Liver transplantation (LT) has become a standard treatment for end-stage liver diseases, and graft injury is intricately associated with poor prognosis. Granzyme B (GZMB) plays a vital role in natural killer (NK) cell biology, but whether NK-derived GZMB affects graft injury remains elusive. Through the analysis of single-cell RNA-sequencing data obtained from human LT grafts and the isolation of lymphocytes from mouse livers following ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), we demonstrated that 2NK cells with high expression of GZMB are enriched in patients and mice. Both systemically and liver-targeted depletion of NK cells led to a notable reduction in GZMB⁺ cell infiltration, subsequently resulting in diminished graft injury. Notably, the reconstitution of Il2rg ^-/- Rag2 ^-/- mice with purified Gzmb-KO NK cells demonstrated superior outcomes compared to those with wild-type NK cells. Crucially, global knockout of GZMB and pharmacological inhibition exhibited remarkable improvements in liver function in both mouse IRI and rat LT models. Moreover, a phosphorylated derivative of FDA-approved vidarabine was identified as an effective inhibitor of mouse GZMB activity by molecular dynamics, which could provide a potential avenue for therapeutic intervention. Therefore, targeting NK cell-derived GZMB during the LT process suggests potential therapeutic strategies to improve post-transplant outcomes.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and is a major cause of cancer-related mortalities worldwide (Forner et al., 2018; He et al., 2023). Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by an accelerated loss of skeletal muscle (SM) mass that may be age-related or the result of malnutrition in cancer patients (Cruz-Jentoft and Sayer, 2019). Preoperative sarcopenia in HCC patients treated with hepatectomy or liver transplantation is an independent risk factor for poor survival (Voron et al., 2015; van Vugt et al., 2016). Previous studies have used various criteria to define sarcopenia, including muscle area and density. However, the lack of standardized diagnostic methods for sarcopenia limits their clinical use. In 2018, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) renewed a consensus on the definition of sarcopenia: low muscle strength, loss of muscle quantity, and poor physical performance (Cruz-Jentoft et al., 2019). Radiological imaging-based measurement of muscle quantity or mass is most commonly used to evaluate the degree of sarcopenia. The gold standard is to measure the SM and/or psoas muscle (PM) area using abdominal computed tomography (CT) at the third lumbar vertebra (L3), as it is linearly correlated to whole-body SM mass (van Vugt et al., 2016). According to a "North American Expert Opinion Statement on Sarcopenia," SM index (SMI) is the preferred measure of sarcopenia (Carey et al., 2019). The variability between morphometric muscle indexes revealed that they have different clinical relevance and are generally not applicable to broader populations (Esser et al., 2019).
Humans ; Aged ; Sarcopenia/diagnostic imaging* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/diagnostic imaging* ; Muscle, Skeletal/diagnostic imaging* ; Deep Learning ; Prognosis ; Radiomics ; Liver Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Retrospective Studies

Objective:To investigate the changes of β-cell dedifferentiation in type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) and aging subjects.Methods:Using pancreatic samples from 12 prediabetic individuals, 21 type 2 diabetic patients, and 27 control, the level of β-cell dedifferentiation was assessed by immunofluorescence staining for FOXO1 and insulin expression. Correlation analyses were performed between β-cell dedifferentiation levels and hemoglobin A 1C(HbA 1C) level in 60 human pancreatic samples. Correlation analyses were performed between β-cell dedifferentiation levels and age in non-diabetic and T2DM. Results:FOXO1 was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of human islet β-cells. The proportion of FOXO1 -INS + /INS + cells in T2DM significantly increased compared with control and pre-diabetes, and positively correlated with HbA 1C level( r=0.623, P<0.001). The proportion of FOXO1 -INS + /INS + cells in the young group of T2DM was significantly higher than that in the non-diabetic young and elderly groups, and further significantly increased in elderly group. In T2DM, the proportion of FOXO1 -INS + /INS + cells was positively correlated with age( r=-0.53, P<0.05). Conclusion:Hyperglycemia and aging lead to an increased level of β-cell dedifferentiation in T2DM.

