Publications by authors named "Ken-ichi Mizutani"

Keratinocytes are the primary component of the epidermis, so maintaining the precise balance between proliferation and differentiation is essential for conserving epidermal structure and function. Rosae multiflorae fructus extract (RMFE) has wide application in the cosmetic industry, but the molecular mechanisms underlying beneficial effects on keratinocytes are still not fully understood. In this study, we found that RMFE promoted epidermal differentiation and enhanced the barrier function of normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) and three-dimensional epidermis model in culture.

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Exocyst is an octameric protein complex implicated in exocytosis. The exocyst complex is highly conserved among mammalian species, but the physiological function of each subunit in exocyst remains unclear. Previously, we identified exocyst complex component 3-like (Exoc3l) as a gene abundantly expressed in embryonic endothelial cells and implicated in the process of angiogenesis in human umbilical cord endothelial cells.

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Facial skin aging is the most visible manifestation of aging in the body. In this study, we aimed to rejuvenate aging skin via a one-time intradermal injection of autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). Eight patients were enrolled for study.

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After copulation, insect females store sperm in a spermatheca for some duration until fertilization. At the beginning of their adult lives, ant queens can preserve numerous viable sperm cells from copulation for over ten years. However, the key factors influencing long-term sperm storage have not been identified.

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The vascular system of the prenatal brain is crucial for the development of the central nervous system. Communication between vessels and neural cells is bidirectional, and dysfunctional communication can lead to neurodevelopmental diseases. In the present review, we introduce neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric diseases potentially caused by disturbances in the neurovascular system and discuss candidate genes responsible for neurovascular system impairments.

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The developing neocortical vasculature exhibits a distinctive pattern in each layer. In murine embryos, vessels in the cortical plate (CP) are vertically oriented, whereas those in the intermediate zone (IZ) and the subventricular zone (SVZ) form a honeycomb structure. The formation of tissue-specific vessels suggests that the behavior of endothelial cells is under a specific regulatory regime in each layer, although the mechanisms involved remain unknown.

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Angiogenesis is a process to generate new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels and to maintain vessels, and plays critical roles in normal development and disease. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying angiogenesis are not fully understood. This study examined the roles of during development in mice.

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Endothelial cells acquire different phenotypes to establish functional vascular networks. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling induces endothelial proliferation, migration, and survival to regulate vascular development, which leads to the construction of a vascular plexuses with a regular morphology. The spatiotemporal localization of angiogenic factors and the extracellular matrix play fundamental roles in ensuring the proper regulation of angiogenesis.

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Teashirt homolog 2 (TSHZ2) is essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis and regulating transcription on neoplasia development. However, the regulation of TSHZ2 in lung tumorigenesis and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To evaluate the relationship between TSHZ2 expression in patients' tumor tissue and prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma.

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Blood vessels including arteries, veins, and capillaries, are densely spread throughout the body. One round of systemic blood circulation through these blood vessels occurs approximately every minute, and blood sent by the heart transports oxygen, nutrients, and fluid to cells throughout the body. This nourishes cells, tissues, and organs and maintains homeostasis.

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Down syndrome (DS, Trisomy 21) is the most common genetic cause of delayed fetal brain development and postnatal intellectual disability. Although delayed fetal brain development might be involved in intellectual disability, no evidence of an association between these abnormal phenotypes has been shown. To identify molecules differentially expressed in both the prenatal forebrain and adult hippocampus of Ts1Cje mice, a mouse model of DS, we employed a transcriptomic analysis.

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PRDI-BF1 (positive regulatory domain I-binding factor 1) and RIZ1 (retinoblastoma protein-interacting zinc finger gene 1) (PR) homologous domain containing (PRDM) transcription factors are expressed in neuronal and stem cell systems, and they exert multiple functions in a spatiotemporal manner. Therefore, it is believed that PRDM factors cooperate with a number of protein partners to regulate a critical set of genes required for maintenance of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation through genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. In this review, we summarize recent findings about the expression of PRDM factors and function in stem cell and neuronal systems with a focus on cofactor-dependent regulation of PRDM3/16 and FOG1/2.

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Vertebrates have acquired complex high-order functions facilitated by the dispersion of vascular and neural networks to every corner of the body. Blood vessels deliver oxygen and nutrients to all cells and provide essential transport systems for removing waste products. For these functions, tissue vascularization must be spatiotemporally appropriate.

