PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade in breast cancer: research insights and sensitization strategies.

Immunotherapy targeting programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and PD-L1 immune checkpoints has reshaped treatment paradigms across several cancers, including breast cancer. Combining PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) with chemotherapy has shown promising efficacy in both early and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, although only a subset of patients experiences durable responses. Identifying responders and optimizing immune drug selection are therefore critical.

NRF3 suppresses the malignant progression of TNBC by promoting M1 polarization of macrophages via ROS/HMGB1 axis.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive form of breast cancer. Due to its lack of targeted therapy options, TNBC remains a significant clinical challenge. In this study, we investigated the role of nuclear respiratory factor 3 (NRF3) and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in the progression of TNBC.

Trustworthy Breast Ultrasound Image Semantic Segmentation Based on Fuzzy Uncertainty Reduction.

Medical image semantic segmentation is essential in computer-aided diagnosis systems. It can separate tissues and lesions in the image and provide valuable information to radiologists and doctors. The breast ultrasound (BUS) images have advantages: no radiation, low cost, portable, etc.

MSF-GAN: Multi-Scale Fuzzy Generative Adversarial Network for Breast Ultrasound Image Segmentation.

Automatic breast ultrasound image (BUS) segmentation is still a challenging task due to poor image quality and inherent speckle noise. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-scale fuzzy generative adversarial network (MSF-GAN) for breast ultrasound image segmentation. The proposed MSF-GAN consists of two networks: a generative network to generate segmentation maps for input BUS images, and a discriminative network that employs a multi-scale fuzzy (MSF) entropy module for discrimination.

Immune Cell Infiltration-Based Characterization of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Predicts Prognosis and Chemotherapy Response Markers.

Breast cancer represents the number one cause of cancer-associated mortality globally. The most aggressive molecular subtype is triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), of which limited therapeutic options are available. It is well known that breast cancer prognosis and tumor sensitivity toward immunotherapy are dictated by the tumor microenvironment.

Development and validation of a hypoxia-related prognostic signature for breast cancer.

Hypoxia, an important component of the tumor microenvironment, plays a crucial role in the occurrence and progression of cancer. However, to the best of our knowledge, a systematic analysis of a hypoxia-related prognostic signature for breast cancer is lacking and is urgently required. Therefore, in the present study, RNA-seq data and clinical information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and served as a discovery cohort.

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon from biomass with superior catalytic performance for acetylene hydrochlorination.

Acetylene hydrochlorination is an important aspect of the industrial synthesis of polyvinyl chloride, but it requires a toxic mercury chloride catalyst. Here we report a green, highly efficient and low cost nitrogen-doped soybean meal carbon (SBMC) catalyst obtained from the simple carbonization of biomass soybean meal (SBM) in the presence of zinc chloride. This material exhibits excellent catalytic performance during acetylene hydrochlorination, with an initial acetylene conversion greater than 99% and 98% selectivity for vinyl chloride at 200 °C over 110 h.

Increased Expression of Exosomal AGAP2-AS1 (AGAP2 Antisense RNA 1) In Breast Cancer Cells Inhibits Trastuzumab-Induced Cell Cytotoxicity.

BACKGROUND Trastuzumab therapy is important for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, but more and more patients have experienced trastuzumab resistance during recent years. Accumulating evidence from recent studies showed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play essential roles in chemoresistance of various cancer types, but the precise role of lncRNAs in trastuzumab resistance is unclear. In the present study, we aimed to identify the biofunction of lncRNA APAP2-AS1 in tranastuzumab resistance and to reveal the underlying regulatory mechanism.

Preparation and Surface Properties Study of Novel Fluorine-Containing Methacrylate Polymers for Coating.

A new structural fluorine-containing methacrylate monomer CH₂=C(CH₃)COOC⁻(CF₃)₂CF₂CF₂CF₃ () was synthesized derived from perfluoro-2-methyl-2-pentene (D₂). A homopolymer of and copolymers of and methacrylate with different alkyl chain length (chain length = 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18) were obtained. These new fluorinated acrylate polymers showed excellent water and oil repellency.

Intramolecular Aza-Piancatelli Rearrangement of Alkyl- or Arylamines Promoted by PPh/Diethyl Azodicarboxylate.

