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Aptamers are attractive recognition ligands for sensing proteins due to their favorable affinity, specificity, stability, and easy synthesis. However, it is difficult to detect proteins directly in complex biological samples without sophisticated equipment or tedious sample pretreatment. Herein, we developed a portable electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) platform for direct protein aptasensing in complex biological samples. This portable EMSA consists of a mini agarose gel apparatus and a simple blue light transmission instrument integrated a smartphone camera. Lactoferrin (LF), which plays critical roles in food quality and dry eye diagnosis, was selected for feasibility verification. The successful direct determination of LF in dairy samples revealed that agarose gel not only provides separation power for the LF-aptamer complex but also functions as a physical barrier, excluding milk fat globules and casein micelles and further eliminating their interference. In addition, this pretreatment-free approach also exhibits good generality and multiplexity for other proteins assay by altering aptamer sequences. Therefore, the portable EMSA could be a reliable, affordable, user-friendly and pretreatment-free tool for protein aptasensing in biological and clinical samples for point-of-need diagnostics as well as food quality and safety., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a member of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) family, is a multifunctional cytokine. The maturation-to-ovulation process of poultry follicles is determined by granulosa cell proliferation and differentiation. Granulosa cell apoptosis and degeneration lead to follicular atresia, which reduces the number of normally developing follicles and leads to a decrease in the poultry egg production rate, thus affecting the large-scale development of poultry breeding. In this study, the LIF gene overexpression vector pCDH-CMV-LIF and a siRNA that inhibits LIF gene expression were transfected into primary granulosa cells from white Muscovy duck ovaries for functional study. Compared with that in the control group, LIF gene expression was confirmed to be significantly decreased or increased in the transfection groups (P < 0.01). After LIF overexpression, the expression of the cell cycle-related genes CCND1, CDK-1 and PCNA was decreased (P < 0.05); apoptosis was promoted; the proapoptotic genes Bax and caspase-3 were significantly upregulated (P < 0.01); and the antiapoptotic gene Bcl-2 was significantly downregulated (P < 0.01). After LIF interference, the expression of the cell cycle-related genes CCND1, CCNE1, CDK-1 and PCNA and the antiapoptotic gene Bcl-2 significantly increased (P < 0.01), whereas the expression of the proapoptotic genes Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-9 significantly decreased (P < 0.01). In summary, the LIF gene is involved in regulating the biological function of ovarian granulosa cells in white Muscovy ducks. LIF gene expression promotes granulosa cell apoptosis and inhibits cell cycle progression. These experimental results provide insights into the follicular development mechanism of white Muscovy ducks., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No potential conflicts of interest are reported by the authors., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The purpose of our study is to investigate image quality, efficiency, and diagnostic performance of a deep learning-accelerated single-shot breath-hold (DLSB) against BLADE for T 2 -weighted MR imaging (T 2 WI) for gastric cancer (GC)., Methods: 112 patients with GCs undergoing gastric MRI were prospectively enrolled between Aug 2022 and Dec 2022. Axial DLSB-T 2 WI and BLADE-T 2 WI of stomach were scanned with same spatial resolution. Three radiologists independently evaluated the image qualities using a 5-scale Likert scales (IQS) in terms of lesion delineation, gastric wall boundary conspicuity, and overall image quality. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated in measurable lesions. T staging was conducted based on the results of both sequences for GC patients with gastrectomy. Pairwise comparisons between DLSB-T 2 WI and BLADE-T 2 WI were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, paired t-test, and chi-squared test. Kendall's W, Fleiss' Kappa, and intraclass correlation coefficient values were used to determine inter-reader reliability., Results: Against BLADE, DLSB reduced total acquisition time of T2WI from 495 min (mean 4:42 per patient) to 33.6 min (18 s per patient), with better overall image quality that produced 9.43-fold, 8.00-fold, and 18.31-fold IQS upgrading against BALDE, respectively, in three readers. In 69 measurable lesions, DLSB-T2WI had higher mean SNR and higher CNR than BLADE-T2WI. Among 71 patients with gastrectomy, DLSB-T2WI resulted in comparable accuracy to BLADE-T2WI in staging GCs (P > 0.05)., Conclusions: DLSB-T 2 WI demonstrated shorter acquisition time, better image quality, and comparable staging accuracy, which could be an alternative to BLADE-T 2 WI for gastric cancer imaging., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background Preoperative local-regional tumor staging of gastric cancer (GC) is critical for appropriate treatment planning. The comparative accuracy of multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) versus dual-energy CT (DECT) for staging of GC is not known. Purpose To compare the diagnostic accuracy of personalized mpMRI with that of DECT for