Opt2 mediates the exposure of phospholipids during cellular adaptation to altered lipid asymmetry.

Plasma membrane lipid asymmetry is important for various membrane-associated functions and is regulated by membrane proteins termed flippases and floppases. The Rim101 pathway senses altered lipid asymmetry in the yeast plasma membrane. The mutant lem3Δ cells, in which lipid asymmetry is disturbed owing to the inactivation of the plasma membrane flippases, showed a severe growth defect when the Rim101 pathway was impaired.

Oral rabeprazole administration on a procedure day suppresses bleeding after endoscopic submucosal dissection for gastric neoplasms.

Aim: The efficacy of pre-procedure oral proton pump inhibitor (PPI) administration for gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is unclear. This study evaluated oral PPI administration effectiveness on the day of ESD to prevent post-ESD bleeding.

Methods: This study examined 55 patients who underwent ESD for gastric neoplasm.

Optic nerve involvement of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia: with autopsy findings.

Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) is an indolent chronic lymphoproliferative disorder within the spectrum of lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL), characterized by a proliferation of plasmacytoid lymphocytes and the production of monoclonal IgM. Although, peripheral neurologic complications commonly occurs due to hyperviscosity in WM, central nervous system (CNS) involvement is very rare. Herein, we present the case of a 67-year-old man who initially presented with progressive visual loss and was diagnosed as WM/LPL with a very aggressive clinical course.

Pharmacological characteristics of the inhibitory effects of docosahexaenoic acid on vascular contractions studied in rat mesenteric artery.

Background/aims: Effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on blood vessel contractions to various constrictors were investigated in rat mesenteric artery and compared with those of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and linoleic acid (LA).

Methods: Tension changes in mesenteric ring segments were isometrically recorded.

Results: On sustained contractions induced by a thromboxane A₂ mimetic (U46619), DHA exerted a strong inhibitory effect.

Signaling events of the Rim101 pathway occur at the plasma membrane in a ubiquitination-dependent manner.

In yeast, external alkalization and alteration in plasma membrane lipid asymmetry are sensed by the Rim101 pathway. It is currently under debate whether the signal elicited by external alkalization is transduced to downstream molecules at the plasma membrane or via endocytosis of the Rim21 sensor protein at the late endosome. We found that the downstream molecules, including arrestin-related protein Rim8, calpain-like protein Rim13, and scaffold protein Rim20, accumulated at the plasma membrane upon external alkalization and that the accumulation was dependent on Rim21.

Non-sarcomatous spindle cell morphology in conventional lung adenocarcinoma: a clinicopathological study.

Non-sarcomatous spindle cell foci (N-SSCF) without aggressive invasiveness, also called morule-like lesions, occur occasionally in conventional lung adenocarcinoma, but their characteristics remain poorly understood. We identified N-SSCF in 7 (4.0 %) of 173 lung adenocarcinomas and examined their clinicopathological features.

An automated spring-loaded needle for endoscopic ultrasound-guided abdominal paracentesis in cancer patients.

Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of using an automated spring-loaded needle device for endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided abdominal paracentesis (EUS-P) to see if this would make it easier to puncture the mobile and lax gastric wall for EUS-P.

Methods: The EUS database and electronic medical records at Fukushima Medical University Hospital were searched from January 2001 to April 2011. Patients with a history of cancer and who underwent EUS-P using an automated spring-loaded needle device with a 22-gauge puncture needle were included.

A case of gastrointestinal stromal tumor with pneumomediastinum.

A 52-year-old man noticed physical weariness and anorexia in November 2008. Severe anemia was found. Pneumomediastinum was detected using x-ray and CT scanning.

Yeast and mammalian autophagosomes exhibit distinct phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate asymmetries.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase is indispensable for autophagy but it is not well understood how its product, phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns(3)P), participates in the biogenesis of autophagic membranes. Here, by using quick-freezing and freeze-fracture replica labelling, which enables determination of the nanoscale distributions of membrane lipids, we show that PtdIns(3)P in yeast autophagosomes is more abundant in the luminal leaflet (the leaflet facing the closed space between the outer and inner autophagosomal membranes) than in the cytoplasmic leaflet. This distribution is drastically different from that of the mammalian autophagosome in which PtdIns(3)P is confined to the cytoplasmic leaflet.

Diagnostic yield of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography-based cytology for distinguishing malignant and benign intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aim: Published studies have revealed the diagnostic yield of cytology obtained from endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in distinguishing malignant and benign intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN). However as a result of small sample sizes, the overall magnitude of benefit is unknown. Additionally, the optimal endoscopic procedure for cytology acquisition is also unclear.

