DIP during perioperative chemotherapy

Purpose : Drug-induced interstitial pneumonia (DIP) that occurs during chemotherapy for breast cancer is a rare but a serious adverse event. Treatments of DIP requires interruption of breast cancer treatment, which may affect the patient’s prognosis. However, there are few reports which discuss DIP during breast cancer treatments. Purpose of this report is to make clear how DIP occurred and influenced breast cancer treatment in our hospital. Patients and Methods : A total of 74 patients who started perioperative chemotherapy in Tokushima Municipal Hospital for breast cancer from January 2019 to December 2020 were evaluated for DIP. Patients’ and tumors’ characteristics, and regimens which caused DIP were investigated. The clinical courses of the DIP patients were also followed up. Results : Twelve of the 74 patients developed DIP. All 12 patients had histories of cyclophosphamide administration ; however, the causative drug could not be determined. Ten of the 12 patients were treated with steroids, and all the patients recovered ultimately from the interstitial pneumonia. While chemotherapy was administered in six patients after mild DIP, no relapse of pneumonia was observed. Conclusion : DIP during perioperative chemotherapy for breast cancer was resolved with appropriate treatment. Patients were able to resume breast cancer treatment with minimal interruption

Complete Genome Sequence of the Dehalorespiring Bacterium Desulfitobacterium hafniense Y51 and Comparison with Dehalococcoides ethenogenes 195

Desulfitobacterium strains have the ability to dechlorinate halogenated compounds under anaerobic conditions by dehalorespiration. The complete genome of the tetrachloroethene (PCE)-dechlorinating strain Desulfitobacterium hafniense Y51 is a 5,727,534-bp circular chromosome harboring 5,060 predicted protein coding sequences. This genome contains only two reductive dehalogenase genes, a lower number than reported in most other dehalorespiring strains. More than 50 members of the dimethyl sulfoxide reductase superfamily and 30 paralogs of the flavoprotein subunit of the fumarate reductase are encoded as well. A remarkable feature of the genome is the large number of O-demethylase paralogs, which allow utilization of lignin-derived phenyl methyl ethers as electron donors. The large genome reveals a more versatile microorganism that can utilize a larger set of specialized electron donors and acceptors than previously thought. This is in sharp contrast to the PCE-dechlorinating strain Dehalococcoides ethenogenes 195, which has a relatively small genome with a narrow metabolic repertoire. A genomic comparison of these two very different strains allowed us to narrow down the potential candidates implicated in the dechlorination process. Our results provide further impetus to the use of desulfitobacteria as tools for bioremediation

Deletion of a Seminal Gene Cluster Reinforces a Crucial Role of SVS2 in Male Fertility

Multiple genes, whose functions or expression are overlapping, compensate for the loss of one gene. A gene cluster in the mouse genome encodes five seminal vesicle proteins (SVS2, SVS3, SVS4, SVS5, and SVS6). These proteins are produced by male rodents and function in formation of the copulatory plug following mating. SVS2 plays an essential role in the successful internal fertilization by protecting the sperm membrane against a uterine immune attack. We hypothesized that the four remaining seminal vesicle proteins (SVPs) of this gene cluster may partially/completely compensate for the deficiency of SVS2. For confirming our hypothesis, we generated mice lacking the entire SVP-encoding gene cluster and compared their fecundity with Svs2-deficient (Svs2−/−) mice; that is, mice deficient in Svs2 alone. A single loxP site remained after the deletion of the Svs2 gene. Therefore, we inserted another loxP site by combining the CRISPR/Cas9 system with single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides (ssODN). Male mice lacking the entire SVP-encoding gene cluster (Svs2–6−/− mice) and thereby all five SVP proteins, generated by the deletion of 100kbp genomic DNA, showed low fecundity. However, the fecundity level was comparable with that from Svs2−/− male mice. Our results demonstrate that SVS3, SVS4, SVS5, and SVS6 do not function in the protection of sperm against a uterine immune attack in the absence of SVS2. Thus, Svs2 is the critical gene in the SVP gene cluster

Dynamic Transport and Cementation of Skeletal Elements Build Up the Pole-and-Beam Structured Skeleton of Sponges.

カイメン体内で微細な建築資材（ガラス質の骨片）を細胞が運び、立て、組み上げる全く新しい骨格形成機構を発見. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2015-09-24.Animal bodies are shaped by skeletons, which are built inside the body by biomineralization of condensed mesenchymal cells in vertebrates [1, 2] and echinoderms [3, 4], or outside the body by apical secretion of extracellular matrices by epidermal cell layers in arthropods [5]. In each case, the skeletons' shapes are a direct reflection of the pattern of skeleton-producing cells [6]. Here we report a newly discovered mode of skeleton formation: assembly of sponges' mineralized skeletal elements (spicules) in locations distant from where they were produced. Although it was known that internal skeletons of sponges consist of spicules assembled into large pole-and-beam structures with a variety of morphologies [7-10], the spicule assembly process (i.e., how spicules become held up and connected basically in staggered tandem) and what types of cells act in this process remained unexplored. Here we found that mature spicules are dynamically transported from where they were produced and then pierce through outer epithelia, and their basal ends become fixed to substrate or connected with such fixed spicules. Newly discovered "transport cells" mediate spicule movement and the "pierce" step, and collagen-secreting basal-epithelial cells fix spicules to the substratum,  suggesting that the processes of spiculous skeleton construction are mediated separately by specialized cells. Division of labor by manufacturer, transporter, and cementer cells, and iteration of the sequential mechanical reactions of "transport, " "pierce, " "raise up, " and "cementation, " allows construction of the spiculous skeleton spicule by spicule as a self-organized biological structure, with the great plasticity in size and shape required for indeterminate growth, and generating the great morphological diversity of individual sponges