ANGPTL2 increases bone metastasis of breast cancer cells through enhancing CXCR4 signaling.

Bone metastasis of breast cancer cells is a major concern, as it causes increased morbidity and mortality in patients. Bone tissue-derived CXCL12 preferentially recruits breast cancer cells expressing CXCR4 to bone metastatic sites. Thus, understanding how CXCR4 expression is regulated in breast cancer cells could suggest approaches to decrease bone metastasis of breast tumor cells.

Generation of scaffoldless hyaline cartilaginous tissue from human iPSCs.

Defects in articular cartilage ultimately result in loss of joint function. Repairing cartilage defects requires cell sources. We developed an approach to generate scaffoldless hyaline cartilage from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).

Primary meningeal melanocytoma of the sellar region: review of the literature and differential diagnosis with special reference to angiographical features.

Purpose: Primary intracranial melanocytomas are rare neoplasms, especially in the sellar region. Intracranial melanocytoma is usually a dural-based tumor, fed by dural arterial branches in a manner similar to meningioma. Primary sellar melanocytoma may be misdiagnosed as hemorrhagic pituitary macroadenoma, spindle cell oncocytoma, and intrasellar meningioma.

Perivascular microenvironment in primary central nervous system lymphomas: the role of chemokines and the endothelin B receptor.

Chemokines are peptides that function as chemoattractant cytokines in cell activation, differentiation and trafficking. Endothelin B receptor (ETBR) is a receptor for endothelin, which is known to function as a vasoconstrictor. In the present study, to clarify the immune escape mechanism of primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSLs), the expression of ETBR and of subsets of chemokines (CXCL12, 13) in 24 PCNSLs was investigated.

Angiopoietin-like protein 2 renders colorectal cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy by activating spleen tyrosine kinase-phosphoinositide 3-kinase-dependent anti-apoptotic signaling.

Angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) plays an important role in inflammatory carcinogenesis and tumor metastasis by activating tumor angiogenesis and tumor cell chemotaxis and invasiveness. However, it is unclear whether ANGPTL2 expression has an effect on tumor cell survival. Here, we explored that possibility by determining whether ANGPTL2 expression altered survival of human colorectal cancer cell lines treated with antineoplastic drugs.

Statin treatment rescues FGFR3 skeletal dysplasia phenotypes.

Gain-of-function mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene (FGFR3) result in skeletal dysplasias, such as thanatophoric dysplasia and achondroplasia (ACH). The lack of disease models using human cells has hampered the identification of a clinically effective treatment for these diseases. Here we show that statin treatment can rescue patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models and a mouse model of FGFR3 skeletal dysplasia.

Modeling type II collagenopathy skeletal dysplasia by directed conversion and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Type II collagen is a major component of cartilage. Heterozygous mutations in the type II collagen gene (COL2A1) result in a group of skeletal dysplasias known as Type II collagenopathy (COL2pathy). The understanding of COL2pathy is limited by difficulties in obtaining live chondrocytes.

Differential reparative phenotypes between zebrafish and medaka after cardiac injury.

Background: Zebrafish have the ability for heart regeneration. However, another teleost animal model, the medaka, had not yet been investigated for this capacity.

Results: Compared with zebrafish, the medaka heart responded differently to an injury: An excessive fibrotic response occurred in the medaka heart, and existing cardiomyocytes or cardiac progenitor cells remained dormant, resulting in no numerical difference between the uncut and injured heart with respect to the number of EdU-incorporated cardiomyocytes.

Ependymosarcoma with eosinophilic granular cells.

Ependymosarcoma is a new entity of malignant gliomas composed of ependymal and sarcomatous components. Were port a rare case of ependymosarcoma with eosinophlic cells which occurred to the right trigon of the lateral ventricle.A 62-year-old man complained of headaches over a 2-month period.

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT imaging for a gastrointestinal mantle cell lymphoma with multiple lymphomatous polyposis.

Multiple lymphomatous polyposis (MLP) is an uncommon type of gastrointestinal lymphoma characterized by the presence of multiple polyps along the gastrointestinal tract. Most of this entity is in fact considered the counterpart of gastrointestinal tract involvement for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). To our knowledge, there have been no reports on [fluorine-18]-fluorodeoxy-glucose ((18)F-FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging for gastrointestinal MCL with MLP.

Unusual hemodynamic stroke related to an accessory middle cerebral artery: The usefulness of fusion images from three-dimensional angiography.

