Exploring immune response toward transplanted human kidney tissues assembled from organoid building blocks.

The increasing scarcity of organs and the significant morbidity linked to dialysis require the development of engineered kidney tissues from human-induced pluripotent stem cells. Integrative approaches that synergize scalable kidney organoid differentiation, tissue biomanufacturing, and comprehensive assessment of their immune response and host integration are essential to accomplish this. Here, we create engineered human kidney tissues composed of organoid building blocks (OBBs) and transplant them into mice reconstituted with allogeneic human immune cells.

Efficacy of subthalamic deep brain stimulation programming strategies for gait disorders in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Patients with advanced Parkinson's disease often suffer from severe gait and balance problems, impacting quality of live and persisting despite optimization of standard therapies. The aim of this review was to systematically review the efficacy of STN-DBS programming techniques in alleviating gait disturbances in patients with advanced PD. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Lilacs databases, covering studies published until May 2024.

Safety and Efficacy of a Preemptive Mycophenolate Mofetil Dose Reduction Strategy in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Background: There are no high-quality data to guide long-term mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) dosing in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) to balance the long-term risks of allograft rejection with that of infections and malignancy. At our center, KTRs are managed with either a "preemptive" dose reduction strategy, where the MMF dose is reduced after the first year before the development of adverse events, or with a "reactive" dosing strategy, where they are maintained on the same MMF dose and only reduced if they develop an adverse event. We hypothesized that a preemptive MMF dosing strategy after the first year of transplantation is associated with decreased infections without increasing alloimmune complications.

The value of pre-transplant coronary angiography findings in kidney transplant candidates at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is a significant cause of mortality after kidney transplantation. Whether pre-transplant screening for coronary artery disease (CAD) in asymptomatic kidney transplant candidates (KTCs) is beneficial is unclear.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study evaluating post-transplant cardiovascular events in 192 high-risk KTCs who underwent pre-transplant CAD evaluation.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma: Imaging features and differential diagnosis.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) represents 5% of malignant primary brain tumors. The clinical presentation typically includes focal neurological symptoms, increased intracranial pressure, seizures, and psychiatric symptoms. Although histological examination remains the gold standard for diagnostic confirmation, non-invasive imaging plays a crucial role for the diagnosis.

Generation of Orchard and Tree-Child Networks.

Phylogenetic networks are an extension of phylogenetic trees that allow for the representation of reticulate evolution events. One of the classes of networks that has gained the attention of the scientific community over the last years is the class of orchard networks, that generalizes tree-child networks, one of the most studied classes of networks. In this paper we focus on the combinatorial and algorithmic problem of the generation of binary orchard networks, and also of binary tree-child networks.

Proteometabolomics of initial and recurrent glioblastoma highlights an increased immune cell signature with altered lipid metabolism.

Background: There is an urgent need to better understand the mechanisms associated with the development, progression, and onset of recurrence after initial surgery in glioblastoma (GBM). The use of integrative phenotype-focused -omics technologies such as proteomics and lipidomics provides an unbiased approach to explore the molecular evolution of the tumor and its associated environment.

Methods: We assembled a cohort of patient-matched initial (iGBM) and recurrent (rGBM) specimens of resected GBM.

Measurement of Clavicular Symmetry in Healthy Subjects Using Tomographic Database of Public Hospitals.

 This study aimed to perform an imaging evaluation to prove the existence or not of symmetry between the clavicles of healthy subjects from Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, and identify potential factors influencing the clavicular length.  The study analyzed chest computed tomography (CT) scans of 211 patients with no clavicular fracture or malformations (100 women and 111 men). We measured the greatest clavicular diagonal on both sides, and the software automatically generated the maximum distance in millimeters.

Inhibitory innate receptors and their potential role in transplantation.

The regulatory arm of the immune system plays a crucial role in maintaining immune tolerance and preventing excessive immune responses. Immune regulation comprises various regulatory cells and molecules that work together to suppress or regulate immune responses. The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) are examples of inhibitory receptors that counteract activating signals and fine-tune immune responses.

Treatment of maple syrup urine disease: Benefits, risks, and challenges of liver transplantation.

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is caused by a deficiency in the activity of the branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKD) complex, promoting the accumulation of the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) leucine, isoleucine, and valine, as well as their respective α-keto acids. MSUD is an autosomal recessive hereditary metabolic disorder characterized by ketoacidosis, ataxia, coma, and mental and psychomotor retardation. The mechanisms involved in the brain damage caused by MSUD are not fully understood.

MAIC-10 brief quality checklist for publications using artificial intelligence and medical images.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) with medical images to solve clinical problems is becoming increasingly common, and the development of new AI solutions is leading to more studies and publications using this computational technology. As a novel research area, the use of common standards to aid AI developers and reviewers as quality control criteria will improve the peer review process. Although some guidelines do exist, their heterogeneity and extension advocate that more explicit and simple schemes should be applied on the publication practice.

RUNAT-BI: A Ruthenium(III) Complex as a Selective Anti-Tumor Drug Candidate against Highly Aggressive Cancer Cell Lines.

Ruthenium compounds have demonstrated promising activity in different cancer types, overcoming several limitations of platinum-based drugs, yet their global structure-activity is still under debate. We analyzed the activity of Runat-BI, a racemic Ru(III) compound, and of one of its isomers in eight tumor cell lines of breast, colon and gastric cancer as well as in a non-tumoral control. Runat-BI was prepared with 2,2'-biimidazole and dissolved in polyethylene glycol.

