Filler Found in Bone: Surgical Removal of Polyacrylamide Hydrogel (Amazingel) from the Mandible After 24 Years: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAG) is widely regarded as a safe soft tissue filler and has been extensively utilized for cosmetic enhancements, such as breast and facial augmentation in China from 1997 until its ban in 2006. Common complications associated with its use include inflammation, infection, granulomas, fibrosis, gel migration, and facial and soft tissue deformities. This case report describes a 45-year-old Chinese woman who experienced PAAG migration into her mandible 24 years after facial augmentation, causing irritation of the mandibular alveolar nerve - apparently the first documented instance of this occurrence. Surgical intervention was necessary to remove the migrated gel and associated calcifications. A literature review explored adverse events and management strategies for PAAG complications in cosmetic procedures. While generally considered safe, this report underscores the importance of meticulous injection techniques and careful anatomical site selection to prevent such severe complications.

Galectin-14 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma tumor growth via enhancing heparan sulfate proteoglycan modification.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly heterogeneous malignancy and lacks effective treatment. Bulk-sequencing of different gene transcripts by comparing HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues provides some clues for investigating the mechanisms or identifying potential targets for tumor progression. However, genes that are exclusively expressed in a subpopulation of HCC may not be enriched or detected through such a screening. In the current study, we performed a single cell-clone-based screening and identified galectin-14 as an essential molecule in the regulation of tumor growth. The aberrant expression of galectin-14 was significantly associated with a poor overall survival of liver cancer patients with database analysis. Knocking down galectin-14 inhibited the proliferation of tumor growth, whereas overexpressing galectin-14 promoted tumor growth in vivo. Non-targeted metabolomics analysis indicated that knocking down galectin-14 decreased glycometabolism; specifically that glycoside synthesis was significantly changed. Further study found that galectin-14 promoted the expression of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) that functioned as co-receptors, thereby increasing the responsiveness of HCC cells to growth factors, such as epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor-alpha. In conclusion, the current study identifies a novel HCC-specific molecule galectin-14, which increases the expression of cell surface HSPGs and the uptake of growth factors to promote HCC cell proliferation.

Improving antibody affinity through in vitro mutagenesis in complementarity determining regions.

High-affinity antibodies are widely used in diagnostics and for the treatment of human diseases. However, most antibodies are isolated from semi-synthetic libraries by phage display and do not possess in vivo affinity maturation, which is triggered by antigen immunization. It is therefore necessary to engineer the affinity of these antibodies by way of in vitro assaying. In this study, we optimized the affinity of two human monoclonal antibodies which were isolated by phage display in a previous related study. For the 42A1 antibody, which targets the liver cancer antigen glypican-3, the variant T57H in the second complementarity-determining region of the heavy chain (CDR-H2) exhibited a 2.6-fold improvement in affinity, as well as enhanced cell-binding activity. For the I4A3 antibody to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, beneficial single mutations in CDR-H2 and CDR-H3 were randomly combined to select the best synergistic mutations. Among these, the mutation S53P-S98T improved binding affinity (about 3.7 fold) and the neutralizing activity (about 12 fold) compared to the parent antibody. Taken together, single mutations of key residues in antibody CDRs were enough to increase binding affinity with improved antibody functions. The mutagenic combination of key residues in different CDRs creates additive enhancements. Therefore, this study provides a safe and effective in vitro strategy for optimizing antibody affinity.

Weighted assignment fusion algorithm of evidence conflict based on Euclidean distance and weighting strategy, and application in the wind turbine system.

In the process of intelligent system operation fault diagnosis and decision making, the multi-source, heterogeneous, complex, and fuzzy characteristics of information make the conflict, uncertainty, and validity problems appear in the process of information fusion, which has not been solved. In this study, we analyze the credibility and variation of conflict among evidence from the perspective of conflict credibility weight and propose an improved model of multi-source information fusion based on Dempster-Shafer theory (DST). From the perspectives of the weighting strategy and Euclidean distance strategy, we process the basic probability assignment (BPA) of evidence and assign the credible weight of conflict between evidence to achieve the extraction of credible conflicts and the adoption of credible conflicts in the process of evidence fusion. The improved algorithm weakens the problem of uncertainty and ambiguity caused by conflicts in the information fusion process, and reduces the impact of information complexity on analysis results. And it carries a practical application out with the fault diagnosis of wind turbine system to analyze the operation status of wind turbines in a wind farm to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The result shows that under the conditions of improved distance metric evidence discrepancy and credible conflict quantification, the algorithm better shows the conflict and correlation among the evidence. It improves the accuracy of system operation reliability analysis, improves the utilization rate of wind energy resources, and has practical implication value.

