Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease common in the elderly population and imposes significant health and economic burden. Total joint replacement is the only currently available treatment but does not prevent cartilage degeneration. The molecular mechanism of OA, especially the role of inflammation in disease progression, is incompletely understood. We collected knee joint synovial tissue samples of eight OA patients and two patients with popliteal cysts (controls), measured the expression levels of lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs in these tissues by RNA-seq, and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and key pathways. In the OA group, 343 mRNAs, 270 lncRNAs, and 247 miRNAs were significantly upregulated, and 232 mRNAs, 109 lncRNAs, and 157 miRNAs were significantly downregulated. mRNAs potentially targeted by lncRNAs were predicted. Nineteen overlapped miRNAs were screened based on our sample data and GSE 143514 data. Pathway enrichment and functional annotation analyses showed that the inflammation-related transcripts CHST11, ALDH1A2, TREM1, IL-1β, IL-8, CCL5, LIF, miR-146a-5p, miR-335-5p, lncRNA GAS5, LINC02288, and LOC101928134 were differentially expressed. In this study, inflammation-related DEGs and non-coding RNAs were identified in synovial samples, suggesting that competing endogenous RNAs have a role in OA. TREM1, LIF, miR146-5a, and GAS5 were identified to be OA-related genes and potential regulatory pathways. This research helps elucidate the pathogenesis of OA and identify novel therapeutic targets for this disorder.

The micro/nano-Fe 3 O 4 prepared by solvothermal method was embedded in silica to afford a core-shell structure of Fe 3 O 4 @ SiO 2 . The magnetic solid acid, Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -SO 3 H, was obtained by the sulfonation of the core-shell composite, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Its acid content and application performance for cellulose hydrolysis were further investigated. The saturation magnetization and maximum acid content of the solid acid are found to be 9.81 emu•g −1 and 3.36 mmol•g −1 , respectively. The solid acid catalyzed cellulose hydrolysis at 150 ℃ with the solid acid dose of 2.5 g per gram cellulose produces glucose in the yield of 59.91% in 7 h. The solid acid is successfully recycled from the hydrolysate with a magnet, and the magnetization and catalysis performance for cellulose hydrolysis show no significant changes in 5 cycles.

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Background: The most common joint illness is osteoarthritis (OA). The goal of this work was to find changes in gene signatures between normal knee joints and OA tissue samples and look for prospective gene targets for OA. Methods: The gene expression profiles of GSE12021, GSE51588, and GSE55457 were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Total 64 samples (40 OA and 24 standard control samples) were used. The limma program was used to find differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in OA versus NC. Functional annotation and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction of OA-specific DEGs were performed. Finally, the candidate drugs and herbs as potential drugs to treat OA were predicted in the DGIdb and TCMIO databases. Results: 19 upregulated and 27 downregulated DEGs between OA and NC samples. DEGs such as PTN, COMP, NELL1 and MN1 have shown a significant correlation with OA and are expected to become new biomarkers. Cellular senescence,Positive regulation of ossification and Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were significantly enriched for OA‐specific DEGs.In cell composition analysis, DEGs were also found to be highly enriched in the cytosol.We have identified a total of 68 types of drugs or molecular compounds that are promising to reverse OA-related DEGs.Honeycomb and cinnamon oil have the possibility of treating OA. Conclusion: Our findings suggest new biomarkers that can be used to diagnose OA. Furthermore, we tried to find drugs and traditional Chinese medicine that may improve the progress of OA. This research may improve the identification and treatment of these uncontrollable chronic diseases.