iPSCs-derived iMSCs prevent osteoporotic bone loss and affect bone metabolites in ovariectomized mice.

Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease that seriously jeopardizes the health of middle-aged and elderly people. Mesenchymal stem cell-based transplantation for osteoporosis is a promising new therapeutic strategy. Induced mesenchymal stem cells (iMSCs) are a new option for stem cell transplantation therapy.

E3 ubiquitin ligases: key regulators of osteogenesis and potential therapeutic targets for bone disorders.

Ubiquitination is a crucial post-translational modification of proteins that mediates the degradation or functional regulation of specific proteins. This process participates in various biological processes such as cell growth, development, and signal transduction. E3 ubiquitin ligases play both positive and negative regulatory roles in osteogenesis and differentiation by ubiquitination-mediated degradation or stabilization of transcription factors, signaling molecules, and cytoskeletal proteins.

Antibody targeting of anaerobic bacteria warms cold tumors and improves the abscopal effect of radiotherapy.

Background: The combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors with radiotherapy can enhance the immunomodulation by RT and reduce the growth of distant unirradiated tumors (abscopal effect); however, the results are still not very satisfactory. Therefore, new treatment options are needed to enhance this effect. Our previous study showed that the combination of Bifidobacterium (Bi) and its specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) could target and alleviate hypoxia at the tumor site and act as a radiosensitizer.

Targeted modulation of gut and intra-tumor microbiota to improve the quality of immune checkpoint inhibitor responses.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies, such as those blocking the interaction of PD-1 with its ligands, can restore the immune-killing function of T cells. However, ICI therapy is clinically beneficial in only a small number of patients, and it is difficult to predict post-treatment outcomes, thereby limiting its widespread clinical use. Research suggests that gut microbiota can regulate the host immune system and affect cancer progression and treatment.

A heterozygous mutation causes zona pellucida defects and female infertility in mouse and human.

The zona pellucida (ZP) is an extracellular glycoprotein matrix surrounding mammalian oocytes. Recently, numerous mutations in genes encoding ZP proteins have been shown to be possibly related to oocyte abnormality and female infertility; few reports have confirmed the functions of these mutations in living animal models. Here, we identified a novel heterozygous missense mutation (NM_001376231.

Analysis of mRNA-miRNA interaction network reveals the role of CAFs-derived exosomes in the immune regulation of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have significant tumor regulatory functions, and CAFs-derived exosomes (CAFs-Exo) released from CAFs play an important role in the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, a lack of comprehensive molecular biological analysis leaves the regulatory mechanisms of CAFs-Exo in OSCC unclear.

Methods: We used platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) to induce the transformation of human oral mucosa fibroblast (hOMF) into CAFs, and extracted exosomes from the supernatant of CAFs and hOMF.

Automatic blastomere recognition from a single embryo image.

The number of blastomeres of human day 3 embryos is one of the most important criteria for evaluating embryo viability. However, due to the transparency and overlap of blastomeres, it is a challenge to recognize blastomeres automatically using a single embryo image. This study proposes an approach based on least square curve fitting (LSCF) for automatic blastomere recognition from a single image.

[Sperm DNA damage and unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion].

Objective: To explore the relationship of sperm DNA damage with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA).

Methods: Sperm DNA fragmentation was evaluated by sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD), and the results were expressed in terms of DNA fragmentation index (DFI). DFIs were measured in the male partners of 56 women with URSA (the experiment group) and of 31 without URSA (the control group).

Examination of the folding of a short alanine-based helical peptide with salt bridges using molecular dynamics simulation.

A molecular dynamics simulation of the folding of a short alanine-based helical peptide of 17 residues with three Glu...

[A case-control study on risk factors for advanced schistosomiasis japonica].

Objective: To investigate risk factors for the development of advanced schistosomiasis.

Methods: The case-control study was designed with a match of 1:1 and 1:2. Healthy persons and chronic schistosomiasis patients were used as control.