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Biomedical subjects

T Kusano

Publications and source records attributed to T Kusano.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

[Iatrogenic injury of tracheobronchial membranous wall].

Tracheobronchial injuries remain uncommon, but they are of great significance, because they can result in death or substantinal functional compromise. Such injuries are mostly from blunt trauma and motor vehicle accidents, but there also is an incidence of penetrating thoracic trauma inclunding iatrogenic accidents. Three cases of iatrogenic injury of tracheobronchial membranous wall were reported. Two cases were tear at the membraneous portion of the left main bronchus and trachea by forceful endotracheal intubation. Another case was tracheal membranous wall injury during operation at blunt dissection for esophageal carcinoma. We reported the emergent managements for iatrogenic injury of tracheobroncheal membranous wall in differents 3 ways. We should select the best treatment according to the condition of the patients and situation of the injury.

Aged↗

Decreased DNA topoisomerase II alpha expression and cold-sensitive growth in a mouse mammary cancer cell line resistant to etoposide and doxorubicin.

A mouse mammary carcinoma FM3A cell line resistant to the DNA topoisomerase (topo) II-targeting agent, etoposide (VP-16), FM3A/VP-2B, had a markedly reduced growth rate at a low temperature (33 degrees C). The cells had the following properties: (a) FM3A/VP-2B, which had 24-fold higher resistance to VP-16 than its parental line, FM3A, was cross-resistant to doxorubicin, but not to a camptothecin derivative, CPT-11. (b) Cold-resistant revertants from FM3A/VP-2B, R-6 and R-11, remained 8- to 9-fold more resistant to VP-16 and 2- to 3-fold more resistant to doxorubicin. (c) FM3A/VP-2B had one-fourth the level of topo II activity and one-third of the topo II alpha content and mRNA of FM3A. R-6 and R-11, however, had levels similar to FM3A. (d) FM3A/VP-2B and FM3A had a 3-base deletion at position 4170 on one allele on the topo II alpha cDNA, but expression of the wild-type and the deletion allele was not appreciably changed in both cell lines. Decreased topo II alpha expression might have led to the acquisition of drug resistance to etoposide in FM3A/VP-2B, and appeared to be linked with the cold-sensitive growth. We also present a corrected mouse topo II alpha cDNA sequence.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A maize DNA-binding factor with a bZIP motif is induced by low temperature.

We have isolated a low temperature-induced maize gene, mlip15, via cross hybridization using rice lip19. The longest cDNA isolated comprised 1179 bp and coded for a 135 amino acid bZIP (basic region/leucine zipper) protein. The gene showed 61.4% and 68.9% identity with the rice gene at the DNA and amino acid sequence levels, respectively, and is distinct from other maize genes that code for bZIP proteins. The level of mlip15 transcript was positively regulated by low temperature in the same way as the lip19 transcript. The levels of the transcript were also strongly increased by salt stress and exogenous abscisic acid, and slightly increased by anaerobiosis, but were not affected by heat shock and drought. The mLIP15 protein and truncated derivatives, produced in rabbit reticulocyte lysates or in an Escherichia coli expression system, were able to bind to a fragment of the wheat histone H3 gene promoter. This binding was diminished by addition of a molar excess of the hexamer sequence 5'-ACGTCA-3' found in the promoter and of the G-box-like sequence, but not by the addition of the ocs sequence or a mutated hexamer sequence. The factor bound to a promoter region of the maize Adh1 gene, expression of which is also induced by low temperature. These results lead to the conclusion that mlip15 is a strong candidate for a low temperature-induced transcription factor in maize.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Molecular cloning, characterization and expression of an elongation factor 1 alpha gene in maize.

A cDNA (zmEF1A) and the corresponding genomic clone (zmgEF1A) of a member of the gene family encoding the alpha subunit of translation elongation factor 1 (EF-1 alpha) have been isolated from maize. The deduced amino acid sequence is 447 residues long interrupted by one intron. Southern blot analysis reveals that the cloned EF-1 alpha gene is one member out of a family consisting of at least six genes. As shown by northern hybridizations in leaves the mRNA level increases at low temperature whereas time-course experiments over 24 h at 5 degrees C show that in roots the overall mRNA level of EF-1 alpha is transiently decreased. These results indicate that the expression of EF-1 alpha is differently regulated in leaves and roots under cold stress.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Synchronous double cancers of the remnant stomach and pancreas: report of a case.

