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Objectives: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is often diagnosed with cervical lymph node metastasis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) signalling are considered to play important roles in promoting tumour malignancy. The detailed biological interaction of MSCs and IL‐6 and the subsequent effect on OSCC metastasis remain largely unclear. This study aimed to determine the effects and molecular mechanism of MSCs‐derived IL‐6 on tumour invasion and metastasis. Subjects and Methods: The effects of MSC‐derived IL‐6 and tocilizumab on the proliferation, mobility, and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) of OSCC cells and potential pathways were detected in vitro. In addition, a murine xenograft model was generated to verify the biological mechanism in vivo. Results: The results showed that the expression of MSCs and EMT‐related signals was increased in poorly differentiated OSCC tissues. MSCs released a higher level of IL‐6 and promoted the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of OSCC cells and solid neoplasms, which were activated by the downstream molecules JAK and STAT3. Conclusions: The results indicated that MSCs‐derived IL‐6‐promoted tumour invasion and metastasis via JAK–STAT3 signalling. Blockade of this pathway by tocilizumab may be a potential treatment to improve the prognosis and survival rate of patients with OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on Oral lichen planus (OLP) being a T-cell-mediated chronic inflammatory disease clinically manifested as striated lacy hyperkeratosis. Topics include lymphocytes showing cytotoxicity leading to apoptosis of keratinocytes; and Langerhans cells presenting the MHC class II-associated antigen to CD4+helper T cells secreting large amounts of IL-2 and interferon-c.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in the normal arterial media continually express contractile phenotypic markers which are reduced dramatically in response to injury. Tripartite motif‐containing proteins are a family of scaffold proteins shown to regulate gene silencing, cell growth, and differentiation. We here investigated the biological role of tripartite motif‐containing 28 (TRIM28) and tripartite motif‐containing 27 (TRIM27) in VSMCs. We observed that siRNA‐mediated knockdown of TRIM28 and TRIM27 inhibited platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF)‐induced migration in human VSMCs. Both TRIM28 and TRIM27 can regulate serum response element activity and were required for maintaining the contractile gene expression in human VSMCs. At the same time, TRIM28 and TRIM27 knockdown reduced the expression of PDGF receptor‐β (PDGFRβ) and the phosphorylation of its downstream signaling components. Immunoprecipitation showed that TRIM28 formed complexes with TRIM27 through its N‐terminal RING‐B boxes‐Coiled‐Coil domain. Furthermore, TRIM28 and TRIM27 were shown to be upregulated and mediate the VSMC contractile marker gene and PDGFRβ expression in differentiating human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. In conclusion, we identified that TRIM28 and TRIM27 cooperatively maintain the endogenous expression of PDGFRβ and contractile phenotype of human VSMCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) play a significant role in both embryonic development and in adults. Upon binding with ligands, FGFR signaling is activated and triggers various downstream signal cascades that are implicated in diverse biological processes. Aberrant regulations of FGFR signaling are detected in numerous cancers. Although FGFR4 was discovered later than other FGFR, information on the involvement of FGFR4 in cancers has significantly increased in recent years. In this review, the recent findings in FGFR4 structure, signaling transduction, physiological function, aberrant regulations, and effects in cancers as well as its potential applications as an anticancer therapeutic target are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents the original design of a microelectromechanical systems inertial switch with ultra‐low threshold (∼0.6 g) and great potential for batch manufacturing. The gravity is utilized to narrow the gap between electrodes during operation, defined here as threshold compensation. This lightens the fabrication burden, enabling the device to be made by standard silicon‐on‐glass micromachining without excessive optimization. Finite element analysis has been conducted to demonstrate positive effects of gravity involvement (9.4 μm reduction of the gap) and compliance design of the movable electrodes (multiplied contact time and less than half coefficient of restitution). Fabricated inertial switches have been installed into a vibration system to test fundamental characteristics. Under vibration conditions with amplitude of 0.6 g and frequencies from 25 to 40 Hz, the devices achieve reliable switching with triggering time ranging from 81.2 to 119.3 μs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 1 × 8 MEMS (micro-electronic mechanical system(-based flexible integrated optical device with optical switch and variable optical power attenuating functions has been proposed to optimally serve optical fiber-based networking applications.The device manipulates the light with binary-slope mirrors driven by compound electrostatic actuator. The optical models for switching and attenuating are investigated, respectively. Performances of the fabricated devices assembled with ball-lensed fibers are measured and discussed. Measurements reveal that the insertion loss of the device is less than 2.8 dB and the controllable attenuation range is up to 39 dB, respectively. Moreover, polarization-dependent loss is less than 0.8 dB in the whole attenuation range. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:231-236, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27293 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) 16×16 free space optical switch based on high-reflectivity mirrors. The mirror monolithically integrated with the fiber grooves can enlarge its rotation angles up to 90°, and keep this as a steady state to steer the optical signal. The reflectivity of the mirror is measured to be 93.1 ∼ 96.3%. The smallest fiber-mirror-fiber insertion loss is 2.1 dB by utilizing optiFocusTM collimating lensed fibers. Moreover, only about ±0.01 dB oscillating amplitude of insertion loss is provoked after the device is tested for 15 min for 5 ∼ 90 Hz in the vertical vibration amplitude of 3 mm. In addition, excellent antifatigue performance of the mirror, which can endure more than 109 cycles of actuation, has been proven. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 3012–3016, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23879 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Letter proposes a novel 3‐hot‐wire acoustic particle velocity sensor with high sensitivity and low self‐noise for the first time. Three parallel wires, covered with platinum film, are suspended on silicon substrate by MEMS process. The middle wire works as a heater and the left and right ones work as both heaters and temperature sensors. Compared with the 1‐hot‐wire and 2‐hot‐wire counterparts, this sensor has higher sensitivity and lower self‐noise, showing its potential for sound source localisation, acoustic camera and so on. The self‐noise of the sensor is about 15dB/Hz at 1 kHz and the relative direction sensitivity is as high as 42 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]