Calcifying nested stromal epithelial tumor of the liver in a patient with Klinefelter syndrome: a case report and review of the literature

Background

Calcifying nested stromal epithelial tumor (CNSET) is a primary neoplasm of the liver, characterized by well-demarcated nests consisting of spindle and epithelioid cells with calcification and bone formation. An association of Cushing syndrome with CNSET has drawn attention, but the origin of CNSET has not been clarified.

Case presentation

We report here the case of a 20-year-old male with Klinefelter syndrome who underwent liver resection for an increasing liver tumor that was pathologically diagnosed with CNSET. He was postoperatively followed up and received several examinations, and recurrences and extrahepatic lymph node metastases were detected on the 64th day after surgery. Chemoembolization and chemotherapy were not effective, leading to tumor progression with development of progressive liver failure, and the patient finally died 164 days after hepatectomy.

Conclusions

This case suggests that an imbalance of hormones affects the genesis and progression of CNSET, and indicates the importance of closely following patients with CNSET by imaging with attention to hepatic recurrence and extrahepatic metastases.

     

Effects of non-frozen cold storage on the growth,organogenesis and secondary metabolism of callus cultures

Callus tissues derived from chilling-tolerant herbaceous plant, Atractylodes lancea, Atropa belladonna, Bupleurum falcatum, Dioscorea tokoro, Lithospermum erythrorhizon and Phytolacca americana could be cold-stored at 4°C for three months or more, whereas those from chilling-sensitive herbaceous plants such as Datura innoxia and Perilla frutescens var. crispa and a deciduous tree, Mallotus japonicus, could not survive after cold storage for two to three months. Tobacco callus cultures could be stored at 4°C for two or four months depending on a callus strain. The effect of cold storage on secondary metabolite production varied. Nicotine and betalain production suffered from cold storage of tobacco and Phytolacca americana callus cultures, respectively. However, production of anthocyanin in cultures of Mallotus japonicus and Bupleurum falcatum and shikonin derivatives in Lithospermum erythrorhizon callus was affected very little. Root-forming ability was retained for more than one year in cold-stored callus tissues of Bupleurum falcatum, while the control callus tissues maintained at 25°C completely lost the organogenetic ability six months after the first subculture.     

Quantitative determination of overlapped proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

A method for resolving an overlapped polypeptide pattern of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was described. The procedure was essentially a Gaussian fitting using the least squares method, and could resolve more than 20 overlapped components simultaneously. The applicability to overlapped and shouldered patterns was evaluated using practical electrophoretic data with varying amounts of mitochondrial samples. The relative contents of respective polypeptide components gave a good agreement regardless of the loaded amounts.     

Role of Intestinal Bacteria in Ileal Ulcer Formation in Rats Treated with a Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drug

The role of intestinal bacteria in induction and repression of ulcer formation in the ileum of rats treated with one of the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), 5-bromo-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-(4-methylsulfonylphenyl) thiophene (BFMeT), was examined in this study. BFMeT was administered by intragastric gavage once at doses of 500-1,500 mg/kg of body weight to Wistar rats treated with and without antibiotics (bacitracin, neomycin, streptomycin), germ-free rats and gnotobiotic rats, and 72 hr later their gastrointestinal tracts were examined for ulcer formation. A single oral administration of BFMeT induced ileal ulcers in specific pathogen-free rats. However, the rats given antibiotics to reduce the intestinal bacteria had no ulcers. BFMeT-treated germ-free rats and gnotobiotic rats mono-associated with Bifidobacterium adolescentis or Lactobacillus acidophilus also had no intestinal ulcers. However, the drug induced ileal ulcers in gnotobiotic rats mono-associated with Eubacterium limosum or Escherichia coli. An overnight culture of B. adolescentis or L. acidophilus or yogurt containing Bifidobacterium breve and Streptococcus thermophilus, when given as drinking water, inhibited ulcer formation in the ileum of rats treated with BFMeT. Gram staining of the ileal contents of normal rats revealed that 97.4% of the stained microorganisms were Gram-positive rods and only 1.2% were Gram-negative rods. In the group of rats with ulcers induced by BFMeT, the Gram-positive rods decreased by 56.4% and the Gram-negative rods including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Proteus and Bacteroides increased by 37.3%. However, in the group of rats administered the Bifidobacterium culture, the Lactobacillus culture or yogurt, the percentages of the Gram-negative rods were decreased. Although Lactobacillus was a major bacterium in the ileum of normal rats, the Gram-negative facultatively anaerobic rods E. coli, Klebsiella and Proteus were increased in the ulcerated ileum of rats treated with BFMeT, suggesting that these bacteria are associated with ulcer formation in rats treated with NSAIDs, and that Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium inhibit it by repressing the growth of ulcer-inducing bacteria.     

