Expression of FLICE-inhibitory Protein in Synovial Tissue and Its Association with Synovial Inflammation in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Objective To examine the expression of FLICE-inhibitory protein (FLIP) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and analyze its correlation with synovial inflammation. Methods The expression of FLIP was assessed in 11 JIA and 3 normal synovial tissue samples by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. The cell types expressing FLIP were further characterized,and the correlation of FLIP expression with the degree of synovial inflammation,as well as the activity of caspase 8 was then analyzed. Results RT-PCR revealed the expression of FLIP mRNA in all 11 JIA samples,but not in 3 normal synovial tissues. In JIA,FLIP expression could be found in both the lining and sublining layers,mainly in the macrophage-like cells. Moreover,the expression of FLIP in JIA synovial tissues was positively correlated with the degree of synovial inflammation (r=0.563,P<0.05). Conclusion The expression of antiapoptotic FLIP in JIA synovial tissue and its correlation to accumulation of inflammatory cells in synovial tissue suggests that FLIP potentially extends the lifespan of synovial cells and thus contributes to the progression of joint destruction.

Heteroepitaxial growth of Au@Pd core–shell nanocrystals with intrinsic chiral surfaces for enantiomeric recognition

Noble metal surfaces with intrinsic chirality serve as an ideal candidate for investigating enantioselective chemistry due to their superior chemical durability and high catalytic activity.Recently,significant advance has been made in synthesizing metal nanocrystals with intrinsic chirality.Nonetheless,the majority reports are limited to gold.Herein,through a heteroepitaxial growth strategy,the synthesis of metal nanocrystals with intrinsic chirality to palladium was extended for the first time and their application in enantioselective recognition was demonstrated.The heteroepitaxial growth strategy allows for transferring the chirality of homochiral Au nanocrystals to Au@Pd core–shell nanocrystals.By employing the chiral Au@Pd nanocrystals as enantiomeric recognizing elements,a series of electrochemical sensors for chiral discrimination were developed.Under optimal conditions,the peak potential between D-dihydroxyphenylalanine(D-DOPA)and L-dihydroxyphenylalanine(L-DOPA)is about 80 m V,and the peak current of D-DOPA is 2 times as much as that of L-DOPA,which enables the determination of the enantiomeric excess(EE,%)of L-DOPA.Overall,this report not only introduces a heteroepitaxial growth strategy to synthesize metal nanocrystals with intrinsic chirality,but also demonstrates the superior capability of integrating intrinsic chirality and catalytic properties into metal nanocrystals for chiral recognition.

Exploring the mechanism of neural-function reconstruction by reinnervated nerves in targeted muscles

A lack of myoelectric sources after limb amputation is a critical challenge in the control of multifunctional motorized prostheses. To reconstruct myoelectric sources physiologically related to lost limbs, a newly proposed neural-function construction method, targeted muscle reinnervation(TMR), appears promising. Recent advances in the TMR technique suggest that TMR could provide additional motor command information for the control of multifunctional myoelectric prostheses. However, little is known about the nature of the physiological functional recovery of the reinnervated muscles. More understanding of the underlying mechanism of TMR could help us fine tune the technique to maximize its capability to achieve a much higher performance in the control of multifunctional prostheses. In this study, rats were used as an animal model for TMR surgery involving transferring a median nerve into the pectoralis major, which served as the target muscle. Intramuscular myoelectric signals reconstructed following TMR were recorded by implanted wire electrodes and analyzed to explore the nature of the neural-function reconstruction achieved by reinnervation of targeted muscles. Our results showed that the active myoelectric signal reconstructed in the targeted muscle was acquired one week after TMR surgery, and its amplitude gradually became stronger over time. These preliminary results from rats may serve as a basis for exploring the mechanism of neural-function reconstruction by the TMR technique in human subjects.