Aim: This research aims to investigate the expression profile of circRNA in osteosarcoma and to identify the underlying pathogenesis core genes of osteosarcoma. Methods: Illumina HiSeq was used to screen differentially expressed circRNAs between the tumour tissues and paracancerous tissues of three osteosarcoma patients. Bioinformatics analysis was used to analyse their potential functions. Five differentially expressed circRNAs were selected to detect the relative expression level in tumour and paracancerous tissues of ten osteosarcoma patients by real-time PCR. The databases such as DisGeNET and miRWalk were used to collect related genes or miRNAs. Results: A total of 259 differentially expressed circRNAs were evaluated in patients with osteosarcoma, of which 132 were up-regulated and 127 were down-regulated. Compared with that in paracancerous tissues, circ_32279 and circ_24831 were significantly down-regulated while circ_2137 and circ_20403 were significantly up-regulated in osteosarcoma tissues. The differential expression of circRNA is closely linked to biological processes and molecular functions. The difference in circRNA was mainly linked to the ‘phosphatidylinositol signalling system’ signal pathway and the ‘inositol phosphate metabolism’ signal pathway. Conclusion: The present study identified a profile of abnormal regulation of circRNA in osteosarcoma. Bioinformatics analysis indicates that the deregulated circRNAs may be related to the occurrence and development of osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma has devastating health implications on children and adolescents. However, due to its low incidence and high tumor heterogeneity, it is hard to achieve any further improvements in therapy and overall survival. Ribosomal protein L34 (RPL34) has been increasingly recognized to promote the proliferation of malignant cells, but its role in osteosarcoma has not been investigated. In this study, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry revealed that RPL34 was highly expressed in osteosarcoma tissues when compared to adjacent tissues and normal bone tissues. Survival analysis showed that high expression of RPL34 predicted a poor prognosis for osteosarcoma patients. Knockdown of RPL34 in Saos-2 cells via lentivirus-mediated small interfering RNA (siRNA) significantly inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis and G2/M phase arrest. Moreover, screening of transcription factors using University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Genome Browser, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analysis revealed that MYC participates in the transcriptional regulation of RPL34, which interacts with the subunits of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (eIF3) and probably involves the translational control of growth-promoting proteins. Our findings suggest that RPL34 plays an important role in the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells.

Study StrategyA retrospective clinic study.PurposeTo evaluate the efficacy of conservative and surgical treatment for lumbosacral tuberculosis.MethodsThis study retrospectively reviewed 53 patients with lumbosacral tuberculosis who were treated in our institution between January 2005 and January 2011. There were 29 males and 24 females with average ages of 37.53 ± 17.28 years (range 6–72 years). 11 patients were given only anti-TB drugs; the remainder underwent anterior debridement, interbody fusion with and without instrumentation, or one-stage anterior debridement combined with posterior instrumentation. Outcome data for these patients included neurologic status, lumbosacral angle, erythrocyte sedimentation rate value(ESR) and C-reactive protein value(CRP) were assessed before and after treatment.ResultsThe mean lumbosacral angles were 23.00°± 2.90°in the conservatively treated patients and 22.36°± 3.92o in the surgically treated patients. At the final follow-up, this had improved to 24.10o ± 2.96°in the conservatively treated patients and 28.13° ± 1.93°in the surgically treated patients (all P < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences before and after treatment in terms of ESR and CRP (all P < 0.05). All patients achieved bone fusion. The mean follow-up period was 32.34 ± 8.13 months (range 18 to 55 months). The neurological deficit did not worsen in any of the patients.ConclusionsIt has been proven that conservative and surgical treatments are safe and effective and produce good clinical outcomes for patients with lumbosacral tuberculosis. The advantages of operation include thoroughness of debridement, decompression of the spinal cord, and adequate spinal stabilization.