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Objective: To investigate the relationship between the expression of CD103 + CD8 + T cells in locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (LA-OSCC), and the response to neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy (NACI). Methods: Thirty LA-OSCC patients from the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, who underwent NACI from June 2020 to December 2022 were analyzed, including 16 responders and 14 non-responders. Using multiple immunofluorescence technique to stain sections of patients to verify the correlation between the expression of CD103 + CD8 + T cells and the efficacy of NACI. CD103 + CD8 + T cell density was counted using Inform and HALO software. The Spearman correlation coefficient in rank correlation is used to describe the correlation between CD103 + CD8 + T cell and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune inflammation index (SII) It's effectiveness as a predictive marker to NACI was analyzed by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and decision curve analysis (DCA). Two-tailed t -test or Mann-Whitney U -test was used to compare data between two groups, and one-way ANOVA was used to compare data between multiple groups. SPSS 22.0 and GraphPad prism 9.0 software were used for statistical analysis and plotting of relevant statistical graphs such as histograms. P< 0.05 was considered a statistically significant difference. Results: The density of CD103 + CD8 + T cells has expanded in advanced OSCC patients who are responsive to NACI. The CD103 + CD8 + T cell densities in the responsive and nonresponsive groups were 118.30(41.92, 197.80) pcs/mm 2 and 21.63(4.91, 71.92) pcs/mm 2 respectively, with statistically significant differences( U =52.00, P =0.012). CD103 + CD8 + T cell abundance was negatively correlated with NLR, dNLR, PLR, and SII ( P <0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC for predicting efficacy of NLR, dNLR, PLR, and SII were 0.781 ( P= 0.009, 95% CI : 0.5715-0.9910), 0.671 ( P= 0.105, 95% CI : 0.467-0.881), 0.679 ( P= 0.020 95% CI : 0.549-0.951), 0.750 ( P= 0.096, 95% CI : 0.461-0.896), respectively. The AUC for CD103 + CD8 + T cells alone was 0.861 ( P= 0.013, 95% CI : 0.585-0.950), and the AUC of combining CD103 + CD8 + T cells with NLR was 0.896 ( P= 0.025, 95% CI : 0.454-0.938). Conclusions: The density of CD103 + CD8 + T cells is expanded in advanced OSCC patients who are responsive to NACI. CD103 + CD8 + T cells positively predict favorable responses as a strong indicator to NACI in advanced OSCC patients. Co-interpretation of CD103 + CD8 + T cells and NLR value enhances the predictive accuracy of NACI in advanced OSCC patients.

The modern categories of endogenous non-coding RNAs, namely circular RNAs (circRNAs), involved within the carcinogenesis and progression of various human cancers. The fundamental aim of the current investigation was the evaluation of the hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 expressions, their biological functions, and potential regulatory network in bladder cancer. The level of expression for hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 was evaluated by qRT-PCR, and its relationships to clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of cases experiencing cancer of the bladder were scrutinized. The impact of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 expressions on biological attitudes of bladder cancer cells in vitro was investigated. The interactions between hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 and microRNA (miRNA) sponge, miRNA, and its direct targets were determined by RNA pull-down as well as luciferase reporter gene assay. The correlations of their expression were determined by Pearson's correlation analysis. Rescue experiments were carried out to identify the biological roles of the regulation network. The expressions of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 were markedly ameliorated in bladder cancer samples and linked with aggressive characteristics and unfavorable survival. Ectopic expression of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 clearly enhanced the differentiation, proliferative, migratory, invasive potential of the cell in bladder cancer, and the development of tumor xenograft in vivo, while malignant biological behaviors were inhibited by hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 knockdown. The expression of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 was tied to miR-132-3p in a negative manner with the cells and tissues of bladder cancer. hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 function as a competitive endogenous RNA for miR-132-3p to play oncogenic roles in bladder cancer cells. On the other hand, KCNJ12 was a straightforward target of miR-132-3p at the downstream, and the expressions of KCNJ12 were inversely related to that of miR-132-3p. Furthermore, a significantly positive correlation was found between hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 and KCNJ12 mRNA expression. More