Expression of Long-form N-Acetylglucosamine-6-O-Sulfotransferase 1 in Human High Endothelial Venules

Two members of the N-acetylglucosamine-6-O-sulfotransferase (GlcNAc6ST) family, GlcNAc6ST-1 and GlcNAc6ST-2, function in the biosynthesis of 6-sulfo sialyl Lewis X-capped glycoproteins expressed on high endothelial venules (HEVs) in secondary lymphoid organs. Thus, both enzymes play a critical role in L-selectin-expressing lymphocyte homing. Human GlcNAc6ST-1 is encoded by a 1593-bp open reading frame exhibiting two 5' in-frame methionine codons spaced 141 bp apart. Both resemble the consensus sequence for translation initiation. Thus, it has been hypothesized that both long and short forms of GlcNAc6ST-1 may be present, although endogenous expression of either form has not been confirmed in humans. Here, the authors developed an antibody recognizing amino acid residues between the first two human GlcNAc6ST-1 methionines. This antibody specifically recognizes the long form of the enzyme, a finding validated by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence cytochemistry of HeLa cells misexpressing long and/or short forms of human GlcNAc6ST-1. Using this antibody, the authors carried out immunofluorescence histochemistry of human lymph node tissue sections and found endogenous expression of the long form of the enzyme in human tissue, predominantly in the trans-Golgi network of endothelial cells that form HEVs. (J Histochem Cytochem 60:397-407, 2012)ArticleJOURNAL OF HISTOCHEMISTRY & CYTOCHEMISTRY. 60(5):397-407 (2012)journal articl

Research Promotion in Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Medical Engineering - Appeal and Recommendation to the Colleague -

[Summary] Despite of the severe situations of insufficient money, labor, time, and communication, we want to promote the research activity in our university to the level of major institutions. The first step we propose is to acquire the external research grants from public resources. The specific proposal is described in grant application to increase the probability of successful adoption of the grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of Japan

Proteoliposome-based Selection of a Recombinant Antibody Fragment Against the Human M2 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor.

The development of antibodies against human G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has achieved limited success, which has mainly been attributed to their low stability in a detergent-solubilized state. We herein describe a method that can generally be applied to the selection of phage display libraries with human GPCRs reconstituted in liposomes. A key feature of this approach is the production of biotinylated proteoliposomes that can be immobilized on the surface of streptavidin-coupled microplates or paramagnetic beads and used as a binding target for antibodies. As an example, we isolated a single chain Fv fragment from an immune phage library that specifically binds to the human M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor with nanomolar affinity. The selected antibody fragment recognized the GPCR in both detergent-solubilized and membrane-embedded forms, which suggests that it may be a potentially valuable tool for structural and functional studies of the GPCR. The use of proteoliposomes as immunogens and screening bait will facilitate the application of phage display to this difficult class of membrane proteins

Impact of pharmacist counseling on reducing instances of adverse events that can affect the quality of life of chemotherapy outpatients with breast Cancer

Abstract Background In recent years, cancer chemotherapy is being conducted at outpatient clinics, wherein pharmacists are involved with patient guidance and management of adverse events as experts in medication therapy. Therefore, we clarified the influence of interventions by pharmacists during counseling of patients with cancer on patients’ quality of life. Methods To determine this influence, we conducted a survey to assess the quality of life of 39 patients with breast cancer who underwent their initial course of outpatient cancer chemotherapy at Gifu Municipal Hospital. A quality of life survey was conducted before the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd courses of treatment and was based on a method obtained from a survey paper entitled, “Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs.” Results Twenty patients were assigned to the intervention group, which received pharmacist counseling, and nineteen patients were assigned to the non-intervention group, which received no pharmacist counseling. Both groups were compared immediately before the 1st course and 2nd course. Regarding the subscale of social relationships, a significant difference was observed for malaise (p = 0.043), with the non-intervention group experiencing them to a greater degree than the intervention group. Regarding the change between immediately before the 1st course and the 3rd course, a significant difference was observed in the subscale of social relationships for nausea (p = 0.017), with the non-intervention group experiencing it to a greater degree than the intervention group. Conclusions The results suggest that receiving pharmacists’ guidance on adverse events and individually adjusted prescriptions tailored to address the occurrence of adverse events improved the treatment environment and enhanced the quality of life in the intervention group. These findings are beneficial in maintaining patients’ quality of life during cancer treatment. Trial registration No. UMIN000027171, Registration date: Apr 27, 2017. Retrospectively registered

The impact of outpatient chemotherapy-related adverse events on the quality of life of breast cancer patients.

The objective of our study was to clarify the impact of adverse events associated with the initial course of outpatient chemotherapy on the quality of life of breast cancer patients. We conducted a survey to assess the quality of life in 48 breast cancer patients before and after receiving their first course of outpatient chemotherapy at Gifu Municipal Hospital. Patients completed the European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions and Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs before and after 1 course of outpatient chemotherapy. European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions utility value and Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs total score decreased significantly after chemotherapy (p<0.001 and p = 0.018, respectively). The mean scores for the activity, physical condition, and psychological condition subscales of the Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs decreased significantly after chemotherapy (p = 0.003, p<0.001, and p = 0.032, respectively), whereas the social relationships score increased significantly (p<0.001). Furthermore, in the evaluation of quality of life according to individual adverse events, the decrease in quality of life after chemotherapy in terms of the European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions utility value and the Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs total score was greater in anorexic patients than in non-anorexic patients (p = 0.009 and p<0.001, respectively). This suggests that anorexia greatly reduces quality of life. Our findings reveal that anticancer drug-related adverse events, particularly anorexia, reduce overall quality of life following the first course of outpatient chemotherapy in current breast cancer patients. These findings are extremely useful and important in understanding the impact of anticancer drug-related adverse events on quality of life

Occurrence of individual adverse events.

<p>Occurrence of individual adverse events.</p