Identification of neural genes using Xenopus DNA microarrays.

To isolate novel genes regulating neural induction, we used a DNA microarray approach. As neural induction is thought to occur by means of the inhibition of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, BMP signaling was inhibited in ectodermal cells by overexpression of a dominant-negative receptor. RNAs were isolated from control animal cap explants and from dominant-negative BMP receptor expressing animal caps and subjected to a microarray experiment using newly generated high-density Xenopus DNA microarray chips representing over 17,000 unigenes. We have identified 77 genes that are induced in animal caps after inhibition of BMP signaling, and all of these genes were subjected to whole-mount in situ hybridization analysis. Thirty-two genes showed specific expression in neural tissues. Of the 32, 14 genes have never been linked to neural induction. Two genes that are highly induced by BMP inhibition are inhibitors of Wnt signaling, suggesting that a key step in neural induction is to produce Wnt antagonists to promote anterior neural plate development. Our current analysis also proves that a microarray approach is useful in identifying novel candidate factors involved in neural induction and patterning.     

Epstein-Barr virus-related Hodgkin's disease showing B cell lineage in an immunosuppressive patient seropositive for HTLV-I

A case of Hodgkln's disease (HD), lymphocyte depression (LD) type In an Immunosuppressive patient is described. The patient was a 48-year-old male and his parents were born In the Kyushu area, which is an endemic area for adult T cell lymphomaheukemla (ATL). He was seropositive for ATL virus (ATLV, also referred to as HTLV-I) and showed a marked Immunosuppressive condition. He developed LD-HD and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and died due to respiratory failure. The Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization analyses revealed that the Reed-Sternberglike cells In the lymph node biopsy sample were positive for Ber-H2 (CD30), Leu-M1 (CD15), L-26 (CD20), Bcl-2, p53 and EBER, the viral genome of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).     

Effect of aerobic capacity on sweat rate and fluid intake during outdoor exercise in the heat

We measured the aerobic capacity, sweat rate and fluid intake of trained athletes during outdoor exercise and examined the relationship between aerobic capacity and thermoregulatory responses at high ambient temperatures. The maximal aerobic capacity ( ) of the subjects, nine male baseball players of college age, was determined by maximal exercise tests on a cycle ergometer. The subjects practised baseball regularly without drinking fluids from 1330 to 1530 hours. After 30 min rest, they played a baseball game with free access to a sports drink at 15°C from 1600 to 1830 hours. At a mean ambient temperature of 36.7 (SEM 0.2)°C, the mean percentage of body mass loss (m _b) and increase of oral temperature (T _o) from 1330 to 1530 hours was 3.47 (SEM 0.12)% and 0.81 (SEM 0.14)°C, respectively. The sweat loss from 1330 to 1830 hours was 56.53 (SEM 1.56)ml · kg^–1 of body mass (M _b) while the mean fluid consumption was 44.78 (SEM 2.39)ml · kg^–1 ofm _b, with recovery of 76.08 (SEM 2.81)% of sweat loss. The was significantly inversely correlated withm _b, fluid intake and rehydration amount, but showed no correlation withT _o. These results would suggest that at a given exercise intensity in subjects with a higher aerobic capacity body temperature is maintained with a lower sweating rate than that in subjects with a lower aerobic capacity.     

Pathological analysis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy simulating dilated cardiomyopathy

The pathomorphologic features of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy simulating dilated cardiomyopathy in the late stage (HCM-DCM) were compared with those of ordinary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Seven autopsied hearts with HCM-DCM and 11 with HCM were assessed quantitatively using an image analyzer. Unlike HCM, significant left ventricular enlargement and wall thinning were observed in HCM-DCM, and the percentage areas of massive fibrosis and disarray were significantly greater. In HCM-DCM, the disarray was distributed diffusely, whereas massive fibrosis was distributed more intensively in the ventricular septum and anterior wall than in the lateral and posterior wall. Narrowing of intramyocardial small arteries was observed more frequently in HCM-DCM, especially in the ventricular septum and anterior wall, than in HCM. These results suggest that the enlargement and wall thinning of the left ventricle in HCM-DCM are attributable to non-uniform progression of massive fibrosis, which is closely related to small-arterial lesions.     

Late-onset obesity in mice transgenic for the human renin gene

We previously generated a strain of transgenic mice carrying the human renin gene, hRN8-12, in the background of C57BL/6j. In this study, we discovered that hRN8-12 male mice, but not females, developed obesity starting at 15 weeks of age. The body weight of 60-week-old male transgenic mice was 2 times higher than that of age-matched wild-type mice. Interestingly, male mice heterozygous for the human renin gene showed moderate weight gain compared with transgenic and wild-type mice. Obese hRN8-12 mice exhibited hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia, and hyperlipidemia, and increase in weight in the adipose tissue, liver, heart, and kidneys. Histological analysis demonstrated that fatty hRN8-12 mice developed hypertrophy of pancreatic islets and fatty liver. These results suggested that hRN8-12 mice are associated with obesity dependent on the transgene dosage and should be a genetic model for late-onset obesity.     

Pyothorax-associated lymphoma: an unusual case with both T- and B-cell genotypes

Pyothorax-associated lymphoma (PAL) is a B-cell lymphoma which develops in the pleural cavity of patients with an over-20-year history of pyothorax. Aberrant expression of surface antigens is occassional in PAL, although genotype is not fully investigated. We report here a PAL with dual genotype, i.e., simultaneous immunoglobin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TcR) gene rearrangement. An 82-year-old woman with pain on the left side of the chest was admitted. She had been suffering from pyothorax after artificial pneumothorax for treatment of tuberculosis of the pulmonary when she was 18 years old. The mass that was confined to the left pleural cavity affected by pyothorax was biopsied and histologically diagnosed as diffuse large cell lymphoma. The tumor cells were positive for CD20, CD16, and TIA-1 but negative for CD79a, CD45RO, CD43, CD3, and CD56. Surface antigen expression was further investigated in cultured cells, showing that the cultured cells did not express representative B-cell markers, except for CD20, as well as T-cell markers, but were positive for CD16, CD30, and CD103. Southern blotting revealed the monoclonally rearranged bands of both Ig heavy chain and TcR gene. The patients died of tumors 14 months after admission. Aberrant genotype and immunophenotype of PAL cells is discussed in reviewing the pertinent literature.     

HLA-DR Antigens in Pemphigus among Japanese

The frequency of HLA-DR4 was significantly increased at P < 0.02 in 37 unrelated pemphigus patients (62.2%), when compared with unrelated 73 healthy controls (30.1%). This antigen was more frequently found in pemphigus foliaceus (70.6%) than pemphigus vulgaris (55.8%).     

组织多普勒成像的应用测量

1 介绍 当前心脏检查中急需解决的问题是无创地用超声心动图客观地、定量地评价心功能。在常规的彩色多普勒成像(CDI)技术基础上发展起来的组织多普勒成像(TDI)技术,让这些成为可能。组织多普勒成像是通过测量心室壁的运动速度来定量评价心功能。它最初是被用来评价缺血性心脏病(心肌梗塞,心绞痛等)的,其主要目的是客观、精确地识别引起心功能减