importantly, the oncogenic impact of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 on bladder cancer cells was partly suppressed by ectopic expression of miR-132-3p or KCNJ12 knockdown. The underlined data revealed that hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 exerted its biological roles by regulating miR-132-3p/KCNJ12 expression. Further research revealed hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130/miR-132-3p/KCNJ12 axis has participated in the Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progress and GSK3β/AKT signaling pathway. hsa&#95;circ&#95;0014130 works as a sponge of miR-132-3p to advance the oncogenesis and metastasis of bladder cancer by regulation of the KCNJ12 expression. These achievements might ameliorate the comprehension of tumor pathogenesis and provide novel therapeutic targets for cancer of the bladder., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Objective: To screen the radiomic features of simple bone cysts of the jaws and explore the potential application of radiomics in pre-operative diagnosis of jaw simple bone cysts., Methods: The investigators designed and implemented a case-control study. 19 patients with simple bone cysts who were admitted to the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Affiliated Stomatology Hospital from 2013 to 2019 were included in this study. Their clinical data and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images were examined. The control group consisted of patients with odontogenic keratocyst. CBCT imaging features were analyzed and compared between the patient and control groups., Results: Overall, 10,323 image features were extracted through feature analysis. A subset of 25 radiomic features obtained after feature selection were analyzed further. These 25 features were significantly different between the 2 groups ( p < 0.05). The absolute value of correlation coefficient was 0.487-0.775. Gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) contrast, neighborhood gray tone difference matrix (NGTDM) contrast, and GLCM variance were the features with the highest correlation coefficients., Conclusions: Pre-operative radiomics analysis showed the differences between simple bone cysts and odontogenic keratocysts, can help to diagnose simple bone cysts. Three specific texture features-GLCM contrast, NGTDM contrast, and GLCM variance-may be the characteristic imaging features of simple bone cysts of the jaw.

Objective: To investigate whether Hydrolyzed Seawater Pearl tablet (HSPT) could modulate the Th1/Th2 imbalance in an immunosuppressed mouse model with Th1 to Th2 shift induced by Cyclosporine A (CsA) which can be used in the clinical treatment of Th2 to Th1 shift diseases, and explore the possible mechanism for the adjuvant therapeutic efficacy of HSPT on recurrent respiratory infections (RRI) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)., Methods: The mice were randomly divided into six groups of five animals each, namely normal group, model group, lentinan polysaccharide tablet (LPT) group and three HPST treated groups. HPST treated groups were administered with HPST (0.51, 1.02, 2.04 g/kg) via intragastric gavage (i.g) for 30 consecutive days. LPT used as reference drug for positive control, LPT group was administered with LPT (8.2 mg/kg) for 30 consecutive days. Normal group and model group were received distilled water. The animals in model group, LPT group and HPST treated groups were injected intraperitoneally with CsA (50 mg/kg) to establish the immunosuppressed mice model with Th1 to Th2 shift on the 20th, 22nd and 24th day, one hour after the administration of the respective treatment. Animals were sacrificed one hour after the last administration to collect blood and splenic tissue. The proportion of T cells including CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, Th1 and Th2 in peripheral blood of experimental mice were measured by flow cytometric. The protein level in serum and mRNA level in splenic tissue of experimental mice for interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13 were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction respectively., Results: HSPT elevated the proportion of T cells including both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, in which the proportion of Th1 and Th2 cells increased, while the ratio of Th1/Th2 cells decreased in peripheral blood of the immunosuppressed mouse model with Th1 to Th2 shift induced by CsA. Furthermore, HSPT elevated both protein and mRNA level of Th1-type cytokines IL-2 and IFN-γ, while had no significant effect on protein and mRNA level of Th1-type cytokine IL-12 and Th2-type cytokines IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL- 13 in mouse model., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that HSPT can increase proportion of T cells including both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells and induce Th2 to Th1 shift in both cells and cytokines, which probably was the mechanism to account for the adjuvant therapeutic efficacy of HSPT on RRI and AIDS.

