The role of mitochondria in the resistance of melanoma to PD-1 inhibitors.

Malignant melanoma is one of the most common tumours and has the highest mortality rate of all types of skin cancers worldwide. Traditional and novel therapeutic approaches, including surgery, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, have shown good efficacy in the treatment of melanoma. At present, the mainstay of treatment for melanoma is immunotherapy combined with other treatment strategies. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as PD-1 inhibitors, are not particularly effective in the clinical treatment of patients with melanoma. Changes in mitochondrial function may affect the development of melanoma and the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors. To elucidate the role of mitochondria in the resistance of melanoma to PD-1 inhibitors, this review comprehensively summarises the role of mitochondria in the occurrence and development of melanoma, targets related to the function of mitochondria in melanoma cells and changes in mitochondrial function in different cells in melanoma resistant to PD-1 inhibitors. This review may help to develop therapeutic strategies for improving the clinical response rate of PD-1 inhibitors and prolonging the survival of patients by activating mitochondrial function in tumour and T cells.

Preparation and properties of biomedical porous titanium alloys by gelcasting.

Porous titanium alloys have been prepared by gelcasting in this study. The elastic solid green body was first polymerized and then vacuum sintered to porous titanium alloys with low contamination by controlling sintering conditions. The microstructure and the total porosity of the vacuum sintered porous Ti-Co and Ti-Mo alloys were analyzed by using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Moreover, compression and bending tests were conducted to investigate their mechanical properties. The results show that open and closed three-dimensional pore morphologies and total porosity ranging from 38.34% to 58.32% can be achieved. In contrast to porous Ti by gelcasting, the compression and bending strengths of porous titanium alloys were significantly increased by adding Mo and Co with Young's modulus ranging between 7-25 GPa, which is close to that of human cortical bone, therefore being suited for potential application in load-bearing implants.