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Biomineralization is a process of formation of biominerals widespread among living organisms. This phenomenon occurs in the central nervous system in normal and pathological conditions. Typically, this can manifest age-related changes, and the prevalence of biominerals increases with age. At the same time, it can be a sign of pathology-tumour growth, dystrophy, metabolic disorders, etc. This work aims to study the morphological features of the dura mater with signs of biomineralization. In this work, we examined 30 samples of the dura mater with signs of biomineralization (group I) and 30 samples without these signs (group II) obtained during autopsies in the pathology department of the Sumy Regional Clinical Hospital. For the morphological charact erist ics of the dura mat er, we used hi stologi cal, hi stochemi cal and immunohistochemical methods, as well as scanning electron microscopy. Statistical processing of the results of the immunohistochemical study was carried out in the GraphPad Prism 8.0 statistical package using parametric and non-parametric research methods. To divide the samples into groups, we relied on the histological method-staining with hematoxylin-eosin. Histochemical methods (alizarin red staining, von Koss method) confirmed the presence of calcium compounds in the studied group. Van Gieson staining visualized the collagen fibres of the dura mater, and the PAS reaction di d not reveal the presence of gl ycosaminogl ycans in the mineral deposit s. Immunohistochemical examination of the dura mater with antibodies against osteopontin revealed a significant difference between the study and control groups (p<0.001), confirming the critical role of osteopontin in the biomineralization process in this tissue. With the help of scanning electron microscopy, it was found that biominerals in the dura mater are represented by tens to hundreds of formations of various shapes (rounded, oval and irregular), varying from tens of nanometers to 50 micrometres. Their composition was analyzed using maps and spectra of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and most probably corresponded to calcium hydroxyapatite. So, the dura mater is characterized by biomineralization, manifested by the formation of microscopic calcium hydroxyapatite composites.

Introduction: Ovarian cancer is an oncogynecological disease with high mortality. High mortality caused by this pathology is associated with diagnosis at the III–IV stage of the disease. This stage of the disease is characterized by metastasis and reflected in the 5-year survival rate, decreasing to 30.2 %. At the same time, when diagnosed at the I–II stage, this indicator is 92.6%.

The aim of the work is bibliometric analysis and generalization of data from scientific sources on the study of ovarian cancer metastasis.

Materials and methods: Information was searched on electronic resources of the Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases using the keywords "ovarian cancer" and "metastases." An online platform for monitoring and analyzing scientific sources was used for bibliometric analysis. We used several VOSviewer bibliometric network visualization system tools and SciVal (Scopus) modern citation requirements.

Results: It has been established that metastasis of ovarian cancer can occur in several ways and depends on the conditions of the tumor microenvironment. The influence of E-cadherin, MMP-2, and transglutaminase-2 on metastasis processes was evaluated. Also, the role of cytokines in the invasiveness of the tumor process and metastasis was established. The results of bibliometric analysis of scientific sources showed that over the past 20 years, the number of publications on ovarian cancer metastasis has increased significantly, and the most widely given topic is studied in the USA and China.

Conclusions: Metastasis of ovarian cancer can occur in several ways and depends on the conditions of the tumor microenvironment. It was found that among the analyzed 496 publications, the most relevant directions are molecular-biological and signaling pathways, which are described in many ways in scientific sources on ovarian cancer metastasis. The calcification of peritoneal metastases and their formation mechanism are currently not investigated, and there is no thorough explanation that may become a perspective for further research.