Surgical Treatment of a Giant Liposarcoma in a Japanese Man

We report a case of a rapidly progressing giant retroperitoneal liposarcoma weighing 22 kg in a 41-year-old Japanese man, successfully treated with surgical excision. To our knowledge, this is the largest liposarcoma in the Japanese population reported in the literature

Current status of research on sarcopenia in post-treatment cancer survivors in Japan: A narrative review

Sarcopenia is prevalent among 11-25% of adult cancer survivors, depending on the cancer type, although the available data on post-treatment survivors in Japan are limited. If cancer patients develop cachexia, they may experience sustained weight loss as a result, ultimately leading to sarcopenia. Conversely, some patients experience post-treatment weight gain, resulting in sarcopenic obesity. Both sarcopenia and obesity elevate the risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality; therefore, the importance of sarcopenia prevention and management is undeniable. The Guidelines for Exercise for Cancer Survivors recommend continued physical activity. Recent studies have reported the effectiveness of multimodal interventions, combining pharmacological, nutritional, and exercise approaches, necessitating multidisciplinary care for post-treatment sarcopenia. Innovative health interventions using mobile devices have also gained attention. However, studies on sarcopenia in post-treatment cancer survivors, especially those regarding exercise interventions, remain scarce in Japan, primarily due to limited insurance coverage for such post-treatment interventions and workforce challenges. It is clear that some cancer survivors have sarcopenia, which can lead to worse survival and secondary illness. While the benefits of exercise are clear, a comprehensive approach to sarcopenia is a further challenge for the future

Claudin 18.2 Inhibits the Proliferation of Small-Cell Lung Cancer Cells via G0/G1 Cell-Cycle Arrest

Claudin (CLDN) 18.2, a member of the CLDN family, contains tight junctions that regulate the physiological functions of epithelial cells, such as cell differentiation, proliferation, and polarity. CLDN18.2 is also expressed, and performs various functions, in several cancers; however, its expression and function in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) have not been elucidated. Herein, we determined the expression of CLDN18.2 in SCLC cell lines using quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting. Moreover, we established inducible CLDN18.2 expression SCLC cells and CLDN18.2 knockout SCLC cells and showed that CLDN18.2 inhibited the proliferation of SCLC via G0/G1 cell-cycle arrest using cell-proliferation assay and cell-cycle analysis. This cell-cycle arrest was caused by downregulation of CCND1 and induction of CDKN1A. The present study evokes research interest in CLDN18.2 as a potential therapeutic target and prognostic marker in SCLC, paving the way for future research prospects.journal articl

Visible light-driven dye-sensitized photocatalytic hydrogen production by porphyrin and its cyclic dimer and trimer: effect of multi-pyridyl-anchoring groups on photocatalytic activity and stability

The monomer, dimer, and trimer of 5,15-diphenyl-10,20-di(pyridin-4-yl)porphyrin are used to investigate the multianchoring effect on TiO2 for visible light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production in a water medium. Further, the porphyrin trimer is prepared and analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy, electrochemical voltammetry, fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) computation. The results of this study indicate that the peak intensities of the absorption spectra increase as the number of porphyrin units increases, while changes could be barely observed in the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gaps. The porphyrin dimer in a 1 wt % Pt-loaded TiO2 powder photocatalyst system exhibited optimal hydrogen production performance in a stable state over a period of 80 h and at a superior rate of 1023 μmol·g–1·h–1. Further, the stability of the photocatalytic system was systematically investigated using films containing dyes on 1 wt % Pt-loaded TiO2/FTO. For a film containing the dimer, almost no change was observed in the hydrogen-bond coordination mode of the dimer and the photocurrent during the photocatalytic reaction. However, the photocurrents of the monomer and trimer were altered during visible light irradiation without altering the coordination mode, indicating that the arrangements and orientations of the porphyrins on TiO2 surfaces were altered. These results indicate that the presence of multiple anchoring groups enhance the stability of the photocatalytic system and the rate of hydrogen production

ROS amplification drives mouse spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play critical roles in self-renewal division for various stem cell types. However, it remains unclear how ROS signals are integrated with self-renewal machinery. Here, we report that the MAPK14/MAPK7/BCL6B pathway creates a positive feedback loop to drive spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) self-renewal via ROS amplification. The activation of MAPK14 induced MAPK7 phosphorylation in cultured SSCs, and targeted deletion of Mapk14 or Mapk7 resulted in significant SSC deficiency after spermatogonial transplantation. The activation of this signaling pathway not only induced Nox1 but also increased ROS levels. Chemical screening of MAPK7 targets revealed many ROS-dependent spermatogonial transcription factors, of which BCL6B was found to initiate ROS production by increasing Nox1 expression via ETV5-induced nuclear translocation. Because hydrogen peroxide or Nox1 transfection also induced BCL6B nuclear translocation, our results suggest that BCL6B initiates and amplifies ROS signals to activate ROS-dependent spermatogonial transcription factors by forming a positive feedback loop

