Interpretation of the past, present, and future of organoid technology: an updated bibliometric analysis from 2009 to 2024.

Organoid technology has been developed rapidly in the past decade, which involves the exploration of the mechanism of development, regeneration and various diseases, and intersects among multiple disciplines. Thousands of literature on 3D-culture or organoids have been published in the research areas of cell biology tissue engineering, nanoscience, oncology and so on, resulting in it being challenging for researchers to timely summarize these studies. Bibliometric statistics is a helpful way to help researchers clarify the above issues efficiently and manage the whole landscape systematically. In our study, all original articles on organoids were included in the Web of Science database from January 2009 to May 2024, and related information was collected and analyzed using Excel software, "bibliometrix" packages of the R software, VOSviewer and CiteSpace. As results, a total of 6222 papers were included to classify the status quo of the organoids and predict future research areas. Our findings highlight a growing trend in publications related to organoids, with the United States and Netherlands leading in this field. The University of California System, Harvard University, Utrecht University and Utrecht University Medical Center have emerged as pivotal contributors and the key authors in the field include Clevers, H, Beekman, JM and Spence JR. Our results also revealed that the research hotspots and trends of organoids mainly focused on clinical treatment, drug screening, and the application of materials and technologies such as "hydrogel" and "microfluidic technology" in organoids. Next, we had an in-depth interpretation of the development process of organoid research area, including the emergence of technology, the translation from bench to bedsides, the profiles of the most widely studied types of organoids, the application of materials and technologies, and the emerging organoid-immune co-cultures trends. Furthermore, we also discussed the pitfalls, challenges and prospects of organoid technology. In conclusion, this study provides readers straightforward and convenient access to the organoid research field.

Global research landscape and trends of cancer stem cells from 1997 to 2023: A bibliometric analysis.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subset of cells with self-renewal ability and tumor generating potential. Accumulated evidence has revealed that CSCs were shown to contribute to tumorigenesis, metastasis, recurrence and resistance to chemoradiotherapy. Therefore, CSCs were regarded as promising therapeutic targets in cancer. This study is the first to reveal the development process, research hotspots, and trends of entire CSCs research field through bibliometric methods. All relevant publications on CSCs with more than 100 citations (notable papers) and the 100 most cited papers (top papers) during 1997 to 2023 were extracted and analyzed. Cancer research published the largest number of papers (184 papers). The USA accounted for the most publications (1326 papers). Rich, JN was the author with the most publications (56 papers) and the highest M-index (3.111). The most contributive institution was the University of Texas System (164 papers). Before 2007, research mainly focused on the definition and recognition of CSCs. Between 2007 and 2016, with the emergence of the terms such as "sonic hedgehog," "metabolism," "oxidative phosphorylation," and "epithelial mesenchymal transition," research began to shift toward exploring the mechanisms of CSCs. In 2016, the focus transitioned to the tumor microenvironment and the ecological niches. The analysis of papers published in major journals since 2021 showed that "transcription," "inhibition," and "chemoresistance" emerged as new focused issues. In general, the research focus has gradually shifted from basic biology to clinical transformation. "Tumor microenvironment" and "chemo-resistance" should be given more attention in the future.

Protective effect of higher free thyroxine levels within the reference range on biliary tract cancer risk: a multivariable mendelian randomization and mediation analysis.

Background: Hepatobiliary cancer (HBC), including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and biliary tract cancer (BTC), is currently one of the malignant tumors that mainly cause human death. Many HBCs are diagnosed in the late stage, which increases the disease burden, indicating that effective prevention strategies and identification of risk factors are urgent. Many studies have reported the role of thyroid hormones on HBC. Our research aims to assess the causal effects and investigate the mediation effects between thyroid function and HBC. Methods: Utilizing the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach, the study employs single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables (IVs) to explore causal links between thyroid function [free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism] and HBC. Data were sourced from the ThyroidOmic consortium and FinnGen consortium. The analysis included univariable and multivariable MR analysis, followed by mediation analysis. Results: The study found a significant causal association between high FT4 levels and the reduced risk of BTC, but not HCC. However, TSH, hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism had no causal associations with the risk of HBC. Notably, we also demonstrated that only higher FT4 levels with the reference range (FT4-RR) could reduce the risk of BTC because this protective effect no longer existed under the conditions of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Finally, we found that the protective effect of FT4-RR on BTC was mediated partially by decreasing the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and reducing the waist circumference (WC). Conclusion: The findings suggest that higher FT4-RR may have a protective effect against BTC, which is partially mediated by decreased risk of MetS and a reduction in WC. This study highlights the potential role of FT4 in the pathogenesis of BTC and underscores that MetS and WC may play mediation effects as two mediators in this process.

