Identification of pheasant ghrelin and motilin and their actions on contractility of the isolated gastrointestinal tract.

Motilin and ghrelin were identified in the pheasant by molecular cloning, and the actions of both peptides on the contractility of gastrointestinal (GI) strips were examined in vitro. Molecular cloning indicated that the deduced amino acid sequences of the pheasant motilin and ghrelin were a 22-amino acid peptide, FVPFFTQSDIQKMQEKERIKGQ, and a 26-amino acid peptide, GSSFLSPAYKNIQQQKDTRKPTGRLH, respectively. In in vitro studies using pheasant GI strips, chicken motilin caused contraction of the proventriculus and small intestine, whereas the crop and colon were insensitive.

Metacytofilin Is a Potent Therapeutic Drug Candidate for Toxoplasmosis.

Background: Toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is an important cause of miscarriage or adverse fetal effects, including neurological and ocular manifestations in humans. Current anti-Toxoplasma drugs have limited efficacy against toxoplasmosis and also have severe side effects. Therefore, novel efficacious drugs are urgently needed.

Intraoperative hypotension caused by oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid for photodynamic diagnosis in patients with bladder cancer.

Objective: To analyze perioperative blood pressure in patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor with photodynamic diagnosis.

Methods: A total of 109 consecutive patients who underwent photodynamic diagnosis-assisted transurethral resection of bladder tumor at Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, were included in this study and considered as the photodynamic diagnosis group. Clinical data were collected, and perioperative systolic bladder pressure and vasopressor usage were analyzed.

SQSTM1/p62 promotes mitochondrial ubiquitination independently of PINK1 and PRKN/parkin in mitophagy.

The ubiquitination of mitochondrial proteins labels damaged mitochondria for degradation through mitophagy. We recently developed an system in which mitophagy is slowed by inhibiting mitochondrial division through knockout of , a dynamin related GTPase that mediates mitochondrial division. Using this system, we revealed that the ubiquitination of mitochondrial proteins required SQSTM1/p62, but not the ubiquitin E3 ligase PRKN/parkin, during mitophagy.

The Structural Function of Nestin in Cell Body Softening is Correlated with Cancer Cell Metastasis.

Intermediate filaments play significant roles in governing cell stiffness and invasive ability. Nestin is a type VI intermediate filament protein that is highly expressed in several high-metastatic cancer cells. Although inhibition of nestin expression was shown to reduce the metastatic capacity of tumor cells, the relationship between this protein and the mechanism of cancer cell metastasis remains unclear.

Phosphorylated Rho-GDP directly activates mTORC2 kinase towards AKT through dimerization with Ras-GTP to regulate cell migration.

mTORC2 plays critical roles in metabolism, cell survival and actin cytoskeletal dynamics through the phosphorylation of AKT. Despite its importance to biology and medicine, it is unclear how mTORC2-mediated AKT phosphorylation is controlled. Here, we identify an unforeseen principle by which a GDP-bound form of the conserved small G protein Rho GTPase directly activates mTORC2 in AKT phosphorylation in social amoebae (Dictyostelium discoideum) cells.

Coupling of Redox and Structural States in Cytochrome P450 Reductase Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulation.

Cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is the key protein that regulates the electron transfer from NADPH to various heme-containing monooxygenases. CPR has two flavin-containing domains: one with flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), called FAD domain, and the other with flavin mononucleotide (FMN), called FMN domain. It is considered that the electron transfer occurs via FAD and FMN (NADPH → FAD → FMN → monooxygenase) and is regulated by an interdomain open-close motion.

Clinicopathological characteristics of subtypes of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical and pathological correlations characterising each clinical subtype of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP).

Methods: We assessed 106 consecutive patients who had CIDP fulfilling the European Federation of Neurological Societies and Peripheral Nerve Society criteria and had been referred for sural nerve biopsy. Patients with anti-neurofascin 155, anti-contactin 1 and anti-LM1 antibodies were excluded.

Association Between Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Central Motor Conduction Time in Patients with Vascular Risk.

Background And Purpose: Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is related to motor function disturbance. It includes several types: lacunar infarction, white matter hyperintensity, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), and enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been successfully used to evaluate the function of the pyramidal tract.

Periventricular White Matter Lesions Influence Gait Functions in Parkinson's Disease.

Objective: We quantitatively evaluated the gait of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients over a 10-m course during normal walking and during dual-task walking while performing a calculation task, and clarified which parts of white matter lesions (WML) influence gait in PD patients.

Methods: Gait parameters, including walking speed, gait cycle, stride length, and left-right instability, were measured in 64 PD patients and 20 controls who walked 10 m with normal gait and as they were performing a calculation task. WML on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of PD patients were scored according to Scheltens' criteria, and associations with gait parameters were investigated.

