Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Nose.
The authors describe an extremely rare presentation of congenital infantile myofibromatosis. A full-term newborn boy presented with a thumb-sized subcutaneous mass on the mid-spinal line between the 2nd and 3rd lumbar spinous processes. A solid tumor arising from the interspinous ligament was resected. Microscopic and immunohistochemical studies revealed myofibromatosis.
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The hic-5 gene encodes the novel LIM protein which has been implicated in cellular senescence and differentiation processes. Previous studies of rat calvarial cells stimulated to differentiate by addition of retinoic acid (R.A.) showed a four-fold increase in hic-5 expression which preceded an increase in the expression of the differentiation markers, alkaline phosphatase and alpha (I) pro-collagen mRNA. These data suggest involvement of hic-5 in osteoblast differentiation. This hypothesis was further examined using rat calvarial RCT-1 cells containing expression vectors of hic-5. The over-expressing clones showed a decrease in proliferation and displayed the differentiation-related phenotypes such as increased basal levels of alpha (I) collagen mRNA expression and high inducibility by R.A. of alkaline phosphatase activity. Conversely, introduction of hic-5 anti-sense vector leads to the inhibition of alpha (I) collagen mRNA following induction by R.A. These results suggest that hic-5 is one of the regulatory molecules involved in the R.A. induced differentiation process of RCT-1 cells.
An assay system was constructed to identify chemicals that have a potential to induce p21/WAF1 gene, a target of the tumor suppressor p53 critical for negative growth regulation. Screening of about 1300 culture fluids of Streptomyces resulted in identification of active substances which induced the p21 gene in a p53-independent manner; one was a mixture of four members of the actinomycin group, and the other was trichostatin A. Transcriptional regulatory regions of p21 gene for induction by actinomycin D and trichostatin A were determined by transient expression of luciferase constructs in cells which are p53-deficient (Saos-2) or express a mutated form of p53 (TMK-1). The essential transcriptional elements for the response to these drugs localize within 210 bp of the 5'-upstream region of human p21 gene, and Sp1 elements were determined to be critical for the induction. DNA-binding activity of Sp1 was not increased in cells treated with these drugs, but kinase inhibitors such as staurosporin and wortmannin inhibited the induction.
The telomere is a specialized chromatin structure composed of unique repetitive DNA sequences and specific nuclear proteins. Telomere sequence-binding activity was measured by a mobility shift assay using nuclear extract from normal human fibroblasts. The specific binding activity to the telomere sequence increased in cells that were in a senescence state compared to that in cells at early population doublings. Treatment of cells with tumor promoting phorbol ester TPA induced an increase in the telomere sequence binding activity of nuclear extract in young cells, but the increase was marginal in senescent cells. DNA-damaging N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) also increased the telomere sequence binding activity in young cells, but not in senescent cells. As a reference, we measured the binding activity to NFkB sequence. It was activated by TPA or okadaic acid, but was not affected by MNNG or in senescence. The increase in telomere sequence-binding activity seemed to depend on activation of tyrosine phosphorylation, since an inhibitor of Tyr-kinase abolished the increase in telomere-binding activity. The molecular weight of the major binding factor in the normal human fibroblasts was approximately 32 kDa which is different from that of the telomere-associated protein, TRF-1.
A case of Bellini duct carcinoma is reported. A 71-year-old woman visited our hospital with a chief complaint of lower abdominal pain. Computerized tomography, ultrasonography showed a mass lesion measuring about 5 cm in the right kidney. Angiography showed an avascular mass lesion in the right kidney. Right radical nephrectomy was performed under the diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma. Histological examinations showed Bellini duct carcinoma of the papillary type. We performed M-VAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, icisplatin) therapy as is used for transitional cell carcinoma. She is alive with no evidence of disease 5 months after her surgical treatment. To our knowledge, only 32 cases of Bellini duct carcinoma have been reported in the Japanese literature.
