Chongqing Emergency Medical Center

Chondrocyte viability, apoptosis, and migration are closely related to cartilage injury in osteoarthritis (OA) joints. Exosomes are identified as potential therapeutic agents for OA.

This study aimed to investigate the role of exosomes derived from osteocytes in OA, particularly focusing on their effects on cartilage repair and molecular mechanisms.

An injury cell model was established by treating chondrocytes with IL-1β. Cartilage repair was evaluated using cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry, scratch test, and Western Blot. Molecular mechanisms were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR, bioinformatic analysis, and Western Blot. An OA mouse model was established to explore the role of exosomal DLX2 in vivo.

Osteocyte-released exosomes promoted cell viability and migration, and inhibited apoptosis and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. Moreover, exosomes upregulated DLX2 expression, and knockdown of DLX2 activated the Wnt pathway. Additionally, exosomes attenuated OA in mice by transmitting DLX2.

Osteocyte-derived exosomal DLX2 alleviated IL-1β-induced cartilage repair and inactivated the Wnt pathway, thereby alleviating OA progression. The findings suggested that osteocyte-derived exosomes may hold promise as a treatment for OA.

Accurate intracellular visualization of human telomerase RNA (hTR) is imperative for early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While isothermal amplification-based DNA cascade strategies are promising, challenges persist in achieving great intake efficiency of detection probes within tumor cells and enhancing intracellular reaction efficiency. This study introduces a SA@Comb-HCR nanosystem, a highly effective approach for in situ hTR detection in HCC cells. Sodium alginate-coated liposomes ensures efficient nanoprobe delivery, which are then combined with proximity effect-inspired signal amplification. The coating of sodium alginate facilitates receptor-mediated endocytosis, prevents serum protein adhesion, and mitigates cationic liposome cytotoxicity. The designed Comb-like consolidated hairpin probe enhances the concentration of the local reactant, resulting in cascade amplification upon hTR activation. This technique achieves precision detection of intracellularly overexpressed hTR in HCC cells with a remarkable detection limit of 0.7 pM. This approach holds great promise for advancing targeted and sensitive early clinical diagnosis of HCC.