Immune microenvironment of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative compared to EBV-associated gastric cancers: implications for immunotherapy.

Background: Gastric carcinomas (GC) are aggressive malignancies, and only ~15% of patients respond to anti-programmed cell death (ligand) 1 (PD-(L)1) monotherapy. However, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated GCs (~5-10% of GCs) often harbor PD-L1 and PD-L2 chromosomal amplifications and robust CD8+ T cell infiltrates, and respond at a high rate to anti-PD-1. The current study compares the tumor immune microenvironments (TiMEs) of EBV+ versus EBV(-) GCs.

Protocol for preparing and using a task to study "delayed safety-seeking behavior" in rats.

The study of defensive behaviors in predicting action outcomes in novel situations without trial and error is limited by the lack of appropriate animal models. Here, we present a protocol for preparing and using a delayed safety-seeking task where rats temporarily hold information for future safety seeking. We describe steps for constructing a two-compartment chamber and provide testing procedures during which either in vivo recordings or optogenetics can be performed.

Nutritional Intensive Support in a Pediatric Patient With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Report.

Estimating the nutritional requirements for pediatric patients requires a comprehensive approach with various factors including age, gender, body mass index, and physical activity level, due to the significant growth and developmental changes observed in this population. This complexity renders the use of a simplistic generalization or a standard formula impractical. A number of methodologies have been established to calculate nutritional needs for the pediatric population.

Therapeutic Potential of Mangosteen Pericarp Extract-Loaded Liposomes against Superficial Skin Infection Caused by in a Murine Model.

α-mangostin (α-MG) demonstrates antibacterial activity against species. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the antibacterial activity of α-MG-rich mangosteen pericarp extract (MPE)-loaded liposomes against isolates from companion animal skin diseases in vitro and evaluated their therapeutic potential in a murine model of superficial skin infection caused by . α-MG-rich extract was purified from mangosteen pericarp and then complexed with γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD), forming the inclusion complexes.

Super-resolution Multispectral Imaging Nanoimmunosensor for Simultaneous Detection of Diverse Early Cancer Biomarkers.

In medical diagnosis, relying on only one type of biomarker is insufficient to accurately identify cancer. Blood-based multicancer early detection can help identify more than one type of cancer from a single blood sample. In this study, a super-resolution multispectral imaging nanoimmunosensor (srMINI) based on three quantum dots (QDs) of different color conjugated with streptavidin was developed for the simultaneous screening of various cancer biomarkers in blood at the single-molecule level.

Delayed escape behavior requires claustral activity.

Animals are known to exhibit innate and learned forms of defensive behaviors, but it is unclear whether animals can escape through methods other than these forms. In this study, we develop the delayed escape task, in which male rats temporarily hold the information required for future escape, and we demonstrate that this task, in which the subject extrapolates from past experience without direct experience of its behavioral outcome, does not fall into either of the two forms of behavior. During the holding period, a subset of neurons in the rostral-to-striatum claustrum (rsCla), only when pooled together, sustain enhanced population activity without ongoing sensory stimuli.

The Novel Tetra-Specific Drug C-192, Conjugated Using UniStac, Alleviates Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis in an MCD Diet-Induced Mouse Model.

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a complex disease resulting from chronic liver injury associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and inflammation. Recently, the importance of developing multi-target drugs as a strategy to address complex diseases such as NASH has been growing; however, their manufacturing processes remain time- and cost-intensive and inefficient. To overcome these limitations, we developed UniStac, a novel enzyme-mediated conjugation platform for multi-specific drug development.

Relationship between C-reactive protein level and periodontitis and systemic diseases.

Background: Periodontitis affects systemic disease risk, although the relationship thereof in the context of different C-reactive protein (CRP) levels is not clear. This study investigated the association of periodontitis with systemic diseases according to high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) level and sought to identify the risk of systemic diseases in patients with periodontitis.

Methods: We used data from the seventh (2016-2018) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Synergistic effects of mixing and strain in high entropy spinel oxides for oxygen evolution reaction.

Developing stable and efficient electrocatalysts is vital for boosting oxygen evolution reaction (OER) rates in sustainable hydrogen production. High-entropy oxides (HEOs) consist of five or more metal cations, providing opportunities to tune their catalytic properties toward high OER efficiency. This work combines theoretical and experimental studies to scrutinize the OER activity and stability for spinel-type HEOs.

Defining a TCF1-expressing progenitor allogeneic CD8 T cell subset in acute graft-versus-host disease.

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a severe complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation driven by activated allogeneic T cells. Here, we identify a distinct subset of T cell factor-1 (TCF1) CD8 T cells in mouse allogeneic and xenogeneic transplant models of acute GvHD. These TCF1 cells exhibit distinct characteristics compared to TCF1 cells, including lower expression of inhibitory receptors and higher expression of costimulatory molecules.

Mechanisms underlying response and resistance to immune checkpoint blockade in cancer immunotherapy.

Cancer immunotherapies targeting immune checkpoint pathways, such as programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), have achieved unprecedented therapeutic success in treating various types of cancer. The prominent and persistent clinical responses to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy are currently constrained to a subset of patients. Owing to discrete individual tumor and immune heterogeneity, most patients fail to benefit from ICB treatment, demonstrating either primary or acquired resistance.

