Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer worldwide and represents the outcome of the natural history of chronic liver disease. The growing rates of HCC may be partially attributable to increased numbers of people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, details of the liver-specific molecular mechanisms responsible for the NAFLD-NASH-HCC progression remain unclear, and mouse models that can be used to explore the exact factors that influence the progression of NAFLD/NASH to the more chronic stages of liver disease and subsequent HCC are not yet fully established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Budding uninhibited by benzimidazole-related 1 (BUBR1) plays an important role in the spindle assembly checkpoint to prevent chromosome missegregation and aneuploidy during mitosis. We previously generated mutant mice that express BUBR1 at only 20% of the normal level (BubR1 mice). Here, we examined the effect of low BUBR1 expression on oxidative stress-induced carcinogenesis in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA delay in liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PHx) leads to acute liver injury, and such delays are frequently observed in aged patients. BubR1 (budding uninhibited by benzimidazole-related 1) controls chromosome mitotic segregation through the spindle assembly checkpoint, and BubR1 down-regulation promotes aging-associated phenotypes. In this study we investigated the effects of BubR1 insufficiency on liver regeneration in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResults from the Trastuzumab for Gastric Cancer (ToGA) trial highlighted the clinical significance of trastuzumab in the treatment of HER2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor type 2)-positive gastric cancer. However, whether expression of HER2 is related to prognosis of gastric cancer is still controversial. A total of 360 consecutive patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgical resection in our Department from 1994 to 2007 were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Defects in mitotic checkpoint and p53-dependent pathways associate with chromosomal instability. In the present study, we investigated the interplay between BUBR1 and p53 and their association with genetic instability in colorectal cancer.
Patients And Methods: 139 colorectal cases were examined for BUBR1, p53 and genetic instability indicators.
DNA aneuploidy is observed in various human tumors and is associated with the abnormal expression of spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) proteins. Oxidative stress (OS) causes DNA damage and chromosome instability that may lead to carcinogenesis. OS is also suggested to contribute to an increase in aneuploid cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mortalin is a heat-non-inducible member of the heat shock protein 70 family. Mortalin binds to p53 and prevents p53 from entering the nucleus. To understand the significance of mortalin in gastric cancer, we investigated the expression of mortalin and p53.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) around IL-28B and interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene (ISG) expression are predictors of response to standard therapy involving IFN for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We analyzed the association between these predictors to improve the prediction of the response to IFN therapy after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods: Data were collected from 74 patients with HCV-induced HCC.
Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) causes severe encephalitis in humans. It is endemic in one area of Japan; however no commercial vaccine is available in that country. In this Japan-based study, the efficacy of subviral particles (SPs) of TBEV administered by needle-free injector was evaluated as a vaccine candidate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus causes severe encephalitis with serious sequelae in humans. An epizootiological survey of wild rodents is effective to detect TBE virus-endemic areas; however, limited serological diagnostic methods are available to detect anti-TBE virus antibodies in wild rodents. In this study, ELISAs for the detection of rodent antibodies against the TBE virus were developed using two recombinant proteins, domain III of the E protein (EdIII) and subviral particles (SPs), as the antigens.
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