A Point Mutation of Tyr-759 in Interleukin 6 Family Cytokine Receptor Subunit gp130 Causes Autoimmune Arthritis

We generated a mouse line in which the src homology 2 domain–bearing protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP)-2 binding site of gp130, tyrosine 759, was mutated to phenylalanine (gp130F759/F759). The gp130F759/F759 mice developed rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-like joint disease. The disease was accompanied by autoantibody production and accumulated memory/activated T cells and myeloid cells. Before the disease onset, the T cells were hyperresponsive and thymic selection and peripheral clonal deletion were impaired. The inhibitory effect of IL-6 on Fas ligand expression during activation-induced cell death (AICD) was augmented in gp130F759/F759 T cells in a manner dependent on the tyrosine residues of gp130 required for signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 activation. Finally, we showed that disease development was dependent on lymphocytes. These results provide evidence that a point mutation of a cytokine receptor has the potential to induce autoimmune disease

Kidney Transplantation at Hirosaki Kidney Transplant Unit-Initial 5-Year Experience

Introduction Kidney transplantation has been widely accepted as a definitive therapy for patients with renal failure. The Hirosaki Kidney Transplant Unit was organized in June 2006 in conjunction with the Departments of Urology, Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine and Nephrology, and Gastrointestinal Surgery, from the Hirosaki University School of Medicine. Herein, we introduce our current results and discuss our future strategies. Patients and Methods From June 2006 to December 2011, 36 kidney transplants were performed with 31 living donors and 5 deceased donors. Immunosuppression therapy included an inductor treatment of anti-CD25 antibody and triple therapy with calcineurin inhibitor, mycophenolate mofetil, and steroids. Results Recipients included 25 males and 11 females. The patients’ average age was 41.8 years. Nine living–pairs were ABO incompatible. Deceased donors were performed at Oyokyo Hospital. Median follow-up period was 27.6 months. Acute cellular rejection occurred in 8.3% of patients. Positive antigenemia for cytomegalovirus happened in 16.7% of patients, but none developed invasive diseases. All recipients are currently surviving. Graft survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years are 100%, 94.7%, and 94.7%, respectively. Conclusion Successful kidney transplantations have been performed by a multidisciplinary unit at Hirosaki University. Our next step is a promotion to increase organ donation.弘前医学. 63, 2012, p.136-142journal articl

Spike Code Flow in Cultured Neuronal Networks

We observed spike trains produced by one-shot electrical stimulation with 8 × 8 multielectrodes in cultured neuronal networks. Each electrode accepted spikes from several neurons. We extracted the short codes from spike trains and obtained a code spectrum with a nominal time accuracy of 1%. We then constructed code flow maps as movies of the electrode array to observe the code flow of “1101” and “1011,” which are typical pseudorandom sequence such as that we often encountered in a literature and our experiments. They seemed to flow from one electrode to the neighboring one and maintained their shape to some extent. To quantify the flow, we calculated the “maximum cross-correlations” among neighboring electrodes, to find the direction of maximum flow of the codes with lengths less than 8. Normalized maximum cross-correlations were almost constant irrespective of code. Furthermore, if the spike trains were shuffled in interval orders or in electrodes, they became significantly small. Thus, the analysis suggested that local codes of approximately constant shape propagated and conveyed information across the network. Hence, the codes can serve as visible and trackable marks of propagating spike waves as well as evaluating information flow in the neuronal network

Efficacy of SMART Stent Placement for Salvage Angioplasty in Hemodialysis Patients with Recurrent Vascular Access Stenosis

Vascular access stenosis is a major complication in hemodialysis patients. We prospectively observed 50 patients in whom 50 nitinol shape-memory alloy-recoverable technology (SMART) stents were used as salvage therapy for recurrent peripheral venous stenosis. Twenty-five stents each were deployed in native arteriovenous fistula (AVF) and synthetic arteriovenous polyurethane graft (AVG) cases. Vascular access patency rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The primary patency rates in AVF versus AVG at 3, 6, and 12 months were 80.3% versus 75.6%, 64.9% versus 28.3%, and 32.3% versus 18.9%, respectively. The secondary patency rates in AVF versus AVG at 3, 6, and 12 months were 88.5% versus 75.5%, 82.6% versus 61.8%, and 74.4% versus 61.8%, respectively. Although there were no statistically significant difference in patency between AVF and AVG, AVG showed poor tendency in primary and secondary patency. The usefulness of SMART stents was limited in a short period of time in hemodialysis patients with recurrent vascular access stenosis