The translational landscape of human vascular smooth muscle cells identifies novel short open reading frame-encoded peptide regulators for phenotype alteration.

Aims: The plasticity of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) enables them to alter phenotypes under various physiological and pathological stimuli. The alteration of VSMC phenotype is a key step in vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis. Although the transcriptome shift during VSMC phenotype alteration has been intensively investigated, uncovering multiple key regulatory signalling pathways, the translatome dynamics in this cellular process, remain largely unknown.

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of antibiotic-associated encephalopathy in patients with end-stage kidney disease.

Objective: End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients have a higher risk of antibiotic-associated encephalopathy (AAE) than other patients. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of AAE in ESKD patients.

Method: A retrospective study of ESKD patients treated with intravenous antibiotics in our hospital from Jan.

Loss of mA Methyltransferase METTL5 Promotes Cardiac Hypertrophy Through Epitranscriptomic Control of SUZ12 Expression.

Enhancement of protein synthesis from mRNA translation is one of the key steps supporting cardiomyocyte hypertrophy during cardiac remodeling. The methyltransferase-like5 (METTL5), which catalyzes mA modification of 18S rRNA at position A, has been shown to regulate the efficiency of mRNA translation during the differentiation of ES cells and the growth of cancer cells. It remains unknown whether and how METTL5 regulates cardiac hypertrophy.

Changes of antibiotic resistance over time among peritonitis in Southern China.

() is the main cause of Gram-negative bacterial peritonitis among peritoneal dialysis patients. According to the 2016 update of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis Peritonitis Recommendations, drug susceptibilities of specific organisms should be regularly monitored. The aim of this study was to examine the evolution of antimicrobial resistance of peritonitis from 2006 to 2018.

Urgent-start peritoneal dialysis for patients with end stage renal disease: a 10-year retrospective study.

Background: Urgent-start peritoneal dialysis (PD) can help patients with end-stage renal diseases (ESRD) that are referred late to dialysis. However, catheter patency and related complications of urgent-start PD have not been thoroughly clarified. We investigated the clinical outcomes of urgent-start PD in a Chinese cohort.

A semantics-oriented computational approach to investigate microRNA regulation on glucocorticoid resistance in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most prevalent neoplasia among children. Despite the tremendous achievements of state-of-the-art treatment strategies, drug resistance is still a major cause of chemotherapy failure leading to relapse in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The underlying mechanisms of such phenomenon are not yet clear and subject to further exploration.

Discovery of potent and novel smoothened antagonists via structure-based virtual screening and biological assays.

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays a critical role in controlling patterning, growth and cell migration during embryonic development. Aberrant activation of Hh signaling has been linked to tumorigenesis in various cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and medulloblastoma. As a key member of the Hh pathway, the Smoothened (Smo) receptor, a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, has emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment and prevention of human cancers.

Effects of Combined Spinal-Epidural Analgesia during Labor on Postpartum Electrophysiological Function of Maternal Pelvic Floor Muscle: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: Combined spinal-epidural analgesia (CSEA) is sometimes used for difficult births, but whether it contributes to postpartum pelvic muscle disorder is unclear. This randomized controlled trial examined whether CSEA given during labor affects the electrophysiological index of postpartum pelvic floor muscle function.

Methods: A consecutive sample of primiparous women who delivered vaginally at term were randomly assigned to a CSEA group (n = 143) and control group (n = 142) between June 2013 and June 2014.

Relationship between serum uric Acid and bone mineral density in the general population and in rats with experimental hyperuricemia.

Unlabelled: Higher serum uric acid concentrations have been associated with higher bone mineral density (BMD) in observational studies of older men and perimenopausal or postmenopausal women, prompting speculation of a potential protective effect of uric acid on bone. Whether this relationship is present in the general population has not been examined and there is no data to support causality. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a probability sample of the U.

Effects of sex and postmenopausal estrogen use on serum phosphorus levels: a cross-sectional study of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006.

Background: Elevation of serum phosphorus concentrations has been associated with cardiovascular events in older women and men. Whether age, sex, or estrogen therapy is associated with different phosphorus levels is unknown.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Adiponectin promotes functional recovery after podocyte ablation.

Low levels of the adipocyte-secreted protein adiponectin correlate with albuminuria in both mice and humans, but whether adiponectin has a causative role in modulating renal disease is unknown. Here, we first generated a mouse model that allows induction of caspase-8-mediated apoptosis specifically in podocytes upon injection of a construct-specific agent. These POD-ATTAC mice exhibited significant kidney damage, mimicking aspects of human renal disease, such as foot process effacement, mesangial expansion, and glomerulosclerosis.

[Immobilization and characterization of carbonic anhydrase on the surface of hollow fiber membrane of polymethyl pentene].

We immobilized carbonic anhydrase (CA) onto the surface of membrane oxygenator of polymethyl pentene (PMP) to enhance the removal of carbon dioxide in blood by two steps. We first introduced hydroxyl groups onto PMP surface by water plasma treatment, and then coupled CA onto PMP surface by using cyanate bromide (CNBr) as a crosslinker. After plasma treatment, the contact angle with water and chemical composition of PMP surface were characterized by analysis system of surface contact angle and XPS.

[Effects of LFA-1 costimulation on proliferation and IgG production of PBMCs from lupus nephritis patients].

Aim: To study the effect of lymphocyte function associated antigen-1(LFA-1) costimulation on proliferation and immunoglobin production of peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) form lupus nephritis(LN) patients.

Methods: 29 LN patients were enrolled in this study, and 12 healthy persons served as control. PBMCs from LN patients and healthy persons were obtained by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation, and cell proliferation was detected by (3)H-TdR incorporation.

[Surgical treatment for pigmented villonodular synovitis].

Objective: Pigmented villonodular synovitis(PVS) is a synovial proliferative disorder that remains a diagnostic difficulty. In this retrospective study we evaluated the diagnostic procedures, clinical symptoms and surgical treatment of PVS.

Methods: Six surgically treated cases of PVS were evaluated: five of the lesions were located in the knee joint and one in the hip joint.