A peptidergic component to vagally induced tracheal vasodilation in the dog.

The purpose of the study was to determine the extent that peptidergic afferent and efferent pathways contribute to vagally induced vasodilation in the trachea of the dog. The change in vascular resistance of the tracheal branch of the cranial thyroid artery and the trachealis responses were determined in 28 anesthetized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated dogs. After propranolol (2 mg/kg) and phentolamine (1.5 mg/kg), stimulation of the superior laryngeal nerves (NS; 15 Hz, 7 V, 2 ms, 30 s) caused a decrease in vascular resistance of 11.7 +/- 0.8% and a tracheal contraction of 5.2 +/- 4.7 cmH2O. Atropine (1.5 mg/kg) reduced the fall in vascular resistance to 4.7 +/- 0.8% (P less than 0.01), whereas tracheal contraction was abolished. Thiorphan (1.5 mg), a neutral endopeptidase inhibitor, augmented the decrease in vascular resistance (8.8 +/- 0.6%; P less than 0.01) to NS. After hexamethonium (0.5 mg/kg), NS still caused a small decrease in TVR (2.9 +/- 0.9%; P less than 0.05), which was abolished by capsaicin. In atropinized dogs, capsaicin reduced the fall in vascular resistance after NS; the residual vasodilation was virtually abolished by hexamethonium. Acetylcholine (10(-3) mg/kg) decreased vascular resistance (15.7 +/- 3.0%), and the effect was abolished by atropine. We conclude that there is noncholinergic nonadrenergic vagally induced tracheal vasodilation that is peptidergic. The peptidergic vasodilation appears to be mediated by both afferent and efferent pathways.     

Synthetic retinoid CD437 induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Retinoids play an important role in the regulation of cell growth and death. Synthetic retinoid CD437 reportedly induces apoptosis in various cancer cell lines. However, the mechanism of inducing apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells by this agent remains to be clarified. In this study, we investigated the signaling pathway by which CD437 induces apoptosis in HCC cell lines. Apoptosis of six human HCC cell lines was induced by treatment with CD437. Caspase-3 and -9 were activated by CD437, suggesting that the apoptosis is mediated by mitochondrial pathways. Consistent with these findings, the treatment with CD437 upregulated Bax protein, downregulated Bcl-2 protein and released cytochrome c into the cytoplasm. Moreover, rhodamine123 staining revealed mitochondrial depolarization in the cells treated with CD437. These data of the present study suggest that CD437 induces apoptosis in HCC cells via mitochondrial pathways.     

CD437 induces apoptosis in ovarian adenocarcinoma cells via ER stress signaling

A synthetic retinoid, CD437, has been shown to exert potent anti-tumor activity against various types of cancer cell lines, regardless of their sensitivities to natural retinoids. We herein demonstrate that CD437 induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, including the up-regulation of CHOP, BIP and GADD34 mRNA through ER stress transducer (PERK and IRE1α) activation in an ovarian adenocarcinoma cell line, SKOV3. It was also shown that CD437 induced the CHOP and GADD34 expressions in another four ovarian adenocarcinoma cell lines, indicating that CD437 functions as an ER stress inducer in these cell lines. Moreover, the siRNA-mediated knockdown of inducible CHOP expression prevented the cytotoxic effect of CD437. These results suggest that ER stress plays an important role in the mechanism by which CD437 induces apoptosis in ovarian adenocarcinoma cells.     

Cellular FLIP inhibits beta-catenin ubiquitylation and enhances Wnt signaling

Cellular FLIP (cFLIP) is a close homologue of caspase 8 without caspase activity that inhibits Fas signaling. The cFLIP protein is often expressed in human tumors and is believed to suppress antitumor immune responses involving the Fas system. Here, we report that a long form of cFLIP (cFLIP-L) inhibits β-catenin ubiquitylation and increases endogenous cytosolic β-catenin, which results in translocation of β-catenin into nuclei and induction of β-catenin-dependent gene expression in cFLIP-L-expressing cells. When cells stably expressing cFLIP-L were stimulated with Wnt3a, enhanced Wnt signaling was observed compared with the control cells. Conversely, depletion of endogenous cFLIP results in reduced Wnt signaling. Furthermore, cFLIP-L increases secondary-body axis formation when coinjected with suboptimal doses of β-catenin into early Xenopus embryos. Down-regulation of FADD by RNA-mediated interference abolishes the β-catenin-dependent gene expression induced by cFLIP-L. These results indicate that cFLIP-L, in cooperation with FADD, enhances canonical Wnt signaling by inhibiting proteasomal degradation of β-catenin, thus suggesting an additional mechanism involved with tumorgenesis, in addition to inhibiting Fas signaling.     

Telomere length determined by the fluorescence in situ hybridisation distinguishes malignant and benign cells in cytological specimens

Background

Telomeres are tandem repeats of TTAGGG at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes that play a key role in preventing chromosomal instability. The aim of the present study is to determine telomere length using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) on cytological specimens.

Methods

Aspiration samples (n = 41) were smeared on glass slides and used for FISH.

