral compression fractures, and vertebral bone tumors. Despite its efficacy, the procedure presents challenges, notably complications arising from intradural cement leakage. Timely and accurate diagnosis, coupled with emergent intervention is imperative to improve patient prognosis. This case report illuminates the intricacies and potential complications associated with PKP, emphasizing the critical need for vigilant monitoring, prompt diagnosis, and immediate intervention to mitigate adverse outcomes. CASE SUMMARY: A 58-year-old male patient, experiencing a T7 osteoporosis-related pathological compression fracture, underwent PKP at a local hospital. Two weeks post-procedure, the patient developed paraplegic and dysuric symptoms, necessitating emergency decompression surgery. Gradual improvement was achieved, marked by the restoration of muscle strength, sensation, and mobility. CONCLUSION: PKP Intradural cement leakage following PKP is unusual and potentially fatal. Prompt imaging examinations, urgent evaluation, and the decompression surgery are essential, which help alleviate symptoms associated with spinal damage, markedly improving the overall prognosis.

Syringic Acid Attenuates the IL-1ß-Induced Akt Pathway in Chondrocyte ATDC5 Cells.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic progressive joint ailment that is largely predominant worldwide. However, it typically gets worse over time, occurs more frequently, and becomes more crippling. OBJECTIVES: Syringic acid (SA) is a well-known phenolic compound reported to suppress inflammation, cell proliferation, and apoptosis of various cancer cells. Since the role of SA in OA remains unknown, there is a need to hypothesize the anti-inflammatory activities of SA on IL- 1ß-induced ATDC5 chondrocyte­like cells and to elucidate its protective action against OA. METHODS: The cytotoxicity, inflammatory mediators, mRNA expression of MMPs, ADAMTS, COX-2, and Akt/NF-κB protein expression of SA activity on ATDC5 cells were examined through CCK-8 assay, ELISA, RT-qPCR, and western blot. It was found that SA (10, 20, and 30 µM) did not show any inhibitory effects on the viability of the ATDC5 cells in a concentrationdependent manner. RESULTS: SA markedly reduced the inflammatory mediators, cytokines, PGE2, MMPs, COX-2, and ADAMTS in a concentration-dependent manner. Likewise, SA expressively attenuated IL- 1ß-stimulated Akt phosphorylation and NF-κB activation as well as IL-1ß- induced ATDC5 chondrocytes. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that SA is a novel candidate applicable for the treatment of OA.

V2O5 Nanowire Composite Paper as a High-Performance Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode.

Ultralong, as long as ∼1 mm, orthorhombic vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) nanowires were synthesized using a hydrothermal method. Free-standing and binder-free composite paper was prepared on a large scale by a two-step reduction method using free-standing V2O5 nanowires as the skeleton and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets as the additive. Such a free-standing V2O5/rGO composite paper as a cathode for lithium ion batteries possesses both structural integrity and extraordinary electrochemical performance. The reversible specific areal capacity of the V2O5/rGO composite paper electrode is 885 µAh/cm2 at 0.09 mA/cm2, much higher than that of the pure V2O5 nanowire paper electrode (570 µAh/cm2). It also shows excellent cycling performance at high rates with 30.9% loss of its initial capacities after 1000 cycles at a current rate of 0.9 mA/cm2. The excellent performance was attributed to the improved electronic conductivity and Li+ ion transport from the rGO addition.

FHL1 interacts with oestrogen receptors and regulates breast cancer cell growth.

Four and a half LIM protein 1 (FHL1) belongs to the Lin-1, Isl-1 and Mec-3 (LIM)-only protein family and plays important roles in muscle growth and carcinogenesis. However, the biological function of FHL1 remains largely unknown. Here, we show that FHL1 physically and functionally interacted with oestrogen receptors (ERs), which are involved in breast cancer development and progression. FHL1 bound specifically to the activation function-1 domain of ER. Physical interaction of FHL1 and ER is required for FHL1 repression of oestrogen-responsive gene transcription. FHL1 affected recruitment of ER to an oestrogen-responsive promoter and ER binding to an oestrogen-responsive element. Overexpression of FHL1 in breast cancer cells decreased expression of oestrogen-responsive proteins, whereas knockdown of endogenous FHL1 with FHL1 small interfering RNA increased the expression of these proteins. Further analysis of 46 breast cancer samples showed that FHL1 expression negatively associated with oestrogen-responsive gene expression in breast cancer cells. FHL1 inhibited anchorage-dependent and -independent breast cancer cell growth. These results suggest that FHL1 may play an important role in ER signalling as well as breast cancer cell growth regulation.

