A Phase I Trial of DFMO Targeting Polyamine Addiction in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Neuroblastoma

BackgroundNeuroblastoma (NB) is the most common cancer in infancy and most frequent cause of death from extracranial solid tumors in children. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) expression is an independent indicator of poor prognosis in NB patients. This study investigated safety, response, pharmacokinetics, genetic and metabolic factors associated with ODC in a clinical trial of the ODC inhibitor difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) ± etoposide for patients with relapsed or refractory NB.ConclusionsDFMO doses of 500-1500mg/m2/day are safe and well tolerated in children with relapsed NB. Children with the minor T allele at rs2302616 of the ODC gene with relapsed or refractory NB had higher levels of urinary polyamine markers and responded better to therapy containing DFMO, compared to those with the major G allele at this locus. These findings suggest that this patient subset may display dependence on polyamines and be uniquely susceptible to therapies targeting this pathway.

Trial Registration

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT#01059071     

Genetic variations and phylogeography of the swallowtail butterfly Papilio machaon on the Japanese Islands

The swallowtail butterfly Papilio machaon Linnaeus, 1758 is widely distributed in the Holarctic region, including all of the main islands of Japan, as well as Sakhalin, and on other smaller islands south to Yakushima Island. The Japanese population is situated at the margin of the Eurasian distribution range of this species. It is morphologically different from other populations and has been classified as the subspecies hippocrates C. & R. Felder, 1864. The population of the Japanese Islands is considered to be genetically distinct from the continental populations in relation to the geographical history of the Japanese Islands. Therefore, we examined a part of the ND5 gene sequence of the mitochondrial DNA for P. machaon individuals of various localities in Japan and some nearby countries, and found 68 haplotypes in 400 individuals from the Japanese Islands and Sakhalin. A DNA polymorphism analysis revealed that the genetic structure of the Hokkaido population was significantly different from that of the southern populations on the main Japanese islands. These results imply that P. machaon expanded its range from the Amur region of Russia southward through Sakhalin to the Japanese Islands, and that the Tsugaru Strait between Hokkaido and Honshu may have subsequently limited their gene flow as a geographical barrier.     

Design and synthesis of novel pyrimido[4,5-b]azepine derivatives as HER2/EGFR dual inhibitors

A novel 7,6 fused bicyclic scaffold, pyrimido[4,5-b]azepine was designed to fit into the ATP binding site of the HER2/EGFR proteins. The synthesis of this scaffold was accomplished by an intramolecular Claisen-type condensation. As the results of optimization lead us to 4-anilino and 6-functional groups, we discovered 6-substituted amide derivative 19b, which has a 1-benzothiophen-4-yloxy group attached to the 4-anilino group. An X-ray co-crystal structure of 19b with EGFR demonstrated that the N-1 and N-3 nitrogens of the pyrimido[4,5-b]azepine scaffold make hydrogen-bonding interactions with the main chain NH of Met793 and the side chain of Thr854 via a water-mediated hydrogen bond network, respectively. In addition, the NH proton at the 9-position makes an additional hydrogen bond with the carbonyl group of Met793, as we expected. Compound 19b revealed potent HER2/EGFR kinase (IC₅₀: 24/36 nM) and BT474 cell growth (GI₅₀: 18 nM) inhibitory activities based on its pseudo-irreversible (PI) profile.     

Association of the Golgi UDP-galactose transporter with UDP-galactose:ceramide galactosyltransferase allows UDP-galactose import in the endoplasmic reticulum

