Background/Aims: Transmembrane 4 L six family member 1 (TM4SF1) is highly expressed and contributes to the progression of various malignancies. However, how it modulates hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and senescence remains to be elucidated. Methods: TM4SF1 expression in HCC samples was evaluated using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Cellular senescence was assessed through SA-β-gal activity assays and Western blot analysis. TM4SF1-related protein interactions were investigated using immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry, co-immunoprecipitation, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and immunofluorescence. Tumor-infiltrating immune cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. The HCC mouse model was established via hydrodynamic tail vein injection. Results: TM4SF1 was highly expressed in human HCC samples and murine models. Knockdown of TM4SF1 suppressed HCC proliferation both in vitro and in vivo, inducing non-secretory senescence through upregulation of p16 and p21. TM4SF1 enhanced the interaction between AKT1 and PDPK1, thereby promoting AKT phosphorylation, which subsequently downregulated p16 and p21. Meanwhile, TM4SF1-mediated AKT phosphorylation enhanced PD-L1 expression while reducing major histocompatibility complex class I level on tumor cells, leading to impaired cytotoxic function of CD8+ T cells and an increased proportion of exhausted CD8+ T cells. In clinical HCC samples, elevated TM4SF1 expression was associated with resistance to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Targeting TM4SF1 via adeno-associated virus induced tumor senescence, reduced tumor burden and synergistically enhanced the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. Conclusions Our results revealed that TM4SF1 regulated tumor cell senescence and immune evasion through the AKT pathway, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target in HCC, particularly in combination with first-line immunotherapy.

Background/Aims: Transmembrane 4 L six family member 1 (TM4SF1) is highly expressed and contributes to the progression of various malignancies. However, how it modulates hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and senescence remains to be elucidated. Methods: TM4SF1 expression in HCC samples was evaluated using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Cellular senescence was assessed through SA-β-gal activity assays and Western blot analysis. TM4SF1-related protein interactions were investigated using immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry, co-immunoprecipitation, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and immunofluorescence. Tumor-infiltrating immune cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. The HCC mouse model was established via hydrodynamic tail vein injection. Results: TM4SF1 was highly expressed in human HCC samples and murine models. Knockdown of TM4SF1 suppressed HCC proliferation both in vitro and in vivo, inducing non-secretory senescence through upregulation of p16 and p21. TM4SF1 enhanced the interaction between AKT1 and PDPK1, thereby promoting AKT phosphorylation, which subsequently downregulated p16 and p21. Meanwhile, TM4SF1-mediated AKT phosphorylation enhanced PD-L1 expression while reducing major histocompatibility complex class I level on tumor cells, leading to impaired cytotoxic function of CD8+ T cells and an increased proportion of exhausted CD8+ T cells. In clinical HCC samples, elevated TM4SF1 expression was associated with resistance to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Targeting TM4SF1 via adeno-associated virus induced tumor senescence, reduced tumor burden and synergistically enhanced the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. Conclusions Our results revealed that TM4SF1 regulated tumor cell senescence and immune evasion through the AKT pathway, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target in HCC, particularly in combination with first-line immunotherapy.

Background/Aims: Transmembrane 4 L six family member 1 (TM4SF1) is highly expressed and contributes to the progression of various malignancies. However, how it modulates hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and senescence remains to be elucidated. Methods: TM4SF1 expression in HCC samples was evaluated using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Cellular senescence was assessed through SA-β-gal activity assays and Western blot analysis. TM4SF1-related protein interactions were investigated using immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry, co-immunoprecipitation, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and immunofluorescence. Tumor-infiltrating immune cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. The HCC mouse model was established via hydrodynamic tail vein injection. Results: TM4SF1 was highly expressed in human HCC samples and murine models. Knockdown of TM4SF1 suppressed HCC proliferation both in vitro and in vivo, inducing non-secretory senescence through upregulation of p16 and p21. TM4SF1 enhanced the interaction between AKT1 and PDPK1, thereby promoting AKT phosphorylation, which subsequently downregulated p16 and p21. Meanwhile, TM4SF1-mediated AKT phosphorylation enhanced PD-L1 expression while reducing major histocompatibility complex class I level on tumor cells, leading to impaired cytotoxic function of CD8+ T cells and an increased proportion of exhausted CD8+ T cells. In clinical HCC samples, elevated TM4SF1 expression was associated with resistance to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Targeting TM4SF1 via adeno-associated virus induced tumor senescence, reduced tumor burden and synergistically enhanced the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. Conclusions Our results revealed that TM4SF1 regulated tumor cell senescence and immune evasion through the AKT pathway, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target in HCC, particularly in combination with first-line immunotherapy.

Objective:To explore the effectiveness of patient participation and Internet plus in fall prevention management strategies of elderly inpatients and analyze the causes of falls, so as to provide a basis for continuous improvement in fall prevention to investigate their continuous improvement.Methods:A pre- and post-control study was conducted. Totally 8 480 elderly inpatients hospitalized in the Department of Internal Medicine from 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2021 in Chenzhou NO. 1 People′s Hospital were selected by convenient sampling as the control group, and 8 662 elderly inpatients hospitalized in the Department of Internal Medicine from 1 June 2021 to 31 May 2022 were in the experimental group. The routine fall prevention measures were used in the control group, and on this basis, the experimental group formulated and implemented fall prevention management strategies involving patients based on the patient participation framework "informing, participating, empowering, cooperating, and electronic information support" and introduced Internet plus. Then the differences between the two groups in terms of the incidence of falls and the satisfaction rate of nursing care were compared.Results:The experimental group included 8 662 cases (5 110 males and 3 552 females) with (73.96 ± 8.78) years old, while the control group included 8 480 cases (4 918 males and 3 562 females) with (74.11 ± 8.59) years old. The incidence of falls in experimental group (0.092%, 8/8 662) was lower than that in control group (0.224%, 19/8 480), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ 2=4.71, P<0.05); the nursing care satisfaction rate of experimental group (98.880%, 8 565/8 662) was higher than that of control group (96.450%, 8 179/8 480), and the difference also was statistically significant ( χ 2=106.50, P<0.01); the analysis of the fall causes of the patients revealed that the toilet squatting commode was an important hidden risk of falls in elderly patients. Conclusions:Fall prevention management strategies based on patient participation can reduce the incidence of falls in elderly patients and improve the satisfaction rate of nursing care. Patient participation introduced "Internet plus" can prevent patient falls. The root causes of patient falls will continue to change, and care managers should continually track real-time changes in the root causes of falls to identify problems, develop and adjust prevention strategies accordingly, and pay attention to the importance of infrastructure in the safety of older patients.

Objective To investigate the value of serum soluble CD40 ligand(sCD40L)for gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM)and adverse pregnancy outcomes.Methods A total of 100 pregnant women with GDM who received regular prenatal check-up and delivered in Zhongshan Torch Development Zone People's Hospital from January to December 2023 were included in GDM group,and 50 pregnant women with normal blood glucose levels who received regular prenatal check-up and delivered in the hospital during the same period were included in normal control group.Clinical data of two groups were collected and pregnancy outcomes were followed up.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of sCD40L in GDM,and multifactor Logistic regression model was used to explore the risk factors of GDM.Results Serum sCD40L levels in GDM group were significantly higher than those in normal control group at different time points during pregnancy(P＜0.05).ROC curve showed that the best cutoff values of serum sCD40L level in the first and second trimesters in assisting the diagnosis of GDM were 0.975ng/ml and 1.195ng/ml,the area under the curve was 0.812 and 0.878,and the sensitivity was 73.08％and 78.43％,the specificity was 78.05％and 80.00％,respectively.Multivariate Logistic regression showed that age 30-39 years old,family history of diabetes mellitus,higher fasting blood glucose in first trimester,higher sCD40L in first trimester and second trimester were all independent risk factors for GDM(P＜0.05).The levels of serum sCD40L in the first,second and third trimesters of GDM women with adverse pregnancy outcome were significantly higher than those in GDM women with normal pregnancy outcome(P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum sCD40L levels are abnormally increased in pregnant women with GDM and adverse pregnancy outcomes,and serum sCD40L levels in first and second trimesters may have early warning value for GDM.

