Expression of tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily costimulatory molecules CD27L, CD30L, OX40L and 4-1BBL in the heart of patients with acute myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: T-cell-mediated myocardial damage is known to be involved in acute myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy. Recently, we found that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand superfamily costimulatory molecules, especially 4-1BBL, played an important role in the myocardial damage of murine acute viral myocarditis. METHODS AND RESULTS: To investigate the roles for CD27L, CD30L, OX40L and 4-1BBL, which belong to TNF ligand superfamily, in the development of acute myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy, we analyzed the expression of these antigens in the myocardial tissues of patients with acute myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy. We also examined expression of the receptors for these molecules, CD27, CD30, OX40 and 4-1BB, which belong to TNF receptor superfamily, on the infiltrating cells. Strong expression of CD27L, CD30L and 4-1BBL and weak to moderate expression of OX40L was found in the cardiac myocytes of patients with acute myocarditis. Moderate expression of CD27L, CD30L and 4-1BBL and weak expression of OX40L was found on the cardiac myocytes of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. Most of the infiltrating cells expressed CD27, CD30 and 4-1BB and a part of the infiltrating cells expressed OX40. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that expression of TNF ligand superfamily costimulatory molecules on cardiac myocytes may play a role in the cell-mediated myocardial damage in patients with acute myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy as in murine viral myocarditis.     

Trends of hepatitis B virus genotype distribution in chronic hepatitis B patients in Japan

Journal of Gastroenterology - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most prevalent chronic viral infections that causes chronic hepatitis B (CHB). In Japan, genotypes B and C account for most of...     

Design and creation of a Ca2+ binding site in human lysozyme to enhance structural stability.

A Ca2+ binding site like an EF-hand motif was designed and created in human lysozyme by replacing both Gln-86 and Ala-92 with aspartic acids by site-directed mutagenesis. The mutant human lysozyme (D86/92-lysozyme) was expressed and secreted by yeast. One Ca2+ was found to bind one molecule of the purified protein with the binding constant 5.0 x 10(6) M-1. The enzymatic activity of holo-D86/92-lysozyme against glycol chitin at 40 degrees C was 2-fold higher than that of the native lysozyme. Maximal activity of the holo-D86/92-lysozyme was observed at 80 degrees C, where its relative activity normalized to the value at 40 degrees C was 6-fold and 17-fold higher than those of the native and apoenzymes, respectively. The activities of the native lysozyme and apo-D86/92-lysozyme were maximum at 65 degrees C-70 degrees C. Moreover, D86/92-lysozyme was more stable against protease digestion than the native lysozyme. These results indicate that the creation of the calcium binding site like an EF-hand motif in the human lysozyme enhances its structural stability.     

Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in rat heart with ischemia/reperfusion and limitation of infarct size by treatment with antibodies against cell adhesion molecules.

To elucidate the mechanism(s) of myocardial reperfusion injury, we investigated the roles of cell adhesion molecules on both leukocytes and vascular endothelial cells in the reperfused myocardia. We found that within 2 hours after reperfusion leukocytes began to infiltrate into the rat myocardia subjected to 30 minutes of ischemia and clarified, for the first time, that the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 was enhanced on the capillary and venous endothelial cells from 8 to 96 hours after the start of reperfusion. Furthermore, pretreatment with individual monoclonal antibodies against cell adhesion molecules (CD11a, CD11bc, CD18, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1) reduced not only the infiltration of leukocytes but also the area of infarction in the reperfused hearts. These observations suggest that cell adhesion molecules play a critical role in the pathogenesis of myocardial reperfusion injury.     

The genetic backgrounds in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent chronic liver disease worldwide. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a severe form of NAFLD, can lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatic failure. The development and progression of NAFLD are determined by environmental and genetic factors. The effect of genetic factors has been demonstrated by familial studies, twin studies and several cross-sectional studies. In the past 10 years, genome-wide association studies have revealed several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the pathology of NAFLD. Among them, the Patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing 3 (PNPLA3) gene variant I148M showed a strong relationship with the development and progression of NAFLD, NASH, and NAFLD-related HCC. The transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2 (TM6SF2) gene variant E167 K was also associated with NAFLD, and it has a relationship with cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, several genes have been proposed as candidate genes to be associated with NAFLD based on case–control studies. We conducted a comprehensive literature search and review on the genetic background of NAFLD.