Objective Disc calcification is strongly associated with disc degeneration;however,the underlying mechanisms driving its pathogenesis are poorly understood.This study aimed to provide a gene expression profile of nucl...Objective Disc calcification is strongly associated with disc degeneration;however,the underlying mechanisms driving its pathogenesis are poorly understood.This study aimed to provide a gene expression profile of nucleus pulposus cells(NPCs)from calcified discs,and clarify the potential mechanism in disc degeneration.Methods Primary NPCs were isolated from calcified and control discs(CAL-NPC and CON-NPC),respectively.The proliferation and extracellular matrix(ECM)metabolism capacities of the cells were evaluated using MTT and Western blotting,respectively.RNA sequencing was used to identify differentially expressed genes(DEGs)in the CAL-NPCs.The biological functions of the DEGs were analyzed using the Gene Ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)databases.The transcription factor database and Cytoscape software were used to construct the transcription factor-DEGs regulatory network.The role of the verified transcription factor in NPC proliferation and ECM metabolism was also investigated.Results The CAL-NPCs exhibited a lower proliferation rate and higher ECM degradation capacity than the CON-NPCs.In total,375 DEGs were identified in the CAL-NPCs.The GO and KEGG analyses showed that the DEGs were primarily involved in the regulation of ribonuclease activity and NF-kappa B and p53 signaling pathways.GATA-binding protein 3(GATA3)with the highest verified levels was selected for further studies.Overexpression of GATA3 in the CON-NPCs significantly inhibited their proliferation and promoted their ECM degradation function,while the knockdown of GATA3 in the CAL-NPCs resulted in the opposite phenotypes.Conclusion This study provided a comprehensive gene expression profile of the NPCs from the calcified discs and supported that GATA3 could be a potential target for reversing calcification-associated disc degeneration.展开更多
Entanglement in quantum theory is a peculiar concept to scientists. With this concept we are forced to re-consider the cluster property which means that one event is irrelevant to another event when they are fully far...Entanglement in quantum theory is a peculiar concept to scientists. With this concept we are forced to re-consider the cluster property which means that one event is irrelevant to another event when they are fully far away. In the recent works we showed that the quasi-degenerate states induce the violation of cluster property in antiferromagnets when the continuous symmetry breaks spontaneously. We expect that the violation of cluster property will be observed in other materials too, because the spontaneous symmetry breaking is found in many systems such as the high temperature superconductors and the superfluidity. In order to examine the cluster property for these materials, we studied a quantum nonlinear sigma model with U(1) symmetry in the previous work. There we showed that the model does have quasi-degenerate states. In this paper we study the quantum nonlinear sigma model with SU(2) symmetry. In our approach we first define the quantum system on the lattice and then adopt the representation where the kinetic term is diagonalized. Since we have no definition on the conjugate variable to the angle variable, we use the angular momentum operators instead for the kinetic term. In this representation we introduce the states with the fixed quantum numbers and carry out numerical calculations using quantum Monte Carlo methods and other methods. Through analytical and numerical studies, we conclude that the energy of the quasi-degenerate state is proportional to the squared total angular momentum as well as to the inverse of the lattice size.展开更多
基金funded by the Youth Research Fund of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital(No.pumch201911708).
文摘Objective Disc calcification is strongly associated with disc degeneration;however,the underlying mechanisms driving its pathogenesis are poorly understood.This study aimed to provide a gene expression profile of nucleus pulposus cells(NPCs)from calcified discs,and clarify the potential mechanism in disc degeneration.Methods Primary NPCs were isolated from calcified and control discs(CAL-NPC and CON-NPC),respectively.The proliferation and extracellular matrix(ECM)metabolism capacities of the cells were evaluated using MTT and Western blotting,respectively.RNA sequencing was used to identify differentially expressed genes(DEGs)in the CAL-NPCs.The biological functions of the DEGs were analyzed using the Gene Ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)databases.The transcription factor database and Cytoscape software were used to construct the transcription factor-DEGs regulatory network.The role of the verified transcription factor in NPC proliferation and ECM metabolism was also investigated.Results The CAL-NPCs exhibited a lower proliferation rate and higher ECM degradation capacity than the CON-NPCs.In total,375 DEGs were identified in the CAL-NPCs.The GO and KEGG analyses showed that the DEGs were primarily involved in the regulation of ribonuclease activity and NF-kappa B and p53 signaling pathways.GATA-binding protein 3(GATA3)with the highest verified levels was selected for further studies.Overexpression of GATA3 in the CON-NPCs significantly inhibited their proliferation and promoted their ECM degradation function,while the knockdown of GATA3 in the CAL-NPCs resulted in the opposite phenotypes.Conclusion This study provided a comprehensive gene expression profile of the NPCs from the calcified discs and supported that GATA3 could be a potential target for reversing calcification-associated disc degeneration.
文摘Entanglement in quantum theory is a peculiar concept to scientists. With this concept we are forced to re-consider the cluster property which means that one event is irrelevant to another event when they are fully far away. In the recent works we showed that the quasi-degenerate states induce the violation of cluster property in antiferromagnets when the continuous symmetry breaks spontaneously. We expect that the violation of cluster property will be observed in other materials too, because the spontaneous symmetry breaking is found in many systems such as the high temperature superconductors and the superfluidity. In order to examine the cluster property for these materials, we studied a quantum nonlinear sigma model with U(1) symmetry in the previous work. There we showed that the model does have quasi-degenerate states. In this paper we study the quantum nonlinear sigma model with SU(2) symmetry. In our approach we first define the quantum system on the lattice and then adopt the representation where the kinetic term is diagonalized. Since we have no definition on the conjugate variable to the angle variable, we use the angular momentum operators instead for the kinetic term. In this representation we introduce the states with the fixed quantum numbers and carry out numerical calculations using quantum Monte Carlo methods and other methods. Through analytical and numerical studies, we conclude that the energy of the quasi-degenerate state is proportional to the squared total angular momentum as well as to the inverse of the lattice size.
