Publications by authors named "Komatsu Masaaki"

The three-vessel view (3VV) is a standardized transverse scanning plane used in fetal cardiac ultrasound screening to measure the absolute and relative diameters of the pulmonary artery (PA), ascending aorta (Ao), and superior vena cava, as required. The PA/Ao ratio is used to support the diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD). However, vascular diameters are measured manually by examiners, which causes intra- and interobserver variability in clinical practice.

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Assessing objective physical function in patients with cancer is crucial for evaluating their ability to tolerate invasive treatments. Current assessment methods, such as the timed up and go (TUG) test and the short physical performance battery, tend to require additional resources and time, limiting their practicality in routine clinical practice. To address these challenges, we developed a system to assess physical function based on movements observed during clinical consultations and aimed to explore relevant features from inertial measurement unit data collected during those movements.

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The NS1 binding protein, known for interacting with the influenza A virus protein, is involved in RNA processing, cancer, and nerve cell growth regulation. However, its role in stress response independent of viral infections remains unclear. This study investigates NS1 binding protein's function in regulating stress granules during oxidative stress through interactions with GABARAP subfamily proteins.

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Although ovarian endometrioid carcinoma (OEC), frequently associated with endometrial endometrioid carcinoma (EEC), is often diagnosed at an early stage, the prognosis remains poor. The development of new, effective drugs to target these cancers is highly desirable. The bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) family proteins serve a role in regulating transcription by recognizing histone acetylation, which is implicated in several types of cancer.

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Objective physical function assessment is crucial for determining patient eligibility for treatment and adjusting the treatment intensity. Existing assessments, such as performance status, are not well standardized, despite their frequent use in daily clinical practice. This paper explored how artificial intelligence (AI) could predict physical function scores from various patient data sources and reviewed methods to measure objective physical function using this technology.

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Article Synopsis
  • Expectations for AI have surged due to advancements in deep learning, particularly through generative technologies like ChatGPT, impacting various sectors, including medicine.
  • The integration of AI in healthcare is notable, with the approval of AI software as medical devices (AI-SaMD) and an emphasis on data-driven research using big data.
  • Despite its vast potential in cancer research, the use of AI comes with several challenges that need to be addressed to enhance effective application in clinical settings.
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In the rapidly evolving field of medical image analysis utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), the selection of appropriate computational models is critical for accurate diagnosis and patient care. This literature review provides a comprehensive comparison of vision transformers (ViTs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), the two leading techniques in the field of deep learning in medical imaging. We conducted a survey systematically.

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Background: The cancer genome contains several driver mutations. However, in some cases, no known drivers have been identified; these remaining areas of unmet needs, leading to limited progress in cancer therapy. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) can identify non-coding alterations associated with the disease.

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Objective: The 2023 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics classification with molecular classification shows superior discriminatory ability compared to staging systems lacking molecular data. However, the accuracy of endometrial biopsy data in molecular classification remains uncertain. This study aimed to assess the concordance of molecular classifications between preoperative biopsy and hysterectomy to predict prognosis before surgical staging.

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p62 bodies are ubiquitin-positive cytoplasmic condensates formed by liquid-liquid phase separation. They are targeted by selective autophagy and play important roles in intracellular quality control and stress responses. However, little is known about their constituents.

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Background: In an extensive genomic analysis of lung adenocarcinomas (LUADs), driver mutations have been recognized as potential targets for molecular therapy. However, there remain cases where target genes are not identified. Super-enhancers and structural variants are frequently identified in several hundred loci per case.