Laparoscopic Surgery for Ovarian Cyst Infection with Avoidance of Ureteral Injury and Uterine Perforation following Intrauterine Insemination after Abdominal Modified Radical Trachelectomy.

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) sometimes develops after intrauterine insemination (IUI). We herein present a case of PID which developed after IUI performed after abdominal modified radical trachelectomy (AmRT) and was treated with laparoscopic surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of laparoscopic surgery for PID that occurred after AmRT in Japan.

Immunogenicity of the AIK-C measles vaccine in infants aged <9 months in Vietnam.

Measles-associated deaths have been reported in infants <9 months during outbreaks. A cohort study was conducted on 210 infants aged 6-8 months to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the AIK-C measles vaccine containing 10 plaque-forming units (PFU)/0.5 mL produced in Vietnam.

Reiter's syndrome following intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin therapy for bladder carcinoma: a report of five cases.

Reiter's syndrome is known to be a rare severe adverse of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) therapy. We report five cases of patients with Reiter's syndrome following intravesical BCG therapy for bladder carcinoma, and review the clinical characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of these patients. Each patient developed polyarthritis after urinary tract symptoms, and developed conjunctivitis anywhere from the third to the eighth BCG induction cycle.

p.N345K mutation in TARDBP in a patient with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: An autopsy case.

We report the neuropathology of a patient with a family history of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a p.N345K mutation in the transactivation response DNA-binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) gene (TARDBP). A 62-year-old man had bulbar palsy with progressive weakness in the extremities.

A rare case of pulmonary lepidic metastasis in patient with branch-type intraductal papillary mucinous carcinoma of the pancreas.

Pulmonary lepidic metastasis from intraductal papillary mucinous carcinoma (IPMC) of the pancreas is extremely rare. The patient was a 50s-year old male who was hospitalized in the department of respiratory in our hospital for the evaluation of ground-glass opacities in both lungs on computed tomography (CT) imaging. Steroid therapy was administered, as interstitial pneumonia was suggested; however, there was no improvement.

Initial Experience With Radium-223 Chloride Treatment at the Kanazawa University Hospital.

Background/aim: To evaluate our initial experience with radium-223 chloride (Ra-223).

Materials And Methods: A total of 26 castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients with bone metastases, treated with Ra-223 at our hospital were evaluated. This study aimed to observe adverse events (AEs) and changes in serum markers, and Bone Scan Index (BSI).

Quantification of Bone Metastasis of Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer After Enzalutamide and Abiraterone Acetate Using Bone Scan Index on Bone Scintigraphy.

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of enzalutamide (ENZ) or abiraterone acetate (ABI) on bone metastasis in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), using bone scan index (BSI).

Materials And Methods: Treatment outcomes for 31 patients who had undergone ENZ or ABI treatment were examined for CRPC with bone metastases. Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to investigate the association between overall survival (OS) and clinical characteristics.

Efficacy of istradefylline for gait disorders with freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease: A single-arm, open-label, prospective, multicenter study.

: Gait disorders are common in Parkinson's disease patients who respond poorly to dopaminergic treatment. Blockade of adenosine A receptors is expected to improve gait disorders. Istradefylline is a first-in-class selective adenosine A receptor antagonist with benefits for motor complications associated with Parkinson's disease.

Leucinostatin Y: A Peptaibiotic Produced by the Entomoparasitic Fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum 40-H-28.

Leucinostatin Y, a new peptaibiotic, was isolated from the culture broth of the entomoparasitic fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum 40-H-28. The planar structure was elucidated by detailed analysis of its NMR and MS/MS data. The absolute configurations of the amino acids were partially determined by an advanced Marfey's method.

Relationship between endoscopic mucosal healing and histologic inflammation during remission maintenance phase in ulcerative colitis: a retrospective study.

 Recently, histological inflammation has been suggested to be an important predictor of sustained remission or relapse of ulcerative colitis (UC). In this study, we retrospectively compared severity of histological inflammation with endoscopic findings in UC patients with mucosal healing (MH) in the remission maintenance phase, and investigated whether histological healing could be a predictor of sustained remission.  This study included 166 patients with MH in the remission maintenance phase.

Genetic and Immunohistochemical Studies Investigating the Histogenesis of Neuroendocrine and Carcinomatous Components of Combined Neuroendocrine Carcinoma.

Background: Lung combined neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) comprise NEC and non-NEC components, such as adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Mutation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) often is observed in non-NEC but is very rare in sporadic NEC, which almost always has p53 mutation. Therefore, we hypothesized the following research concept: mutation analysis of EGFR and p53 in each component of combined NEC tissues can provide important information on whether such components originate from the same tumor cells or incidentally arise as collision cancers.