Recent developments in bio-scaffold materials as delivery strategies for therapeutics for endometrium regeneration.

Intrauterine adhesions (IUAs) refer to the repair disorder after endometrial injury and may lead to uterine infertility, recurrent miscarriage, abnormal menstrual bleeding, and other obstetric complications. It is a pressing public health issue among women of childbearing age. Presently, there are limited clinical treatments for IUA, and there is no sufficient evidence that these treatment modalities can effectively promote regeneration after severe endometrial injury or improve pregnancy outcome. The inhibitory pathological micro-environment is the main factor hindering the repair of endometrial damaged tissues. To address this, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have been achieving promising developments. Particularly, biomaterials have been used to load stem cells or therapeutic factors or construct an in situ delivery system as a treatment strategy for endometrial injury repair. This article comprehensively discusses the characteristics of various bio-scaffold materials and their application as stem cell or therapeutic factor delivery systems constructed for uterine tissue regeneration.

Diagnostic value of miRNA-122 in Kawasaki disease.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the expression pattern and diagnostic value of microRNA-122 (miRNA-122) in childhood Kawasaki disease (KD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 150 children with KD were included in the KD group. During the same period, 150 children with respiratory infection complicated with fever and without myocardial involvement were included in the control group.  Serum level of miRNA-122 in children with acute phase of KD and those in the control group was detected. The relationship between serum level of miRNA-122 and clinical features of KD was analyzed by Pearson correlation test. ROC curves were depicted to assess the diagnostic value of miRNA-122 in KD. RESULTS: Serum level of miRNA-122 was higher in the KD group than controls. In the acute phase of KD, the serum level of miRNA-122 was positively correlated to CRP and NT-proBNP, while negatively correlated to the sodium level. The specificity and sensitivity of miRNA-122 in diagnosing KD was 78.67% and 84.67%, respectively (AUC=0.8861, cut-off value=2.905). CONCLUSIONS: Serum level of miRNA-122 is significantly enhanced in the acute phase of KD, and highly expressed miRNA-122 is related to systematic inflammation. MiRNA-122 may be used as a diagnostic hallmark of KD.

Over-expressing CYLD augments antitumor activity of TRAIL by inhibiting the NF-κB survival signaling in lung cancer cells.

The death ligand tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) can selectively induce apoptosis in tumor cells. But studies have demonstrated that many tumor cells were resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. CYLD is recognized as a negative regulator of nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB) activity. To explore a correlation between CYLD expression and responsiveness to TRAIL in lung cancer cell lines, we established lung cancer cell lines that stably express CYLD. Our data provided the first evidence that increased expression of CYLD directly blocks TRAIL-induced NF-κB activation, and consequently increases TRAIL-induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells. CYLD may act as a therapeutic target of lung cancer. Targeting CYLD, in combination with TRAIL, may be a new strategy to treat lung cancer with high NF-κB activity.