Clinical significance of the expression of connexin26 in colorectal cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Connexin26 (Cx26) is one of the connexins (Cxs) family members which form gap junction channels. Cx26 is considered to be a tumor suppressor gene. However, recent studies revealed that over expression of Cx26 is associated with a poor prognosis in several human cancers. This study investigated the correlation between Cx26 expression and the clinicopathological features and P53 expression in colorectal cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and fifty-three patients who underwent a curative resection were studied. Tissue samples were investigated by immunohistochemical staining using antibodies for Cx26 and P53. Moreover, apoptotic cells were detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) staining.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cx26 expression was found in 83 cases (54.2%) and P53 expression in 71 cases (46.4%). A correlation was observed between the Cx26 expression and recurrence, histology, and p53 expression (P < 0.05). Cx26 positive tumors had significantly longer survival than Cx26 negative tumors (P < 0.05). A multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that Cx26 expression was an independent prognostic factor (P < 0.05). However, no significant correlation was observed between Cx26 and AI.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that Cx26 expression is an independent prognostic factor in patients that undergo a curative resection of colorectal cancer.</p

Reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs interferes with epidermal growth factor receptor signaling

金沢大学がん研究所The reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs (RECK) gene had been isolated as an antagonist to RAS signaling; however, the mechanism of its action is not clear. In this study, the effect of loss of RECK function was assessed in various ways and cell systems. Successive cell cultivation of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) according to 3T3 protocol revealed that the germline knockout of RECK confers accelerated cell proliferation and early escape from cellular senescence associated with downregulation of p19 Arf, Trp53 and p21Cdkn1a. In contrast, short hairpin RNA-mediated depletion of RECK induced irreversible growth arrest along with several features of the Arf, Trp53 and Cdkn1a-dependent cellular senescence. Within 2 days of RECK depletion, we observed a transient increase in protein kinase B (AKT) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation associated with an upregulated expression of cyclin D1, p19Arf, Trp53, p21Cdkn1a and Sprouty 2. On further cultivation, RAS, AKT and ERK activities were then downregulated to a level lower than control, indicating that RECK depletion leads to a negative feedback to RAS signaling and subsequent cellular senescence. In addition, we observed that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activity was transiently upregulated by RECK depletion in MEFs, and continuously downregulated by RECK overexpression in colon cancer cells. These findings indicate that RECK is a novel modulator of EGFR signaling. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved

PHOSPHATEMIC INDEX EVALUATES PHOSPHORUS LOAD

Objective: Dietary phosphorus (P) restriction is crucial to treat hyperphosphatemia and reduce cardiovascular disease risk and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the wider population. Various methods for dietary P restriction exist, but the bioavailability of P in food should also be considered when making appropriate food choices to maintain patients’ quality of life. Here, we propose the ‘‘Phosphatemic Index’’ (PI) as a novel tool for evaluating dietary P load based on P bioavailability; we also evaluated the effect of continuous intake of different PI foods in mixed meals on serum intact fibroblast growth factor 23 concentration. Design and Methods: A 2-stage crossover study was conducted: Study 1: 20 healthy participants consumed 10 different foods containing 200 mg of P, and the PI was calculated from the area under the curve of a time versus serum P concentration curve; Study 2: 10 healthy participants consumed 4 different test meals (low, medium, or high PI meals or a control) over a 5-day period. Results: Study 1 showed milk and dairy products had high PI values, pork and ham had medium PI values, and soy and tofu had low PI values. In Study 2, ingestion of high PI test meals showed higher fasting serum intact fibroblast growth factor 23 levels and lower serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels compared with ingestion of low PI test meals. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the PI can usefully evaluate the dietary P load of various foods and may help to make appropriate food choices for dietary P restriction in CKD patients

Autophagy requires endoplasmic reticulum targeting of the PI3-kinase complex via Atg14L

Generation of PI3P in the normally PI3P-deficient ER membrane makes the organelle a platform for autophagosome formation

Rice immediately adapts the dynamics of photosynthates translocation to roots in response to changes in soil water environment

