Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate found in plants of the Brassicaceae family, possesses antioxidant, apoptosis-inducing, and radiosensitizing effects. As one of the mechanisms of cytotoxicity by SFN, SFN has been suggested to be involved in the induction of DNA damage and inhibition of DNA repair. Recently, we reported on the potency of SFN in inducing single-ended double-strand breaks (DSBs) that are caused by the collision of replication forks with single-strand breaks (SSBs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Biophys Res Commun
December 2024
A 55-year-old Japanese woman with a history of hypertension and right putaminal hemorrhage developed simultaneous hemorrhages in the left thalamus and putamen and died 24 h later. There were no vascular anomalies in the brain. Synaptophysin immunostaining combined with eosin azure 50 (EA50) staining clearly identified the hematoma and the surrounding brain structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterleukin-10 (IL-10) is a highly pleiotropic cytokine that regulates immunological homeostasis through anti-inflammatory and/or immunostimulatory functions. Moreover, IL-10 is well known to exert diverse roles in tumor immunology and immunotherapy. The present study investigated the presence of circulating tumor antigen-specific IL-10-producing T cells in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and determined factors that may influence the immunodynamics of IL-10-producing T cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is clinically and immunologically distinct from HPV-negative HNSCC. Herein, we investigated the presence of tumor antigens HPV E6/E7 and wild-type p53-specific T-cell responses, and the impact of immune checkpoint blockade in patients with HPV-positive HNSCC.
Materials And Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with HPV-positive HNSCC were stimulated with HPV E6/E7 or wild-type p53-derived peptide mixture and evaluated using the interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay.
This paper presents a feasibility study on monitoring earthquake-caused furniture vibrations using radiofrequency identification (RFID) sensor tags. Finding unstable objects by exploiting the vibrations caused by weaker earthquakes is effective as one of the potential countermeasures for large-scale earthquakes in earthquake-prone areas. For this purpose, a previously proposed ultrahigh-frequency (UHF)-band RFID-based batteryless vibration/physical shock sensing system enabled long-term monitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNatural antioxidants derived from plants exert various physiological effects, including antitumor effects. However, the molecular mechanisms of each natural antioxidant have not yet been fully elucidated. Identifying the targets of natural antioxidants with antitumor properties in vitro is costly and time-consuming, and the results thus obtained may not reliably reflect in vivo conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrequency-modulated continuous wave radar techniques typically have inadequate angular resolutions due to the limited aperture sizes of antenna arrays in spite of employing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques. Therefore, despite the existence of multiple objects, angularly close objects with similar distances and relative velocities are recognized as one single object. Autonomous driving requires the accurate recognition of road conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Exosome-mediated reciprocal crosstalk between tumor and stromal cells plays a crucial role in tumor development and progression. This study investigated whether exosomes released from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tumor cells can convert normal fibroblasts into cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF)-like cells and further analyzed the functional characterization of fibroblasts educated by tumor-derived exosomes.
Materials And Methods: Exosomes secreted from HNSCC cell lines were isolated and normal fibroblasts were established from normal oropharyngeal mucosa.
GPR85 is a member of the G protein-coupled receptor and is a super-conserved receptor expressed in the brain sub-family (Super Conserved Receptor Expressed in Brain; SREB) with GPR27 and GPR173. These three receptors are "orphan receptors"; however, their endogenous ligands have not been identified. SREB has garnered the interest of many scientists because it is expressed in the central nervous system and is evolutionarily conserved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper proposes a visual management scheme of medical things with a color-change radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The color-change RFID tag employs a specific RFID tag integrated circuit (IC) and a laminated pH-indicating paper. The IC has energy harvesting and switched ground functions, which enable it to generate electricity to the laminated pH-indicating paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer immunotherapy using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has been recognized as a novel therapeutic option for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, only approximately 20-30% of patients with recurrent/metastatic (R/M) HNSCC benefit. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying the response to ICIs remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe evaluation of antitumor immune responses is essential for immune monitoring to predict clinical outcomes as well as treatment efficacies in cancer patients. In this study, we produced two tumor antigen (TA) proteins, melanoma antigen family A4 and wild type p53, using TG silkworm systems and evaluated anti-TA-specific immune responses by enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assays in patients with head and neck cancer. Eleven (61.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtopic dermatitis is accompanied by the abnormal overgrowth of , a common cause of skin infections and an opportunistic pathogen. Although administration of antibiotics is effective against , the resulting reduction in healthy microbiota and the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria are of concern. We propose that phage therapy can be an effective strategy to treat atopic dermatitis without perturbing the microbiota structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiscovery of small-molecule inducers of unique phenotypic changes combined with subsequent target identification often provides new insights into cellular functions. Here, we applied integrated profiling based on cellular morphological and proteomic changes to compound screening. We identified an indane derivative, NPD9055, which is mechanistically distinct from reference compounds with known modes of action.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSilkworms are economically important insects that have the ability to produce large amounts of silk. They have mass breeding methods and silk glands, which are specialized tissues that secrete silk fibroin and sericin. Thus, the production of recombinant proteins in a transgenic silkworm system is a promising approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report a 50-year-old man who developed fatal brainstem infarction five days after traumatic cervical vertebral artery dissection (CVAD). Autopsy revealed multiple fresh infarcts in the territory of the vertebrobasilar system. No thrombus was found in the infarct lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the history of viral research, one of the important biological features of bacteriophage Mu is the ability to expand its host range. For extending the host range, the Mu phage encodes two alternate tail fibre genes. Classical amber mutation experiments and genome sequence analysis of Mu phage suggested that gene products (gp) of geneS (gpS = gp49) and gene S' (gpS' = gp52) are tail fibres and that gene products of geneU (gpU = gp50) and geneU' (gpU' = gp51) work for tail fibre assembly or tail fibre chaperones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhage tail fibres are elongated protein assemblies capable of specific recognition of bacterial surfaces during the first step of viral infection. The folding of these complex trimeric structures often requires a phage-encoded tail fibre assembly (Tfa) protein. Despite the wide occurrence of Tfa proteins, their functional mechanism has not been elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent studies have revealed that not only proton-sensing channels, but also one family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprising OGR1, GPR4, G2A and TDAG8 are responsible for the sensing of extracellular protons, or pH. Here, we report that two other GPCRs, GPR31 and GPR151, were also activated in acidic condition. Elevated pH of assay mixtures resulted in a remarkable increase in [35S]GTPγS binding by GPR31-Giα and GPR151-Giα fusion proteins in a narrow range between pH 6 and 5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropathological examinations of the brain in cases of brain death are usually insufficient because of autolysis. We examined a case of sporadic-type cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related hemorrhage (sCAA-H) in a 74-year-old Japanese woman who had been clinically established as brain dead 7 days before cardiac arrest. The brain was macerated, and a huge hematoma was evident in the right parieto-occipital region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTailed bacteriophages (Caudovirales) are divided into three families: Myoviridae with long contractile tails, Siphoviridae with long noncontractile tails and Podoviridae with short noncontractile tails. All have an icosahedral head with a portal vertex connected to a neck structure followed by a tail. Bacteriophage Mu belongs to the Myoviridae family.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThyroid hormone receptors (TRs) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily that regulate their target genes for controlling organ development and functional maintenance. Soybean isoflavones, especially genistein and daidzein, modulate various hormone-mediated pathways. However, their effects on TRs have not yet been extensively studied.
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