We present here in the case of a 75-year-old man who developed synchronous double cancers of the remnant stomach and pancreas 12 years after undergoing distal gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma. The patient was referred to our hospital in March, 1993, with a provisional diagnosis of carcinoma of the remnant stomach. Laboratory data on admission showed an abnormal level of CA19-9 (116.1 U/ml) and positive occult blood in the stools. An upper gastrointestinal series and gastroendoscopy demonstrated an ulcerative polypoid tumor in the gastric stump proximal to the gastroduo-denostomy anastomosis, and a biopsy confirmed the findings of mucinous adenocarcinoma. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a low-density nodule anterior to the abdominal aorta, suggestive of a nodal metastasis. A laparotomy was performed which also disclosed a low-density mass located within the head of the pancreas. The patient was subsequently diagnosed as having double carcinomas of the remnant stomach and pancreas, and total gastrectomy and pancreatoduodenectomy were carried out. The histologic sections from the remnant stomach showed mucinous adenocarcinoma, whereas those from the pancreas showed tubular adenocarcinoma. Double carcinomas in this association are extremely rare and this case may in fact be the first observation of synchronous double cancers of the remnant stomach and pancreas.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Comparison of axonemal proteins from two kinds of Tetrahymena. I. Different characteristics of dyneins in heat stability.

Tetrahymena thermophila could still swim after incubation of the cell body at 40 degrees C for 30 min, whereas Tetrahymena pyriformis did not show any motility after the treatment. Turbidity measurements revealed that axonemes of T. pyriformis lost ATP-dependent sliding activity by the heat treatment, whereas those of T. thermophilia still had the activity under the same conditions. In connection with this difference in susceptibility to high temperature, the biochemical characteristics of dyneins were compared between the two species of Tetrahymena. Axonemal dyneins from the two species had significant vanadate-sensitive ATPase activity even after the heat treatment. Native gel electrophoresis and the following two-dimensional electrophoresis showed that the outer arm dynein of T. thermophilia is more stable in maintaining native configuration than that of T. pyriformis against the heat treatment, although both treated dyneins keep three (alpha, beta and gamma) subunits. Analysis by peptide mapping demonstrated that beta- and gamma-subunits of the outer arm dynein are considerably different in amino acid sequences between the two species. These results imply that dynein of T. thermophilia changed their amino acid sequences and biochemical characteristics to adapt to high temperature.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A new approach for bronchoplastic procedures in the treatment of bronchial carcinoid tumors.

Usually patients with typical carcinoid tumors originating in a segmental bronchus undergo segmentectomy with or without a bronchoplastic procedure. We have performed only sleeve resection of the bronchus for a bronchial carcinoid tumor located in the left basal bronchus thus preserving the lung tissue. This was made possible by transecting and reanastomosing the pulmonary artery.

Aged↗

Factor V inhibitor associated with Sjögren's syndrome.

We report an unusual case of a 74-year-old male who developed a serum autoantibody reactive with human coagulation factor V (FV) in an activated form, as demonstrated by coagulation studies and immunoblotting analysis. Despite marked prolongation of a prothrombin time and an activated partial thromboplastin time in this patient, the inhibitor was not associated with clinical bleeding but with multiple cerebral infarctions. The patient had suffered from Sjögren's syndrome with polyclonal hypergammaglobulinaemia. The patient's purified IgG, an immediately acting inhibitor to FV, reacted with a light chain of thrombin-activated FV (FVa) and inhibited the procoagulant activity of FVa without affecting the cleavage of FVa by activated protein C. The FV inhibitor may arise from activation of FV with consequent exposure of neoantigen during the activation of coagulation cascade in the patient with an autoimmune disorder for the background.

Aged↗

Taste responses to the optical isomers of potassium warfarin and dipotassium glutamyl glutamate and the synergistic response to a mixture of both substances in mice.

The taste responses to the optical isomers of potassium warfarin, dipotassium glutamyl glutamate, and a mixture of both the substances in laboratory mice were studied using licking activity as an indicator of taste effectiveness. The offensive effectiveness of the optical isomers of potassium warfarin was the same. Every optical isomer of dipotassium glutamyl glutamate was avoided, the taste avoidance of dipotassium D-glutamyl D-glutamate being the strongest. The taste avoidance of potassium warfarin was greatly increased by the addition of every isomers of dipotassium glutamyl glutamate, and its cause was related to synergistic effects.

