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Microwave ablation (MWA) is an effective treatment for liver cancer (LC), but its impact on distant tumors remains to be fully elucidated. This study investigated the abscopal effects triggered by MWA treatment of LC, at different power levels and with or without combined immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI). We established a mouse model with bilateral subcutaneous LC and applied MWA of varied power levels to ablate the right-sided tumor, with or without immunotherapy. Left-sided tumor growth was monitored to assess the abscopal effect. Immune cell infiltration and distant tumor neovascularization were quantified via immunohistochemistry, revealing insights into the tumor microenvironment and neovascularization status. Th1- and Th2-type cytokine concentrations in peripheral blood were measured using ELISA to evaluate systemic immunological changes. It was found that MWA alone, especially at lower power, promoted distant tumor growth. On the contrary, combining high-power MWA with anti-programmed death (PD)-1 therapy promoted CD8+ T-cell infiltration, reduced regulatory T-cell infiltration, upregulated a Th1-type cytokine (TNF-α) in peripheral blood, and inhibited distant tumor growth. In summary, combining high-power MWA with ICI significantly enhances systemic antitumor immune responses and activates the abscopal effect, offering a facile and robust strategy for improving treatment outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore the expression of TRPV2 and its clinicopathological significance in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods Immunohistochemistry and western blot were used to detect TRPV2 expression level in OSCC; Pearson χ² test to analyze the association between TRPV2 expression level and clinicopathological features of OSCC patients; log-rank test to analyze the effect of TRPV2 on survival. Bioinformatics method was used to explore the potential biological function of TRPV2, and immunohistochemistry to verify the relationship between TRPV2 and macrophage infiltration level. Results Immunohistochemistry and western blot confirmed that TRPV2 was highly expressed in OSCC (P < 0.05). TRPV2 expression was significantly correlated with T stage, tumor histological grade and poor prognosis (P < 0.05). Bioinformatics method found that TRPV2 participated in PI3K/AKT pathway and regulated the level of immune cell infiltration; TRPV2 expression had strong positive correlation with the macrophage infiltration level (R = 0.562, P < 0.001). Conclusion The expression of TRPV2 is highly expressed in OSCC and associated with poor prognosis, and may take part in the occurrence and development of OSCC by regulating immune response and PI3K/AKT pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of visualizing a paraelectric Mn:KNTN crystal and measuring its Kerr electrooptic coefficient by digital holographic interferometry is presented. Digital holograms of the crystal with different voltages are recorded; a series of sequential phase maps of the KNTN crystal is numerically reconstructed from the holograms in different states to visualize the refractive index distribution. The spatial distribution of the induced refractive index change can be obtained by subtracting the phase of different voltages, and the effective electrooptic coefficient is calculated by means of the refractive index change. We obtain the Kerr coefficient of the Mn:KNTN crystal with R11 = 11.260 ×10-16 m2/V2 and R12 = -1.351 ×10-16 m2/V2 near its phase-transition temperature, and the research results show that the method presented in this paper is successful and feasible.

Although immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma using immune checkpoint inhibitors has achieved certain success, only a subset of patients benefits from this therapeutic strategy. The combination of immunostimulatory chemotherapeutics represents a promising strategy to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy. However, it is hampered by the poor delivery of conventional chemotherapeutics. Here, it is shown that H‐ferritin nanocages loaded with doxorubicin (DOX@HFn) show potent chemo‐immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma tumor models. DOX@HFn is constructed with uniform size, high stability, favorable drug loading, and intracellular acidity‐driven drug release. The receptor‐mediated targeting of DOX@HFn to liver cancer cells promote cellular uptake and tumor penetration in vitro and in vivo. DOX@HFn triggers immunogenic cell death to tumor cells and promotes the subsequent activation and maturation of dendritic cells. In vivo studies in H22 subcutaneous hepatoma demonstrate that DOX@HFn significantly inhibits the tumor growth with >30% tumors completely eliminated, while alleviating the systemic toxicity of free DOX. DOX@HFn also exhibits robust antitumor immune response and tumoricidal effect in a more aggressive Hepa1‐6 orthotopic liver tumor model, which is confirmed by the in situ magnetic resonance imaging and transcriptome sequencing. This study provides a facile and robust strategy to improve therapeutic efficacy of liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disorder. Previous studies have shown abnormally increased apoptosis of chondrocytes in patients and animal models of OA. TNF-a and nitric oxide have been reported to induce chondrocyte ageing; however, the mechanism of chondrocyte apoptosis induced by IL-1β has remained unclear. The aim of this study is to identify the role of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) - c-Jun pathway in regulating induction of Bim, and its implication in chondrocyte apoptosis. This study showed that Bim is upregulated in chondrocytes obtained from the articular cartilage of OA patients and in cultured mouse chondrocytes treated with IL-1β. Upregulation of Bim was found to be critical for chondrocyte apoptosis induced by IL-1β, as revealed by the genetic knockdown of Bim, wherein apoptosis was greatly reduced in the chondrocytes. Moreover, activation of the JNK-c-Jun pathway was observed under IL-1β treatment, as indicated by the increased expression levels of c-Jun protein. Suppression of the JNK-c-Jun pathway, using chemical inhibitors and RNA interference, inhibited the Bim upregulation induced by IL-1β. These findings suggest that the JNK-c-Jun pathway is involved in the upregulation of Bim during OA and that the JNK-c-Jun-Bim pathway is vital for chondrocyte apoptosis. Key words: JNK-c-Jun, Bim, osteoarthritis, apoptosis. L'osteoarthrite (OA) est une maladie degenerative chronique des articulations. Des etudes anterieures ont montre la presence d'une apoptose des chondrocytes anormalement elevee chez les patients et dans des modeles animaux d'OA. On rapporte que le TNF-a et l'oxyde nitrique induisent le vieillissement des chondrocytes ; toutefois, le mecanisme responsable de l'induction de l'apoptose des chondrocytes par l'IL-1β demeure flou. Le but de cette etude consiste a identifier le role de la voie JNK-c-Jun dans la regulation de l'induction de Bim, et son implication dans l'apoptose des chondrocytes. L'etude presente a montre que Bim est regule a la hausse chez les chondrocytes obtenus de cartilages articulaires de patients atteints d'OA et les chondrocytes de souris en culture traites a l'IL-1β. La regulation a la hausse de Bim s'est averee importante dans l'apoptose des chondrocytes induite par l'IL-1β, comme l'a revele l'ablation genetique de Bim qui reduisait grandement l'apoptose des chondrocytes. De plus, l'activation de la voie JNK-c-Jun etait observee lors d'un traitement a l'IL-1β, tel qu'indique par les niveaux accrus d'expression de c-Jun. La suppression de la voie JNK-c-Jun a l'aide d'inhibiteurs chimiques et de l'interference a l'ARN a conduit a l'inhibition de la regulation a la hausse de Bim induite par l'IL-1β. Ces donnees suggerent que la voie JNK-c-Jun est impliquee dans la regulation a la hausse de Bim en situation d'OA et que la voie JNK-c-Jun-Bim est cruciale a l'apoptose des chondrocytes. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: JNK-c-Jun, Bim, osteoarthrite, apoptose., Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most widespread joint disorder, involving the degradation of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. It is characterized by pain, tenderness, limitation of movement, crepitus, and intra-articular [...]