The aim of our study was to evaluate if Sirt6, a NAD + dependent histone deacetylase, plays a protective role in cartilage degeneration by suppressing cellular senescence and inflammatory responses. The expression level of sirt6 in normal and OA human knee articular cartilage was compared by immunofluorescence and western blotting. The effect of sirt6 overexpression on replicative senescence of chondrocytes and NF-κB target genes expression was evaluated. Histological assessment of OA mice knee joint was carried out to assess the in vivo effects of sirt6 overexpression on mice chondrocytes. We found sirt6 level was significantly decreased in the articular chondrocytes of OA patients compare to normal human. SA-β-gal staining revealed that overexpression of sirt6 suppressed replicative senescence of chondrocytes. Meanwhile, the expression of NF-κB dependent genes were significantly attenuated by sirt6 overxpression. Safranin-O staining and OARSI score of knee joint cartilage in OA mice revealed that Lenti-Sirt6 intraarticular injection could protect mice chondrocytes from degeneration. These data strongly suggest that overexpression of Sirt6 can prevent OA development by reducing both the inflammatory response and chondrocytes senescence. Therefore, the development of specific activators of Sirt6 may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of OA.

The purpose of our study was to elucidate the role of the histone methyltransferase enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) in the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis (OA) and to develop a strategy to modulate EZH2 activity for OA treatment. The expression of EZH2 in normal and OA human cartilage was compared by western blotting. The effect of EZH2 overexpression and inhibition on chondrocyte hypertrophy related gene expression was examined by real-time PCR, and histone methylation on the promoter of the Wnt inhibitor SFRP1 was analyzed using a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) PCR. Histological assessment of OA mice joint was carried out to assess the in vivo effects of EZH2 inhibitor EPZ005687. We found EZH2 level was significantly increased in the chondrocytes of OA patients compared to normal humans. Overexpression of EZH2 promoted Indian Hedgehog, MMP-13, ADAMTS-5 and COLX expression, while inhibition of EZH2 reversed this trend. Furthermore, the induction of EZH2 led to β-catenin signaling activation by increasing H3K27me3 on the promoter of SFRP1, while the inhibition of EZH2 silenced β-catenin signaling. Finally, intraarticular injection of EPZ005687 delayed OA development in mice. These results implicated EZH2 activity in OA development. Pharmacological inhibition of EZH2 may be an effective therapeutic approach for osteoarthritis.

Our results indicate that compared with ORIF, the percutaneous reduction, fixation and CSC grafting for treatment of DIACF might allow accelerated weightbearing activity, reduce joint stiffness and improve the patients' satisfaction.

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Assessment of myocardial viability is deemed necessary to aid in clinical decision making whether to recommend revascularization therapy for patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Dianthraquinones such as hypericin (Hyp) selectively accumulate in necrotic myocardium, but were unsuitable for early imaging after administration to assess myocardial viability. Since dianthraquinones can be composed by coupling two molecules of monomeric anthraquinone and the active center can be found by splitting chemical structure, we propose that monomeric anthraquinones may be effective functional groups for necrosis targetability. In this study, eight radioiodinated monomeric anthraquinones were evaluated as novel necrosis avid agents (NAAs) for imaging of necrotic myocardium. All 131I-anthraquinones showed high affinity to necrotic tissues and 131I-rhein emerged as the most promising compound. Infarcts were visualized on SPECT/CT images at 6 h after injection of 131I-rhein, which was earlier than that with 131I-Hyp. Moreover, 131I-rhein showed satisfactory heart-to-blood, heart-to-liver and heart-to-lung ratios for obtaining images of good diagnostic quality. 131I-rhein was a more promising “hot spot imaging” tracer for earlier visualization of necrotic myocardium than 131I-Hyp, which supported further development of radiopharmaceuticals based on rhein for SPECT/CT (123I and 99mTc) or PET/CT imaging (18F and 124I) of myocardial necrosis.

Nucleus pulposus (NP) degeneration is the major cause of degenerative disc disease (DDD). This condition cannot be treated or attenuated by traditional open or minimally invasive surgical options. However, a combination of stem cells, growth factors (GFs) and biomaterials present a viable option for regeneration. Injectable biomaterials act as carriers for controlled release of GFs and deliver stem cells to target tissues through a minimally invasive approach. In this study, injectable gelatin methacryloyl microspheres (GMs) with controllable, uniform particle sizes were rapidly biosynthesized through a low-cost electrospraying method. The GMs were used as delivery vehicles for cells and GFs, and they exhibited good mechanical properties and biocompatibility and enhanced the in vitro differentiation of laden cells into NP-like phenotypes. Furthermore, this integrated system attenuated the in vivo degeneration of rat intervertebral discs, maintained NP tissue integrity and accelerated the synthesis of extracellular matrix. Therefore, this novel therapeutic system is a promising option for the treatment of DDD.

On the basis of the biosynthesis of alkaloids derived from tryptophan and considering the wide use of spirooxindole in drug molecular design, a series of novel spirooxindole derivatives containing an acylhydrazone moiety were designed, synthesized, and first evaluated for their biological activities. The results of bioassays indicated that the target compounds possessed good activities against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV); especially compound 4, containing a tert-butyl at the benzene ring, exhibited the best antiviral activity in vitro and inactivation, curative, and protection activities in vivo (48.4%, 58 ± 0.4, 55.2 ± 2.3, and 49.7 ± 1.1% at 500 μg/mL, respectively) compared with ribavirin (38.2, 36.4 ± 0.2, 37.5 ± 0.2, and 36.4 ± 0.1% at 500 μg/mL, respectively) and harmine (44.6, 40.5 ± 0.2, 38.6 ± 0.8, and 42.4 ± 0.6% at 500 μg/mL, respectively). At the same time, these compounds exhibited fungicidal activity selectively against certain fungi; most of these derivatives exhibited >60% fungicidal activity against Physalospora piricola at 50 mg/kg. Additionally, compounds 25 and 14 displayed excellent insecticidal activities (60% motality against C. pipiens pallens at 0.25 mg/kg) even at very low concentrations.

Background: Although chemokine stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and its receptor CXCR4 induce degradation of articular cartilage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA), the association between the SDF-1/CXCR4 pathway and degradation of the cartilaginous endplate and nucleus pulposus has not been thoroughly clarified. We investigated the expression of SDF-1 and CXCR4 in intervertebral discs (IVDs).Methods: SDF-1 and CXCR4 levels in human IVDs and the rat L5/6 motion segment were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. SDF-1 staining was quantified using a microscope and Image-Pro Plus software. Integrated optical density (IOD) served as the measurement parameter. The number of CXCR4 immunoreactive cells was expressed as a percentage of the total number of cells.Results: SDF-1 and CXCR4 were both expressed in IVDs, and the levels of SDF-1 and CXCR4 were both significantly higher in the degeneration group than in the normal group of human (or rat) discs. Both nucleus pulposus cells and cartilaginous endplate cells expressed the CXCR4 protein. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between the SDF-1 IOD value and the percentage of CXCR4-positive disc cells in the nucleus pulposus and cartilaginous endplate. The SDF-1 IOD values were significantly higher in the outer annular fibrosus and bone/endplate junction region than in the nucleus pulposus and cartilaginous endplate in the rat specimens.Conclusions: Our findings suggest upregulated expression of SDF-1 and its receptor CXCR4 in degenerated IVD.