local-regional T and N staging in patients with GC receiving curative surgical intervention. Materials and Methods Patients with GC who underwent gastric mpMRI and DECT before gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy were eligible for this single-center prospective noninferiority study between November 2021 and September 2022. mpMRI comprised T2-weighted imaging, multiorientational zoomed diffusion-weighted imaging, and extradimensional volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging. Dual-phase DECT images were reconstructed at 40 keV and standard 120 kVp-like images. Using gastrectomy specimens as the reference standard, the diagnostic accuracy of mpMRI and DECT for T and N staging was compared by six radiologists in a pairwise blinded manner. Interreader agreement was assessed using the weighted κ and Kendall W statistics. The McNemar test was used for head-to-head accuracy comparisons between DECT and mpMRI. Results This study included 202 participants (mean age, 62 years ± 11 [SD]; 145 male). The interreader agreement of the six readers for T and N staging of GC was excellent for both mpMRI (κ = 0.89 and 0.85, respectively) and DECT (κ = 0.86 and 0.84, respectively). Regardless of reader experience, higher accuracy was achieved with mpMRI than with DECT for both T (61%-77% vs 50%-64%; all P < .05) and N (54%-68% vs 51%-58%; P = .497-.005) staging, specifically T1 (83% vs 65%) and T4a (78% vs 68%) tumors and N1 (41% vs 24%) and N3 (64% vs 45%) nodules (all P < .05). Conclusion Personalized mpMRI was superior in T staging and noninferior or superior in N staging compared with DECT for patients with GC. Clinical trial registration no. NCT05508126 © RSNA, 2024 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Méndez and Martín-Garre in this issue.

The angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) is a well-established component of the renin-angiotensin system and is known to counteract classical activation of this system and protect against organ damage. Pharmacological activation of the AT2R has significant therapeutic benefits, including vasodilation, natriuresis, anti-inflammatory activity, and improved insulin sensitivity. However, the precise biological functions of the AT2R in maintaining homeostasis in liver tissue remain largely unexplored. In this study, we found that the AT2R facilitates liver repair and regeneration following acute injury by deactivating Hippo signaling and that interleukin-6 transcriptionally upregulates expression of the AT2R in hepatocytes through STAT3 acting as a transcription activator binding to promoter regions of the AT2R. Subsequently, elevated AT2R levels activate downstream signaling via heterotrimeric G protein Gα12/13-coupled signals to induce Yap activity, thereby contributing to repair and regeneration processes in the liver. Conversely, a deficiency in the AT2R attenuates regeneration of the liver while increasing susceptibility to acetaminophen-induced liver injury. Administration of an AT2R agonist significantly enhances the repair and regeneration capacity of injured liver tissue. Our findings suggest that the AT2R acts as an upstream regulator in the Hippo pathway and is a potential target in the treatment of liver damage., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Pharmacological Society.)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that seriously threatens the quality of life of the elderly. Its pathogenesis has not yet been fully elucidated. Ferroptosis, a cell death caused by excessive accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxides, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of AD. Uncontrolled lipid peroxidation is the core process of ferroptosis, and inhibiting lipid peroxidation of ferroptosis may be an important therapeutic target for AD. Based on previous studies, we mixed standards of icariin, astragaloside IV, and puerarin, named the standard mixture YHG, and investigated the effect of YHG on ferroptosis -lipid peroxidation in APP/PS1 mice. DFX, a ferroptosis inhibitor, was used as a control drug. In this study, APP/PS1 mice were used as an AD animal model, and behavioral experiments, iron level detection, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation, lipid peroxidation level detection, antioxidant capacity detection, immunofluorescence, Western blot and real-time qPCR were performed. It was found that YHG could reduce body weight, significantly improve abnormal behaviors and the ultrastructure of hippocampal neurons in APP/PS1 mice. The results of biochemical tests showed that YHG reduced the contents of iron, malondialdehyde (MDA) and lipid peroxide (LPO) in brain tissue and serum, and increased the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione (GSH). Immunofluorescence, WesternBlot and real-time qPCR results showed that YHG could promote the expression of solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11), solute carrier family 3 member 2 (SLC3A2) and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4). Inhibited the expression of long-chain acyllipid coenzyme a synthetase 4(ACSL4) and lysophosphatidyltransferase 3 (LPCAT3). This study suggests that the mechanism by which YHG improves cognitive dysfunction in APP/PS1 mice may be related to the inhibition of ferroptosis-lipid peroxidation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Thermal stability and iron saturation of lactoferrin (LF) are of great significance not only for the evaluation of the biological activities of LF but also for the optimization of the isolation and drying process parameters. