LMO7 exerts an effect on mitosis progression and the spindle assembly checkpoint.

LMO7 (LIM domain only 7) is a transcription regulator for expression of many Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy-relevant genes, and binds to α-actinin and AF6/afadin at adherens junctions for epithelial cell-cell adhesion. In this study, we found that human LMO7 interacted with the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) protein MAD1. LMO7 colocalized with actin filaments at the cell membrane but did not colocalize with MAD1 at kinetochores in prometaphase. Our observations reveal that overexpression but not depletion of LMO7 caused a SAC defect, and that the LIM domain of LMO7 was a determinant of its ability to interfere with kinetochore localization of the SAC proteins MAD2 and BUBR1 and cause a SAC defect though the LIM peptide itself did neither bind to MAD1, MAD2 and BUBR1 nor localize to the actin filaments. However, overexpression of LMO7 or the LIM peptide did not interfere with kinetochore localization of MAD1. Additionally, overexpression of the LIM peptide prolonged mitotic timing and interfered with chromosome congression whereas that of LMO7b did not. Taken together, we conclude that LMO7 via its LIM domain acts to control mitosis progression and exerts an effect on the SAC.

Evaluation of prostate volume by transabdominal ultrasonography with modified ellipsoid formula at different stages of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

The aim of the study was to propose an eccentricity parameter (EP)-based correction to the ellipsoid formula to improve the evaluation of the prostate volume defined by transabdominal ultrasonography (TAUS) at different stages of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). All 202 adult male volunteers underwent the prostate volume evaluations with TAUS and computerized tomography (CT). Based on the EP index, three clearly different stages of BPH were also deduced by analytical analysis. By applying the correction formula, the mean prostate volume differences of TAUS with CT were improved from 28.1%, -25.4% and -0.6% to 7.6%, -3.5% and -0.6% for EP < 0.055, 0.055 < EP < 0.14 and EP > 0.14, respectively. Hence, for EP > 0.14, representing the advanced stage of BPH, TAUS with the ellipsoid formula can be regarded as an effective tool for computing volume, whereas for EP < 0.14, the correction formula is recommended to improve the volume estimation based on TAUS.

Factors affecting prostate volume estimation in computed tomography images.

The aim of this study was to investigate how apex-localizing methods and the computed tomography (CT) slice thickness affected the CT-based prostate volume estimation. Twenty-eight volunteers underwent evaluations of prostate volume by CT, where the contour segmentations were performed by three observers. The bottom of ischial tuberosities (ITs) and the bulb of the penis were used as reference positions to locate the apex, and the distances to the apex were recorded as 1.3 and 2.0 cm, respectively. Interobserver variations to locate ITs and the bulb of the penis were, on average, 0.10 cm (range 0.03-0.38 cm) and 0.30 cm (range 0.00-0.98 cm), respectively. The range of CT slice thickness varied from 0.08-0.48 cm and was adopted to examine the influence of the variation on volume estimation. The volume deviation from the reference case (0.08 cm), which increases in tandem with the slice thickness, was within ± 3 cm(3), regardless of the adopted apex-locating reference positions. In addition, the maximum error of apex identification was 1.5 times of slice thickness. Finally, based on the precise CT films and the methods of apex identification, there were strong positive correlation coefficients for the estimated prostate volume by CT and the transabdominal ultrasonography, as found in the present study (r > 0.87; p < 0.0001), and this was confirmed by Bland-Altman analysis. These results will help to identify factors that affect prostate volume calculation and to contribute to the improved estimation of the prostate volume based on CT images.