TSC-36, a TGF beta1-inducible gene, encodes a polypeptide that shows significant similarity to SPARC (secreted protein rich in cysteine), and follistatin, an activin-binding protein. The expression of the TSC-36 gene was reported to be extinguished in v-ras-transformed mouse fibroblastic cells, and also was found also to be abrogated in cells transformed with v-myc. The level of expression was, however, not affected in cells transformed with v-src, v-abl, or v-raf. The TSC-36 cDNA was first isolated from mouse cells, and recently its rat and human homologues have been reported which show striking similarity with each other. In various human tumor cells, TSC-36 mRNA was almost undetectable. TSC-36 mRNA was detected in various mouse organs, but its level was the highest in the lung. TSC-36 mRNA level was the highest in the lung among mouse organs, and on in situ hybridization, the TSC-36 transcript was detected in the alveolar epithelium but not in the bronchial epithelium. These features suggest possible usage of TSC-36 as one of the markers in human tumors.
The ectopic expression of the small molecular weight heat shock protein HSP27 reportedly confers resistance to heat and other types of stress, but our recent findings indicated that it rendered human immortalized fibroblast cells (KMST-6) more sensitive to oxidative stress and caused irreversible growth arrest (Arata et al., 1995, J. Cell. Physiol., 163:458-465). To clarify the relationship between HSP27 and growth regulation, we investigated the effect of overexpression of HSP27 and its mutants on the growth potential of several cell lines. Mammalian expression vectors of the wild-type, hypophosphorylatable, or C-terminal deletion mutants of human HSP27 were constructed from the pRc/CMV plasmid that contained the neomycin-resistant gene. The plasmid was introduced into mouse fibroblasts (NIH 3T3), normal human fibroblasts (TIG-3), Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1), or mammary tumor cells (MCF-7), which were then selected in medium containing G418. The number of drug-resistant colonies was significantly decreased by transfection with the expression vector for wild-type HSP27 compared with vector alone, whereas the overexpression of HSP27 in CHO-K1 cells had essentially no effect. The expression vectors of an hypophosphorylatable mutant (pKSm, human HSP27 gene in which codons for Ser-15, -78, and -82 were converted to code for Gly by site-directed mutagenesis) as well as C-terminal deletion mutants in which 12-36 amino acid residues from the C-terminus were deleted had no significant effect on the colony-forming efficiency of NIH 3T3 cells. Cells isolated from G418-resistant colonies formed by transfection of NIH 3T3 cells with the HSP27 expression vector expressed no detectable levels of wild-type HSP27 and did not form stable clonal transformants expressing high levels of HSP27 from NIH 3T3 cells. In contrast, several clones expressing high levels of HSP27 were obtained from CHO-K1 cells transfected with the HSP27 expression vector. In KMST-6 clones expressing high levels of HSP27, the wild-type HSP27 formed aggregates with a mean molecular mass of about 200 kDa as determined by gel filtration, and the size of the oligomers changed with oxidative stress. On the other hand, the size of aggregates of HSP27 encoded by pKSm or C-terminal deletion mutants did not change. These observations indicated that the forced expression of wild-type HSP27 participates in inhibiting the growth of some cell types and that the inhibition may be associated with its phosphorylation and aggregation.
The hic-5 gene encodes a novel protein with Zn finger-like (LIM) motifs, the expression of which increases during cellular senescence. The ectopic expression of hic-5 in nontumorigenic immortalized human fibroblasts, whose expression levels of hic-5 were significantly reduced in comparison with those of mortal cells, decreased colony-forming efficiency. Stable clones expressing high levels of hic-5 mRNA showed higher levels of mRNAs for several extracellular matrix-related proteins, along with the alteration of an alternative splicing as seen in senescent cells and decreased c-fos inducibility. Furthermore, these clones acquired a senescence-like phenotype, such as growth retardation; senescence-like morphology; and increased expression of Cip1/WAF1/sdi1 after 20 to 40 population doublings. On the other hand, antisense RNA expression of hic-5 in human normal diploid fibroblasts delayed the senescence process. HIC-5 was localized in nuclei and had affinity for DNA. Based on these observations, we speculated that HIC-5 affected the expression of senescence-related genes through interacting with DNA and thereby induced the senescence-like phenotypes. To our knowledge, hic-5 is the first single gene that could induce senescence-like phenotypes in a certain type of immortalized human cell and mediate the normal process of senescence.
