Long non-coding RNA KCNQ10T1/miR-19a-3p/SMAD5 axis promotes osteogenic differentiation of mouse bone mesenchymal stem cells.

BACKGROUND: Bone fracture is a common orthopedic disease that needs over 3 months to recover. Promoting the osteogenic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is beneficial for fracture healing. Therefore, this research aimed to study the roles of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) KCNQ10T1 in osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. METHODS: BMSCs were treated with osteogenic medium and assessed by CCK-8 and flow cytometry assays. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, alizarin red staining (ARS), as well as concentration of osteoblast markers were measured to evaluate osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Western blot was employed to detect proteins; while, qRT-PCR was for mRNA levels. Additionally, targeted relationships between KCNQ10T1 and miR-19a-3p, as well as miR-19a-3p and SMAD5 were verified by dual luciferase reporter gene assay along with RNA pull-down method. RESULTS: Upregulation of KCNQ10T1 promoted the ALP staining and ARS intensity, increased the cell viability and decreased the apoptosis rate of BMSCs. Besides, KCNQ10T1 overexpression increased the ALP, OPG, OCN and OPN protein levels. KCNQ10T1 sponges miR-19a-3p, which targets Smad5. Upregulated miR-19a-3p reversed the overexpressed KCNQ10T1-induced effects, and depletion of SMAD5 reversed the miR-19a-3p inhibitor-induced effects on osteogenic medium-treated BMSCs. CONCLUSIONS: Upregulation of KCNQ10T1 promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs through miR-19a-3p/SMAD5 axis in bone fracture.

WoundCareLog APP - A new application to record wound diagnosis and healing.

The incidence of chronic wounds has been increasing over the past 20 years. However, the standardized diagnosis and treatment practice of chronic refractory wounds have not been established. In addition, the properties of the wound are characterized by morphology and thus correct description of the wound in medical history collection plays a vital role, which directly affects the definitive diagnosis. To develop more accurate format of clinical history record which can correctly reflect a patient's course and treatment progress, and to standardize the medical history record of chronic refractory wounds, at the national or regional level, we designed the WoundCareLog APP. It acts as a recording and communication tool for wound healing specialists at all levels of medical institutions in China. The WoundCareLog APP is fully compatible to meet the criteria and requirements of conventional medical records by embedding 9 modules. In addition, the demands for morphological description of wounds in wound healing diagnosis and treatment have been fulfilled by enroll of digital imaging technology to overcome the inadequacies of traditional medical history records.

The significance of changes in platelet concentration during the early phase after severe burn injury in a Chinese mass casualty.

BACKGROUND: Changes in platelet concentration are common in severe burn patients. Platelets play a key role in the course of disease. This study aims to explore the significance of platelet concentration during the course of the disease in victims of a mass burn casualty. METHODS: A total of 180 patients were involved in the "8.2" Kunshan explosion accident in China. The examined data included age, gender, total burn area (% TBSA), third-degree burn area (% TBSA), and platelet concentration within the first 5 days after the burn injury. The patients were divided into two groups according to four indicators (resuscitation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute kidney injury, septic shock). We collected several types of data for the patients and divided the patients into a complication group and non-complication group according to the diagnostic criteria. We analyzed the platelet concentration of the two groups using t tests to determine whether significant differences were present. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The group with successful resuscitation had higher platelet concentration than the failure group on day 3 and day 5. The patients who suffered from acute kidney injury (AKI) and septic shock had a lower platelet concentration than non-sufferers on day 3 and day 5. CONCLUSIONS: The platelet concentration of burn patients can dynamically reflect the pathophysiological changes of the body. It can be used as an early objective indicator of prognosis in mass burn casualty cases.

Thrombospondin-1 inhibits ossification of tissue engineered cartilage constructed by ADSCs.

Cartilage tissue engineering provides a new method in the treatment of cartilage defects, and adipose derived stem cells seem to be an ideal seed cell in cartilage tissue engineering because of its characteristics. However, ossification after in vivo implantation of tissue engineered cartilage remains a challenge. Thrombospondin-1 which has been reported to have an inhibitory effect on angiogenesis, may play an important role in inhibiting the ossification of tissue engineered cartilage constructed by adipose derived stem cells. Therefore, the effect of thrombospondin-1 in inhibiting the ossification of tissue engineered cartilage was evaluated in this study. Lentivirus vectors carrying thrombospondin-1 cDNA were transfected into adipose derived stem cells, and the transfected cells were used in the experiments. The expression of thrombospondin-1 was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and western blot, and the effects of thrombospondin-1 over-expression on angiogenesis were analyzed by angiogenesis assays. The quality of tissue engineered cartilage and the degree of ossification were assessed by biomechanical and molecular biology methods. The results showed that thrombospondin-1 infected cells have a high expression of thrombospondin-1 in mRNA and protein level, which inhibited the tube formation of endothelial cells, indicating the anti-angiogenic effects. Gene expression analyses in vitro showed that thrombospondin-1 inhibits the osteogenic differentiation of adipose derived stem cells significantly, and the results of in vivo study revealed that thrombospondin-1 significantly inhibits the expression of osteogenic genes. Compared to that in the control group, tissue engineered cartilage constructed by thrombospondin-1 transfected adipose derived stem cells in vivo showed a higher GAG content and lower compressive modulus, which indicating lower level of ossification. In conclusion, the current study indicated that the anti-angiogenic factor thrombospondin-1 suppresses the osteogenic differentiation of adipose derived stem cells in vitro, and inhibits ossification of tissue engineered cartilage constructed by adipose derived stem cells in vivo.

The application of autologous platelet­rich plasma gel in cartilage regeneration.

Cartilage defect caused by disease or trauma remains a challenge for surgeons, owning to the limited healing capacity of cartilage tissues. Cartilage tissue engineering provides a novel approach to address this issue, and appears promising for patients with cartilage defects. The cell scaffold, as one of the three key elements of tissue engineering, plays an important role in cartilage tissue engineering. Platelet­rich plasma (PRP), which is a fraction of the plasma containing multiple growth factors, has become a major research focus in the context of its use as a bioactive scaffold for tissue engineering. Therefore, we investigated the value of using PRP scaffolds combined with chondrocytes in cartilage tissue engineering. In this study, we examined the levels of growth factors in PRP, and the effects of PRP on cell proliferation and matrix synthesis in rabbit chondrocytes cultured in PRP. Short-term in vitro culture followed by long­term in vivo implantation was performed to evaluate the chondrogenesis of neocartilage in vivo. The results show that PRP may provide a suitable environment for the proliferation and maturation of chondrocytes, and can be used as a promising bioactive scaffold for cartilage regeneration.

Local injection of botulinum toxin A: an alternative therapy for axillary osmidrosis.

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of local injection of botulinum toxin A for treating axillary osmidrosis. One hundred and fifty patients with axillary osmidrosis were randomly divided to receive botulinum toxin A injection treatment (50 U of botulinum toxin A was injected intracutaneously into 6-20 different sites within each axilla, n = 74) or surgical excision of the apocrine glands (n = 76). The patients were followed up for 1-3 months to analyze the therapeutic effect and complications of the two methods. The curative effect in patients with mild and moderate axillary osmidrosis was not significantly different between the botulinum toxin A injection group and operation group. However, for patients with severe axillary osmidrosis, surgery treatment seemed to be superior to botulinum toxin A treatment (P = 0.005). There was also no significant difference in the modified Dermatology Life Quality Index between the two treatments. Two cases showed complications related to hemorrhage and incision infection in the operation group. In conclusion, local injection of botulinum toxin A is a safe, fast and effective treatment for mild and moderate axillary osmidrosis, but the long-term effect remains to be further investigated.