Serial Measurement of WT1 Expression and Decrement Ratio Until Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation as a Marker of Residual Disease in Patients with Cytogenetically Normal Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

AbstractUsing real-time quantitative PCR, we monitored Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1) expression from diagnosis to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in adult patients with cytogenetically normal acute myelogenous leukemia (CN-AML) and FLT3-ITD and NPM1 mutations. The values at diagnosis were evaluated in 104 patients. Data collected after induction chemotherapy were available for all patients, but only 68 patients were treated with HSCT. Significant WT1 expression cut-offs were determined by receiver operation characteristic curve analysis, and rates of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were estimated. WT1 decrement ratios (DR) at postinduction chemotherapy and at pre- and post-HSCT compared with the diagnostic level were calculated. Higher WT1 expression at diagnosis, postinduction chemotherapy, and pre-HSCT showed inferior OS (P = .015, <.001, and .002) and DFS (P = .006, <.001, and .003). The cut-offs were determined at the median for diagnostic WT1 expression and at the 25% level from the top for other time points excluding post-HSCT. The WT1 DR ≥ 1-log after induction chemotherapy showed superior OS and DFS (P = .009 and .002) and WT1 DR ≥ 1-log preceding HSCT also showed superior OS and DFS (P = .009 and .003). Results of WT1 DR were consistently applicable in each subgroup with higher (≥1.0) and lower (<1.0) WT1 expression at diagnosis and also in NPM1-wild-type/FLT3-ITD–negative CN-AML. The WT1 DR therefore predicted survival outcomes after HSCT more accurately than did the diagnostic WT1 expression. WT1 expression may serve as a reliable marker for residual disease and WT1 DR as a prognostic indicator, particularly in NPM1-wild-type/FLT3-ITD–negative CN-AML. These measures may be applied throughout the course of treatment and even after HSCT

Three Unrecorded Endophytic Fungal Species Isolated from Plants in Taean-gun, Korea

In the present study, we isolated endophytic fungi from different tissues of two plants, Pseudosasa japonica and Quercus serrata from Taean-gun, Korea. Morphological characteristics of the isolated fungal strains were observed. We identified the fungi based on the phylogenetic analysis using DNA sequences from the region of internal transcribed spacer, large subunit rDNA, β-tubulin, and translation elongation factor 1-α DNA. Three endophytic fungi that were not previously recorded in Korea, namely Geomyces asperulatus, Leptoxyphium fumago, and Tubakia oblongispora were identified. Here, we describe the morphological characteristics of these unrecorded fungi and present the results of the phylogenetic analysis

Acrodontium burrowsianum and Pestalotiopsis humicola: Two Previously Unrecorded Fungal Species Isolated from Conifer Leaves in Korea

Endophytic fungal strains were isolated from the leaves of two conifer species (Juniperus rigida and Pinus densiflora) in Korea and identified on the basis of their morphological and molecular characteristics. Internal transcribed spacer and large subunit regions of rDNA were used for the phylogenetic analysis, and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) genes were analyzed depending on the species. Two fungal species that were previously unrecorded in Korea were identified: Acrodontium burrowsianum and Pestalotiopsis humicola. Their morphological and phylogenetic characteristics are described herein

Characterization of Three Species of Endophytic Fungi Isolated from Conifer Leaves in Korea

Endophytic fungi were isolated from needle leaves of two conifer species in Korea. The fungal isolates were identified based on their morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of their internal transcribed spacer and large-subunit rDNA regions. Three species of endophytic fungi, namely Celosporium laricicola, Neocatenulostroma germanicum, and Phaeophleospora eucalypticola were the first records in Korea. In this study, we reported the morphological and phylogenetic characteristics of these fungi

A Reference-Sampling Based Calibration-Free Fractional-N PLL with a PI-Linked Sampling Clock Generator

Sampling-based PLLs have become a new research trend due to the possibility of removing the frequency divider (FDIV) from the feedback path, where the FDIV increases the contribution of in-band noise by the factor of dividing ratio square (N2). Between two possible sampling methods, sub-sampling and reference-sampling, the latter provides a relatively wide locking range, as the slower input reference signal is sampled with the faster VCO output signal. However, removal of FDIV makes the PLL not feasible to implement fractional-N operation based on varying divider ratios through random sequence generators, such as a Delta-Sigma-Modulator (DSM). To address the above design challenges, we propose a reference-sampling-based calibration-free fractional-N PLL (RSFPLL) with a phase-interpolator-linked sampling clock generator (PSCG). The proposed RSFPLL achieves fractional-N operations through phase-interpolator (PI)-based multi-phase generation instead of a typical frequency divider or digital-to-time converter (DTC). In addition, to alleviate the power burden arising from VCO-rated sampling, a flexible mask window generation method has been used that only passes a few sampling clocks near the point of interest. The prototype PLL system is designed with a 65 nm CMOS process with a chip size of 0.42 mm2. It achieves 322 fs rms jitter, −240.7 dB figure-of-merit (FoM), and −44.06 dBc fractional spurs with 8.17 mW power consumption