Analytical approach to the temporal changes in NIRS signals to separate hemodynamic change from brain activity.

In brain function measurements by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), we focus on the temporal changes in the oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin concentrations and propose an analytical approach to the temporal changes of the hemoglobin concentrations' cross-correlation coefficient in the brain functional signals. The cross-correlation coefficient between the oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin concentrations shows negative values for brain activity and positive values for hemodynamic changes. Experiments with a 16-channel functional NIRS system show that our proposed approach clarifies the interpretation of the measured NIRS signals and it can be used to estimate the influence of hemodynamic change on brain activity.

Region-of-interest cone beam computed tomography (ROI CBCT) with a high resolution CMOS detector.

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) systems with rotational gantries that have standard flat panel detectors (FPD) are widely used for the 3D rendering of vascular structures using Feldkamp cone beam reconstruction algorithms. One of the inherent limitations of these systems is limited resolution (<3 lp/mm). There are systems available with higher resolution but their small FOV limits them to small animal imaging only. In this work, we report on region-of-interest (ROI) CBCT with a high resolution CMOS detector (75 µm pixels, 600 µm HR-CsI) mounted with motorized detector changer on a commercial FPD-based C-arm angiography gantry (194 µm pixels, 600 µm HL-CsI). A cylindrical CT phantom and neuro stents were imaged with both detectors. For each detector a total of 209 images were acquired in a rotational protocol. The technique parameters chosen for the FPD by the imaging system were used for the CMOS detector. The anti-scatter grid was removed and the incident scatter was kept the same for both detectors with identical collimator settings. The FPD images were reconstructed for the 10 cm x10 cm FOV and the CMOS images were reconstructed for a 3.84 cm × 3.84 cm FOV. Although the reconstructed images from the CMOS detector demonstrated comparable contrast to the FPD images, the reconstructed 3D images of the neuro stent clearly showed that the CMOS detector improved delineation of smaller objects such as the stent struts (~70 µm) compared to the FPD. Further development and the potential for substantial clinical impact are suggested.

Limited VH gene usage in B-cell clones established with nurse-like cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: Nurse-like stromal cells (NLC) in synovia and bone marrow of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can support pseudoemperipolesis, protect from apoptosis and enhance immunoglobulin production of peripheral blood B cells isolated from healthy individuals, suggesting the profound contribution of hyperactivation of B cells in RA. In the course of establishing RA-NLC from RA patients, we observed the growth of B cells in the presence of RA-NLC. METHODS: We cloned B cells from the synovium or bone marrow of RA patients using the limiting dilution technique. For established clones, nucleotide sequences of immunoglobulin and surface antigens were investigated. To investigate the dependence of these clones on NLC, differences in the proliferation and the amount of immunoglobulin produced in the presence or absence of NLC were compared. Immunocytochemical staining of various cells was performed using the antibody these clones produced. RESULTS: Nine B-cell clones established from RA patients showed RA-NLC-dependent growth. These B-cell clones expressed CD19, CD20, CD38, CD39 and CD40, suggesting that the cloned cells were mature and activated. All clones secreted immunoglobulins in culture media, which were specific for intracellular components of various cell lines, including RA-NLC. Interestingly, we found limited usage of immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable regions (VH) among B-cell clones from RA patients. These repertoires were reported to be detected preferentially in fetal livers. CONCLUSION: The present study provides a novel insight into the involvement of RA-NLC in the immunopathogenesis of RA via an autoreactive B cell development and/or activation mechanism.