By analyzing the process of time delay integration dynamic imaging, we establish a model of velocity mismatch. Based on this model, we analyze the influence of different factors on the dynamic imaging process, and a modulation transfer function (MTF) is used to evaluate imaging quality. According to the simulation, the velocity mismatch and scan stage are the main factors for image quality. The MTF of the image sensor decreases with the velocity mismatch, and the scan stage increases. In addition, an image with higher contrast can be obtained in a short integration time. However, a shorter integration time leads to insufficient sampling. Furthermore, we establish a dynamic MTF testing system, and evaluate the experiment at different imaging modes. Through data comparison, the experimental data are consistent with theoretical data.

Objective: Graphene oxide (GO) has been widely used for various biological and biomedical applications due to its unique physiochemical properties. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cell penetrating peptide (CPP) modified and polyethylene-glycol- (PEG-) grafted GO (pGO) loaded with photosensitive agent 2-(1-hexyloxyethyl)-2-devinyl pyropheophorbide-alpha (HPPH) and Epirubicin (EPI) (HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO) on tumor growth in osteosarcoma. Methods: The HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO were prepared, and then in vitro drug release assay was conducted. The detection of singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) and cellular uptake of HPPH was performed as well. Next, the effects of control (saline solution), CPP-pGO, EPI, HPPH, HPPH/CPP-pGO, EPI/CPP-pGO, HPPH/EPI/pGO, and HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO were evaluated by MTT assay, colony-forming assay, and cell apoptosis assay in MG-63 cells. Furthermore, the antitumor effects of HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO on osteosarcoma xenograft mice were unraveled. Results: The 1 O 2 generation and cellular uptake of HPPH were significantly increased after CPP and pGO modification compared with free HPPH. In addition, compared with control cells, CPP-pGO treatment had low cytotoxicity in MG-63 cells. Compared with free HPPH or EPI, HPPH/CPP-pGO or EPI/CPP-pGO treatment significantly inhibited cell viability and colony forming number, as well as inducing cell apoptosis. HPPH/EPI-pGO treatment showed stronger inhibition effects on MG-63 cells than HPPH/CPP-pGO or EPI/CPP-pGO, and HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO was the most effective one. Similarly, in vivo experiments revealed that, compared with control group, the tumor size and weight of osteosarcoma xenograft mice were obviously decreased after free HPPH or EPI treatment, which were further reduced in other groups, especially in HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO group. Conclusion: HPPH/EPI/CPP-pGO had superior tumor-inhibiting effects in vitro and in vivo on osteosarcoma., 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 © 2021 Zhang, Wu, Lan, Chen and Su.)

