Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is a cell surface molecule specific to Gram-positive bacteria. How LTA localises on the cell surface is a fundamental issue in view of recognition and immunomodulation in ...hosts. In the present study, we examined LTA localisation using strain JCM 1131T of Lactobacillus gasseri, which is a human intestinal lactic acid bacterium, during various growth phases by immunoelectron microscopy. We first evaluated the specificity of anti-LTA monoclonal antibody clone 55 used as a probe. The glycerophosphate backbone comprising almost intact size (20 to 30 repeating units) of LTA was required for binding. The antibody did not bind to other cellular components, including wall-teichoic acid. Immunoelectron microscopy indicated that LTA was embedded in the cell wall during the logarithmic phase, and was therefore not exposed on the cell surface. Similar results were observed for Lactobacillus fermentum ATCC 9338 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 7469T. By contrast, membrane vesicles were observed in the logarithmic phase of L. gasseri with LTA exposed on their surface. In the stationary and death phases, LTA was exposed on cell wall-free cell membrane generated by autolysis. The dramatic alternation of localisation in different growth phases and exposure on the surface of membrane vesicles should relate with complicated interaction between bacteria and host.
Living‐donor lobar lung transplantation (LDLLT) is one of the final options for saving patients with pulmonary complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We retrospectively ...investigated 19 patients who had undergone LDLLT after HSCT in Japan. Eight patients underwent LDLLT after HSCT in which one of the donors was the same living donor as in HSCT (SD group), while 11 received LDLLT from relatives who were not the HSCT donors (non‐SD group). In the SD group, three patients underwent single LDLLT. The 5‐year survival rate was 100% and 58% in the SD and non‐SD groups, respectively. In the SD group, postoperative immunosuppression was significantly lower than in the non‐SD group. Two patients died of infection and one died of post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) in the non‐SD group, while only one patient died of PTLD 7 years after LDLLT in the SD group. Hematologic malignancy relapsed in two patients in the non‐SD group. For the three single LDLLTs in the SD group, immunosuppression was carefully tapered. In our study, LDLLT involving the same donor as for HSCT appeared to have advantages related to lower immunosuppression compared to LDLLT from relatives who were not the HSCT donors.
Living‐donor lobar lung transplantation involving the same donor as for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation appears to have advantages related to lower immunosuppression compared to living‐donor lobar lung transplantation from relatives who are not the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation donors.
High purity erbium nitride (ErN) spheres with the size range of 150-180 µm and 180-212 µm were prepared by nitriding Er metal spheres with low oxygen content. The initial regenerator material of ...HoCu2 on the cold end of the second regenerator column in 4K-GM cryocooler with nominal cooling power of 0.1 W at 4.2 K was replaced by ErN with different sizes. Higher cooling power was obtained when ErN of smaller size with lower oxygen content was used. We investigated the effect of partial replacement of HoCu2 by ErN in the cold end side of second stage regenerator column on cooling power of 4K-GM cryocoolers. When ErN were substituted for 20 % of HoCu2, the cooling power at 4.2 K reached 0.318 W. This value was 1.36 times as high as that of the cooling power of the GM cryocooler with commercially available regenerator arrangement. Therefore, use of ErN regenerator materials leads to the energy-saving and downsizing of 4K-GM cryocoolers.
