Publications by authors named "Xiao-Xing Kou"

Article Synopsis
  • Collagen is crucial for the structure of TMJ discs, but chronic inflammation from disorders can weaken its mechanical properties, although the exact effects on disc function are not fully understood.
  • In a study with Sprague-Dawley rats, chronic TMJ inflammation was induced, showing changes in collagen arrangement and properties using various imaging techniques, like staining and atomic force microscopy.
  • Results indicated that inflammation led to a disordered collagen structure and mechanical weakness, highlighting how prolonged inflammation harms collagen integrity in TMJ discs.
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Objectives: Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) is approximately twice as prevalent in women than in men. Synoviocytes are believed to play a critical role in joint inflammation. However, it is unknown whether synoviocytes from different genders possess sexual dimorphisms that contribute to female-predominant TMJOA.

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Sex hormones may contribute to the symptomatology of female-predominant temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) inflammatory pain. Pregnant women show less symptoms of TMDs than that of non-pregnant women. Whether progesterone (P4), one of the dominant sex hormones that regulates multiple biological functions, is involved in symptoms of TMDs remains to be explored.

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The complex interaction between extracellular matrix and cells makes the design of materials for dental regeneration challenging. Chemical composition is an important characteristic of biomaterial surfaces, which plays an essential role in modulating the adhesion and function of cells. The effect of different chemical groups on directing the fate of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) was thus explored in our study.

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Mechanical tension is widely applied on the suture to modulate the growth of craniofacial bones. Deeply understanding the features of bone formation in expanding sutures could help us to improve the outcomes of clinical treatment and avoid some side effects. Although there are reports that have uncovered some biological characteristics, the regular pattern of sutural bone formation in response to expansion forces is still unknown.

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The host immune response to bone biomaterials is vital in determining the fate of scaffolds and also the outcomes of bone regeneration. Mineralized collagen is an ideal tissue-engineering scaffold for bone repair; however, little is known about its immunomodulatory properties after implantation. In this study, extrafibrillarly-mineralized collagen (EMC) and intrafibrillarly-mineralized collagen (IMC) scaffolds with different nanostructures were fabricated and their immunomodulatory properties via macrophage polarization during bone regeneration were investigated.

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The interplay between stem cells and their extracellular microenvironment is of critical importance to the stem cell-based therapeutics in regenerative medicine. Mineralized collagen is the main component of bone extracellular matrix, but the effect of interfacial properties of mineralized collagen on subsequent cellular behaviors is unclear. This study examined the role of surface chemistry of nanoscale mineralized collagen on human periodontal ligament stem cell (hPDLSC) fate decisions.

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Women with reproductive capability are more likely to suffer from temporomandibular disorders (TMD), with orofacial pain as the most common complaint. In the past, we focused on the role of estradiol in TMD pain through the nervous system. In this study, we explored estradiol's influence on synoviocyte gene expressions involved in the allodynia of the inflamed TMJ.

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Macrophages play a major role in joint inflammation. Estrogen is involved in rheumatoid arthritis and temporomandibular disorders. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear.

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Estrogen is involved in inflammation/pain of temporomandibular joint (TMJ), but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Cadherin-11 plays an essential role in synovial inflammation. This study examined whether estrogen could potentiate cadherin-11 in synoviocytes and contribute to TMJ inflammatory pain.

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Specificity protein 1 (Sp1) is often overexpressed in cancer cells. Its binding sites are known to exist in the phosphatase and tension homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) promoter. In this study, we hypothesized that Sp1 negatively regulates PTEN expression.

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Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is an important subtype of temporomandibular disorders. A simple and reproducible animal model that mimics the histopathologic changes, both in the cartilage and subchondral bone, and clinical symptoms of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) would help in our understanding of its process and underlying mechanism.

Objective: To explore whether injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) into the upper compartment of rat TMJ could induce OA-like lesions.

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Unlabelled: The hippocampus is believed to play an important role in sex-based differences of pain perception. Whether estrogen potentiates allodynia in the inflamed temporomandibular joint (TMJ) through affecting the expressions of pain-related genes in the hippocampus remains largely unknown. Because the nerve growth factor (NGF) is an important gene related to inflammatory pain, we tested whether hippocampal NGF may be involved in TMJ inflammatory pain.

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Objective: Women of childbearing age are more likely than men to experience temporomandibular disorders, with pain as the main symptom. Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) inflammation is believed to be a major reason for TMJ pain. Whether sex hormones are involved in the sexual dimorphism of TMJ inflammation and pain remains to be elucidated.

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Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) predominantly affect reproductive female patients, with pain the most frequent complaint. Although estrogens are believed to play important roles in TMD pain, the mechanism underlying modulation of TMD pain by estrogens remains largely unknown. Accumulating evidence implies that the hippocampus is involved in sexual dimorphism of pain sensitivity.

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