Sevtap Aydin has completed his PhD from Hacettepe University. She is an Associate Professor at Hacettepe University, Pharmaceutical Toxicology Department since 2013. She has 22 publications in reputed journals. She has 242 citations for her publications. She is the Board Member of Turkish Society of Toxicology and FABAD (Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ankara). She has good experiences in the field of oxidative stress, cell toxicity, genotoxicity, immunotoxicty, phenolic compounds and toxins.

Aflatoxins (AFs), the secondary metabolites produced by species of naturally occurring Aspergilli, are commonly found in food such as cereals, dried fruits and juice, wine, beer, and spices. They are primary hepatotoxic and are well-known human carcinogens based on sufficient evidence from human studies. AFs are one of the environmental risk factors in the pathogenesis of HCC. There is a risk for the progressing Hepato Cellular carcinoma (HCC) in the chronic hepatitis caused by hepatitis virus which is an important health problem in all over the world. Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) patients are at increased risk of cirrhosis, hepatic failure, and HCC. This study was designed to determine the serum aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), aflatoxin B2 (AFB2), aflatoxin G1 (AFG1), and aflatoxin G2 (AFG2) concentrations using the high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the CHB patients with or without cirrhosis and HCC, and the healthy controls in Balikesir, Turkey. The mean AFB1 and total AF levels in the CHB patients without HCC and cirrhosis were found to be statistically higher than the healthy controls. The mean AFB1 and total AF levels in the CHB patients with HCC were found to be statistically higher than the CHB patients with or without cirrhosis. The results suggest that the CHB patients exposed to AFs are at risk for developing HCC, which might be prevented by reducing consumption of the AF contaminated foods. The AF levels should be determined in susceptible patients for human health.

Anamaria Orza focuses primarily on the area of development of innovative architectural nano camposites for biomedical applications. Prior to her arrival at Emory in the fall of 2013, she served as a Postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has been recognized as a European Union fellow, receiving her PhD in Chemistry from Babes Bolyai University, Romania and working in close collaboration with Liverpool University, United Kingdom. She has authored and co-authored 2 patents and over 32 papers in leading journals and at leading international conferences in the field (with over 170 citations) and 2 book chapters in the fields of Applied Nanotechnology in Cancer Research and Tissue Engineering.

In this study, we report on the synthesis and characterization of shaped iron oxide core palladium shell (Fe2O3-Pd) as three-modality image agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and photoacoustic (PAT) imaging. Four shapes were synthesized such as: triangular plates, tetrapods, pyramidal structures and pentagon shaped nanoparticles. We report for the first time their synthesize using an original approach by uniformly fusing multiple components and by controlling their structural (i.e., size, shell thickness, dimer shape) and physical characteristics (i.e., optical, and acoustic). To confer enhanced properties for efficient targeted capability, the surface of the nanoparticles was modified with (i) the amphiphilic diblock polymer and (ii) functionalized with the ligands targeting transferrin receptor (Tr). As a result, the newly created shaped nanoparticles were characterized via different optical and imaging techniques (HR-TEM, STEM, XPS, EDX, Z-potential, UV-VIS). We show that the shaped Fe2O3-Pt are stable and biocompatible in given Fe concentrations range and display shaped control MRI/CT/PAT attenuation intensity. The attenuation intensity subsequently decreases as follows: tetrapods>pyramidal>pentagons>triangular plates. Moreover, these shaped nanoparticles enable targeting imaging of hepatocarcinoma tumor cells that have a high expression of the transferrin receptor. These findings conclude that the designed Fe2O3-Pd are promising contrast agents for targeted MRI/CT/PAT molecular imaging. rnrn

Danilova I is a DSc (Biology and Pathophysiology), Professor of Ural Federal University, director of Laboratory of Morphology and Biochemistry (LMB), Institute of Immunology and Physiology of the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Science (IIP). She is an author of more than 220 scientific papers. Medvedeva S is a PhD (Medicine), the pathologist of LMB IIP. She has published 97 papers in reputed journals. Bulavintseva T is a young investigator; her position is a junior researcher in LMB IIP. Mukhlynina E is a PhD (Biology), the scientific associate of LMB IIP. She has published 10 papers in reputed journals.

The understanding of reparative liver regeneration remains critical for physiology and medicine. The liver recovery under the carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) poisoning, which is a classic hepatotropic toxic substance, can derive from various sources including the hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). It is well-known that endothelial liver cells and Kupffer cells can synthesize stem cell factor (SCF) which is a key cytokine in the mobilization of HSCs from marrow bone into the damaged organ. We studied the role of SCF in the reparative regeneration during diffuse toxic liver injury initiated in male Wistar rats by CCl4 (i.p. 50 mg/kg). The study conforms to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH Publication No. 85-23, revised 1985). The number of proliferating liver cells was estimated by immunohistochemistry (Purified Mouse Anti-Human Ki-67, BD Biosciences, USA). The SCF content in the blood plasma was determined by ELISA (SCF Mouse ELISA kit, Abcam, UK). The SCF concentration in blood, the impairment and mitotic indехes of hepatocytes, the number of binucleate hepatocytes and Ki67+ liver cells (hepatocytes, Kupffer cells) were significantly elevated during the liver reparative regeneration estimated on day 3 and 7 after the poisoning. Therefore, the diffuse damage of the liver was paralleled to the augmented SCF in blood, which is likely due to stimulated synthesis by hepatocytes and Kupffer cells. The results may facilitate to open up the role of hematopoietic stem cells in the reparative regeneration of liver.

Blinkova N, PhD (Medicine) is a Pathologist, Scientific Associate of Laboratory of Morphology and Biochemistry (LMB), Institute of Immunology and Physiology of the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Science (IIP). She has published 60 articles in the reputed journals. She is interested in studies of liver regeneration both in human pathology and test models.

Current manifestations of epidemic process of HCV-infection reflect the change of patients’ age and increase of death rate from chronic hepatitis (CH) and liver cirrhosis. Liver biopsy is the major diagnosis tool of chronic hepatitis. The research objective is to identify features of pathomorphological changes in liver of patients from a young age. The study group consists of mainly males (65.1%) mean age 27.2±0.45, the median duration of disease is 2.8±0.28 years. All the patients had morphologically verified CH mainly with minimal degree of activity (51.4%) and mild fibrosis (61.5%). Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of HCV NS3-antigen in liver of 71.7% of patients. Morphometric methods helped to highlight the characteristics of liver fibrogenesis in patients with chronic hepatitis from a young age with different virus genotypes. So, an average cross section area of portal triad in patients with HSC genotype 3a is significantly bigger than the one in patients with HCV genotype 1b (5048.2±5611.3 against 34352.5±4787.3 mcm2, p value=0.033). Lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration of fibrous septa was found more often in liver of patients with HCV genotype 3a compared to HCV genotype 1b (16.5% against 2.1%, p value=0.02), thus indicating active liver fibrosis. Minimal histological activity and mild fibrosis induced by HCV replication were prevalent in liver of patients with CH from a young age. Fibrogenesis appeared to be more active in liver of patients with HCV genotype 3a.