Sinteza kumarinskih heterocikličkih derivata s antioksidativnim djelovanjem i in vitro citotoksično djelovanje na tumorske stanice

The aim of the present work was to synthesise coumarinyl heterocycles and to elucidate the potential role of these compounds as antioxidants and cytotoxic agents against Dalton\u27s lymphoma ascites tumour cells (DLA) and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells (EAC). The synthesis of coumarin derivatives containing pyrazole, pyrazolone, thiazolidin-4-one, 5-carboxymethyl-4-thiazolidinone and 3-acetyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole ring is reported. 4-Methylcoumarinyl-7-oxyacetic acid hydrazide (1) reacted with arylazopropanes or hydrazono-3-oxobutyrate derivatives to form pyrazole (3a-c) and pyrazolone derivatives (5a-c). Heterocyclisation of Schiffs bases of 1 with thioglycolic acid, thiomalic acid or acetic anhydride afforded novel heterocyclic derivatives 4-thiazolidinones (7a-c), 5-carboxymethyl-4-thiazolidinones (8a-c) and oxadiazoles (9a-c), respectively. Some of the compounds showed promising results in in vitro antioxidant activity and cytotoxic activity against DLA cells and EAC cells.Cilj rada bio je sintetizirati kumarinske heterocikličke derivate i razjasniti njihovu potencijalnu ulogu kao antioksidativnih i citotoksičnih agenasa na tumorske stanice Daltonovog limfoma (DLA) i Ehrlichove tumorske stanice (EAC). U radu je opisana sinteza kumarinskih derivata s pirazolskim, pirazolonskim, tiazolidin-4-onskim, 5-karboksimetil-4-tiazolidinonskim i 3-acetil-1,3,4-oksadiazolskim prstenom. Hidrazid 4-metilkumarinil-7-oksioctene kiseline (1) dao je u reakciji s derivatima arilazopropana ili hidrazono-3-oksobutirata derivate pirazola (3a-c) i pirazolona (5a-c). Heterociklizacijom Schiffovih baza 1 s tioglikolnom kiselinom, tiojabučnom kiselinom ili anhidridom octene kiseline nastali su heterociklički derivati 4-tiazolidinoni (7a-c), 5-karboksimetil-4-tiazolidinoni (8a-c) i oksadiazoli (9a-c). Neki od spojeva pokazali su obećavajuće rezultate u in vitro testovima za antioksidativno i citostatsko djelovanje na DLA i EAC stanicama pokazali

Genetic Polymorphisms of the Human PNPLA3 Gene Are Strongly Associated with Severity of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Japanese

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) includes a broad range of liver pathologies from simple steatosis to cirrhosis and fibrosis, in which a subtype accompanying hepatocyte degeneration and fibrosis is classified as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH accounts for approximately 10-30% of NAFLD and causes a higher frequency of liver-related death, and its progression of NASH has been considered to be complex involving multiple genetic factors interacting with the environment and lifestyle.To identify genetic factors related to NAFLD in the Japanese, we performed a genome-wide association study recruiting 529 histologically diagnosed NAFLD patients and 932 population controls. A significant association was observed for a cluster of SNPs in PNPLA3 on chromosome 22q13 with the strongest p-value of 1.4 × 10(-10) (OR = 1.66, 95%CI: 1.43-1.94) for rs738409. Rs738409 also showed the strongest association (p = 3.6 × 10(-6)) with the histological classifications proposed by Matteoni and colleagues based on the degree of inflammation, ballooning degeneration, fibrosis and Mallory-Denk body. In addition, there were marked differences in rs738409 genotype distributions between type4 subgroup corresponding to NASH and the other three subgroups (p = 4.8 × 10(-6), OR = 1.96, 95%CI: 1.47-2.62). Moreover, a subgroup analysis of NAFLD patients against controls showed a significant association of rs738409 with type4 (p = 1.7 × 10(-16), OR = 2.18, 95%CI: 1.81-2.63) whereas no association was obtained for type1 to type3 (p = 0.41). Rs738409 also showed strong associations with three clinical traits related to the prognosis of NAFLD, namely, levels of hyaluronic acid (p = 4.6 × 10(-4)), HbA1c (p = 0.0011) and iron deposition in the liver (p = 5.6 × 10(-4)).With these results we clearly demonstrated that Matteoni type4 NAFLD is both a genetically and clinically different subset from the other spectrums of the disease and that the PNPLA3 gene is strongly associated with the progression of NASH in Japanese population

BART Inhibits Pancreatic Cancer Cell Invasion by PKCα Inactivation through Binding to ANX7