To construct monoclonal antibodies against Haemonchus contortus native H11 protein.In this study,five 4-6 weeks female BALB/c mice were immunized with native H11 protein extrac-ted from adult worms by Concanavalin A lectin.Spleen cells were isolated and fused with SP2/0 cells after 3 times of immunization.Two hybridoma cell lines,named A1E3 and A10E1,which could stably secrete monoclonal antibodies against H11 protein were obtained.The subtype identi-fication and immunological analysis showed that the heavy chain of the two monoclonal antibodies belonged to IgG1 and the light chain was κ type,and both monoclonal antibodies recognized the natural antigen H11.Immunohistochemical localization and larval developmental inhibition test in vitro showed that the mAb A1E3 could be localized to the intestinal microvilli of the adult worm,and that the antibody can inhibit the growth of the fourth-stage larvae.The successful production of two monoclonal antibodies not only lays the foundation for the study of protective antigenic epitopes of the H11 protein and the development of epitope vaccines,but also provides a potential application of the monoclonal antibody for the treatment of haemonchusis in animals.

Pharmacogenomics(PGx)is a science based on functional genomics and molecular phar-macology,which has been rapidly developed and gradually applied to clinical practice in recent years.Therefore,China and the United States are committed to promoting the development of PGx education.This paper reviews PGx education in Chi-na and the United States,clarifies the significance of developing PGx education,and provides a de-tailed introduction to the current development sta-tus and challenges of PGx education in universities and clinical settings.Additionally,this paper makes some recommendations for developing PGx educa-tion and discusses future development trends in both countries.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease and T1DM patients require insulin therapy. Capable of delaying the process of diabetic microangiopathy and lowering diabetes-related mortality, islet transplantation has become an ideal treatment of T1DM. However, islet transplantation is severely limited by an acute shortage of donor pancreas. In recent years, islet regeneration is gaining popularity. This review focused upon an overview of cell sources of islet organoids, optimization methods for islet organoids culture and research advances in clinical applications, providing references for clinical transformation of islet organoids for T1DM.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new combination treatment of vinorelbine and pyrotinib in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and provide higher level evidence for clinical practice. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, single-arm, phase 2 trial conducted at three institutions in China. Patients with HER2-positive MBC, who had previously been treated with trastuzumab plus a taxane or trastuzumab plus pertuzumab combined with a chemotherapeutic agent, were enrolled between March 2020 and December 2021. All patients received pyrotinib 400 mg orally once daily plus vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 intravenously or 60-80 mg/m2 orally on day 1 and day 8 of 21-day cycle. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary endpoints included the objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival, and safety. Results: A total of 39 patients were enrolled. All patients had been pretreated with trastuzumab and 23.1% (n=9) of them had accepted trastuzumab plus pertuzumab. The median follow-up time was 16.3 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.3 to 27.2), and the median PFS was 6.4 months (95% CI, 4.0 to 8.8). The ORR was 43.6% (95% CI, 27.8% to 60.4%) and the DCR was 84.6% (95% CI, 69.5% to 94.1%). The median PFS of patients with versus without prior pertuzumab treatment was 4.6 and 8.3 months (p=0.017). The most common grade 3/4 adverse events were diarrhea (28.2%), neutrophil count decreased (15.4%), white blood cell count decreased (7.7%), vomiting (5.1%), and anemia (2.6%). Conclusion Pyrotinib plus vinorelbine showed promising efficacy and tolerable toxicity as second-line treatment in patients with HER2-positive MBC.

