Down-regulation of hsa-circ-0107593 promotes osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs via miR-20a-5p/SMAD6 signaling.

OBJECTIVES: Increasing evidence indicated circRNAs were involved in stem cells osteogenesis differentiation. Herein, we aimed to clarify the role of hsa-circ-0107593 during the osteogenesis process of human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) and the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: The ring structure of hsa-circ-0107593 was confirmed using RNase R treatment and Sanger sequencing. Nucleoplasmic separation and fluorescence in situ hybridization detected hsa-circ-0107593 distribution. Lentivirus and siRNA were used to modulate the expression of hsa-circ-0107593, and the binding relationship between hsa-circ-0107593 and miR-20a-5p was verified by luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation. We detected the osteogenic activity of hADSCs through alkaline phosphatase staining, alizarin red S staining, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blot, and cellular immunofluorescence experiment. In vivo, micro-computed tomography was performed to analyze bone formation around skull defect. RESULTS: RT-PCR results exhibited that hsa-circ-0107593 was downregulated while miR-20a-5p was upregulated during hADSCs osteogenesis. In vivo and in vitro experiments results indicated that knocking down hsa-circ-0107593 promoted the osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs, while overexpression of hsa-circ-0107593 showed an inhibitory effect on hADSCs osteogenic differentiation. In vitro experiment results showed hsa-circ-0107593 acted as a hADSCs osteogenic differentiation negative factor for it inhibited the suppressing effect of miR-20a-5p on SMAD6. CONCLUSION: Knocking down hsa-circ-0107593 acts as a positive factor of the osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs via miR-20a-5p/SMAD6 signaling.

Association between nut consumption and cancer risk: a meta-analysis.

This study aims to conduct a meta-analysis and dose-response analysis of the relationship between nut intake and cancer risk and mortality. Electronic databases were searched. A meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the pooled effect sizes (ESs) with the corresponding 95% CIs, and a dose-response analysis was performed. A random-effects model was used in the statistical analysis. Two independent reviewers completed the full-text screening, data extraction, and quality assessment. We included 17 articles in the present meta-analysis. Total nuts intake was revealed to be significantly associated with reduced cancer risk (ES: 0.9; 95% CI: 0.86-0.95; P < 0.001) and cancer mortality (ES: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.85-0.92, P < 0.001), especially lung cancer risk (ES: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.81-0.91, P < 0.001) and gastric cancer risk (ES: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.68-0.91, P = 0.001). Moreover, a 10 g/d increment of tree nuts consumption was associated with a 20% cancer mortality reduction (ES: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.71-0.89; P < 0.0001). Nuts intake is significantly associated with the reduction of cancer risk and mortality. Especially, nuts intake is significantly associated with reduced lung cancer risk and gastric cancer risk. Noticeably, a 10 g/d increase in tree nuts intake is related to a 20% reduction in overall cancer mortality.

Eight-Element Communication Model for Internet Health Rumors: A New Exploration of Lasswell's "5W Communication Model".

(1) Background: Rumors are a special type of information. Based on the classic theory of the communication of information, the "5W" communication model, this article aims to build a new model and thus explains the generation and communication of Internet health rumors. (2) Methods: The authors selected 50 Internet health rumors, which were widely spread in widely used websites and social media in China, then grounded theory is used to perform the qualitative analysis of the Internet health rumors. (3) Results: Three Core Concepts are abstracted after qualitative analysis. An internal dynamic mutual assistance mechanism of the communication of rumors is built and illustrated. Based on Lasswell's "5W" communication model, the authors develop an eight-element communication model for Internet health rumors to illustrate the generation and communication of Internet health rumors. (4) Conclusions: By removing one or several elements of this new model, the chain of the communication of Internet health rumors could be cut off, which is valuable information for the government or websites to manage communication of Internet health rumors.

Association of active immunotherapy with outcomes in cancer patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there are growing concerns about the safety of administering immunotherapy in cancer patients with COVID-19. However, current clinical guidelines provided no clear recommendation. METHODS: Studies were searched and retrieved from electronic databases. The meta-analysis was performed by employing the generic inverse-variance method. A random-effects model was used to calculate the unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) and adjusted ORs with the corresponding 95% CIs. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 20 articles with 6,042 cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19. According to the univariate analysis, the acceptance of immunotherapy within 30 days before COVID-19 diagnosis did not increase the mortality of cancer patients (OR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.68-1.25; P=0.61). Moreover, after adjusting for confounders, the adjusted OR for mortality was 0.51, with borderline significance (95% CI: 0.25-1.01; P=0.053). Similarly, the univariate analysis showed that the acceptance of immunotherapy within 30 days before COVID-19 diagnosis did not increase the risk of severe/critical disease in cancer patients (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.78-1.47; P=0.66). No significant between-study heterogeneity was found in these analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Accepting immunotherapy within 30 days before the diagnosis of COVID-19 was not significantly associated with a higher risk of mortality or severe/critical disease of infected cancer patients. Further prospectively designed studies with large sample sizes are required to evaluate the present results.

A Quartet Network Analysis Identifying Mechanically Responsive Long Noncoding RNAs in Bone Remodeling.

