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BACKGROUND: The Editorial Board of EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry releases a biyearly highlight commentary to update the readership on trends in the field of radiopharmaceutical development. RESULTS: This commentary of highlights has resulted in 23 different topics selected by each member of the Editorial Board addressing a variety of aspects ranging from novel radiochemistry to first in man application of novel radiopharmaceuticals and also a contribution in relation to MRI-agents is included. CONCLUSION: Trends in (radio)chemistry and radiopharmacy are highlighted demonstrating the progress in the research field being the scope of EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry.

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BACKGROUND: This study determined the regulatory effects of inducible T-cell co-stimulators (ICOS) in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells using a RNA interference (RNAi) technique. METHODS: A RNAi technique was used to knockdown the expression of ICOS. ICOS expression after knockdown was detected as mRNA and protein levels by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. A MTT colorimetric assay was used to detect cell proliferation, and the Transwell assay was used to detect cell invasion. Western blot was carried out to detect the level of Bcl-2, AKT, and PI3K protein expression in different groups. RESULTS: The proliferation of HepG2 cells were significantly decreased after ICOS siRNA transfection (EG group). Similarly, the results of the Transwell experiment showed that invasion of HepG2 cells in the EG group was clearly reduced compared to the negative control (NC) and blank control groups (CON). Western blot analysis showed that knockdown of ICOS expression reduced the levels of Bcl-2 and AKT, and also significantly up-regulated the level of PI3K phosphorylation (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Down-regulating ICOS expression in HepG2 cells suppressed cell proliferation and invasion. The underlying mechanism may be related to the expression of the downstream factor, PI3K/AKT.

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Abstract Background This study determined the regulatory effects of inducible T-cell co-stimulators (ICOS) in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells using a RNA interference (RNAi) technique. Methods A RNAi technique was used to knockdown the expression of ICOS. ICOS expression after knockdown was detected as mRNA and protein levels by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. A MTT colorimetric assay was used to detect cell proliferation, and the Transwell assay was used to detect cell invasion. Western blot was carried out to detect the level of Bcl-2, AKT, and PI3K protein expression in different groups. Results The proliferation of HepG2 cells were significantly decreased after ICOS siRNA transfection (EG group). Similarly, the results of the Transwell experiment showed that invasion of HepG2 cells in the EG group was clearly reduced compared to the negative control (NC) and blank control groups (CON). Western blot analysis showed that knockdown of ICOS expression reduced the levels of Bcl-2 and AKT, and also significantly up-regulated the level of PI3K phosphorylation (P < 0.01). Conclusion Down-regulating ICOS expression in HepG2 cells suppressed cell proliferation and invasion. The underlying mechanism may be related to the expression of the downstream factor, PI3K/AKT.

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Background: Ascorbic acid (Asc) is one of the most abundant antioxidants and it serves as a major contributor to protect plants against oxidative damage. Plants use two enzymes that participate in the metabolic recycling of Asc. One of these two enzymes is dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR). It directly regenerates Asc from its oxidized state and thus prevents Asc from being irreversibly hydrolyzed to 2, 3-diketogulonic acid. This study aimed to examine whether over-expression of DHAR leads to an enhanced oxidative stress tolerance in tobacco plants. Results: In this study, we functionally characterized a novel JcDHAR gene from Jatropha curcas and found via quantitative RT-PCR analysis that JcDHAR can be induced with H2O2, salt and PEG stresses. The DHAR activities of transgenic tobacco plants increased from 2.0 to 5.3 fold compared to wild-type plants. As a result, the transgenic plants displayed enhanced tolerance to oxidative stress. Conclusions: Our results indicate that JcDHAR expression can effectively enhance the tolerance to oxidative stress in plants.

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The most commonly observed symptoms of posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) after a liver transplantation were diarrhea and fever. Although PTLD can involve bones, bone pain is a rare manifestation of PTLD, much less to say a sole presentation. We report a case of a pediatric patient with recurrent PTLD after liver transplantation, whose only complaint was right tibial pain. FDG PET/CT revealed not only hypermetabolic activity in the right proximal tibia but also in many other parts of the body. Recurrent PTLD was confirmed after bone biopsy.

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Adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy has altered the metastatic pattern of osteosarcoma. Overwhelming majority of the metastases from osteosarcoma are to the lungs and to the bones. Uncommon metastases to other sites can occur but usually accompany pulmonary and skeletal metastases. Here, we describe an asymptotic 14-year-old boy with solitary retroperitoneal metastasis as the initial relapse of osteosarcoma revealed by FDG PET/CT.

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A 5-year-old patient suffered Horner syndrome, which was caused by a neuroblastoma in the left apex of the lung shown on the initial I-MIBG scan. After the surgical resection and external radiation to the left lung field, a follow-up I-MIBG scan revealed significantly less MIBG activity in the left upper chest compared to the contralateral right upper chest.

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An 8-year-old male patient with history of bloody stools underwent a Meckel diverticulum scintigraphy to evaluate for ectopic gastric mucosa. The static images showed 2 abnormal foci of radiotracer accumulation in the mid-abdomen. Contrary to the renal activity, the foci appeared more prominent on the anterior view and localized anteriorly to the expected kidneys location on the left lateral view. Carefully reviewed dynamic acquisition revealed faint catenary-shaped activity in this region on earlier images, gradually evolving into 2 prominent foci on later images. A horseshoe kidney was suspected, the pathology being confirmed by abdominal ultrasonography.

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A 21-year-old woman with history of presacral ganglioneuroblastoma underwent I-MIBG scan for restaging. Planar images revealed increased MIBG activity in the upper pelvis, suggestive of disease recurrence. Complementary SPECT/CT images, however, localized the activity to the uterine cervix. Upon further questioning, it has been established that the patient was menstruating. Subsequent follow-up scans proved normal, confirming the benign etiology of these findings. The case shows that radioactive blood accumulation in the uterine cervix can interfere with MIBG scan interpretation in menstruating patients.

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Iodine activity in the gastrointestinal tract on I or I imaging is usually diffuse and easy to recognize. Hereby we describe 2 cases of intense focal iodine activity in the rectum mimicking sacral metastases that were caused by constipation. Careful history taking and SPECT/CT imaging can be helpful in distinguishing rectal activity from metastatic lesions in such situations.

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Aquatic birds harbor diverse influenza A viruses and are a major viral reservoir in nature. The recent discovery of influenza viruses of a new H17N10 subtype in Central American fruit bats suggests that other New World species may similarly carry divergent influenza viruses. Using consensus degenerate RT-PCR, we identified a novel influenza A virus, designated as H18N11, in a flat-faced fruit bat (Artibeus planirostris) from Peru. Serologic studies with the recombinant H18 protein indicated that several Peruvian bat species were infected by this virus. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that, in some gene segments, New World bats harbor more influenza virus genetic diversity than all other mammalian and avian species combined, indicative of a long-standing host-virus association. Structural and functional analyses of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase indicate that sialic acid is not a ligand for virus attachment nor a substrate for release, suggesting a unique mode of influenza A virus attachment and activation of membrane fusion for entry into host cells. Taken together, these findings indicate that bats constitute a potentially important and likely ancient reservoir for a diverse pool of influenza viruses.

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