Sarcoidosis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous inflammation of unknown etiology, and seems to involve the liver parenchyma in most cases. However, sarcoidosis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma is rare. We report here a case in which a hepatocellular carcinoma occurred within the liver, which was probably involved as a result of systemic sarcoidosis. A 57-year-old Japanese man had been followed up for 2 years because of diabetic nephropathy and sarcoidosis. On admission for pneumonia, imaging studies revealed an unexpected hepatic tumor. Histology revealed a hepatocellular carcinoma accompanied by T-lymphocytic infiltration and marked granulomatous inflammation, which was surrounding some tumor nodules. The background liver parenchyma exhibited a moderate degree of fibrosis with granulomatous inflammation. The patient had no other apparent liver disease such as viral hepatitis, steatohepatitis, or primary biliary cirrhosis. Therefore, in the present case, sarcoidosis may be considered the probable background etiology for hepatocarcinogenesis

Esophageal Cancer Initially Thought to be Accompanied by a Solitary Metastasis to an Intrathoracic Paraaortic Lymph Node

Esophageal cancers usually exhibit lymph-node metastases. Although a solitary lymph-node metastasis is occasionally found, the involvement of an intrathoracic paraaortic node is rare. We present here an intrathoracic mid-esophageal cancer case in which an accompanying solitary retroaortic mass was found within the posterior mediastinum by integrated positron emission tomography/computed tomography. For diagnosis, thoracoscopic resection of the mass was performed from a left thoracic approach, and histology revealed it to be a squamous cell carcinoma metastasized from the esophageal cancer. Upon radical esophagectomy after neoadjuvant therapy as a T3N1M0 Stage IIIa (AJCC/UICC) cancer, the esophageal cancer was found to have invaded unexpectedly deeply in the vicinity of the descending aorta. Another lymph node within the paraaortic region was also involved (T4N1M0 Stage IIIc). The present case and other cases we review here inform our understanding of metastasis to intrathoracic paraaortic nodes as follows:1) its existence may indicate extensive lymph-node metastasis or direct tumor invasion nearby, and 2) it may be accompanied by other lymph-node involvements in this region, even if it appears solitary upon preoperative investigation. Thus, for radical esophagectomy, sufficient lymph-node dissection is required, even at locations not reached by the usual right thoracic approach. Definitive chemoradiotherapy may be a better choice for preoperatively recognized T3 esophageal cancer when the cancer is accompanied by paraaortic lymph node metastasis

Expression of the CCCH-tandem zinc finger protein gene OsTZF5 under a stress-inducible promoter mitigates the effect of drought stress on rice grain yield under field conditions

Increasing drought resistance without sacrificing grain yield remains an ongoing challenge in crop improvement. In this study, we report that Oryza sativa CCCH‐tandem zinc finger protein 5 (OsTZF5) can confer drought resistance and increase grain yield in transgenic rice plants. Expression of OsTZF5 was induced by abscisic acid, dehydration and cold stress. Upon stress, OsTZF5‐GFP localized to the cytoplasm and cytoplasmic foci. Transgenic rice plants overexpressing OsTZF5 under the constitutive maize ubiquitin promoter exhibited improved survival under drought but also growth retardation. By introducing OsTZF5 behind the stress‐responsive OsNAC6 promoter in two commercial upland cultivars, Curinga and NERICA4, we obtained transgenic plants that showed no growth retardation. Moreover, these plants exhibited significantly increased grain yield compared to non‐transgenic cultivars in different confined field drought environments. Physiological analysis indicated that OsTZF5 promoted both drought tolerance and drought avoidance. Collectively, our results provide strong evidence that OsTZF5 is a useful biotechnological tool to minimize yield losses in rice grown under drought conditions

CHARACTERISTICS OF STRENGTH AND POWER FOR THE RATE OF FORCE DEVELOPMENT DURING LEG EXTENSION

A multi-strength tester (MST) was developed to assess the rate of force development (RFD) during isometric leg extensions. This study aimed to examine the relationship between RFD measured by MST and strength and power performance. Participants performed isometric leg presses with MST, countermovement jumps, squat jumps (SJ), and concentric squat of 70% of 1 repetition maximum (sq70). Significant correlations were found between the early phases of RFD measured by MST and countermovement jump. There were no significant correlations found in SJ. The late phase of RFD measured by MST significantly correlated with sq70. The present results suggest that the early phases of RFD with MST relate with countermovement during jump performance. The late phase of RFD with MST relate with the ability of generating force under heavy resistance

KofamKOALA: KEGG ortholog assignment based on profile HMM and adaptive score threshold

Summary: KofamKOALA is a web server to assign KEGG Orthologs (KOs) to protein sequences by homology search against a database of profile hidden Markov models (KOfam) with pre-computed adaptive score thresholds. KofamKOALA is faster than existing KO assignment tools with its accuracy being comparable to the best performing tools. Function annotation by KofamKOALA helps linking genes to KEGG resources such as the KEGG pathway maps and facilitates molecular network reconstruction. Availability and implementation: KofamKOALA, KofamScan and KOfam are freely available from GenomeNet (https://www.genome.jp/tools/kofamkoala/). Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online

Predictors for the outcomes of patients with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer treated using palbociclib plus endocrine therapy