Three Japanese patients (mother and two children) with familial Mediterranean fever associated with compound heterozygosity for L110P/E148Q/M694I and an autosomal true dominant inheritance pattern.

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is characterized by repeated episodes of fever, peritonitis, pleuritis, and synovitis. We describe here 3 Japanese patients (a mother and 2 children) in whom FMF was diagnosed on analysis of MEFV. A 40-year-old woman presented with fever and abdominal pain.

Pharmacological evidence showing significant roles for potassium channels and CYP epoxygenase metabolites in the relaxant effects of docosahexaenoic acid on the rat aorta contracted with U46619.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) shows more pronounced relaxation when blood vessel is contracted with prostanoid receptor agonists than other stimulants. The present study was carried out to obtain information on the mechanisms underlying prostanoid receptor-selective relaxant action of DHA, particularly focusing on the possible roles for K(+) channels and its CYP epoxygenase (EOX) metabolites. In endothelium-denuded rat thoracic aorta, DHA (10(-5) M) almost completely relaxed U46619 (a thromboxane A2 (TP) receptor agonist)-contracted muscle without substantially affecting noradrenaline (NA)-induced contraction.

Selective and potent inhibitory effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on U46619-induced contraction in rat aorta.

Inhibitory effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on blood vessel contractions induced by various constrictor stimulants were investigated in the rat thoracic aorta. The inhibitory effects of DHA were also compared with those of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and linoleic acid (LA). DHA exhibited a strong inhibitory effect on the sustained contractions induced by U46619, a TXA(2) mimetic.

Sebaceous-like clear cell changes in primary lung cancer.

We examined two cases of primary lung cancer with sebaceous-like clear cells (SLCCs), defined as clear carcinoma cells with microvacuolated cytoplasm and centrally located nuclei, which were selected from among 281 surgical/autopsy cases of lung cancer (2/281, 0.7%). Both cases were higher stage (stage IIA and IIIA), and SLCCs were intermingled with adenocarcinoma cells of usual type.

The electromyographic activity of the multifidus muscles during the execution of two pilates exercises--swan dive and breast stroke--for healthy people.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the multifidus electromyographic activity in healthy women during the performance of the same Pilates exercise under 2 conditions.

Methods: Sixteen healthy, active, female practitioners of Pilates (mean age, 24.3; SD, 3.

Separation and characterization of the immunostimulatory components in unpolished rice black vinegar (kurozu).

Unpolished rice black vinegar (kurozu), a traditional Japanese vinegar, is considered to have beneficial health effects. Kurozu is produced via a static fermentation process involving the saccharification of rice by Aspergillus oryzae, alcohol fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid by acetic acid bacteria such as Acetobacter pasteurianus. Since this process requires about 6 months' fermentation and then over a year of aging, most of these organisms die during the production process and so microbial components, which might stimulate the innate immune system, are expected to be present in the vinegar.

Unperverted synthesis of complex sphingolipids is essential for cell survival under nitrogen starvation.

Changes in membrane dynamics are known to occur in cells faced with starvation. However, the functions of the major lipid components of biological membranes, sphingolipids, during the starvation response remain unclear. In this study, we found that yeast cells lacking genes encoding mannosylinositol phosphorylceramide (MIPC) synthases (csg1Δ csh1Δ) underwent rapid cell death upon nitrogen starvation, but not upon carbon starvation or carbon and nitrogen starvation.

The role of naftopidil in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Naftopidil, which to a certain extent shows an affinity to α1D-adrenoceptor subtype in addition to a high affinity to α1A-adrenoceptor, has been used for the treatment of benign prostatic obstruction and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) associated lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The aim of the present review is to systematically refer to the published studies on this unique agent for BPH. Based on a randomized prazosin-controlled study and another double-blind placebo-controlled study, which verified the dose-dependent effects of naftopidil, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved naftopidil for treating men with BPH in 1996.

Effects on vesicular transport pathways at the late endosome in cells with limited very long-chain fatty acids.

Very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs), fatty acids with chain-length greater than 20 carbons, possess a wide range of biological functions. However, their roles at the molecular level remain largely unknown. In the present study, we screened for multicopy suppressors that rescued temperature-sensitive growth of VLCFA-limited yeast cells, and we identified the VPS21 gene, encoding a Rab GTPase, as such a suppressor.

Primary pulmonary myxoid sarcoma with EWSR1-CREB1 fusion, resembling extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma: Case report with a review of Literature.

Reported herein is an extremely rare case of primary pulmonary myxoid sarcoma (PPMS). A 31-year-old man presented with a 2.7 cm-sized pulmonary tumor surrounded by capsule-like fibrosis.