In Vitro Human Liver Model for Toxicity Assessment with Clinical and Preclinical Instrumentation.

The existing in vitro toxicological models lack translational potential, which makes difficult the application of gathered information to clinical usage. To tackle this issue, we built a model with four different types of primary liver cells: hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells, hepatic stellate cells, Kupffer cells and hepatocytes. We cultured them in different combinations of composition and volumes of cell medium, hepatocyte proportions of total cells and additions of extracellular matrixes.

Finding a Direct Method for a Dynamic Process: The DD (Direct and Dynamic) Cell-Tox Method.

The main focus of in vitro toxicity assessment methods is to assess the viability of the cells, which is usually based on metabolism changes. Yet, when exposed to toxic substances, the cell triggers multiple signals in response. With this in mind, we have developed a promising cell-based toxicity method that observes various cell responses when exposed to toxic substances (either death, division, or remain viable).

TMPRSS2:ERG gene aberrations may provide insight into pT stage in prostate cancer.

Background: TMPRSS2:ERG gene aberration may be a novel marker that improves risk stratification of prostate cancer before definitive cancer therapy, but studies have been inconclusive.

Methods: The study cohort consisted of 202 operable prostate cancer Slovenian patients who underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. We retrospectively constructed tissue microarrays of their prostatic specimens for fluorescence in situ hybridization, with appropriate signals obtained in 148 patients for subsequent statistical analyses.