Convenient method for determining the absolute configuration of chiral alcohols with racemic 1H NMR anisotropy reagent, M(alpha)NP acid: use of HPLC-CD detector.

A convenient method for determining the absolute configuration of chiral secondary alcohols using the racemic NMR anisotropy reagent, (+/-)-2-methoxy-2-(1-naphthyl)propionic acid [(+/-)-M(alpha)NP acid], and an HPLC-CD detector was developed. The method was successfully applied to some chiral alcohols derived from (-)-alpha-santonin.

A cancer-prone case with a background of methylation of p16 tumor suppressor gene.

Purpose And Experimental Design: To date, the presence of p16 gene promoter methylation associated with loss of protein expression has been demonstrated frequently in digestive tract cancers. In this study, we tested for the methylation status of p16 promoter in normal tissue specimens using the methylation-specific PCR technique to examine whether p16 methylation already existed in the background of tumors.

Results: Aberrant promoter methylation of p16 gene was detected in 1 of 40 esophageal and 1 of 69 gastric and no colorectal epithelium specimens, and these 2 specimens were derived from the same patient.

Efficient adenovirus transduction of 3T3-L1 adipocytes stably expressing coxsackie-adenovirus receptor.

3T3-L1 adipocytes have proven difficult to transfect with plasmid-encoded cDNAs or even infect with virally-derived cDNAs. We have developed and characterized a 3T3-L1 adipocyte cell line stably expressing the truncated receptor for coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) for its ability to be infected with adenoviruses at a low multiplicity of infection (m.o.

Mixture ratios of local bone to artificial bone in lumbar posterolateral fusion.

There have been no reports on the effects of the mixture ratio of local bone graft to artificial bone on the outcome of intervertebral bone fusion. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the mixture ratio of local bone removed from laminae and spinous processes to apatite- and wollastonite-containing glass ceramic (AWGC) granules affected fusion rates in spinal fusion. Posterolateral lumbar fusion at two levels without spinal instrumentation was performed in 35 patients who were diagnosed with lumbar spinal canal stenosis.

Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with systemic lymph node dissection for early gastric carcinoma: a review of 43 cases.

Background: Recently, laparoscopy and laparoscopy-assisted surgery have been used increasingly as less-invasive alternatives to conventional open surgery. But the use of this approach in gastric carcinoma has received little attention, possibly from the low incidence of early-stage disease in the West and the relative complexity of the surgical procedure.

Study Design: A prospective feasibility study of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy was performed in patients with histologically confirmed gastric carcinoma located in the lower or middle third of the stomach.

A transcriptionally active maize MuDR-like transposable element in rice and its relatives.

Two Mu-like transposable elements were cloned from a rice genomic library using a partial cDNA clone that exhibits high homology to the mudrA gene of the maize element MuDR. Database searches led to the identification of six other sequences that carried highly homologous terminal inverted repeats (TIRs). All the rice elements possessed approximately 200-bp TIRs, and four were flanked by 9-bp target-site duplications (TSDs).

Bacteria belonging to the genus cycloclasticus play a primary role in the degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons released in a marine environment.

To identify the bacteria that play a major role in the aerobic degradation of petroleum polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a marine environment, bacteria were enriched from seawater by using 2-methylnaphthalene, phenanthrene, or anthracene as a carbon and energy source. We found that members of the genus Cycloclasticus became predominant in the enrichment cultures. The Cycloclasticus strains isolated in this study could grow on crude oil and degraded PAH components of crude oil, including unsubstituted and substituted naphthalenes, dibenzothiophenes, phenanthrenes, and fluorenes.

Molecular detection of p16 promoter methylation in the serum of colorectal cancer patients.

Assays based on the molecular detection of genetic changes in serum have been shown as potential diagnostic tools for colorectal cancer. We examined the methylation status of p16 in colorectal cancers using methylation-specific PCR (MSP). Forty-four of 94 (47%) cancer DNA exhibited abnormal promoter methylation of p16 gene while no corresponding normal DNA exhibited such methylation.

Molecular detection of circulating esophageal squamous cell cancer cells in the peripheral blood.

