Biomedical subjects

T Enomoto

Publications and source records attributed to T Enomoto.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed1999

Immune response to "self" lens in Xenopus laevis enucleated during larval life.

We have reinvestigated an important issue in the amphibian immunology that has not been settled for years since the pioneer work of Triplett, concerning the necessity of being exposed to organ-specific antigens early in development. It was found that syngeneic Lenses were rejected by frogs, Xenopus laevis, that had been enucleated (eye removed) during early larval life. This rejection did not occur in intact frogs or in those enucleated in later larval or adult life. Whereas the splenocytes from intact frogs did not proliferate in response to a co-cultured syngeneic lens, those from frogs that had been enucleated at any of the larval stages, or even after metamorphosis, proliferated intensely. Both of these responses were shown to be thymus-dependent. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the frog immune system rejected even syngeneic lenses by enucleation in early larval life and that it began to recognize the syngeneic lenses by lymphoid proliferation after enucleation, even in later life.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Identification and immunological characterization of a novel 40-kDa protein linked to CD98 antigen.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were obtained from hybridoma clones established by cell fusion between mouse myeloma cells and spleen cells from a mouse immunized against an affinity-purified 40-kDa component of rat 125-kDa glycoprotein (GP125). Two mAbs designated as 3F2 and 6B4 detected a 40-kDa and a 125-kDa band under reducing and nonreducing conditions, respectively, in extracts prepared from rat, mouse and human tumor cells. Association of the 40-kDa protein with CD98 was revealed by sandwich-type enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The two mAbs were strongly reactive with various tumor cells and activated lymphocytes, but were only weakly reactive with resting lymphocytes. Confocal microscopy indicated colocalization of CD98 and the 40-kDa protein defined with 3F2 and 6B4 at the cell surface and perinuclear regions. On immunohistochemical analysis of frozen sections of rat tongue, the anti-rat CD98 mAb B3 selectively stained the basal layer and 3F2 stained the upper epithelial part in addition to the basal layer, indicating the existence of CD98-unlinked 40-kDa protein.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Identification of truncated human glutamate transporter.

Excitatory amino-acid carrier 1 (EAAC1) is a high affinity Na+-dependent L-glutamate/D, L-Aspartate transporter protein. A truncated form of EAAC1 (tEAAC1) was identified by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction in the human cell line, ACHN, in which EAAC1 mRNA was highly expressed. The deduced amino acid sequence of tEAAC1 lacks 31-77 amino acids including the first extracellular domain. The mRNA encoding tEAAC1 was detected in various cells of human origin but not in cells of rat or mouse origin. The expression of tEAAC1 mRNA was proportional to that of full-length EAAC1 (fEAAC1) mRNA, suggesting common transcriptional regulation between tEAAC1 and fEAAC1. In addition, the expression of EAAC1 mRNA was relatively low or non-existent in non-adherent cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1999

[The positivity rate of specific IgE antibody to Japanese cedar pollen in Wakayama Prefecture].

The incidence of Japanese cedar pollinosis has been increasing each year in Japan. Japanese cedar pollinosis is a state of allergic response, mediated by IgE. So, it is important to know the state of sensitization against Japanese cedar pollen. The subjects were 1321 nonselective cases who were more than 16 years of age and who live in Wakayama Prefecture. Specific IgE antibodies to Japanese cedar pollen were measured by Lumiward immunoassay system. The results showed that positivity for sera class 2 or higher was 30.9%. Furthermore, the positivity in 1995 was higher than the positivity in either 1985 (13.9%) or 1990 (18.3%). The incidence of specific IgE antibody positivity was higher in males. Also the age distribution of the positivity was highest in the 20-29 years old group, and the positivity was decreased with age. We examined the kinds of factors influencing the positivity of specific IgE antibodies. However, the relation between the positivity of specific IgE antibodies and the various environmental factors was unclear.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

[Ketamine infusion therapy for refractory neuralgia in spinal disease: report of two cases].