Animals↗

Structure-activity relationship between the hydrophobicity of alkali metal salts of warfarin [3-(alpha-acetonyl-benzyl)-4-hydroxycoumarin] and the effectiveness of the taste response to these salts in mice.

The taste responses to five alkali metal salts of warfarin, aqueous rodenticides, in laboratory mice were observed at a short measurement time of 20 min by the two-bottle preference test using a licking time monitoring system newly developed. It was made clear that the order of taste avoidance to the warfarin salts was as follows: cesium salt > rubidium salt > lithium salt > sodium salt > potassium salt. The relationship between the hydrophobicity of the warfarin salts and the effectiveness of the taste avoidance was analyzed. The effectiveness of the taste avoidance largely depended on the hydrophobicity.

Alkalies↗

Flow Cytometric Analysis to Assess the Malignant Potential of Phyllodes Tumor.

To evaluate DNA content as a prognostic indicator in phyllodes tumor of the breast, flow cytometric DNA analyses were performed retrospectively in 13 patients who were selected, based on the availability of paraffin-embedded tumor specimens. ALL were women with an average age of 41.9 years and a mean follow-up of 51.2 months. Pathologically, 3 patients (23.0%) had malignant tumor and 10(77.7%) had benign lesions. The patients with malignant tumors tended to be older and had larger tumors. Aneuploidy was seen in one patient with malignant tumor (7.7%), with the S-phase fraction ranging from 0.8 to 12.6. This patient died of lung metastases 6 months after mastectomy. One benign tumor showing diploid, developed local recurrence 100 months after lumpectomy. DNA stem cell lines were not detected in the only patient with aneuploid tumor. There was no significant correlation between DNA content and local recurrence. In this series, the number of patients was too small to draw the certain conclusions from date. However, it appears that, compared to diploid tumors, aneuploid tumor are more often malignant and have poorer prognosis. Our study indicates that DNA content has little prognostic value, DNA aneuploidy appears to be associated with a poor prognosis.

Journal Article↗

Immunodetection of rice dwarf phytoreoviral proteins in both insect and plant hosts.

Peptides encoded by truncated (S1 and S2) or full-length (S3 to S11) cDNAs of 11 of the 12 rice dwarf phytoreovirus (RDV) genome segments were expressed in a baculovirus vector system. Antibodies raised against each of the expressed peptides were used as probes to detect the authentic proteins encoded by the RDV open reading frame. Polypeptides identified as gene products of S1 to S11 in both RDV-infected rice leaf and leafhopper (Nephotettix cincticeps) homogenates were the P1 minor core (170 kDa), P2 (130 kDa), P3 major core (110 kDa), Pns9 nonstructural (83 kDa), P5 (89 kDa), Pns6 nonstructural (56 kDa), P7 minor core (58 kDa), P8 outercapsid (43 kDA), Pns9 nonstructural (49 kDa), Pns10 nonstructural (35 kDa), and Pns11a nonstructural (23 kDa) proteins. These molecular masses were in accord with those obtained from previous in vitro translation analysis. The locations of P2 and P5 remain to be determined although both of these are assumed to be outer layer proteins. Quantitative detection showed that accumulation (per gram of total proteins) of the virus-coded proteins in rice leaves is much greater (more than 15 times) than that in leafhoppers and that the content of the individual proteins varies within a sample from rice or leafhopper and also varies among different samples.

Animals↗

A resected case of giant leiomyosarcoma of the pancreas.

Leiomyosarcoma of the pancreas is very rare. We report a case of giant leiomyosarcoma of the pancreas treated by distal pancreatectomy. A 53-year-old female was admitted with an large abdominal mass. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasonography revealed a huge tumor adjacent to the pancreas. However, we could not identify the primary organ with these imagings. Angiographic findings strongly suggested that the tumor originated from the pancreas, as main feeding arteries arose from the great pancreatic artery. Fourteen days after trans-catheteric arterial embolization, we performed a distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy; the patient's postoperative course was uneventful. Histologically, we confirmed the diagnosis as a leiomyosarcoma originating from the pancreas.

Female↗

A rare case of achalasia coexistent with sigmoid megacolon and associated with epilepsy.