Purpose And Experimental Design: To detect surgically resectable tumors earlier and improve the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients, we examined deltaNp63 expression that was specific for squamous cell carcinoma in blood samples obtained from 43 esophageal cancer patients.

Results: Seventeen of 33 (52%) patients with primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 6 of 10 (60%) patients with postoperative recurrent squamous cell carcinoma had detectable deltaNp63 expression in their peripheral blood using deltaNp63-specific reverse transcription-PCR. Furthermore, deltaNp63 is a more sensitive marker compared with other commonly used tumor markers such as squamous cell carcinoma-associated antigen and carcinoembryonic antigen.

Change of barometric pressure influences low back pain in patients with vacuum phenomenon within lumbar intervertebral disc.

The present study investigates whether changes in barometric pressure influence low back pain in patients with vacuum phenomenon within lumbar intervertebral discs. Twenty-four patients with low back pain were examined: 12 with vacuum phenomenon within the intervertebral discs (VP [+] group) and 12 without the vacuum phenomenon (VP [-] group). All patients consented to an evaluation of low back pain in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

Effect of transfection with human interferon-beta gene entrapped in cationic multilamellar liposomes in combination with 5-fluorouracil on the growth of human esophageal cancer cells in vitro.

When human esophageal cancer cells were transfected with the human interferon-beta (hIFN-beta) gene entrapped in cationic multilamellar liposomes, the growth of all cancer cells tested was suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the hIFN-beta gene entrapped in the liposomes ranged from 16 to 176 ng plasmid DNA/ml culture medium. Among the 10 cell lines examined, NUEC3, NUEC4, TE-3 and WSSC cell lines were highly susceptible to transfection with this gene entrapped in the liposomes.

Phase II study of paclitaxel with 3-h infusion in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Background: To increase the options for agents for gastric cancer chemotherapy, we performed a phase II clinical trial on the use of a 3-h infusion of paclitaxel to confirm its efficacy and the feasibility of its use in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Methods: Thirty-two (32) patients with measurable metastatic gastric cancer were enrolled in this study. Seventeen patients (53%) had received prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease, 4 patients (13%) had adjuvant chemotherapy alone, and 11 patients (34%) were chemotherapy-naive.

Evaluation of the histoculture drug response assay as a sensitivity test for anticancer agents.

Purpose: To investigate whether the effects of anticancer agents are able to be predicted, the results of sensitivity tests on anticancer agents were compared with the results of preoperative chemotherapy.

Methods: Biopsies were taken from 25 patients with esophageal cancer and 10 with gastric cancer, before chemotherapy, and the drug sensitivity was determined after culturing for 1 week. The chemotherapy consisted of low-dose cis-diamino-dichloroplatinum + 5-fluorouracil, and its clinical effect was determined after 3 or 5 weeks.

A reappraisal, based on (31)P NMR, of the direct coordination of a metal ion with the phosphoryl oxygen at the cleavage site of a hammerhead ribozyme.

It has been generally accepted, on the basis of kinetic studies with phosphorothioate-containing substrates and analyses by NMR spectroscopy, that a divalent metal ion interacts directly with the pro-Rp oxygen at the cleavage site in reactions catalyzed by hammerhead ribozymes. However, results of our recent kinetic studies (Zhou, D.-M.

Quantitative detection of CEA expressing free tumor cells in the peripheral blood of colorectal cancer patients during surgery with real-time RT-PCR on a LightCycler.

We applied novel real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with a LightCycler for quantitative detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) mRNA expressing tumor cells in the peripheral blood of colorectal cancer patients. Analysis of peripheral blood samples from 99 potentially curative colorectal cancer patients revealed a significantly higher mean CEA mRNA value in post-operative bloods (18.71) than in pre-operative blood (1.

Measurements of weak interactions between truncated substrates and a hammerhead ribozyme by competitive kinetic analyses: implications for the design of new and efficient ribozymes with high sequence specificity.

