Biomedical subjects

T Kitamura

Publications and source records attributed to T Kitamura.

At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Cranial fasciitis of childhood: a case report.

We present a case with cranial fasciitis in childhood and review the literature. A 7-year-old boy presented with hard mass on the scalp. He had sustained a bruise on the right temporal region about 2 years previously. Ultrasonic examination and CT scanning revealed the ossifying soft tissue mass in the right temporal scalp causing erosion and scalloping of the outer table of the skull. At surgery the lesion was firmly attached to the periosteum and the skull. The lesion was completely excised and the lytic bone curettaged. The tumor was composed of immature fibroblasts and diagnosed as cranial fasciitis in childhood. A brief review of the literature is included emphasizing the need to investigate further this completely benign lesion that is frequently confused with a malignant neoplasm.

Calcinosis↗

PubMed1993

Neurofilament deficiency in quail caused by nonsense mutation in neurofilament-L gene.

The existence of a neurofilament-deficient mutant of Japanese quail was recently documented (Yamasaki, H., C. Itakura, and M. Mizutani. 1991. Acta Neuropathol. 82:427-434), but the genetic events leading to the neurofilament deficiency have yet to be determined. Our molecular biological analyses revealed that the expression of neurofilament-L (NF-L) gene was specifically repressed in neurons of this mutant. To search for mutation(s) responsible for the shutdown of this gene expression, we cloned and sequenced the NF-L genes in the wild-type and mutant quails. It is eventually found that the NF-L gene in the mutant includes a nonsense mutation at the deduced amino acid residue 114, indicating that the mutant is incapable of producing even a trace amount of polymerization-competent NF-L protein at any situation. The identification of this nonsense mutation provides us with a solid basis on which molecular mechanisms underlying the alteration in the neuronal cytoskeletal architecture in the mutant should be interpreted.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1993

Regulation of hsp70 synthesis induced by cupric sulfate and zinc sulfate in thermotolerant HeLa cells.

Upon exposure to the heavy metals copper and zinc, a large amount of 70,000-Da heat shock protein (hsp70) was synthesized in normal, non-thermotolerant (NT) HeLa cells, whereas only a little increase of hsp70 synthesis was observed in thermotolerant (TT) cells. To determine the inhibition mechanism of hsp70 induction in the TT cells, we first analyzed the hsp70 mRNA of these cells. Hsp70 mRNA in the NT cells increased immediately after exposure to these metals. In TT cells, however, the increase of hsp70 mRNA was delayed, even though it eventually increased to a similar or slightly lower level compared with NT cells. Further analysis of the activation of heat shock transcription factor (HSF) showed that a significant activation of HSF was observed immediately after exposure to these metals in the NT cells, whereas the activation of HSF was initially repressed in the TT cells. Thus, the decreased induction of hsp70 synthesis observed in the TT cells seemed to be due to the reduced translation of hsp70 mRNA and also in part to the reduced activation of HSF. Furthermore, by the gel mobility shift assay using anti-hsp70 antibody, the association of copper- and zinc-activated HSF with hsp70 was observed in both NT and TT cells. The amount of HSF-hsp70 complex was prominent in TT cells, in which the hsp70 content was 5 to 10 times higher than that in the NT cells. These findings strongly suggest that the activity of HSF is negatively regulated by hsp70 in the TT cells.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1993

Perceived rearing attitudes and minor psychiatric morbidity among Japanese adolescents.

The relationship between perceived rearing experiences and minor psychiatric morbidity was studied in a sample of Japanese adolescents. Their perceived rearing experiences were measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and minor psychiatric morbidity by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The total GHQ score was slightly but significantly higher (r = 0.28) among those recording high maternal protection than among those with low maternal protection, but of the subscale scores of the GHQ, only the anxiety and insomnia subscale retained this same relationship with perceived rearing experiences. The parental age, educational career, and sibship position showed no correlation with the PBI scores.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Sex differences in schizophrenia: a demographic, symptomatic, life history and genetic study.

Twenty-one male and 32 female inpatients who met the criteria of schizophrenia according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria were compared for demographic, symptomatic, life history, and genetic variables. Female schizophrenics were marginally less likely to have auditory hallucinations; They were more likely to have early loss experiences (either bereavement or separation from a parent) before the age of 16. No other differences were found between the men and women.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

A validation study of the Parental Bonding Instrument in a Japanese population.