IL-15 promotes self-renewal of progenitor exhausted CD8 T cells during persistent antigenic stimulation.

In chronic infections and cancer, exhausted CD8 T cells exhibit heterogeneous subpopulations. TCF1+PD-1+ progenitor exhausted CD8 T cells (Tpex) can self-renew and give rise to Tim-3+PD-1+ terminally differentiated CD8 T cells that retain their effector functions. Tpex cells are thus essential to maintaining a pool of antigen-specific CD8 T cells during persistent antigenic stimulation, and only they respond to PD-1-targeted therapy.

Excited State Intramolecular Proton Transfer Dynamics of Derivatives of the Green Fluorescent Protein Chromophore.

Excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) dynamics of the -hydroxy analogs of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore have been investigated by time-resolved spectroscopies and theoretical calculations. These molecules comprise an excellent system to investigate the effect of electronic properties on the energetics and dynamics of ESIPT and to realize applications in photonics. Time-resolved fluorescence with high enough resolution was employed to record the dynamics and the nuclear wave packets in the excited product state exclusively in conjunction with quantum chemical methods.

Supersensitive detection of single-histamine molecule on nanoplates by turn-on small molecule fluorescence sandwich immunoassay.

We develop a supersensitive "turn-on format" fluorescence sandwich immunoassay for detecting small single molecules. Gold nanoplate-based biotin antibodies and streptavidin-fluorophores were used instead of streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase reacting with a biotin tracer in a microplate-based competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Our platform showed a low detection limit of 5 zeptomolar (5 × 10 M), 5.

Simultaneous quantification of thyroid hormones using an ultrasensitive single-molecule fourplex nanoimmunosensor in an evanescent field.

The thyroid gland, which regulates the metabolism of the human body, has a sophisticated feedback system that induces the secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) to regulate the levels of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). In this study, a single-molecule fourplex nanoimmunosensor was developed for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of TSH, T3, and T4. The three thyroid hormones were detected with a high signal-to-noise ratio in an evanescent field using laser-induced total internal reflection fluorescence.

PD-1 combination therapy with IL-2 modifies CD8 T cell exhaustion program.

Combination therapy with PD-1 blockade and IL-2 is highly effective during chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection. Here we examine the underlying basis for this synergy. We show that PD-1 + IL-2 combination therapy, in contrast to PD-1 monotherapy, substantially changes the differentiation program of the PD-1TCF1 stem-like CD8 T cells and results in the generation of transcriptionally and epigenetically distinct effector CD8 T cells that resemble highly functional effector CD8 T cells seen after an acute viral infection.

Comparison of Virulence between Two Main Clones (ST11 and ST307) of Isolates from South Korea.

In this study, we investigate the characteristics of two main clones of carbapenemase-producing isolates from South Korea, ST11 and ST307, including carbapenem-susceptible isolates. Antibiotic susceptibility, serotype or allelic type, the presence of virulence genes, and virulence with respect to serum resistance and macrophage internalization were determined for ST11 and ST307 isolates. ST11 isolates had a wide range of characteristics, including serotype and virulence, compared with those of homogeneous ST307 isolates.

First report of mume virus A infecting worldwide and in Korea.

Mume virus A (MuVA) of the genus in the family was first isolated from a Japanese apricot tree () exhibiting symptoms of diffuse chlorotic spots (Marais et al. 2018). MuVA infection has been reported in Japanese apricot trees in Japan as well as in peach () and Japanese apricot trees in China (Marais et al.

Ultrasensitive Hypoxia Sensing at the Single-Molecule Level via Super-Resolution Quantum Dot-Linked Immunosandwich Assay.

Activated hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α) plays an important role in the adaptive response of tumor cells to oxygen changes through the transcriptional activation of genes that regulate important biological processes required for tumor survival and progression. In this study, we developed an ultrasensitive hypoxia sensor based on read-out with quantum dots on a gold nanodisc (quantum dot-linked immunosandwich assay, QLISA) with excellent selectivity for HIF-1α. The immunoassay platform was established by comparing the immune response results using Qdot525 as a detection nanoprobe instead of a fluorescent dye (Alexa488) (fluorescent-linked immunosandwich assay, FLISA).

Analysis of Korean Retinal Specialists' Opinions on Implanting Diffractive Multifocal Intraocular Lenses in Eyes with Underlying Retinal Diseases.

Multifocal intraocular lenses (MF-IOLs) are increasingly implanted as the need for good near- and intermediate-distance vision increases. Although retinal disease is known to be a relative contraindication for MF-IOL implantation, there are no detailed guidelines for MF-IOL implantation with respect to the type and severity of retinal diseases/statuses. In this study, because retinal diseases can affect the performance of MF-IOLs, we analyzed the opinions of 111 retinal specialists, who were members of the Korean Retina Society, on the implantation of diffractive MF-IOLs in eyes with 15 retinal diseases/statuses using a web-based survey.

Risk Factors for Intravenous Propacetamol-Induced Blood Pressure Drop in the Neurointensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Background: Intravenous propacetamol is commonly used to control fever and pain in neurocritically ill patients in whom oral administration is often difficult. However, several studies reported that intravenous propacetamol may cause blood pressure drop. Thus, we aimed to investigate the occurrence and risk factors for intravenous propacetamol-induced blood pressure drop in neurocritically ill patients.