Des-γ-carboxyl prothrombin is associated with tumor angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract Background and Aims

Loss of runt-related transcription factor 3 expression leads hepatocellular carcinoma cells to escape apoptosis

Background: Runt-related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) is known as a tumor suppressor gene for gastric cancer and other cancers, this gene may be involved in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: RUNX3 expression was analyzed by immunoblot and immunohistochemistry in HCC cells and tissues, respectively. Hep3B cells, lacking endogenous RUNX3, were introduced with RUNX3 constructs. Cell proliferation was measured using the MTT assay and apoptosis was evaluated using DAPI staining. Apoptosis signaling was assessed by immunoblot analysis. Results: RUNX3 protein expression was frequently inactivated in the HCC cell lines (91%) and tissues (90%). RUNX3 expression inhibited 90 +/- 8% of cell growth at 72 h in serum starved Hep3B cells. Forty-eight hour serum starvation-induced apoptosis and the percentage of apoptotic cells reached 31 +/- 4% and 4 +/- 1% in RUNX3-expressing Hep3B and control cells, respectively. Apoptotic activity was increased by Bim expression and caspase-3 and caspase-9 activation. Conclusion: RUNX3 expression enhanced serum starvation-induced apoptosis in HCC cell lines. RUNX3 is deleted or weakly expressed in HCC, which leads to tumorigenesis by escaping apoptosis

Survey of the Extent of the Persisting Effects of Methylmercury Pollution on the Inhabitants around the Shiranui Sea, Japan

In 1956 methylmercury poisoning, known as Minamata disease, was discovered among the inhabitants around the Shiranui Sea, Kyushu, Japan. Although about five hundred thousand people living in the area had supposedly been exposed to methylmercury, administrative agencies and research institutes had not performed any subsequent large scale, continuous health examination, so the actual extent of the negative health effects was not clearly documented. In 2009, we performed health surveys in order to examine residents in the polluted area and to research the extent of the polluted area and period of pollution. We analyzed data collected on 973 people (age = 62.3 ± 11.7) who had lived in the polluted area and had eaten the fish there and a control group, consisting of 142 persons (age = 62.0 ± 10.5), most of whom had not lived in the polluted area. Symptoms and neurological signs were statistically more prevalent in the four groups than in the control group and were more prevalent and severe in those who had eaten most fish. The patterns of positive findings of symptoms and neurological findings in the four groups were similar. Our data indicates that Minamata disease had spread outside of the central area and could still be observed recently, almost 50 years after the Chisso Company’s factory had halted the dumping of mercury polluted waste water back in 1968

Correction: Takaoka, S., et al. Survey of the Extent of the Persisting Effects of Methylmercury Pollution on the Inhabitants around the Shiranui Sea, Japan. <em>Toxics</em> 2018, <em>6</em>, 39

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...

ベネズエラにおけるSimulium metallicum のOnchocerca volvulusに対する感受性について

ベネズエラ北部のオンコセルカ症伝搬プユ種であるSimulium metallicumのOnchocerca volvulusに対する感受性の程度を実験感染により検討した。実験lこは，O. volvulusミクロフィラリア保有者の脚から充分吸血した野外の雌成虫を用いた。これらの吸血個体を22-280℃ の温度条件下で個別に飼育し，毎日死亡した個体を解剖することにより幼虫の発育を調べた。その結果，吸血後5日と6日の聞に死亡したプユから最初の第III期幼虫が見いだされた。幼虫発育は不揃いであったが異常形の幼虫は見られなかった。ブユ体内で見いだされた幼虫のうち第III期幼虫の占める割合は吸血後6-8日に剖検したプユ体内で6%であったが， 9-11日に調べたブユでは69%と日数の経過とともに増加した。同期聞におけるブユの頭部に見いだされた第III期幼虫の割合も25%から54%へ上昇した。すなわち，S. metallicum体内でのO.volvulus幼虫の発育は不揃いであるが，ブユが長く生存すれば，とりこまれたミクロフィラリアの多くは第III期幼虫まで発育し，人へ感染する機会が多いことが示された。これらの結果と既に報告されているグアテマラとコロンピアでの実験感染の結果を比較すると，ベネズエラのS.metallicumは上記2国の同一ブユ種より，O. volvulusに対して高い感受性をもっていることが示唆された。The degree of susceptibility of Simulium metallicum to infection with Onchocerca volvulus was studied in Venezuela. Wild flies which had fed on the infected volunteer were maintained at a temperature varying between 22°C and 28°C, and all flies dying every 24 hours were dissected for larval development. Third-stage larvae were first seen in the head of flies dying between five and six days. Few abnormal and deformed larvae were observed. The larval development was asynchronous; only 41 of 117 larvae recovered from 32 flies examined on days 6-11 were in the third stage, the remaining larvae being still in earlier stages. However, the proportion of third-stage larvae among all larvae recovered increased from 6 to 69 per cent, with the passage of time from days 6-8 to 9-11. Likewise, the percentage of third-stage larvae found in the head during the same period rose from 25 to 54 per cent. These results indicate that despite the asynchronous and retarded development, many larvae can develop to the infective stage in S. metallicllm and the possibility of infective larvae capable of being eventually inoculated into man is high, when flies could survive more. It is suggested that the susceptibility of S. metallicum in Venezuela to the indigenous strain of O. volvulus is relatively high, as compared with that of the same species in Guatemala or Colombia

Iwahashi_BeWo-CRT_Data.zip

Data set for "Extracellularly released calreticulin induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress impairs syncytialization of cytotrophoblast model BeWo cells" by Iwahashi et al