Liver Regeneration Factor Detected in Human Serum after Partial Hepatectomy

We obtained blood sera from patients before and after partial hepatectomy, and estimated the activities of the sera in promoting DNA synthesis in a primary culture of rat hepatocytes. The stimulating activity in portal serum from patients without any postoperative complications increased significantly after liver resection; that in portal serum from patients with complications did not. The amount of stimulatory factor transported to the liver, calculated by use of the stimulating activity in portal serum and the portal blood flow, increased after partial hepatectomy. The maximum amount was correlated to the resection ratio (p less than 0.05) and seemed to be correlated to the increase in liver volume. These results suggest that a stimulatory factor or factors are present in portal serum after partial hepatectomy and that such a factor and portal blood flow are important in liver regeneration after surgery.     

Immeasurably low and non-TRH-stimulatable TSH associated with normal I-123 uptake in two goitrous euthyroid patients: possible existence of other thyroid-hormone regulated thyroid stimulators other than TSH

We described two euthyroid patients with normally functioning goiters, but with persistently undetectable and non-stimulatable TSH levels. Subject 1 was a 64-year-old woman with a large diffuse goiter who has been clinically and biochemically euthyroid without any medication for at least 19 years. Subject 2 was a 31-year-old woman with a small diffuse goiter who has been euthyroid for 4 years. Both patients had persistently undetectable levels of serum TSH, TSH receptor antibodies (TRAb) and thyroid stimulating antibodies (TSAb). Their basal TSH levels were very low and their T3 responses to TRH were very diminished or absent. In contrast, the basal levels of the other pituitary hormones and their responses to LHRH, GRH and CRH stimulation were all within normal limits in both patients. MRI images of pituitary glands, 123I thyroid uptake, and thyroid scans were normal. Ectopic thyroids were not detected on (99m)TcO4- and 123I total body scans. Factors interfering with the measurement of TSH were excluded by recovery studies. In subject 1 a T3-suppression test was positive and a perchlorate discharge test was negative. In subject 2 a T3-suppression test was negative. Euthyroid Graves' disease, subclinical hyperthyroidism, destructive thyroiditis, thyrotoxicosis of extrathyroid origin, central hypothyroidism, and nonthyroidal illness were all ruled out by these observations. These results suggest that an unknown factor, such as thyrostimulin, but not TSH or TSAb, stimulates the thyroid and maintains euthyroidism, and may have a role in the regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis.     

Frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 with the MAPT R406W mutation presenting with a broad distribution of abundant senile plaques

We report the autopsy results of a patient with familial dementia who was diagnosed as having frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP‐17) with an R406W mutation in the microtubule‐associated protein tau (MAPT) gene. This patient showed Alzheimer's disease (AD)‐like clinical manifestations from the age of 59, with reduced β‐amyloid1‐42 (Aβ₄₂) and elevated total and phosphorylated tau levels in the cerebrospinal fluid. He did not present with any apparent parkinsonism throughout the disease course. His autopsy at age 73 showed atrophy and neurodegeneration in many brain regions, particularly in the antero‐medial temporal cortex and hippocampus, followed by the frontal lobes, with abundant neurofibrillary tangles. In addition, a diffuse distribution of Aβ‐positive senile plaques, including many neuritic plaques, was observed and classified as stage C according to the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) criteria. These results suggest that analyzing of the MAPT gene is essential for diagnosing familial dementia, even if amyloid markers such as Aβ₄₂ in the cerebrospinal fluid and amyloid imaging are positive, or if neuropathological findings indicate a diagnosis of AD.     

EGFR inhibitors prevent induction of cancer stem-like cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by suppressing epithelial-mesenchymal transition

There exists a highly tumorigenic subset of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells defined by high expression of CD44. A novel therapy targeting these cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) is needed to improve prognosis of ESCC. CSCs of ESCC have a mesenchymal phenotype and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is critical to enrich and maintain CSCs. EGFR, frequently overexpressed in ESCC, has pivotal roles in EMT induced by TGF-β in invasive fronts. Thus, EMT in invasive fronts of ESCC might be important for CSCs and EGFR could be a target of a novel therapy eliminating CSCs. However, effects of EGFR inhibitors on CSCs in ESCC have not been fully examined. EGFR inhibitors, erlotinib and cetuximab, significantly suppressed enrichment of CSCs via TGF-β1-mediated EMT. Importantly, EGFR inhibitors sharply suppressed ZEB1 that is essential for EMT in ESCC. Further, EGFR inhibitors activated Notch1 and Notch3, leading to squamous cell differentiation. EGFR inhibition may suppress expression of ZEB1 and induce differentiation, thereby blocking EMT-mediated enrichment of CSCs. In organotypic 3D culture, a form of human tissue engineering, tumor cells in invasive nests showed high expression of CD44. Erlotinib significantly blocked invasion into the matrix and CD44 high expressing CSCs were markedly suppressed by erlotinib in organotypic 3D culture. In conclusion, EMT is a critical process for generation of CSCs and the invasive front of ESCC, where EMT occurs, might form a CSC niche in ESCC. EGFR inhibitors could suppress EMT in invasive fronts and be one therapeutic option targeting against generation of CSCs in ESCC.     

