Publications by authors named "Emi Kumagai"

CD26 is a 110-kDa multifunctional molecule having dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) enzyme activity and is present on the surface of human T cells. Soluble CD26 (sCD26) exists in human blood and enhances the proliferation of peripheral T lymphocytes induced by tetanus toxoid (TT). The mechanisms by which CD26 enhances the activation of T cells and monocytes remain to be fully elucidated.

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Aim Of The Study: Various parts of Carica papaya Linn. (CP) have been traditionally used as ethnomedicine for a number of disorders, including cancer. There have been anecdotes of patients with advanced cancers achieving remission following consumption of tea extract made from CP leaves.

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Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are expected to have a medical application in human therapy as drugs with a high specificity for their molecular target mRNAs. RecQL1 DNA helicase in the human RecQ helicase family participates in DNA repair and recombination pathways in the cell cycle of replication. Silencing the RecQL1 expression by RecQL1-siRNA induces mitotic death in vitro specifically in growing cancer cells.

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RecQL1 DNA helicase of the human RecQ helicase family participates in DNA repair and recombination pathways during cell-cycle replication. When we examined the effect of RecQL1 suppression on cell growth, we found that RecQL1 silencing by small interference RNA efficiently prevented proliferation of a wide range of cancer cells by inducing mitotic catastrophe and mitotic cell death. In contrast, such mitotic cell death was not seen in the growing normal fibroblasts used as controls, even if RecQL1 expression was fully downregulated.

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