Impact of immunosuppressive drugs on efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for suppressing renal fibrosis.

Preemptive regenerative medicine using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may provide a novel therapeutic approach to prevent the progression from organ damage to organ failure. Although immunosuppressive drugs are often used in patients with organ disorder, their impact on MSC therapy remains unclear. We investigated the effects of immunosuppressive drugs on the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs.

Incidental Gallbladder Cancer on Cholecystectomy: Strategy for Re-resection of Presumed Benign Diseases from a Retrospective Multicenter Study by the Yokohama Clinical Oncology Group.

Background/aim: Current expert consensus recommends re-resection for incidental gallbladder cancer (IGBC) of pT1b-3. This study examined whether this consensus was reasonably applicable to patients with IGBC in one Japanese region.

Patients And Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective analysis of cholecystectomies for presumed benign diseases between January 2000 and December 2009.

Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatic vein tumor thrombosis protruding into the inferior vena cava by conversion surgery following chemotherapy with regorafenib: a case report.

Regorafenib is an oral multikinase inhibitor affecting angiogenesis, oncogenesis, metastasis, and tumor immunity. As a systemic treatment, it has been shown to provide survival benefits in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients progressing on sorafenib treatment. We report herein a case of HCC with hepatic vein tumor thrombosis protruding into the inferior vena cava (IVC-HVTT) which was successfully treated by surgery following second-line chemotherapy with regorafenib.

Abdominal drain straying into right atrium: a case report.

Background: A drain exchange with the use of a guidewire may be accompanied by serious complications.

Case Presentation: This case involved an 86-year-old man with overlapping cancers of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and perihilar cholangiocarcinoma. A left hepatectomy, a left caudal lobectomy (with a medial hepatic vein preservation), an extrahepatic bile duct resection, and a right hepatojejunostomy were performed.

Subtle temporal delays of mothers' responses affect imitation learning in children: Mother-child interaction study.

The relationship between temporal contiguity of mothers' teaching behaviors and children's imitation learning was investigated. Participants (2-year-old children) observed their mothers' demonstration of using novel toys over a double television system under live and delayed conditions. The dyads normally interacted in the live condition, whereas they interacted with a 1-s time delay inserted between the children's actions and mothers' responses in the delayed condition.

Isolated breast metastasis from gastric cancer in a male patient.

A 72-year-old man underwent total gastrectomy for gastric cancer (por2, T3, N2, Stage IIIA). Eleven courses of postoperative chemotherapy with TS-1 (tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil) were administered. Five months after surgery, the serum carcinoembryonic antigen value was slightly elevated.

Development of Extranodal NK/T-cell Lymphoma Nasal Type in Cerebrum Following Epstein-Barr Virus-positive Uveitis.

A 74-year-old woman developed bilateral uveitis with high Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load in the vitreous fluid without lymphoma cells. Four years after the onset, T2-weighted contrast-enhanced MRI revealed hyperintense lesions in the right occipital and parietal lobe. A biopsy resulted in the diagnosis of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma nasal type (ENKL).

A Rho-associated coiled-coil containing kinases (ROCK) inhibitor, Y-27632, enhances adhesion, viability and differentiation of human term placenta-derived trophoblasts in vitro.

Although human term placenta-derived primary cytotrophoblasts (pCTBs) represent a good human syncytiotrophoblast (STB) model, in vitro culture of pCTBs is not always easily accomplished. Y-27632, a specific inhibitor of Rho-associated coiled-coil containing kinases (ROCK), reportedly prevented apoptosis and improved cell-to-substrate adhesion and culture stability of dissociated cultured human embryonic stem cells and human corneal endothelial cells. The Rho kinase pathway regulates various kinds of cell behavior, some of which are involved in pCTB adhesion and differentiation.

Molecular Mechanism of HIV-1 Vpr for Binding to Importin-α.

Viral protein R (Vpr) is an accessory gene product of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) that plays multiple important roles associated with viral replication. Structural studies using NMR have revealed that Vpr consists of three α-helices and contains flexible N- and C-termini. However, the molecular mechanisms associated with Vpr function have not been elucidated.

Infant discrimination of humanoid robots.

Recently, extremely humanlike robots called "androids" have been developed, some of which are already being used in the field of entertainment. In the context of psychological studies, androids are expected to be used in the future as fully controllable human stimuli to investigate human nature. In this study, we used an android to examine infant discrimination ability between human beings and non-human agents.

A highly photoreflective and heat-insulating alumina film composed of stacked mesoporous layers in hierarchical structure.

An alumina film with highly photoreflective and heat-insulating properties can be simply synthesized using a sol of fibrous boehmite with an additive. The entangled fibers bring about mesopores among them and form stacked 2D nonwoven-like nanosheets. The porosity and the layered structure of alumina accompanying the heat resistivity provide the upper properties that are usually difficult to realize simultaneously.

Cellular immunotherapy with ex vivo expanded cord blood T cells in a humanized mouse model of EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disease.

Background: Donor lymphocyte infusion is not feasible in recipients of cord blood transplantation.

Aim: We investigated whether infusion of T cells expanded from cord blood is effective in the treatment of model mice of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated lymphoproliferative disease (LPD).

Materials & Methods: Humanized mice with reconstituted human immune system were prepared and LPD was induced by inoculating EBV intravenously.

Crystal structure of human importin-α1 (Rch1), revealing a potential autoinhibition mode involving homodimerization.

In this study, we determined the crystal structure of N-terminal importin-β-binding domain (IBB)-truncated human importin-α1 (ΔIBB-h-importin-α1) at 2.63 Å resolution. The crystal structure of ΔIBB-h-importin-α1 reveals a novel closed homodimer.

Macroscopic type is a prognostic factor for recurrence-free survival after resection of gastric GIST.

Background: Accurate evaluation of the biological behavior of Gastrointestinal stromal tumor and careful selection of patients with a high risk for tumor recurrence are necessary. In the present study, we analyzed prognostic factors in patients with GIST.

Patients And Methods: A total of 214 patients who had undergone curative resection of a localized primary gastric GIST without adjuvant therapy were enrolled in this retrospective study.

Negative emotion modulates prefrontal cortex activity during a working memory task: a NIRS study.

This study investigated the neural processing underlying the cognitive control of emotions induced by the presentation of task-irrelevant emotional pictures before a working memory task. Previous studies have suggested that the cognitive control of emotion involves the prefrontal regions. Therefore, we measured the hemodynamic responses that occurred in the prefrontal region with a 16-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system.

Neural representation of face familiarity in an awake chimpanzee.

Evaluating the familiarity of faces is critical for social animals as it is the basis of individual recognition. In the present study, we examined how face familiarity is reflected in neural activities in our closest living relative, the chimpanzee. Skin-surface event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured while a fully awake chimpanzee observed photographs of familiar and unfamiliar chimpanzee faces (Experiment 1) and human faces (Experiment 2).

Brain response to affective pictures in the chimpanzee.

Advancement of non-invasive brain imaging techniques has allowed us to examine details of neural activities involved in affective processing in humans; however, no comparative data are available for chimpanzees, the closest living relatives of humans. In the present study, we measured event-related brain potentials in a fully awake adult chimpanzee as she looked at affective and neutral pictures. The results revealed a differential brain potential appearing 210 ms after presentation of an affective picture, a pattern similar to that in humans.

Humanized mouse models of epstein-barr virus infection and associated diseases.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous herpesvirus infecting more than 90% of the adult population of the world. EBV is associated with a variety of diseases including infectious mononucleosis, lymphoproliferative diseases, malignancies such as Burkitt lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). EBV in nature infects only humans, but in an experimental setting, a limited species of new-world monkeys can be infected with the virus.

Nuclear exportin receptor CAS regulates the NPI-1-mediated nuclear import of HIV-1 Vpr.

Vpr, an accessory protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1, is a multifunctional protein that plays an important role in viral replication. We have previously shown that the region between residues 17 and 74 of Vpr (Vpr(N17C74)) contained a bona fide nuclear localization signal and it is targeted Vpr(N17C74) to the nuclear envelope and then imported into the nucleus by importin α (Impα) alone. The interaction between Impα and Vpr is important not only for the nuclear import of Vpr but also for HIV-1 replication in macrophages; however, it was unclear whether full-length Vpr enters the nucleus in a manner similar to Vpr(N17C74).

Event-related potentials in response to subjects' own names: A comparison between humans and a chimpanzee.

The sound of one's own name is one of the most salient auditory environmental stimuli. Several studies of human brain potentials have revealed some characteristic waveforms when we hear our own names. In a recent work, we investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) in a female chimpanzee and demonstrated that the ERP pattern generated when she heard her own name differed from that generated when she heard other sounds.

Neural correlates of face and object perception in an awake chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) examined by scalp-surface event-related potentials.

Background: The neural system of our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, is a topic of increasing research interest. However, electrophysiological examinations of neural activity during visual processing in awake chimpanzees are currently lacking.

Methodology/principal Findings: In the present report, skin-surface event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured while a fully awake chimpanzee observed photographs of faces and objects in two experiments.

Brain activity in an awake chimpanzee in response to the sound of her own name.

The brain activity of a fully awake chimpanzee being presented with her name was investigated. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured for each of the following auditory stimuli: the vocal sound of the subject's own name (SON), the vocal sound of a familiar name of another group member, the vocal sound of an unfamiliar name and a non-vocal sound. Some differences in ERP waveforms were detected between kinds of stimuli at latencies at which P3 and Nc components are typically observed in humans.

Phase II study of weekly paclitaxel as a second-line treatment for S-1-refractory advanced gastric cancer.

Background: We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of weekly paclitaxel therapy as second-line treatment for patients with advanced gastric cancer that was refractory to S-1.

Patients And Methods: In total, 33 patients received intravenous paclitaxel (80 mg m(-2)) on days 1, 8 and 15 as part of a 4-week cycle.

Results: Eight patients showed a partial response, 11 showed stable disease and 14 showed disease progression.

Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nuclear import via Vpr-Importin alpha interactions as a novel HIV-1 therapy.

The development of multidrug-resistant viruses compromises the efficacy of anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) therapy and limits treatment options. Therefore, new targets that can be used to develop novel antiviral agents need to be identified. One such target is the interaction between Vpr, one of the accessory gene products of HIV-1 and Importin alpha, which is crucial, not only for the nuclear import of Vpr, but also for HIV-1 replication in macrophages.