Wearable accelerometers reveal objective assessment of walking symmetry and regularity in idiopathic scoliosis patients.

Background: Scoliosis is a multifaceted three-dimensional deformity that significantly affects patients' balance function and walking process. While existing research primarily focuses on spatial and temporal parameters of walking and trunk/pelvic kinematics asymmetry, there remains controversy regarding the symmetry and regularity of bilateral lower limb gait. This study aims to investigate the symmetry and regularity of bilateral lower limb gait and examine the balance control strategy of the head during walking in patients with idiopathic scoliosis. Methods: The study involved 17 patients with idiopathic scoliosis of Lenke 1 and Lenke 5 classifications, along with 17 healthy subjects for comparison. Three-dimensional accelerometers were attached to the head and L5 spinous process of each participant, and three-dimensional motion acceleration signals were collected during a 10-meter walking test. Analysis of the collected acceleration signals involved calculating five variables related to the symmetry and regularity of walking: root mean square (RMS) of the acceleration signal, harmonic ratio (HR), step regularity, stride regularity, and gait symmetry. Results: Our analysis reveals that, during the walking process, the three-dimensional motion acceleration signals acquired from the lumbar region of patients diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis exhibit noteworthy disparities in the RMS of the vertical axis (RMS-VT) and the HR of the vertical axis (HR-VT) when compared to the corresponding values in the healthy control (RMS-VT: 1.6 ± 0.41 vs. 3 ± 0.47, P < 0.05; HR-VT: 3 ± 0.72 vs. 3.9 ± 0.71, P < 0.05). Additionally, the motion acceleration signals of the head in three-dimensional space, including the RMS in the anterior-posterior and vertical axis, the HR-VT, and the values of step regularity in both anterior-posterior and vertical axis, as well as the values of stride regularity in all three axes, are all significantly lower than those in the healthy control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of the analysis suggest that the application of three-dimensional accelerometer sensors proves efficacious and convenient for scrutinizing the symmetry and regularity of walking in individuals with idiopathic scoliosis. Distinctive irregularities in gait symmetry and regularity manifest in patients with idiopathic scoliosis, particularly within the antero-posterior and vertical direction. Moreover, the dynamic balance control strategy of the head in three-dimensional space among patients with idiopathic scoliosis exhibits a relatively conservative nature when compared to healthy individuals.

Circ-104916 is downregulated in gastric cancer and suppresses migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells.

Circular RNAs are a large class of noncoding RNA that have shown huge capabilities as gene regulators. Recent evidence suggest that circular RNAs are associated with many diseases, especially cancer. However, little attention has been focused on the expression and function of circular RNA in gastric cancer (GC). In this study, we demonstrate that the expression of circ-104916 is downregulated in GC tissues and cell lines. A lower expression of circ-104916 appeared in deeper invasion depth, higher tumor stage and more frequent lymphatic metastasis patients. Overexpression of circ-104916 effectively inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of GC cells in vitro. Western blot showed that circ-104916 overexpression upregulated E-cadherin and downregulated N-cadherin, Vimentin and Slug, indicating that circ-104916 was involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process. Our results revealed that circ-104916 might be a novel potential tumor suppressor and biomarker of GC.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG supernatant enhance neonatal resistance to systemic Escherichia coli K1 infection by accelerating development of intestinal defense.

The objective of this study was to determine whether Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG culture supernatant (LCS) has a preventive effect against gut-derived systemic neonatal Escherichia coli (E. coli) K1 infection. The preventive effects were evaluated in human colonic carcinoma cell line Caco-2 and neonatal rat models. Our in vitro results showed that LCS could block adhesion, invasion and translocation of E. coli K1 to Caco-2 monolayer via up-regulating mucin production and maintaining intestinal integrity. In vivo experiments revealed that pre-treatment with LCS significantly decrease susceptibility of neonatal rats to oral E. coli K1 infection as reflected by reduced bacterial intestinal colonization, translocation, dissemination and systemic infections. Further, we found that LCS treated neonatal rats have higher intestinal expressions of Ki67, MUC2, ZO-1, IgA, mucin and lower barrier permeability than those in untreated rats. These results indicated that LCS could enhance neonatal resistance to systemic E. coli K1 infection via promoting maturation of neonatal intestinal defense. In conclusions, our findings suggested that LCS has a prophylactic effect against systemic E. coli K1 infection in neonates. Future studies aimed at identifying the specific active ingredients in LCS will be helpful in developing effective pharmacological strategies for preventing neonatal E. coli K1 infection.

