Image Quality of the Coronary Angiography with Noise Reduction Technology to Decrease the Radiation Dose

We examined the effects of a reduced exposure dose on the quality of images from an angiography device augmented with a noise reduction algorithm. Before its clinical application, we compared the diameter of the discrimination limit of the hole with that in the conventional method by a visual evaluation with a contrast-detail (C-D) phantom imaged using the target dose. Based on the results, a reducible dose was determined and applied clinically. The sample population consisted of patients being followed up after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for coronary artery disease; we evaluated the effects of the exposure reduction on image quality. A significant dose reduction was observed by the noise-reduction method compared to the conventional method; the radiation dose to the flat panel detector (FPD) could be reduced to 70 nGy per frame. Clinically, a dose reduction of approx. 40% was obtained while maintaining image quality almost equal to that of the conventional method

Expressions of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase gene Cyp4g1 and its homolog in the prothoracic glands of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) and the silkworm Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae)

Here we describe the expression profiles of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase gene Cyp4g1 in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, and its homolog in the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. We identified Cyp4g1 by a microarray analysis to examine the expression levels of 86 predicted D. melanogaster P450 genes in the ring gland that contains the prothoracic gland (PG), an endocrine organ responsible for synthesizing ecdysteroids. B. mori Cyp4g25 is a closely related homolog of D. melanogaster Cyp4g1 and is also expressed in the PG. A developmental expression pattern of Cyp4g25 in the PG is positively correlated with a fluctuation in hemolymph ecdysteroid titer in the late stage of the final instar. Moreover, the expression of Cyp4g25 in cultured PGs is significantly induced by the addition of prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH), a neuropeptide hormone that stimulates the synthesis and release of ecdysone. We propose that Cyp4g1 and Cyp4g25 are the candidates that play a role in regulating PG function and control ecdysteroid production and/or metabolism during insect development

Nuclear translocation of the cytoplasmic domain of HB-EGF induces gastric cancer invasion

BACKGROUND: Membrane-anchored heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (proHB-EGF) yields soluble HB-EGF, which is an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligand, and a carboxy-terminal fragment of HB-EGF (HB-EGF-CTF) after ectodomain shedding. We previously reported that HB-EGF-CTF and unshed proHB-EGF which has the cytoplasmic domain of proHB-EGF (HB-EGF-C), translocate from the plasma membrane to the nucleus and regulate cell cycle after shedding stimuli. However, the significance of nuclear exported HB-EGF-C in human gastric cancer is unclear. METHODS: We investigated the relationship between intracellular localization of HB-EGF-C and clinical outcome in 96 gastric cancer patients treated with gastrectomy. Moreover, we established stable gastric cancer cell lines overexpressing wild-type HB-EGF (wt-HB-EGF) and mutated HB-EGF (HB-EGF-mC), which prevented HB-EGF-C nuclear translocation after shedding. Cell motility between these 2 gastric cancer cell lines was investigated using a transwell invasion assay and a wound healing assay. RESULTS: Of the 96 gastric cancer cases, HB-EGF-C immunoreactivity was detected in both the nucleus and cytoplasm in 19 cases (19.8 %) and in the cytoplasm only in 25 cases (26.0 %). The nuclear immunoreactivity of HB-EGF-C was significantly increased in stage pT3/4 tumors compared with pT1/2 tumors (T1/2 vs. T3/4: 11.1 % vs. 36.4 %, P < 0.01). The growth of wt-HB-EGF- and HB-EGF-mC-expressing cells significantly increased compared with control cells, but the growth of HB-EGF-mC-expressing cells was significantly decreased compared with wt-HB-EGF-expressing cells. Gastric cancer cell invasion obviously increased in wt-HB-EGF-expressing cells, but invasion in HB-EGF-mC-expressing cells showed a slight increase compared with control cells. Moreover, wt-HB-EGF overexpression increased the effectiveness of wound healing, but had no significant effect in HB-EGF-mC-expressing cells. CONCLUSIONS: Both the function of HB-EGF as an EGFR ligand and a novel signal for HB-EGF-C nuclear translocation induce gastric cancer growth, whereas HB-EGF-C nuclear translocation independently plays a critical role in gastric cancer invasion. The present study demonstrated that HB-EGF-C nuclear translocation might be crucial in gastric cancer invasion. HB-EGF-C nuclear translocation may offer a prognostic marker and a new molecular target for gastric cancer therapy

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA overexpression in peripheral blood as a useful prognostic marker in breast cancer

INTRODUCTION: Identification of useful markers associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients is critically needed. We previously showed that expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood may be useful to predict distant metastasis in gastric cancer patients. However, expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood of breast cancer patients has not yet been studied. METHODS: Real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR was used to analyze vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression status with respect to various clinical parameters in 515 patients with breast cancer and 25 controls. RESULTS: Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood was higher in breast cancer patients than in controls. Increased vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression was associated with large tumor size, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. Patients with high vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA expression also experienced a poorer survival rate than those with low expression levels, including those patients with triple-negative type and luminal-HER2(-) type disease. CONCLUSIONS: Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 mRNA in peripheral blood may be useful for prediction of poor prognosis in breast cancer, especially in patients with triple-negative type and luminal-HER2(-) type disease

Midterm results of left coronary artery reimplantation through the transverse sinus of the pericardium in adult Bland-White-Garland syndrome

The anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery - known as Bland-White-Garland syndrome - is a rare congenital malformation that affects 1 in 300,000 live births. Most patients die in infancy without any surgical treatment. Some patients who survive past childhood often have varying symptoms such as myocardial ischemia, impaired left ventricular function, mitral regurgitation, and progressive heart failure, depending on the development collateral circulation. In the present report, we describe a procedure wherein the left coronary artery ostium was translocated through the transverse sinus of the pericardium in a 43-year-old mother with Bland-White-Garland syndrome and concomitant mitral regurgitation and report on the associated midterm results

Electrochemical characterization of a unique, "neutral" laccase from Flammulina velutipes

The flac1 gene consisted of 1488 bases encodes a novel laccase (Flac1) from Flammulina velutipes. The deduced amino acid sequence of Flac1 with 496 amino acids shows 58-64% homologies with other fungal laccases. The recombinant Flac1 (rFlac1) was heterologously expressed in Pichia pastoris, with sugars of approximately 4 kDa attached on the protein molecule, which has the calculated molecular mass of 53,532 Da. rFlac1 was shown to be a multi-copper oxidase from spectroscopies. The optimum pHs of rFlac1 for oxidations of 2,2\u27-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), p-phenylenediamine, and o-aminophenol, were 5.0, 5.0, and 6.0-6.5, respectively, showing higher pH values than those from many other fungal laccases. The slightly acidic or neutral optimum pH that is not strongly dependent on substrates is a unique property of rFlac1. Effective O2 reduction was realized by the direct electron transfer of rFlac1 at a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite electrode modified with fine carbon particles (Ketjen Black) in O2-saturated solution. The pHs showing the maximum ΔE°\u27 [= E°\u27(enzyme) - E°\u27(substrate)] coincided well with the optimum pHs shown by rFlac1 under steady-state conditions. The present electrochemical results of rFlac1 indicate that ΔE°\u27 is one of the primary factors to determine the activity of multi-copper oxidases. © 2012 The Society for Biotechnology, Japa

Establishment of an antibody specific for cancer-associated haptoglobin: a possible implication of clinical investigation

We previously found that the serum level of fucosylated haptoglobin (Fuc-Hpt) was significantly increased in pancreatic cancer patients. To delineate the mechanism underlying this increase and develop a simple detection method, we set out to generate a monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for Fuc-Hpt. After multiple screenings by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a 10-7G mAb was identified as being highly specific for Fuc-Hpt generated in a cell line as well as for Hpt derived from a pancreatic cancer patient. As a result from affinity chromatography with 10-7G mAb, followed by lectin blot and mass spectrometry analyses, it was found that 10-7G mAb predominantly recognized both Fuc-Hpt and prohaptoglobin (proHpt), which was also fucosylated. In immunohistochemical analyses, hepatocytes surrounding metastasized cancer cells were stained by the 10-7G mAb, but neither the original cancer cells themselves nor normal hepatocytes exhibited positive staining, suggesting that metastasized cancer cells promote Fuc-Hpt production in adjacent hepatocytes. Serum level of Fuc-Hpt determined with newly developed ELISA system using the 10-7G mAb, was increased in patients of pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Interestingly, dramatic increases in Fuc-Hpt levels were observed at the stage IV of colorectal cancer. These results indicate that the 10-7G mAb developed is a promising antibody which recognizes Fuc-Hpt and could be a useful diagnostic tool for detecting liver metastasis of cancer.This study was performed as a research program of the Project for Development of Innovative Research on Cancer Therapeutics (P-Direct), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16H05226

Design Study of CANGAROO-III, Stereoscopic Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes for sub-TeV Gamma-ray

CANGAROO-III is an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) array of four 10 m telescopes for very high energy (sub-TeV) gamma-ray astronomy. A design study of the CANGAROO-III telescope system was carried out using the Monte Carlo technique in order to optimize the pixel size and the telescope spacing. Studies were also made of observations at low elevation angles.Comment: 17pages, 13 figures, elsart, to appear in Astro. Part. Phy

Structure and Function of the Engineered Multicopper Oxidase CueO from Escherichia coli-Deletion of the Methionine-Rich Helical Region Covering the Substrate-Binding Site

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科物質創成金沢大学理学部CueO is a multicopper oxidase (MCO) that is involved in the homeostasis of Cu in Escherichia coli and is the sole cuprous oxidase to have ever been found. Differing from other MCOs, the substrate-binding site of CueO is deeply buried under a methionine-rich helical region including α-helices 5, 6, and 7 that interfere with the access of organic substrates. We deleted the region Pro357-His406 and replaced it with a Gly-Gly linker. The crystal structures of a truncated mutant in the presence and in the absence of excess Cu(II) indicated that the scaffold of the CueO molecule and metal-binding sites were reserved in comparison with those of CueO. In addition, the high thermostability of the protein molecule and its spectroscopic and magnetic properties due to four Cu centers were also conserved after truncation. As for functions, the cuprous oxidase activity of the mutant was reduced to ca 10% that of recombinant CueO owing to the decrease in the affinity of the labile Cu site for Cu(I) ions, although activities for laccase substrates such as 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), p-phenylenediamine, and 2,6-dimethoxyphenol increased due to changes in the access of these organic substrates to the type I Cu site. The present engineering of CueO indicates that the methionine-rich α-helices function as a barrier to the access of bulky organic substrates, which provides CueO with specificity as a cuprous oxidase. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved