Effective Treatment of a Childhood Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm with a Cutaneous Tumor Alone by Stem Cell Transplantation with Reduced Intensity Conditioning.

Pediatric blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare hematological malignancy that has an extremely poor prognosis despite the use of intensive chemotherapy. Recently, treatment of BPDCN with bone marrow transplantation (BMT) using myeloablative conditioning has been reported to increase survival in adults. We report a 9-year-old girl with cutaneous BPDCN who was successfully treated with combination chemotherapy followed by BMT using reduced intensity conditioning (RIC), without any adverse complications.

Core-fucosylation plays a pivotal role in hepatitis B pseudo virus infection: a possible implication for HBV glycotherapy.

The functions of cell surface proteins, such as growth factor receptors and virus/bacteria-entry receptors, can be dynamically regulated by oligosaccharide modifications. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of glycosylation in hepatitis B virus (HBV) entry into hepatoma cells. Infection of oligosaccharide-remodeling hepatoma cells with a pseudo virus of HBV, bio-nanocapsule (BNC), was evaluated by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy.

DNA barcoding and morphological analyses revealed validity of Diadema clarki Ikeda, 1939 (Echinodermata, Echinoidea, Diadematidae).

A long-spined sea urchin Diadema-sp reported from Japanese waters was genetically distinct from all known Diadema species, but it remained undescribed. Extensive field surveys in Japan with molecular identification performed in the present study determined five phenotypes (I to V) in Diadema-sp according to the presence and/or shape of a white streak and blue iridophore lines in the naked space of the interambulacral area. All phenotypes were distinct from Diadema setosum (Leske, 1778) and Diadema savignyi (Audouin, 1829), of which a major type (I) corresponded to Diadema clarki Ikeda, 1939 that was questioned and synonymized with Diadema setosum by Mortensen (1940).

Serum C-reactive protein in food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome versus food protein-induced proctocolitis in Japan.

Background: Some infants with food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) have increased serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and fever in Japan. The aim of this study was therefore to clarify and compare the incidence of this in patients with FPIES versus patients with food protein-induced proctocolitis (FPIP).

Methods: One hundred and sixteen infants with non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food allergies were enrolled in this study and classified into three phenotypes: FPIES presenting with vomiting and/or diarrhea (n = 47); FPIP with bloody stool alone (n =19); and the mixed phenotype (MP), bloody stool with vomiting and/or diarrhea (n = 50).

Serum Mac-2 binding protein is a novel biomarker for chronic pancreatitis.

Aim: To determine the efficacy of Mac-2 binding protein (Mac-2bp) for diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

Methods: Fifty-nine healthy volunteers (HV), 162 patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP), and 94 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) were enrolled in this study. We measured serum Mac-2bp using our developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit.

Centrality-Dependent Modification of Jet-Production Rates in Deuteron-Gold Collisions at √[s(NN)]=200 GeV.

Jet production rates are measured in p+p and d+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV recorded in 2008 with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Jets are reconstructed using the R=0.3 anti-k_{t} algorithm from energy deposits in the electromagnetic calorimeter and charged tracks in multiwire proportional chambers, and the jet transverse momentum (p_{T}) spectra are corrected for the detector response.

Hepatocellular carcinoma cell sensitivity to Vγ9Vδ2 T lymphocyte-mediated killing is increased by zoledronate.

The limited efficacy of vaccines in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), due to the low frequency of tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), indicates the importance of innate immune surveillance, which assists acquired immunity by directly recognizing and eliminating HCC. Innate Vγ9Vδ2 T cells have major histocompatibility complex-unrestricted antitumor activity and are activated by phosphoantigens, which are upregulated in cancer cells by the nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate, zoledronate (Zol). A better understanding of HCC susceptibility to Zol and downstream γδ T cell-mediated killing is essential to optimize γδ T cell-mediated immunotherapy.

Specific increase in serum core-fucosylated haptoglobin in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Background/objectives: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has the worst prognosis of all malignancies, and its diagnosis in early stages is the most important prognostic factor. Chronic pancreatitis (CP), a common background of PDAC occurrence, is morphologically defined as progressive pancreatic fibrosis and inflammation accompanied by pancreatic exocrine cell atrophy. We recently found that inflammation and fibrosis are independent characteristic histological changes in noncancerous lesions in PDAC patients despite the absence of a past history of clinical CP.

Enhancement of antitumor effect by peptide vaccine therapy in combination with anti-CD4 antibody: Study in a murine model.