Results

Telomere signal intensity was significantly lower in positive cases (cases with malignancy, n = 25) as compared to negative cases (cases without malignancy, n = 16), and the same was observed for centromere intensity. The difference in DAPI intensity was not statistically significant. The ratio of telomere to centromere intensity did not show a significant difference between positive and negative cases. There was no statistical difference in the signal intensities of aspiration samples from ascites or pleural effusion (n = 23) and endoscopic ultrasound‐guided FNA samples from the pancreas (n = 18).

Conclusions

The present study revealed that telomere length can be used as an indicator to distinguish malignant and benign cells in cytological specimens. This novel approach may help improve diagnosis for cancer patients.     

Isolation and characterization of outermost layer deficient mutant spores of Bacillus megaterium

Outermost layer deficient mutant spores of Bacillus megaterium ATCC 12872 were isolated by Urografin density gradient centrifugation after mutagenesis with ethyl methanesulfonate. Although the composition of the cortex peptidoglycan was the same as that of the parent spores, three major proteins (48, 36, and 22 K daltons) were missing, suggesting that these proteins are components of the outermost layer. All mutant spores were also found to have very hydrophobic surface by 'salt aggregation test,' which would facilitate selection of such mutants.     

Role of outer coat in resistance of Bacillus megaterium spore

The outer coat fraction (OC-Fr) of Bacillus megaterium ATCC 12872 spore was isolated as a resistant residue after alkali extraction, sonic treatment, and pronase digestion of the spore coat preparation, and its backbone structure was determined by chemical analysis to be composed of galactosamine-6-phosphate (GalN-P) polymers with polypeptides and calcium. OC-Fr was not fully solubilized after ordinary acid hydrolysis. OC-Fr was insensitive to all hexosaminidases tested, and moreover, an isolated fragment, a pentamer of GalN-P, was also resistant to lysozyme and hexosaminidases even after N-acetylation, being sensitive to them to some extent after dephosphorylation. Molecular sieving experiments revealed that the outer coat limited the entry of compounds with a molecular weight of more than 2,000. Exchange of the metal on the spore surface also influenced the heat resistance. Spores of OC-Fr-deficient mutants were less resistant but were still much more resistant than the vegetative cells. These results suggest that the outer coat protects the contents of the spore against chemical, physical and enzymatic treatments owing to the chemical structure itself, composed mainly of GalN-P polymers, and the molecular sieving effect.     

Classification of acute non-lymphocytic leukemia according to the distribution picture of peroxidase activity and cell size: correlation between the classification and therapeutic response

A distribution picture was prepared on the basis of the correlation between peroxidase activity and cell size in leukemic cells using an automated leukocyte differential counter (Hemalog-D). From this, acute nonlymphocytic leukemia was classified into three groups in which the therapeutic response was examined. The leukemic cells of Group I were medium or large and were negative or weakly positive to peroxidase. These cells were characterized by their location in the upper part of the normal lymphocyte distribution. The leukocyte differential count, measured by a computer on the basis of the distribution picture, showed an increase in large unstained cells (LUC) and lymphocytes. The leukemic cells of Group II were large and positive to peroxidase and were characterized by their location in the right upper part, across the region of LUC, monocytes, basophil and neutrophil leukocytes as seen in the distribution picture. The findings of Hemalog-D showed an increase in LUC, remainder and neutrophil leukocytes. The leukemic cells of Group III were medium-sized and moderately or strongly positive to peroxidase. This group was characterized by their location in the lower part of normal neutrophil leukocytes and Hemalog-D showed an increase in neutrophil leukocytes. A total of 71 patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia were assessed according to this classification. Group I (14 patients): 11 with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), 2 with acute monocytic leukemia (AMoL) and 1 with acute myelomonocytic leukemia ( AMMoL ); Group II (17 patients): 7 with AML and 10 with AMoL; Group III (40 patients): 28 with AML, 4 with AMoL, 1 with AMMoL and 7 with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). These groups were treated with the protocol (DCMP two step, BH-AC DMP, BH-AC AMP) established by the Yamada Leukemia Study Group of the Japan Welfare Ministry Cancer Research Project (chairman Yamada, K). The complete remission rate was 35.7% in Group I, 58.8% in Group II and 85.0% in Group III. The difference between Groups I and III was statistically significant (P less than 0.005), as was the difference between Groups II and III (P less than 0.1), while that between Groups I and II was not significant. The median survival was 12 months in Group I, 9 months in Group II and 15 months in the Group III and the difference between Groups I and III was statistically significant (P less than 0.05). Group III included a small number of AMoL and APL patients in addition to AML, while Groups I and II consisted mainly of patients with AMoL and AML.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Biochemical defects of outermost layer deficient mutants during sporulation of Bacillus megaterium.

To determine the regulation of morphogenesis of the outermost layer, the thick layer outside the inner coat, of the Bacillus megaterium spore, we isolated 15 outermost layer deficient mutants of B. megaterium using transposon Tn917. Three mutant strains lacked both synthesis of the 48-kDa outermost layer protein and induction of two initial enzymes for galactosamine-6-phosphate polymer synthesis, evidence that these biochemical events are regulated in the cascade system during morphogenesis of the outermost layer.