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  • A study examined vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) in Japanese patients to explore genomic profiles and racial differences, as this disease is rare and not well understood.
  • The research included 48 patients from two Japanese cancer centers, identifying TP53 as the most common mutation, followed by HRAS, CDKN2A, and PIK3CA, with mutation frequencies similar to Caucasian patients.
  • TP53 mutations were linked to poorer patient prognosis, suggesting the potential for targeted therapies based on these genomic findings.
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  • - Macroautophagy is a complex process that can lead to cell death, influenced by various cell types and stressors, while ferroptosis is a specific kind of cell death related to lipid damage and iron dependency.
  • - Certain types of autophagy, like ferritinophagy and lipophagy, play a role in triggering ferroptotic cell death by degrading protective proteins, whereas others, such as reticulophagy, help protect cells from this damage.
  • - The review seeks to clarify the relationship between autophagy and ferroptosis, focusing on defining terms, outlining key components, discussing experimental techniques, and providing interpretation guidelines for ongoing research.
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  • The study investigated the clinical features and prognosis of sporadic mismatch repair deficiency (MMRd) and Lynch syndrome (LS) in Japanese endometrial cancer (EC) patients, involving targeted gene sequencing of LS-related genes in 443 diagnosed cases from 2011 to 2018.
  • Out of these patients, 3.7% had pathogenic gene variants, and 27% showed loss of at least one mismatch repair protein through immunohistochemistry.
  • Notably, patients with LS and MMR protein loss had a favorable 5-year overall survival rate of 100%, while those with sporadic MMRd and aberrant p53 expression had significantly lower survival rates, indicating p53 and MMR gene variants as
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  • DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that influences gene expression and is crucial for understanding development and cell differentiation.
  • Most existing analysis tools for DNA methylation focus on comparing data within a single dataset, making it hard to conduct cross-dataset studies like those for rare diseases.
  • The new methPLIER method allows for interdataset comparisons by utilizing advanced techniques such as non-negative matrix factorization and transfer learning, making it more versatile in analyzing methylation data across different studies and platforms.
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Ubiquitin-fold modifier 1 (UFM1) is a ubiquitin-like protein covalently conjugated with intracellular proteins through UFMylation, a process similar to ubiquitylation. Growing lines of evidence regarding not only the structural basis of the components essential for UFMylation but also their biological properties shed light on crucial roles of the UFM1 system in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), such as ER-phagy and ribosome-associated quality control at the ER, although there are some functions unrelated to the ER. Mouse genetics studies also revealed the indispensable roles of this system in hematopoiesis, liver development, neurogenesis, and chondrogenesis.

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Cellular zoning or partitioning is critical in preventing macromolecules from random diffusion and orchestrating the spatiotemporal dynamics of biochemical reactions. Along with membranous organelles, membraneless organelles contribute to the precise regulation of biochemical reactions inside cells. In response to environmental cues, membraneless organelles rapidly form through liquid-liquid phase separation, sequester certain proteins and RNAs, mediate specific reactions and dissociate.

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SQSTM1/p62 bodies are phase-separated condensates that play a fundamental role in intracellular quality control and stress responses. Despite extensive studies investigating the mechanism of formation and degradation of SQSTM1/p62 bodies, the constituents of SQSTM1/p62 bodies remain elusive. We recently developed a purification method for intracellular SQSTM1/p62 bodies using a cell sorter and identified their constituents by mass spectrometry.

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High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy. To date, the profiles of gene mutations and copy number alterations in HGSOC have been well characterized. However, the patterns of epigenetic alterations and transcription factor dysregulation in HGSOC have not yet been fully elucidated.

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infection can be regulated by autophagy-related () genes. Here, we found that the depletion of , one of the core genes, in HeLa cells suppressed growth in the inclusion. The growth was restored by re-expressing or an mutant impairing lipid scramblase activity in -knockout (KO) cells.

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Ubiquitin-fold modifier 1 (UFM1) is a ubiquitin-like protein covalently conjugated with intracellular proteins through ufmylation, similar to ubiquitylation. Ufmylation is involved in processes such as endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation, ribosome-associated protein quality control (RQC) at the ER (ER-RQC), and ER-phagy. However, it remains unclear how ufmylation regulates such distinct ER-related functions.

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Background: Although cervical cancer is often characterized as preventable, its incidence continues to increase in low- and middle-income countries, underscoring the need to develop novel therapeutics for this disease.This study assessed the distribution of fusion genes across cancer types and used an RNA-based classification to divide cervical cancer patients with a poor prognosis into subgroups.

Material And Methods: RNA sequencing of 116 patients with cervical cancer was conducted.

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NRF2 is a transcription factor responsible for antioxidant stress responses that is usually regulated in a redox-dependent manner. p62 bodies formed by liquid-liquid phase separation contain Ser349-phosphorylated p62, which participates in the redox-independent activation of NRF2. However, the regulatory mechanism and physiological significance of p62 phosphorylation remain unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Autophagy plays a key role in regulating the degradation of specific biomolecular structures, such as p62/SQSTM1 bodies, to prevent diseases like cancer.
  • Researchers developed a new method to purify and analyze the components of p62 bodies in human cells, revealing that a complex called vault is involved in this process.
  • The study identifies a mechanism called vault-phagy, where major vault protein interacts with NBR1 to facilitate the degradation of vaults, and suggests that disruptions in this process may link to certain liver cancers.
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The analysis of super-enhancers (SEs) has recently attracted attention in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of cancer and other diseases. SEs are genomic structures that strongly induce gene expression and have been reported to contribute to the overexpression of oncogenes. Because the analysis of SEs and integrated analysis with other data are performed using large amounts of genome-wide data, artificial intelligence technology, with machine learning at its core, has recently begun to be utilized.

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