Research progress in the mechanism and treatment of osteosarcoma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor that more commonly occurs in children and adolescents. The most commonly used treatment for OS is surgery combined with chemotherapy, but the treatment outcomes are typically unsatisfactory. High rates of metastasis and post-treatment recurrence rates are major challenges in the treatment of OS. This underlines the need for studying the in-depth characterization of the pathogenetic mechanisms of OS and development of more effective therapeutic modalities. Previous studies have demonstrated the important role of the bone microenvironment and the regulation of signaling pathways in the occurrence and development of OS. In this review, we discussed the available evidence pertaining to the mechanisms of OS development and identified therapeutic targets for OS. We also summarized the available treatment modalities for OS and identified future priorities for therapeutics research.

Research progress on the relationship between exosomes and pain / 中国医师杂志

Exosomes are extracellular microbubbles related to intercellular communication, which have the ability to transport and transfer biological macromolecules. Pain will lead to a sharp decline in the quality of life of patients, and will give patients and society a heavy medical burden. More and more evidences show that the exosomes plays an important role in the pathological process of pain related diseases.Summarizing the exosomes and the biomolecules carried by them under different pain conditions, and identifying the specific exosomes related to the pain state will be helpful for early diagnosis and treatment of pain related diseases. In addition, the ability of exosomes to transmit information and its widespread characteristics in the body indicate that they have broad prospects as a new diagnosis and treatment tool in the field of pain. A better understanding of the relationship between the exosomes and pain will provide a novel and promising treatment for patients with pain.

Research progress of lncRNA regulating miRNA in osteoarthritis / 中国综合临床

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which are thought to regulate articular cartilage through endochondral osteogenesis, consist of mRNA-interfering complementary RNA (miRNA) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA). More and more experimental evidence reveals the role of ncRNAs in chondrocyte differentiation and the pathogenesis of several skeletal diseases, including osteoarthritis. In the past few years, increasingly sophisticated DNA sequencing methods and a large number of sepigenetic modifications have greatly contributed to our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of osteoarthritis. Recent studies have revealed that RNA interacts with RNA-binding proteins, regulates gene transcription and protein translation, and is involved in various pathological processes in OA, promising to be a therapeutic target for osteoarthritis.

Effects of miR-20a-5p targeting KDM6B on the proliferation, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells / 国际肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To investigate the expressions of miR-20a-5p and lysine (K) demethylase 6B (KDM6B) in osteosarcoma tissues and the effects of miR-20a-5p targeting KDM6B on the proliferation, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells and tumor growth.Methods:The clinicopathological and paracancerous tissues of 20 patients with osteosarcoma admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese Medical University from January 2017 to March 2019 were collected. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression levels of miR-20a-5p and KDM6B mRNA in tissues. The osteosarcoma MG63 cells were divided into control group, mimic NC group, miR-20a-5p mimic group, and NC+ empty vector group, miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group, miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group. The expression levels of miR-20a-5p and KDM6B mRNA of all groups were detected by qRT-PCR. Western blotting was used to detect the expression level of KDM6B. CCK-8 assay, cell scratch test and Transwell test were used to detect cell proliferation, migration and invasion ability. According to the random number table method, nude mice were divided into NC+ empty vector group, miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group and miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group, with 5 mice in each group. Tumor growth ability was detected by tumor xenograft nude mouse models.Results:The relative expression level of miR-20a-5p mRNA in osteosarcoma tissues was 0.55±0.27, and that in paracancerous tissues was 1.22±0.28, with a statistically significant difference ( t=7.701, P<0.001). The relative expression level of KDM6B mRNA in osteosarcoma tissues was 1.66±0.19, and that in paracancerous tissues was 1.00±0.15, with a statistically significant difference ( t=12.219, P<0.001). After transfection of miR-20a-5p, KDM6B mRNA and protein expression levels decreased with the increase of miR-20a-5p expression level. After miR-20a-5p transfection for 48 h, the cell proliferation abilities of the blank control group, mimic NC group and miR-20a-5p mimic group were 0.83±0.04, 0.81±0.03 and 0.52±0.01 ( F=89.655, P<0.001), compared with the blank control group and mimic NC group, the cell proliferation ability was significantly inhibited in the miR-20a-5p mimic group (both P<0.001). The cell proliferation abilities of NC+ empty vector group, miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group and miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group were 0.83±0.05, 0.52±0.01 and 0.67±0.05 ( F=43.919, P<0.001), compared with the NC+ empty vector group, the cell proliferation ability was significantly inhibited in the miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group ( P<0.001); compared with the miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group, the cell proliferation ability of miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group increased significantly ( P<0.001). The scratch healing rates of the blank control group, mimic NC group and miR-20a-5p mimic group were (32.51±2.73)%, (30.26±3.22)% and (13.52±1.77)% ( F=46.314, P<0.001), compared with the control group and the mimic NC group, the scratch healing rate of the miR-20a-5p mimic group was significantly decreased (both P<0.001). The scratch healing rates of NC+ empty vector group, miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group and miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group were (31.34±3.11)%, (12.15±1.64)% and (28.93±2.89)% ( F=47.511, P<0.001), compared with the NC+ empty vector group, the scratch healing rate of the miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group was significantly decreased ( P<0.001); compared with the miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group, the scratch healing rate of miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group was significantly increased ( P=0.001). The numbers of transmembrane cells in the blank control group, mimic NC group and miR-20a-5p mimic group were 114±16, 108±11 and 42±6 ( F=36.282, P<0.001), compared with the control group and mimic NC group, the number of transmembrane cells of the miR-20a-5p mimic group was significantly decreased (both P<0.001). The numbers of transmembrane cells in the NC+ empty vector group, miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group and miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group was 143±11, 39±4 and 139±12 ( F=112.120, P<0.001), compared with the NC+ empty vector group, the number of transmembrane cells of the miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group was significantly decreased ( P<0.001); compared with the miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group, the number of transmembrane cells of the miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group was increased significantly ( P<0.001). The tumor volumes of mice for 21 d in the NC+ empty vector group, miR-20a-5p+ empty vector group and miR-20a-5p+ KDM6B group were (1 667.50±250.40) mm 3, (129.20±21.00) mm 3 and (775.41±77.51) mm 3 respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( F=77.651, P<0.001). The tumor weights of the 3 groups were (1.35±0.18) g, (0.12±0.01) g and (0.61±0.03) g respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( F=104.191, P<0.001). Conclusion:The expression of miR-20a-5p is significantly decreased in osteosarcoma tissues, and the expression of KDM6B is significantly increased in osteosarcoma tissues. Overexpression of miR-20a-5p may inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells and tumor growth by targeting to reduce the expression of KDM6B.