Amphioxus adenosine-to-inosine tRNA-editing enzyme that can perform C-to-U and A-to-I deamination of DNA.

Adenosine-to-inosine tRNA-editing enzyme has been identified for more than two decades, but the study on its DNA editing activity is rather scarce. We show that amphioxus (Branchiostoma japonicum) ADAT2 (BjADAT2) contains the active site 'HxE-PCxxC' and the key residues for target-base-binding, and amphioxus ADAT3 (BjADAT3) harbors both the N-terminal positively charged region and the C-terminal pseudo-catalytic domain important for recognition of substrates. The sequencing of BjADAT2-transformed Escherichia coli genome suggests that BjADAT2 has the potential to target E. coli DNA and can deaminate at TCG and GAA sites in the E. coli genome. Biochemical analyses further demonstrate that BjADAT2, in complex with BjADAT3, can perform A-to-I editing of tRNA and convert C-to-U and A-to-I deamination of DNA. We also show that BjADAT2 preferentially deaminates adenosines and cytidines in the loop of DNA hairpin structures of substrates, and BjADAT3 also affects the type of DNA substrate targeted by BjADAT2. Finally, we find that C89, N113, C148 and Y156 play critical roles in the DNA editing activity of BjADAT2. Collectively, our study indicates that BjADAT2/3 is the sole naturally occurring deaminase with both tRNA and DNA editing capacity identified so far in Metazoa.

125I Radiotherapy combined with metronomic chemotherapy may boost the abscopal effect, leading to complete regression of liver metastasis in an SCLC patient with a 58.5-month OS: a case report.

The liver is the most common and lethal metastatic site in patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), and median survival with current standard treatment is only 9-10 months from diagnosis. Clinical observations show that a complete response (CR) is extremely rare in ES-SCLC patients with liver metastasis. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, complete regression of liver metastasis induced by the abscopal effect, boosted primarily by permanent radioactive iodine-125 seeds implantation (PRISI), combined with a low-dose metronomic temozolomide (TMZ) regimen, has not been recorded. Here, we present the case of a 54-year-old male patient who developed multiple liver metastases from ES-SCLC after multiple lines of chemotherapy. The patient was given partial PRISI therapy (two out of six tumor lesions; 38 iodine-125 seeds in one dorsal lesion and 26 seeds in one ventral lesion), which was combined with TMZ metronomic chemotherapy (50 mg/m2/day, days 1-21, every 28 days). The abscopal effect was observed for 1 month after PRISI treatment. After about 1 year, all the liver metastases had completely disappeared, and the patient experienced no relapse. The patient eventually died of malnutrition caused by a non-tumor intestinal obstruction and had an overall survival of 58.5 months after diagnosis. PRISI combined with TMZ metronomic chemotherapy might be considered a potential therapy to trigger the abscopal effect in patients with liver metastases.

Anticancer activities of natural antimicrobial peptides from animals.

Cancer is the most common cause of human death worldwide, posing a serious threat to human health and having a negative impact on the economy. In the past few decades, significant progress has been made in anticancer therapies, but traditional anticancer therapies, including radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), have serious side effects, low specificity, and the emergence of drug resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new treatment methods to improve efficacy and reduce side effects. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) exist in the innate immune system of various organisms. As the most promising alternatives to traditional drugs for treating cancers, some AMPs also have been proven to possess anticancer activities, which are defined as anticancer peptides (ACPs). These peptides have the advantages of being able to specifically target cancer cells and have less toxicity to normal tissues. More and more studies have found that marine and terrestrial animals contain a large amount of ACPs. In this article, we introduced the animal derived AMPs with anti-cancer activity, and summarized the types of tumor cells inhibited by ACPs, the mechanisms by which they exert anti-tumor effects and clinical applications of ACPs.

