Chondrocyte apoptosis and extracellular matrix (ECM) degeneration have been implicated in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). Based on previously reported microarray analysis, HRAS (Harvey rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog), a member of the RAS protein family, was chosen as a potential regulator of OA chondrocyte apoptosis and ECM degradation. HRAS expression was downregulated in OA tissues, particularly in mild-OA tissues. HRAS overexpression partially attenuated IL-1β-induced OA chondrocyte apoptosis and ECM degradation. Similar to HRAS, the long non-coding RNA LINC00623 was downregulated in OA tissues. LINC00623 knockdown enhanced IL-1β-induced OA chondrocyte apoptosis and ECM degradation, which could be partially reversed by HRAS overexpression. It has been reported that lncRNAs act as ceRNAs of miRNAs to exert their function. Herein, miR-101 was predicted to bind to both LINC00623 and HRAS, which was further confirmed by luciferase reporter and RIP assays. LINC00623 competed with HRAS for miR-101 binding, therefore reducing the inhibitory effect of miR-101 on HRAS expression. More importantly, the effect of LINC00623 was partially eliminated by miR-101 inhibition. Overall, the LINC00623/miR-101/HRAS axis modulates OA chondrocyte apoptosis, senescence and ECM degradation through MAPK signaling, which might play a critical role in OA development.

/pdf/linc00623-mir-101-hras-axis-modulates-il-1b-mediated-ecm-4hdmqg5ugx.pdf

LINC00623/miR-101/HRAS axis modulates IL-1β-mediated ECM degradation, apoptosis and senescence of osteoarthritis chondrocytes.

Osteoarthritis year in review 2017: genetics and epigenetics

Osteoarthritis year in review 2018: genetics and epigenetics.

Kashin-Beck Disease (KBD) is one of major endemic diseases in China. In this study, we estimated the health loss from KBD in Qamdo district of Tibet using the years lived with disability (YLD) metric and investigated the influence of environmental selenium (Se) on it by multiple regression model. The results showed that YLD rates produced a different ranking of health loss of KBD from that produced by prevalence rates between Basu and Luolong County, with higher health loss from KBD (43.61 YLD/1000) but lower prevalence (17.86%) in Basu County. YLD rates in two counites were both highest for the 45-64 years age group. Compared with the prevalence rate, the YLD rate had a closer relation to environmental Se and was significantly negatively correlated with Se in both soil and highland barley. The multiple linear regression further revealed that Se contents in cultivated soil and highland barley were main influencing factors for the health loss of KBD, which could explain 90.5% of the variation in YLD rates. The information obtained highlights the significance of the YLD metric in exploring the environmental etiology of KBD and provides important information on which to base decisions on future prevention and control of endemic diseases.

Assessing the Health Loss from Kashin-Beck Disease and Its Relationship with Environmental Selenium in Qamdo District of Tibet, China.

Silicosis, an occupational lung disease that can be prevented, is still a significant public health concern in many countries, despite its considerably decreased incidence over the years. The latency period for silicosis ranges from a few years to several decades, depending on the duration and intensity of exposure to silica dust. The complex pathogenic mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood, but it is known to be characterized by inflammation, the formation of silicotic nodules, and progressive and irreversible fibrosis. The aim of this paper was to present the current sources of exposure to silica dust and summarize the updates on risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, genetic susceptibility) and sex differences, silico-tuberculosis, prognostic markers including 16-kDa Clara cell secretory protein, antifibrotic treatment, and other therapeutic possibilities with promising results. There are no effective treatment options for silicosis, and prevention remains the primary tool to significantly reduce the risk of disease. There are promising new treatments under investigation including antifibrotic, cellular, and immunomodulatory therapies, but further research is needed to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of these therapies in adequately powered clinical trials.

https://www.imrpress.com/journal/FBL/28/5/10.31083/j.fbl2805096/pdf

Silicosis: New Challenges from an Old Inflammatory and Fibrotic Disease.

Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is a chronic osteochondropathy with unclear pathogeny. In this study, we compared the microRNA expression profiles of 16 KBD patients, 16 osteoarthritis (OA) patients and 16 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 16 healthy controls in their blood specimens. miRNAs expression profiling was performed using Exiqon miRCURY LNATM miRNAs Array. miRNAs target genes were predicted using miRror suite. Another independent mRNA expression profile dataset of 20 KBD patients and 15 healthy controls were integrated with the miRNA expression profiles of KBD. We identified 140 differently expressed miRNAs in KBD vs. Controls. GO enrichment analysis found that hypoxia, Wnt receptor signaling pathway and vitamin B6 biosynthesis related GO terms were significantly overrepresented in the target genes of differently expressed miRNAs in KBD vs. Control. 18 differently expressed common miRNAs were identified in KBD vs. Control, KBD vs. OA and KBD vs. RA. Integrating the lists of differently expressed miRNA target genes and mRNA differently expressed genes detected 6 common genes for KBD. Our results demonstrated the altered miRNAs expression profiles of KBD comparing to healthy controls, OA and RA, which provide novel clues for clarifying the mechanism of KBD.

