Poorly Differentiated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Avoid Apoptosis by Interacting with T Cells via CD40-CD40 Ligand Linkage.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with increased soluble CD40 levels. This study aimed to investigate CD40's role in liver tumor progression. CD40 levels were examined in HCC patient tissues and various HCC cell lines, and their interaction with CD4+T cells was studied. RNA sequencing analysis was performed to explore the mechanisms of CD40 induction. Poorly differentiated HCC tumor tissues exhibited high membrane-bound CD40 expression, in contrast to nontumor areas. Poorly differentiated HCC cell lines showed high expression of membrane-bound CD40 with low CD40 promoter methylation, which was the opposite of that observed in the well-differentiated HCC cell lines. Solely modulating CD40 expression in HCC cells exerted no direct consequences on cell growth or appearance. Interestingly, the human hepatoma cell line HLF co-cultured with activated (CD40 ligand+) CD4+ T cells had increased CD40 levels and a modest 3.2% dead cells. The percentage of dead cells increased to 10.9% and underwent preneutralizing CD40 condition, whereas preblocking both CD40 and integrin α5ß1 concomitantly caused only 1.9% cell death. RNA sequencing of co-cultured HLFs with activated CD4+ T cells revealed the up-regulation of interferon and immune-response pathways. Increased interferon-γ levels in the activated T-cell media stimulated the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway, resulting in increased CD40 expression in HLF. Collectively, CD40 expression in poorly differentiated HCC cells prevented cell death by interacting with CD40 ligand in activated T cells. Targeting CD40 may represent a promising anticancer therapy.

Tumor-induced Osteomalacia in a Boy with Maxillary Ossifying Fibroma

Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is a rare, paraneoplastic disorder of hypophosphatemia associated with elevated tumor-produced fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23). Maxillofacial tumors are rarely involved in TIO, especially maxillary TIO in children. We present a 14-year-old boy with osteomalacia and high serum levels of FGF23, a hormone associated with decreased phosphate resorption, due to a maxillary tumor. The patient was treated with oral phosphorus and calcitriol, and surgical removal of the tumor was performed. After 21 months follow-up, he was pain free and had returned to full activity. We review the reported pediatric cases of TIO in the maxillofacial and oral region and discuss the management of these patients considering the published evidence.

Preparation and Photocatalytic Characterization of Modified Nano TiO2/Nd/Rice Husk Ash Material for Rifampicin Removal in Aqueous Solution.

Antibiotics like rifampicin are often persistent in the environment. When entering the water, it causes antimicrobial resistance that affects the ecosystem and accumulates in the aquatic organisms and affects human health through the food chain. In this study, titanium dioxide was doped with neodymium (0.01 to 0.8%) using the sol-gel hydrothermal method. TiO2/Nd was then coated on rice husk ash to produce a modified TiO2/Nd/rice husk ash material containing 0.36% (w/w) Nd. The structural characteristics and photocatalytic properties of the materials were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, forbidden zone energy, and specific surface area. The TiO2/Nd material exhibited a higher photocatalytic decomposition capacity than TiO2 and depended on the Nd content. The rifampicin removal efficiency of TiO2/Nd materials with 0.36 to 0.80% Nd contents was approximately 40% higher than that of TiO2/Nd containing 0.01 to 0.28% Nd. A new photocatalytic TiO2/Nd/rice husk ash material was developed to decompose rifampicin. The rifampicin-degrading efficiency of TiO2/Nd and TiO2/Nd/rice husk ash material reached approximately 86 and 75%, respectively, within 90 min under sunlight. Although a lower efficiency was obtained, the TiO2/Nd/rice husk ash material was selected to degrade rifampicin residue in water via the photocatalytic process (under sunlight) because of its advantages such as requirement of a small amount and easy recovery. In the rifampicin removal process, k values were found to match the zero- and first-order kinetics. In particular, for TiO2/Nd and TiO2/Nd/rice husk ash under solar irradiation, R 2 values reached approximately 0.98. These results have been previously published as a preprint.

Triterpenoids and steroids from the fruiting bodies of Hexagonia tenuis and their cytotoxicity.

One new triterpenoid, hexagonin F (1) was characterized from the fruiting bodies of Hexagonia tenuis with the assistance of spectroscopic and spectrometric analytical methods. In addition, two triterpenoids and two steroids were also identified by comparison of their physical and spectroscopic data with those reported. The purified compounds were examined for their cytotoxicity against five tumor cell lines, however, only weak cytotoxicity was demonstrated.