We report two cases of refractory pain in a spinal disease. One case was a 60-year-old male who presented intractable pain in bilateral upper extremities after anterior fusion (C5/6, 6/7) for cervical spondylosis. The other was a 63-year-old female who also had intractable pain in the left anterio-lateral chest wall with no remarkable past history. Both cases were refractory to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or minor tranquilizer or local anesthesia with bupivacaine. However, their pain was significantly relieved by the intravenous administration of a test dose (5mg) of ketamine which is a noncompetitive blocker of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. As for case 1, the effect of the injection of the test dose lasted, so continuing infusion therapy of ketamine was cancelled. In case 2, recurrence of the pain was recognized gradually. She underwent continuing infusion therapy of 2mg/kg of ketamine, and it brought about continued pain relief. We conclude that ketamine infusion therapy should also be considered for therapy of refractory neuralgia in spinal disease.

Analgesics↗

PubMed1999

[Environmental control for allergic diseases--avoiding and killing effect on housedust-mite by eastern red cedar].

Housedust-mite has been a trigger factor for allergic diseases such as asthma, rhinitis and eczema. Therefore, it is important to remove housedust-mite from the environment of an allergic patient. Eastern red cedar is one kind of cypress tree which grows naturally in Northern America. It is used for the material of pencils, and the essence of soap. Its oil is used for oily substance for microscope lens. Using original system, we examined eastern red cedar and its oil, and found that it is effective for killing and preventing housedust-mites. The result was very effective. In conclusion the eastern red cedar and its oil seems to be useful for controlling mites in the home environment of allergic patients.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

[Treatment policy for colon cancer liver metastases].

Hepatectomy provides the highest rates of cure among the methods for treating colon cancer liver metastases, but it cannot be performed in many cases. Hepatectomy is the treatment of choice for colon cancer liver metastases in our department, but we conduct transcatheter arterial embolization alone or in combination with MCT on patients in whom hepatectomy cannot be performed or those with residual tumor following hepatectomy. Transcatheter arterial embolization is conducted on patients shown to have tumor vessels, following a single intra-arterial shot of an anticancer drug. MCT is performed under general anesthetic percutaneously or by abdominal section in patients who have not responded well to transcatheter arterial embolization, in order to improve the effectiveness of treatment on the tumor overall. We consider the combination of transcatheter arterial embolization and MCT to be an effective treatment for patients with a colon cancer liver metastasis who present with tumor vessels.

Aged↗

PubMed1999

[Churg-Strauss syndrome with pulmonary eosinophilia and intrapulmonary lymph nodes 2 years before the onset of vasculitis].

We report a case of a 55-year-old man who had been treated for bronchial asthma diagnosed at the age of 51. One year following diagnosis, chest X-ray films disclosed nodular shadows. Biopsy specimens obtained by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery were histopathologically identified as intrapulmonary lymph nodes. Three years after the initial diagnosis, the patient experienced sensory disturbance of the lower extremities, low-grade fever, and weight loss. At this point he was admitted to our hospital. On admission, physical examination and clinical investigations showed peripheral eosinophilia and signs of vasculitis. Specimens obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage showed strong evidence of tissue damage with infiltration of eosinophils but no evidence of necrotizing vasculitis or extra-vascular granuloma. Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) was diagnosed, and treatment was initiated with prednisolone at a dose of 60 mg/day. Except for the sensory disturbances in the lower extremities, after a few days of treatment the patient's symptoms subsided and his clinical data improved. This case was clinically important because pulmonary eosinophilic infiltration into vessel walls was confirmed a year after the diagnosis of bronchial asthma, and 2 years before the patient demonstrated signs of vasculitis. Further, it was a very rare case of CSS in which intrapulmonary lymph nodes had developed beneath the visceral pleura despite the absence of a history of heavy smoking, thus suggesting continuous stimulation by some as yet unknown antigen.

Asthma↗

PubMed1999

Genetic alterations in the transforming growth factor receptor complex in sporadic endometrial carcinoma.

Cellular responses to the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) ligand, including inhibition of cell proliferation, are mediated by a heteromeric receptor complex composed of TGFbeta types I and II receptors (TbetaR-I and TbetaR-II). Loss of responsiveness to TGFbeta, attributed to inactivation of the TbetaR complex, has been implicated in the development of tumors in a number of human epithelial and lymphoid tissues. To gain a better understanding of TGFbeta signal transduction pathways in endometrial carcinogenesis, we have investigated the role of the TbetaR complex by evaluating the TbetaR-I and TbetaR-II genes for mutations throughout the entire coding region in human sporadic endometrial tumors. Using reverse transcription-PCR, "Cold" single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, and direct DNA sequencing, it was found that 1 of 39 (2.6%) and 7 of 42 samples (17%) contained code-altering changes in the kinase domain of TbetaR-I and TbetaR-II, respectively. In 7betaR-I, a 3-bp deletion was found resulting in replacement of Arg and Glu at codon 237 and 238 by Lys. With TbetaR-II, mutations were found in the kinase, the extracellular, and the C-terminal domains. No frameshift mutations were detected; however, a silent population polymorphism (AAC-->AAT at codon 389) in TbetaR-II was found in 19 of 42 (44%) tumor samples. These results suggest that alteration in TbetaR-II, but not TbetaR-I, has an important role in the development of endometrial carcinoma.

