Variations in the structure and transcription of the mitochondrial atp and cox genes in wild Solanum species that induce male sterility in eggplant (S. melongena).

In order to determine the molecular basis of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) in alloplasmic lines of eggplant, the genomic structures and transcription patterns of mitochondrial ATP synthase subunit (atp) and cytochrome oxidase subunit (cox) genes were studied for wild and cultivated eggplants. Alloplasmic eggplant lines with cytoplasms of wild Solanum species showing either anther indehiscent type of CMS or non-pollen production type of CMS were studied with the cultivated eggplant Solanum melongena, used as a control. Southern hybridization of the mitochondrial genes indicated the difference between the two types of CMS and showed complete identity within each type. The cytoplasmic patterns of all wild species differed from that of the cultivated eggplant. Thus, the cytoplasm of the six wild eggplants and the one cultivated eggplant was classified into three groups. Male sterile plants of both types of CMS showed novel transcription patterns of atp1, whereas a different transcription pattern of cox2 was observed only in the anther indehiscent type. Based on these differences, we determined the DNA sequences of about a 4 kbp segment in the atp1 region. Although the coding and 3' flanking regions were almost identical among the cytoplasms, the 5' flanking region was completely different and novel open reading frames (orfs) were found for each of the CMS types and the cultivated eggplant. The cytoplasm of Solanum kurzii inducing the anther indehiscent type CMS had orf312, and those of Solanum aethiopicum and Solanum grandifolium of non-pollen production type CMS had orf218. The correspondence between the transcription patterns of these orfs and phenotypic expression of male sterility strongly suggests that these orfs are causal genes for each type of CMS.

Optimal duration of oral adjuvant chemotherapy with Carmofur in the colorectal cancer patients: the Kansai Carmofur Study Group trial III.

A multi-institutional study was performed to evaluate the appropriate duration of oral administration of Carmofur (1-hexylcarbamoyl-5-fluorouracil, HCFU), a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) derivative, for postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer undergoing curative operation. Patients were divided into two: i) short duration group receiving 6 months of HCFU administration and ii) long duration group receiving 1 year of the administration, using a centralized registration system. Among 364 patients entered in this study, 293 evaluable cases were analyzed to investigate the appropriate duration of adjuvant oral chemotherapy. No statistical differences were found in the cumulative 5-year disease-free or survival rates between the groups. However, the actual duration of oral HCFU administration differed in the patients of short and long duration groups from the protocol. Namely, more than 70% of the patients received a different duration of oral adjuvant chemotherapy in each of the groups. Therefore, apart from this division of two groups, correlation between the actual duration of oral HCFU administration and the prognosis was examined in these patients. As a result, it was suggested that oral adjuvant chemotherapy with HCFU would be effective in colon cancer patients when the duration of administration exceeded 330 days. In rectal cancer patients, however, adjuvant chemotherapy with HCFU alone was considered to be not sufficient to affect the prognosis.

Safety and utility of autologous blood transfusion for resection of metastatic liver tumor.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of predeposit autologous blood transfusion for resection of hepatic metastases. METHODOLOGY: We examined stored blood from 25 patients with advanced colorectal or gastric cancer for carcinoembryonic antigen mRNA using reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay to detect cancer cell in the autologous blood. We also retrospectively evaluated no transfusion (A, n = 44), autologous transfusion (B, n = 15), and homologous transfusion groups (C, n = 26) for perioperative liver function and long-term outcome after undergoing resection of liver metastases. RESULTS: In 5 of 25 patients, carcinoembryonic antigen mRNA was detected immediately after blood donation and after 7 days of storage, but not after 14-21 days of storage. The cumulative 5-year survival rates for groups A, B, and C were not different. However, disease-free survival with colorectal liver metastases was significantly higher in group A than in group C (P = 0.019). Total bilirubin concentrations in group C on the first postoperative day were also significantly higher than group A (P = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: Stored autologous blood may contain cancer cells, but these decrease or disappear after storage for more than 7 days. For hepatic resection of metastases, transfusion avoidance yields the optimal outcome.

Safety and advantage of perioperative autologous blood transfusion in hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The safety and advantages of perioperative autologous blood transfusion (ABT) were evaluated on hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were obtained and stored from 30 patients with HCC. HCC cells were investigated by the presence of AFPmRNA using RT-PCR after storage. We also reviewed postoperative liver function and the long-term outcomes of 138 patients who underwent hepatectomy receiving ABT compared with patients receiving homologous blood transfusion (HBT) and patients without blood transfusion. RESULTS: AFPmRNA was not detected in all samples stored for more than 14 days. Postoperative ALT, AST and total bilirubin in the HBT group were significantly higher than those of other groups. Patients in the HBT group had significantly lower survival rates than patients in the ABT group. CONCLUSION: ABT was safe after storage and it had advantages compared with HBT with regard to postoperative liver function and survival rate after the hepatectomy for HCC.