Oral transmucosal absorption of iodine after intraoral preparation with povidone-iodine prior to oral surgeries: a randomized controlled study in 12 male patients.

INTRODUCTION: Absorption of iodine through skin and an increased incidence of thyroid disorders due to iodophor exposure are reported. However, the risk of oral transmucosal absorption of povidone-iodine after intraoral preparation is not clear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possibility of oral transmucosal absorption of povidone-iodine after intraoral preparation and its effect on thyroxine level in blood. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A randomized controlled study was carried out in the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Twenty- to 40-year-old healthy male adults planning to receive oral surgery under general anesthesia were enrolled. The study group received povidone-iodine irrigation of oral cavity for 3 min as intraoral preparation before operation. The control group received chlorhexidine gluconate irrigation of oral cavity for 3 min as intraoral preparation before operation. Iodine levels in blood and urine, and thyroxine levels in blood were tested and compared, before and after operation. RESULT(S): In total, 24 patients were included and analyzed finally. We found that after intraoral preparation with povidone-iodine, serum iodine level increased significantly to 2-3 times the pre-operation level in 15-30 min, and the urinary iodine level increased to 5 times the pre-operation level on the first day after operation. Iodine levels in blood and urine decreased significantly on the third day after operation but still significantly greater than the pre-operation levels. However, thyroxine levels were not altered accordingly. CONCLUSION(S): Oral transmucosal absorption of iodine is observed when povidone-iodine is used for intraoral preparation in healthy male adults, though the free thyroxine in blood is not affected accordingly. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Povidone-iodine is commonly used as an antiseptic in oral surgery and dental clinics. Based on our findings that iodine levels in blood and urine may elevate significantly after intraoral preparation with povidone-iodine prior to oral surgeries, care must be taken for individuals when excess iodine intakes can endanger the safety of the patient. REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Name of the trial registry: The Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( http://www.chictr.org.cn/ ). Registration number: ChiCTR2100042028.

Canonical Wnt signaling regulates branching morphogenesis of submandibular gland by modulating levels of lama5.

Branching morphogenesis is a crucial developmental mechanism for the formation of the typical bush-like structure of the submandibular gland (SMG). However, the detailed mechanism underlying this process remains to be fully understood. Here, we have investigated whether cross-talk may exist between the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway and lama5 during the branching process in SMG development. An embryonic mouse SMG organ culture model was established, and the validity of this model was confirmed. The roles and possible interactions of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway, FGF signaling, and lama5 in the branching process were investigated by morphogenesis assays and gene expression patterns. Here, we show that the E12 or E13 SMG organ culture model can be used as an ideal approach to study the process of branching morphogenesis. Our branching morphogenesis assay revealed that the epithelial branching process can be promoted when the canonical Wnt pathway is inhibited and significantly suppressed when the wnt pathway is over activated. Further experiments indicated that FGF signaling most likely acts upstream as a negative regulator of the canonical Wnt pathway during the branching process, whose effect could be partially reversed by Wnt3a. Finally, we show that Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates branching morphogenesis through Lama5. We conclude that the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway acting downstream of FGF signaling can serve as a negative regulatory mechanism in the process of SMG branching morphogenesis through Lama5.

BMP9-initiated osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of mouse tooth germ mesenchymal cells (TGMCS) requires Wnt/ß-catenin signalling activity.