　A cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor, palbociclib (PAL), combined with endocrine therapy is frequently used for the treatment of patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) 2-negative advanced breast cancer. However, as predictors for the outcomes remain unclear, we retrospectively investigated them.　A total of 36 patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer were treated using PAL plus endocrine therapy at our hospital. Treatment outcomes, objective response rates (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and post-treatment overall survival (OS) were analyzed. As possible predictive biomarkers, retinoblastoma protein (Rb), phosphorylated Rb (pRb) and different CDKs were immunohistochemically investigated using primary tumor tissues. Non-visceral metastasis, use of fulvestrant (FUL) and the 1st- or 2nd-line treatment were significant predictors for a better ORR (P = 0.0080, P = 0.0080 and P = 0.0080, respectively). No objective response (OR) was observed in patients with progesterone receptor (PR)-negative, CDK6-positive or cytosolic cyclin E1-positive tumors. Non-visceral metastasis and use of FUL were significant predictors for a better PFS (P = 0.0030 and P = 0.0443, respectively). The Cox proportional hazards model revealed that visceral metastasis (hazard ratio [HR], 4.9; P = 0.0019) and PR-negativity (HR, 3.2; P = 0.0411) were independent predictors for a poorer PFS. Nonvisceral metastasis, pRb-negativity and CDK6-negativity were significant predictors for a better OS (P = 0.0281, P = 0.0014 and P = 0.0396, respectively). The Cox proportional hazards model revealed that visceral metastasis (HR, 7.2; P = 0.0131) and pRb-positivity (HR, 18.5; P = 0.0060) were independent predictors for a poorer OS.　In conclusion, PR-negativity and pRb-positivity in primary tumors may be independent predictors for PFS and OS, respectively. CDK6-positivity and cytosolic cyclin E1-positivity may be predictors for a poorer OS and ORR, respectively. Further investigation is needed to confirm these factors

Light-dependent induction of Edn2 expression and attenuation of retinal pathology by endothelin receptor antagonists in Prominin-1- deficient mice

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and macular dystrophy (MD) are prevalent retinal degenerative diseases associated with gradual photoreceptor death. These diseases are often caused by genetic mutations that result in degeneration of the retina postnatally after it has fully developed. The Prominin-1 gene (Prom1) is a causative gene for RP and MD, and Prom1- knockout (KO) mice recapitulate key features of these diseases including light-dependent retinal degeneration and stenosis of retinal blood vessels. The mechanisms underlying progression of such degeneration have remained unknown, however. We here analysed early events associated with retinal degeneration in Prom1-KO mice. We found that photoreceptor cell death and glial cell activation occur between 2 and 3 weeks after birth. High-throughput analysis revealed that expression of the endothelin-2 gene (Edn2) was markedly up-regulated in the Prom1-deficient retina during this period. Expression of Edn2 was also induced by light stimulation in Prom1-KO mice that had been reared in the dark. Finally, treatment with endothelin receptor antagonists attenuated photoreceptor cell death, gliosis, and retinal vessel stenosis in Prom1-KO mice. Our findings suggest that inhibitors of endothelin signalling may delay the progression of RP and MD and therefore warrant further study as potential therapeutic agents for these diseases

Nanoscale corrosion behavior of polycrystalline copper fine wires in dilute NaCl solution investigated by in-situ atomic force microscopy

In this study, nanoscale corrosion behavior of copper fine wires in dilute NaCl solution is studied by atomic force microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. The dissolution rate of grains constituting the wires strongly depends on their crystallographic orientation. In pure water, the dissolution rate increases in the order of (111) < (001) < (110). Addition of Cl- dramatically increases the dissolution rate of the (111) surface to alter the order to (110) ≈ (001) ≈ (111) at 0.1 mM. These results show that the crystallographic orientation dependence is significantly changed by a slight increase of Cl- concentration in dilute solution. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.Embargo Period 24 month

Virus-Mediated Transient Expression Techniques Enable Functional Genomics Studies and Modulations of Betalain Biosynthesis and Plant Height in Quinoa

スーパー作物キヌアにおける遺伝子機能の解析技術を開発 --優れた環境適応性や栄養特性の謎を解き、作物開発を加速化--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-03-19.Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), native to the Andean region of South America, has been recognized as a potentially important crop in terms of global food and nutrition security since it can thrive in harsh environments and has an excellent nutritional profile. Even though challenges of analyzing the complex and heterogeneous allotetraploid genome of quinoa have recently been overcome, with the whole genome-sequencing of quinoa and the creation of genotyped inbred lines, the lack of technology to analyze gene function in planta is a major limiting factor in quinoa research. Here, we demonstrate that two virus-mediated transient expression techniques, virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) and virus-mediated overexpression (VOX), can be used in quinoa. We show that apple latent spherical virus (ALSV) can induce gene silencing of quinoa phytoene desaturase (CqPDS1) in a broad range of quinoa inbred lines derived from the northern and southern highland and lowland sub-populations. In addition, we show that ALSV can be used as a VOX vector in roots. Our data also indicate that silencing a quinoa 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine 4, 5-dioxygenase gene (CqDODA1) or a cytochrome P450 enzyme gene (CqCYP76AD1) inhibits betalain production and that knockdown of a reduced-height gene homolog (CqRHT1) causes an overgrowth phenotype in quinoa. Moreover, we show that ALSV can be transmitted to the progeny of quinoa plants. Thus, our findings enable functional genomics in quinoa, ushering in a new era of quinoa research

Ferromagnetism in multi--band Hubbard models: From weak to strong Coulomb repulsion

We propose a new mechanism which can lead to ferromagnetism in Hubbard models containing triangles with different on-site energies. It is based on an effective Hamiltonian that we derive in the strong coupling limit. Considering a one-dimensional realization of the model, we show that in the quarter-filled, insulating case the ground-state is actually ferromagnetic in a very large parameter range going from Tasaki's flat-band limit to the strong coupling limit of the effective Hamiltonian. This result has been obtained using a variety of analytical and numerical techniques. Finally, the same results are shown to apply away from quarter-filling, in the metallic case.Comment: 12 pages, revtex, 12 figures,needs epsf and multicol style file