Primary adenosquamous carcinoma of the liver: a case report

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the liver is a rare variant of cholangiocarcinoma. It is known to be a highly aggressive tumor with a poor prognosis, but its pathogenesis remains unclear owing to limited data in the literature. We report a case of 56-year-old woman who presented with a 1-week history of epigastric pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 6.5-cm ill-defined mass with low signal intensity in the left lobe of the liver, which was suspicious of cholangiocarcinoma. The patient underwent left hemihepatectomy. Microscopically, the tumor consisted of malignant glandular and squamous components and staged as pT2aN1. Despite postoperative chemoradiation, the patient had recurrence 8 months after surgery

Heterologous gene expression using self-assembled supra-molecules with high affinity for HSP70 chaperone

Contrary to the results of direct expression, various human proteins (ferritin light-chain, epithermal growth factor, interleukin-2, prepro-ghrelin, deletion mutants of glutamate decarboxylase and arginine deiminase, and mini-proinsulin) were all soluble in Escherichia coli cytoplasm when expressed with the N-terminus fusion of ferritin heavy-chain (FTN-H). Through systematic investigations, we have found that a specific peptide motif within FTN-H has a high affinity to HSP70 chaperone DnaK, and that the peptide motif was composed of a hydrophobic core of three residues (Ile, Phe and Leu) and two flanking regions enriched with polar residues (Gly, Gln and Arg). It was also observed that all the recombinant proteins expressed with the fusion of FTN-H formed spherical nanoparticles with diameters of 10–15 nm, as confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy image. The protein nanoparticles are non-covalently cross-linked supra-molecules formed by the self-assembly function of FTN-H. Upon the formation of the supra-molecule, its size is likely to be limited by the assembly properties of FTN-H, thereby keeping the self-assembled particles soluble. This study reports on the dual function of FTN-H for fusion expression and solubility enhancement of heterologous proteins: (i) high-affinity interaction with DnaK and (ii) formation of self-assembled supra-molecules with limited and constant sizes, thereby avoiding the undesirable formation of insoluble macro-aggregates of heterologous proteins

MitoVariome: a variome database of human mitochondrial DNA

Background: Mitochondrial sequence variation provides critical information for studying human evolution and variation. Mitochondrial DNA provides information on the origin of humans, and plays a substantial role in forensics, degenerative diseases, cancers, and aging process. Typically, human mitochondrial DNA has various features such as HVSI, HVSII, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), restriction enzyme sites, and short tandem repeat (STR). Results: We present a variome database (MitoVariome) of human mitochondrial DNA sequences. Queries against MitoVariome can be made using accession numbers or haplogroup/continent. Query results are presented not only in text but also in HTML tables to report extensive mitochondrial sequence variation information. The variation information includes repeat pattern, restriction enzyme site polymorphism, short tandem repeat, disease information as well as single nucleotide polymorphism. It also provides a graphical interface as Gbrowse displaying all variations at a glance. The web interface also provides the tool for assigning haplogroup based on the haplogroup-diagnostic system with complete human mitochondrial SNP position list and for retrieving sequences that users query against by using accession numbers. Conclusion: MitoVariome is a freely accessible web application and database that enables human mitochondrial genome researchers to study genetic variation in mitochondrial genome with textual and graphical views accompanied by assignment function of haplogrouping if users submit their own data. Hence, the MitoVariome containing many kinds of variation features in the human mitochondrial genome will be useful for understanding mitochondrial variations of each individual, haplogroup, or geographical location to elucidate the history of human evolutionclose81

The Clinical Features and Risk Factors of Subglottic Cysts in Children: A Clinical Experience Using the Spontaneous Respiration Technique

Objectives Subglottic cysts (SGCs) are a rare cause of respiratory distress resulting from upper airway obstruction in infants and young children. Risk factors other than prematurity with a history of endotracheal intubation have not yet been well elucidated. Therefore, we aimed to describe the clinical features and analyze the risk factors of SGCs. Methods We conducted a retrospective review of medical records of pediatric patients who underwent marsupialization for SGCs between January 2017 and March 2022. These records were then compared with those of controls with a history of neonatal intubation, with a case-to-control ratio of 1:3. Results Eleven patients (eight boys and three girls) diagnosed with SGCs and 33 control patients (26 boys and seven girls) were included. All patients had a history of premature birth and neonatal intubation. Symptoms of SGCs appeared at a mean age of 8.2 months (range, 1–14 months) after extubation. The mean duration of intubation was 21.5 days (range, 2–90 days), and the intubation period was longer in patients with SGCs than in controls (21.5±24.8 days vs. 5.3±7.1 days; P<0.001). Furthermore, gestational age (28.3±4.2 weeks vs. 33.8±4.4 weeks; P=0.001) and birth weight (1,134.1±515.1 g vs. 2,178.2±910.1 g; P=0.001) were significantly lower in patients with SGCs than in controls. Multivariable analysis identified the intubation period as an independent risk factor. Conclusion This study showed that gestational age, birth weight, and the intubation period were significantly associated with the development of SGCs. Pediatric patients presenting with progressive dyspnea who have the corresponding risk factors should undergo early laryngoscopy for the differential diagnosis of SGC

Activation of spleen tyrosine kinase is required for TNF-α-induced endothelin-1 upregulation in human aortic endothelial cells

AbstractEndothelin-1 (ET-1) promotes atherosclerosis. We tested whether spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) mediates tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced ET-1 upregulation in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) and sought to identify the signal pathways involved. TNF-α-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) activated Syk and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), which was required for the activation of AP-1 and subsequent ET-1 gene transcription. ROS mediated c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) is also required for AP-1 activation, but Syk and PI3K regulated AP-1 activation independently of JNK. Through regulation of ET-1 production, Syk could be implicated in atherosclerosis

Extradigit Glomus Tumor Causing Abdominal Pain -A Case Report-

Glomus tumors are small vascular tumors that are usually benign and rarely occur. They originate from glomus bodies and present in the reticular dermis. They are clinically distinguished by their small size and their ability to cause extreme pain. Most of these tumors are subungually located. However, atypical locations of the tumors sometimes cause misdiagnosis, particularly when the lesion is rarely reported. Therefore, we report a case of glomus tumor which presented with chronic abdominal pain, found in the abdominal wall that has never been reported before

Risk of Incident Dementia According to Metabolic Health and Obesity Status in Late Life: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

CONTEXT: The risk for dementia among subjects who are obese with normal metabolic profiles, or called metabolically healthy obese (MHO), remains uninvestigated. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between late-life metabolic health and obesity status and risk of incident dementia. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: The National Health Insurance System, Republic of Korea. PATIENTS: A total of 12,296,863 adults >50 years old who underwent health examinations from 2009 to 2012 without baseline history of dementia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incident overall dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD). RESULTS: Among subjects ≥60 years old, 363,932 (6.4%) developed dementia during a median follow-up of 65 months (interquartile range 51 to 74 months). The MHO group showed the lowest incidence of overall dementia [hazard ratio (HR) 0.85; 95% CI, 0.84 to 0.86] and AD (HR 0.87; 95% CI, 0.86 to 0.88), but not VaD, compared with the metabolically healthy nonobese group. All components of metabolic syndrome except obesity significantly elevated the risk of dementia, and these associations were more pronounced in VaD. In particular, being underweight dramatically increased the risk of dementia. CONCLUSIONS: The MHO phenotype in late life demonstrated lower risk of overall dementia and AD but not VaD. Additional studies in other populations are warranted to elucidate current results and may predict individuals most at risk for developing dementia