Surgical outcomes of minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery for pulmonary mycosis complicated with hematopoietic malignancy.

Objective: Patients with hematopoietic malignancies (HM) are often immunocompromised and, therefore, susceptible to developing invasive fungal infections, including pulmonary mycosis. Surgical resection is indicated for localized pulmonary mycosis refractory to antifungal agents. This study investigated the feasibility and outcomes of minimally invasive surgery for pulmonary mycosis patients complicated with HM.

Peptide Bond Formation Between Unprotected Amino Acids: Convergent Synthesis of Oligopeptides.

In the history of peptide chemical synthesis, amino acid-protecting groups have become basic, essential, and common moieties. As the use of protecting groups for amino acids effectively suppresses unwanted side reactions and enables the desired reaction to proceed selectively, their use continues regardless of the complexities of the protection processes and the waste generated by the deprotection residues. We developed peptide bond formation between unprotected amino acids to form silacyclic dipeptides.

Lymphocyte Crossmatch Testing or Donor HLA-DP and -DQ Allele Typing Effectiveness in Single Cord Blood Transplantation for Patients With Anti-HLA Antibodies Other Than Against HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1.

Anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies other than those against HLA-A, -B, -C, and DRB1 are a risk factor for engraftment delay and failure, especially in cord blood transplantation (CBT). The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of the presence of anti-HLA antibodies on CBT and to evaluate the utility of lymphocyte crossmatch testing or additional HLA-DP and -DQ typing of CB units in improving transplant outcomes. We retrospectively assessed the engraftment rates and transplant outcomes of 772 patients who underwent their first CBT at our hospital between 2012 and 2021.

[Fulminant Clostridioides difficile infection during treatment with FLT3 inhibitor for acute myeloid leukemia].

An 80-year-old man with FLT3-TKD mutation-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapsed during consolidation therapy with venetoclax/azacitidine and was started on gilteritinib as salvage therapy. On the day after treatment initiation, febrile neutropenia was observed, but the fever resolved promptly after initiation of antimicrobial therapy. On the fifth day after completion of antimicrobial therapy, the patient experienced fever and watery diarrhea over 10 times a day, and a diagnosis of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) was made based on stool examination.

Ponatinib-Related Vasospastic Angina.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are essential drugs for chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cardiovascular or arteriothrombotic adverse events have been reported in patients treated with TKIs. We report 3 cases of Ponatinib-related vasospastic angina, in which prophylactic administration of nitrates or calcium channel blockers was effective.

Fatal outcome of BK virus encephalitis in an allogeneic stem cell transplantation recipient.

BK virus (BKV) encephalitis is a rare complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). A 43-year-old woman with recurrent follicular lymphoma after autologous HSCT received allogeneic bone marrow transplantation from a human leukocyte antigen-matched related donor. Neutrophil engraftment was achieved on post-transplant day 13.

Long-term lymphocyte subset number reconstitution is unique but comparable between umbilical cord blood and unrelated bone marrow transplantation.

The number of umbilical cord blood transplantation (U-CBT) procedures has been growing annually, but little research has been done on long-term immune recovery after U-CBT. Infection risk is high in U-CBT recipients, and this can be partially attributed to immature immunocompetent cells in umbilical cord blood. In this study, we analyzed lymphocyte subset (LST) number to determine the long-term recovery timeline.

A case report of a truncated ABL1 mutation in 2 cases with Philadelphia chromosome-positive B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Acquired point mutations in the ABL1 gene are widely recognized as a cause of Philadelphia chromosome-positive B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph B-ALL) that is resistant to tyrosine kinase inhibitors, whereas there are few reports about other types of the ABL1 mutation. Here, we report 2 cases of Ph B-ALL gaining a partial deletion type mutation of the ABL1 gene (Δ184-274 mutation), which resulted in truncation of the ABL1 molecule and loss of kinase activity. In both cases, the disease was refractory to multiple agents in the recurrent phase after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Trimethylaluminum-mediated one-pot peptide elongation.

Efficient and straightforward peptide bond formation of N-, and C-terminal unprotected amino acids was successfully achieved by using trimethylaluminum. The coupling reaction was accomplished by pre-reaction of N-, and C-terminal unprotected amino acids and trimethylaluminum to form a five-membered ring that smoothly reacted with nucleophilic amino acid esters. This simple and highly efficient reaction system allows one-pot tripeptide synthesis without the need for expensive coupling reagents.

Rituximab/bendamustine/cytarabine for transplant-eligible patients with mantle cell lymphoma: A retrospective study.

Background: Mantle cell lymphoma is considered an aggressive B-cell lymphoma. The optimal induction regimen remains controversial as no randomized controlled trial has compared the efficacy of different induction therapies.

Method: Herein, we performed a retrospective analysis of the clinical characteristics of 10 patients who received induction treatment consisting of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) and rituximab, bendamustine, and cytarabine (R-BAC) at Toranomon Hospital between November 2016 and February 2022.

