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In the context of cervical cancer prevention, where human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is pivotal, HPV testing is replacing Pap Smear in primary screening. This transition offers an opportunity for integrating self-sampling to enhance coverage. We evaluated the accuracy of HPV testing using self-collected urine and vaginal samples, comparing them to physician-collected cervical swabs. From a cohort of 245 women with abnormal cytology, we collected self-sampled vaginal, urine, and clinician-administered cervical specimens. Employing Anyplex™II HPV28 assay, outcomes revealed HPV positivity rates of 75.1% (cervical), 78.4% (vaginal), and 77.1% (urine). Significant, hr-HPV detection concordance was observed between self-taken cervical samples and clinical counterparts (k = 0.898 for vaginal; k = 0.715 for urine). This study extends beyond accuracy, highlighting self-collected sample efficacy in detecting high-grade cervical lesions. The insight underscores self-sampling's role in bolstering participation and aligns with WHO's goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Despite important advances in the understanding of the genetics of infant acute myeloid leukemia (AML), it is still unclear why this blood cancer has features that are distinct to adult AML. Infant AML can often have prenatal origins, but the cell of origin has not been conclusively determined. Using transgenic mice, we found that the introduction of the Mll-Af9 inter-chromosomal rearrangement in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-independent progenitors results in a transplantable myeloid leukemia. Thus, we hypothesize that the peculiar characteristics of embryonic hematopoiesis might play a key role in determining the disease phenotype and leukemic progression. Infant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease, genetically distinct from its adult counterpart. Chromosomal translocations involving the KMT2A gene (MLL) are especially common in affected infants of less than 1 year of age, and are associated with a dismal prognosis. While these rearrangements are likely to arise in utero, the cell of origin has not been conclusively identified. This knowledge could lead to a better understanding of the biology of the disease and support the identification of new therapeutic vulnerabilities. Over the last few years, important progress in understanding the dynamics of fetal hematopoiesis has been made. Several reports have highlighted how hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) provide little contribution to fetal hematopoiesis, which is instead largely sustained by HSC-independent progenitors. Here, we used conditional Cre-Lox transgenic mouse models to engineer the Mll-Af9 translocation in defined subsets of embryonic hematopoietic progenitors. We show that embryonic hematopoiesis is generally permissive for Mll-Af9-induced leukemic transformation. Surprisingly, the selective introduction of Mll-Af9 in HSC-independent progenitors generated a transplantable myeloid leukemia, whereas it did not when introduced in embryonic HSC-derived cells. Ex vivo engineering of the Mll-Af9 rearrangement in HSC-independent progenitors using a CRISPR/Cas9-based approach resulted in the activation of an aberrant myeloid-biased self-renewal program. Overall, our results demonstrate that HSC-independent hematopoietic progenitors represent a permissive environment for Mll-Af9-induced leukemic transformation, and can likely act as cells of origin of infant AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global outbreak of human monkeypox virus (hMPXV1) in 2022 highlighted the usefulness of dermatological manifestations for its diagnosis. Infection by the human monkeypox virus thus necessitated inclusion in the diagnostic repertoire of dermatopathology. To assess the histopathological and microscopical findings of cutaneous lesions related to hMPXV infection, we analyzed skin biopsies from patients with positive MPXV DNA polymerase chain reaction presenting with a typical course of hMPXV1 infection. The most prominent histopathological findings were ascribable to a pustular stage in which epidermal necrosis with areas of non-viable keratinocytes and a "shadow cell" appearance were evident; in some cases, the deep portion of the hair follicle and the acrosyringial epithelium were affected. The main cytopathic modifications included ballooning keratinocytes, followed by Guarnieri bodies and a ground glass appearance of the keratinocytes' nuclei, together with a dense mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate with prominent neutrophil exocytosis. Transmission electron microscopy analysis demonstrated viral particle aggregates in the cytoplasm of keratinocytes, without any involvement of the nucleus. Interestingly, we also found the presence of viral particles in infected mesenchymal cells, although to a lesser extent than in epithelial cells. Through this study, we contributed to expanding the histological and microscopic knowledge of the human mpox virus, a key step to understanding current and potential future trends of the disease, as well as of other Orthopoxvirus infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of patients with Follicular Lymphoma (FL) experience subsequent phases of remission and relapse, making the disease "virtually" incurable. To predict the outcome of FL patients at diagnosis, various clinical-based prognostic scores have been proposed; nonetheless, they continue to fail for a subset of patients. Gene expression profiling has highlighted the pivotal role of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in the FL prognosis; nevertheless, there is still a need to standardize the assessment of immune-infiltrating cells for the prognostic classification of patients with early or late progressing disease. We studied a retrospective cohort of 49 FL lymph node biopsies at the time of the initial diagnosis using pathologist-guided analysis on whole slide images, and we characterized the immune repertoire for both quantity and distribution (intrafollicular, IF and extrafollicular, EF) of