The effects of interleukin-1β in modulating osteoclast-conditioned medium's influence on gelatinases in chondrocytes through mitogen-activated protein kinases

Osteoarthritis is recognised to be an interactive pathological process involving the cartilage, subchondral bone and synovium. The signals from the synovium play an important role in cartilage metabolism, but little is known regarding the influence of the signalling from bone. Additionally, the collagenases and stromelysin-1 are involved in cartilage catabolism through mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK） signalling, but the role of the gelatinases has not been elucidated. Here, we studied the influence of osteoclastic signals on chondrocytes by characterising the expression of interleukin-1β （IL-1β）-induced gelatinases through MAPK signalling. We found that osteoclast-conditioned media attenuated the gelatinase activity in chondrocytes. However, IL-1β induced increased levels of gelatinase activity in the conditioned media group relative to the mono-cultured chondrocyte group. More specifically, IL-1β restored high levels of gelatinase activity in c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor-pretreated chondrocytes in the conditioned media group and led to lower levels of gelatinase activity in extracellular signal-regulated kinase or p38 inhibitor-pretreated chondrocytes. Gene expression generally correlated with protein expression. Taken together, these results show for the first time that signals from osteoclasts can influence gelatinase activity in chondrocytes. Furthermore, these data show that IL-11~ restores gelatinase activity through MAPK inhibitors; this information can help to increase the understanding of the gelatinase modulation in articular cartilage.

Electrode materials for aqueous multivalent metal-ion batteries: Current status and future prospect

In recent years,the pursuit of high-efficiency electrochemical storage technology,the multivalent metalion batteries (MIBs) based on aqueous electrolytes have been widely explored by researchers because of their safety,environmental friendliness,abundant reserves and low price,and especially the merits in energy and power densities.This review firstly expounds on the problems existing in the electrode materials of aqueous multivalent MIBs (Zn^(2+),Mg^(2+),Al^(3+),Ca^(2+)),from the classical inorganic materials to the emerging organic compounds,and then summarizes the design strategies in bulk and interface structure of electrodes with favorable kinetics and stable cycling performance,especially laying the emphasis on the charge storage mechanism of cathode materials and dendrite-free Zinc anode from the aspect of electrolyte optimization strategies,which can be extended to other aqueous multivalent MIBs.Ultimately,the possible development directions of the aqueous multivalent MIBs in the future are provided,anticipating to provide a meaningful guideline for researchers in this area.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α,a potential therapeutic target for alcoholic liver disease

Alcoholic liver injury represents a progressive process with a range of consequences including hepatic steatosis, steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Targeting key molecular regulators involved in the development of alcoholic liver injury may be of great value in the prevention of liver injury. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α(PPARα) plays a pivotal role in modulation of hepatic lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, inflammatory response and fibrogenesis. As such, PPARα may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of alcoholic liver disease.

Clinical Observation on Treatment of Moderate and Severe Periodical Mastalgia with TCM Hot-wet Compress Therapy

[Objectives] To observe the clinical therapeutic efficacy of local hot-wet compress therapy of digestion ointment prescription on the patients with moderate and severe mastalgia. [Methods] Firstly,60 patients with mastalgia were selected,and divided into the experimental group and control group( 30 cases for each group). The control group was treated with acupuncture at distal point,and the experimental group was treated with TCM local hot-wet compress therapy combined with acupuncture at distal point. Then,the clinical therapeutic efficacy of two groups was compared. [Results]The experimental group was superior to the control group in relieving the breast pain,improving emotional integral,reducing breast lumps,improving lump texture,and improving TCM syndrome integral( P < 0. 05). [Conclusions]The digestion ointment prescription local hot-wet compress therapy has a significant therapeutic effect on treatment of mastalgia and can significantly improve the breast pain symptom of patients.

Crosstalk between adipose-derived stem cells and chondrocytes:when growth factors matter

Adipose-derived stem cells（ASCs）and mesenchymal stem cells are promising for tissue repair because of their multilineage differentiation capacity.Our previous data confirmed that the implantation of mixed ASCs and chondrocytes into cartilage defects induced desirable in vivo healing outcomes.However,the paracrine action of ASCs on chondrocytes needs to be further elucidated.In this study,we established a co-culture system to achieve cell-to-cell and cell-to-tissue crosstalk and explored the soluble growth factors in both ASCs and chondrocytes supplemented with 1%fetal bovine serum to mimic the physiological microenvironment.In ASCs,we screened for growth factors by semi-quantitative PCR and quantitative real-time PCR and found that the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2（BMP-2）,vascular endothelial growth factor B（VEGFB）,hypoxia inducible factor-1α（HIF-1α）,fibroblast growth factor-2（FGF-2）,and transforming growth factor-β1 significantly increased after co-culture in comparison with mono-culture.In chondrocytes,VEGFA was significantly enhanced after co-culture.Unexpectedly,the expression of collagen II and aggrecan was significantly down-regulated in the co-culture group compared with the mono-culture group.Meanwhile,among all the growth factors screened,we found that the BMP family members BMP-2,BMP-4,and BMP-5 were down-regulated and that VEGFB,HIF-1α,FGF-2,and PDGF were significantly decreased after co-culture.These results suggest that crosstalk between ASCs and chondrocytes is a pathway through the regulated growth factors that might have potential in cartilage repair and regeneration and could be useful for tissue engineering.

Comprehensive review on zinc-ion battery anode: Challenges and strategies

Zinc-ion batteries(ZIBs)have been extensively investigated and discussed as promising energy storage devices in recent years owing to their low cost,high energy density,inherent safety,and low environmental impact.Nevertheless,several challenges remain that need to be prioritized before realizing the wide-spread application of ZIBs.In particular,the development of zinc anodes has been hindered by many challenges,such as inevitable zinc dendrites,corrosion passivation,and the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),which have severely limited the practical application of high-performance ZIBs.This review starts with a systematic discussion of the origins of zinc dendrites,corrosion passiv-ation,and the HER,as well as their effects on battery performance.Subse-quently,we discuss solutions to the above problems to protect the zinc anode,including the improvement of zinc anode materials,modification of the anode–electrolyte interface,and optimization of the electrolyte.In particular,this review emphasizes design strategies to protect zinc anodes from an inte-grated perspective with broad interest rather than a view with limited focus.In the final section,comments and perspectives are provided for the future design of high-performance zinc anodes.