[A case of multiple liver metastases from colon cancer successfully operated after intraarterial chemotherapy performed in home].

A 60-year-old male patient had unresectable multiple liver metastases from a sigmoid colon cancer that had been resected, and thus hepatic arterial infusion therapy was planned. A heparin coated catheter was inserted from the left thoracoacromial artery to the proper hepatic artery. 5-fluorouracil (1,000 mg) was administered via the catheter 24 hours/week using an implantable vascular device and a small disposable pump in his home. After 59 weeks, the metastatic liver tumors had decreased remarkably in size, and all tumors could be resected completely through surgery. Three weeks after the operation, the same intraarterial chemotherapy was restarted to prevent the recurrence in the liver. However, the patient died of lymph node recurrences. The intraarterial chemotherapy is thought to be useful for neoadjuvant therapy in patients with inoperable liver metastasis from colon cancer.

[Adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer--relation between long-term administration of FT-207 and prognosis].

The effect of adjuvant chemotherapy with FT-207 on survival rates in gastric cancer patients was evaluated. Patients who underwent curative gastrectomy in our Department were classified into the four groups: (A) short-term chemotherapy; total doses of 5 g 5-fluorouracil, or 1/2 MF (F') C alone (futraful 400mg/day, or 5-fluorouracil 250 mg/day for 3 weeks, mitomycin C 2 mg and cytosine arabinoside 20 mg twice a week for 3 weeks; (B) intermediate term chemotherapy; 1/2 MF (F') C followed by the oral administration of futraful 0.6g/day for less than 6 months; (C) long-term chemotherapy; 1/2 MF (F') C followed by futraful 10.6g/day longer than 6 months (D) control; no chemotherapy No significant difference back ground factors among four groups was found. Patients who recurred during the administration of drugs were excluded from this study. The survival rate of Group (C) in stage III was significantly higher than that of Group (A), (B) and (D) (generalized Wilcoxon test, p less than 0.03). There was no difference between (B) and (D). The survival rate of Group (A) was lower than Group (D). The effectiveness of chemo- therapy was not observed in patients with stage I and II. Survival rates of patients receiving futraful longer than 3 months continuously were significantly higher compared to patients who had to discontinue the drugs due to side effects. These results suggested that the adjuvant chemotherapy with futraful lasting more than 6 months prolonged the survival time, but short-term chemotherapy decreased the survival rate when compared with no chemotherapy group.

Electron microscopy of tRNA crystals. I. Thin crystals negatively stained with uranyl acetate.

The first attempt to study crystal structures of tRNA by electron microscopy is described. Sufficiently thin crystals were prepared from yeast tRNAphe. The thickness of the thinnest was estimated at 130 A corresponding to a bilayer of the molecules. The L-shaped structure seemed to be maintained even after the negative staining with uranyl acetate. Optically filtered images from electron micrographs were compared with those simulated from the drawing of the molecular model by optical transform. The results suggest that the observed images reflect the real molecular arrangements within the crystal lattice although the shape of tRNA molecules seems to be somewhat modified by the uneven staining.

[Evaluation of postoperative long-term chemotherapy using FT-207 for the stage III stomach cancer].

The effect of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy on survival rate of gastric cancer patients of Stage III was evaluated. Ninety-nine patients evaluated as Stage III according to the general rules for surgical studies on cancer of the stomach received surgical treatments at our Department in the period of 1967 to 1978. Patients were classified into following three groups: (A) no chemotherapy group (54 cases) (B) short term chemotherapy group (15 cases, receiving chemotherapy postoperatively for 20 days) (C) long term chemotherapy group (30 cases, more than 3 months postoperatively and more than 60 g of total dose of FT-207) Three-year survival rates of the patients were 40.7% in (A) group, 26.7% in (B) and 66.7% in (C), respectively. These results suggested that a long term postoperative chemotherapy significantly prolonged the survival times of gastric cancer patients in Stage III (C vs B: P less than 0.02, C vs A: P less than 0.03). On the other hand, a short term chemotherapy after surgery decreased the survival rate when comparing with no chemotherapy group, possibly due to impairment of host's anticancer immunity.