UDP-galactose reaches the Golgi lumen through the UDP-galactose transporter (UGT) and is used for the galactosylation of proteins and lipids. Ceramides and diglycerides are galactosylated within the endoplasmic reticulum by the UDP-galactose:ceramide galactosyltransferase. It is not known how UDP-galactose is transported from the cytosol into the endoplasmic reticulum. We transfected ceramide galactosyltransferase cDNA into CHOlec8 cells, which have a defective UGT and no endogenous ceramide galactosyltransferase. Cotransfection with the human UGT1 greatly stimulated synthesis of lactosylceramide in the Golgi and of galactosylceramide in the endoplasmic reticulum. UDP-galactose was directly imported into the endoplasmic reticulum because transfection with UGT significantly enhanced synthesis of galactosylceramide in endoplasmic reticulum membranes. Subcellular fractionation and double label immunofluorescence microscopy showed that a sizeable fraction of ectopically expressed UGT and ceramide galactosyltransferase resided in the endoplasmic reticulum of CHOlec8 cells. The same was observed when UGT was expressed in human intestinal cells that have an endogenous ceramide galactosyltransferase. In contrast, in CHOlec8 singly transfected with UGT 1, the transporter localized exclusively to the Golgi complex. UGT and ceramide galactosyltransferase were entirely detergent soluble and form a complex because they could be coimmunoprecipitated. We conclude that the ceramide galactosyltransferase ensures a supply of UDP-galactose in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen by retaining UGT in a molecular complex.     

Selective recovery of precious metals by persimmon waste chemically modified with dimethylamine

Persimmon waste was chemically modified with dimethylamine (DMA) to obtain a tertiary-amine-type gel, named DMA persimmon waste gel (DMA-PW). It was found to be effective for the adsorption of Au(III), Pd(II), and Pt(IV) in hydrochloric acid medium. In contrast, base metals such as Cu(II), Zn(II), Fe(III), and Ni(II) were not practically adsorbed. The formation of ion pairs of the metal chloro complex anions with the protonated adsorption gels was proposed as the main adsorption process. The gel exhibited selectivity only for precious metals with a remarkably high capacity for Au(III), i.e., 5.63 mol/kg dry gel and comparable capacities, i.e., 0.42 and 0.28 mol/kg for Pd(II) and Pt(IV), respectively. According to the kinetic and electrochemical studies, the adsorption rate of Au(III) was greatly enhanced by the chemical modification. Also, its excellent adsorption characteristics for the precious metals were confirmed by adsorption and elution tests using a column packed with the DMA-PW gel.     

Role of proline residues in conferring thermostability on aqualysin I

To understand the molecular basis of the thermostability of a thermophilic serine protease aqualysin I from Thermus aquaticus YT-1, we introduced mutations at Pro5, Pro7, Pro240 and Pro268, which are located on the surface loops of aqualysin I, by changing these amino acid residues into those found at the corresponding locations in VPR, a psychrophilic serine protease from Vibrio sp. PA-44. All mutants were expressed stably and exhibited essentially the same specific activity as wild-type aqualysin I at 40 degrees C. The P240N mutant protein had similar thermostability to wild-type aqualysin I, but P5N and P268T showed lower thermostability, with a half-life at 90 degrees C of 15 and 30 min, respectively, as compared to 45 min for the wild-type enzyme. The thermostability of P7I was decreased even more markedly, and the mutant protein was rapidly inactivated at 80 degrees C and even at 70 degrees C, with half-lives of 10 and 60 min, respectively. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed that the transition temperatures of wild-type enzyme, P5N, P7I, P240N and P268T were 93.99 degrees C, 83.45 degrees C, 75.66 degrees C, 91.78 degrees C and 86.49 degrees C, respectively. These results underscore the importance of the proline residues in the N- and C-terminal regions of aqualysin I in maintaining the integrity of the overall protein structure at elevated temperatures.     

Reversal of mutualism in a leafflower–leafflower moth association: the possible driving role of a third‐party partner

A major goal in the study of mutualism is to understand how co‐operation is maintained when mutualism may potentially turn into parasitism. Although certain mechanisms facilitate the persistence of mutualism, parasitic species have repeatedly evolved from mutualistic ancestors. However, documented examples of mutualism reversals are still rare. Leafflowers (Phyllantheae; Phyllanthaceae) include approximately 500 species that engage in obligate mutualism with leafflower moths (Epicephala; Gracillariidae), which actively pollinate flowers, and whose larvae feed on the resulting seeds. We found that the Taiwanese population of the Phyllanthus reticulatus species complex was associated with six sympatric Epicephala species, of which three were derived parasites that induced gall formation on flowers/buds and produced no seeds. Notably, two parasitic species have retained mutualistic pollination behaviour, suggesting that the parasitism was likely not selected for to reduce the cost of mutualism. We propose that the galling habit evolved as an adaptation to escape parasitism by a specialized braconid wasp. The tough gall produced by one species was almost free of braconid parasitism, and the swollen gall induced by the other species probably prevents attack as a result of the larger airspace inside the gall. Our findings suggest that the presence of a third‐party partner can greatly influence the evolutionary fate of mutualisms, regardless of whether the pairwise interaction continues to favour co‐operation.     