The acylation of lipophilic alcohols by lysosomal phospholipase A2

A novel lysosomal phospholipase A(2) (LPLA2) with specificity toward phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine was previously purified and cloned. LPLA2 transfers sn-1 or sn-2 acyl groups of phospholipids to the C1 hydroxyl of the short-chain ceramide N-acetylsphingosine (NAS) under acidic conditions. The common features of lipophilic alcohols serving as acceptor molecules in the transacylase reaction were examined. 1-O-Hexadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (HAG) was acylated by LPLA2 similar to NAS. HAG competed with NAS and inhibited NAS acylation. The transacylation of 1-O-hexadecyl-glycerol (HG), 1-O-palmityl-2-O-methyl-sn-glycerol (PMG), and monoacylglycerols was also investigated. HG, PMG, 1- or 3-palmitoyl-sn-glycerol, and 2-palmitoylglycerol were converted to 1,3-alkylacylglycerol, 1,2-dialkyl-3-acylglycerol, 1,3-diacylglycerol, and 1,2- or 2,3-diacylglycerol, respectively. HG and monoacylglycerol inhibited the acylation of NAS by the enzyme with IC(50) values of 35 and 45 microM, respectively. Additionally, the enzyme acylated glycerol to produce 1- or 3-acyl-sn-glycerol but not 2-acylglycerol. Therefore, the preferred acceptor molecules for LPLA2 are primary alcohols with one long carbon chain and one small nonpolar residue linked to the C2 position of ethanol. The enzyme acylated other natural lipophilic alcohols, including anandamide and oleoylethanolamide. Thus, LPLA2 may function to remodel acyl groups and modulate the biological and pharmacological activities of some lipophilic alcohols.     

Altered expression profiles of clock genes hPer1 and hPer2 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of cancer patients undergoing surgery

Patients undergoing surgery often develop symptoms of circadian rhythm disorders such as insomnia or delirium. However, the effect of surgery on the biological clock remains unknown. The present study examines the expression of clock genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and measures plasma hormone concentrations in patients with esophageal cancer and early gastric cancer who underwent surgery. Six blood samples per day were collected from 9 patients with esophageal cancer before and after esophagectomy and from 9 patients with early gastric cancer before and after laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG). The expression profiles of hPer1 and hPer2 mRNAs in PBMCs were determined by real-time RT-PCR. Plasma melatonin and cortisol concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. Plasma melatonin levels decreased in both groups throughout the day and plasma cortisol levels changed after surgery. The acrophase of clock gene expression was altered after surgery as follows: hPer1, from 6:19+/-1:50 to 13:59+/-0:59 (p=0.0003) and from 7:47+/-1:27 to 12:33+/-1:30 (p=0.0043) and hPer2, from 5:01+/-2:59 to 19:30+/-2:15 (p<0.0001) and from 6:49+/-1:59 to 13:39+/-3:06 (p=0.0171) in patients with esophageal and early gastric cancer, respectively. The post-operative phase change of hPer2 was more prominent after esophagectomy than after LADG. Our results suggest that surgical stress affects the peripheral clock as well as endogenous hormones in humans.     

Locating missing water molecules in protein cavities by the three-dimensional reference interaction site model theory of molecular solvation

Water molecules confined in protein cavities are of great importance in understanding the protein structure and functions. However, it is a nontrivial task to locate such water molecules in protein by the ordinary molecular simulation and modeling techniques as well as experimental methods. The present study proves that the three-dimensional reference interaction site model (3D-RISM) theory, a recently developed statistical-mechanical theory of molecular solvation, has an outstanding advantage in locating such water molecules. In this paper, we demonstrate that the 3D-RISM theory is able to reproduce the structure and the number of water molecules in cavities of hen egg-white lysozyme observed commonly in the X-ray structures of different resolutions and conditions. Furthermore, we show that the theory successfully identified a water molecule in a cavity, the existence of which has been ambiguous even from the X-ray results. In contrast, we confirmed that molecular dynamics simulation is helpless at present to find such water molecules because the results substantially depend on the initial coordinates of water molecules. Possible applications of the theory to problems in the fields of biochemistry and biophysics are also discussed.     

Elasticity of mutant myosin subfragment-1 arranged on a functional silver surface.

Elasticity of a two-dimensionally arranged myosin subfragment-1 (S1) was measured by using a surface forces apparatus. To prepare a two-dimensionally arranged S1-monolayer on a functionalized silver surface, we used genetically engineered Dictyostelium S1 molecules. A highly reactive cysteine residue was fused to the COOH-terminus using the recombinant DNA method. On the other hand, the maleimide groups was self-assembled onto a silver surface. Then the mutant S1 molecules were chemically bound to the functionalized silver surface at its COOH-terminus. This arrangement technique was necessary in order to create a stable S1-monolayer by chemical bond formation onto the silver surface. The occupied area of the single S1 on the silver surface was about 110 nm(2). In the interaction between the S1-monolayer and mica surfaces in aqueous solution, a long-range attractive force was observed. The elastic constants (stiffness and Young's modulus) of myosin S1 were evaluated from force-distance profiles in aqueous solution, using the Hertz theory. We found that the stiffness (or spring constant) and Young's modulus of S1 in the absence of nucleotide are 4.4 +/- 1.0 pN/nm and 0.71 +/- 0.16 GPa, respectively.     

Growth phase-dependent active transport of pyridoxine in a fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Schizosaccharomyces pombe showed maximum pyridoxine uptake activity around 10 h after starting cultivation. High concentrations of thiamine and pyridoxine in the medium did not affect the activity or the time but changed intracellular levels of vitamin B₆ compounds. Pyridoxine was taken up by a saturable mechanism with two kinds of affinity (K_m 22.4 μM and 118 μM). The uptake depended on the energy produced anaerobically with an optimum pH of 4.5. The uptake was completely inhibited by amiloride, sodium azide or 2,4-dinitrophenol. The uptake system of the fission yeast was different in various respects from that of a budding yeast.