A case of achalasia coexistent with sigmoid megacolon in a 38-year-old man with known epilepsy is described. The patient was referred to the Ryukyu University Hospital with a 4-year history of dysphagia and heartburn and a 1-year history of abnormal bowel movement. On admission, upper gastrointestinal (GI) series demonstrated a dilated, tortuous thoracic esophagus with a flask-type configuration. Barium enema studies showed a dilated sigmoid colon from the rectosigmoid junction to the descending colon. Myotomy (modified Jekler-Lhotka's procedure) for achalasia and simple sigmoidectomy for sigmoid megacolon were carried out. The biopsied wall of the narrowed esophageal segment at operation showed decreased numbers of ganglion cells in Auerbach's plexus and atrophy of the muscle fibers. The resected dilated sigmoid colon revealed degeneration and markedly decreased numbers of ganglion cells in Auerbach's and Meissner's plexuses. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful and he has been doing well since surgery. The present case is very interesting and to our knowledge, such a case is rare in the literature. We believe that the abnormalities of the ganglion cells may be due to the same etiologic factor as the sigmoid megacolon. The association of the two pathologic processes is discussed, together with a brief review of the literature.

Adult↗

Molecular genetics of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.

Thiobacillus ferrooxidans is a gram-negative, highly acidophilic (pH 1.5 to 2.0), autotrophic bacterium that obtains its energy through the oxidation of ferrous iron or reduced inorganic sulfur compounds. It is usually dominant in the mixed bacterial populations that are used industrially for the extraction of metals such as copper and uranium from their ores. More recently, these bacterial consortia have been used for the biooxidation of refractory gold-bearing arsenopyrite ores prior to the recovery of gold by cyanidation. The commercial use of T. ferrooxidans has led to an increasing interest in the genetics and molecular biology of the bacterium. Initial investigations were aimed at determining whether the unique physiology and specialized habitat of T. ferrooxidans had been accompanied by a high degree of genetic drift from other gram-negative bacteria. Early genetic studies were comparative in nature and concerned the isolation of genes such as nifHDK, glnA, and recA, which are widespread among bacteria. From a molecular biology viewpoint, T. ferrooxidans appears to be a typical member of the proteobacteria. In most instances, cloned gene promoters and protein products have been functional in Escherichia coli. Although T. ferrooxidans has proved difficult to transform with DNA, research on indigenous plasmids and the isolation of the T. ferrooxidans merA gene have resulted in the development of a low-efficiency electroporation system for one strain of T. ferrooxidans. The most recent studies have focused on the molecular genetics of the pathways associated with nitrogen metabolism, carbon dioxide fixation, and components of the energy-producing mechanisms.

Base Sequence↗

Nucleotide sequence of rice dwarf phytoreovirus genome segment 2: completion of sequence analyses of rice dwarf virus.

The complete nucleotide sequence of rice dwarf phytoreovirus genome segment 2 (S2) was determined to be 3,512 nucleotides long with one open reading frame initiating at nucleotide 15 and terminating at nucleotide 3363. The encoded polypeptide was predicted to have 1,116 residues with a relative molecular weight of 123 kD. Comparison of S2 of two isolates showed they had identical lengths and 97 and 98.3% nucleotide and amino acid sequence identities, respectively. A search of the Swiss-Prot data base (R 22.0) failed to find any proteins with significant homology to the S2-encoded protein. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the S2 has completed the sequence determination of the genome of rice dwarf virus. Homology searches made for proteins encoded by each of the genomic segments showed that the polypeptide encoded by S11 has similarity to histone H1 protein and VP6 of blue tongue virus, indicating it might possess nucleic acid binding properties.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Thoracotomy in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Of 1030 patients requiring thoracotomy over a 7-year period, 11 had cirrhosis of the liver. The disease was severe (Child class C) in four patients, two of whom had recent variceal bleeding. Control patients with normal liver function recovered from post-thoracotomy hepatic disturbance within a week, but the cirrhotic patients required 2-3 weeks to regain baseline function. Although there were no perioperative deaths among the cirrhotic patients, management of significant pleural effusions required diuretics and plasma or albumin supplementation. Presence of cirrhosis, even advanced disease, need not contraindicate thoracotomy with skilled postoperative management, but the poor overall prognosis in Child class C cirrhosis calls for careful assessment of surgical indication.

Aged↗