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Bo Zhang,1,2 Minmin Guo,2 Ting Dong,2 Huajuan Yang,2 Qiujuan Zhang,2 Quanxin Yang,2 Xiaoqian Zhou,2 Cuiping Mao,2 Ming Zhang1 1Department of Medical Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Medical Imaging, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710004, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ming Zhang, Department of Medical Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, People’s Republic of China, Email zmmri@163.comPurpose: Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is a recurring and intractable disease that is often accompanied by emotional and cognitive disorders such as depression and anxiety. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays an important role in mediating emotional and cognitive processes and analgesia. This study investigated the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and effective connectivity (EC) of NAc and its subregions in cLBP.Methods: Thirty-four cLBP patients and 34 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Seed-based rsFC and Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) were used to examine the alteration of the rsFC and EC of the NAc.Results: Our results showed that the cLBP group had increased rsFC of the bilateral NAc-left superior frontal cortex (SFC), orbital frontal cortex (OFC), left angular gyrus, the left NAc-bilateral middle temporal gyrus, as well as decreased rsFC of left NAc-left supramarginal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, left cerebellum, brainstem (medulla oblongata), and right insula pathways compared with the HC; the results of the subregions were largely consistent with the whole NAc. In addition, the rsFC of the left NAc-left SFC was negatively correlated with Hamilton’s Depression Scale (HAMD) scores (r = − 0.402, p = 0.018), and the rsFC of left NAc-OFC was positively correlated with present pain int

Jinman Zhong,1 Duoduo Liu,1 Quanxin Yang,1 Jianke Ding,2 Xin Chen1 1Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi’ an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710004, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710032, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xin Chen, Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi’ an Jiaotong University, 157 Xiwu Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710004, People’s Republic of China, Email chen_x129@163.com Jianke Ding, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 127 Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710032, People’s Republic of China, Email dingjianke@qq.comBackground: Early recognition of castration-resistant state is of significance for timely adjustment of treatment regimens and improvement of prognosis.Purpose: This study aims to screen new aptamers CRda8 and CRda21 which recognize castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells with high affinity and specificity by SELEX technology.Methods: The enrichment of specific aptamer candidates was monitored by flow cytometric analysis. The affinity and specificity of aptamer candidates were evaluated by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence assay. MR imaging of CRda21-conjugated polyethylene glycol (PEG)-Fe3O4 nanoparticles to CRPC was further explored in vivo.Results: Both aptamers showed high specificity to target cells with dissociation constants in the nanomolar range, and did not recognize other tested cells. The staining of clinical tissue sections with fluorescent dye labeled aptamers showed that sections from CRPC exhibited stronger fluorescence while sections from benign prostatic hyperplasia and androgen dependent prostate cancer did not exhibit notable fluorescence. In vivo MRI demonstrated that CRda21-conjugated PEG-Fe3O4 had good affinity to

Jinman Zhong,1,* Jianke Ding,2,* Lei Deng,1 Ying Xiang,1 Duoduo Liu,1 Yanyan Zhang,1 Xin Chen,1 Quanxin Yang1 1Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi’ an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710004, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710032, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Quanxin Yang; Xin ChenDepartment of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi’ an Jiaotong University, 157 Xiwu Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710004, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail quanxin1962@163.com; chen_x129@163.comBackground: The sensitive and specific detection of pathogenic cells is important in tumor diagnosis at an early stage. Aptamers are short single-stranded oligonucleotides evolved from systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). It has been proved that aptamers can interact with cognate target molecules with high affinity and specificity and have great potential in the development of medical imaging at molecular level.Purpose: To select epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) specific aptamers targeting prostate cancer and further to conjugate aptamers with GoldMag nanoparticles (a typical iron oxide core/gold shell structure) to construct magnetic molecular probes for medical imaging.Methods: EpCAM-specific aptamers were selected by Cell-SELEX. The enrichment of specific aptamer candidates was monitored by flow cytometric analysis. Aptamers were further conjugated with GoldMag nanoparticles to construct magnetic molecular probes. The affinity and specificity of aptamer candidates and aptamer-conjugated GoldMag nanoparticles were evaluated. The MR imaging of aptamer-conjugated GoldMag nanoparticles to prostate cancer was further explored in vitro and in vivo.Results: After 12 rounds of selection, aptamer can