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Introduction: Primary objective was to investigate the prevalence of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) in a mixed demographic region, especially in the Pacific Island population. Secondary objective was to investigate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and cervical diffuse skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) in patients with and without OPLL. Methods: Using the local picture archiving and communication system (PACS), cervical spine computed tomography (CT) examinations over a 2‐month period were retrospectively assessed for the presence of OPLL. Basic demographic data were recorded—gender, age, ethnicity, presence of cervical DISH and the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus. Results: A total of 1692 CT examinations were included in the study. The distribution of the ethnic groups was 57.3% European, 12.09% Pacific peoples, 11.9% Māori, 11.53% Asian, 0.95% Middle Eastern/Latin American/African and 6.3% not specified. Overall, 47 cases of OPPL were identified (2.78%). The prevalence of OPPL in the Pacific ethnic groups was significantly higher than the European ethnic group 8.4% versus 0.6%, P < 0.05. The prevalence of OPLL was also significantly higher in the Asian (6.9%) and Māori (3.6%) than in the European ethnic group, P < 0.05. A significantly higher proportion of the patients with OPLL had underlying diabetes 20/47 (42.6%) compared with the study population 196/1692 (11.6%), P < 0.05. Seven cases of OPPL (14.9%) had associated cervical DISH, which was significantly higher compared with the study group (23/1692), P < 0.05. Using the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare classification system4, segmental type was the most common (34/47, 72.3%), followed by mixed (14.9%) and continuous types (12.8%). Conclusion: The prevalence of OPLL is significantly higher among the Pacific populations in Auckland. There is also increased prevalence in the Asian and Māori populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) 1 is the most conserved and widely distributed PRMT in eukaryotes. PRMT8 is a vertebrate-restricted paralogue of PRMT1 with an extra N-terminal sequence and brain-specific expression. We use zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a vertebrate model to study PRMT8 function and putative redundancy with PRMT1. The transcripts of zebrafish prmt8 were specifically expressed in adult zebrafish brain and ubiquitously expressed from zygotic to early segmentation stage before the neuronal development. Whole-mount in situ hybridization revealed ubiquitous prmt8 expression pattern during early embryonic stages, similar to that of prmt1. Knockdown of prmt8 with antisense morpholino oligonucleotide phenocopied prmt1-knockdown, with convergence/extension defects at gastrulation. Other abnormalities observed later include short body axis, curled tails, small and malformed brain and eyes. Catalytically inactive prmt8 failed to complement the morphants, indicating the importance of methyltransferase activity. Full-length prmt8 but not prmt1 cRNA can rescue the phenotypic changes. Nevertheless, cRNA encoding Prmt1 fused with the N-terminus of Prmt8 can rescue the prmt8 morphants. In contrast, N-terminus- deleted but not full-length prmt8 cRNA can rescue the prmt1 morphants as efficiently as prmt1 cRNA. Abnormal brain morphologies illustrated with brain markers and loss of fluorescent neurons in a transgenic fish upon prmt8 knockdown confirm the critical roles of prmt8 in neural development. In summery, our study is the first report showing the expression and function of prmt8 in early zebrafish embryogenesis. Our results indicate that prmt8 may play important roles non-overlapping with prmt1 in embryonic and neural development depending on its specific N-terminus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) 1 is the most conserved and widely distributed PRMT in eukaryotes. PRMT8 is a vertebrate-restricted paralogue of PRMT1 with an extra N-terminal sequence and brain-specific expression. We use zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a vertebrate model to study PRMT8 function and putative redundancy with PRMT1. The transcripts of zebrafish prmt8 were specifically expressed in adult zebrafish brain and ubiquitously expressed from zygotic to early segmentation stage before the neuronal development. Whole-mount in situ hybridization revealed ubiquitous prmt8 expression pattern during early embryonic stages, similar to that of prmt1. Knockdown of prmt8 with antisense morpholino oligonucleotide phenocopied prmt1-knockdown, with convergence/extension defects at gastrulation. Other abnormalities observed later include short body axis, curled tails, small and malformed brain and eyes. Catalytically inactive prmt8 failed to complement the morphants, indicating the importance of methyltransferase activity. Full-length prmt8 but not prmt1 cRNA can rescue the phenotypic changes. Nevertheless, cRNA encoding Prmt1 fused with the N-terminus of Prmt8 can rescue the prmt8 morphants. In contrast, N-terminus- deleted but not full-length prmt8 cRNA can rescue the prmt1 morphants as efficiently as prmt1 cRNA. Abnormal brain morphologies illustrated with brain markers and loss of fluorescent neurons in a transgenic fish upon prmt8 knockdown confirm the critical roles of prmt8 in neural development. In summery, our study is the first report showing the expression and function of prmt8 in early zebrafish embryogenesis. Our results indicate that prmt8 may play important roles non-overlapping with prmt1 in embryonic and neural development depending on its specific N-terminus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study involved the design and fabrication of a microfluidic chip integrated with permalloy micromagnets. The device was used with aptamer-modified magnetic beads (MBs) of various sizes to successfully separate lung cancer cells from a mixture of other cells. The overall separation efficiency was evaluated based on the ratios of cells in the different outlets and inlets of the chip. The results showed efficiencies ranging from 43.4% to 50.2% for MB sizes between 1.36 and 4.50 µm. Interestingly, efficiency slightly decreased as the size of the MBs increased, contrary to predictions. Further examination revealed that larger MBs exerted gravitational force on the cell-bound MBs at low flow rates, causing the targets to settle before reaching the main microchannel region. This was attributed to fluidic resistance caused by a size mismatch between the inlet tube and the microfluidic conduit. An increase in cell accumulation at the inlet was observed with larger MB sizes due to gravity. Therefore, the definition of effective separation efficiency was revised to exclude the effect of cell accumulation at the inlet. Effective separation efficiencies were found to be 71.6%, 76.4%, and 79.4% for MB sizes of 1.36, 3.00, and 4.50 µm, respectively. The study concluded that larger MBs interacted more with the magnetic force, resulting in better separation. However, cells with smaller MBs were more likely to evade the magnetic force. The investigation provides valuable insights into isolating lung cancer cells using this method, with the potential for clinical application in cancer diagnosis and treatment., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most frequent histological subtype of lung cancer, which is the most common malignant tumor and the main cause of cancer-related mortality globally. Recent reports revealed that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) of metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) plays a crucial role in tumorigenesis and metastasis development in lung cancer. However, the contribution of MALAT1 genetic variants to the development of LUAD is unclear, especially in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status. In this study, 272 LADC patients with different EGFR status were recruited to dissect the allelic discrimination of the MALAT1 polymorphisms at rs3200401, rs619586, and rs1194338. The findings of the study showed that MALAT1 polymorphisms rs3200401, rs619586, and rs1194338 were not associated to LUAD susceptibility; however, rs3200401 polymorphisms was significantly correlated to EGFR wild-type status and tumor stages in LUAD patients in dominant model (p=0.016). Further analyses using the datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) revealed that lower MALAT1 mRNA levels were associated with the advanced stage, and lymph node metastasis in LADC patients. In conclusion, our results showed that MALAT1 rs3200401 polymorphisms dramatically raised the probability of LUAD development.