The induction of JE/MCP-1 gene by TPA was transcriptionally suppressed by antioxidants such as pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) or trimethylthiourea (TMTU) in Balb 3T3 cells, whereas that of other early response genes, c-fos or egr-1, was not affected by these agents. Induction of the JE gene by TNF alpha or serum was not completely inhibited by these antioxidants inhibited an increase in intracellular oxidized state of cells treated with TPA. Next we examined the transcriptional regulatory region of the rat JE gene to determine the genomic target of active oxygen species. The chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene, containing the 5'-upstream region approximately 2.6 kb DNA from the cap site, was transfected into Balb 3T3 cells. The CAT activity induced by TPA increased in parallel with the endogenous JE and mRNA level, and the increase was inhibited by the antioxidants. The essential region for this response in the upstream region was within the -2.6 to -2.0 kb region, and further defined to -2,224 to -2,069 bp which contained and NF kappa B-binding element. Gel shift analysis indicated that the nuclear factors that bound to this essential element contained NF kappa B, and that NF kappa B activity was stimulated by TPA and inhibited by PDTC. These results suggest that active oxygen species are involved in induction of the JE gene caused by TPA in Balb 3T3 cells, through NF kappa B activation.
A 51-year-old man presented with headache, vomiting and exophthalmus. Neurological examination revealed anosmia, papilledema, decrease in visual acuity, and disability in ocular movement. MRI showed a huge mass which occupied the whole nasal cavity and compressed the frontal lobe upwards and the eyes laterally. CT revealed an extensive bony destruction of the frontal base and bilateral orbits. The mass was biopsied transnasally, and was histologically diagnosed as olfactory neuroblastoma. It was highly radiosensitive and disappeared with a local irradiation of 40 Gy. Three months later the patient complained of a pain radiating from the neck to the right arm. MRI demonstrated a metastasis at the vertebral body of C5. Local irradiation of 30 Gy was performed. The metastatic lesion was removed, and a bone graft taken from the iliac bone was transplanted via an anterior cervical approach. Three weeks later, however, a hard mass appeared in the right of his neck and was surgically removed. By histological examination, it was also identified as a metastatic neuroblastoma to the cervical lymph node. A week after the removal of the cervical metastatic lesion, the metastasis extended rapidly to the left cervical and the bilateral hilar lymph nodes of the lungs. Chemotherapy was performed with a total doses of 800mg of cyclophosphamide, 1.5mg of vincristine, 40mg of pirarubicin, and 80mg of cisplatin. The lesions disappeared within 7 days. However, the patient died from disseminated intravascular coagulation 10 months after the onset. Olfactory neuroblastoma is usually an intranasal neoplasm, but it rarely extends intracranially and intraorbitally as is shown in our case. Basically, olfactory neuroblastoma is a relatively slow-growing tumor though it has a tendency to develop local recurrences over long periods even after aggressive primary treatment, and accompanied with distant metastases. However, our patient showed a very short survival time. Invasive extension and multiple metastases occurred during a short period, followed by disseminated intravascular coagulation. Combined chemotherapy at the initial treatment may be recommended in such an extensive case.
The number of elderly patients receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN) has been increasing. This could result from several factors such as advances in HPN therapy and the natural aging of long-term older patients on HPN. Our experience shows that elderly patients receiving HPN are likely to be highly dependent on family members to supervise their HPN therapy. Therefore, indepth education of family members is essential before HPN is initiated. The important points to manage the elderly HPN patients are as follows: 1) It takes a long time for the elderly to learn the technique. 2) They often make technical mistakes. 3) In many cases, patients are not living with their children. Therefore, it is often difficult for them to support the patient's HPN therapy. 4) Nurses play an important role in giving instructions on catheter care and HPN techniques to the patient or family members.
We describe a case of successful laparoscopic resection of a left adrenal neuroblastoma (NB) detected by mass screening (MS) in an 8-month-old boy. Cases with MS NBs are supposed to be potential candidates for laparoscopic surgery in the pediatric age group.
