Molecular biology and novel therapeutics for IDH mutant gliomas: The new era of IDH inhibitors.

Gliomas with Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation represent a discrete category of primary brain tumors with distinct and unique characteristics, behaviors, and clinical disease outcomes. IDH mutations lead to aberrant high-level production of the oncometabolite D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG), which act as a competitive inhibitor of enzymes regulating epigenetics, signaling pathways, metabolism, and various other processes. This review summarizes the significance of IDH mutations, resulting upregulation of D-2HG and the associated molecular pathways in gliomagenesis. With the recent finding of clinically effective IDH inhibitors in these gliomas, this article offers a comprehensive overview of the new era of innovative therapeutic approaches based on mechanistic rationales, encompassing both completed and ongoing clinical trials targeting gliomas with IDH mutations.

Quantitative analysis of the effect of docetaxel-induced edema on quality of life in patients with breast cancer and related factors: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Systemic edema is an adverse effect of docetaxel chemotherapy and causes distress to patients, including those receiving this agent for breast cancer. However, its characteristics and factors related to its effect on quality of life (QoL) have not been adequately investigated. In this study, we assessed systemic edema quantitatively, explored related factors, and evaluated QoL in patients receiving docetaxel for breast cancer. METHODS: The study had a prospective cohort design and included 37 patients with no known history of swelling who were treated with docetaxel between September 2019 and April 2022. Patients were examined at the start, middle, and end of their course of treatment and 1 and 2 months later. Body water content, body mass, fat mass, and muscle mass were quantified using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Systemic edema was evaluated with reference to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. The timing of development of systemic edema at any anatomical site that was grade 2 or worse was recorded. QoL was assessed using the Quality of Life-Anti Cancer Drug scale. Nutrition was evaluated using the Brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify related factors. QoL was also compared between patients with edema and those without edema. RESULTS: Systemic edema developed in 67% of the study participants and was most prevalent at the end of treatment. Body fat mass (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.802, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.651-0.988, p = 0.038), disease stage (aOR 3.279, 95% CI 0.493-21.793, p = 0.219), and history of alcohol consumption (aOR 0.141, 95% CI 0.013-1.521, p = 0.106) were identified as risk factors for docetaxel-induced edema. Participants who developed systemic edema experienced more physical, vital, and emotional distress 1 month after treatment than those who did not. There was no association between systemic edema and nutrition. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic edema may develop after treatment with docetaxel and increase distress in patients with a high body fat mass. Patients at risk of systemic edema should be informed in advance about the potential frequency, location, and timing of its onset and encouraged to self-manage this condition.

Emerging Roles and Mechanisms of RNA Modifications in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Glioma.

Despite a long history of research, neurodegenerative diseases and malignant brain tumor gliomas are both considered incurable, facing challenges in the development of treatments. Recent evidence suggests that RNA modifications, previously considered as static components of intracellular RNAs, are in fact dynamically regulated across various RNA species in cells and play a critical role in major biological processes in the nervous system. Innovations in next-generation sequencing have enabled the accurate detection of modifications on bases and sugars within various RNA molecules. These RNA modifications influence the stability and transportation of RNA, and crucially affect its translation. This review delves into existing knowledge on RNA modifications to offer a comprehensive inventory of these modifications across different RNA species. The detailed regulatory functions and roles of RNA modifications within the nervous system are discussed with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases and gliomas. This article presents a comprehensive overview of the fundamental mechanisms and emerging roles of RNA modifications in these diseases, which can facilitate the creation of innovative diagnostics and therapeutics for these conditions.

Pre-transplant phase angle as a potential marker for predicting the development of infection after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Nutritional assessment in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is important and decreased skeletal muscle mass is a risk factor for the development of infection. Recently, it has become clear that qualitative rather than skeletal muscle mass loss is a marker that reflects post-transplant outcome, but its association with the development of infection remains unclear. Therefore, we assessed skeletal muscle status by body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and investigated its association with the development of infection. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess the quantity as well as quality of skeletal muscle using the body composition of BIA assessment. The quantitative (appendicular skeletal muscle mass index; ASM) and qualitative (phase angle; PhA) indicators of skeletal muscle calculated from body composition analysis were used to determine factors influencing the development of infection after allo-HSCT. RESULTS: In total, 80 adult patients, aged 20-70 years (median, 52) were included in this study. The ASM was mildly decreased after allo-HSCT and PhA was significantly decreased. Furthermore, low pre-transplant PhA was identified as an independent risk factor for the development of infection early after transplantation, with a cutoff value of 4.9°. CONCLUSION: In particular, pre-transplant PhA may predict the development of infection early after allo-HSCT, and muscle indices that can be assessed with pre-transplant body composition are a useful evaluation method that can discriminate post-transplant outcomes.

Structure and function relationship of formate dehydrogenases: an overview of recent progress.