Rice is susceptible to abiotic stresses such as drought stress. To enhance drought resistance, elucidating the mechanisms by which rice plants adapt to intermittent drought stress that may occur in the field is an important requirement. Roots are directly exposed to changes in the soil water condition, and their responses to these environmental changes are driven by photosynthates. To visualize the distribution of photosynthates in the root system of rice plants under drought stress and recovery from drought stress, we combined X-ray computed tomography (CT) with open type positron emission tomography (OpenPET) and positron-emitting tracer imaging system (PETIS) with 11C tracer. The short half-life of 11C (20.39 min) allowed us to perform multiple experiments using the same plant, and thus photosynthate translocation was visualized as the same plant was subjected to drought stress and then re-irrigation for recovery. The results revealed that when soil is drier, 11C-photosynthates mainly translocated to the seminal roots, likely to promote elongation of the root with the aim of accessing water stored in the lower soil layers. The photosynthates translocation to seminal roots immediately stopped after rewatering then increased significantly in crown roots. We suggest that when rice plant experiencing drought is re-irrigated from the bottom of pot, the destination of 11C-photosynthates translocation immediately switches from seminal root to crown roots. We reveal that rice roots are responsive to changes in soil water conditions and that rice plants differentially adapts the dynamics of photosynthates translocation to crown roots and seminal roots depending on soil conditions

Shallow seismic reflection profiling across the western marginal faults of Kitakami Lowland, northern Honshu Island, Japan

In 1997-1998, integrated passive and active seismic experiments were conducted in northern Honshu, Japan. These experiments aimed at understanding the relationship between earthquake occurrence and deformation process of the intra-island-arc crust. In the summer of 1998, a shallow seismic reflection survey was conducted to obtain the fault’s detailed geometry to depths of 1km across the western marginal faults of Kitakami Lowland, Iwate Pref., Japan. The seismic source was a mini-vibrator. The data set recorded by the digital telemetry system was processed using seismic reflection technique. Imaging was preformed using conventional common mid-point processing steps, including post-stack migration and depth conversion. A reflection image shows the deep geometry of the Uwandaira fault, which is positioned at the eastern edge of the Ou Backbone range

Hitomi X-Ray Studies of Giant Radio Pulses from the Crab Pulsar

To search for giant X-ray pulses correlated with the giant radio pulses (GRPs) from the Crab pulsar, we performed a simultaneous observation of the Crab pulsar with the X-ray satellite Hitomi in the 2300 keV band and the Kashima NICT radio telescope in the 1.41.7 GHz band with a net exposure of about 2 ks on 2016 March 25, just before the loss of the Hitomi mission. The timing performance of the Hitomi instruments was confirmed to meet the timing requirement and about 1000 and 100 GRPs were simultaneously observed at the main pulse and inter-pulse phases, respectively, and we found no apparent correlation between the giant radio pulses and the X-ray emission in either the main pulse or inter-pulse phase. All variations are within the 2 fluctuations of the X-ray fluxes at the pulse peaks, and the 3 upper limits of variations of main pulse or inter-pulse GRPs are 22% or 80% of the peak flux in a 0.20 phase width, respectively, in the 2300 keV band. The values for main pulse or inter-pulse GRPs become 25% or 110%, respectively, when the phase width is restricted to the 0.03 phase. Among the upper limits from the Hitomi satellite, those in the 4.510 keV and 70300 keV bands are obtained for the first time, and those in other bands are consistent with previous reports. Numerically, the upper limits of the main pulse and inter-pulse GRPs in the 0.20 phase width are about (2.4 and 9.3) 10(exp 11) erg cm(exp 2), respectively. No significant variability in pulse profiles implies that the GRPs originated from a local place within the magnetosphere. Although the number of photon-emitting particles should temporarily increase to account for the brightening of the radio emission, the results do not statistically rule out variations correlated with the GRPs, because the possible X-ray enhancement may appear due to a >0.02% brightening of the pulse-peak flux under such conditions

Coupled-Wave Theory for Square-Lattice Photonic Crystal Lasers With TE Polarization

We present a coupled-wave analysis for square-lattice photonic crystal lasers with transverse electric polarization. A model consisting of eight plane waves coupled by Bragg diffraction is used to describe two-dimensional optical coupling. The resonant frequencies and threshold criteria for the modes of oscillation have been determined for the case of index periodicity with a lattice of circular holes. The spatial intensity distributions of these resonant modes have also been calculated. For the fundamental modes, we have investigated how the intensity distribution varies as a function of coupling strength. The dependence of the threshold gain of these modes on hole size has also been elucidated. This semianalytical approach provides a comprehensive understanding of square-lattice photonic crystal lasers and allows more effective optimization of their cavity design

High performance JPEG steganography using quantization index modulation in DCT domain

This paper presents two JPEG steganographic methods using quantization index modulation (QIM) in the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain. The two methods approximately preserve the histogram of quantized DCT coefficients, aiming at secure JPEG steganography against histogram-based attacks. In comparison with F5 as a representative JPEG steganography, the proposed methods show high performance with regard to embedding rate, PSNR of stego image, and particularly histogram preservation