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a well-established and efficient method for thermal stability and iron saturation detection in LF. However, multiple DSC measurements are typically performed sequentially, thus time-consuming and low throughput. Herein, we introduced the differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) approach to overcome such limitations. The DSF can monitor LF thermal unfolding with a commonly available real-time PCR instrument and a fluorescent dye (SYPRO orange or Glomelt), and the measured melting temperature of LF is consistent with that determined by DSC. On the basis of that, a new quantification method was established for determination of iron saturation levels using the linear correlation of the degree of ion saturation of LF with DSF measurements. Such DSF method is simple, inexpensive, rapid (<15 min), and high throughput (>96 samples per experiment), and provides a valuable alternative tool for thermal stability detection of LF and other whey proteins., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: In recent years, there has been extensive research on the role of exercise as an adjunctive therapy for cancer. However, the potential mechanisms underlying the anti-tumor therapy of exercise in lung cancer remain to be fully elucidated. As such, our study aims to confirm whether exercise-induced elevation of epinephrine can accelerate CD8 + T cell recruitment through modulation of chemokines and thus ultimately inhibit tumor progression., Method: C57BL/6 mice were subcutaneously inoculated with Lewis lung cancer cells (LLCs) to establish a subcutaneous tumor model. The tumor mice were randomly divided into different groups to performed a moderate-intensity exercise program on a treadmill for 5 consecutive days a week, 45 min a day. The blood samples and tumor tissues were collected after exercise for IHC, RT-qPCR, ELISA and Western blot. In addition, another group of mice received daily epinephrine treatment for two weeks (0.05 mg/mL, 200 µL i.p.) (EPI, n = 8) to replicate the effects of exercise on tumors in vivo. Lewis lung cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of epinephrine (0, 5, 10, 20 µM) to detect the effect of epinephrine on chemokine levels via ELISA and RT-qPCR., Results: This study reveals that both pre- and post-cancer exercise effectively impede the tumor progression. Exercise led to an increase in EPI levels and the infiltration of CD8 + T cell into the lung tumor. Exercise-induced elevation of EPI is involved in the regulation of Ccl5 and Cxcl10 levels further leading to enhanced CD8 + T cell infiltration and ultimately inhibiting tumor progression., Conclusion: Exercise training enhance the anti-tumor immunity of lung cancer individuals. These findings will provide valuable insights for the future application of exercise therapy in clinical practice., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) is common in clinic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of disc release, fixation and chitosan injection in the treatment of TMJ-OA., Methods: From March 2021 to March 2022, 32 patients who underwent the unilateral reduction and fixation of temporomandibular joint disc release were retrospectively studied. All patients were diagnosed with TMJ-OA and were treated with chitosan injection. This group of patients was analyzed by the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and improvement of maximum comfortable mouth opening before treatment and 6 months after treatment. A paired t-test was used to evaluate the treatment effect, and p < 0.05 indicated that the difference was statistically significant., Results: All 32 patients were successfully treated by surgery and chitosan injection in the second week after operation. The duration of disease in this group ranged from 1 to 10 months, with an average of 5.7 months. After 6 months of follow up, 30 patients were satisfied with the treatment and two were unsatisfied. The difference in the treatment effect was found to be statistically significant ( p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Temporomandibular joint disc release and fixation combined with chitosan injection is effective in the treatment of TMJ-OA.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of splints combined with PRP for the treatment of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis. Methods: Thirty-one patients with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis who were treated with splints combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from January 2021 to June 2021 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, China Medical University (Shenyang, China) were retrospectively reviewed. The VAS scores of all the patients were recorded before and 6 months after treatment, and the maximum comfortable mouth opening was recorded. All data were analyzed by the paired t -test using SPSS software, and a p -value < 0.05 indicated statistically significant differences. Results: Splint + PRP treatment was successful in 31 patients. The mean pretreatment VAS score was 6.1, and the mean VAS score 6 months posttreatment was 4.1. The posttreatment VAS score was significantly lower than the preoperative VAS score ( p < 0.05). The mean pretreatment maximum comfortable mouth opening (MCMO) was 27.6 mm, and the mean MCMO 6 months posttreatment was 34.8 mm. The MCMO was significantly increased ( p < 0.05). Conclusion: Splint + PRP is an effective treatment for temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wu, Sun, Zhang, Wang and Zhou.)