Formate dehydrogenases (FDHs) catalyze the two-electron oxidation of formate to carbon dioxide. FDHs can be divided into several groups depending on their subunit composition and active-site metal ions. Metal-dependent (Mo- or W-containing) FDHs from prokaryotic organisms belong to the superfamily of molybdenum enzymes and are members of the dimethylsulfoxide reductase family. In this short review, recent progress in the structural analysis of FDHs together with their potential biotechnological applications are summarized.

Total gastrectomy as a risk factor for postoperative loss of skeletal muscle in minimally invasive surgery for patients with gastric cancer.

PURPOSE: Loss of skeletal muscle mass after gastrectomy for gastric cancer leads to decreased quality of life and poor postoperative survival. However, few studies have examined the postoperative loss of skeletal muscle mass following minimally invasive gastrectomy. This study investigated the impact of minimally invasive total gastrectomy (MI-TG) on changes in skeletal muscle mass during the early postoperative period. METHODS: Patients who underwent MI-TG or minimally invasive distal or proximal gastrectomy (MI-nonTG) for cStage I-III gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed (n = 58 vs. 182). Their body composition was measured before surgery and 2 months after surgery. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to clarify the impact of the surgical procedure on skeletal muscle index changes using clinically relevant covariates. RESULTS: Skeletal muscle mass decreased more in the MI-TG group than in the MI-nonTG group (median [interquartile range]; -5.9% [-10.6, -3.7] vs -4.5% [-7.3, -1.9], P = 0.004). In multivariable linear regression analysis using clinically relevant covariates, MI-TG was an independent risk factor for postoperative loss of skeletal muscle mass (coefficient - 2.6%, 95% CI -4.5 to -0.68, P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Total gastrectomy was a risk factor for loss of skeletal muscle mass during the early postoperative period. If oncologically feasible, proximal or distal gastrectomy with a small remnant stomach should be considered.

Roles of Noncoding RNAs in Regulation of Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain and Oxidative Phosphorylation.

The mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) plays an essential role in energy production by inducing oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to drive numerous biochemical processes in eukaryotic cells. Disorders of ETC and OXPHOS systems are associated with mitochondria- and metabolism-related diseases, including cancers; thus, a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of ETC and OXPHOS systems is required. Recent studies have indicated that noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) play key roles in mitochondrial functions; in particular, some ncRNAs have been shown to modulate ETC and OXPHOS systems. In this review, we introduce the emerging roles of ncRNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), transfer-RNA-derived fragments (tRFs), long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), in the mitochondrial ETC and OXPHOS regulation.

A FRET-based respirasome assembly screen identifies spleen tyrosine kinase as a target to improve muscle mitochondrial respiration and exercise performance in mice.

Aerobic muscle activities predominantly depend on fuel energy supply by mitochondrial respiration, thus, mitochondrial activity enhancement may become a therapeutic intervention for muscle disturbances. The assembly of mitochondrial respiratory complexes into higher-order "supercomplex" structures has been proposed to be an efficient biological process for energy synthesis, although there is controversy in its physiological relevance. We here established Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) phenomenon-based live imaging of mitochondrial respiratory complexes I and IV interactions using murine myoblastic cells, whose signals represent in vivo supercomplex assembly of complexes I, III, and IV, or respirasomes. The live FRET signals were well correlated with supercomplex assembly observed by blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN-PAGE) and oxygen consumption rates. FRET-based live cell screen defined that the inhibition of spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK), a non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase that belongs to the SYK/ zeta-chain-associated protein kinase 70 (ZAP-70) family, leads to an increase in supercomplex assembly in murine myoblastic cells. In parallel, SYK inhibition enhanced mitochondrial respiration in the cells. Notably, SYK inhibitor administration enhances exercise performance in mice. Overall, this study proves the feasibility of FRET-based respirasome assembly assay, which recapitulates in vivo mitochondrial respiration activities.

Chronological Changes in Skeletal Muscle Mass Two Years after Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative loss of skeletal muscle mass, defined as sarcopenia, has been reported to be associated with higher incidence of complications following esophagectomy in patients with esophageal cancer. Although skeletal muscle loss promotes disability and reduced quality of life (QOL), only a few studies have focused on changes in skeletal muscle mass after surgery. This prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the chronological changes in skeletal muscle mass after minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). METHODS: Patients with esophageal cancer scheduled to undergo MIE at our institution were prospectively registered. Skeletal muscle mass was evaluated before and 2, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery. The effects of preoperative sarcopenia on surgical outcomes and chronological changes in skeletal muscle mass were evaluated. RESULTS: Among the 71 eligible preoperative patients, 29 (40.8%) were diagnosed with sarcopenia. Patients with sarcopenia had significantly higher incidences of total (79.3% vs 52.4%, p = 0.026) and gastrointestinal (37.9% vs 11.9%, p = 0.019) complications and a significantly longer length of hospital stay (31 vs 23 days, p = 0.005) than those without sarcopenia. The median skeletal muscle mass index (kg/m2) was 7.09 before surgery, which decreased to 6.46 two months after surgery (- 7.2%, P < 0.01). Thereafter, values of 6.90, 6.86, and 7.06 were reported at 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery, respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients with preoperative sarcopenia developed more postoperative complications than those without it. Additionally, patients experienced a decrease in skeletal muscle mass during the early postoperative period following MIE. Further research on perioperative countermeasures to prevent skeletal muscle loss during the early postoperative period and to prevent postoperative complications is necessary for patients undergoing MIE.

Divinylcarbinol Desymmetrization Strategy: A Concise and Reliable Approach to Chiral Hydroxylated Fatty Acid Derivatives.

By the aid of the catalytic desymmetrization of divinylcarbinol as one-pot asymmetric induction and protection of olefin, asymmetric total syntheses of two chiral hydroxylated fatty acid derivatives were successfully achieved. The desired stereoisomers could be concisely prepared in mild conditions in a highly convergent manner. Thus, this novel strategy can help stereochemical elucidations of natural products, which have difficulties in spectroscopic stereochemical analyses due to their local symmetries in the vicinities of the stereogenic secondary hydroxyl units.

Prognosis and Prognostic Factors of Patients with Emergent Cerclage: A Japanese Single-Center Study.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to clarify the following: (1) how often does prolonged pregnancy ≥34 weeks occur in patients with emergent cerclage without progesterone and (2) the risk factors preventing such pregnancy continuation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study was performed using medical records of patients for whom emergent cerclage had been performed between April 2006 and December 2018 in our institute. RESULTS: Emergent cerclage was performed in 123 patients (median age: 34, interquartile range: 31-36). Primiparous patients numbered 44 (36%). A history of spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) was present in 30 (24%). The median presurgical cervical length (CL) was 16 (8-21) mm at surgery. Of the 123, 20 (16%) were delivered at 33 + 6 weeks or less (<34 weeks). We conducted logistic regression analysis of the risk factors of SPTBs <34 weeks after cerclage. Three risk factors were identified that increased the risk of SPTB <34 weeks: presurgical CL 0 mm (odds ratio (OR): 5.30; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.58-17.7), a history of SPTB (OR: 4.65; 95% CI: 1.38-15.7), and the presence of sludge (OR: 4.14; 95% CI: 1.20-14.3). CONCLUSION: Three risk factors predicted SPTB <34 weeks after emergency cerclage without progesterone administration: unmeasurable CL (CL 0 mm), a history of SPTB, and the presence of sludge on ultrasound. SPTB <34 weeks occurred after emergency cerclage in 16% of patients, being comparable with the recent data with progesterone.

Mechanisms Underlying the Regulation of Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Complexes by Nuclear Steroid Receptors.

Mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes play important roles in energy production via oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to drive various biochemical processes in eukaryotic cells. These processes require coordination with other cell organelles, especially the nucleus. Factors encoded by both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are involved in the formation of active respiratory chain complexes and 'supercomplexes', the higher-order structures comprising several respiratory chain complexes. Various nuclear hormone receptors are involved in the regulation of OXPHOS-related genes. In this article, we review the roles of nuclear steroid receptors (NR3 class nuclear receptors), including estrogen receptors (ERs), estrogen-related receptors (ERRs), glucocorticoid receptors (GRs), mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs), progesterone receptors (PRs), and androgen receptors (ARs), in the regulatory mechanisms of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex and supercomplex formation.

Fetal seizure: A video recording and possible etiology.

Fetal seizure is rarely observed. Investigation of both video-recording of seizures and cardiotocography is crucial for a precise diagnosis. Here, we report a case of fetal seizure, and also show a video-ultrasound recording. A 40-year-old woman was admitted to us due to loss of variability in cardiotocography. Ultrasound repeatedly revealed opisthotonus-like and clonic-seizure-like movements. After the abnormal movement, tachycardia up to 210 bpm (postictal tachycardia) was noted. Ultrasound revealed a nuchal cord. A careful investigation of video-ultrasound recording by an epilepsy specialist led to the confirmation of epileptic seizures. At 364/7 , she vaginally gave birth to an infant with an umbilical artery pH of 7.22. The infant died 30 min after birth. No clear video-recordings associated with fetal seizure were available for cases reported so far in the literature. The video provided in this case may be of use for further analyses.

Morphometric human embryonic brain features according to developmental stage.

OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated linear, area, and volume measurements of human brain samples according to Carnegie stages (CS) in an attempt to select suitable morphometric features that reflect embryonic development. METHODS: Using magnetic resonance imaging, we measured seven linear segments, three separate areas, and three regional volumes in 101 samples between CS13 and 23. Brain volume was determined via manual segmentation of the magnetic resonance image, whereby a formula was generated to estimate the volume of each linear measurement. RESULTS: All parameters correlated with crown-rump length. Bitemporal length and mesencephalic height increased linearly according to the CS, and a high correlation between bitemporal length and both whole-brain (r = 0.98) and prosencephalon (r = 0.99) volumes was found when brain cavity volume was excluded. CONCLUSION: Morphometric data related to human embryonic stages are valuable for correcting and comparing sonographic data. The present approach may contribute to improvements in prenatal diagnostics by enabling the selection of more suitable measurements during early embryonic stages. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.