Case report: A rare case of omental extrarenal rhabdoid tumor and review of the literature.

Extrarenal rhabdoid tumor of the greater omentum is extremely rare, with only sporadic reports and limited documentation of its ultrasonographic findings. Here, we report a case of an extrarenal rhabdoid tumor of the greater omentum in a 16-year-old girl and review the relevant literature. It was found that the disease mainly occurred in female children and adolescents, and mainly manifested as lower abdominal pain and a large abdominal cystic or solid hemorrhagic mass. The clinical characteristics include a high degree of malignancy and mortality. Ultrasound shows some malignant features, but it is not specific; thus, it is easy to be misdiagnosed in the clinic.

Hyaluronan delays human amniotic epithelial stem cell senescence by regulating CD44 isoform switch to activate AKT/mTOR signals.

The replicative senescence of human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAECs) is a major concern towards its clinical application. This study found that a 300-kDa hyaluronic acid (HA) could effectively delay the replicative senescence of hAECs, as indicated by the downregulation of cellular senescence markers and alteration of the cell cycle, and substantially improve the differentiation capacities of hAECs. HA was confirmed to regulate the CD44 isoform switch by upregulating the CD44s and downregulating the CD44v, thus exerting an anti-aging effect. We further found that HA induced the upregulation of hyaluronan synthase (HAS) 2, resulting in the activation of epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 (ESRP1) and alternative splicing of CD44 mRNA, thereby promoting CD44s expression and inhibiting CD44v expression. Knockdown of HAS2 blocked ESRP1 expression and attenuated the anti-aging effects of HA. Hermes-1, a specific blocker of CD44, caused partial loss of the anti-aging effect of HA, upregulated senescence markers, and downregulated stemness markers. Furthermore, CD44s receptor activation was shown to initiate the AKT/mTOR downstream signaling. Conclusively, the study suggested that HA delayed hAEC senescence by regulating CD44 isoform switch to activate the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, and there is potential for the clinical application of hAECs in combination with HA.

The improvement of liposome-mediated transfection of pEGFP DNA into human prostate cancer cells by combining low-frequency and low-energy ultrasound with microbubbles.

The aim of this study was to explore the use of a contrast agent to study the effects of exposure to ultrasound, in combination with microbubbles, on liposome-mediated transfection of genes into human prostate cancer cells. A contrast agent was used to study the effects of ultrasound exposure in combination with microbubbles on liposomes, which transfect genes into human prostate cancer cells. The human prostate cancer cell line PC-3 in suspension was exposed to ultrasound with a 20% duty cycle (i.e., 2 sec 'on' time and 8 sec 'off' time) lasting 5 min, with and without ultrasound contrast agent (SonoVue™) using a digital sonifier at a frequency of 21 kHz and an intensity of 4.6 mW/cm2. Immediately after exposure to ultrasound, cell viability and membrane damage were measured. After exposure to ultrasound, the cell suspensions were put into 12­well plates and cultured for 24 h. Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry were used to detect pEGFP transfection efficiency. Exposure to ultrasound alone and ultrasound combined with microbubbles resulted in minimal cell death and induced negligible cell membrane damage. Ultrasound combined with microbubbles had a greater effect on cell membrane damage in all groups: the average cell membrane damage was 41.87%, and it was approximately 42­fold greater than in the control group. The average transfection efficiency of PC-3 cells was 20.30% for the liposome (Lipofectamine™)+pEGFP+ultrasound+ultrasound contrast agent (SonoVue) group; this was the highest rate of all groups measured and was approximately 81­fold greater than that of the control group. The use of low-frequency and low-energy ultrasound, in combination with microbubbles, could be a potent physical method for increasing liposome gene delivery efficiency. This technique is a promising non-viral approach that can be used in prostate cancer gene therapy.

Echocardiographic findings on congenital left ventricular diverticulum and aneurysm: two rare cases and literature review.

Congenital diverticulum and aneurysm are rare cardiac abnormalities. Given their very low incidence especially in adult patients and the few cases reported, the diagnosis might be ignored when the cardiac malformation is seen for the first time. This article presents two adult cases of congenital diverticulum and aneurysm, which were first detected by echocardiography. The relevant literature is reviewed.