Synergistic repression of estrogen receptor transcriptional activity by FHL2 and Smad4 in breast cancer cells.

Four and a half LIM domain protein 2 (FHL2) has been implicated in development and progression of various types of cancers. However, little is known about the biological function of FHL2 in breast cancer. Here, we report that FHL2 physically and functionally interacts with estrogen receptors (ERα and ERß), important regulators of breast cancer development and progression. The N-terminal half LIM domain or a single LIM domain of FHL2 was sufficient for its interaction with ERα and ERß. Overexpression of FHL2 reduced ER transcriptional activity in breast cancer cells, whereas reduction of endogenous FHL2 with FHL2 small interfering RNA enhanced ER transactivation. Moreover, FHL2 cooperates with Smad4, a previously known corepressor for ERα, to inhibit ERα transcriptional activity as well as expression of the estrogen-responsive gene cathepsin D. The synergistic inhibition of ERα transcriptional activity by FHL2 and Smad4 may be due to enhanced interaction of Smad4 with ERα by FHL2, because FHL2(1-156), the FHL2 deletion mutant, which showed no synergistic effect, failed to increase such interaction. These data suggested the cooperative regulation of estrogen signaling by FHL2 and Smad4 in breast cancer cells, and might provide a new regulation mechanism underlying breast cancer development and progression.

[Establishment of estrogen receptor alpha trans-activation system].

OBJECTIVE: To construct estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) trans-activation system. METHODS: The full length ERalpha and its different function regions [(transcriptional activation function 1 (AF1), DNA binding domain (DBD), and transcriptional activation function 2 (AF2)] were amplified from pcDNA3-ERalpha by PCR and cloned into the pGAL vector. The expressions of the recombinant plasmids constructed were detected via immunoblotting. The 293T cells transfected with recombinant plasmids of full length ERalpha, its different function regions and empty vector were divided into 5 groups; each group was divided into 2 parts which were treated with or without estrogen (E(2)). The transcriptional activity of each group was detected in 293T cells after the recombinant plasmid was co-transfected with 0.2 microg of estrogen receptor element luciferase (ERE-LUC) and 0.1 microg of plasmid expressing beta-galactosidase and treated with or without 10 nmol/L E(2) for 24 hours. RESULTS: The full length ERalpha and its different function regions were expressed in the 293T cells. Compared with the empty pGAL vector, the transcription activities of full length ERalpha, AF1, AF2 and DBD recombinant plasmids were raised about 20.44 +/- 1.01, 2.09 +/- 0.11, 8.09 +/- 0.30 and 1.05 +/- 0.09 fold, respectively, with the induction of E(2) after transfection in the 293T cells. CONCLUSION: The trans-activation system of ERalpha has been successfully established.

[Identification of differential genomic genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and attenuated strain H37Ra by suppression subtractive hybridization].

To study the virulence-related genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we used suppression subtractive hybridization to clone the differential genomic genes between Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence strain H37Rv and attenuated strain H37Ra. All of 54 different genes were cloned, sequenced and analyzed by Southern-blotting. Two different DNA fragments in H37Ra are new genes so far, and get the new Genbank number AY534505 and AY560011. Eight different DNA fragments in H37Rv were obtained. One is the fragment of a gene coding virulence factor mce; one fragment belongs to the gene coding for purC synthenzyme; one for PE family protein; the other 4 fragments for putative gene; and the last one is a non-coding fragment. PCR analysis indicated that 2 of the different genes were present exclusively in the clinical virulent strain and in H37Rv, but not in the clinical avirulent strain and in H37Ra. The novel differential genes may provide an important clue for studying the mechanism of M. tuberculosis pathogenesis.