Relationship of Grade of Malignant Brain Tumor to Cancer Stem Cells and Survivin Expression

Glioblastoma (GBM) is difficult to completely cure by surgical treatment alone, and it is generally treated with a combination of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. However, GBM is resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and complete cure cannot be achieved. Cancer stem cells (CSC) and survivin, which inhibit apoptosis, are considered as factors underlying tumor recurrence and the radiation- and drug-resistance of these tumors. We analyzed CSC and survivin expression in surgically excised specimens of malignant brain tumors to establish the relationships between the grades and CSC and survivin expression and between MIB-1 (Ki-67) expression and resistance. No relationship was noted between the grades and CSC or survivin expression, or between MIB-1 and CSC expression or between Grade 3 and 4 MIB-1 and survivin expression, although a correlation was noted between MIB-1 and survivin expression in Grade II tumors. These findings suggested that CSC are consistently contained in tumor tissue at a specific rate regardless of the histological grade, and the apoptosis of cells with low-level proliferative and cell cycling activities does not occur because these cells do not respond to chemotherapy or radiation, being resistant to treatment

Sequence-specific DNA alkylation and transcriptional inhibition by long-chain hairpin pyrrole-imidazole polyamide-chlorambucil conjugates targeting CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeats.

Introducing novel building blocks to solid-phase peptide synthesis, we readily synthesized long-chain hairpin pyrrole-imidazole (PI) polyamide-chlorambucil conjugates 3 and 4 via the introduction of an amino group into a GABA (γ-turn) contained in 3, to target CAG/CTG repeat sequences, which are associated with various hereditary disorders. A high-resolution denaturing polyacrylamide sequencing gel revealed sequence-specific alkylation both strands at the N3 of adenines or guanines in CAG/CTG repeats by conjugates 3 and 4, with 11bp recognition. In vitro transcription assays using conjugate 4 revealed that specific alkylation inhibited the progression of RNA polymerase at the alkylating sites. Chiral substitution of the γ-turn with an amino group resulted in higher binding affinity observed in SPR assays. These assays suggest that conjugates 4 with 11bp recognition has the potential to cause specific DNA damage and transcriptional inhibition at the alkylating sites

Robust plan optimization using edge-enhanced intensity for intrafraction organ deformation in prostate intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

This study evaluated a method for prostate intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) based on edge-enhanced (EE) intensity in the presence of intrafraction organ deformation using the data of 37 patients treated with step-and-shoot IMRT. On the assumption that the patient setup error was already accounted for by image guidance, only organ deformation over the treatment course was considered. Once the clinical target volume (CTV), rectum, and bladder were delineated and assigned dose constraints for dose optimization, each voxel in the CTV derived from the DICOM RT-dose grid could have a stochastic dose from the different voxel location according to the probability density function as an organ deformation. The stochastic dose for the CTV was calculated as the mean dose at the location through changing the voxel location randomly 1000 times. In the EE approach, the underdose region in the CTV was delineated and optimized with higher dose constraints that resulted in an edge-enhanced intensity beam to the CTV. This was compared to a planning target volume (PTV) margin (PM) approach in which a CTV to PTV margin equivalent to the magnitude of organ deformation was added to obtain an optimized dose distribution. The total monitor units, number of segments, and conformity index were compared between the two approaches, and the dose based on the organ deformation of the CTV, rectum, and bladder was evaluated. The total monitor units, number of segments, and conformity index were significantly lower with the EE approach than with the PM approach, while maintaining the dose coverage to the CTV with organ deformation. The dose to the rectum and bladder were significantly reduced in the EE approach compared with the PM approach. We conclude that the EE approach is superior to the PM with regard to intrafraction organ deformation

Thermodynamic analysis and effect of crystallinity for silicon monoxide negative electrode for lithium ion batteries

The electrochemical behavior of SiO negative electrodes for lithium ion batteries is thermodynamically and experimentally investigated. The analysis of the reaction pathway and the calculation of the reaction potentials during the Li insertion/extraction reactions are carried out by the construction of the ternary phase diagram for the Li–Si–O system. In the initial reaction of Li insertion, metallic Si and lithium silicates are formed above 0.37 V vs. Li/Li⁺ as a conversion reaction of the SiO negative electrode. Further Li insertion produces Li–Si alloys as reversible reaction phases. The decomposition of the Li₄SiO₄ phase begins before the formation of the Li–Si alloy is completed. The measured electrode behavior of the SiO negative electrode basically agrees with the thermodynamic calculations, especially at a low reaction rate; deviations can be ascribed to kinetic factors and electrode resistance. The values of over 1898 mA h g⁻¹ and 71.0% were obtained for the discharge capacity and the coulombic efficiency, respectively. Furthermore, the overvoltage for an amorphous SiO electrode was smaller than that for a disproportionated SiO electrode into Si and SiO₂ phases

The treatment planning process for dose evaluation as applied in the edge-enhanced and planning target volume (PTV)-margin approaches.

<p>For the edge-enhanced approach, dose optimization to the clinical target volume (CTV) with no spatial margin was applied, followed by the creation of blurred dose distribution. The underdose region within the CTV was calculated, and the manual delineation was performed on the TPS according to the region. Re-optimization was performed to create the edge-enhanced dose distribution. In contrast, for the PTV-margin approach, dose optimization to the PTV with margin was applied. Finally, the two planned dose distributions derived from the edge-enhanced and PTV-margin approaches were blurred and compared for evaluation.</p

Dose–volume parameters and radiobiological indices for the edge-enhanced approach and PTV-margin approach under intrafraction organ deformation.

<p>Dose–volume parameters and radiobiological indices for the edge-enhanced approach and PTV-margin approach under intrafraction organ deformation.</p