Plasma cell-free DNA hydroxymethylation profiling reveals anti-PD-1 treatment response and resistance biology in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting programmed death-1 (PD-1) can yield durable antitumor responses, yet not all patients respond to ICIs. Current approaches to select patients who may benefit from anti-PD-1 treatment are insufficient. 5-hydroxymethylation (5hmC) analysis of plasma-derived cell-free DNA (cfDNA) presents a novel non-invasive approach for identification of therapy response biomarkers which can tackle challenges associated with tumor biopsies such as tumor heterogeneity and serial sample collection.

Epigenomic Blood-Based Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Employing Cell-Free DNA.

Background & Aims: Early detection of pancreatic cancer (PaC) can drastically improve survival rates. Approximately 25% of subjects with PaC have type 2 diabetes diagnosed within 3 years prior to the PaC diagnosis, suggesting that subjects with type 2 diabetes are at high risk of occult PaC. We have developed an early-detection PaC test, based on changes in 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) signals in cell-free DNA from plasma.

Magnesium-based bioceramics in orthopedic applications.

Unlabelled: Magnesium ions are directly involved in numerous biological mechanisms; for example, they play an important part in the regulation of ion channels, DNA stabilization, enzyme activation and stimulation of cell growth and proliferation. This alkaline earth metal has gained great popularity in orthopedic applications in recent years. Magnesium-based bioceramics include a large group of magnesium containing compounds such as oxides, phosphates and silicates, that are involved in orthopedic applications like bone cements, bone scaffolds or implant coatings.

Magnesium substitution in the structure of orthopedic nanoparticles: A comparison between amorphous magnesium phosphates, calcium magnesium phosphates, and hydroxyapatites.

As biocompatible materials, magnesium phosphates have received a lot of attention for orthopedic applications. During the last decade multiple studies have shown advantages for magnesium phosphate such as lack of cytotoxicity, biocompatibility, strong mechanical properties, and high biodegradability. The present study investigates the role of Mg(+2) and Ca(+2) ions in the structure of magnesium phosphate and calcium phosphate nanoparticles.

Rapid coating of AZ31 magnesium alloy with calcium deficient hydroxyapatite using microwave energy.

Due to their unique biodegradability, magnesium alloys have been recognized as suitable metallic implant materials for degradable bone implants and bioresorbable cardiovascular stents. However, the extremely high degradation rate of magnesium alloys in physiological environment has restricted its practical application. This paper reports the use of a novel microwave assisted coating technology to improve the in vitro corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of Mg alloy AZ31.

Formation of nanostructured fluorapatite via microwave assisted solution combustion synthesis.

Fluorapatite (FA) has potential applications in dentistry and orthopedics, but its synthesis procedures are time consuming. The goal of the present study is to develop a quick microwave assisted solution combustion synthesis method (MASCS) for the production of FA particles. With this new processing, FA particles were successfully synthesized in minutes.

Microwave assisted apatite coating deposition on Ti6Al4V implants.

In this work we report a novel microwave assisted technology to deposit a uniform, ultra-thin apatite coating without any cracks on titanium implants in minutes. This method comprises of conventional biomimetic coating in synergism with microwave irradiation to result in alkaline earth phosphate nucleation. The microwave assisted coating process mainly follows the initial stages of biomimetic coating until the step of the Ca-P nuclei formation.

Fabrication of novel poly(lactic acid)/amorphous magnesium phosphate bionanocomposite fibers for tissue engineering applications via electrospinning.

Fibrous bionanocomposites consisting of amorphous magnesium phosphate (AMP) nanospheres and polylactic acid (PLA) were fabricated by electrospinning. There are two important signatures of this paper. First, AMP, as an alternative to well-known calcium phosphate (CaP) materials, is added to PLA as the second phase.

Vertebrate codon bias indicates a highly GC-rich ancestral genome.

Two factors are thought to have contributed to the origin of codon usage bias in eukaryotes: 1) genome-wide mutational forces that shape overall GC-content and create context-dependent nucleotide bias, and 2) positive selection for codons that maximize efficient and accurate translation. Particularly in vertebrates, these two explanations contradict each other and cloud the origin of codon bias in the taxon. On the one hand, mutational forces fail to explain GC-richness (~60%) of third codon positions, given the GC-poor overall genomic composition among vertebrates (~40%).