Parker, Tupling & Brown's Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), a self-rating scale for the measurement of perceived rearing attitudes of parents, was translated into Japanese and distributed to final-year high school students and to their parents. For each PBI score, ratings of each parent, made independently by family members, were weakly but significantly correlated. The social desirability score showed only a modest correlation to PBI scores. A factor analysis of the data, limiting the number of the factors retained to two, resulted in factor loading patterns similar to those reported by Parker, Tupling & Brown.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Comparison of different scoring systems for the Japanese version of the General Health Questionnaire.

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is a self-rating questionnaire to identify current non-organic non-psychotic morbidity. Each item of the GHQ has four response codes; the left-side one represents the most healthy while the right-side one the most ill. The ability of four scoring systems of the GHQ items to discriminate psychiatric cases from non-cases, 0-0-0-1 (codes 1-3 = 0, code 4 = 1), 0-0-1-1 (codes 1 and 2 = 0, codes 3 and 4 = 1, the original GHQ scoring) and 0-1-1-1 (code 1 = 0, codes 2-4 = 1), were compared against the greatest increase in the rate of cases between neighbouring codes and by using discriminant function analysis with the three scoring systems as predictors among 108 antenatal clinic attenders. The data revealed that the original GHQ scoring was the most valid in its ability to identify psychiatric cases.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Two types of pole cells are present in the Drosophila embryo, one with and one without splicing activity for the third P-element intron.

In Drosophila, it has been postulated that the third intron of the P-element is spliced only in germ-line cells. To test whether this postulate is applicable to pole cells, the progenitor cells of germ line, we carried out a histochemical assay to detect the splicing activity in embryos. The splicing activity was detected in pole cells and primordial germ cells. The activity increased to reach a maximum at 5-6 hours AEL (after egg laying), then decreased to an undetectable level by 8-9 hours AEL. The splicing activity showed a small second peak at 12-15 hours AEL. It was rather unexpected that not all pole cells were capable of splicing the third intron. Almost all pole cells that had the splicing activity at 5-6 hours AEL penetrated the embryonic gonads and differentiated into primordial germ cells. Our findings suggest that pole cells are selected to penetrate the gonads while they are migrating from the proctodeal cavity to the gonads. Furthermore, these results suggest that the machinery to splice the P-element is active in some pole cells, and that this activity is used for processing transcripts of genes that play important roles in the differentiation of pole cells into primordial germ cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Detection of muscle larvae of Trichinella spiralis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

ELISA was applied to the detection of Trichinella spiralis larvae in infected rat muscles. Anti-muscle larva serum was prepared by inoculating crude extract of muscle larvae to rabbits. Limb muscles of infected rats were emulsified with carbonate buffer and the supernatant was used for ELISA. ELISA values of positive muscular samples were clearly higher than those of negative ones to prove that ELISA can be applied to the detection of muscle larvae. The present method showed positive values to muscles infected with 10 or more larvae per gram of muscle (LPGM).

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Characterization of a saporin mitotoxin specifically cytotoxic to cells bearing the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor.

When granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is chemically conjugated to the ribosome-inactivating protein saporin, the resulting protein conjugate is highly toxic for cells expressing the GM-CSF receptor. Structural and Western blot analyses of the purified conjugate establish that it contains equimolar amounts of the starting materials and is free of any contamination by the non-conjugated components. The resulting bifunctional reagent is specifically cytotoxic to cells expressing the GM-CSF receptor, but is ineffective to cells that do not express the receptor. The cytotoxic activity is inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by GM-CSF, but not by any one of five other peptide growth factors. This is the first report of a mitotoxin for cells that express the GM-CSF receptor and which promises to be a valuable tool to study the expression of the GM-CSF receptor in normal and pathological states.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Distinct classes of factor-independent mutants can be isolated after retroviral mutagenesis of a human myeloid stem cell line.

