Expression of Hyaluronidase-4 in a Rat Spinal Cord Hemisection Model

Study DesignExamination of hyaluronidase-4 (Hyal-4) expression in a rat spinal cord hemisection model.PurposeTo determine the status of Hyal-4 expression after hemisection of the spinal cord, and the relationship between its expression and that of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs).Overview of LiteratureCSPGs are expressed at the site of spinal cord injury and inhibit axon regeneration. Administration of exogenous chrondroitinase ABC (ChABC), derived from bacteria, digested CSPGs and promoted axonal regrowth. Using a rat hemisection model, we have demonstrated peak CSPGs levels at by 3 weeks after injury but then decreased spontaneously. Could there be an endogenous enzyme similar to ChABC in the spinal cord? It has been suggested that Hyal-4 is involved in CSPG degradation.MethodsA rat hemisection model was prepared and spinal cord frozen sections were prepared at 4 days and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 weeks post-cordotomy and stained for CSPGs and Hyal-4 and subjected to Western blotting.ResultsCSPGs appeared at the injury site at 4 days after hemisection, reached a peak after 3 weeks, and then decreased. Hyal-4 was observed around the injury site from 4 days after cordotomy and increased until after 5-6 weeks. Double staining showed Hyal-4 around CSPGs. Western blotting identified a band corresponding to Hyal-4 from 4 days after hemisection.ConclusionsHyal-4 was expressed in a rat hemisection model in areas surrounding CSPGs, and as its peak was delayed compared with that of CSPGs. These results suggest the involvement of Hyal-4 in the digestion of CSPGs

Concurrence of Recurrent Thymoma and Lung Cancer A and Review of Literature

A 46-year-old female was found to have concurrence of recurrent thymoma and lung cancer because of a transient blephaloptosis which appeared 14 years following removal of the primary thymoma. Primary thymoma was non-invasive, but recurrent thymoma invaded anterior chest wall. One year after the second operation, blephaloptosis recurred and the patient was diagnosed as myasthenia, occular type. Recurrence of non-invasive thymoma is rare. And that recurrent thymoma occurred simultaneously with lung cancer is not found in the literature. Occurrence of extra-thymic malignancy has no relationship with the progression of thymoma and may present in multiple organs. Elevation of serum-CEA was noted in the present case. Review of the thymomas treated in our department shows that serum-CEA may be used as an indicator of recurrence or progression of thymoma

HASC2011corpus: Towards the Common Ground of Human Activity Recognition

UbiComp '11 Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing, September 17-21, 2011, Beijing, ChinaHuman activity recognition through the wearable sensor will enable a next-generation human-oriented biquitous computing. However, most of research on human activity recognition so far is based on small number of subjects, and non-public data. To overcome the situation, we have gathered 4897 accelerometer data with 116 subjects and compose them as HASC2011corpus. In the field of pattern recognition, it is very important to evaluate and to improve the recognition methods by using the same dataset as a common ground. We make the HASC2011corpus into public for the research community to use it as a common ground of the Human Activity Recognition. We also show several facts and results of obtained from the corpus

Intraoperative Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy and Rapid Nuclear DNA Content Analysis of Lung Tumors

Intraoperative fine needle aspiration biopsy using 21 gauge needle was performed on 16 patients with suspected lung cancer during exploratory thoracotomy, and results were obtained from pathologists in about 20 minutes. The biopsy demonstrated 100% accuracy in differentiating malignant from benign tumors. This technique, which can be applied even to tumors located deep within the lung parenchyma with technical easiness and permits quick and accurate biopsy, was evaluated as a useful diagnostic tool. Rapid nuclear DNA content analysis was performed for 13 of the 16 patients concurrently with the intraoperative fine needle biopsy. Results were obtained in about 10 minutes. Decision of surgical procedures was made referring to the result of the analysis in one patient. Importance of nuclear DNA content analysis as well as intraoperative fine needle aspiration biopsy is thus emphasized

Pterosin B prevents chondrocyte hypertrophy and osteoarthritis in mice by inhibiting Sik3.