Although azathioprine (AZA) combined with corticosteroids remains the first-line therapy to treat patients with pemphigus vulgaris (PV), there are increasing reports of AZA-induced leukopenia, which provides the rationale for monitoring the blood cell count and testing the genotypes at the thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) and the nucleoside diphosphate-linked moiety X-type motif 15 (NUDT15) genes. Here, we reported a case of persistent refractory PV in a Chinese patient with three runs of AZA-corticosteroids treatment. In the first two runs he received AZA-corticosteroids at standard or slightly reduced doses and developed leukopenia. In the third run of treatment, he was found to have NUDT15 mutation (rs116855232) and wild-type homozygous TPMT*3C (rs1142345), treatment with minimal doses of AZA and prednisone resulted in a complete remission of PV without any side effects including leukopenia. Our observations not only highlight the benefits of testing the TPMT and NUDT15 genotypes and monitoring the dynamic changes of the white blood cell count in guiding the AZA therapy, but also suggest the potential of using the AZA-corticosteroids combination at very low doses in the treatment of refractory PV., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: The study was designed to assess the beneficial role of mangiferin (MGN) in lead (Pb)-induced neurological damages in the activation of Nrf2-governed enzymes, genes and proteins., Methods: A total of 96 weaned Wistar rats (48 males and 48 females, 26- to 27-day-old), weighing 50-80 g were used. The experiment was performed in six groups: normal group (control, n  = 16), model group (chronic Pb exposed, n  = 16), Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA)-treated group (positive control, Pb + DMSA, n  = 16), three MGN-treated groups with different doses (Pb + MGN, n  = 48). Normal group freely had access to purified water. DMSA-treated group was given DMSA, which was clinically used as the standard treatment for moderate Pb poisoning, at 50 mg/kg (2 mL suspension with purified water) by intragastric gavage (ig) 4 continual days a week for 4 weeks, MGN-treated groups were given MGN at 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg (2 mL suspension with purified water) by ig daily for 4 weeks. At the end of the treatment, all rats were sacrificed and the brain samples were collected. The haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used for observation of histopathology. Commercial kit, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), Western-blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) detection were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression., Results: Eight weeks exposure to Pb-containing water resulted in pathological alterations, anti-oxidative system disorder in the brain, all of which were blocked by MGN in a Nrf2-dependent manner. Nrf2 downstream enzymes such as HO-1, NQO1, γ-GCS were activated. Nrf2, GCLC, GCLM, HO-1 mRNA and total Nrf2, Nuclear Nrf2, γ-GCS, HO-1 protein expression were affected too., Conclusion: MGN ameliorated morphological damage in the hippocampus. Its neuroprotective effects were achieved by the activation of the Nrf2 downstream genes. The data from this in vitro study indicates that MGN targeting Nrf2 activation is a feasible approach to reduce adverse health effects associated with Pb exposure. Thus, MGN could be an effective candidate agent for the Pb-induced oxidative stress and neurotoxicity in the human body., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interests., (© 2020 Tianjin Press of Chinese Herbal Medicines. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: To study and improve the tissue culture technology of Panax notoginseng., Method: Using the callus of leaf blade and leafstalk of P. notogingseng as explants, MS + 2, 4-D 1.5 mg x L(-1) as basal medium, the formation of asexual embryos was induced by added LFS, BA, KT or ZT 0.5 mg x L(-1), and cultured in dark. It cultured then in 2000 lx of illumination for 10-12 h x d(-1) to induce the asexual embryos germinating and developing to be the regenerated-plantlet., Result and Conclusion: Only the medium added with LFS could induce the formation of asexual embryos, and made it developed to be regenerated-plantlet. The inducing ratio of asexual embryos reached about 85%, and 30% of asexual embryos could grow and develop as robust regenerated-plantlets.

The electrophysiological properties of cardiac muscle of rhesus (Macaca mulatta) by use of intracellular electrode technique has been described in this paper. Thirty papillary muscle from 8 rhesus were used for this research and 68 successful records had been obtained. The value of resting potential is -86.26 +/- 7.57 mV (M +/- SD). The configuration of the action potential is typical for the ventricular muscle of mammalian. The amplitude of action potential is 118.80 +/- 10.69 mV: over-shoot is 25.57 +/- 6.11mV. The APD20, APD50, APD80, APD100 is 184.33 +/- 64.04, 301.02 +/- 95.32, 382.17 +/- 125.81 and 436.33 +/- 122.39 ms, respectively. The maximum depolarization velocity of 0 phase is 101.20 +/- 17.59 V/s. The effective refractory period is 292.69 +/- 93.91ms. Comparing the results of the rhesus cardiac muscle with that of other mammalians, authors found that they were very similar. It is suggested that the results and analysis of its mechanism derived from investigation of other mammalian cardiac tissues are applicable to the human.