Immune checkpoint inhibitors associated cardiovascular immune-related adverse events.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are specialized monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that target immune checkpoints and their ligands, counteracting cancer cell-induced T-cell suppression. Approved ICIs like cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), programmed death-1 (PD-1), its ligand PD-L1, and lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3) have improved cancer patient outcomes by enhancing anti-tumor responses. However, some patients are unresponsive, and others experience immune-related adverse events (irAEs), affecting organs like the lung, liver, intestine, skin and now the cardiovascular system. These cardiac irAEs include conditions like myocarditis, atherosclerosis, pericarditis, arrhythmias, and cardiomyopathy. Ongoing clinical trials investigate promising alternative co-inhibitory receptor targets, including T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (Tim-3) and T cell immunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT). This review delves into the mechanisms of approved ICIs (CTLA-4, PD-1, PD-L1, and LAG-3) and upcoming options like Tim-3 and TIGIT. It explores the use of ICIs in cancer treatment, supported by both preclinical and clinical data. Additionally, it examines the mechanisms behind cardiac toxic irAEs, focusing on ICI-associated myocarditis and atherosclerosis. These insights are vital as ICIs continue to revolutionize cancer therapy, offering hope to patients, while also necessitating careful monitoring and management of potential side effects, including emerging cardiac complications.

Time-dependent X-ray absorption spectroscopic (XAS) study on the transformation of zinc basic salt into bis(N-oxopyridine-2-thionato) zinc (II).

Solid transchelation reaction was established for the synthesis of bis(N-oxopyridine-2-thionato) zinc (II), commonly known as zinc pyrithione (ZPT), to control particle size using zinc basic salt (ZBS) and aqueous sodium pyrithione solution. Distinguished from ZPT particles prepared by usual precipitation reaction, the obtained ZPT nanoparticles exhibited very narrow size distribution. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at Zn K-edge was systematically examined to elucidate time-dependent local structural evolution during solid transchelation reaction. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analysis clearly revealed that local environment around zinc atoms transformed into pentahedron as reaction proceeded. Based on quantitative X-ray diffraction and XANES analysis, we made structural models. Theoretical XAS spectrum calculated with FEFF code could reproduce experimental one, suggesting that XAS analysis could be very powerful tool to probe phase transformation. Furthermore, according to extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) fitting results, Zn-O distance in reaction products gradually increased from 1.96 to 2.07 angstroms, suggesting that zinc atoms bounded with oxygen ones in ZBS were transchelated with pyrithione ligands. This study could be a strong evidence for the usefulness of XAS to study time-dependent structural transformation of nanocrystalline materials.