Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers globally. In contrast to the declining death rates observed for all other common cancers such as breast, lung, and prostate cancers, the death rates for HCC continue to increase by~2-3% per year because HCC is frequently diagnosed late and there is no curative therapy for an advanced HCC. The early diagnosis of HCC is truly a big challenge. Over the past years, the early diagnosis of HCC has relied on surveillance with ultrasonography (US) and serological assessments of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). However, the specificity and sensitivity of US/AFP is not satisfactory enough to detect early onset HCC. Recent technological advancements offer hope for early HCC diagnosis. Herein, we review the progress made in HCC diagnostics, with a focus on emerging imaging techniques and biomarkers for early disease diagnosis.

To defense harmful stimuli or maintain the immune homeostasis, the body produces and recruits a superfamily of cytokines such as interleukins, interferons, chemokines etc. Among them, chemokines act as crucial regulators in defense systems. CCL5/CCR5 combination is known for facilitating inflammatory responses, as well as inducing the adhesion and migration of different T cell subsets in immune responses. In addition, recent studies have shown that the interaction between CCL5 and CCR5 is involved in various pathological processes including inflammation, chronic diseases, cancers as well as the infection of COVID-19. This review focuses on how CCL5/CCR5 axis participates in the pathological processes of different diseases and their relevant signaling pathways for the regulation of the axis. Moreover, we highlighted the gene therapy and chemotherapy studies for treating CCR5-related diseases, including the ongoing clinical trials. The barriers and perspectives for future application and translational research were also summarized.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative virus of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To establish a safe and convenient assay system for studying entry inhibitors and neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, we constructed a codon-optimized, full-length C-terminal mutant spike (S) gene of SARS-CoV-2. We generated a luciferase (Luc)-expressing pseudovirus containing the wild-type or mutant S protein of SARS-CoV-2 in the envelope-defective HIV-1 backbone. The key parameters for this pseudovirus-based assay, including the S mutants and virus incubation time, were optimized. This pseudovirus contains a Luc reporter gene that enabled us to easily quantify virus entry into angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-expressing 293T cells. Cathepsin (Cat) B/L inhibitor E?64d could significantly block SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection in 293T-ACE2 cells. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped virus could be neutralized by sera from convalescent COVID-19 patients or recombinant ACE2 with the fused Fc region of human IgG1. Thus, we developed a pseudovirus-based assay for SARS-CoV-2, which will be valuable for evaluating viral entry inhibitors and neutralizing antibodies against this highly pathogenic virus.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex eye disorder and is the leading cause of incurable blindness worldwide in the elderly. Clinically, AMD initially affects the central area of retina known as the macula and it is classified as early stage to late stage (advanced AMD). The advanced AMD is classified into the nonexudative or atrophic form (dry AMD) and the exudative or neovascular form (wet AMD). More severe vision loss is typically associated with the wet form. Multiple genetic factors, lipid metabolism, oxidative stress and aging, play a role in the etiology of AMD. Dysregulation in genetic to AMD is established to 46%-71% of disease contribution, with CFH and ARMS2/HTRA1 to be the two most notable risk loci among the 103 identified AMD associated loci so far. Chronic cigarette smoking is the most proven consistently risk living habits for AMD. Deep learning algorithm has been developed based on image recognition to distinguish wet AMD and normal macula with high accuracy. Currently, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy is highly effective at treating wet AMD. Several new generation AMD drugs and iPSC-derived RPE cell therapy are in the clinical trial stage and are promising to improve AMD treatment in the near future.