Activin Receptors, Type I↗

PubMed1998

Synthesis and morphological reversion activity on srctsNRK cells of pyrimidinylpropanamide antibiotics, sparsomycin, sparoxomycin A1, A2, and their analogues.

Three pyrimidinylpropanamide antibiotics sparsomycin (1), sparoxomycins A1, A2 (2, 3), and also six analogues (4-9) have been synthesized by employing asymmetric sulfide oxidation conditions as a key step. Sparsomycin (1) and its alkyl analogues (5-7) showed higher morphological reversion activities on srctsNRK cells than 2 and 3.

Antibiotics, Antineoplastic↗

PubMed1998

Cloning of two isoforms of mouse DNA helicase Q1/RecQL cDNA; alpha form is expressed ubiquitously and beta form specifically in the testis.

We cloned cDNAs encoding mouse homologues for the human DNA helicase Q1/RecQL (human helicase Q1) which has homology with the Escherichia coli RecQ protein and found that they encode two isoforms. The two isoforms are identical over the entire sequence except for the carboxyl terminal sequence spanning less than 30 amino acids. One of the two isoforms, alpha, contains a sequence, KKRK, in the carboxyl terminus, which is also contained in human helicase Q1 and was confirmed to function as the nuclear localization signal. The other form, beta, does not contain such a sequence. Expression of mouse helicase Q1 mRNA is extremely and relatively high in the testis and the thymus, respectively. RT-PCR analysis revealed that helicase Q1alpha was expressed in all tissues tested and the beta form was expressed only in the testis. A survey of expression of Q1alpha and Q1beta mRNA in the testis after birth revealed that Q1alpha mRNA is expressed in all testes of mice aged from 7 days to 8 weeks, and the expression of Q1beta mRNA begins 14 days after birth, corresponding to the appearance of cells in the pachytene stage.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1998

Cloning of cDNA encoding a novel mouse DNA topoisomerase III (Topo IIIbeta) possessing negatively supercoiled DNA relaxing activity, whose message is highly expressed in the testis.

We cloned cDNA encoding a novel mouse homologue of DNA topoisomerase III (mTOP3beta). The nucleotide sequence contains an open reading frame of 863 amino acids, and the deduced molecular mass of the coded protein is 96.9 kDa. The overall sequence of mTOP3beta has a 48 and 36% identity with mouse TOP3alpha at the nucleotide and amino acid level, respectively. DNA topoisomerase IIIbeta was expressed using a baculovirus expression system and purified. The purified DNA topoisomerase IIIbeta had activity to relax negatively supercoiled DNA. Relaxation of supercoiled DNA was partial at 37 degreesC and complete relaxation was observed at higher temperatures. mTOP3beta mRNA was strongly expressed in the testis and relatively strongly in the brain. The levels of TOP3beta mRNA in the testis increased slightly 14 days and considerably 17 days after birth, when the cells in the pachytene phase begin to appear and increase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1998

Mutational analysis of the transforming growth factor beta receptor type II gene in human ovarian carcinoma.

In the present study, we evaluated a series of sporadic ovarian carcinomas for mutations within the entire coding region of TbetaR-II. Using reverse transcription-PCR and "Cold" single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis, 6 of 24 samples (25%) were found to contain code-altering mutations in TbetaR-II: (a) four mutations resulting in amino acid substitutions in the highly conserved serine/threonine kinase domain; (b) one mutation resulting in a conservative amino acid change in the transmembrane domain; and (c) a 1-bp insertion in the polyadenylic acid microsatellite region resulting in a reading frameshift. In addition, six cases (25%) exhibited a common bp substitution (C-->T at nucleotide 1322) in both tumor and patient-matched normal tissues. This is the first report of such TbetaR-II mutations in primary human ovarian carcinomas. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated a loss of expression of TbetaR-II in 5 of 22 available tumors (23%; 4 of which also had mutations in the coding region) and decreased expression of TbetaR-II in 10 of 22 available tumors (44%; 1 of which had a mutation in the coding region). Thus, the loss or decreased expression of TbetaR-II seems to be a common event in sporadic ovarian carcinomas, and mutational inactivation, due to either frameshift mutations in the polyadenylic acid microsatellite region or point mutations in conserved functional domains, is one mechanism by which this occurs.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