Myocardial performance index for assessment of left ventricular outcome in successfully recanalised anterior myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the myocardial performance index (MPI) can predict left ventricular functional outcome in patients with early recanalisation after anterior acute myocardial infarction (MI) and to determine when the index should be measured. DESIGN: MPI was measured serially by two dimensional Doppler echocardiography after successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Left ventricular function was evaluated by echocardiography and left ventriculography. To assess coronary microvascular damage, the coronary flow velocity pattern was measured immediately after PCI with a Doppler guidewire. SETTING: Hiroshima City Asa Hospital. PATIENTS: 32 consecutive patients with their first anterior acute MI who had complete occlusion of left anterior descending coronary artery. INTERVENTIONS: Successful PCI within six hours of symptom onset. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Left ventricular anterior wall motion score index (A-WMSI), left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV). RESULTS: There was a significant negative correlation between MPI on day 2 and the coronary diastolic deceleration time (r = -0.66, p < 0.002), as well as a significant positive correlation with the coronary diastolic deceleration rate (r = 0.74, p < 0.0001). MPI on day 2 was significantly correlated with the short and long term changes of A-WMSI and with the short term changes of LVEDP. Furthermore, MPI on day 2 was significantly correlated with the short and long term changes of LVEF (r = -0.52, p < 0.003, and r = -0.64, p < 0.0008, respectively) and of LVEDV (r = 0.51, p < 0.003, and r = 0.41, p < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Doppler derived MPI on day 2, representative of the early coronary microvascular state, can predict the left ventricular functional outcome after early successful recanalisation of a patient's first anterior acute MI.

A homogeneous caspase-3 activity assay using HTRF technology.

Caspases are cysteine proteases presenting a conserved active site that cleaves protein substrates at a highly specific position. They are involved in different aspects of the active cell death pathway. Most of them act through proteolytic degradations of cellular components. This paper describes the assay development, assay validation, and screening for inhibitors of this enzyme, which could be potential drug candidates. The assay uses homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence based on energy transfer from europium cryptate as donor to cross-linked allophycocyanin as acceptor (XL665). A double-tagged substrate, biotinyl-epsilon-aminocaproyl-L-aspartyl-L-glutamyl-L-valyl-Laspartyl-L-alanyl-L-propyl-N(epsilon)-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-L-lysine-amide (biotin-X-DEVDAPK(dnp)-NH(2)), is conjugated with streptavidin cryptate and anti-dnp-XL665 monoclonal antibody. The close proximity between donor and acceptor induces a specific time-resolved fluorescence signal. In the presence of enzyme activity, the substrate cleavage induces an unlinking of the two fluorescent probes and, subsequently, the disappearance of the specific signal as a result of loss of proximity. Experiments to optimize the reagent concentration, incubation times, precision, reproducibility, and robustness are discussed in comparison with a fluorometric method.

Correlation of beta-catenin and cyclin D1 expression in colon cancers.

OBJECTIVE: Beta-catenin activates transcription by TCF/LEF and has been regarded as an oncogene in a wide range of malignant tumors. Among various molecules regulated by beta-catenin/Tcf, cyclin D1 is the most likely candidate for stimulation of the oncogenic pathway. The association between beta-catenin and cyclin D1 was investigated using clinical samples from colorectal cancers. METHODS: The expression of beta-catenin and cyclin D1 was investigated by immunohistochemical analyses of samples from 70 patients with colorectal cancers. In 28 of the fresh tumor samples, beta-catenin protein was separated into soluble and insoluble fractions and quantitatively correlated with cyclin D1 protein by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Compared with noncancerous epithelium, beta-catenin and cyclin D1 were overexpressed (+) in 35 (50%) and 30 cases (43%), respectively. Cyclin D1 (+) was observed in 74% (26/35) of beta-catenin (+) cases, but only in 11% (4/35) of the beta-catenin (-) cases. Thus, there was a strong association between the expression of beta-catenin and that of cyclin D1 (p < 0.001). In the Western blot analysis, the amount of cyclin D1 correlated well with beta-catenin expression in the soluble fraction (p = 0.0016), but not with beta-catenin in the insoluble fraction or with E-cadherin expression. Beta-catenin (-)/cyclin D1 (-) cases displayed less tumor invasion than the remaining cases. However, there were no significant differences in lymph node metastasis or other clinicopathological findings. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that beta-catenin overexpression in the cytoplasm may promote malignant transformation by triggering cyclin D1 expression in colorectal cancers.

Cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride, a H+/Cl- symporter, induces apoptosis in human colon cancer cell lines in vitro.

Recently, we reported that cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride (cPrG.HCl), a novel H+/Cl- symporter, induces acidification of the cytosol and leads to apoptosis on rat and human liver cancer cells. In the present study, the effects of cPrG.HCl, a H+/Cl- symporter, were examined in colon cancer cell lines in vitro. In the MTT assay, cPrG.HCl inhibited the growth of two colon cancer cell lines (WiDr and SW480) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The cPrG.HCl treatment of both types of cells induced apoptosis as confirmed by the appearance of a sub-G1 population and intranucleosomal DNA fragmentation. In addition, cPrG.HCl lowered pHi (below pH 6.8) respectively. Therefore, these results suggest that cPrG.HCl may be useful for the treatment of colon cancer cells.

Overexpression of CDC25B overrides radiation-induced G2-M arrest and results in increased apoptosis in esophageal cancer cells.

CDC25B phosphatase plays a key role in controlling G2-M progression by dephosphorylating two inhibitory residues of CDC2 and also has been suggested to have an oncogenic property. In this study, we investigated the effect of CDC25B overexpression on radiation-induced G2-M arrest and radiation sensitivity in esophageal cancer cells. TE8-CDC25B, in which CDC25B was overexpressed under an inducible system, was more radiosensitive than the vector control (TE8-neo) in a clonogenic survival assay. Without radiation, CDC25B overexpression had little effect on cell cycle fractions or growth rate. After 10-Gy radiation, TE8-CDC25B showed decreased G2-M arrest and increased apoptosis, whereas TE8-neo displayed prolonged G2-M arrest and less apoptosis. During this period, there were no differences in the protein amounts of CDC2 and cyclin B1 between the two cell lines. However, more CDC25B expression, which was reduced immediately by radiation, was sustained in TE8-CDC25B than in TE8-neo. Moreover, induction of tyrosine phosphorylation of CDC2 and reduction of CDC2 kinase activity after irradiation was less significant in TE8-CDC25B than in TE8-neo. These results indicate that cancer cells that overexpress CDC25B override G2-M arrest by retaining CDC2 kinase activity and undergo apoptosis after radiation. This may point to an effective approach toward improving radiotherapy outcomes of various cancers.

Localization of IQGAP1 is inversely correlated with intercellular adhesion mediated by e-cadherin in gastric cancers.

Down-regulation of E-cadherin function is characteristic of cancer cells and might involve the small G-protein Rho family, including Rac1 and Cdc42. IQGAP1 has been reported to be one of the target proteins of Rac1 and Cdc42. To elucidate the role of IQGAP1 in cancer-cell adhesion, its expression was investigated in 47 cases of human gastric cancer by immunohistochemistry and Western blot upon protein fractionation, especially in comparison with E-cadherin and catenin expression. In the non-cancerous columnar epithelium of the stomach, IQGAP1, as well as E-cadherin/catenin, was expressed at the cell-cell boundary. IQGAP1 was frequently observed diffusely in the cytoplasm in intestinal-type tumors (20/22 cases) but was expressed at the cell membrane in diffuse-type tumors (19/25 cases), thus showing significant association with tumor differentiation (p < 0.01). Interestingly, membranous expression of IQGAP1 was inversely correlated with that of E-cadherin (p < 0.05) or alpha-catenin (p < 0.001). These observations were consistent with the Western blot results following protein fractionation. IQGAP1 was dominantly expressed in the soluble fraction in differentiated tumors; however, in undifferentiated tumors, it was mostly in the insoluble fraction. In contrast, both E-cadherin and alpha-catenin were detected only in the insoluble fraction. Thus, subcellular localization of IQGAP1 from the cytoplasm to the cell membrane was correlated with E-cadherin dysfunction and tumor dedifferentiation in gastric carcinogenesis.

Morphological analyses of the human tongue musculature for three-dimensional modeling.

