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Achondroplasia is a kind of congenital dysplasia due to the defect of endochondral ossification. Achondroplasia is considered to be a protein folding disease leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress. Endoplasmic reticulum stress may lead to disease by affecting the function and survival state of chondrocytes, but the specific mechanism requires further study. In this study, bioinformatics methods, online database mining, screening of differentially expressed genes for pathway enrichment, and interaction analysis were conducted to detect the Wnt family member 5a (Wnt5a) gene. Additionally, we designed a novel DNAzymes-based nanocomposite that can simultaneously silence Wnt5a genes in chondrocytes. The nanocomposite was composed of amino-functionalized cobalt oxyhydroxide nanoflakes modified by DNAzymes that target the Wnt5a gene. Further, we conducted in vitro experiments to verify that Wnt5a can mediate the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway through the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway to affect the proliferation of chondrocytes.

A diamond race-track microring resonator was designed on a lithium niobate/silicon substrate in the optical communication band by combining the unique optical properties of diamond with the electro-optical characteristics of lithium niobate. The single-mode conditions, propagation loss, and dispersion of the waveguide were systematically investigated. The key parameters of the microring resonator (with and without a race-track structure), such as radius and gap size, were calculated and optimized by the 2.5-dimension variational finite-difference time-domain method. The electro-optical tunable performance of the race-track microring resonator was simulated and analyzed. The effects of waveguide core layer thickness and electric field strength on the electro-optical effect were simulated and discussed. The tunable filter characteristics of the microring were also analyzed. The proposed work will help in manufacturing multi-functional and high-performance photonic integrated devices for optical communications and quantum optics.

Kawasaki disease (KD) has emerged as one of the most common causes of pediatric acquired heart disease in developed countries. T cell abnormal activation is involved in the pathogenesis of KD. IVIG plus aspirin treatment is the first line for KD. Given that the responses of CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells after this treatment in the KD patients remain poorly understood, the present study aimed to determine and compare the frequency, activation and function of CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells before and after IVIG plus aspirin treatment in the KD patients using flow cytometry. The results showed that the most significant differences noted between before and after treatment were the reduced percentage of CD69+ CD4+ T cells, as well as the decreased frequency of Th17 cells and IL-22+ CD4+ T cells after IVIG treatment. Furthermore, IVIG plus aspirin treatment could not change the frequency of IFN-γ+CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood from the patients with KD, although CD69+CD8+ T cells were decreased. The down-regulation of activated T and Th17/IL-22 producing CD4+T cells after treatment in KD implies the role of Th17 cells and IL-22+ CD4+ T cells in the pathogenesis of KD.

Background Children are prone to get infections, especially in the respiratory system and the gut mainly because their immune system is immature. T cells significantly contribute to the prevention of infections, and different helper T cell (Th) subsets play different anti-pathogen roles. Interleukin (IL)-22 producing by T-helper 22 cells (Th22) play an important role in host defense against Gram-negative bacterial organisms in gut and lung. T-helper 17 cells (Th17) protect against extracelluar bacteria and fungi especially at the epithelial surface. However, there is no report comparing IL-22 producing T cells and Th17 cells in healthy young children to adults. Methods Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to observe whether Th22 subset existed in the peripheral blood of healthy young children. Meanwhile, we determined the frequencies of Th subsets including Th17, Th1 and Th2, cytotoxic T (Tc)1 subset, CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells in the peripheral blood of both young children and adults. Results In the present study, we demonstrated that Th22 subset existed in peripheral blood of children, with IL-22 mainly secreted by CD4 + CD45RO+ memory T cells. Moreover, we observed that IL-22 + CD4 + T cells and Th subsets including Th17, Th1, and Th2 frequencies of young children (1–6 years old) were significantly lower than adults. While the Th1 frequency from Group A (1–3 years old) was markedly lower than that from Group B (4–6 years old). No significant differences of Th17 or IL-22 + CD4 + T cells frequencies were observed between these two groups. In addition, Tc1 subset frequencies were also remarkably lower in young children than in adults. Furthermore, lower frequencies of CD45RO+ memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in young children than in adults, and significant correlation between CD45RO+ memory CD4 + T cells and IL-22 + CD4 + T cells, Th1, Th17 were observed. Conclusions Th22 subset exists in the peripheral blood of young children. Compared with adults, there are lower frequencies of IL-22 + CD4 + T cells, as well as Th1, Th17, Th2 and Tc1 subsets in the peripheral blood of young children.