[Propose for the Benchmark Dose (BD) for the Optimization of Protection in Medical Exposure in General Radiography].

The goal of this research was to create the most appropriate index dose for the optimization of protection in medical exposure in general radiography in Kanagawa prefecture. We distributed questionnaires to 272 medical institutions in Kanagawa prefecture. The investigation period was from October 2015 to February 2016. Entrance surface dose (ESD) was used as the index dose. Investigated regions in general radiography were the adult chest, adult abdomen, and infant chest (anterior-posterior projections for all regions). The effective response rate was 35%. ESD was significantly lower with a flat panel detector (FPD) than with computed radiography (CR) in all regions (adult chest and abdomen: p<0.001; infant chest: p<0.05) [e.g., mean (±standard deviation) ESD in the adult chest was 0.16±0.06 mGy with FPD and 0.24±0.10 mGy with CR]. In the infant chest with CR, ESD was significantly higher using a grid (0.15±0.07 mGy) compared to not using a grid (0.10±0.05 mGy; p<0.05). Based on these results, we propose the benchmark dose of each medical equipment, such as adult chest: FPD, 0.2 mGy; CR, 0.3 mGy.

Development of an automated chemiluminescent immunoassay for cancer antigen 72-4 and the evaluation of its analytical performance.

Objectives: Cancer antigen (CA) 72-4 assay is widely used for monitoring gastric and ovarian cancers. The antigen is a mucin-like, tumor-associated glycoprotein known as TAG-72. It has been identified and characterized using two different monoclonal antibodies, CC49 and B72.3, which recognize its glycochain epitopes, Galß(1-3) sialyl-Tn and sialyl-Tn antigens, respectively. This study describes the quantitative analytical performance of a newly developed CA 72-4 assay, ARCHITECT CA 72-4. Design: and Methods: The ARCHITECT CA 72-4 assay was developed using the ARCHITECT i2000SRs and three ARCHITECT i1000SRs. The assay performance was evaluated based on guidance from CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute) and correlation against Elecsys CA 72-4. Results: In the total precision study, the minimum coefficient of variation (CV) for Control/Panel samples over 4 U/mL was 1.1%. The measuring interval was from 0.95 to 200 U/mL with good linearity; and limits of blank (LoB), detection (LoD), and quantitation (LoQ) were 0.09, 0.18, and 0.95 U/mL, respectively. High dose hook effect; differences among specimen tube types; and interference of common drugs, potential cross-reactants, and endogenous substances were not observed. Significantly, this assay has high biotin tolerance at 4875 mg/mL and correlates well with the Elecys CA 72-4 assay (correlation coefficient: 0.95). Conclusions: ARCHITECT CA 72-4 is a highly sensitive and precise assay for CA 72-4 measurement in human sera and plasma.

Development of a new automated IL-6 immunoassay.

OBJECTIVES: Quantitative detection of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum and plasma can help monitor immune responses and the development of acute inflammation to guide patient management. We developed an IL-6 immunoassay for use with the automated ARCHITECT system for detecting an increase in the inflammatory response. METHODS: Immunized mouse sera were tested and selected B-cells were harvested for fusion with myeloma cells. A panel of monoclonal antibodies were produced, from which capture and detection monoclonal antibodies for the prototype IL-6 immunoassay were selected and screened on the ARCHITECT instrument. The antibody pair that most effectively captured and detected IL-6 was selected to develop a prototype IL-6 immunoassay. Calibrator and panel preparations using an internal recombinant IL-6 standard were compared to serum panels prepared with the IL-6 International Standard 89/548. Assay specificity and spike recovery were determined, and assay sensitivity was compared with the Roche EUA Elecsys IL-6 assay run on the cobas analyzer. RESULTS: Twenty-one antibodies in 441 antibody pairs were screened. The prototype IL-6 assay showed high sensitivity with an estimated limit of detection of 0.317 pg/mL and limit of quantitation of <1.27. Spike recovery was 90%-110% in serum and plasma. The internal recombinant human IL-6 calibrator showed excellent stability for 63 days at 2-8 °C. The prototype IL-6 immunoassay was specific for IL-6, exhibited no cross reactivity to related cytokines and interleukins, and was 10-fold more sensitive than the Elecsys IL-6 assay. CONCLUSIONS: The prototype ARCHITECT IL-6 automated immunoassay is a reliable and robust method for the quantitative determination of IL-6 in human serum and plasma.

Central Role of Core Binding Factor ß2 in Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Organogenesis in Mouse.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) is a group of secondary and organized lymphoid tissue that develops at different mucosal surfaces. Peyer's patches (PPs), nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT), and tear duct-associated lymphoid tissue (TALT) are representative MALT in the small intestine, nasal cavity, and lacrimal sac, respectively. A recent study has shown that transcriptional regulators of core binding factor (Cbf) ß2 and promotor-1-transcribed Runt-related transcription factor 1 (P1-Runx1) are required for the differentiation of CD3-CD4+CD45+ lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells, which initiate and trigger the developmental program of PPs, but the involvement of this pathway in NALT and TALT development remains to be elucidated. Here we report that Cbfß2 plays an essential role in NALT and TALT development by regulating LTi cell trafficking to the NALT and TALT anlagens. Cbfß2 was expressed in LTi cells in all three types of MALT examined. Indeed, similar to the previous finding for PPs, we found that Cbfß2-/- mice lacked NALT and TALT lymphoid structures. However, in contrast to PPs, NALT and TALT developed normally in the absence of P1-Runx1 or other Runx family members such as Runx2 and Runx3. LTi cells for NALT and TALT differentiated normally but did not accumulate in the respective lymphoid tissue anlagens in Cbfß2-/- mice. These findings demonstrate that Cbfß2 is a central regulator of the MALT developmental program, but the dependency of Runx proteins on the lymphoid tissue development would differ among PPs, NALT, and TALT.

Runx2-I isoform contributes to fetal bone formation even in the absence of specific N-terminal amino acids.

The Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) gene encodes the transcription factor Runx2, which is the master regulator of osteoblast development; insufficiency of this protein causes disorders of bone development such as cleidocranial dysplasia. Runx2 has two isoforms, Runx2-II and Runx2-I, and production of each isoform is controlled by a unique promoter: a distal promoter (P1) and a proximal promoter (P2), respectively. Although several studies have focused on differences and similarities between the two Runx2 isoforms, their individual roles in bone formation have not yet been determined conclusively, partly because a Runx2-I-targeted mouse model is not available. In this study, we established a novel Runx2-manipulated mouse model in which the first ATG of Runx2-I was replaced with TGA (a stop codon), and a neomycin-resistant gene (neo) cassette was inserted at the first intron of Runx2-I. Homozygous Runx2-Ineo/neo mice showed severely reduced expression of Runx2-I, whereas Runx2-II expression was largely retained. Runx2-Ineo/neo mice showed neonatal lethality, and in these mice, intramembranous ossification was more severely defective than endochondral ossification, presumably because of the greater involvement of Runx2-I, compared with that of Runx2-II in intramembranous ossification. Interestingly, the depletion of neo rescued the above-described phenotypes, indicating that the isoform-specific N-terminal region of Runx2-I is not functionally essential for bone development. Taken together, our results provide a novel clue leading to a better understanding of the roles of Runx2 isoforms in osteoblast development.