Global research landscape and trends of lung cancer immunotherapy: A bibliometric analysis.

​Background: Immunotherapy for lung cancer has been a hot research area for years. This bibliometric analysis aims to present the research trends on lung cancer immunotherapy. Method: On 1 July, 2022, the authors identified 2,941 papers on lung cancer immunotherapy by the Web of Science and extracted their general information and the total number of citations. A bibliometric analysis was carried out to present the research landscape, demonstrate the research trends, and determine the most cited papers (top papers) as well as major journals on lung cancer immunotherapy. After that, recent research hotspots were analyzed based on the latest publications in major journals. Results: These 2,941 papers were cited a total of 122,467 times. "Nivolumab vs. docetaxel in advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer" published in 2015 by Borghaei H et al. was the most cited paper (5,854 citations). Among the journals, New England Journal of Medicine was most influential. Corresponding authors represented China took part in most articles (904) and papers with corresponding authors from the USA were most cited (139.46 citations per paper). Since 2015, anti-PD-(L)1 has become the hottest research area. Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis comprehensively and quantitatively presents the research trends and hotspots based on thousands of publications, and further suggests future research directions. Moreover, the results can benefit researchers to select journals and find potential collaborators. This study can help researchers get a comprehensive impression of the research landscape, historical development, and recent hotspots in lung cancer immunotherapy and provide inspiration for further research.

Salidroside in the Treatment of NAFLD/NASH.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the commonest reason for chronic liver diseases in the world and is commonly related to the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a deteriorating form of NAFLD, which can eventually develop into fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. The reason for NAFLD/NASH development is complicated, such as liver lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, inflammatory response, apoptosis and autophagy, liver fibrosis and gut microbiota. Apart from bariatric surgery and lifestyle changes, officially approved drug therapy for NAFLD/NASH treatment is lacking. Salidroside (SDS) is a phenolic compound extensively distributed in the tubers of Rhodiola plants, which possesses many significant biological activities. This review summarized the related targets regulated by SDS in treating NAFLD/NASH. It is indicated that SDS could improve the status of NAFLD/NASH by ameliorating abnormal lipid metabolism, inhibiting oxidative stress, regulating apoptosis and autophagy, reducing inflammatory response, alleviating fibrosis and regulating gut microbiota. In conclusion, although the multiple bioactivities of SDS have been confirmed, the clinical data are inadequate and need to become the focus of attention in the later study.

Research landscape and trends of melanoma immunotherapy: A bibliometric analysis.

Background: Immunotherapy for lung cancer has been a hot research area for years. This bibliometric analysis was intended to present research trends on melanoma immunotherapy. Method: On April 1, 2022, the authors identified 2,109 papers on melanoma immunotherapy using the Web of Science and extracted their general information and the total number of citations. The authors then conducted a bibliometric analysis to present the research landscape, clarify the research trends, and determine the most cited papers (top-papers) as well as major journals on melanoma immunotherapy. Subsequently, recent research hotspots were identified by analyzing the latest articles in major journals. Results: The total and median number of citations of these 2,109 papers on melanoma immunotherapy was 137,686 and 11, respectively. "Improved survival with ipilimumab in patients with metastatic melanoma" by Hodi et al. was the most cited paper (9,824 citations). Among the journals, the top-paper number (16), average citations per paper (2,510.7), and top-papers rate (100%) of New England Journal of Medicine were the highest. Corresponding authors represented the USA took part in most articles (784). Since 2016, the hottest research area has changed from CTLA-4 to PD-1. Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis comprehensively and quantitatively presents the research trends and hotspots based on 2,109 relevant publications, and further suggests future research directions. The researchers can benefit in selecting journals and in finding potential collaborators. This study can help researchers gain a comprehensive impression of the research landscape, historical development, and current hotspots in melanoma immunotherapy and can provide inspiration for future research.