Mechanical force, being so ubiquitous that it is often taken for granted and overlooked, is now gaining the spotlight for reams of evidence corroborating their crucial roles in the living body. The bone, particularly, experiences manifold extraneous force like strain and compression, as well as intrinsic cues like fluid shear stress and physical properties of the microenvironment. Though sparkled in diversified background, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) concerning the mechanotransduction process that bone undergoes are not yet detailed in a systematic way. Our principal goal in this research is to highlight the potential lncRNA-focused mechanical signaling systems which may be adapted by bone-related cells for biophysical environment response. Based on credible lists of force-sensitive mRNAs and miRNAs, we constructed a force-responsive competing endogenous RNA network for lncRNA identification. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, we then illustrated the possible crosstalk between lncRNAs and mRNAs as well as transcriptional factors and mapped lncRNAs to known signaling pathways involved in bone remodeling and mechanotransduction. Last, we developed combinative analysis between predicted and established lncRNAs, constructing a pathway-lncRNA network which suggests interactive relationships and new roles of known factors such as H19. In conclusion, our work provided a systematic quartet network analysis, uncovered candidate force-related lncRNAs, and highlighted both the upstream and downstream processes that are possibly involved. A new mode of bioinformatic analysis integrating sequencing data, literature retrieval, and computational algorithm was also introduced. Hopefully, our work would provide a moment of clarity against the multiplicity and complexity of the lncRNA world confronting mechanical input.

Metformin has no Significant Anticancer Effect on Patients with Advanced or Unresectable Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: At present, the antitumor effect of metformin is controversial. Previous meta-analyses included observational studies, of which the results can be influenced by many confounders, affecting the result of meta-analyses and weakening the strength of evidence. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to confirm the effect of metformin use on patients with advanced or unresectable cancers, including randomized clinical trials (RCTs). METHODS: We searched for RCTs in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was conducted to combine hazard ratios (HRs) or risk ratios (RRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a random-effects model. RESULTS: Finally, 7 eligible RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the combined results revealed that treatment with metformin did not improve the overall survival (OS) of patients (HR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.91-1.37, p>0.05), and there was no clear evidence that metformin use was related to improved progression-free survival (PFS) (HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.97-1.40; p>0.05). The pooled RR for grade III or IV adverse events was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.52- 1.60; p>0.05), indicating that the use of metformin was not significantly related to increased toxicity. CONCLUSION: Metformin does not significantly improve the survival of patients with advanced or unresectable cancer, regardless of cancer type and region.

Diagnostic efficacy of PET-CT, CT, and MRI in preoperative assessment of mandibular invasion caused by head and neck cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the performance of PET-CT, CT, and MRI in diagnosing mandible invasion induced by head and neck cancer (HNC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MEDLINE, Embase, Science Direct, CNKI and CQVIP databases were searched from inception until August 1, 2020. Then, a meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the combined diagnostic values with the corresponding 95% CIs. Two independent researchers completed the full text screening, data abstraction, and risk assessment. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 53 studies (N = 2 946 participants). For the pooled sensitivity (SEN), MRI (SEN: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.81-0.93) was found to have a significantly higher SEN (P = 0.0045), when compared to CT (SEN: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.71-0.82), while compared with PET-CT (SEN: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.64-0.97), the SEN was approximately equal (P > 0.05). The analysis revealed that the combined specificity (SPE) of MRI (SPE: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.74-0.89) and PET-CT (SPE: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.57-0.93) was lower than that of CT (SPE: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83-0.90), but there was no statistical significance among these (P > 0.05). The comparison of the area under curve (AUC) reflected that PET-CT, CT and MRI have approximately equal summary diagnostic power in detecting mandibular invasion (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that compared with CT, MRI is significantly superior for higher SEN in diagnosing mandibular invasion. The SEN of MRI and PET-CT were approximately equal. For the summary of diagnostic power, more prospective clinical trials that directly compare these three methods are needed in the future.

Unraveling the mechanism for an amelogenin-derived peptide regulated hydroxyapatite mineralization via specific functional domain identification.

Amelogenin and its various derived peptides play important roles in promoting biomimetic mineralization of enamel. Previously, an amelogenin-derived peptide named QP5 was proved to be able to repair demineralized enamel. The objective here was to interpret the mechanism of QP5 by elucidating the specific function of each domain for further sequence and efficacy improvement. Peptide QP5 was separated into domains (QPX)5 and C-tail. (QPX)3 was also synthesized to investigate how QPX repeats affect the mineralization process. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that two (QPX) repeats adopted a ß-sheet structure, while C-tail exhibited a disordered structure. (QPX)5 showed more absorption in confocal laser scanning microscopy observation and a higher K value in Langmuir adsorption isotherms compared to C-tail, while (QPX)3 with better hydropathy had greater adsorption capability than (QPX)5. Meanwhile, calcium consumption kinetics, transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction indicated that (QPX)5, C-tail and (QPX)3 had similar inhibitory effects on the spontaneous calcium consumption and the morphology of their nucleation products were alike, while QP5 had a greater inhibitory effect than them and induced elongated plate-like crystals. X-Ray diffraction further showed that both C-tail and (QPX)3 had greater potential in improving the apatite crystal orientation degree. In conclusion, (QPX)5 was the major adsorption region, both (QPX)5 and C-tail inhibited the nucleation, and C-tail contributed more to improve the HAP orientation degree, so QP5 could exert a significant remineralization effect. By reducing two repeats, (QPX)3 showed higher hydropathicity than (QPX)5 and achieved higher binding affinity, and it was more potential in improving the HAP orientation degree with lower economic cost.