Haro, H. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2021

Prevalence of floating toe and its relationship with static postural stability in children: The Yamanashi adjunct study of the Japan Environment and Childrens Study (JECS-Y)

Floating toe (FT) is a frequently seen condition in which a toe is inadequately in contact with the ground. Although toes play an important role in stabilizing standing posture and walking, many aspects of the effects of FT on the body remain unclear. To our knowledge, there have been no reports about the relationship between FT and postural stability, especially in children. This study aimed to clarify the prevalence of FT and its relationship with static postural stability in children. Of the 400 children aged 8 years who participated in our cohort study, 396, who were examined for static postural stability, were included in this study. Postural stability and FT were assessed using a foot pressure plate. The sway path length of the center of pressure and the area of the ellipse defined as the size of the area marked by the center of pressure were measured as an evaluation of static postural stability. We calculated the "floating toe score (FT score: small FT score indicates insufficient ground contact of the toes)" using the image of the plantar footprint obtained at the postural stability measurement. The FT rate was very high at more than 90%, and the FT score in the eyes-closed condition was significantly higher than that in the eyes-open condition in both sexes. The FT score significantly correlated with the center of pressure path and area. Our results suggest that ground contact of the toes is not directly related to static postural stability in children, but it may function to stabilize the body when the condition becomes unstable, such as when the eyes are closed.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Synergistic anticancer effect of plasma-activated infusion and salinomycin by targeting autophagy and mitochondrial morphology

Non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP)-activated liquids have emerged as new promising anticancer agents because they preferentially injure malignant cells. Here, we report plasma-activated infusion (PAI) as a novel NTAP-based anti-neoplastic agent. PAI was prepared by irradiating helium NTAP to form a clinically approved infusion fluid. PAI dose-dependently killed malignant melanoma and osteosarcoma cell lines showed much lower cytotoxic effects on dermal and lung fibroblasts. We found that PAI and salinomycin (Sal), an emerging anti-cancer stem cell agent, mutually operated as adjuvants. Combined administration of PAI and Sal was much more effective than single agent application in reducing the growth and lung metastasis of osteosarcoma allografts with minimal adverse effects. Mechanistically, PAI explicitly induced necroptosis and increased the phosphorylation of receptor-interacting protein 1/3 in a rapid and transient manner. PAI also suppressed the ambient autophagic flux by activating the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. PAI increased the phosphorylation of Raptor, Rictor, and p70-S6 kinase, along with decreased LC3-I/II expression. In contrast, Sal promoted autophagy. Moreover, Sal exacerbated the mitochondrial network collapse caused by PAI, resulting in aberrant clustering of fragmented mitochondrial in a tumor-specific manner. Our findings suggest that combined administration of PAI and Sal is a promising approach for treating these apoptosis-resistant cancers.

cancer biology↗