[Radioisotope penography].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Diagnosis, Differential↗
Biomedical subjects
M Shirai
Publications and source records attributed to M Shirai.
[Nocturnal penile tumescence].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Erectile Dysfunction↗
[A case of anti-basement membrane (BM) mediated disease presenting renal and pulmonary symptoms by divergent timing].
A case of 49-year-old man with anti-GBM antibody and who manifested pulmonary and renal symptoms at divergent times. Thirty-six years previously, renal disease with unneglectable degree of proteinuria was noticed. One month before admission, he was found by chance to have elevated serum creatine (Scr); 3.4 mg/dl. At admission, his Scr was 13.7 mg/dl and Hb 12.7 g/dl, TP 5.2 g/dl with 3+ proteinuria and no glucosuria. He was a heavy smoker and remained so while admitted. Renal biopsy presented fibrocellular crescents in 100% of glomeruli with striking tubulointerstitial involvement. Immunofluorescence showed linear IgG deposition along the glomerular capillary wall. Hemodialysis was instituted, and after 13 hospital days, anti-GBM antibody at admission was high at 128 U, with negative PANCA. Plasmapheresis was also performed, but on the next day pulmonary hemorrhage occurred with a concomitant rise of anti-GBM to 250 U. Thus, steroid pulse therapy was conducted in combination with plasmapheresis. Pulmonary hemorrhage subsided along with lowering of anti-GBM (48 U), but renal failure persisted. The patient died of septicemia. Based on the clinical course of the case, the term "anti-BM mediated disease" may more properly delineate the entity of the disease rather than the classical eponym "Goodpasture's disease" which requires coexistence of pulmo- and renal manifestations for definition.
Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease↗
[Diabetic urinary bladder and urethral dysfunction].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Diabetic Neuropathies↗
[Erectile dysfunction].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Erectile Dysfunction↗
Cloning, sequencing and characterization of the gene encoding a principal sigma factor homolog from the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa K-81.
We cloned and sequenced the rpoD1 gene of Microcystis aeruginosa K-81, a unicellular colony-forming cyanobacterium that can perform photosynthesis involving light-responsive gene expression. The deduced amino acid sequence of RpoD1 exhibited extensive homology to the other eubacterial principal sigma factors. Primer extension and Western blot analyses revealed that the rpoD1 gene, which encodes a principle sigma factor homolog, had two transcription start points, P1 and P2. These transcripts, and the corresponding protein, constitutively appeared in M. aeruginosa, irrespective of light or dark conditions.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Restriction barrier composed of an extracellular nuclease and restriction endonuclease in the unicellular cyanobacterium Microcystis sp.
The unicellular cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa K-81 has two types of restriction barrier, an extracellular nuclease and sequence-specific endonucleases. The nuclease was detected in the culture supernatant and it was easily released from the cells by washing with water or buffer containing Triton X-100. This nuclease was identified as a polypeptide of about 28 kDa that digested covalently closed circular and linear double-stranded DNAs, including chromosomal DNA from M. aeruginosa K-81. Among another 13 Microcystis strains examined, 3 produced an extracellular nuclease. Furthermore, M. aeruginosa K-81 contained two sequence-specific endonucleases, MaeK81I and MaeK81II, which were isoschizomers of SplI and Sau96I, respectively.
Bacterial Proteins↗
Reciprocal cytotoxic T lymphocyte cross-reactivity interactions between two major epitopes within HIV-1 gp160.
We have observed and analyzed an unexpected cross-reactivity of CD8+ CTL between two nonhomologous peptides of the HIV-1 IIIB gp160 envelope protein, P18 (residues 315-329) and HP53 (834-848, also called TH4.1), in the context of four different class I MHC molecules, Dd, Dp, Dq (or Lq), and H-2u. In strains expressing Dd, the cross-reactivity between peptides was bidirectional, whereas in other strains (H-2u, H-2p, and H-2q), the cross-reactivity was unidirectional; that is, P18-specific CTLs showed no killing against targets pulsed with HP53, although HP53 stimulated CTL showed cross-reactive lysis against P18-pulsed target cells. Cross-reactivity was also shown in immunization in vivo and with target cells endogenously expressing viral protein in vitro using two different recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing only the N-terminal portion of gp160, containing P18 but not HP53. Peptide cross-contamination was excluded. Cold target inhibition and single cell cloning experiments indicated that the same CTL was responding to both peptides. Using substituted and truncated peptides, we explored amino acid residues critical for cross-reactive CTL recognition, identified fine specificity similarities among all cross-reactive CTL lines but not non-cross-reactive lines, and mapped cross-reactivity to a 10-residue core of P18 and to an eight-residue core of HP53. A comparison of these peptide sequences and recent data on residues of P18 interacting with H-2Dd provided us with clues to residues involved in the interaction of the CTL with the MHC-peptide complex.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Protective factor against progression from atrophic gastritis to gastric cancer--data from a cohort study in Japan.
