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Abstract Background Oroantral fistula (OAF) is a pathological channel formed between the oral cavity and the maxillary sinus. A large size of OAF (≥5 mm) increases the risk of surgical failure, and an optimal surgical approach should be cautiously selected. Objective This study aims to characterize the application of nasal endoscopy and buccal fat pad (BFP) flaps to repair large OAFs in patients with odontogenic maxillary sinusitis (OMS). Methods A total of 32 patients with large OAF combined with OMS after dental extraction who were treated in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nanjing Renpin ENT Hospital from 2018 to 2022, were retrospectively recruited. A thorough preoperative evaluation was performed and all patients were first treated with nasal endoscopy, followed by the repair of OAFs using BFP flaps under general anesthesia. The cure rate and postoperative pain score were used as outcome indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedure. Results All patients completed a 12‐month follow‐up. The results showed that OFAs were cured in 25 (32 in total, 78.1%) patients by the second postoperative week. OFAs were healed in all patients at week 8 postoperatively. OMS was healed in 25 (32 in total, 78.1%) patients at the first postoperative week and all patients were healed by the disappearance of symptoms associated with OMS at week 8 postoperatively. At the second postoperative week, complete relief of pain symptoms was obtained in 18 (32 in total, 56.3%) patients (visual analog scale = 0 score), in 25 (32 in total, 78.1%) patients at the fourth postoperative week, and by the eighth postoperative week, all patients had complete resolution of pain symptoms. Conclusions Secondary maxillary sinusitis is not a contraindication to the treatment of large OAFs. Large OAFs can be effectively closed using BFP flaps combined with endoscopic maxillary sinus drainage.

Summary: The bone marrow niche plays a critical role in controlling the fate of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) by integrating intrinsic and extrinsic signals. However, the molecular events in the HSC niche remain to be investigated. Here, we report that intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) maintains HSC quiescence and repopulation capacity in the niche. ICAM-1-deficient mice (ICAM-1−/−) displayed significant expansion of phenotypic long-term HSCs with impaired quiescence, as well as favoring myeloid cell expansion. ICAM-1-deficient HSCs presented normal reconstitution capacity during serial transplantation; however, reciprocal transplantation experiments showed that ICAM-1 deficiency in the niche impaired HSC quiescence and repopulation capacity. In addition, ICAM-1 deletion caused failure to retain HSCs in the bone marrow and changed the expression profile of stroma cell-derived factors, possibly representing the mechanism for defective HSCs in ICAM-1−/− mice. Collectively, these observations identify ICAM-1 as a regulator in the bone marrow niche. : In this article, Jie Zhou and colleagues show that ICAM-1 expression in bone marrow niche contributes to the quiescence and repopulation capacity of HSCs. ICAM-1 deficiency changes the expression profile of stroma-derived factors, thus causing failure of HSC retention in the bone marrow. Clinical data indicate that ICAM-1 might participate in the progression of myelocytic leukemia. Keywords: hematopoietic stem cells, homeostasis, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, bone marrow niche

The display of full-length antibody on the cell surface was achieved by fusing a transmembrane domain of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) to the C-terminus of the heavy chain constant region. We also incorporated a furin cleavage site between the constant region and PDGFR transmembrane domain to obtain secreted antibodies. As a result, antibodies can be expressed simultaneously on the cell surface in a membrane-anchored version for screening and selecting through fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis, as well as in conditioned medium in a secreted version for function analysis.