cell subsets in relation to clinical outcome. We looked for the natural killer (CD56), T lymphocyte (CD8, CD4, PD1) and macrophage (CD68, CD163, MA4A4A)-associated markers. High CD163/CD8 EF ratios and high CD56/MS4A4A EF ratios, according to Kaplan–Meier estimates were linked with shorter EFS (event-free survival), with the former being the only one associated with POD24. In contrast to IF CD68+ cells, which represent a more homogeneous population, higher in non-progressing patients, EF CD68+ macrophages did not stratify according to survival. We also identify distinctive MS4A4A+CD163-macrophage populations with different prognostic weights. Enlarging the macrophage characterization and combining it with a lymphoid marker in the rituximab era, in our opinion, may enable prognostic stratification for low-/high-grade FL patients beyond POD24. These findings warrant validation across larger FL cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HPV testing in cervical cancer screening programs offers the possibility of introducing molecular standardized biomarkers for the triage of HPV-positive women. This study aimed to evaluate the role of HPV genotyping and viral load as possible diagnostic biomarkers of high-grade cervical lesions (CIN2+) by performing a preliminary evaluation of a new HPV test. Cervical specimens were obtained from 200 women referred for a colposcopy. Samples were tested using both Anyplex™ II HR-HPV as well as OncoPredict HPV® Screening (SCR) and quantitative typing (QT). Using a cycle threshold cutoff (Ct) of 36.8 for the SCR assay and 1.27 log10 (viral copies/104 cells) for the QT assay, relative clinical sensitivity for CIN2+ and relative clinical specificity for CIN2− as compared to Anyplex™ II HR-HPV were, respectively, 0.92 and 1.00 for SCR and 1.35 and 1.24 for QT. The distribution of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) genotypes (p = 0.009) as well as the viral copy numbers (CIN2−: 3.7 log10 (viral copies/104 human cells); CIN2+: 4.3 log10 (viral copies/104 human cells); p = 0.047) were found to differ in women with high- and low-grade cervical lesions, suggesting a possible role of HPV genotyping and normalized viral load as potential biomarkers to identify women at increased risk of cervical lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cerebral synthesis of cholesterol is mainly handled by astrocytes, which are also responsible for apoproteins' synthesis and lipoproteins' assembly required for the cholesterol transport in the brain parenchyma. In Alzheimer disease (AD), these processes are impaired, likely because of the astrogliosis, a process characterized by morphological and functional changes in astrocytes. Several ATP-binding cassette transporters expressed by brain cells are involved in the formation of nascent discoidal lipoproteins, but the effect of beta-amyloid (Aβ) assemblies on this process is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated how of Aβ1-42-induced astrogliosis affects the metabolism of cholesterol in vitro. We detected an impairment in the cholesterol efflux of reactive astrocytes attributable to reduced levels of ABCA1 transporters that could explain the decreased lipoproteins' levels detected in AD patients. To approach this issue, we designed biomimetic HDLs and evaluated their performance as cholesterol acceptors. The results demonstrated the ability of apoA-I nanodiscs to cross the blood–brain barrier in vitro and to promote the cholesterol efflux from astrocytes, making them suitable as a potential supportive treatment for AD to compensate the depletion of cerebral HDLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual functionalized liposomes were developed to cross the blood−brain barrier (BBB) and to release their cargo in a pathological matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-rich microenvironment. Liposomes were surface-functionalized with a modified peptide deriving from the receptor-binding domain of apolipoprotein E (mApoE), known to promote cargo delivery to the brain across the BBB in vitro and in vivo; and with an MMP-sensitive moiety for an MMP-triggered drug release. Different MMP-sensitive peptides were functionalized at both ends with hydrophobic stearate tails to yield MMP-sensitive lipopeptides (MSLPs), which were assembled into mApoE liposomes. The resulting bi-functional liposomes (i) displayed a < 180 nm diameter with a negative ζ-potential; (ii) were able to cross an in vitro BBB model with an endothelial permeability of 3 ± 1 × 10−5 cm/min; (iii) when exposed to functional MMP2 or 9, efficiently released an encapsulated fluorescein dye; (iv) showed high biocompatibility when tested in neuronal cultures; and (v) when loaded with glibenclamide, a drug candidate with poor aqueous solubility, reduced the release of proinflammatory cytokines from activated microglial cells.

The cerebral synthesis of cholesterol is mainly handled by astrocytes, which are also responsible for apoproteins' synthesis and lipoproteins' assembly required for the cholesterol transport in the brain parenchyma. In Alzheimer disease (AD), these processes are impaired, likely because of the astrogliosis, a process characterized by morphological and functional changes in astrocytes. Several ATP-binding cassette transporters expressed by brain cells are involved in the formation of nascent discoidal lipoproteins, but the effect of beta-amyloid (Aβ) assemblies on this process is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated how of Aβ 1-42 -induced astrogliosis affects the metabolism of cholesterol in vitro. We detected an impairment in the cholesterol efflux of reactive astrocytes attributable to reduced levels of ABCA1 transporters that could explain the decreased lipoproteins' levels detected in AD patients. To approach this issue, we designed biomimetic HDLs and evaluated their performance as cholesterol acceptors. The results demonstrated the ability of apoA-I nanodiscs to cross the blood-brain barrier in vitro and to promote the cholesterol efflux from astrocytes, making them suitable as a potential supportive treatment for AD to compensate the depletion of cerebral HDLs.