Exploitation of ribozymes in a practical setting requires high catalytic activity and strong specificity. The hammerhead ribozyme R32 has considerable potential in this regard since it has very high catalytic activity. In this study, we have examined how R32 recognizes and cleaves a specific substrate, focusing on the mechanism behind the specificity.

Existence of efficient divalent metal ion-catalyzed and inefficient divalent metal ion-independent channels in reactions catalyzed by a hammerhead ribozyme.

The hammerhead ribozyme is generally accepted as a well characterized metalloenzyme. However, the precise nature of the interactions of the RNA with metal ions remains to be fully defined. Examination of metal ion-catalyzed hammerhead reactions at limited concentrations of metal ions is useful for evaluation of the role of metal ions, as demonstrated in this study.

Predominant growth of Alcanivorax strains in oil-contaminated and nutrient-supplemented sea water.

We found that bacteria closely related to Alcanivorax became a dominant bacterial population in petroleum-contaminated sea water when nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients were supplied in adequate quantity. The predominance of Alcanivorax bacteria was demonstrated under three experimental conditions: (i) in batch cultures of sea water containing heavy oil; (ii) in columns packed with oil-coated gravel undergoing a continuous sea water flow; and (iii) in a large-scale tidal flux reactor that mimics a beach undergoing tidal cycles with fresh sea water. These results suggest that bacteria related to Alcanivorax are major players in the bioremediation of oil-contaminated marine environments.

Modification of adriamycin pharmacokinetics by direct electric current in rats.

Adriamycin (ADR, doxorubicin), a drug having cardiotoxicity, is electrically charged as a cation in blood. We therefore investigated whether iontophoresis caused by direct electric current (DC; 50 microA, 90 min) would cause systemic modification of ADR pharmacokinetics. Cathode and anode were placed into a right kidney and muscles of the abdominal wall, respectively, in six Donryu rats.

Identification of the metal ion binding site on an RNA motif from hammerhead ribozymes using (15)N NMR spectroscopy.

An RNA oligomer, r(GGACGAGUCC), which mimics the metal ion-binding motif of hammerhead ribozymes, was shown to fold by itself into a conformation possessing a metal ion binding property which is similar to that of the intact ribozyme (Tanaka, et al. J. Am.

Length of the ribs in patients with idiopathic scoliosis.

There have been few reports of actual measurements of rib length in patients with idiopathic scoliosis. We measured the lengths of the 7th to 12th ribs in 28 patients with idiopathic scoliosis with right convex single thoracic curve. The measurements were performed by the multi-projection volume reconstruction method of computed tomography.

A comparative study of the fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents on the action potential duration in guinea pig ventricular myocardia.

We examined the effects of ten fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents, levofloxacin, sitafloxacin, trovafloxacin, ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin, tosufloxacin, gatifloxacin, grepafloxacin, moxifloxacin and sparfloxacin, on action potentials recorded from guinea pig ventricular myocardia. Sparfloxacin prolonged action potential duration (APD) by about 8% at 10 microM and 41% at 100 microM. Gatifloxacin, grepafloxacin and moxifloxacin also prolonged APD at 100 microM by about 13%, 24% and 25%, respectively.

Effects of interferon-beta in combination with 5-fluorouracil on the growth of esophageal cancer cells in vitro.

The possible antiproliferative potency of human recombinant interferon-beta (hIFN-beta) towards ten human esophageal cancer cell lines was examined in comparison with the activity of the factor towards human malignant melanoma cell lines. The cell growth of esophageal cancer cell lines was inhibited by hIFN-beta in a dose- and time- dependent manner. The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of hIFN-beta on nine cell lines out of ten ranged between 23 to 332 IU/ml of culture medium.

A repertoire of cytokines in human seminal plasma.

The pathophysiological significance of seminal cytokines in sperm function is still controversial. We determined the repertoire of cytokines in seminal plasma obtained from men with or without abnormalities in semen and assessed the pathophysiological significance of seminal cytokines. After conventional analysis of semen samples obtained from 86 men, levels of seminal cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-alpha], interferon-gamma, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor [G-CSF], macrophage CFS [M-CSF]) and granulocyte elastase were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.