Retroviral insertion mutagenesis has been used extensively in vivo but not in vitro to induce and identify critical mutations during oncogenic progression and differentiation. We have developed a tissue culture system using the human, growth factor-dependent, hematopoietic precursor cell line TF-1 that permits the use of retroviral vectors to induce a large (up to 28-fold) increase in the mutation frequency to growth factor independence and thus the isolation of many mutants. The mutation frequency, as expected, is directly proportional to the number of retroviral insertions (2.2 x 10(-7) mutants per insertion). The mutant phenotypes can be subdivided into mutants that release growth factors and those that do not ("autonomous" mutants). The majority of growth factor-producing mutants release an unidentified ligand. A subset of the autonomous mutants shows alterations in expression of the alpha subunit of either the GM-CSF or the IL-3 receptor. One mutant expresses neither GM-CSF nor IL-3 alpha receptor chains, thus showing coordinate regulation of the alpha receptor subunits.

Cell Line↗

PubMed1993

Sequence analysis of V3 loop region of HIV-1 strains prevalent in India.

The third variable (V3) domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) env gene has been found to elicit type-specific neutralizing antibodies as well as a cytotoxic and helper T-cell response in both humans and animals. We analyzed the V3 domain of 8 HIV-1 isolates from India by using polymerase chain reactions. The V3 loops of 7 Indian isolates contained the apical tetra peptide GPGQ, while the V3 loop of one Indian isolate carried the apical tetra peptide GPGK. The amino acid sequences of the seven Indian isolates were closely related to each other, with an average of the nucleotide sequence homology of 96.0% (94.6 to 97.6%). The marked relatedness of the amino acid sequences among the seven Indian HIV-1 isolates indicated a recent and very rapid spread of this HIV-1 variant in Bombay. The amino acid sequence of the C2/V3 region of env gene of the 7 Indian isolates were homologous to the C subtype reported by Meyers et al. These findings could be useful in assessing the sources of infection and developing an AIDS vaccine.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1993

Gene for the alpha-subunit of the human interleukin-3 receptor (IL3RA) localized to the X-Y pseudoautosomal region.

Interleukin-3 (IL3) and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF2) stimulate proliferation and differentiation of various hemopoietic cell types. As is characteristic of the cytokine receptor family, the receptors for these proteins comprise alpha- and beta-subunits. While IL3 and CSF2 receptors each have unique alpha- subunits, they share a common beta-subunit. By Southern analysis of somatic cell hybrid panels, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and fluorescence chromosomal in situ hybridization, we have mapped the cloned sequence for the IL3 receptor alpha (IL3RA) to the X-Y pseudoautosomal region at bands Xp22.3 and Yp11.3, near the gene for the alpha-subunit of the CSF2 receptor (CSF2RA). The CSF2RA and IL3RA genes are so close that their order could not be determined by two-color interphase in situ hybridization. They share PFGE fragments generated by different restriction enzymes down to the 50-100-kb size range. Pseudoautosomal inheritance was demonstrated by an EcoRI RFLP detected with the IL3RA cDNA probe.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Surgical resection of potentially curable pancreatic cancer with improved preservation of endocrine function--further evaluation of intraoperative cytodiagnosis.

Very early detection of pancreas cancer is most desirable, since it permits less invasive surgery which has a correspondingly greater chance of success. The present study investigated both surgical outcome and postsurgical quality of life in 8 patients whose occult neoplasms were successfully treated. In all 8 patients, cytology of the pancreatic secretion obtained during endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) was positive, although no pancreatic tumor was detected by ERP, other examinations or intraoperative inspection. In these 8 patients, our method of intraoperative cytodiagnosis to locate occult neoplasms of the pancreas (Surgery 1992; 111: 294-300) was used (1). Using this method of cytodiagnosis, we were able to avoid total pancreatectomy in 6 patients (75%; 3 pancreatoduodenectomies and 3 caudal pancreatectomies), but not in the other 2 patients. Histopathological study of the resected specimens indicated that the extent of pancreatic resection was quite appropriate in all 8 patients. There were 6 minimally invasive carcinomas, one carcinoma in situ and one borderline lesion. Neither nodal involvement nor severe invasion was found on microscopic inspection, and all have been disease-free for 23 +/- 13 months after surgery. In the 6 patients with partial pancreatectomies, both postoperative quality of life and general health were good, with no insulin-dependent diabetes developing. Thus, our cytology-guided surgical technique is very useful not only for locating occult and potentially curable neoplasms, but also for avoiding blind resection of the entire pancreas, permitting better preservation of pancreatic endocrine function.

Aged↗

PubMed1993