In 45,X/46,XY DSDs, the proportion of the two cell lineages is uneven in different organs and tissues, and 45,X and 46,XY cells can be found throughout the body. The gonadal development of 45,X/46,XY patients depends on the population of 46,XY cells in the gonads and the clinical features are variable. We had a 45,X/46,XY DSD patient whose 46,XY population in peripheral blood was extremely low, less than 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommon marmoset (CM) is widely recognized as a useful non-human primate for disease modeling and preclinical studies. Thus, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) derived from CM have potential as an appropriate cell source to test human regenerative medicine using human ESCs. CM ESCs have been established by us and other groups, and can be cultured in vitro.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPSCs) has made a significant impact on the field of human regenerative medicine. Prior to the clinical application of iPSCs, testing of their safety and usefulness must be carried out using reliable animal models of various diseases. In order to generate iPSCs from common marmoset (CM; Callithrix jacchus), one of the most useful experimental animals, we have lentivirally transduced reprogramming factors, including POU5F1 (also known as OCT3/4), SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC into CM fibroblasts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInduced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be generated from patients with specific diseases by the transduction of reprogramming factors and can be useful as a cell source for cell transplantation therapy for various diseases with impaired organs. However, the low efficiency of iPSC derived from somatic cells (0.01-0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Health Prev Med
January 2010
Objectives: Adolescents have many anxieties, and having someone to consult is important for them to maintain their mental health. This study examines: whether students have someone to consult; if they have, whether there are differences in their depressive state and in their degree of satisfaction with their school lives depending on whom they consult; and how their mental health is affected by their human relations.
Methods: Persons whom high-school students consult about their worries, Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children (DSRS-C), and satisfaction of high-school students with their school lives were surveyed in 2,646 students of public high schools in A Prefecture, and the persons selected for consultation were classified into four groups ("no one," "friends," "adults," and "friends and adults") and analyzed.
The gene transduction method is a very powerful tool, not only in basic science but also in clinical medicine. Regenerative medicine is one field that has close connection with both basic and clinical. Recently, it has been reported that induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be produced from somatic cells by a three or four gene transduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman chromosome 14q32.2 carries a cluster of imprinted genes including paternally expressed genes (PEGs) such as DLK1 and RTL1 and maternally expressed genes (MEGs) such as MEG3 (also known as GTL2), RTL1as (RTL1 antisense) and MEG8 (refs. 1,2), together with the intergenic differentially methylated region (IG-DMR) and the MEG3-DMR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough chromosome X open reading frame 6 (CXorf6) has been shown to be a causative gene for hypospadias, its molecular function remains unknown. To clarify this, we first examined CXorf6 protein structure, identifying homology to mastermind-like 2 (MAML2) protein, which functions as a co-activator in canonical Notch signaling. Transactivation analysis for wild-type CXorf6 protein by luciferase assays showed that CXorf6 significantly transactivated the promoter of a noncanonical Notch target gene hairy/enhancer of split 3 (Hes3) without demonstrable DNA-binding capacity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBranchio-oto-renal (BOR) syndrome is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder characterized by malformations of the ear associated with hearing impairment, branchial fistulae or cysts, and renal malformations. Mutations in the gene EYA1 have been found to be responsible for BOR syndrome in approximately 40% of the subjects. Here we report a Japanese family with BOR syndrome associated with a frameshift mutation in EYA1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen amniocentesis reveals a mosaic karyotype and the baby presents with multiple malformations, an analysis of the baby's peripheral blood typically reveals a mosaic karyotype. We present a boy who was prenatally diagnosed by amniocentesis as having trisomy 9 mosaicisim but who had normal G-banding results on postnatal blood karyotyping; the patient also exhibited multiple malformations, including a diaphragmatic hernia, arthrogryposis, undescended testes, and characteristic facies. Because of the discrepancy between the phenotype and karyotype, we repeated the chromosomal studies on multiple occasions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenotyping analysis was performed for Gly146Ala polymorphism in the gene for steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1), which is known to reduce the transactivation function by approximately 20%, in 72 cryptorchid patients and 136 control males, revealing that the Ala allele, the Ala/Gly genotype, and the Ala/Ala plus Ala/Gly genotype frequencies were significantly higher in the patients than in the control males. The results suggest that the Gly146Ala polymorphism may be a susceptibility factor for the development of cryptorchidism (CO).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe isolated genomic DNA from 15 patients with branchio-oto-renal (BOR) syndrome or BOR-related conditions. Seven patients had BOR syndrome (two familial and five sporadic), and eight had deafness and renal malformations without branchial fistula (BOR-related conditions). We analyzed all exons and exon-intron boundaries of EYA1 and SIX1 using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) direct sequencing, and characterized their mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Although Kallmann syndrome (KS) caused by heterozygous loss of function mutations of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 gene (FGFR1) is occasionally associated with characteristic features, such as dental agenesis and cleft palate, FGFR1 mutations remain unidentified in several KS patients with such characteristic features.
Subjects And Methods: We examined a 14-yr-old Japanese boy with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, olfactory dysfunction, and dental agenesis and his fertile mother with olfactory dysfunction and dental agenesis. Direct sequencing was performed for FGFR1 using leukocyte genomic DNA from the proband and leukocyte and nail genomic DNA from the mother.
Steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1) regulates the transcription of multiple genes involved in the androgen biosynthesis, and SF-1 Gly146Ala polymorphism is known to reduce the transactivation function by approximately 20%. To examine whether the Gly146Ala polymorphism constitutes a susceptibility factor for the development of micropenis (MP), we analyzed this polymorphism in a total of 52 patients with micropenis (T-MP) consisting of 30 patients with severe MP below -2.5 SD (S-MP) and 22 patients with mild MP from -2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvolvement of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in lung morphogenesis and regeneration has been established by in vitro and in vivo experiments in animals. In the present study, the protective activity of HGF against tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced damage of pulmonary epithelial cells was examined using the human small airway epithelial cell line (SAEC). Western blot analysis revealed that the receptor for HGF (c-Met) was highly expressed on the surface of SAEC and its downstream signal transduction pathway was functional.
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