Publications by authors named "Aki Komatsu"

Introduction: Antidiabetic drug metformin exerts various antitumor effects on different cancers. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is an intractable digestive organ cancer and new treatment strategy is required. In this study, we performed a comprehensive gene expression analysis of ESCC cell lines treated with metformin, which provided helpful information on the antitumor effects of metformin in ESCC.

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Expression of genes is controlled by histone modification, histone acetylation and methylation, but abnormalities of these modifications have been observed in carcinogenesis and cancer development. The effect of the lysine-specific histone demethylase 1 (LSD1) inhibitor, a demethylating enzyme of histones, is thought to be caused by controlling the expression of genes. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the efficacies of the LSD1 inhibitor on the gene expression of esophageal cancer cell lines using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-Seq.

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Objective: ZNF750, a transcriptional regulator of epidermal differentiation, has been identified as a tumor suppressor in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of ZNF750 expression and to evaluate the effect of ZNF750 knockdown on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in ESCC.

Methods: A total of 124 patients with ESCC who underwent curative esophagectomy were evaluated in this study.

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Background: The expression of Fos-related antigen 1 (Fra-1) affects tumor progression, migration, and invasion. In this study, we identified the genes regulated by Fra-1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: We constructed Fra-1 knockdown models via the transfection of small interfering RNA (siRNA) into ESCC cell lines (TE10, TE11).

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Background: The expression of genes can be influenced by the balance of histone acetylation and/or histone demethylation, with an imbalance of these processes possibly observed in many cancers. The histone demethylase LSD1 inhibitor activity is associated with selective transcriptional regulation and alterations in the gene expression. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the antitumor effects of LSD1 inhibitors are not fully understood.

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Background/aim: Although conventional staging laparoscopy (SL) has improved the diagnostic accuracy of peritoneal dissemination, novel technology is needed to increase the sensitivity of SL. We herein describe a new imaging method employing near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging using a liposomal synthesized indocyanine green (ICG) liposomal derivative, LP-ICG-C18.

Methods And Results: LP-ICG-C18 is a NIR-photoactivating probe in which an ICG fluorophore is covalently conjugated with a phospholipid moiety.

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Background: Heat-shock protein gp96 plays an important role in antitumor immunoreactions. Gp96 has a close relationship with antitumor immunity. This study evaluated the correlation between gp96 expression and the prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

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Background: p53 gene therapy has been examined in several clinical trials, however, the results of those trials have mostly been unsatisfactory due to the low efficacy of this therapy. Leptomycin B (LMB) is an antibiotic originally isolated from Streptomyces that has the ability to inhibit the export of proteins containing a nuclear export signal from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Currently, it has been shown that p53 protein has a nuclear export signal.

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Background: Recently, the use of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACI) with gene therapy has been shown to improve the effect of this therapy. The effectiveness of one of the novel HDACIs, FK228, was examined in adenovirus-mediated p53 gene therapy of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Materials And Methods: The expression levels of coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) in ESCC patients were examined immunohistochemically.

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Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) are promising therapeutic agents with the potential for regulating cell cycle, differentiation and apoptosis in cancer cells. HDACI activity is associated with selective transcriptional regulation and altering gene expression. However, the exact mechanisms leading to the antitumor effect of HDACIs are not fully understood.

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We tested a new therapeutic modality for head and neck and esophageal cancers, a combination of direct intratumoral (i.t.) administration of dendritic cells (DCs) and radiation therapy (RT) in mouse squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

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Strong HLA-DR antigen expression on cancer cells relates to better prognosis of colorectal cancer patients, although the precise mechanism is controversial. From an immunological point of view, HLA-DR antigen, induced by interferon (IFN)-gamma, is required for tumor-associated antigen recognition by CD4(+) T cells. For instance, as reported previously, the expression of HLA-DR antigen in normal colorectal epithelium immediately adjacent to cancer coincided significantly with the existence of IFN-gamma mRNA in the tissue.

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