Decreased carbonyl reductase 1 expression promotes tumor growth via epithelial mesenchymal transition in uterine cervical squamous cell carcinomas

Abstract Purpose Carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) is involved in cancer progression. Recently, the authors reported that the loss of CBR1 expression is associated with a poor prognosis in uterine cervical cancer. Here, we investigated whether the decreased CBR1 expression promotes cancer progression by inducing the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). Methods Antisense constructs of CBR1 complementary DNA (antisense clones) and the empty vectors (control clones) were transfected into human uterine cervical squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (SKG II and SiHa) and the proliferation and EMT marker expression of these clones were analyzed in vitro. In an in vivo study, 107 cells of the antisense and control clones were subcutaneously injected into nude mice and the tumorigenesis was observed for 8 weeks. Results With the decreased CBR1 expression, the proliferation of the antisense clones increased, accompanied by a decrease in epithelial markers (E‐cadherin and cytokeratin) and an increase in mesenchymal markers (fibronectin, alpha‐smooth muscle actin, and N‐cadherin), which suggests EMT induction. In the in vivo study, the tumor volume in the antisense group was significantly larger than that in the control group. Conclusion Decreased CBR1 expression promotes tumor growth by inducing EMT in uterine cervical squamous cell carcinomas

熊本大学における生涯学習事業の現状分析と展望

本稿は、熊本大学政策創造研究教育センター生涯学習教育部門が主催する熊本大学の一般市民向けの生涯学習事業について、平成22年度の受講者へのアンケート調査および担当する事務職員への聞き取り調査を基に現状の課題を整理し、今後の展望を述べることを目的とする。一般市民向けンに教員が独自に企画して開講する公開講座は、くまもと学、文化・芸術系、健康・教育系、スキルアップ系に分類でき、どの講座も受講者の満足度、理解度はおおむね高いことが示された。一方、リピーター層の多さや講座を知ったきっかけは、分類別に異なっていることが確認され、今後の広報活動への示唆を得た。また、本センターがとりまとめて行う公開講座・授業開放事業は、全学統一的な基準の適用が求められることで柔軟性・機動性のある活動が行いにくいという運用面での課題や講師を担当する教員が固定化していること等の現状の課題を整理し、今後の改善に向けた展望をまとめた。This article summarized the current issues and prospect of lifelong learning activities organized by the Center for Policy Studies in Kumamoto University on the basis of a questionnaire survey for participants in 2010 and interviews with staff related to these activities. The ongoing open lectures can be categorized into Kumamoto studies, art and culture studies, health studies, and skill development studies. The participants of each lecture are generally highly satisfied, and they understand the contents of the lectures well. The rate of repeaters and way to know open lectures are quite different among lectures and these are useful implications for future publicity activities. However, the lectures organized by this center are not flexible and decision making is not expenditious because it has to follow the standardized system of the university. Most of these open lecture are given by the same lectures every year. In light of this, we suggest several prospects for the improvement of these activities in the future