Background: Ischemic stroke associated with an anomaly of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) is a rare occurrence. The diagnosis is very difficult when there are steno-occlusive lesions associated with an accessory middle cerebral artery (AMCA).

Case Description: A 77-year-old female with hypertension and hyperlipidemia experienced repeated transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) of motor aphasia and dysarthria.

More than 50% of pregnant Japanese women with an intake of 150 μg dietary folate per 1,000 kcal can maintain values above the cut-off.

Most Japanese pregnant women do not take the estimated average requirement (EAR) of folate for pregnant women, which is 400 μg/d. Nevertheless, folate deficiencies have not been reported. We examined biomarkers for evaluating the status of folate in pregnant Japanese women.

Intraoperative rapid diagnosis of primary central nervous system lymphomas: advantages and pitfalls.

To study the advantages and pitfalls of intraoperative rapid diagnosis (IRD) of primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSL), pathology reports and frozen sections in our institution were reviewed. We examined 27 cases of PCNSL, one case of anaplastic glioma, and one case of metastatic brain tumor that were diagnosed on neuroimaging. Fifteen cases of intraoperative cytological preparations were also reviewed in a correlative manner.

[Intestinal bleeding in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors].

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are highly effective in the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), but there have been a few adverse event reports describing gastrointestinal bleeding. We clinically analyzed two patients who developed intestinal bleeding during the administration of TKIs for CML. Platelet counts of both patients were normal.

The secreted protein ANGPTL2 promotes metastasis of osteosarcoma cells through integrin α5β1, p38 MAPK, and matrix metalloproteinases.

The tumor microenvironment can enhance the invasive capacity of tumor cells. We showed that expression of angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) in osteosarcoma (OS) cell lines increased and the methylation of its promoter decreased with time when grown as xenografts in mice compared with culture. Compared with cells grown in normal culture conditions, the expression of genes encoding DNA demethylation-related enzymes increased in tumor cells implanted into mice or grown in hypoxic, serum-starved culture conditions.

Biphenotypic Acute Leukemia with t(15;17) Lacking Promyelocytic-retinoid Acid Receptor α Rearrangement.

Biphenotypic acute leukemias (BAL) account for less than 4% of all cases of acute leukemia. Philadelphia chromosome and 11q23 rearrangement are the most frequently found cytogenetic abnormalities. Since t(15;17) is almost always associated with acute promyelocytic leukemia, t(15;17) in BAL cases is extremely uncommon.

RNA-methylation-dependent RNA processing controls the speed of the circadian clock.

The eukaryotic biological clock involves a negative transcription-translation feedback loop in which clock genes regulate their own transcription and that of output genes of metabolic significance. While around 10% of the liver transcriptome is rhythmic, only about a fifth is driven by de novo transcription, indicating mRNA processing is a major circadian component. Here, we report that inhibition of transmethylation reactions elongates the circadian period.

Large solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas with aberrant protein expression and mutation of β-catenin: a case report and literature review of the distribution of β-catenin mutation.

Solid-pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPN) are rare pancreatic tumors. The etiology of SPN involves mutations in the gene that encodes β-catenin (CTNNB1). We herein report the case of a 23-year-old woman with a large SPN with proliferating tumor cells that displayed both solid and pseudo-papillary patterns.

The efficacy of edaravone (radicut), a free radical scavenger, for cardiovascular disease.

Edaravone was originally developed as a potent free radical scavenger, and has been widely used to treat acute ischemic stroke in Japan since 2001. Free radicals play an important role in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Therefore, free radicals may be targets for therapeutic intervention in these diseases.

Perfusion index derived from a pulse oximeter can predict the incidence of hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for Caesarean delivery.

Background: Hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for Caesarean delivery is a result of decreased vascular resistance due to sympathetic blockade and decreased cardiac output due to blood pooling in blocked areas of the body. Change in baseline peripheral vascular tone due to pregnancy may affect the degree of such hypotension. The perfusion index (PI) derived from a pulse oximeter has been used for assessing peripheral perfusion dynamics due to changes in peripheral vascular tone.

A 6-fr guiding catheter (slim guide(®)) for use with multiple microdevices. An experimental study.

A modified technique is required in patients with wide-necked aneurysms whose treatment by the single microcatheter technique is difficult. We developed a 6-Fr guiding catheter (Slim Guide(®)) that features a large lumen (0.072 inch) for performing the modified technique.