[Applications and challenges of pathomics technique in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma].

The incidence and mortality rate of hepatocellular carcinoma rank among the top of all cancer types,seriously threatening the life and health of human beings. In recent years,the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the deepening of the concept of precision medicine have led to a boom in interdisciplinary research. Pathomics,as an emerging omics technology driven by artificial intelligence,can mine massive information from high-resolution whole slide images,and shows broad application prospects in the diagnosis,treatment and prognosis assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, pathomics research in hepatocellular carcinoma is still in its infancy, and its research patterns and clinical applications still face several controversies and challenges, including data security, ethics, and "black box" issues. Future research should focus on conducting prospective studies, integrating multimodal data, improving computational technologies, and establishing professional standards to promote the high-quality development of pathomics technology in both clinical and basic research of hepatocellular carcinoma.

[Surgical diagnosis and treatment of adult huge undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver].

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of adult undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver (UESL). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 5 patients with UESL who underwent surgical resection and were pathologically confirmed from January 2005 to December 2020 at the First and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. All the patients were female aged from 49 to 77 years old. Preoperative CT showed a solid cystic mass with low density and a slight density of cord like septum. Imaging findings were misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma or cystadenocarcinoma. CA125 was higher in 3 patients,and AFP in all patients was normal. Results: All patients were treated by surgery. The mean diameter of tumor was 20.2 cm (range:15.0 to 30.0 cm). All five patients had vimentin expression in immunohistochemistry. Three cases underwent complete resection of the tumor and achieved R0 resection,2 of them had tumor free survival until the end of the follow-up (89 and 55 months),the other 1 case died from renal cell carcinoma 158 months later. The remaining 2 cases were radically resected,but the tumors were ruptured during operation,and relapsed after 2 months and 19 months respectively. The overall survival was 3 and 26 months respectively. Conclusions: Radical hepatectomy is the first choice for treatment of UESL. Intraoperative tumor rupture should be avoided and implant metastasis is a major factor affecting the prognosis of UESL.

Tetramethylpyrazine (TMPZ) triggers S-phase arrest and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in lung cancer cells.

Tetramethylpyrazine (TMPZ) is one of the active compounds extracted from the traditional Chinese herb Chuanxiong. Several studies have shown its anti-cancer properties. However, its functions in lung cancer and the underlying cellular mechanisms are relatively unknown. Our present study aimed to investigate the effects of TMPZ on A549 and 95D cells. The MTT assay showed that TMPZ decreased cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The results of the colony formation assay indicated that TMPZ strongly suppressed colony formation ability in A549 and 95D cells. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that TMPZ induced S phase arrest in lung cancer cells. In addition, TMPZ induced apoptosis, as shown by the results of propidium iodide/Annexin V double-staining. Furthermore, TMPZ decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (∆Ψm) in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, western blot analysis of TMPZ-treated cells revealed the activation of Caspase-3 and the increase of the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2. These results demonstrated that TMPZ could suppress carcinogenesis of lung cancer cells through blocking cell cycle and inducing mitochondria-dependent apoptosis by regulating Caspase-3 and Bax/Bcl-2, suggesting that TMPZ may be a promising drug to treat lung cancer.

ZNF185 inhibits growth and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells through inhibition of the akt/gsk3ß pathway.

Zinc finger (ZNF) proteins, a diverse family of proteins, have multiple biological functions in cancer. Increased expression of ZNF185 has been involved in the regulation of tumor growth and metastasis. However, the function and underlying mechanisms of ZNF185 in the tumorigenesis of lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) remain unclear. The protein expression of ZNF185 was examined in human LAC tissues by immunohistochemical assay. After lentiviral vector-mediated ZNF185 overexpression was infected into the LAC cell lines (A549 and LETPα-2), cell growth and invasive potential were respectively evaluated by MTT and Transwell assays. We found that the protein expression of ZNF185 was significantly downregulated in LAC tissues compared with the adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANCT) (37.10% vs 58.06%, P=0.015), and was negatively correlated with the lymph node metastasis of the LAC patients (P=0.005). Furthermore, overexpression of ZNF185 reduced cell proliferation and invasion in LAC cells, followed by the downregulation of p-AKT, p-GSK3ß, VEGF and MMP-9 expression. Taken together, our findings indicate that the decreased expression of ZNF185 is linked to the tumor metastasis in human LAC patients, and ZNF185 overexpression inhibits the growth and invasion of LAC cells through inhibition of the AKT/GSK3ß signaling, suggesting that ZNF185 may represent a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of LAC.

