ADAR2 Regulates Malignant Behaviour of Mesothelioma Cells Independent of RNA-editing Activity.

Background/aim: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an intractable cancer, and causes of its malignant transformation are not well known. Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) is an RNA-editing enzyme that converts adenosine into inosine in double-stranded RNAs potentially involved in malignant development.

Materials And Methods: To examine the role of ADAR1 and ADAR2 in MPM, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against ADAR1 or ADAR2 were used.

Points to consider: efficacy and safety evaluations in the clinical development of ultra-orphan drugs.

Background: The unmet medical needs of individuals with very rare diseases are high. The clinical trial designs and evaluation methods used for 'regular' drugs are not applicable in the clinical development of ultra-orphan drugs (<1000 patients) in many cases. In order to improve the clinical development of ultra-orphan drugs, we examined several points regarding the efficient evaluations of drug efficacy and safety that could be conducted even with very small sample sizes, based on the review reports of orphan drugs approved in Japan.

Sterilization mechanism of nitrogen gas plasma: induction of secondary structural change in protein.

The mechanism of action on biomolecules of N₂ gas plasma, a novel sterilization technique, remains unclear. Here, the effect of N₂ gas plasma on protein structure was investigated. BSA, which was used as the model protein, was exposed to N₂ gas plasma generated by short-time high voltage pulses from a static induction thyristor power supply.