Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common types of malignancies worldwide, and its morbidity and mortality have increased in the near term. Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to identify the notable differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in their pathogenesis to obtain new biomarkers or potential therapeutic targets for OSCC. The gene expression profiles of the microarray datasets GSE85195, GSE23558, and GSE10121 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. After screening the DEGs in each GEO dataset, 249 DEGs in OSCC tissues were obtained. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology pathway enrichment analysis was employed to explore the biological functions and pathways of the above DEGs. A protein-protein interaction network was constructed to obtain a central gene. The corresponding total survival information was analyzed in patients with oral cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). A total of six candidate genes (CXCL10, OAS2, IFIT1, CCL5, LRRK2, and PLAUR) closely related to the survival rate of patients with oral cancer were identified, and expression verification and overall survival analysis of six genes were performed based on TCGA database. Timedependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis yields predictive accuracy of the patient's overall survival. At the same time, the six genes were further verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using samples obtained from the patients recruited to the present study. In conclusion, the present study identified the prognostic signature of six genes in OSCC for the first time via comprehensive bioinformatics analysis, which could become potential prognostic markers for OCSS and may provide potential therapeutic targets for tumors.

Background The forkhead box F2 gene (FOXF2) located in chromosome 6p25.3 has been shown to play a crucial role in palatal development in mouse and rat models. To date, no evidence of linkage or association has been reported for this gene in humans with oral clefts. Methods Allelic transmission disequilibrium tests were used to robustly assess evidence of linkage and association with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) for 9 SNPs in and around FOXF2 in both Asian and European trios using PLINK. Results Statistically significant evidence of linkage and association was shown for two SNPs (rs1711968, and rs732835) in 216 Asian trios where the empiric P values with permutation tests were 0.0016 and 0.005, respectively. The corresponding estimated odds ratios for carrying the minor allele at these SNPs were 2.05 (95%CI=1.41, 2.98) and 1.77 (95%CI=1.26, 2.49), respectively. Conclusions Our results provided statistical evidence of linkage and association between FOXF2 and NSCL/P.

Dietary nitrate, found abundant in green vegetables, can be absorbed into the blood and be converted to nitric oxide (NO) in the body. Dietary nitrate has been proved to have many positive physiological functions in the body. Here, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of dietary nitrate on skin flap recovery following ischemia reperfusion (IR). Wistar rats were pretreated with nitrate from one week prior to ischemia to the end of reperfusion. It was found that oral administration of nitrate increased serum nitrate and nitrite levels, protected cells from apoptosis, and attenuated flap tissue edema. In the meantime, the oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde was reduced, while the activities of antioxidant enzymes were restored after nitrate treatment. Moreover, the macrophage and neutrophil infiltration in the flap was significantly attenuated by nitrate supplementation, as were the pro-inflammatory cytokines. In sum, we found that oral administration of nitrate can attenuate skin flap IR injury through the regulation of oxidative stress and inflammatory response.

The present study aimed to investigate gene mutations in the displacement‑loop (D‑loop) region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in order to examine the role of gene mutation in mtDNA in OSCC tumorigenesis. mtDNA was obtained from cancer tissues, paracancerous tissues and normal mucosal tissues of thirty patients with OSCC. The D‑loop region of the mtDNA was amplified using polymerase chain reaction, sequenced and then analyzed by Chromas software and BLAST to identify the mutation sites. Mutations in the D‑loop region were observed in the cancer tissue samples of eight out of thirty cases with OSCC, with a mutation rate of 27%. There were nine mutations in total, including one point mutation, two base deletions, three insertion mutations and three heterozygous mutations. In these mutations, base deletions were different from each other and heterozygous mutations did not have the same mutation form; however, the three insertion mutations were the same, consisting of an insertion of a C base. One case contained a T/A heterozygous mutation as well as base insertion of C. The eight cases with mutations in the D‑loop region consisted of three cases of tongue cancer, two cases of soft palate cancer, one case of floor of the mouth cancer, one case of oropharyngeal cancer and one case of lip cancer. This study demonstrated mutations in the mtDNA D‑loop region in OSCC cells; however, the association between occurrences of OSCC and mtDNA mutations requires further investigation.

The aim of the present study was to construct functional tissue-engineered bone with cell sheet technology and compare the efficacy of this method with that of traditional bone tissue engineering techniques. Canine bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were isolated using density gradient centrifugation and then cultured. The BMSCs were induced to differentiate into osteoblasts and cultured in temperature-responsive culture dishes. The BMSCs detached automatically from the temperature-responsive culture dishes when the temperature was reduced to 20°C, forming an intact cell sheet. Demineralized bone matrix (DBM) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) were prepared and used to construct a DBM/PRP/BMSC cell sheet/BMSC complex, which was implanted under the left latissimus dorsi muscle in a dog model. A DBM/PRP/BMSC complex was used as a control and implanted under the right latissimus dorsi muscle in the dog model. Immunoblot assays were performed to detect the levels of growth factors. Osteogenesis was observed to be induced significantly more effectively in the DBM/PRP/BMSC cell sheet/BMSC implants than in the DBM/PRP/BMSC implants. Immunoblot assay results indicated that the levels of the growth factors platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the experimental group were 3.2- and 2.5-fold higher compared with those in the control group, respectively. These results indicated that the BMSC cell sheets were functional and more effective than the control cell complex. Therefore, cell sheet technology may be used for the effective construction of functional tissue-engineered bone with ideal properties.