[The winning works of the Scientific Council of the Israel Medical Association (IMA) Award for Excellence in Basic Sciences for 2024].

The winning works of the Scientific Council of the Israel Medical Association (IMA) Award for Excellence in Basic Sciences for 2024.

Thyroid nodule characterization using Spectral Detector Computed Tomography (SDCT) in comparison to ultrasound.

Objective: To characterize thyroid nodules seen on Spectral Detector computed tomography (SDCT) in respect to their Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) category on Ultrasound (US).

Methods: We included patients that underwent US examination for the evaluation of thyroid nodules and contrast-enhanced SDCT examination of the neck/thorax, between the years 2018-2020. The SDCT and US were performed within 6 months of each other.

Validation of Lung EpiCheck, a novel methylation-based blood assay, for the detection of lung cancer in European and Chinese high-risk individuals.

Aim: Lung cancer screening reduces mortality. We aim to validate the performance of Lung EpiCheck, a six-marker panel methylation-based plasma test, in the detection of lung cancer in European and Chinese samples.

Methods: A case-control European training set (n=102 lung cancer cases, n=265 controls) was used to define the panel and algorithm.

Novel extra cellular-like matrices to improve human ovarian grafting.

Purpose: To investigate if human ovarian grafting with pure virgin human recombinant collagen type-1 from bioengineered plant lines (CollPlant™) or small intestine submucosa (SIS) yields better implantation results for human ovarian tissue and which method benefits more when combined with the host melatonin treatment and graft incubation with biological glue + vitamin E + vascular endothelial growth factor-A.

Methods: Human ovarian tissue wrapped in CollPlant or SIS was transplanted into immunodeficient mice with/without host/graft treatment. The tissue was assessed by follicle counts (including atretic), for apoptosis evaluation by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase assay and for immunohistochemical evaluation of neovascularization by platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM) expression, and for identification of proliferating granulosa cells by Ki67 expression.

Extracellular-like matrices and leukaemia inhibitory factor for in vitro culture of human primordial follicles.

The possibility of maturing human primordial follicles in vitro would assist fertility restoration without the danger of reseeding malignancies. Leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and certain culture matrices may promote human follicular growth. The present study compared human primordial follicular growth on novel culture matrices, namely human recombinant vitronectin (hrVit), small intestine submucosa (SIS), alginate scaffolds and human recombinant virgin collagen bioengineered in tobacco plant lines (CollPlant).