植物由来成分であるプテロシンBはSIK3を阻害し変形性関節症の治療薬開発のリード化合物となる. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2016-03-31.Yahara, Y., Takemori, H., Okada, M. et al. Correction: Corrigendum: Pterosin B prevents chondrocyte hypertrophy and osteoarthritis in mice by inhibiting Sik3. Nat Commun 7, 12117 (2016).Osteoarthritis is a common debilitating joint disorder. Risk factors for osteoarthritis include age, which is associated with thinning of articular cartilage. Here we generate chondrocyte-specific salt-inducible kinase 3 (Sik3) conditional knockout mice that are resistant to osteoarthritis with thickened articular cartilage owing to a larger chondrocyte population. We also identify an edible Pteridium aquilinum compound, pterosin B, as a Sik3 pathway inhibitor. We show that either Sik3 deletion or intraarticular injection of mice with pterosin B inhibits chondrocyte hypertrophy and protects cartilage from osteoarthritis. Collectively, our results suggest Sik3 regulates the homeostasis of articular cartilage and is a target for the treatment of osteoarthritis, with pterosin B as a candidate therapeutic

ANTIHEPATITIS C VIRUS ACTIVITY OF INDONESIAN MAHOGANY (TOONA SURENI)

 Objective: Toona sureni (Indonesian mahogany) is a member of Meliaceae family and locally known as suren. Previous study reported that T. sureni leaves extract exhibited antiviral activity with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 13.9 ± 1.6 μg/ml against hepatitis C virus (HCV) J6/JFH1. Cytotoxicity analysis of T. sureni leaves extract did not reveal any cytotoxicity effect; therefore, further study was taken to investigate the active substances from the extract.Methods: Bioassay-guided isolation of anti-HCV was conducted using Huh-7.5 cells infected with HCV J6/JFH1 in the presence of extracts, fractions, or compounds from the plant.Results: Ethyl acetate fraction (Fr E) exhibited high anti-HCV activity with IC50 value of 1.7 μg/ml. Further, separation of Fr E by open column chromatography resulted in nine sub-fractions (sub-Fr E1-E9). Sub-Fr E3 and E4 have IC50 value of 29.90 μg/ml and 7.68 μg/ml, respectively. Polyphenols compounds have been isolated from sub-Fr E3 and E4. The structures have been determined to be ethyl gallate (1), methyl gallate (2), catechin (3), gallic acid (4), and quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside (5). Among the isolated compounds, gallic acid showed to possess strong anti-HCV activity with IC50 value of 15.9 μg/ml.Conclusion: T. sureni and its isolated compound, gallic acid, may be good candidates to develop for alternative and/or complementary agents of anti-HCV infection

Influence of genetic factors on the ephedrine alkaloid composition ratio of Ephedra plants

We investigated the ephedrine alkaloid [(-)-ephedrine and (+)-pseudoephedrine] composition ratio of a crude Chinese herbal drug described in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia \u27Ephedra herb (Chinese name: Mahuang)\u27. There were marked changes in the alkaloid composition ratio of wild plants in areas where both male and female clusters coexisted. However, in genetically homogeneous areas with the growth of male or female clusters alone, all of the coefficients of the regression lines were positive, but each gradient varied. This suggests that the alkaloid composition ratio has a clear tendency in each individual. Based on this, we cultivated individuals for vegetative propagation, and evaluated the alkaloid content ratio. Those propagated by separating the roots showed a specific tendency regardless of the cultivation area (Wakayama, Tanegashima). Those propagated by separating the herbaceous stem showed a specific tendency regardless of the soil or harvest time. In addition, we surveyed the (-)-ephedrine content ratio of 3- to 6-year-old strains. There was a high positive correlation coefficient between the previous and subsequent years. These findings suggest that the ephedrine alkaloid composition ratio of Ephedra herb depends on genetic factors, but not on environmental factors or the growth period

Antiviral Activities of Indonesian Medicinal Plants in the East Java Region Against Hepatitis C Virus

Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver disease and a potential cause of substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. The overall prevalence of HCV infection is 2%, representing 120 million people worldwide. Current standard treatment using pegylated interferon and ribavirin is effective in only 50% of the patients infected with HCV genotype 1, and is associated with significant side effects. Therefore, it is still of importance to develop new drugs for treatment of HCV. Antiviral substances obtained from natural products, including medicinal plants, are potentially good targets to study. In this study, we evaluated Indonesian medicinal plants for their anti-HCV activities. Methods Ethanol extracts of 21 samples derived from 17 species of medicinal plants explored in the East Java region were tested. Anti-HCV activities were determined by a cell culture method using Huh7.5 cells and HCV strains of 9 different genotypes (1a to 7a, 1b and 2b). Results Four of the 21 samples tested showed antiviral activities against HCV: Toona sureni leaves (TSL) with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 13.9 and 2.0 μg/ml against the HCV J6/JFH1-P47 and -P1 strains, respectively, Melicope latifolia leaves (MLL) with IC50 of 3.5 and 2.1 μg/ml, respectively, Melanolepis multiglandulosa stem (MMS) with IC50 of 17.1 and 6.2 μg/ml, respectively, and Ficus fistulosa leaves (FFL) with IC50 of 15.0 and 5.7 μg/ml, respectively. Time-of-addition experiments revealed that TSL and MLL inhibited both at the entry and post-entry steps while MMS and FFL principally at the entry step. TSL and MLL inhibited all of 11 HCV strains of all the genotypes tested to the same extent. On the other hand, FFL showed significantly weaker inhibitory activities against the HCV genotype 1a strain, and MMS against the HCV strains of genotypes 2b and 7a to a lesser extent, compared to the other HCV genotypes. Conclusions Ethanol extracts of TSL, MLL, MMS and FFL showed antiviral activities against all the HCV genotypes tested with the exception that some genotype(s) showed significant resistance to FFL and to MMS to a lesser extent. These plant extracts may be good candidates for the development of anti-HCV drug

Inhibition of hepatitis C virus replication by chalepin and pseudane IX isolated from Ruta angustifolia leaves

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is highly prevalent among global populations, with an estimated number of infected patients being 170 million. Approximately 70–80% of patients acutely infected with HCV will progress to chronic liver disease, such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which is a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. New therapies for HCV infection have been developed, however, the therapeutic efficacies still need to be improved. Medicinal plants are promising sources for antivirals against HCV. A variety of plants have been tested and proven to be beneficial as antiviral drug candidates against HCV. In this study, we examined extracts, their subfractions and isolated compounds of Ruta angustifolia leaves for antiviral activities against HCV in cell culture. We isolated six compounds, chalepin, scopoletin, γ-fagarine, arborinine, kokusaginine and pseudane IX. Among them, chalepin and pseudane IX showed strong anti-HCV activities with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 1.7 ± 0.5 and 1.4 ± 0.2 μg/ml, respectively, without apparent cytotoxicity. Their anti-HCV activities were stronger than that of ribavirin (2.8 ± 0.4 μg/ml), which has been widely used for the treatment of HCV infection. Mode-of-action analyses revealed that chalepin and pseudane IX inhibited HCV at the post-entry step and decreased the levels of HCV RNA replication and viral protein synthesis. We also observed that arborinine, kokusaginine and γ-fagarine possessed moderate levels of anti-HCV activities with IC50 values being 6.4 ± 0.7, 6.4 ± 1.6 and 20.4 ± 0.4 μg/ml, respectively, whereas scopoletin did not exert significant anti-HCV activities at 30 μg/ml

HASC2011corpus: Towards the Common Ground of Human Activity Recognition

Human activity recognition through the wearable sensor will enable a next-generation human-oriented biquitous computing. However, most of research on human activity recognition so far is based on small number of subjects, and non-public data. To overcome the situation, we have gathered 4897 accelerometer data with 116 subjects and compose them as HASC2011corpus. In the field of pattern recognition, it is very important to evaluate and to improve the recognition methods by using the same dataset as a common ground. We make the HASC2011corpus into public for the research community to use it as a common ground of the Human Activity Recognition. We also show several facts and results of obtained from the corpus.UbiComp \u2711 Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing, September 17-21, 2011, Beijing, Chin