To investigate the association between atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer and to identify the risk and protective factors for the progression of atrophic gastritis to cancer, we conducted a prospective study on 5,373 subjects with neither cancer nor resected stomach who underwent gastroscopic examination and completed a life-style questionnaire. After an average of 6 years of follow-up, 69 gastric-cancer cases were identified, 65 from the subjects without atrophic gastritis and 4 from the subjects without atrophic gastritis. The presence of atrophic gastritis increased the risk of gastric cancer 2.19-fold, the risk trend increasing with the degree and the extension of atrophy [relative risk (RR) 1.60 for mild atrophy and 2.85 for moderate and severe atrophy]. Among the subjects with atrophic gastritis, family history of gastric cancer (RR 2.27) and a preference for spicy food (RR 1.84) increased the risk and self-administered meal controls, such as portion reduction (RR 0.44) reduction of salty food (RR 0.56) and the change to the consumption of easily digested food (RR 0.57) decreased the risk of gastric cancer. The results of this study suggest that atrophic gastritis increases the risk of gastric cancer but that dietary modification prevents the progression from atrophic gastritis to gastric cancer, regardless of pre-cancerous lesions.
Adult↗
Selection in vitro of trans-acting genomic human hepatitis delta virus (HDV) ribozymes.
In an effort to identify the functional structure as well as new active variants of the trans-acting genomic ribozyme of human hepatitis delta virus (HDV), we applied an in vitro selection procedure. A total of 14 rounds of selection and amplification was repeated and various mutant ribozymes in G10 and G14 pools analyzed. Active ribozymes which were isolated in the present study (from G10 and G14) all possessed conserved bases (that were identified earlier) in the cis-acting molecule. A dominant clone G10-68 variant was accumulated in generation 14. Interestingly, when base substitutions were analyzed in G10-68 variant, we found that this variant appears to be close to antigenome-like HDV ribozyme molecule. Further investigations of G10-68 confirmed that each mutated base was the most appropriate nucleotide at every position of the HDV ribozyme.
Base Sequence↗
Highly repetitive sequences and characteristics of genomic DNA in unicellular cyanobacterial strains.
Microcystis aeruginosa (Synechocystis) is a unicellular cyanobacterium that performs oxygenic photosynthesis. We found two novel sets of repetitive sequences, A (REP-A) and B (REP-B), on the M. aeruginosa K-81 genomic DNA, which consisted of distinct motifs of tandem repeated sequences located in the up- and downstream regions of the orf1 structural gene, respectively. Genomic Southern hybridization revealed multicopies of REP-A and -B on the genome. Furthermore, genomic Southern blots of cyanobacteria species with the REP-A and -B probes revealed that different hybridization signals appeared on the genomic DNAs of all 12 Microcystis strains, but no signal appeared on those of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942, and Anabaena sp. PCC 7120.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Malignant hyperthermia during epidural anesthesia.
We anesthesized a patient susceptible to malignant hyperthermia (MH) three different times by epidural anesthesia with different types of local anesthetics. His skinned fiber test showed a marked acceleration of calcium (Ca2+)-induced Ca2+ release (CICR). When ester type local anesthetic was used for ankle contracture repair, MH signs appeared following the release of the tourniquet. CICR test is reliable for diagnosing different types of MH.
Adolescent↗
Right lung transplantation followed by left pneumonectomy in the rat.
OBJECTIVE: To develop a rodent lung transplant model which depends on graft function for survival, total microsutureless lung transplantation was carried out and followed by contralateral native pneumonectomy in the rat. METHODS: Total non-microsuture right lung transplantation was undertaken using a cuff technique with anastomotic areas twice as big as those for the left lung transplantation. Inbred rats received either right (n = 10) or left lung isograft (n = 10) with non-microsuture techniques and underwent contralateral native pneumonectomy 2 weeks later to test the function of the grafted lung. RESULTS: While none of the left lung recipients could be disconnected from the respirator after right pneumonectomy, eight of ten right lung recipients tolerated left pneumonectomy, increased body weight and regained exercise capacity (oxygen uptake 49 +/- 4 ml/kg per min) comparable to that of control rats undergoing right hilar stripping and left pneumonectomy. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the grafted right lung, but not the left lung, allows survival, growth and exercise of the recipient. Right lung transplantation followed by native left pneumonectomy may serve as a physiologic model of lung transplantation in the rat.
Animals↗
Enhanced expression of the protein kinase substrate annexin in human hepatocellular carcinoma.
Annexin (AX) constitutes a new family of Ca2+-dependent membrane-binding proteins; 13 of them have been described. Among these, annexin-1 (AX-I) has displayed many biological functions in vitro. Its actual role in vivo, however, remains unknown. We already reported that AX-I was expressed in proliferating (regenerating) hepatocytes at both protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels. The role of AX-I in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains obscure. In this study, the amounts of AX-I at protein and mRNA levels, as well as its localization, have been determined in the normal human liver, chronic hepatitis liver, and nontumorous and tumorous portions of HCC. AX-I was rarely found in normal and chronic liver tissues, whereas it is overexpressed at both the transcriptional and translational levels in tumorous and nontumorous regions of HCC. In addition, more AX-I was expressed in the tumorous portion than the nontumorous portion of HCC. AX-I was present in the hepatocytes and HCC cells, localized mainly in the cytoplasm. AX-I was expressed in poorly differentiated cancer cells. Furthermore, AX-I was tyrosine-phosphorylated in HCC. We also found that some of the AX-I- positive hepatocytes in the nontumorous tissues were derived from a particular subset of parenchymal cells (stem or oval cells). These results indicate that AX-I plays an important role in the malignant transformation process leading to HCC and that it is closely related to the histological grade of HCC. HCC would offer a novel tool with which to study the function of AX-I in malignant transformation.