A novel function for the binder of Arl two (BART) molecule in pancreatic cancer cells is reported. BART inhibits invasiveness of pancreatic cancer cells through binding to a Ca2+-dependent, phosphorylated, guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) membrane fusion protein, annexin7 (ANX7). A tumor suppressor function for ANX7 was previously reported based on its prognostic role in human cancers and the cancer-prone mouse phenotype ANX7(+/−). Further investigation demonstrated that the BART–ANX7 complex is transported toward cell protrusions in migrating cells when BART supports the binding of ANX7 to the protein kinase C (PKC) isoform PKCα. Recent evidence has suggested that phosphorylation of ANX7 by PKC significantly potentiates ANX7-induced fusion of phospholipid vesicles; however, the current data suggest that the BART–ANX7 complex reduces PKCα activity. Knocking down endogenous BART and ANX7 increases activity of PKCα, and specific inhibitors of PKCα significantly abrogate invasiveness induced by BART and ANX7 knockdown. These results imply that BART contributes to regulating PKCα activity through binding to ANX7, thereby affecting the invasiveness of pancreatic cancer cells. Thus, it is possible that BART and ANX7 can distinctly regulate the downstream signaling of PKCα that is potentially relevant to cell invasion by acting as anti-invasive molecules

Validation of the FIB4 index in a Japanese nonalcoholic fatty liver disease population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A reliable and inexpensive noninvasive marker of hepatic fibrosis is required in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). FIB4 index (based on age, aspartate aminotransferase [AST] and alanine aminotransferase [ALT] levels, and platelet counts) is expected to be useful for evaluating hepatic fibrosis. We validated the performance of FIB4 index in a Japanese cohort with NAFLD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) for FIB4 and six other markers were compared, based on data from 576 biopsy-proven NAFLD patients. Advanced fibrosis was defined as stage 3-4 fibrosis. FIB4 index was assessed as: age (yr) × AST (IU/L)/(platelet count (10⁹/L) × √ALT (IU/L))</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Advanced fibrosis was found in 64 (11%) patients. The AUROC for FIB4 index was superior to those for the other scoring systems for differentiating between advanced and mild fibrosis. Only 6 of 308 patients with a FIB4 index below the proposed low cut-off point (< 1.45) were under-staged, giving a high negative predictive value of 98%. Twenty-eight of 59 patients with a FIB4 index above the high cut-off point (> 3.25) were over-staged, giving a low positive predictive value of 53%. Using these cutoffs, 91% of the 395 patients with FIB-4 values outside 1.45-3.25 would be correctly classified. Implementation of the FIB4 index in the Japanese population would avoid 58% of liver biopsies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The FIB4 index was superior to other tested noninvasive markers of fibrosis in Japanese patients with NAFLD, with a high negative predictive value for excluding advanced fibrosis. The small number of cases of advanced fibrosis in this cohort meant that this study had limited power for validating the high cut-off point.</p

Measurement of serum PODXL concentration for detection of pancreatic cancer

Keisuke Taniuchi,1,2 Makiko Tsuboi,2 Masahiko Sakaguchi,3,4 Toshiji Saibara1,2 1Department of Endoscopic Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan; 2Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan; 3Integrated Center for Advanced Medical Technologies, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan; 4Cancer Prevention and Control Division, Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the use of podocalyxin (PODXL) and secretoglobin family 1D, member 2 (SCGB1D2) expressions in whole blood as diagnostic biomarkers to distinguish between patients with pancreatic cancer and control participants, in comparison with serum cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), which is the current clinical standard. Patients and methods: Flow cytometric analysis was performed to determine the expressions of PODXL and SCGB1D2 on the surface of cultured pancreatic cancer cells. Immunoblotting was performed to determine whether PODXL and SCGB1D2 were detectable in the media of cultured pancreatic cancer cells. A discovery-stage clinical study was performed in a cohort of 23 patients with pancreatic cancer and 51 control individuals without pancreatic disease who had been treated in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Kochi Medical School Hospital from April 2014 to January 2016. Serum PODXL and SCGB1D2 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: PODXL and SCGB1D2 accumulated in the protrusions of cultured pancreatic cancer cells, and they were detectable both on the cell surface and in the cultured media from these cells. The discovery-stage clinical study showed that the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.91&ndash;1.000) for PODXL, 0.80 (95% CI 0.67&ndash;0.94) for SCGB1D2, and 0.78 (95% CI 0.66&ndash;0.90) for CA19-9. The AUC for PODXL was thus significantly higher than that for CA19-9 (P = 0.006). The combination of SCGB1D2 with CA19-9 did not significantly increase the AUC (0.83; 95% CI 0.70&ndash;0.96) compared with the AUC for either SCGB1D2 or CA19-9 alone (P = 0.563). Conclusion: PODXL may be a novel, non-invasive diagnostic biomarker for the detection of pancreatic cancer. Keywords: podocalyxin-like protein, secretoglobin, pancreatic cancer, diagnostic marke