ADAR regulates APOL1 via A-to-I RNA editing by inhibition of MDA5 activation in a paradoxical biological circuit.

risk variants are associated with increased risk of kidney disease in patients of African ancestry, but not all individuals with the high-risk genotype develop kidney disease. As APOL1 gene expression correlates closely with the degree of kidney cell injury in both cell and animal models, the mechanisms regulating APOL1 expression may be critical determinants of risk allele penetrance. The APOL1 messenger RNA includes Alu elements at the 3' untranslated region that can form a double-stranded RNA structure (Alu-dsRNA) susceptible to posttranscriptional adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR)-mediated adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing, potentially impacting gene expression.

Transanterior Limiting Sulcus of the Insula Approach: Novel Surgical Approach to the Ventral Striatum Region.

Background: Lesions in the ventral striatum region (above the anterior perforated substance) are a challenge for neurosurgeons due to their direct relationship with the lenticulostriate arteries, which difficult the surgical access. The standard approaches for this region include the following: 1) transfrontal approach, 2) transanterior perforating substance approach, 3) transcallosal transventricular approach, and 4) pterional transsylvian-transinsular route. In this study, we aimed to describe a novel anatomical approach through the anterior limiting sulcus of the insula in order to access the ventral striatum.

Clinical findings of patients with hyperammonemia affected by urea cycle disorders with hepatic encephalopathy.

Urea cycle disorders (UCD) are a group of genetic diseases caused by deficiencies in the enzymes and transporters involved in the urea cycle. The impairment of the cycle results in ammonia accumulation, leading to neurological dysfunctions and poor outcomes to affected patients. The aim of this study is to investigate and describe UCD patients' principal clinical and biochemical presentations to support professionals on urgent diagnosis and quick management, aiming better outcomes for patients.

Considerations for artificial intelligence clinical impact in oncologic imaging: an AI4HI position paper.

To achieve clinical impact in daily oncological practice, emerging AI-based cancer imaging research needs to have clearly defined medical focus, AI methods, and outcomes to be estimated. AI-supported cancer imaging should predict major relevant clinical endpoints, aiming to extract associations and draw inferences in a fair, robust, and trustworthy way. AI-assisted solutions as medical devices, developed using multicenter heterogeneous datasets, should be targeted to have an impact on the clinical care pathway.

A novel adenine-based diruthenium(III) complex: Synthesis, crystal structure, electrochemical properties and evaluation of the anticancer activity.

Metal complexes based on purine nucleobases can be a very useful tool in the diagnosis and treatment of some diseases as well as in other biomedical applications. We have prepared and characterized a novel dinuclear ruthenium(III) complex based on the nucleobase adenine of formula [{Ru(μ-Cl)(μ-Hade)}Cl]Cl·2HO (1) [Hade = protonated adenine]. Complex 1 was characterized through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), magnetometer (SQUID) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) techniques.

Gods and monsters: Greek mythology and Christian references in the neurosurgical lexicon.

Background: Myths and religion are belief systems centered around supernatural entities that attempt to explain the observed world and are of high importance to certain communities. The former is a collection of stories that belong to a cultural tradition and the latter are organized faiths that determine codes of ethics, rituals and philosophy. Deities or monstrous creatures in particular act as archetypes instructing an individual's conduct.

DGAT2 Inhibition Potentiates Lipid Droplet Formation To Reduce Cytotoxicity in APOL1 Kidney Risk Variants.

Background: Two variants in the gene encoding apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) that are highly associated with African ancestry are major contributors to the large racial disparity in rates of human kidney disease. We previously demonstrated that recruitment of APOL1 risk variants G1 and G2 from the endoplasmic reticulum to lipid droplets leads to reduced APOL1-mediated cytotoxicity in human podocytes.

Methods: We used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing of induced pluripotent stem cells to develop human-derived APOL1 and APOL1 kidney organoids on an isogenic background, and performed bulk RNA sequencing of organoids before and after treatment with IFN-.

First Nationwide Molecular Screening Program in Spain for Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer: Results From the AGATA SOLTI-1301 Study.

Background: The SOLTI-1301 AGATA study aimed to assess the feasibility of a multi-institutional molecular screening program to better characterize the genomic landscape of advanced breast cancer (ABC) and to facilitate patient access to matched-targeted therapies in Spain.

Methods: DNA sequencing of 74 cancer-related genes was performed using FFPE tumor samples in three different laboratories with three different gene panels. A multidisciplinary advisory board prospectively recommended potential targeted treatments.

Hyperammonemia in Inherited Metabolic Diseases.

Ammonia is a neurotoxic compound which is detoxified through liver enzymes from urea cycle. Several inherited or acquired conditions can elevate ammonia concentrations in blood, causing severe damage to the central nervous system due to the toxic effects exerted by ammonia on the astrocytes. Therefore, hyperammonemic patients present potentially life-threatening neuropsychiatric symptoms, whose severity is related with the hyperammonemia magnitude and duration, as well as the brain maturation stage.

Microbiome and oral squamous cell carcinoma: a possible interplay on iron metabolism and its impact on tumor microenvironment.

There is increasing evidence showing positive association between changes in oral microbiome and the occurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Alcohol- and nicotine-related products can induce microbial changes but are still unknown if these changes are related to cancerous lesion sites. In an attempt to understand how these changes can influence the OSCC development and maintenance, the aim of this study was to investigate the oral microbiome linked with OSCC as well as to identify functional signatures and associate them with healthy or precancerous and cancerous sites.