Specific tumor-targeted gene delivery remains an unsolved therapeutic issue due to aberrant vascularization in tumor microenvironment (TME). Some bacteria exhibit spontaneous chemotaxis toward the anaerobic and immune-suppressive TME, which makes them ideal natural vehicles for cancer gene therapy. Here, we conjugated ZIF-8 metal-organic frameworks encapsulating eukaryotic murine interleukin 2 (Il2) expression plasmid onto the surface of VNP20009, an attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strain with well-documented anti-cancer activity, and constructed a TME-targeted Il2 delivery system named Il2/ZIF-8@Salmonella. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that Il2/ZIF-8@Salmonella maintained the tumor-targeting feature of bacteria, and could be effectively phagocytosed by intratumoral macrophages, thus leading to the expression and secretion of IL2 in TME. The detailed analysis of tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) showed that one dose of combinatorial Il2/ZIF-8@Salmonella achieved synergistic actions on a potent remodeling of TIME, marked by the activation of cytotoxic T cells and M1-polarization of macrophages in TME, thus leading to significant anti-tumor effects in melanoma, orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma, and pulmonary metastasis models. More importantly, Il2/ZIF-8@Salmonella exhibited high safety to major organs and hematopoietic systems. Taken together, we report a novel plasmid/ZIF-8@Salmonella system that simultaneously achieves effective TME-targeted delivery of therapeutic gene, as well as synergistic re-activation of TIME.

Objective:To explore the early and medium-long term outcomes of steatosis donor liver transplantation(LT)for an optimal clinical application.Methods:From January 2015 to December 2020, this retrospective cohort study was conducted jointly at Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University and First Hospital of Jilin University. The relevant clinicopathological and follow-up data were collected from 1535 LT recipients. For comparison, propensity score was utilized for case-control matching of steatosis and non-steatosis donor livers. According to presence or absence of liver steatosis, the recipients were divided into two groups of steatosis donor liver (n=243) and non-steatosis donor liver (n=1292). And 1∶1 propensity score matching was made for two groups. Then early and medium-long term outcomes of two groups were examined. Counts were described as absolute numbers. Kaplan-Meier method was employed for calculating survival time and plotting survival curve and Log-rank test for survival analysis. COX regression model was utilized for univariate and multivariate analyses. Based on basic metabolic disease pre-LT, steatosis donor liver recipients were divided into three subgroups: BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 with hypertension or diabetes (n=21), BMI<25 kg/m 2 and no hypertension or diabetes (n=130) and other recipients (n=92). A comparative study was performed for determining the prognosis of subgroups according to the different characteristics of recipient and donor liver. Results:No significant inter-group difference existed in 2-year survival post-LT ( P=0.174). However, significant inter-group difference in survival existed after 2 years post-LT ( P=0.004). And 3/5-year survival rate of steatosis donor liver was 66.4% and 44.2% respectively. Both were significantly lower than those of non-steatosis donor liver. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that steatosis donor liver and male recipients were independent risk factors for prognosis >2 years survival post-LT( P=0.008, P=0.004). Subgroup analysis of steatosis liver donors showed that the prognosis of patients with BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 with hypertension or diabetes was significantly worse than other subgroups (BMI <25 kg/m 2 with no hypertension or diabetes and other recipients) <2 years survival post-LT ( P=0.029, P=0.043). Conclusions:Steatosis donor liver does not affect early survival of recipients, yet reduces medium-long term survival rate of recipients notably. In steatosis donor liver recipients, early survival rate declines markedly in recipients with preoperative BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 with hypertension or diabetes as compared with BMI <25 kg/m 2 with no hypertension or diabetes group.

Islet transplantation has developed rapidly over the last 20 years and is becoming one of the ideal clinical treatment options for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). There is growing clinical evidence that islet transplantation has significant efficacy in insulin independence or reduction, preventing hypoglycemic episodes and preventing diabetic complications.However, clinical islet transplantation still faces challenges, such as a shortage of donor resources, difficulties in early implantation and survival of islet grafts, and immune rejection.In the future, donor pancreatic donation and its effective utilization should be promoted, and clinical exploration of xenogeneic islet transplantation and stem cell-derived islet transplantation should be encouraged to effectively solve the problem of insufficient islet source.At the same time, through continuous research and development of new materials and technologies, optimize the location of islet transplantation to improve the implantation and survival of islet grafts, and gradually eliminate the need for immunosuppression.In addition, we should actively promote the development and application of post-islet transplantation graft monitoring tools to further ensure the long-term survival of post-islet transplantation grafts, so that more diabetic patients can benefit from it.