Objective To explore the dilemmas faced by surrogate decision-makers of severe stroke patients in treatment decision-making,and to provide a basis for developing decision support strategies.Methods From April to December 2023,through phenomenological qualitative research with 16 surrogate decision-makers with severe stroke patients from ICU of the department of neurology in a tertiary hospital in Jing'an District,Shanghai.semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to examine the perceptions of decision-making on surrogate.Data were analyzed via Braun's style of thematic analysis.Results 4 themes and 10 sub-themes were identified.Theme 1:negative emotional dilemmas(urgent decision-making leads to anxiety,fear,and unknown stroke trajectory increases the sense of uncertainty).Theme 2:supportive environment dilemmas(lack of information support delays decision-making;lack of family support increases decision-making stress;insufficient economic support increases the burden of decision-making).Theme 3:the dilemma of weighing the pros and cons(difficult trade-offs between risk and reward,tough decisions between reality and ethics,conflicting choices of life and dignity).Theme 4:preference management dilemmas(practical difficulties in adhering to patient preferences,impediments to decision-making due to unknown patient preferences).Conclusion Surrogate decision-makers of severe stroke patients face multiple decision-making dilemmas.Healthcare professionals should provide emotional support in multiple ways and comprehensive support to reduce the decision-making dilemmas experienced by surrogate decision-makers,as well as implement death education for surrogate decision-makers and promote advance care planning to reduce their decision-making stress.

Objective:To explore the journey map of patients with chronic constipation during fecal microbiota transplantation.Methods:This study adopted phenomenological methods. From October to December 2023, purposive sampling was used to select chronic constipation follow-up patients who underwent fecal microbiota transplantation at the Intestinal Microecology Center of Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital as respondents for semi-structured interviews. Colaizzi 7-step analysis method and NVivo 11.0 software were used for data analysis.Results:A total of 15 interviewees were interviewed. During fecal microbiota transplantation, the journey map of constipation patients included stages, mood changes, touchpoints, themes, emotional experiences and opportunities. The patient's experience and needs were summarized into three themes and ten sub-themes, including pre-transplant adaptation disorders to new environments (unfamiliarity and confusion-admission coordination disorders, anxiety and expectations-diverse complex emotions, puzzle and helplessness-asymmetric doctor and patient information), effectiveness-related psychological and social experiences in transplantation (attention and expectations-longing for positive efficacy, perception of benefits and risk avoidance, shame and inferiority-treatment stigmatization experience, questioning and despair-unrealized expectations, treatment resistance-sensitive economic burden), post-transplant transition dilemmas (inaccessible medical services-lack of continuous treatment and nursing, disease recurrence troubles) .Conclusions:This study visualizes the experiences and needs of constipation patients during microbiota transplantation through a patient journey map and identifies multidimensional issues and needs of patients. Clinical medical and nursing staff should pay attention to the needs of patients at different stages of the treatment process when formulating intervention programs to improve the quality of fecal microbiota transplantation nursing.

Objective:To investigate the effects and possible mechanisms of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on the replication, amplification, and fibre formation of prions (PrP Sc). Methods:The CCK8 assay was used to detect the cell viability of the prion-infected cell model SMB-S15 after CAPE treatment for 3 days and 7 days and the maximum safe concentration of CAPE for SMB-S15 was obtained. The cells were treated with a concentration within a safe range, and the content of PrP Sc in the cells before and after CAPE treatment was analyzed by western blot. Protein misfolding cycle amplification (PMCA) and western blot were used to assess changes in PrP Sc level in amplification products following CAPE treatment. Real-time-quaking induced conversion assay (RT-QuIC) technology was employed to explore the changes in fibril formation before and after CAPE treatment. The binding affinity between CAPE and murine recombinant full-length prion protein was determined using a molecular interaction assay. Results:CCK8 cell viability assay results demonstrated that treatment with 1 μmol/L CAPE for 3 and 7 days did not exhibit statistically significant differences in cell viability compared to the control group (all P<0.05). However, when the concentration of CAPE exceeded 1 μmol/L, a significant reduction in cell viability was observed in cells treated with CAPE for 3 and 7 days, compared to the control group (all P<0.05). Thus, 1 μmol/L was determined as the maximum safe concentration of CAPE treatment for SMB-S15 cells. The western blot results revealed that treatment with CAPE for both 3 and 7 days led to a detectable reduction in the levels of PrP Sc in SMB-S15 cells (all P<0.05). The products of PMCA experiments were assessed using western blot. The findings revealed a significant decrease in the levels of PrP Sc (relative grey value) in the PMCA amplification products of adapted-strains SMB-S15, 139A, and ME7 following treatment with CAPE, as compared to the control group (all P<0.05). The RT-QuIC experimental results demonstrated a reduction in fibril formation (as indicated by ThT peak values) in CAPE-treated mouse-adapted strains 139A, ME7, and SMB-S15, as well as in SMB-S15 cells infected with prions. Furthermore, CAPE exhibited varying degrees of inhibition towards different seed fibrils formation, with statistically significant differences observed (all P<0.05). Notably, CAPE exhibited a more pronounced inhibitory effect on ME7 seed fibrils. Molecular interaction analyses demonstrated significant binding between CAPE and murine recombinant prion protein, and the association constant was (2.92±0.41)×10 -6 mol/L. Conclusions:CAPE inhibits PrP Sc replication, amplification, and fibril formation in vitro possibly due to specific interactions with the prion protein at the molecular level.