Annexin A1↗
Use of intrinsic and extrinsic helper epitopes for in vivo induction of anti-hepatitis C virus cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) with CTL epitope peptide vaccines.
The induction of virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is an important part of vaccine strategy. CTL induction in vivo by two hepatitis C virus (HCV) peptides containing CTL epitopes, one from the NS5 region (P17) and one from the core (C7), was compared. P17 required covalent attachment of a helper peptide (PCLUS3 containing a cluster of epitopes from the human immunodeficiency virus envelope protein), whereas C7 did not. However, the minimal decapeptide of C7, C7A10, alone did not induce CTL. The helper cells induced by PCLUS3-17 or by C7 were shown to be CD4+ and to produce interleukin-2 (IL-2). Thus, help can be supplied by a natural helper epitope intrinsic to the CTL peptide, as in C7, or by attaching a helper epitope from another protein, as in the case of P17. The cluster peptides may be useful promiscuous helper peptides for a variety of CTL epitopes from diverse pathogens.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
The rpoD1 gene product is a principal sigma factor of RNA polymerase in Microcystis aeruginosa K-81.
We performed molecular characterization of the RpoD1 protein encoded by the rpoD1 gene isolated from a cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa K-81. The deduced amino acid sequence (416 aa, 48,871 Da) of RpoD1 exhibited extensive similarity to those of proteins of the eubacterial RpoD family (Escherichia coli sigma 70 homologs). We overproduced and purified RpoD1 (54 kDa) from E. coli. Biological and biochemical analyses suggested that RpoD1 has a function homologous to that of E. coli sigma 70 as follows: (i) the RpoD1 protein complemented an rpoD mutant of E. coli strain YN543 (rpoD285) and (ii) the heterologous RNA polymerase holoenzyme reconstituted from the E. coli core enzyme and recombinant RpoD1 was specifically transcribed from E. coli promoters. Furthermore, Western blot analysis with antiserum against Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942 RpoD1 (a principal sigma factor of the sigma 70 type) indicated that M. aeruginosa K-81 RpoD1 (sigma A1) is the principal sigma factor, which is a major component of the sigma subunit on exponential cell growth.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Change of renal function during vancomycin therapy in extremely low birthweight infants.
Twenty extremely low birthweight infants were treated with vancomycin (VCM). Their gestational age was 26.3 +/- 1.4 weeks (range 24.0-28.7 weeks) and their birthweight was 829 +/- 133 g (range 562-900 g). At the time of initial administration of VCM, postnatal age was 29.5 +/- 15.8 days (range 5-54 days). Vancomycin was administered in a dose between 9.3 and 11.0 mg/kg every 12 h for a period of 6.3 +/- 2.4 days (range 4-13 days). Serum and urinary specimens were obtained before and after (within 24 h following the last dose) VCM therapy. Serum creatinine and sodium, and urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity, creatinine, sodium, and beta-2-microglobulin (BMG) concentrations were measured. Fractional excretion of sodium (FENa) and NAG index (NAG:creatinine ratio) were calculated. There were no significant differences between the before and after VCM treatment in serum creatinine, urinary BMG concentration, FENa and NAG index. No infant showed any symptoms of renal insufficiency. However, the NAG index and FENa increased after treatment in 1 of 20 infants. Vancomycin is effective and safe in the treatment of serious infections in extremely low birthweight infants.
Acetylglucosaminidase↗
The sre gene (ORF469) encodes a site-specific recombinase responsible for integration of the R4 phage genome.
The sre gene (ORF469) of the R4 phage encodes a protein similar to the resolvase-DNA invertase family proteins. Insertional gene disruption of sre prevented a lysogen from entering the lytic cycle, implying that Sre protein is a site-specific recombinase needed for excision of the R4 prophage genome (M. Matsuura, T. Noguchi, T. Aida, M. Asayama, H. Takahashi, and M. Shirai, J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol. 41:53-61, 1995). To determine whether this sre gene is also necessary for the integration reaction, we studied its function by integration plasmid analysis. When deletions, frameshifts, and site-directed mutations that caused an amino acid substitution of Ser-17 for Ala were introduced into the sre structural gene, transformation efficiency of Streptomyces parvulus 2297 with these plasmid DNAs was severely reduced. However, an adenine insertion just before the possible initiation codon of the sre gene did not significantly decrease the efficiency. These data suggest that the Sre protein is a site-specific recombinase responsible for integration of the R4 phage genome.
Bacteriophages↗