The applications of CRISPR screen in functional genomics.

CRISPR technology has rapidly changed the face of biological research, such that precise genome editing has now become routine for many labs within several years of its initial development. CRISPR/Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspace Short Palindromic Repeat/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9) gene editing system is a powerful and groundbreaking programmable genome editing technology developed based on an adaptive bacterial and archaea immune system resisting the invasion of exogenous nucleic acid. Compared with traditional genome editing technology, CRISPR/Cas9 system is easier, efficient and less cytotoxic. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology has been applied to many aspects of cancer research, including research on tumor genes, constructing animal tumor models, screening tumor phenotypic-related and resistance-associated gene and cancer gene therapy. In this review, we focus on the application of the CRISPR screen for this fast moving field. Finally, we discuss practical aspects of screen design, and outline a further step forward in the rapidly expanding field of genome editing.

Management of advanced gastric cancer: An overview of major findings from meta-analysis.

This study aims to provide an overview of different treatment for advanced gastric cancer. In the present study, we systematically reviewed the major findings from relevant meta-analyses. A total of 54 relevant papers were searched via the PubMed, Web of Science, and Google scholar databases. They were classified according to the mainstay treatment modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy and others. Primary outcomes including overall survival, response rate, disease-free survival, recurrence-free survival, progression-free survival, time-to-progression, time-to failure, recurrence and safety were summarized. The recommendations and uncertainties regarding the treatment of advanced gastric cancer were also proposed. It was suggested that laparoscopic gastrectomy was a safe and technical alternative to open gastrectomy. Besides, neoadjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy were thought to benefit the survival over surgery alone. And it was demonstrated in the study that targeted therapy like anti-angiogenic and anti-HER2 agents but anti-EGFR agent might have a significant survival benefit.

[Inhibitory effect of cabozantinib against Listeria monocytogenes invasion in Caco-2 cells in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of c-Met inhibitor cabozantinib (XL-184) in inhibiting Listeria monocytogenes (LM) from invading Caco-2 cells to reduce the cell injury. METHODS: The cell invasion capacity of LM was assayed in Caco-2 cells incubated with different doses of XL-184 for different durations. Caco-2 cells incubated with XL-184 were seeded on the upper room of the transwell chamber, and the cell monolayer was exposed to LM infection followed by addition of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The trans-epithelial electric resistance (TEER), HRP concentration and LM colony-forming unit (CFU) were measured in the cell monolayer. Fluorescent staining was used to evaluate the cell viability, and LDH release from the cells was examined to assess the changes in cell membrane permeability. RESULTS: XL-184 significantly decreased LM invasion rate in Caco-2 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner (P=0.000), and this effect was enhanced by co-incubation of the cells with ampicillin (P<0.05). In the cell membrane permeability assay in the monolayer cells, XL-184 markedly inhibited LM-induced reduction of TEER (P<0.05) and significantly suppressed LM-induced enhancement of cell membrane permeability shown by reduced HRP concentration and LM count in the lower chamber (P=0.000). The cells infected with LM showed significantly lowered cell viability, which was rescued by XL-184 (P<0.01); XL-184 also dose-dependently reduced LDH release from the cells (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: XL-184 can suppress LM invasion in Caco-2 cells to reduce the cell injury, suggesting its value as a promising candidate agent for prevention and treatment of LM infections.