cDNA cloning of mouse BLM gene, the homologue to human Bloom's syndrome gene, which is highly expressed in the testis at the mRNA level.

We cloned a cDNA encoding the mouse homologue to human Bloom's syndrome gene (BLM). The deduced amino acid sequence of mouse Blm showed 76% identity to the human sequence with very high homology in seven consecutive domains characteristic of DNA and RNA helicases. The expression of mBLM mRNA was examined in various tissues. Extremely high expression was observed in the testis as compared with other tissues. The mBLM mRNA level in the testis began to increase 12-14 days after birth, corresponding to the appearance of cells in the pachytene phase.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMed1998

Aberrant FHIT transcripts in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

The fragile histidine triad (FHIT) tumor suppressor gene at 3p14.2 has abnormalities in several types of human cancers. To investigate the potential role of FHIT in cervical cancer, which exhibits frequent loss of heterozygosity of 3p, we have examined primary cervical cancer samples from 28 patients for alterations of the FHIT gene. Abnormal FHIT transcripts were detected using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and subsequently by sequencing. Of 28 primary cervical carcinomas analyzed, 12 tumors (43%) showed abnormal FHIT transcripts, including deletion, insertion and point mutation. Loss of a FHIT transcript was observed in 2 cases (7%). Allelic loss of the FHIT gene was detected in 16 of 27 informative cases (59%). Oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16, 18, 33, 35, 58 and 59 were not only present but were expressed in 24 of 28 cases (85%) by consensus PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis for the HPV E6 and E7 genes. Our data indicate that alteration of the FHIT gene is an important genetic event associated with cervical cancer and oncogenic

Acid Anhydride Hydrolases↗

PubMed1998

Isolation of a cDNA encoding mouse DNA topoisomerase III which is highly expressed at the mRNA level in the testis.

A cDNA (mTOP3) encoding mouse DNA topoisomerase III (topo III) was cloned using the human TOP3 cDNA as a probe. The deduced amino acid sequence of mouse topo III showed 86.8% identity with that of human topo III. Mouse TOP3 mRNA was highly expressed in the testis in comparison with other tissues. The TOP3 mRNA level in the testis increased slightly 14 days after birth and showed a marked increase in 17 days, times when the cells in pachytene phase begin to appear and increase in number.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1998

A human brain proteolytic activity capable of cleaving natural beta-amyloid precursor protein is affected by its substrate glycoconjugates.

Human brain proteins were partially purified by using arginine-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography, which traps proteins having an affinity to certain groups of arginine residue, such as serine proteases and zymogens. Bound proteins were analyzed for binding and cleavage related to the brain beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP). They were then further separated and isolated using a preparative gel system having a liquid-phase collection apparatus, using a non-denaturing gel system. Each fractionated protein was also analyzed for the above activity using natural APP. Among these, we found several fractions that bind preferentially to APP treated with chondroitinase ABC but not to intact APP, and that also generate particular beta-amyloid containing C-terminal peptides of APP via proteolysis. Our results suggest that sulfated glycoconjugates attached to APP play a role in the substrate specificity of APP for proteases, and also that the nature of natural APP processing mechanisms in vivo is very complex.

Aged↗

PubMed1998

Negative association between asthma and variants of CC16(CC10) on chromosome 11q13 in British and Japanese populations.

The gene encoding Clara cell-derived inflammatory molecule CC16 has been cited as a candidate gene for atopic asthma on chromosome 1lq13. A genetic association study was performed with variants of the CC16 gene on chromosome 1lq13 in relation to asthma in British (n=275) and Japanese (n=300) populations. No significant association was found between asthma and CC16 genotypes, irrespective of atopic status in these two populations. These data suggest that CC16 might not be the major locus for asthma on 11q13.

Asthma↗