Selenoprotein P Controls Oxidative Stress in Cornea

The ocular surface is always attacked by oxidative stress, and cornea epithelial cells are supposed to have their own recovery system against oxidative stress. Therefore we hypothesized that tears supply key molecules for preventing oxidative stress in cornea. The potential target key molecule we focused is selenoprotein P (SeP). SeP is a carrier of selenium, which is an essential trace element for many animals, for oxidative stress metabolism in the organism, and was extremely expressed in lacrimal gland. An experiment was performed with SeP eye drops in a rat dry eye model, prepared by removing the lacrimal glands. The anticipated improvement in corneal dry eye index and the suppression of oxidative stress markers were observed in SeP eye drop group. Furthermore, the concentration of SeP was significantly higher in dry eye patients compared with normal volunteers. Collectively, we concluded that tear SeP is a key molecule to protect the ocular surface cells against environmental oxidative stress.     

Nonuniform concerted evolution and chloroplast capture: heterogeneity of observed introgression patterns in three molecular data partition phylogenies of Asian Mitella (saxifragaceae)

Interspecific hybridization is one of the major factors leading to phylogenetic incongruence among loci, but the knowledge is still limited about the potential of each locus to introgress between species. By directly sequencing three DNA regions: chloroplast DNAs (matK gene and trnL-F noncoding region), the nuclear ribosomal external transcribed spacer (ETS) region, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, we construct three phylogenetic trees of Asian species of Mitella (Saxifragaceae), a genus of perennials in which natural hybrids are commonly observed. Within this genus, there is a significant topological conflict between chloroplast and nuclear phylogenies and also between the ETS and the ITS, which can be attributed to frequent hybridization within the lineage. Chloroplast DNAs show the most extensive introgression pattern, ITS regions show a moderate pattern, and the ETS region shows no evidence of introgression. Nonuniform concerted evolution best explains the difference in the introgression patterns between the ETS region and ITS regions, as the sequence heterogeneity of the ITS region within an individual genome is estimated to be twice that of an ETS in this lineage. Significant gene conversion patterns between two hybridizing taxa were observed in contiguous arrays of cloned ETS-ITS sequences, further confirming that only ITS regions have introgressed bidirectionally. The relatively slow concerted evolution in the ITS regions probably allows the coexistence of multiple alleles within a genome, whereas the strong concerted evolution in the ETS region rapidly eliminates heterogeneous alleles derived from other species, resulting in species delimitations highly concordant with those based on morphology. This finding indicates that the use of multiple molecular tools has the potential to reveal detailed organismal evolution processes involving interspecific hybridization, as an individual locus varies greatly in its potential to introgress between species.     

Influence of surface anesthesia on the pressure pain threshold measured with different-sized probes

Transcutaneous pressure with pressure probes of arbitrary diameters have been commonly used for measuring the threshold and magnitude of muscle pain, yet this procedure lacks scientific validation. To examine the valid probe dimensions, we conducted physiological experiments using 34 human subjects. Pin-prick pain, pressure pain threshold (PPT) to pressure probes of various diameters, heat pain threshold, and electrical pain threshold of deep tissues were measured before and after application of surface lidocaine anesthesia to the skin surface over the brachioradial muscle in a double-blinded manner. The anesthesia neither affected PPT with larger probes (diameters: 1.6 and 15 mm) nor increased electric pain threshold of deep structures, whereas it diminished pain count in pin-prick test and PPT with a 1.0 mm diameter probe, suggesting that mechanical pain thresholds measured with 1.6 and 15 mm probes reflect the pain threshold of deep tissues, possibly muscle. Pain thresholds to heat did not change after application of the anesthesia. These results suggest that larger pressure probes can give a better estimation of muscular pain threshold.