Oxygen consumption of individual bovine embryos was noninvasively quantified by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). A probe microelectrode was used to scan near a single embryo surface in a ...culture medium to monitor the oxygen reduction current at 37 °C, under a water-saturated atmosphere of 5% CO2 and 95% air. The oxygen concentration profiles near the embryos were in good agreement with the theoretical spherical diffusion. When an embryo reached the stage of a morula with a 74-μm radius on day 6 after in vitro fertilization, the oxygen concentration difference (ΔC) between the bulk solution and the morula surface was 6.90 ± 1.35 μM. The oxygen consumption rate (F) of the single morula was estimated to be (1.40 ± 0.27) × 10-14 mol s-1. After the SECM measurement, the embryo was continuously cultured for another 2 days and grew to the stage of a blastocyst with a 100-μm radius. For the blastocyst, the ΔC values for the inner cell mass side and the trophoblast side were 16.40 ± 1.83 and 9.14 ± 1.68 μM, respectively. The oxygen consumption rate of the blastocyst was found to be in the range of (2.50 ± 0.46) × 10-14 mol s-1 < F < (4.49 ± 0.50) × 10-14 mol s-1. We have carried out SECM measurements for 19 embryos, and the results were compared in detail with these from an optical microscopic observation. The ΔC values for the morulae on day 6 after in vitro fertilization were strongly related to the morphological embryo quality. The morulae showing a larger ΔC value developed into blastocysts of a larger size, and the ΔC value after the subsequent 2 days of cultivation was found to be increased.
A preoperative clinical diagnosis of the ectopic pancreas can be difficult. Due to its submucosal location, Endoscopic Ultrasound Guided Fine Needle Aspiration is likely to aspirate this lesion. ...Ectopic pancreas can show nuclear atypia which needs differentiation from the acinic cell carcinoma. Authors of this paper have discussed the cytoogical features of the ectopic pancreas and how to differentiate them from the acinic cell carcinoma.
Abstract Because the shortage of donor organs is especially serious in Japan, since 2002 a unique partnership between transplant consultant physicians and local physicians has been developed to ...maximize the organ utilization rate. Since 2011, more than 25 lung consultant physicians have been registered to specifically assess donor lungs and provide advice on intensive respiratory care to donors. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the efficacy of this system for lung transplantation opportunities and outcomes. One hundred eighty-seven brain-dead lung donor candidates were chronologically divided into 3 phases: I (May 1998–November 2006) and II (December 2006–January 2011), before and after medical consultants requested that local physicians administer aggressive bronchial suctioning using bronchoscopy, respectively; and phase III (February 2011–January 2013), after the emergence of lung consultants. The lung utilization rate, Pa o2 /F io2 ratio at the first and second brain death examinations and at the tertiary assessment before recovery, and graft survival were analyzed. The lung utilization rate was significantly higher in phases II and III than in phase I. In phases I and II, the Pa o2 /F io2 ratio at the tertiary assessment was significantly lower than that at the first or the second brain death examination, whereas it did not worsen with time in phase III. Graft survival was significantly better in phases II and III than in phase I. Graft death due to primary graft dysfunction was significantly more frequent in phase I than in phases II and III. In conclusion, this system is effective in improving lung transplantation opportunities and outcomes.
The aim of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the relationship between vascularity within lymph nodes and lymph node size on Doppler ultrasound images of patients with oral cancer.
A total of ...310 lymph nodes (86 metastatic, 224 benign) from 63 patients with oral cancer were classified into 4 groups according to their short axis diameters: Group 1, short axis diameters of 4-5 mm; Group 2, 6-7 mm; Group 3, 8-9 mm; and Group 4, ≥ 10 mm. Vascular and scattering indices of lymph nodes on Doppler ultrasound images were analysed quantitatively. The vascular index was defined as the ratio of blood flow area to the whole lymph node area and the scattering index was defined as the number of isolated blood flow signal units.
For metastatic lymph nodes, the vascular index was highest in Group 1 and decreased as lymph node size increased. The vascular index of benign lymph nodes did not differ significantly among the four groups. The vascular index of metastatic lymph nodes was significantly higher than that of benign lymph nodes in Group 1. For metastatic lymph nodes, the scattering index increased as lymph node size increased and was significantly higher than that of benign lymph nodes in Groups 2-4.
An increase in vascularity is a characteristic of Doppler ultrasound findings in small metastatic lymph nodes. As the metastatic lymph node size increases, blood flow signals become scattered, and the scattering index increases.
