Publications by authors named "Katharina M Schmidt"

Ultra high frequency (UHF) ultrasound enables the visualization of very small structures that cannot be detected by conventional ultrasound. The utilization of UHF imaging as a new imaging technique for the 3D-in-vivo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model can facilitate new insights into tissue perfusion and survival. Therefore, human renal cystic tissue was grafted onto the CAM and examined using UHF ultrasound imaging.

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive cancer with adverse outcomes that have barely improved over the last decade. About half of all patients present with metastasis at the time of diagnosis, and the 5-year overall survival rate across all stages is only 6%. Innovative in vivo research models are necessary to combat this cancer and to discover novel treatment strategies.

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Background: Pneumonia in liver transplant recipients is one of the most common infections in the early phase after transplantation. The diagnosis is based on clinical signs combined with positive microbiological samples taken from the lower respiratory tract. However, the role of bacterial colonization is not clear, nor is its association with pneumonia or its long-term consequences.

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Citrate is important for lipid synthesis and epigenetic regulation in addition to ATP production. We have previously reported that cancer cells import extracellular citrate via the pmCiC transporter to support their metabolism. Here, we show for the first time that citrate is supplied to cancer by cancer-associated stroma (CAS) and also that citrate synthesis and release is one of the latter's major metabolic tasks.

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Background: Incisional surgical site infections (iSSI) in hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery usually lead to prolonged hospital stays, consume valuable resources, and impact on patients' outcome. Prophylactic closed incision negative pressure wound therapy (ciNPWT) to decrease wound complications has become available. Owing to an increasing number of studies, evidence for superiority in many indication areas has accumulated; however, in general surgery, there are a few data and those have shown contradictory results.

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In 1988, Rudolf Pichlmayr pioneered split liver transplantation (SLT), enabling the transplantation of one donor liver into two recipients - one pediatric and one adult patient. In the same year, Henri Bismuth and colleagues performed the first full right/full left split procedure with two adult recipients. Both splitting techniques were rapidly adopted within the transplant community.

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Mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) with its pivotal component rapamycin-insensitive companion of mTOR (RICTOR) is the major regulator of AKT phosphorylation and is increasingly implicated in tumor growth and progression. In cutaneous melanoma, an extremely aggressive and highly metastatic disease, RICTOR overexpression is involved in tumor development and invasiveness. Therefore, we investigated the impact of RICTOR inhibition in melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo with special emphasis on hepatic metastasis.

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Mammalian Target of Rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) and its regulatory component Rapamycin-insensitive companion of mTOR (RICTOR) are increasingly recognized as important players in human cancer development and progression. However, the role of RICTOR in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is unclear so far. Here, we sought to analyze the effects of RICTOR inhibition in human pancreatic cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo.

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Background: ALPPS (associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy) is a novel two-stage strategy to induce rapid hypertrophy of the future liver remnant (FLR) when patients are in danger of postoperative liver failure due to insufficient FLR. However, the effects of ALPPS on colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) are not clear so far. The aim of our study was to determine whether ALPPS induces proliferation, apoptosis, or vascularization compared to standard (one-stage) liver resection.

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Subcutaneous tumor models are widely used in angiogenesis research. Due to the relative simplicity, these mouse models are ideal for the evaluation of molecular hypotheses. In addition, these models are frequently used to assess anti-angiogenic efficacy during drug development.

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