Teeth arise from the tooth germ through sequential and reciprocal interactions between immature epithelium and mesenchyme during development. However, the detailed mechanism underlying tooth development from tooth germ mesenchymal cells (TGMCs) remains to be fully understood. Here, we investigate the role of Wnt/ß-catenin signalling in BMP9-induced osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of TGMCs. We first established the reversibly immortalized TGMCs (iTGMCs) derived from young mouse mandibular molar tooth germs using a retroviral vector expressing SV40 T antigen flanked with the FRT sites. We demonstrated that BMP9 effectively induced expression of osteogenic markers alkaline phosphatase, collagen A1 and osteocalcin in iTGMCs, as well as in vitro matrix mineralization, which could be remarkably blunted by knocking down ß-catenin expression. In vivo implantation assay revealed that while BMP9-stimulated iTGMCs induced robust formation of ectopic bone, knocking down ß-catenin expression in iTGMCs remarkably diminished BMP9-initiated osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation potential of these cells. Taken together, these discoveries strongly demonstrate that reversibly immortalized iTGMCs retained osteogenic/odontogenic ability upon BMP9 stimulation, but this process required the participation of canonical Wnt signalling both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, BMP9 has a potential to be applied as an efficacious bio-factor in osteo/odontogenic regeneration and tooth engineering. Furthermore, the iTGMCs may serve as an important resource for translational studies in tooth tissue engineering.

32A9, a novel human antibody for designing an immunotoxin and CAR-T cells against glypican-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using antibody-based targeted therapies, such as antibody conjugates and chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, shows potent antitumor efficacy. Glypican-3 (GPC3) is an emerging HCC therapeutic target; therefore, antibodies against GPC3 would be useful tools for developing immunotherapies for HCC. METHODS: We isolated a novel human monoclonal antibody, 32A9, by phage display technology. We determined specificity, affinity, epitope and anti-tumor activity of 32A9, and developed 32A9-based immunotherapy technologies for evaluating the potency of HCC treatment in vitro or in vivo. RESULTS: 32A9 recognized human GPC3 with potent affinity and specificity. The epitope of 32A9 was located in the region of the GPC3 protein core close to the modification sites of the HS chain and outside of the Wnt-binding site of GPC3. The 32A9 antibody significantly inhibited HCC xenograft tumor growth in vivo. We then pursued two 32A9-based immunotherapeutic strategies by constructing an immunotoxin and CAR-T cells. The 32A9 immunotoxin exhibited specific cytotoxicity to GPC3-positive cancer cells, while 32A9 CAR-T cells efficiently eliminated GPC3-positive HCC cells in vitro and caused HCC xenograft tumor regressions in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a rationale for 32A9 as a promising GPC3-specific antibody candidate for HCC immunotherapy.

[Acquisition of submandibular gland in mouse embryo and establishment of an in vitro organ culture model].

Branching morphology is important to ensure that the organ can obtain the efficient functional morphology in a limited volume. The submandibular gland is a crucial model for studying the morphological processes of organ branches. Harvesting the submandibular gland from mouse embryo is also an essential research technique. In this paper, a modified method for obtaining the submandibular glands of mouse embryo was introduced, and the whole process of obtaining and establishing in vitro organ culture was briefly introduced to accurately simulate branch morphogenesis for vivo development and related research.

IL-37b alleviates inflammation in the temporomandibular joint cartilage via IL-1R8 pathway.

OBJECTIVES: Interleukin (IL)-37 is a natural suppressor of innate inflammation. This study was conducted to explore the anti-inflammatory effects of IL-37 in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) inflammation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of IL-37 in the TMJ was measured using ELISA and IHC. Human TMJ chondrocytes were treated with IL-37b and IL-1ß, and inflammation-related factors were detected. siRNA-IL-1R8 was transfected into chondrocytes, and the affected pathways were detected. IL-37b was used in disc-perforation-induced TMJ inflammation in SD rats. Micro-CT, IHC, real-time PCR and histological staining were used to quantify the therapeutic effect of IL-37b. RESULTS: IL-37 was expressed in the synovium and the disc of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and in the articular cartilage of condylar fracture patients. IL-37 was highly expressed in synovial fluid of patients with synovitis than in those with OA and disc displacement and was closely related to visual analogue scale (VAS) score. In vitro, IL-37b suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory factors. In addition, IL-37b exerted anti-inflammatory effects via IL-1R8 by inhibiting the p38, ERK, JNK and NF-κB activation, while silencing IL-1R8 led to inflammation and upregulation of these signals. In disc-perforation-induced TMJ inflammation in SD rats, IL-37b suppressed inflammation and inhibited osteoclast formation to protect against TMJ. CONCLUSIONS: IL-37b may be a novel therapeutic agent for TMJ inflammation.