[Transepidermal water loss of scar skin in three types of scar patients and its correlation with scar severity].

Objective: To study the transepidermal water loss (TEWL) of scar skin in patients with superficial scars, hypertrophic scars, and atrophic scars, and to explore the correlation between TEWL and scar severity. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted. From February 2017 to February 2019, 120 scar patients who met the inclusion criteria were admitted to the General Hospital of Jilin Chemical Industry Group, including 78 males and 42 females, aged (35±14) years. According to the diagnosis on admission, there were 40 cases of superficial scar patients, 40 cases of hypertrophic scar patients, and 40 cases of atrophic scar patients. On admission, the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) was used to score the scar of each patient; the TEWL of scar skin and normal skin 1 cm from the edge of scar or the same site of the healthy side (hereinafter referred to as normal skin) of each patient was measured by water loss tester, and the difference value of TEWL between scar skin and normal skin (hereinafter referred to as the TEWL difference) was calculated. Data were statistically analyzed with chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, paired sample t test, one-way analysis of variance, and Dunnett-t test for comparison, and the correlation between the difference value of TEWL and scar VSS score was analyzed with univariate linear regression analysis. Results: On admission, the scar VSS score of superficial scar patients was significantly lower than that of hypertrophic scar or atrophic scar patients (t=4.403, 4.768, P<0.01), and the scar VSS score of atrophic scar patients was significantly lower than that of hypertrophic scar patients (t=4.185, P<0.01). On admission, the TEWL of scar skin of superficial scar, hypertrophic scar, and atrophic scar patients were (18±4), (20±4), and (20±5) g·m-2·h-1 respectively, significantly higher than (12±3), (12±3), and (14±4) g·m-2·h-1 of normal skin (t=6.889, 10.221, 5.870, P<0.01). The difference values of TEWL of superficial scar, hypertrophic scar, and atrophic scar patients were (5.9±1.7), (8.1±1.7), and (6.4±2.1) g·m-2·h-1 respectively. In comparison among different types of scar patients, only the TEWL difference of hypertrophic scar patients was significantly higher than that of superficial scar patients (t=6.975, P<0.05). The TEWL difference and the scar VSS score in patients with superficial scars, hypertrophic scars, and atrophic scars were significantly positively correlated (r=0.805, 0.872, 0.826, P<0.01). Conclusions: The TEWL of scar skin in patients with superficial scars, hypertrophic scars, and atrophic scars is increased compared with normal skin, and the degree of increase was positively correlated with the severity of scars.

A study on the role of apoptotic human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in bleomycin-induced acute lung injury in rat models.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether normal human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and apoptotic human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells play any role in the lung repair following bleomycin-induced lung injury in rat models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells were obtained from the umbilical cord following caesarian section from healthy normal babies. Plasmin deprivation method was used for culture of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and flow cytometry was used to identify cell surface antigen and activity of stem cells and apoptosis. The animal model of acute lung injury was established by a one-off intratracheal instillation of bleomycin (BLM) (5 mg/kg) and then normal stem cells and apoptotic stem cells were separately injected. Alveolar lavage fluid and lung tissue were collected for further analysis prior to the injury and at days 3, 7, 14 after administration of BLM. The number of neutrophils in the broncho alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was counted; Bicinchoninic Acid (BCA) method was used for estimation of total protein content in alveolar lavage fluid; biochemical assay was used for estimation of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity; hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining of lung tissue was used for histopathology analysis; reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was used for the determination of interferon-gamma (INF-γ) and mRNA changes of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in lung tissue. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for the determination of cytokines TNF-α in the lung tissue. RESULTS: Apoptotic human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells were more effective in reducing lung neutrophil infiltration and total protein leakage in rat models of acute lung injury (ALI). There was also an improvement in the degree of vascular permeability, reduction in the level of proinflammatory cytokines, INF-γ gene level and boost in anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 levels which also helps in more effectively reducing the degree of injury in ALI. CONCLUSIONS: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation may have a bright future in the clinical setting for the treatment of ALI/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Apoptotic human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells may have more effective than normal human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of acute lung injury.