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Pigmentation in the dermis is known to be caused by melanophages, defined as melanosome-laden macrophages. In this study, we show that dermal fibroblasts also have an ability to uptake melanosomes and apoptotic melanocytes. We have previously demonstrated that normal human melanocytes constantly secrete melanosome clusters from various sites of their dendrites.

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Histological heterogeneity of lung adenocarcinoma may result in different prognosis among patients with the same TNM pathological stage. However, no objective evaluation system of lung adenocarcinoma based on pathological features has been widely accepted for assessing the prognosis. We retrospectively analyzed 179 patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma after complete surgical resection.

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Blood vessels supply oxygen and nutrients to all the cells in a living body, and provide essential transport routes for collecting waste products. For these functions, blood vessel networks should be appropriately formed in each tissue. Therefore, blood vessels are one of the earliest organs formed during the developmental process.

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To facilitate efficient oxygen and nutrient delivery, blood vessels in the brain form three-dimensional patterns. However, little is known about how blood vessels develop stereographically in the neocortex and how they control the expansion and differentiation of neural progenitors during neocortical development. We show that highly vascularized and avascular regions are strictly controlled in a spatially and temporally restricted manner and are associated with distinct cell populations.

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Idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) is a systemic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology caused by hypercytokinemia. Recently, TAFRO (thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, renal failure or reticulin fibrosis, and organomegaly) syndrome has been reported, which shows similar histopathological findings to iMCD and factors associated with a poor prognosis. iMCD shows no plasma cell infiltration in the germinal center (GC), but CD38-positive (CD38)-plasma cells are observed in the interfollicular area.

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Mammalian neocortical development encompasses an entire set of events that leads to the generation of excitatory and inhibitory neurons from neural progenitors in the dorsal and ventral telencephalon, including cell proliferation, production of migratory precursors and their progeny, differentiation, and integration into circuits. During these processes, the developing neocortex acquires its vasculature by angiogenesis, a process consisting of proliferation of endothelial cells in existing blood vessels or vascular plexuses, and leading to formation of new blood vessels. Recent studies have suggested that neocortical angiogenesis progresses in a spatially and temporally restricted manner to construct a specialized vascular niche that supports ongoing neurogenesis during neocortical development.

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We presented an unusual arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) case of a late-60s elderly man's death, due to severe pericardial/pleural effusion and ascites, and arrhythmic events, with unique pathological features. The hypertrophic heart grossly displayed yellowish to yellow-whitish predominantly in the variably thinned wall of the dilated right ventricle. Microscopic findings showed diffuse fatty/fibrofatty replacement in not only the right but left ventricular myocardium, together with an outer lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate.

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Thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, renal failure or reticulin fibrosis, and organomegaly (TAFRO) syndrome, a poor prognostic clinical condition showing similar histopathological findings to idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD), has been reported in Japan. In our previous report, a clinicopathological analysis was performed on 70 nodal cases of iMCD with/without TAFRO. iMCD is classified into three types based on histopathology: (i) plasmacytic (PC), (ii) mixed, and (iii) hypervascular (hyperV).

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We presented an extremely rare case of a 38-year-old female's venous aneurysm of left cephalic vein with unique histopathological features, displaying variably thinned medial wall with focal, markedly reduced or absent smooth muscle cells and elastic fibers, most likely leading to the venous dissection with an intimal tear and many medial blood-filled vascular channels. We propose that those venous dissection-like findings would be a new feature especially from the clinicopathological viewpoints and might be considered in the classification of venous aneurysm. Further prospective studies are needed to validate the presence and significance of venous dissecting aneurysm as a new histopathological entity, after collecting and investigating a larger number of venous aneurysm cases examined.

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Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) is a systemic inflammatory disease potentially caused by an increase in the serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) level. Idiopathic MCD (iMCD) is histopathologically classified into three types: plasmacytic (PC), mixed, and hypervascular (hyperV) types. Recently, a unique clinical phenotype with a poor prognosis overlap with iMCD, thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, renal failure or reticulin fibrosis, and organomegaly (TAFRO syndrome), has been reported from Japan, but its detailed clinicopathological features remain unclear.

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