Ceramide plays an important role in sphingolipid metabolic processes. It affects cell signaling pathways, regulates cell and body metabolism, and is related to the occurrence and development of a variety of diseases. In recent years, with the application and development of mass spectrometry technology in the detection of ceramides, ceramides or different combinations of ceramides are found to be potential valuable new biomarkers for clinical diagnosis, risk assessment and prognosis of a variety of diseases. This article reviews the biochemical characteristics, detection methods and clinical application of ceramide, and outlines its application value as biomarkers.

Objective    To investigate the clinical effect of 3D computed tomography bronchial bronchography and angiography (3D-CTBA) and guidance of thoracoscopic anatomic pulmonary segmentectomy by Mimics software system. Methods    A retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent thoracoscopic segmentectomy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University from June 2020 to December 2022. The patients who underwent preoperative 3D-CTBA using Materiaise's interactive medical image control system (Mimics) were selected as an observation group, and the patients who did not receive 3D-CTBA were selected as a control group. The relevant clinical indicators were compared between the two groups. Results    A total of 59 patients were included, including 29 males and 30 females, aged 25-79 years. There were 37 patients in the observation group, and 22 patients in the control group. The operation time (163.0±48.7 min vs. 188.8±43.0 min, P=0.044), intraoperative blood loss [10.0 (10.0, 20.0) mL vs. 20.0 (20.0, 35.0) mL, P<0.001], and preoperative puncture localization rate (5.4% vs. 31.8%, P=0.019) in the observation group were better than those in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in the thoracic tube placement time, thoracic fluid drainage volume, number of intraoperative closure nail bin, postoperative hospital stay, or postoperative air leakage incidence (P>0.05) between the two groups. Conclusion    For patients who need to undergo anatomical pulmonary segmentectomy, using Mimics software to produce 3D-CTBA before surgery can help accurately identify pulmonary arteriovenous anatomy, reduce surgical time and intraoperative blood loss, help to determine the location of nodules and reduce invasive localization before surgery, and alleviate patients' pain, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Objective To explore dendritic cells (DCs)-mediated antigen presentation for radiation-injured cells by using the in vitro cell co-culture technology to simulate the in vivo microenvironment of the lung tissue. Methods ⁶⁰Co γ-irradiated mouse lung epithelial cells (MLE-12) were cultured with bone marrow-derived DCs and/or splenic T lymphocytes for 48 hours. Flow cytometry was used to measure the expression levels of costimulatory molecules (CD80/86) and antigenic peptide recognition complexes (the major histocompatibility complex [MHC] class Ⅰ/Ⅱ) on DCs and T cell activation markers (CD69/28/152) as well as the numbers of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. Results ⁶⁰Co γ irradiation significantly increased the apoptosis rate of MLE-12 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and significantly stimulated the expression of CD80/86 and MHC Ⅱ on DCs, without direct activation of T cells. After γ (6 Gy)-irradiated MLE-12 cells were co-cultured with DCs and T lymphocytes for 48 h, there were significant increases in the expression of CD69 and CD28 on T cells, the numbers of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, and the expression of CD86 and MHC I on DCs, as compared with the control groups. Conclusion Radiation-injured cells can stimulate antigen presentation by DCs and activate T cells.