Background: Metabolic disorders are significant in the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. Changes of specific metabolites and metabolic pathways are molecular therapeutic targets. This study aims to determine the metabolic differences between oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues and paired adjacent noncancerous tissues (ANT) through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). SPHK1 is a key enzyme in sphingolipid metabolism. This study also investigates the potential role of SPHK1 in OSCC., Materials and Methods: This study used LC-MS to analyze metabolic differences between OSCC tissues and paired ANT. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were applied to explain the significance of phospholipid metabolism pathways in the occurrence and development of OSCC. Through further experiments, we confirmed the oncogenic phenotypes of SPHK1 in vitro and in vivo, including proliferation, migration, and invasion., Results: The sphingolipid metabolic pathway was significantly activated in OSCC, and the key enzyme SPHK1 was significantly upregulated in oral cancer tissues, predicting poor OSCC prognosis. In this study, SPHK1 overexpression was associated with high-grade malignancy and poor OSCC prognosis. SPHK1 targeted NF-κB by facilitating p65 expression to regulate OSCC tumor progression and promote metastasis., Conclusions: This study identified metabolic differences between OSCC and paired ANT, explored the carcinogenic role of overexpressed SPHK1, and revealed the association of SPHK1 with poor OSCC prognosis. SPHK1 targets NF-κB signaling by facilitating p65 expression to regulate tumor progression and promote tumor metastasis, providing potential therapeutic targets for diagnosing and treating oral tumors., (© 2022. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Background: The treatment strategies and prognosis for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors were associated with tumor grade. Preoperative predictive grading could be of great benefit in the selection of treatment options for patients. However, there is still a lack of effective non-invasive strategies to detect gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors (GI-NETs) grading preoperatively., Methods: The data on 147 consecutive GI-NETs patients was retrospectively collected from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2019. Logistic regression was used to construct a predictive model of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumor grading using preoperative laboratory and imaging parameters.The validity of the model was assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA)., Results: The factors associated with GI-NETs grading were age, tumor size, lymph nodes, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), hemoglobin (HGB) and sex, and two models were constructed by logistic regression for prediction. Combining these 6 factors, the nomogram was constructed for model 1 to distinguish between G3 and G1/2, achieving a good AUC of 0.921 (95% CI: 0.884-0.965), and the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy were 0.9167, 0.8256, 0.8630, respectively. The model 2 was to distinguish between G1 and G2/3, and the variables were age, tumor size, lymph nodes, NSE, with an AUC of 0.847 (95% CI: 0.799-0.915), and the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy were 0.7882, 0.8710, 0.8231, respectively. Two online web servers were established on the basis of the proposed nomogram to facilitate clinical use. Both models showed an excellent calibration curve through 1000 times bootstrapped dataset and the clinical usefulness were confirmed using decision curve analysis., Conclusion: The model served as a valuable non-invasive tool for differentiating between different grades of GI-NETs, personalizing the calculation which can lead to a rational treatment choice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wu, Li, Sun, Xu, Zhou, Su, Goyal and Xu.)