Primary squamous cell carcinoma in the gastric remnant

A 67-year-old male developed primary gastric squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) 13 years after undergoing distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Gastroscopy revealed a type 2 gastric remnant tumor and tumor biopsies revealed poorly differentiated carcinoma. The patient underwent remnant gastrectomy with lateral segment hepatectomy, splenectomy, partial resection of diaphragm, and distal partial esophagectomy. The histological findings revealed SCC without an adenocarcinoma component in the gastric remnant tumor. The patient died 13 months after surgery due to multiple-organ metastasis of gastric SCC. The post-operative prognosis of gastric SCC cases tends to poorer than that of gastric adenocarcinoma. Early diagnosis is important to improve the prognosis of primary gastric SCC and pathogenetic analysis of gastric SCC may contribute to improving the diagnosis and treatment of carcinogenesis and the prognosis of gastric SCC.     

RNAi suppression of rice endogenous storage proteins enhances the production of rice-based Botulinum neutrotoxin type A vaccine

Mucosal vaccines based on rice (MucoRice) offer a highly practical and cost-effective strategy for vaccinating large populations against mucosal infections. However, the limitation of low expression and yield of vaccine antigens with high molecular weight remains to be overcome. Here, we introduced RNAi technology to advance the MucoRice system by co-introducing antisense sequences specific for genes encoding endogenous rice storage proteins to minimize storage protein production and allow more space for the accumulation of vaccine antigen in rice seed. When we used RNAi suppression of a combination of major rice endogenous storage proteins, 13 kDa prolamin and glutelin A in a T-DNA vector, we could highly express a vaccine comprising the 45 kDa C-terminal half of the heavy chain of botulinum type A neurotoxin (BoHc), at an average of 100 μg per seed (MucoRice-BoHc). The MucoRice-Hc was water soluble, and was expressed in the cytoplasm but not in protein body I or II of rice seeds. Thus, our adaptation of the RNAi system improved the yield of a vaccine antigen with a high molecular weight. When the mucosal immunogenicity of the purified MucoRice-BoHc was examined, the vaccine induced protective immunity against a challenge with botulinum type A neurotoxin in mice. These findings demonstrate the efficiency and utility of the advanced MucoRice system as an innovative vaccine production system for generating highly immunogenic mucosal vaccines of high-molecular-weight antigens.     

A novel combined adjuvant for nasal delivery elicits mucosal immunity to influenza in aging

Since a combination of flt3 ligand plasmid (pFL) and CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN)³ as a dendritic cell (DC)-targeting double mucosal adjuvant elicited ovalbumin-specific secretory IgA (S-IgA) antibody (Ab) responses, we examined whether this double adjuvant could induce influenza-specific protective immunity in aged mice. A double adjuvant plus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (PR8) hemagglutinin (HA) induced increased numbers of CD11b⁺ CD11c⁺ DCs and both CD4⁺ Th1- and Th2-type responses in the nasopharyngeal-associated lymphoreticular tissue, nasal passages and cervical lymph nodes. Further, increased levels of PR8 HA-specific S-IgA Ab responses were detected in the upper respiratory tact (URT) of aged and young adult mice given nasal PR8 HA with this double adjuvant. Thus, when mice were challenged with PR8 virus via the nasal route, both aged and young adult mice given nasal vaccine exhibited complete protection. Further, IgA-deficient mice nasally immunized with a double adjuvant influenza vaccine failed to provide protection against PR8 challenge. These results indicate that a nasal double adjuvant successfully induces PR8 HA-specific IgA Ab responses in both young adult and aged mice, which are essential for the prevention of influenza infection in the murine URT.     

Adenylate Cyclase from Brevibacterium liquefaciens. III. In Situ Regulation of Adenylate Cyclase by Pyruvate

In the presence of DL-alanine intracellular cyclic AMP in nonproliferating cells of Brevibacterium liquefaciens increased rapidly to the maximum level of approximately 180 muM, and extracellular cyclic AMP increased to 100 muM within 4 hr at 25 degrees . Adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1) induction was not observed during this incubation. The concentration of pyruvate in the total culture increased concomitantly with that of cyclic AMP and reached approximately 20 mM after 4 hr of incubation. Since the activity of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase is extremely low in this bacterium, the accumulation of cyclic AMP with DL-alanine appeared to be due to the activation of adenylate cyclase by pyruvate. D-alanine was more effective than L-alanine in producing pyruvate, and a high activity of D-alanine oxidation was detected in the cell lysate of B. liquefaciens.Thus, adenylate cyclase in this bacterium appeared to be regulated in vivo by pyruvate which was formed, in this case, predominantly from D-alanine through the action of D-aminoacid oxidase (EC 1.4.3.3). Pyruvate, added extracellularly, also caused a rapid accumulation of intracellular cyclic AMP. Glucose did not change the level of cyclic AMP significantly. It also did not affect the intracellular accumulation of cyclic AMP with DL-alanine.