Establishment of an orthotopic model of lung cancer by transthoracic lung puncture using tumor fragments.

Background: Orthotopic models of lung cancer have been widely utilized, and the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the viability of our proposed modified modeling approach. Methods: A total of 50 female BALB/c mice were implanted with 1×1×1 mm fragments of a tumor sample into the left lung lobe. After 2 months of observation, the mice were humanely euthanized through CO2 inhalation. The macroscopic specimens were photographed, and the most representative neoplastic lesions were collected for histological analysis. Small-animal positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans were conducted on 6 randomly selected mice. Results: Local tumor formation, ipsilateral thoracic tissue infiltration, the contralateral chest wall, right lung metastases, and distant kidney metastases were observed in these models. Overall, the tumor development and metastasis rates were 60.86% (28/46) and 57.14% (16/28), respectively. The 3 mice that had a small-animal PET/CT scan developed a local tumor, but no distant metastases were observed. Conclusions: This modified method was deemed reliable, reproducible, minimally invasive, straightforward, and comprehensible; it might serve as the foundation for developing patient-derived orthotopic xenografts of lung cancer.

Superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass in combination with encephalo-myo-synangiosis in Chinese adult patients with moyamoya disease.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of superficial temporal artery (STA)-middle cerebral artery (MCA) anastomosis in combination with encephalo-myo-synangiosis (EMS) in Chinese adult patients with moyamoya disease (MMD). Methods: A total of 65 patients with MMD who underwent combined STA-MCA bypass + EMS surgical revascularisation were included in this study. Each patient had a follow-up visit 6 months after discharge. Early bypass function was evaluated via computed tomography angiography and digital subtraction angiography, which were performed preoperatively and at 6 months after surgery. The perfusion parameters of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), mean transit time (MTT) and time to peak (TTP) were obtained and analysed. The clinical status of each patient was evaluated using a modified Rankin scale (mRS) preoperatively and at 1 week and 6 months after surgery. Results: Among the 65 enrolled patients, postoperative complications were observed in 5 (7.69%) patients, with 2 cases of dysphasia, 2 cases of new cerebral infarction and 1 case of seizure. Six months after surgery, 66 out of 68 hemispheres were found to have a functioning extra-intracranial bypass, and the patency rate was 97.06%. In terms of CBF perfusion, both the CBF and CBV increased significantly, while the MTT and TTP decreased after surgery. The mRS scores measured 1 week and 6 months after surgery were much lower than those measured preoperatively. Conclusion: A direct STA-MCA bypass procedure in combination with indirect EMS bypass is feasible and safe for Chinese adult patients with MMD.

LncRNA FTX represses the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma via regulating the M1/M2 polarization of Kupffer cells.

BACKGROUND: The effect of lncRNA FTX on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) conversion to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. METHODS: In our study, C57BL/6 mice was fed with high fat diet for obtaining NAFLD mouse model, and diethylnitrosamine induced the formation of HCC tumor. The expression of iNOS and CD206 in tissues were examined using immunohistochemistry. In addition, qRT-PCR was implemented to detect the expression of FTX and mRNAs. The percentage of M1 and M2 Kupffer cells (KCs) were determined using flow cytometry. The pathological change in liver tissues was displayed by H&E staining. Besides, immunofluorescence assay was performed to ensure the primary KCs through labeling F4/80. RESULTS: Here, we found that the expression of FTX and the ratio of M1/M2 KCs in liver tissues from NAFLD-transformed HCC (NAFLD-HCC) patients lower than in liver tissues from NAFLD patients. Subsequently, we revealed that the expression of FTX and M1/M2 KCs ratio were downregulated during NAFLD conversion to HCC. Importantly, increasing of FTX inhibited HCC tumor growth, improved liver damage and promoted M1 polarization of KCs during NAFLD conversion to HCC, while these effects of FTX were reversed by inactivating of KCs. Finally, in vitro experiments, our data indicated that FTX facilitated the M1 polarization of KCs. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our results demonstrated that upregulation of FTX suppressed NAFLD conversion to HCC though promoting M1 polarization of KCs. Our findings presented a new regulatory mechanism for NAFLD conversion to HCC, and provided a new biomarker for inhibiting this conversion.