Silicon-based hydrophobic tags applied in liquid-phase peptide synthesis: protected DRGN-1 and poly alanine chain synthesis.

Two new recyclable silicon-based hydrophobic tags were developed for installing them at the C-terminal of peptides to increase the solubility in organic solvents and the reactivity of the peptides during liquid-phase peptide synthesis (LPPS). They comprise a siloxy group containing tag and an arylsilyl group containing tag. The hydrophobicity of these tags is much greater than those of previously reported examples.

Organocatalytic Activation of Inert Hydrosilane for Peptide Bond Formation.

We describe the development of a reliable catalytic protocol for peptide bond formation that is generally applicable to natural and unnatural α-amino acids, β-amino acids, and peptides bearing various functional groups. A 10 mol % loading of HSi[OCH(CF)] as a catalyst was sufficient to guarantee a consistently high yield of the resulting peptide. This method facilitates the sustainable utilization of natural resources by using a catalyst and an auxiliary based on earth-abundant silicon.

Clinical and microbiological characteristics of bacterial meningitis in umbilical cord blood transplantation recipients.

Bacterial meningitis is a rare but severe infectious complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. However, its clinical features were previously not clear. We reviewed the cases of 7 patients diagnosed with bacterial meningitis with a positive cerebrospinal fluid culture among 1147 patients who underwent cord blood transplantation (CBT) at our institution between September 2007 and September 2020.

Immunological influence of serum-free manufactured umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells for steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease.

This study investigated the safety, efficacy, and immunological influence of allogeneic umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (IMSUT-CORD) processed in serum-free medium and cryoprotectant, for treating steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). In a phase I dose-escalation trial, IMSUT-CORD were infused intravenously twice weekly over two cycles with up to two additional cycles. Four patients received a dose of 1 × 10 cells/kg, while three received 2 × 10/kg.

An economical approach for peptide synthesis regioselective C-N bond cleavage of lactams.

An economical, solvent-free, and metal-free method for peptide synthesis C-N bond cleavage using lactams has been developed. The method not only eliminates the need for condensation agents and their auxiliaries, which are essential for conventional peptide synthesis, but also exhibits high atom economy. The reaction is versatile because it can tolerate side chains bearing a range of functional groups, affording up to >99% yields of the corresponding peptides without racemisation or polymerisation.

Biomimetic Peptide Catalytic Bond-Forming Utilizing a Mild Brønsted Acid.

Since the global peptide drug market demand has been predicted to increase, highly efficient and inexpensive mass scale peptides are required. However, the production process raises questions about the cost of energy input, scale-up production, raw materials, and solvents treatment. This paper introduces 2 methods for the 2-4 mer oligopeptides bond formation for batch reaction utilizing 50-100 mol% of a mild Brønsted acid under the mild condition.

Protective effect of d-alanine against acute kidney injury.

Recent studies have revealed the connection between amino acid chirality and diseases. We have previously reported that the gut microbiota produces various d-amino acids in a murine acute kidney injury (AKI) model. Here, we further explored the pathophysiological role of d-alanine (d-Ala) in AKI.

Synthesis of Silacyclic Dipeptides: Peptide Elongation at Both N- and C-Termini of Dipeptide.

A new type of peptide bond formation utilizing silacyclic amino acids or peptides is described. This work has the following advantages: (1) imidazolylsilane is a highly fascinating coupling reagent for dipeptide synthesis from N-,C-terminal unprotected amino acids with amino acid -butyl esters; (2) deprotection of the -butyl ester at the C-terminus and cyclization sequentially proceed depending on reaction conditions to afford novel silacyclic dipeptides; (3) the cyclized products show a remarkable capacity as substrates of peptide elongation because the silacyclic compounds can act as both nucleophiles and electrophiles, and this capacity lead to one-pot site-selective tetra- and oligopeptide syntheses. These innovative advantages will help to simplify classical peptide synthesis significantly.

Factors Associated with Breakthrough Fungemia Caused by , , or Fusarium Species in Patients with Hematological Disorders.

Limited data are available on breakthrough fungemia, defined as fungemia that develops on administration of antifungal agents, in patients with hematological disorders. We reviewed the medical and microbiological records of adult patients with hematological diseases who had breakthrough fungemia between January 2008 and July 2019 at Toranomon Hospital and Toranomon Hospital Kajigaya in Japan. A total of 121 cases of breakthrough fungemia were identified.

Clinical and Microbiological Characteristics of Proven Invasive Aspergillosis Due to Rare/Cryptic Species in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients.

There are few reports on the clinical course of proven invasive aspergillosis (IA) due to rare/cryptic species in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) recipients. We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of patients who underwent allo-HSCT between January 2012 and December 2018. Of 934 allo-HSCT recipients, 10 were diagnosed with proven IA and 61 were diagnosed with probable IA.