/pdf/comparison-of-microrna-expression-profiles-of-kashin-beck-1d4cbz0uwt.pdf

Comparison of microRNA expression profiles of Kashin-Beck disease, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Background Silicosis poses a threat to workers’ health due to the irreversible lung lesions. Design A retrospective cohort study. Methods A total of 259 patients [80 worked with artificial stone (AS), 179 with non-artificial stone (non-AS)] with confirmed silicosis were included in this study. Forty-one of AS and 91 of non-AS had approximately 2 years’ follow-up records [lung function tests and high-resolution computer tomography (HRCT)]. Compared with the first records, increased, densified, or newly emerging lesions in lung HRCT images were judged as progression of the disease. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the risk factors. Kaplan–Meier survival curve and log-rank test were used to compare prognostic factors for cumulative risk of progression. Results In 132 patients with median follow-up of 24.0 months (IQR, 13.8, 24.9), 66 patients showed progression, in them, 36 (87.8%) were from AS group and 30 (32.9%) from non-AS group. Working experience of AS processing (hazard ratio, 5.671; 95% CI, 3.048–10.550) and complicated silicosis in CT images (hazard ratio, 2.373; 95% CI, 1.379–4.082) were the main risk factors associated with progression. Forced vital capacity decreased after 1-year (241.5 vs. 55.2 mL) and 2-year (328.1 vs. 68.8 mL) follow-up in the two groups (AS vs. non-AS). History of anti-tuberculosis medication, chest oppression and pain, ground-glass opacity, pleural abnormalities, and restrictive pulmonary dysfunction were more frequently found on HRCT images in the AS group than non-AS group. Lung functions (DLCO, %) were lower in the current/former smokers than the non-smokers (P < 0.05) in AS patients. Conclusion Prevention and protection rules are needed to be enforced in the occupation involving AS processing; smoking may be associated with declined lung function in AS patients.

/pdf/risk-factors-of-silicosis-progression-a-retrospective-cohort-1hov74ue.pdf

Risk Factors of Silicosis Progression: A Retrospective Cohort Study in China

Background Atherosclerosis (AS) is one of the leading causes of the cardio-cerebral vascular incident. The constantly emerging evidence indicates a close association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and AS. However, the exact molecular mechanisms underlying the correlation between these two diseases remain unclear. This study proposed exploring the common signature genes, pathways, and immune cells among AS and NAFLD. Methods The common differentially expressed genes (co-DEGs) with a consistent trend were identified via bioinformatic analyses of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets GSE28829 and GSE49541, respectively. Further, the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed. We utilized machine learning algorithms of lasso and random forest (RF) to identify the common signature genes. Then the diagnostic nomogram models and receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analyses were constructed and validated with external verification datasets. The gene interaction network was established via the GeneMANIA database. Additionally, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), gene set variation analysis (GSVA), and immune infiltration analysis were performed to explore the co-regulated pathways and immune cells. Results A total of 11 co-DEGs were identified. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that co-DEGs were mainly enriched in lipid catabolic process, calcium ion transport, and regulation of cytokine. Moreover, three common signature genes (PLCXD3, CCL19, and PKD2) were defined. Based on these genes, we constructed the efficiently predictable diagnostic models for advanced AS and NAFLD with the nomograms, evaluated with the ROC curves (AUC = 0.995 for advanced AS, 95% CI 0.971–1.0; AUC = 0.973 for advanced NAFLD, 95% CI 0.938–0.998). In addition, the AUC of the verification datasets had a similar trend. The NOD-like receptors (NLRs) signaling pathway might be the most crucial co-regulated pathway, and activated CD4 T cells and central memory CD4 T cells were significantly excessive infiltration in advanced NAFLD and AS. Conclusion We identified three common signature genes (PLCXD3, CCL19, and PKD2), co-regulated pathways, and shared immune features of NAFLD and AS, which might provide novel insights into the molecular mechanism of NAFLD complicated with AS.

Identification of common signature genes and pathways underlying the pathogenesis association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Wenhong Wu

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Comparison of microRNA expression profiles of Kashin-Beck disease, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Risk Factors of Silicosis Progression: A Retrospective Cohort Study in China

Identification of common signature genes and pathways underlying the pathogenesis association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis