Adjuvant and post-recurrent treatment patterns in patients with resectable gastric cancer in japan: a retrospective database cohort study.

BACKGROUND: This study examined temporal shifts in adjuvant therapy patterns in Japanese patients with resectable gastric cancer (GC) and treatment patterns of first-line and subsequent therapy among those with recurrent disease. METHODS: This retrospective analysis of hospital-based administrative claims data (April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2022) included adults (aged ≥ 20 years) with GC who started adjuvant therapy on or after October 1, 2008 (adjuvant cohort) and patients in the adjuvant cohort with disease recurrence (recurrent cohort), further defined by the time to recurrence (≤ 180 or > 180 days after adjuvant therapy). RESULTS: In the adjuvant cohort (n = 17,062), the most common regimen during October 2008-May 2016 was tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil potassium (S-1; 95.7%). As new standard adjuvant regimen options were established, adjuvant S-1 use decreased to 65.0% and fluoropyrimidine plus oxaliplatin or docetaxel plus S-1 use increased to 15.0% and 20.0%, respectively, in September 2019-March 2022. In the recurrent cohort with no history of trastuzumab/trastuzumab deruxtecan treatment (n = 1257), the most common first-line regimens were paclitaxel plus ramucirumab (34.0%), capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CapeOX; 17.0%), and nab-paclitaxel plus ramucirumab (10.1%) in patients with early recurrence, and S-1 plus oxaliplatin (26.3%), S-1 plus cisplatin (15.3%), CapeOX (14.0%), S-1 (13.2%), and paclitaxel plus ramucirumab (10.8%) in those with late recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated temporal shifts in adjuvant treatment patterns that followed the establishment of novel regimens, and confirmed that post-recurrent treatment patterns were consistent with the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association guideline recommendations.

Loss of the small GTPase Arl8b results in abnormal development of the roof plate in mouse embryos.

Lysosomes are acidic organelles responsible for degrading both exogenous and endogenous materials. The small GTPase Arl8 localizes primarily to lysosomes and is involved in lysosomal function. In the present study, using Arl8b gene-trapped mutant (Arl8b-/- ) mice, we show that Arl8b is required for the development of dorsal structures of the neural tube, including the thalamus and hippocampus. In embryonic day (E) 10.5 Arl8b-/- embryos, Sox1 (a neuroepithelium marker) was ectopically expressed in the roof plate, whereas the expression of Gdf7 and Msx1 (roof plate markers) was reduced in the dorsal midline of the midbrain. Ectopic expression of Sox1 in Arl8b-/- embryos was detected also at E9.0 in the neural fold, which gives rise to the roof plate. In addition, the levels of Bmp receptor IA and phosphorylated Smad 1/5/8 (downstream of BMP signaling) were increased in the neural fold of E9.0 Arl8b-/- embryos. These results suggest that Arl8b is involved in the development of the neural fold and the subsequently formed roof plate, possibly via control of BMP signaling.

Arl8b is required for lysosomal degradation of maternal proteins in the visceral yolk sac endoderm of mouse embryos.

The small GTPase Arl8b localizes primarily to lysosomes and is involved in lysosomal motility and fusion. Here, we show that Arl8b is required for lysosomal degradation of maternal proteins in the visceral yolk sac endoderm (VYSE), an apical cell layer of the visceral yolk sac, of mouse embryos. The VYSE actively takes up maternal materials from uterine fluid and degrades them in lysosomes to provide breakdown products to the embryo. Arl8b gene-trap mice (Arl8b-/- ) displayed decreased early embryo body size. The Arl8b-/-  VYSE exhibited defective endocytic trafficking to the lysosome and accumulation of maternal proteins such as albumin and immunoglobulin G in late endocytic organelles. Furthermore, Transthyretin-Cre;Arl8bflox/flox mice in which Arl8b was ablated specifically in the VYSE also showed decreased embryo body size, defects in trafficking to the lysosome and reduction of the free amino acid level in the embryos. Taken together, these results suggest that Arl8b mediates lysosomal degradation of maternal proteins in the VYSE, thereby contributing to mouse embryonic development.

Discovery of Potent, Selective, and Brain-Penetrant 1 H-Pyrazol-5-yl-1 H-pyrrolo[2,3- b]pyridines as Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) Inhibitors.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), a member of the receptor tyrosine kinase family, is predominantly expressed in the brain and implicated in neuronal development and cognition. However, the detailed function of ALK in the central nervous system (CNS) is still unclear. To elucidate the role of ALK in the CNS, it was necessary to discover a potent, selective, and brain-penetrant ALK inhibitor. Scaffold hopping and lead optimization of N-(2,4-difluorobenzyl)-3-(1 H-pyrazol-5-yl)imidazo[1,2- b]pyridazin-6-amine 1 guided by a cocrystal structure of compound 1 bound to ALK resulted in the identification of (6-(1-(5-fluoropyridin-2-yl)ethoxy)-1-(5-methyl-1 H-pyrazol-3-yl)-1 H-pyrrolo[2,3- b]pyridin-3-yl)((2 S)-2-methylmorpholin-4-yl)methanone 13 as a highly potent, selective, and brain-penetrable compound. Intraperitoneal administration of compound 13 significantly decreased the phosphorylated-ALK (p-ALK) levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in the mouse brain. These results suggest that compound 13 could serve as a useful chemical probe to elucidate the mechanism of ALK-mediated brain functions and the therapeutic potential of ALK inhibition.

Domain architecture of the atypical Arf-family GTPase Arl13b involved in cilia formation.

Arl13b is an atypical Arf/Arl-family GTPase consisting of an extending large C-terminal region (C domain) and Arf-homologous GTP-binding motifs in the N terminus (N domain). Although Arl13b appears to be involved in cilia formation, its precise function and roles of the domains remain unknown. Here, we show the unique domain architecture of Arl13b by analyzing the relationship between its biochemical properties and cilia formation. Arl13b binds guanine nucleotides and specifically localizes to cilia. The ciliary localization of Arl13b requires both N and C domains but is independent of its guanine nucleotide-binding ability. Arl13b is capable of self-associating via N domain, and overexpression of N domain inhibits not only cilia formation but also the maintenance of pre-generated cilia. These findings suggest that N and C domains of Arl13b cooperatively regulate its ciliary localization and that N domain-dependent self-association of Arl13b may be important for its function in cilia biogenesis.

TLR7 mediated viral recognition results in focal type I interferon secretion by dendritic cells.

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) sense viral RNA through toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), form self-adhesive pDC-pDC clusters, and produce type I interferons. This cell adhesion enhances type I interferon production, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Here we show that MyD88-dependent TLR7 signaling activates CD11a/CD18 integrin to induce microtubule elongation. TLR7+ lysosomes then become linked with these microtubules through the GTPase Arl8b and its effector SKIP/Plekhm2, resulting in perinuclear to peripheral relocalization of TLR7. The type I interferon signaling molecules TRAF3, IKKα, and mTORC1 are constitutively associated in pDCs. TLR7 localizes to mTORC1 and induces association of TRAF3 with the upstream molecule TRAF6. Finally, type I interferons are secreted in the vicinity of cell-cell contacts between clustered pDCs. These results suggest that TLR7 needs to move to the cell periphery to induce robust type I interferon responses in pDCs.

The arf-like GTPase Arl8 mediates delivery of endocytosed macromolecules to lysosomes in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Late endocytic organelles including lysosomes are highly dynamic acidic organelles. Late endosomes and lysosomes directly fuse for content mixing to form hybrid organelles, from which lysosomes are reformed. It is not fully understood how these processes are regulated and maintained. Here we show that the Caenorhabditis elegans ARL-8 GTPase is localized primarily to lysosomes and involved in late endosome-lysosome fusion in the macrophage-like coelomocytes. Loss of arl-8 results in an increase in the number of late endosomal/lysosomal compartments, which are smaller than wild type. In arl-8 mutants, late endosomal compartments containing endocytosed macromolecules fail to fuse with lysosomal compartments enriched in the aspartic protease ASP-1. Furthermore, loss of arl-8 strongly suppresses formation of enlarged late endosome-lysosome hybrid organelles caused by mutations of cup-5, which is the orthologue of human mucolipin-1. These findings suggest that ARL-8 mediates delivery of endocytosed macromolecules to lysosomes by facilitating late endosome-lysosome fusion.