Objective:To investigate the effects and possible mechanisms of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on the replication, amplification, and fibre formation of prions (PrP Sc). Methods:The CCK8 assay was used to detect the cell viability of the prion-infected cell model SMB-S15 after CAPE treatment for 3 days and 7 days and the maximum safe concentration of CAPE for SMB-S15 was obtained. The cells were treated with a concentration within a safe range, and the content of PrP Sc in the cells before and after CAPE treatment was analyzed by western blot. Protein misfolding cycle amplification (PMCA) and western blot were used to assess changes in PrP Sc level in amplification products following CAPE treatment. Real-time-quaking induced conversion assay (RT-QuIC) technology was employed to explore the changes in fibril formation before and after CAPE treatment. The binding affinity between CAPE and murine recombinant full-length prion protein was determined using a molecular interaction assay. Results:CCK8 cell viability assay results demonstrated that treatment with 1 μmol/L CAPE for 3 and 7 days did not exhibit statistically significant differences in cell viability compared to the control group (all P<0.05). However, when the concentration of CAPE exceeded 1 μmol/L, a significant reduction in cell viability was observed in cells treated with CAPE for 3 and 7 days, compared to the control group (all P<0.05). Thus, 1 μmol/L was determined as the maximum safe concentration of CAPE treatment for SMB-S15 cells. The western blot results revealed that treatment with CAPE for both 3 and 7 days led to a detectable reduction in the levels of PrP Sc in SMB-S15 cells (all P<0.05). The products of PMCA experiments were assessed using western blot. The findings revealed a significant decrease in the levels of PrP Sc (relative grey value) in the PMCA amplification products of adapted-strains SMB-S15, 139A, and ME7 following treatment with CAPE, as compared to the control group (all P<0.05). The RT-QuIC experimental results demonstrated a reduction in fibril formation (as indicated by ThT peak values) in CAPE-treated mouse-adapted strains 139A, ME7, and SMB-S15, as well as in SMB-S15 cells infected with prions. Furthermore, CAPE exhibited varying degrees of inhibition towards different seed fibrils formation, with statistically significant differences observed (all P<0.05). Notably, CAPE exhibited a more pronounced inhibitory effect on ME7 seed fibrils. Molecular interaction analyses demonstrated significant binding between CAPE and murine recombinant prion protein, and the association constant was (2.92±0.41)×10 -6 mol/L. Conclusions:CAPE inhibits PrP Sc replication, amplification, and fibril formation in vitro possibly due to specific interactions with the prion protein at the molecular level.

Objective:To explore the current status of surgery for portal hypertension to grasp current status and future development of surgery in China.Methods:This study is jointly sponsored by China Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Specialist Alliance & Portal Hypertension Alliance in China (CHESS).Comprehensive surveying is conducted for basic domestic situations of surgery for portal hypertension, including case load, surgical approaches, management of postoperative complications, primary effects, existing confusion and obstacles, liver transplantation(LT), laparoscopic procedures and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt(TIPS), etc.Results:A total of 8 512 cases of portal hypertension surgery are performed at 378 hospitals nationwide in 2021.Splenectomy plus devascularization predominated(53.0%)and laparoscopy accounted for 76.1%.Primary goal is preventing rebleeding(67.0%) and 72.8% of hospitals used preventive anticoagulants after conventional surgery.And 80.7% of teams believe that the formation of postoperative portal vein thrombosis is a surgical dilemma and 65.3% of hospitals practiced both laparoscopy and TIPS.The major reasons for patients with portal hypertension not receiving LT are due to a lack of qualifications for LT(69.3%)and economic factors(69.0%).Conclusions:Surgery is an integral part of management of portal hypertension in China.However, it is imperative to further standardize the grasp of surgical indications, the handling of surgical operation and the management of postoperative complications.Moreover, prospective, multi-center randomized controlled clinical studies should be performed.