Skilled movements of the tongue in speech articulation reflect complex formation of the tongue musculature, although its description in the anatomical literature is rather limited for developing a realistic computational model of the tongue. This study presents detailed descriptions of the muscular structure of the human tongue based on macroscopic and microscopic observations and provides three-dimensional schemata of the tongue musculature. Histologic examination revealed that the tongue consists of five strata, stacked along the courses of the fibers of the genioglossus muscle in proximal-distal directions. This stratum structure exists in the entire tongue tissue, indicating that the lingual musculature can be divided into the inner and outer regions. The former consisted of the "stem" and "core," and the latter of the "cover" and "fringe." In gross dissection, the tongue was cut into wedge-like blocks along the course of the genioglossus muscle to examine muscle fiber arrangement. Using this approach, it was determined that serial repetitions of "structural units" composed the inner musculature of the tongue. Each unit consisted of a pair of thin muscle fiber laminae; one was composed of the genioglossus and vertical muscles, and the other of the transverse muscle. In the apex, the laminae lacked the fibers of the genioglossus. These findings have been incorporated in three-dimensional schemata of the tongue musculature.

High throughput screening for human interferon-gamma production inhibitor using homogenous time-resolved fluorescence.

An immunoassay for interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) using homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence (HTRF) has been developed. In this assay, IFN-gamma can be detected by simply adding a mixture of three reagents-biotinylated polyclonal antibody, europium cryptate (fluorescence donor, EuK)-labeled monoclonal antibody, and crosslinked allophycocyanin (fluorescence acceptor, XL665) conjugated with streptavidin-and then measuring the time-resolved fluorescence. The detection limit of IFN-gamma by the proposed method is about 625 pg/ml. We applied the method to the detection of IFN-gamma secreted from NK3.3 cells and employed it in high throughput screening for IFN-gamma production inhibitors. With this screening format, IFN-gamma can be measured by directly adding the above reagents to microplate wells where NK3.3 cells are being cultured and stimulated with interleukin-12. This "in situ" immunoassay requires only pipetting reagents, with no need to transfer the culture supernatant to another microplate or wash the plate. Therefore, this screening format makes possible full automation of cell-based immunoassay, thus reducing cost and experimental time while increasing accuracy and throughput.

Cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride, H(+)/CL(-) symporter, induces apoptosis and differentiation in HL-60 cells.

Cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride (cPrG * HCl), a novel H(+)/Cl(-) symporter, induces acidification of the cytosol and leads to apoptosis in rat and human liver cancer cells. In the present study, the effect of cPrG * HCl on a promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60) was examined. cPrG * HCl lowered intracellular pH and induced apoptosis through up-regulation of Fas ligand, activation of stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK/JNK) and caspase. Apoptosis induced by cPrG * HCl was strongly suppressed when a cell-permeable weak base, imidazole, was present, indicating that cytosol acidification introduced by cPrG * HCl triggered caspase activation, leading to apoptosis. Concomitantly, cell differentiation into monocyte was also induced by cPrG * HCl both morphologically and functionally. However, the cPrG * HCl-induced differentiation was not suppressed by addition of imidazole, indicating that the differentiation process is unrelated to cytosol acidification. Further, the differentiation induced by cPrG * HCl was blocked by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (lavendustin A and HMA) but unaffected by the inhibitors of A-kinase (H-89) or C-kinase (H-7). Taken together, these findings suggest that cPrG * HCl, through apoptosis and differentiation induction, may be useful in leukemia treatment.

A study of colloidal scintigraphy in alcoholic liver diseases: discordance from asialo-scintigraphic findings.

BACKGROUND: Our study was undertaken to check the discordance between findings from 99mTc-Sn colloidal reticuloendothelial scintigraphy (RESS) and 99mTc-GSA asialo-scintigraphy (GSA, a technique for evaluation of liver parenchymal cell density and function) and to analyze the discordance in relation to functional disturbances. We compared data between patients with alcoholic liver diseases (ALD) and patients with viral liver diseases (VLD). METHODS: The subjects of this study were 40 patients with chronic liver disease (17 with ALD and 23 with VLD). We used the liver uptake ratio of the tracer of the Sn colloid (SnL15, %), the liver uptake rate (GSAL15, %), and the Rmax (an indicator of total liver receptors) as indices of liver scans. RESULTS: GSAL15 was sometimes nondiscordant from SnL15. The patients were divided into two groups: the nondiscordant group (26 cases where the balance/sum of the two variables was <25%) and the discordant group (14 cases where the balance/sum was > or =25%). SnL15 was 41.6 +/- 16.2% in the nondiscordant group and 42.7 +/- 16.3% in the discordant group (p = 0.80). GSAL15 was 34.3 +/- 12.1% in the nondiscordant group and 21.5 +/- 8.1% in the discordant group (p = 0.001). Rmax was 0.33 +/- 0.17 in the nondiscordant group and 0.113 +/- 0.008 in the discordant group (p = 0.002). Thus, the SnL15, as determined by RESS, did not differ significantly between the nondiscordant and discordant groups, whereas GSAL15 was significantly unfavorable in the discordant group as compared with the nondiscordant group. SnL15 as determined by RESS did not differ significantly between the ALD group (40.4 +/- 18.7%) and the VLD group (43.5 +/- 15.0%) (p = 0.59), whereas Rmax as determined by GSA was significantly improved in the ALD group (0.34 +/- 0.20) compared with the VLD group (0.20 +/- 0.4) (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Liver cell function was lower in cases that showed discordance between liver cell function and reticuloendothelial function compared with cases without such discordance, although reticuloendothelial function did not differ between discordant and nondiscordant groups. Liver cell function was better in cases of ALD than in cases of VLD, whereas reticuloendothelial function did not differ between the ALD group and the VLD group.

Stereoselective reaction of alpha-sulfinyl carbanion derived from chiral 2-(Trialkylsilyl)ethyl sulfoxides: evidence for a novel silicon-oxygen interaction

Reactions of alpha-sulfinyl carbanions, derived from p-tolyl sulfoxides bearing various alkyl groups, with various electrophiles were examined. The reaction of alpha-sulfinyl carbanions, derived from the beta-silylethyl sulfoxides, with ketones or trimethyl phosphate, gave the syn products with high stereoselectivity. Interaction between the silicon in the trialkylsilyl group and the carbonyl oxygen in nucleophiles was postulated to stabilize the transition state, leading preferably to the syn diastereisomers. This novel silicon-oxygen interaction was supported by an MO calculation study using the MOPAC 93/PM3 and the Gaussian 94 Beche3LYP/3-21+G methods.

Cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride, a H+/Cl- symporter, induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cell lines.

The effect of cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride (cPrG.HCl), a H+/Cl- symporter, on five human breast cancer cell lines (KPL-1, T-47D, MCF-7, MKL-F, and MDA-MB-231), a human breast epithelial cell line (HBL-100), and a human fibroblast cell line (WI-38-40) was examined. cPrG.HCl inhibited the growth of all five breast cancer cell lines (IC50: 0.46-0.62 microM) and slightly inhibited HBL-100 and WI-38-40 cell growth (IC50: 1.75 microM and 2.26 microM respectively). cPrG.HCl treatment in KPL-1 cells increased the pH of acidic organelles, decreased intracellular pH, and caused apoptosis, which was confirmed by the appearance of a sub-G1 population by flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation. In addition, cPrG.HCl-induced apoptosis was strongly suppressed by imidazole, a cell-permeable base, suggesting that intracellular acidification was essential for the apoptosis. Further, cPrG.HCl treatment up-regulated Bax and Bak expression, down-regulated Bcl-2 expression, and activated caspase-3. Therefore, the intracellular acidification by cPrG.HCl treatment suppressed the growth of human breast cancer cell lines by inducing apoptosis.

Cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride, a new H(+)/Cl(-) symporter, induces apoptosis in human and rat hepatocellular cancer cell lines in vitro and inhibits the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts in nude mice.

The effects of cycloprodigiosin hydrochloride (cPrG-HCl), a new H(+)/Cl(-) symporter, were examined in liver cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. In the in vitro MTT assay, cPrG-HCl inhibited the growth of 6 liver cancer cell lines (Huh-7, HCC-M, HCC-T, dRLh-84, and H-35, hepatocellular carcinoma; HepG2, hepatoblastoma) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)) at 72 hours' treatment for liver cancer cell lines were 276 to 592 nmol/L, while that for isolated normal rat hepatocyte was 8.4 micromol/L. The cPrG-HCl treatment of Huh-7 cells induced apoptosis as confirmed by the appearance of a subG(1) population, intranucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and chromatin condensation. cPrG-HCl raised the pH of acidic organelles and lowered pHi (below pH 6.8). In addition, the apoptosis in Huh-7 cells induced by cPrG-HCl was strongly suppressed when the cells were cultured with imidazole, a cell-permeable base. In the in vivo assay, nude mice bearing subcutaneous xenografted Huh-7 cells received 2 weeks of treatment with cPrG-HCl (1 or 10 mg/kg/d) subcutaneously. This treatment significantly inhibited tumor growth compared with the control after 8 days. The control mice were treated with 1% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) in saline (vehicle). A histopathological examination using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) method showed apoptosis in the treated tumor cells. No pathological changes were observed in any organs, and the serum alanine transaminase levels remained within normal limits. These results suggest that cPrG-HCl may be useful for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Down-regulation of TGF-beta receptors in human colorectal cancer: implications for cancer development.

Many colorectal cancer cells are resistant to the anti-proliferative effects of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). TGF-beta also acts as paracrine factor from cancer cells on their mesenchymal cells. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of TGF-beta and its receptors in human colorectal cancer tissue and determine any relationship with cancer growth. In situ hybridization and Northern blot hybridization detection of TGF-beta1, type I and type II receptor mRNA and immunohistochemical staining of TGF-beta1 were performed using 11 human colorectal adenomas, 22 colorectal cancers and ten normal colorectal mucosas as control. TGF-beta receptor mRNAs were expressed mainly by normal colorectal epithelial cells and adenoma. However, mRNAs for TGF-beta receptors were only faintly, if at all, expressed in eight of 22 human colorectal cancers. In addition, intense signals of TGF-beta1 mRNA and the protein were detected in all colorectal cancers. TGF-beta receptor mRNAs and TGF-beta1 protein were also distributed in fibroblasts and endothelial cells in the interstitium. Moreover, Smad 4 protein was translocated to nucleus in primarily cultured adenoma cells, but not in cancer cells after TGF-beta stimulation. The escape of human colon cancer from TGF-beta-mediated growth inhibition by down-regulation of TGF-beta receptors as well as the effects of TGF-beta on stroma formation and angiogenesis indicate a possible role for TGF-beta in the progression of colon cancer in an intact host.

Recognition of rheumatoid arthritis synovial antigen by CD4+,CD8- T cell clones established from rheumatoid arthritis joints.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-specific autoantigen(s) recognized by CD4+ T cells in patients with RA. METHODS: CD4+,CD45RO+ T cell clones were established from the joints of RA patients, and were examined for their proliferative response to synovial cells. RESULTS: Eight of 146 T cell clones responded to RA synovial cells in a DR-restricted manner. These T cell clones recognized solubilized antigens extracted from RA synovial cells in the presence of DR-matched antigen-presenting cells, but did not respond to those extracted from non-RA synovial cells. The antigens had a molecular weight of 50/25 kd. Five of the 8 T cell clones used T cell receptor BV6, and the remaining clones used BV12.2. CONCLUSION: The antigens recognized by joint-infiltrating CD4+ T cells are present exclusively in RA synovial cells. The expression of these antigens by synovial cells may trigger the autoreactivity of T cells in RA joints.