A novel method for the construction of 1-azaspirocycles from 5-alkyl-/-arylamine furylcarbinols though intramolecular aza-Piancatelli rearrangement was developed. By using PPh/diethyl azodicarboxylate instead of a Lewis acid, 1-azaspirocyclic compounds were obtained in good yields and the reaction temperature was reduced to room temperature. In addition, substrates with groups that are sensitive to high temperatures or Lewis acids are tolerated under these reaction conditions.

Application of 3D and 2D quantitative shear wave elastography (SWE) to differentiate between benign and malignant breast masses.

As breast cancer tissues are stiffer than normal tissues, shear wave elastography (SWE) can locally quantify tissue stiffness and provide histological information. Moreover, tissue stiffness can be observed on three-dimensional (3D) colour-coded elasticity maps. Our objective was to evaluate the diagnostic performances of quantitative features in differentiating breast masses by two-dimensional (2D) and 3D SWE.

Copper N-Heterocyclic Carbene: A Catalyst for Aerobic Oxidation or Reduction Reactions.

Copper N-heterocyclic carbene complexes can be readily used as catalysts for both aerobic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and reduction of imines to amines. Our methodology is universal for aromatic substrates and shows versatile tolerance to potential cascade reactions. A one-pot tandem synthetic strategy could afford useful imines and secondary amines via an oxidation-reduction strategy.

Palladium-catalyzed, ligand-free Suzuki reaction in water using aryl fluorosulfates.

Aryl fluorosulfates were prepared by a simple method and employed as coupling partners in the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction. The cross-coupling reactions were performed in water under air at room temperature without ligands or additives such as surfactants or phase-transfer reagents and proceeded smoothly to give excellent yields. Aryl fluorosulfates could also be used as alternatives to halides or triflates in other coupling reactions.

[2.2]Paracyclophane-derived monodentate phosphoramidite ligands for copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of diethylzinc to substituted chalcones.

Copper-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of diethylzinc to chalcones could be realized by using [2.2]paracyclophane-derived monodentate phosphoramidite ligands. The excellent yield and enantioselectivity (up to 98% yield and 95% enantiomeric excess) could be realized with low catalyst loading of 1.

Selective aerobic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and imines catalyzed by a Ag-NHC complex.

Silver NHC catalysts have been developed for the selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes or carboxylic acids in the presence of BnMe3NOH or KOH under dry air. The aerobic oxidation conditions are mild, and the yield is excellent. Further tandem catalysis enables the one-pot synthesis of imines in excellent yield.

Initial experience of acoustic radiation force impulse ultrasound imaging of cervical lymph nodes.

The aim of this study was to evaluate acoustic radiation force impulse imaging for cervical lymphadenopathy in routine clinical practice and to correlate the acoustic radiation force impulse values with the morphological signs and the pathological results, which were used as the reference standard. The virtual touch tissue quantification values were analyzed in 123 patients (mean age 40.8 years, range 1-81 years) with 181 cervical lymph nodes (87 benign, 94 malignant).

A concise formal synthesis of (-)-hamigeran B.

A concise and efficient formal synthesis of (-)-hamigeran B is reported. The critical intermediate was synthesized from 3-methoxy-5-methylphenyl trifluoromethanesulfonate with an 11-steps 7.2% total yield route.

The morphology and haemodynamics of the rabbit renal artery: evaluation by conventional and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography.

The purpose of this study was to test the morphology and haemodynamics of the renal artery in the rabbit as evaluated by conventional and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS). The morphology and haemodynamics of the rabbit renal artery, including the diameter, which were measured using B-mode ultrasonography (US), colour Doppler US and CEUS, and systolic velocity, diastolic velocity and resistive index (RI) were measured using pulsed wave Doppler US. CEUS was used to measure the renal artery diameter: 0.

Differentiation of benign from malignant thyroid lesions: calculation of the strain ratio on thyroid sonoelastography.

Objectives: Initial data suggest that elastography can improve the specificity of sonography for differentiating benign and malignant thyroid lesions. The primary objective of this study was to compare quantitative sonoelastography to conventional qualitative sonoelastography and sonography for thyroid nodule characterization.

Methods: Ninety-eight thyroid masses (53 benign and 45 malignant) were examined with conventional sonography and sonoelastography.