Plasma Processes and Cancer - Special Topical Cluster of the 2nd IWPCT Meeting

(First paragraph) Although the emerging multidisciplinary field of plasma medicine has been around for nearly two decades important advances have already taken place that could one day revolutionize healthcare and the way various challenging diseases can be treated.1-3Amongst these advances the effects of low temperature plasma (LTP) on cancer cells in vitro and in vivo stand out.4-13Current cancer treatment modalities, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, have serious side effects and tend to lose their benefits to the patients after a while. Therefore, novel and improved therapies that can be used alone or in conjunction with other methods are always sought after by the medical community. LTP is proving to be one such possibility. Mounting experimental evidence is showing that LTP acts on cancer cells and tumors via the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) it produces. These chemically reactive species which include O, O2−, OH, H2O2, NO, NO2−, and NO3− exhibit strong oxidative properties and/or trigger signaling pathways in biological cells that could lead to cell death by necrosis or apoptosis. In addition, several investigators have reported that LTP targets cancer cells in a selective manner, mostly sparing their healthy counterparts. This is an important finding that can play a crucial role in the acceptance of plasma technology as a safe and hopefully successful cancer treatment modality

高等専門学校における低学年の発育・体力に関する調査-東京都立産業技術高等専門学校荒川キャンパスにおいて-

身体測定の結果から,全体的には身長・体重ともに全国平均とほとんど変わらないが,肥満および高度・重度肥満にある学生が全体の14%ということで自ら健康管理ができるように今後指導する必要がある.新体力テストの結果から,1年生から3年生まですべての学年において,筋力・筋持久力,心肺持久力,柔軟性が全国の高校生に比べると顕著に低いということが判明した.敏捷性,瞬発力については同等の能力であることがわかった.今後保健体育の授業において種目の選定や授業内容の改善の必要性が多いにあると考えられる.また,運動の日常化,体力や健康に関する意識を高めその自己管理能力を高める指導が不可欠であるといえる

Histological and Nuclear Medical Comparison of Inflammation After Hemostasis with Non-Thermal Plasma and Thermal Coagulation

The objective of this study is to examine the invasiveness of hemostasis by non-thermal plasma (NTP) compared with hemostasis by thermal coagulation (TC). The inflammation recovery process after hemostasis by TC and NTP was compared by using histological methods and nuclear medical molecular imaging. The necrotic areas in the NTP group disappeared after 5 days, whereas they remained 15 days after hemostasis in the TC group. The accumulation of 2-deoxy-2-[F-18] fluoro-D-glucopyranose (F-18-FDG), which reflects the existence of inflammatory cells, was higher in the TC group than in the NTP group on day 15. Thus, this study indicates that hemostasis by NTP is less inflammatory than TC. This report is the first to evaluate inflammation that occurred after hemostasis with medical devices noninvasively

TIGIT/CD155 axis mediates resistance to immunotherapy in patients with melanoma with the inflamed tumor microenvironment

Background Patients with cancer benefit from treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), and those with an inflamed tumor microenvironment (TME) and/or high tumor mutation burden (TMB), particularly, tend to respond to ICIs; however, some patients fail, whereas others acquire resistance after initial response despite the inflamed TME and/or high TMB. We assessed the detailed biological mechanisms of resistance to ICIs such as programmed death 1 and/or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 blockade therapies using clinical samples. Methods We established four pairs of autologous tumor cell lines and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) from patients with melanoma treated with ICIs. These tumor cell lines and TILs were subjected to comprehensive analyses and in vitro functional assays. We assessed tumor volume and TILs in vivo mouse models to validate identified mechanism. Furthermore, we analyzed additional clinical samples from another large melanoma cohort. Results Two patients were super-responders, and the others acquired resistance: the first patient had a non-inflamed TME and acquired resistance due to the loss of the beta-2 microglobulin gene, and the other acquired resistance despite having inflamed TME and extremely high TMB which are reportedly predictive biomarkers. Tumor cell line and paired TIL analyses showed high CD155, TIGIT ligand, and TIGIT expression in the tumor cell line and tumor-infiltrating T cells, respectively. TIGIT blockade or CD155-deletion activated T cells in a functional assay using an autologous cell line and paired TILs from this patient. CD155 expression increased in surviving tumor cells after coculturing with TILs from a responder, which suppressed TIGIT+ T-cell activation. Consistently, TIGIT blockade or CD155-deletion could aid in overcoming resistance to ICIs in vivo mouse models. In clinical samples, CD155 was related to resistance to ICIs in patients with melanoma with an inflamed TME, including both primary and acquired resistance. Conclusions The TIGIT/CD155 axis mediates resistance to ICIs in patients with melanoma with an inflamed TME, promoting the development of TIGIT blockade therapies in such patients with cancer

Enhancement of metastatic ability by ectopic expression of ST6GalNAcI on a gastric cancer cell line in a mouse model

ST6GalNAcI is a sialyltransferase responsible for the synthesis of sialyl Tn (sTn) antigen which is expressed in a variety of adenocarcinomas including gastric cancer especially in advanced cases, but the roles of ST6GalNAcI and sTn in cancer progression are largely unknown. We generated sTn-expressing human gastric cancer cells by ectopic expression of ST6GalNAcI to evaluate metastatic ability of these cells and prognostic effect of ST6GalNAcI and sTn in a mouse model, and identified sTn carrier proteins to gain insight into the function of ST6GalNAcI and sTn in gastric cancer progression. A green fluorescent protein-tagged human gastric cancer cell line was transfected with ST6GalNAcI to produce sTn-expressing cells, which were transplanted into nude mice. STn-positive gastric cancer cells showed higher intraperitoneal metastatic ability in comparison with sTn-negative control, resulting in shortened survival time of the mice, which was mitigated by anti-sTn antibody administration. Then, sTn-carrying proteins were immunoprecipitated from culture supernatants and lysates of these cells, and identified MUC1 and CD44 as major sTn carriers. It was confirmed that MUC1 carries sTn also in human advanced gastric cancer tissues. Identification of sTn carrier proteins will help understand mechanisms of metastatic phenotype acquisition of gastric cancer cells by ST6GalNAcI and sTn

Recent Advancements in Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Generation Methods Using Carbohydrate-Coated Liposomes

Both tumor-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells have been identified, and the latter is known as a major effector of adaptive antitumor immune responses. Optimal antitumor immune responses are considered to require the concomitant activation of both CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cells and the additional selective activation of CD4(+) T cells with helper, but not regulatory function. As optimal antitumor immune responses are generated by the concomitant activation of both T cell types, it is necessary for vaccine methods involving cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) generation to possess a mechanism whereby antigen presenting cells can present administrated exogenous antigens on not only Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, but also MHC class I molecules

Recent Advancements in Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Generation Methods Using Carbohydrate-Coated Liposomes

Both tumor-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cells have been identified, and the latter is known as a major effector of adaptive antitumor immune responses. Optimal antitumor immune responses are considered to require the concomitant activation of both CD8 + and CD4 + T cells and the additional selective activation of CD4 + T cells with helper, but not regulatory function. As optimal antitumor immune responses are generated by the concomitant activation of both T cell types, it is necessary for vaccine methods involving cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) generation to possess a mechanism whereby antigen presenting cells can present administrated exogenous antigens on not only Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, but also MHC class I molecules