Objective: To investigate the effects of derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) and lung immune prognostic index (LIPI) score on the overall survival (OS) of non-surgical elderly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods: Clinical and pathological data of NSCLC patients in Hebei General Hospital from January 2014 to June 2018 were collected retrospectively. The dNLR value was calculated based on the results of blood routine before treatment, and the optimal cut-off value of dNLR was obtained by ROC curve. The patients were divided into low dNLR level group and high dNLR level group based on the optimal dNLR cut-off value. The groups were classified as good, intermediate and poor based on the LIPI score consisting of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and dNLR tested before treatment. The Kaplan-Meier method and Log rank test were used for survival analysis, and the Cox risk proportional regression model was used for analysis of prognostic influences. Results: The area under the ROC curve for dNLR predicting prognosis in non-surgical elderly NSCLC patients was 0.591 (95% CI: 0.491, 0.692; P =0.093). The optimal cut-off value for dNLR predicting prognosis in elderly NSCLC patients was 2.515, with a sensitivity of 45.5% and a specificity of 81.8%. The gender, BMI, pathological type and degree of tumor differentiation were associated with dNLR levels ( P <0.05). The median survival times were 16 and 10 months for patients in the low dNLR level group (dNLR<2.51) and high dNLR level group (dNLR≥2.51), respectively ( P <0.001), and 15, 10 and 6 months for patients with good, intermediate and poor LIPI scores, respectively ( P <0.001). The age, gender, smoking, pathological type, tumor differentiation, clinical stage, BMI, dNLR level, LDH level and LIPI scores were all associated with patient prognosis ( P <0.05), and age≥76 years, tumor differentiation and clinical stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ were independent factors influencing patient prognosis ( P <0.05). Conclusion: No matter what treatment measures are taken, dNLR level and LIPI score are related to patients' prognosis, and non-surgical elderly NSCLC patients with high dNLR level and poor LIPI score before treatment have worse prognoses.

MicroRNA (miR)-23b-3p is known to target various genes that are involved in cancer-related pathways. Exosomes are emerging intercellular communication agents. Exosomes secreted by cancer cells can deliver active molecules to the surrounding stromal cells, thereby influencing the recipient cells and promoting the development of cancers. However, the role of exosomal miR-23b-3p in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) is not yet clear. In this study, we set out to investigate the potential role of cancer-derived exosomal miR-23b-3p-related phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 in the alteration of angiogenesis and vascular permeability in SACC. We investigated the effect of exosomal miR-23b-3p on the progression of SACC. In vitro experiments indicated that exosomal miR-23b-3p led to an upregulation of vascular permeability, and reduced expression of tight junction proteins. In addition, exosomal miR-23b-3p also enhanced angiogenesis and migration. Next, the angiogenic effect of exosomal miR-23b-3p was validated in vivo, as it led to an increase in the tumor microvasculature. Furthermore, the growth rate of SACC was faster after injection of exosomes loaded with cholesterol-modified miR-23b-3p in mice. In conclusion, these results revealed that SACC cell-derived exosomes play an important role in promoting angiogenesis and local vascular microleakage of SACC by transporting miR-23b-3p, which suggests that miR-23b-3p in the exosomes may be a potential biomarker for distant metastasis of SACC. This suggests the potential of a novel therapeutic target by delivering anti-miR-23b-3p that focuses on exosomes., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: To investigate the anatomical basis for the preparation of the profunda artery perforator flap (PAPF) in the posteromedial femoral region and its application in the reconstruction of oral and maxillofacial defects. Methods: Six lower limbs of Chinese adult cadavers were micro-surgically dissected. CT angiography (CTA) data of bilateral lower limbs of 6 patients was also collected retrospectively. The number, external diameter, pedicle length, and distribution of perforators in the posteromedial femoral region were recorded from the specimens and CTA data. Meanwhile, 10 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University from August 2018 to June 2021 were treated with the PAPF. At each follow-up, contour and function of recipient and donor site, as well as swallowing and speech function were evaluated. Results: A total of 19 profunda artery perforator were identified in 6 lower limb specimens. The outer diameter at the beginning of the source artery was (2.34±0.25) mm and the total length of the pedicle was (11.12±1.06) cm. CTA data analysis of 12 legs identified 15 perforators of profunda artery in the posteromedial region. Eleven perforators were septocutaneous, including 2 perforators with a common trunk, while the remaining 4 perforators were musculocutaneous. As for different patterns of perforators (septocutaneous perforators, musculocutaneous perforators and perforators with a common trunk), the longitudinal distance to the pubic tubercle was (19.95±2.43), (21.84±2.54) and (19.48±0.55) cm respectively. The horizontal distance to the posterior edge of gracilis was (3.54±1.10), (3.72±0.30) and (3.85±1.48) cm, respectively. The initial diameters of perforators was (2.4±0.4), (2.6±0.6) and 1.9 mm respectively. Ten cases of the profunda artery perforator flaps survived successfully after operation. The flap sizes ranged from 8 cm×6 cm to 12 cm×7 cm. The patients were evaluated at 1, 3 and 6 months, and with 6 months interval ever since. During the follow-up, the shape of the recipient site was ideal, and the swallowing and language functions were not significantly affected. There was only linear scar in the donor area, and the function of the thigh was basically normal. Conclusions: PAPF possessed a good anatomic stability, suitable vascular pedicle length and diameter, minor influence to the donor area, sufficient amount tissue with good quality. It is an ideal choice for head and neck reconstruction.

Advanced glycation end products(AGEs) can lead to many diseases such as diabetes and its complications. In this study, an in vitro non-enzymatic glycosylation reaction model-bovine serum albumin/methylglyoxal(BSA/MGO) reaction system was constructed and incubated with Cortex Moutan extract. High performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) were used to detect and identify the active components that inhibited the formation of AGEs in the co-incubation solution of Cortex Moutan extract and MGO, and differential components such as salvianan, paeoniside, benzoylpaeoniflorin, mudanpioside J, galloyloxypaeoniflorin, benzoyloxy-paeoniflorin, 5-hydroxy-3 s-hydroxymethyl-6-methyl-2,3-dihydro benzofuran, and galloylpaeoniflorin were screened out, which were inferred to be the potential active components of Cortex Moutan extract to capture MGO. In addition, BSA-glucose reaction system was performed to investigate the influence of different concentrations of Cortex Moutan extract(decoction concentrations: 40, 80, 120, 160, and 200 mg·mL~(-1)) on inhibiting the production of AGEs in vitro. The inhibitory effects of Cortex Moutan extract and the differential components galloylpaeoniflorin and benzoyl paeoniflorin on the production of AGEs in human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) induced by high glucose was further evaluated. Cell apoptosis was observed by acridine orange and ethidium bromide(AO/EB) double fluorescence staining. The results showed that Cortex Moutan Cortex extract and its differential components had certain inhibitory effects on the formation of AGEs, and could reduce cell apoptosis. This study provided reference for the treatment of diabetic vascular complications by Cortex Moutan inhibiting the toxic AGEs.

Background: This study developed and validated a viable model for the preoperative diagnosis of malignant distal gastric wall thickening based on dual-energy spectral computed tomography (DEsCT)., Methods: The imaging data of 208 patients who were diagnosed with distal gastric wall thickening using DEsCT were retrospectively collected and divided into a training cohort (n=151) and a testing cohort (n=57). The patient's clinical data and pathological information were collated. The multivariable logistic regression model was built using 5 selected features, and subsequently, a 10-fold cross-validation was performed to identify the optimal model. A nomogram was established based on the training cohort. Finally, the diagnostic performance of the best model was compared to the existing conventional CT scheme through evaluating the discrimination ability in the testing cohort in terms of the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration, and clinical usefulness., Results: Stepwise regression analysis identified 5 candidate variables with the smallest Akaike information criteria (AIC), namely, the venous phase spectral curve [VP&#95; SC; odds ratio (OR) 8.419], focal enhancement (OR 3.741), arterial phase mixed (OR 1.030), tumor site (OR 0.573), and diphasic shape change (DP&#95;shape change; OR 2.746). The best regression model with 10-fold cross-validation consisting of VP&#95;SC and focal enhancement was built using the 5 candidate variables. The average area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the model from the 10-fold cross-validation was 0.803 (sensitivity of 69.2%, specificity of 94.1%, and accuracy of 74.8%). In the testing cohort, the DEsCT model identified using the regression model performed better (AUC 0.905, sensitivity 81.3%, specificity 85.4%, and accuracy 84.2%) than did the conventional CT scheme (AUC 0.852, sensitivity 80.0%, specificity 76.6%, and accuracy 77.2%). The nomogram based on the DEsCT model showed good calibration and provided a better net benefit for predicting malignancy of distal gastric wall thickening., Conclusions: Comprehensive assessment with the DEsCT-based model can be used to facilitate the individualized diagnosis of malignancy risk in patients presenting with distal gastric wall thickening., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jgo.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jgo-21-552/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2022 Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The current study aimed to explore the effect of Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) on osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in an inflammatory environment., Design: Animal models of FSTL1-deficiency and wild-type mice were used, and the micro-CT images of the femoral head were evaluated. Mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were treated with various concentrations of recombinant FSTL1 (rFSTL1) in an inflammatory environment in vitro. Meanwhile, overexpression or knockdown of FSTL1 through lentiviral transfection was performed. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was tested, and Alizarin Red staining (ARS) was performed to evaluate osteogenic differentiation ability. The mRNA expression level of osteogenesis-related genes was detected by RT-qPCR., Results: In vivo experiments revealed a higher number of femoral skulls, higher trabecular thickness, smaller trabecular space, and less osteoporosis in FSTL1-knockdown mice than in the wild-type mice. The BMSCs with overexpression of FSTL1 or those treated with recombinant FSTL1 (rFSTL1) showed suppression of ALP activity, calcium nodule formation, and expression of osteogenesis-related genes osteopontin (OPN), osteocalcin (OCN), collagen type I alpha 1 (Col1α1), and more importantly, rFSTL1 functions in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, FSTL1 knockdown promoted the osteogenesis activity and the expression of these osteogenesis-related genes in vitro., Conclusions: FSTL1 is an osteogenic suppressor that inhibits the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs during inflammation and it can be a new target for bone regeneration., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the proliferation of endogenous neural stem cells in the hippocampus of young mice with Alzheimer's disease (AD), so as to explore its mechanisms underlying improvement of AD., Methods: Forty 1.5-month-old APP/PS1 transgenic male mice were randomly divided into an EA group and a model group, 20 mice in each group, and other 20 C57BL/6J male mice of the same age were used as the normal control group. EA (intermittment wave 10 Hz, 2 mA) was applied to "Baihui" (GV 20), "Fengfu" (GV 16) and "Shenshu" (BL 23) for 20 min, once a day, 6 days a week for 16 weeks. H.E. staining was used to assess histopathological changes of neurons of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Immunohistochemical stain was used to detect the expression of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive in the hippocampus, and immunofluorescence double-labeled technique was used to detect the number of proliferated positive neurons of hippocampal neural stem cells. The expression levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and Nestin mRNA and protein were detected by using real-time PCR and Western blot, separately., Results: The immunoactivity of BrdU, and the expression levels of BDNF and Nestin mRNA and protein in the hippocampus in the model group were significantly lower than in the normal control group ( P <0.01, P <0.05), and considerably higher in the EA group than in the model group ( P <0.01, P <0.05). The number of BrdU/NeuN dual labeled neurons was slightly increased in the model group than in the normal control group ( P >0.05), and evidently increased in the EA group relevant to the model group ( P <0.05), suggesting a proliferation of hippocampal neural stem cells. After modeling, the neurons of hippocampal dentate gyrus were arranged loosely and irregularly and their structure was fuzzy, with an appearance of different degrees of nuclear pyknosis, whereas in the EA group, the neuronal contour was clear and the nuclear structure was relatively distinct., Conclusion: EA can activate the proliferation of neural stem cells in the hippocampus in AD mice, which may contribute to its function in improving the neuronal structure by upregulating the expression of BDNF.

Background: miRNAs and mRNAs have been significantly implicated in tumorigenesis and served as promising prognostic biomarkers for human cancer. Hence, this study was aimed to develop the pivotal miRNA biomarkers-based prognostic signature for salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma., Methods: The miRNA and mRNA expression data were integrated from the gene expression omnibus database to study their involvement in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma development and progression. Gene ontology and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes were conducted to analyze the biological pathways. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was used to verify the expression of selected miRNAs in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma and corresponding normal tissues., Results: There were 386 differentially expressed genes: 158 upregulated and 228 downregulated genes and 102 differentially expressed miRNAs: 78 upregulated and 24 downregulated miRNAs in the salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma samples. A miRNA-mRNA network containing 11 miRNAs and 199 genes was subsequently constructed. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analysis revealed that the genes targeted by the 11 miRNAs were mostly involved in tumor-related pathways and processes, such as miRNAs in cancer, focal adhesion, neurotrophin signaling pathway, and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Among them, 4 miRNAs (miR-375, miR-494, miR-34c-5p, and miR-331-3p) were selected to verify by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR in 36 pairs of collected salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma and adjacent nontumor samples. Overall survival analysis revealed that the higher expression of miR-331-3p was significantly associated with a worst overall survival and multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that hsa-miR-331-3p could be an independent prognostic factor for salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma., Conclusion: Our results revealed that 4-miRNAs signature was a powerful prognostic biomarker for salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, which provide a basis for exploring deeper mechanisms regarding the progression of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma, and leading to the development of potential therapeutic strategies., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)