Objective: The best indicators for VATS are not well known. Therefore, we review here a series of patients who underwent VATS lobectomy and segmentectomy at our hospital, and we attempt to identify ...the factors that influence the survival of VATS patients and the backgrounds of such patients. Methods: A thoracoscopic curative approach was attempted in 140 patients (100 lobectomy, 40 segmentectomy) from January 1994 to December 2002. We retrospectively reviewed the VATS patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). All patients were subject to lobectomy or segmentectomy, including dissection of hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes that were in pathological stage (p-Stage) I or II. Our VATS approach was a hybrid technique, employing three ports and a small (7 cm diameter) utility thoracotomy to allow access for the instrument and a view. Results: The Kaplan–Meier probabilities of survival at 5 years were VATS, 77.3%. According to a univariate analysis of survival curves, the significant prognostic factors (P<0.05) in the patients with VATS in p-Stage I and II were gender, type of histology, and T factor. In addition, the grades of differentiation, surgical procedure (lobectomy vs. segmentectomy), and extent of metastasis to the hilar lymph node (N0 vs. N1) in VATS were not found to be significant prognostic factors. A multivariate prognostic factor in VATS showed that the histologic cell type, gender, and T factor were predominant. All of the VATS cases that included these three favorable factors (adenocarcinoma, T1, female) were alive. Conclusion: Stringent selection of candidates for VATS in NSCLC at pathological stages I and II could be an acceptable and valuable approach.
A series of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligomers targeting the mdm2 oncogene mRNA has been tested for the ability to inhibit the growth of JAR cells. The effect of these PNAs on the cells was also ...reflected in reduced levels of the MDM2 protein and increased levels of the p53 tumor suppressor protein, which is negatively regulated by MDM2. Initially, PNA oligomers were delivered as DNA complexes with lipofectamine, but it was discovered that PNA conjugated to the DNA intercalator 9-aminoacridine (Acr) (Acr–PNA) could be effectively delivered to JAR cells (as well as to HeLa pLuc705 cells) even in the absence of a DNA carrier. Using such lipofectamine-delivered Acr–PNA conjugates, one PNA targeting a cryptic AUG initiation site was identified that at a concentration of 2 μM caused a reduction of MDM2 levels to ∼20% (but no reduction in mdm2 mRNA levels) and a 3-fold increase in p53 levels, whereas a 2-base mismatch control had no such effects. Furthermore, transcriptional activation by p53 was also increased (6-fold), and cell viability was reduced to 80%. Finally, this PNA acted cooperatively with camptothecin treatment both with regard to p53 activity induction as well as cell viability. Using this novel cell delivery system, we have identified a target on the mdm2 mRNA that appears sensitive to antisense inhibition by PNA and therefore could be used as a lead for further development of mdm2-targeted antisense (PNA and other) gene therapeutic anticancer drugs.
Abstract The aim of this study was to display the lingual artery superimposed on the anatomical image and to confirm its course and relation to the adjacent structures, noninvasively. Nineteen ...volunteers participated in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study and one was excluded for excessive movement during scanning. A three-dimensional phase-contrast sequence (3D-PC) of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) was used for vessel images, and a 3D-T1 high-resolution volume examination (THRIVE) was used for anatomical images. Colour-coded vessel images from 3D-PC MRA were superimposed on the 3D volume anatomical images, and the arterial course and relation to the adjacent structures were confirmed with multiplanar reconstructed cross-sectional (MPR) images. 3D-PC MRA images visualized the lingual artery in all 18 subjects and the sublingual artery in 14 subjects. In seven of 18 cases the bilateral sublingual arteries were shown to run side by side but had no contact with the sublingual veins. They ran together with the sublingual veins in four cases. Three cases showed irregular patterns. The bilateral sublingual arteries could not be identified in four cases. 3D-PC MRA images of the lingual artery superimposed on the anatomical images may be clinically useful to confirm its course and relationship to the adjacent structures before surgery, in order to prevent haemorrhage.
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