We have cloned and sequenced a chick gene, Flik (follistatin-like) that appears to be the homolog of the mammalian TSC36. The ORF encodes a secreted protein of approx 38 kDa, containing a single cysteine-rich domain that shows a strong relationship with the second of the four from which Follistatin is constructed. The remainder of the Flik protein shows no strong family affinities. We describe here the normal expression pattern of the gene during primitive streak and neurula stages. We also give revised data for early neurectodermal expression of chick follistatin (Connolly et al., 1995, Developmental Genetics 17(1), 65-77) and follow the new ectopic expression of both genes during the induction of a second neural axis, after grafting of Hensen's node into a peripheral position in a host blastoderm. Both genes mark the organizer (node and/or mesodermal head process) and early neural plate, and could thus be involved in intercellular signaling during mesodermal dorsalization and neural induction. Flik expression appears earlier than that of follistatin however, and unlike that of follistatin, it is maintained strongly in the dorsal midline with intensity smoothly declining into presumptive lateral regions. We show that both genes are upregulated in host tissue in the neighborhood of node grafts, but whereas follistatin is transcribed after 8-10 hr in host epiblast that has formed new neural plate, Flik is expressed within 4 hr in this region, sometimes detectable before the first structural changes (columnarization) of neuralization. Thus, although ectodermal Flik expression is later confined within neural plate, and mesodermal expression concentrated in dorsal axial tissue, its early distribution is consistent with the idea that the encoded protein may first be involved in generating a graded system that positions the boundaries of both neural and dorsal axial mesodermal territories. The results are discussed in relation to this hypothesis and to other recent findings regarding control of vertebrate dorsoventral patterning.
The redox-based regulation of gene expression is one of the fundamental mechanisms of cellular functions, and hydrogen peroxide seems to act as an intracellular second messenger of signal transduction of cytokines. Hydrogen peroxide at non-toxic doses induced the accumulation of mRNA for the early growth response-1 (egr-1) gene in mouse osteoblastic cells. The Egr-1 protein is a transcription factor that binds the GCGGGGGCG sequence and contains a zinc-finger structure that is essential for DNA binding. Egr-1 protein is sensitive to oxidative stress and loses specific DNA-binding activity when exposed to high levels of oxidative stress. Incubating cells with hydrogen peroxide at about 50 microM, however, increased the accumulation of Egr-1 protein, and the Egr-1 product seemed to be functional, judging by its binding activity to the GCGGGGGCG sequence and its ability to activate the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene under the control of the human thymidine kinase enhancer containing the Egr-1 binding sequence. It was reported that the activity of Egr-1 protein as a transcription factor was negatively regulated by active oxygens. However, with appropriate concentrations of active oxygen, its capacity to bind a specific DNA sequence and to enhance the transcriptional activity of target genes is thought to be elevated.
We report herein the case of a 2080-g premature male infant born at 34 weeks' gestation with multiple intestinal atresia, for whom multiple anastomoses were successfully performed. A total of 11 atresias were found in the small bowel, and five anastomoses were performed to preserve 59 cm of small bowel and the ileocecal valve. Postoperatively, he developed several episodes of sepsis caused by persistent enterostasis, but was able to be weaned from total parenteral nutrition (TPN) by postoperative day (POD) 106. Thus, multiple anastomoses may be the appropriate procedure to prevent short-gut syndrome for congenital multiple intestinal atresia, even in premature infants.
Surgical treatment of 18 tumors in 17 patients with pheochromocytoma, containing unsynchronous bilateral adrenal tumors, was performed at our department between 1978 and 1995. As an index of management of hypertension before and after surgery, maximum systolic blood pressure except critical region (more than mean + 2 SD) was used in this study. As an index of control of blood pressure during surgery, the difference between maximum and minimum systolic blood pressure during palpating tumor was also adopted. The index before surgery was closely correlated with the index in surgery (R = 0.646, P = 0.0038); maximum systolic blood pressure before surgery was a useful index forecasting the variation of blood pressure in surgery. The management of blood pressure before surgery was the most difficult in the group with sustained hypertension with superimposed paroxysms. After surgery, 2 patients without hypertension before surgery had hypotension, 2 others remained hypertensive and the others had normal blood pressure. Our findings indicated that the index of management of hypertension before surgery used in this study was a simple, noninvasive and important marker for variation of blood pressure in surgery.
A 15-month old child visited our hospital with the chief complaint of macroscopic hematuria. Intravenous pyelography (i.v.p.) revealed a right renal stone (20 x 18 mm) with hydronephrosis and hydroureter. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) was performed twice using a SEMENSE LITHOSTER for the stone. A cardboard and a towel were used to protect the lung and for focusing the shock waves. We achieved complete stone clearance with the ESWL monotherapy. I.v.p. and voiding cystography (VCG) after ESWL revealed disappearance of right hydronephrosis and hydroureter and no reflux. As of June 1995, his general condition is good and there are no recurrent stones.