Purpose: The clinical efficacy of cancer peptide vaccine therapy is insufficient. To enhance the anti-tumor effect of peptide vaccine therapy, we combined this therapy with an anti-CD4 mAb (GK1.5), which is known to deplete CD4 cells, including regulatory T cells (Tregs).

Site-specific and linkage analyses of fucosylated N-glycans on haptoglobin in sera of patients with various types of cancer: possible implication for the differential diagnosis of cancer.

Fucosylation is an important type of glycosylation involved in cancer, and fucosylated proteins could be employed as cancer biomarkers. Previously, we reported that fucosylated N-glycans on haptoglobin in the sera of patients with pancreatic cancer were increased by lectin-ELISA and mass spectrometry analyses. However, an increase in fucosylated haptoglobin has been reported in various types of cancer.

Early eradication of factor VIII inhibitor in patients with congenital hemophilia A by immune tolerance induction with a high dose of immunoglobulin.

The production of factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitory antibodies is a serious problem in patients with hemophilia A. Immune tolerance induction (ITI) is the only strategy proven to eradicate persistent inhibitors and has been shown to be successful in 70 % of patients with hemophilia A. However, a minority of hemophilia patients present life-long inhibitors.

Increased C-reactive protein and fever in Japanese infants with food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome.

Background: Increased C-reactive protein (CRP) and fever are observed in some infants with food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) in Japan, but the reproducibility of these findings has not yet been confirmed on oral food challenge (OFC).

Methods: Fourteen infants with FPIES induced by cow's milk (CM) formula were enrolled. OFC using CM formula was performed on each infant once or repeatedly (total 18 tests), with a stepwise incremental protocol in an infection-controlled setting.

Long-term effects of AST-120 on the progression and prognosis of pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease: a 5-year retrospective study.

AST-120 has been used widely in Japan to slow the deterioration of renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by decreasing uremic toxins. The heart and the kidney are closely related, with cardiorenal interaction being very important. This retrospective study examined whether AST-120 influences the prevalence of dialysis induction, mortality, and cardiac and stroke events in CKD patients.

Acute effects of statin on reduction of angiopoietin-like 2 and glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end-products levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a message from SAMIT (Statin for Acute Myocardial Infarction Trial).

Experimental ischemia-reperfusion models have shown that 3-hydroxy-3methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, statins, have cardioprotective effects. SAMIT (Statin Acute Myocardial Infarction Trial) is a multicenter prospective open randomized trial, designed to evaluate the effects of statin treatment from the earliest stage on cardioprotection in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Patients were randomly assigned to receive atorvastatin (initial dose of 40 mg at admission followed by the maintenance dose of 10 mg/day for 30 days) or not (control), and then immediately underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the culprit lesion.

Vaccination with liposome-coupled glypican-3-derived epitope peptide stimulates cytotoxic T lymphocytes and inhibits GPC3-expressing tumor growth in mice.

Because therapeutic manipulation of immunity can induce tumor regression, anti-cancer immunotherapy is considered a promising treatment modality. We previously reported that glypican-3 (GPC3), an oncofetal antigen overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is a useful target for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated cancer immunotherapy, and we have performed clinical trials using the GPC3-derived peptide vaccine. Although vaccine-induced GPC3-peptide-specific CTLs were often tumor reactive in vitro and were correlated with overall survival, no complete response was observed.

Measurements of Elliptic and Triangular Flow in High-Multiplicity 3He+Au Collisions at √(s(NN))=200 GeV.

We present the first measurement of elliptic (v(2)) and triangular (v(3)) flow in high-multiplicity (3)He+Au collisions at √(s(NN))=200  GeV. Two-particle correlations, where the particles have a large separation in pseudorapidity, are compared in (3)He+Au and in p+p collisions and indicate that collective effects dominate the second and third Fourier components for the correlations observed in the (3)He+Au system. The collective behavior is quantified in terms of elliptic v(2) and triangular v(3) anisotropy coefficients measured with respect to their corresponding event planes.

Remission of autoimmune neutropenia after development of Kawasaki disease.

We report the second case of the association of Kawasaki disease (KD) and autoimmune neutropenia (AIN). A 21-month-old female diagnosed as having AIN of infancy developed a complete KD when severe neutropenia continued. The patient suffered from no coronary artery lesions, and well responded to a single high-dose gamma-globulin therapy.

Successful Treatment of Corticosteroid with Antiviral Therapy for a Neonatal Liver Failure with Disseminated Herpes Simplex Virus Infection.

Background Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection carries one of the poorest outcomes of neonatal liver failure (NLF). Neonates with disseminated HSV infection can develop hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), and occasionally need orthotopic liver transplantation. Early interventions may be critical for the cure of NLF.

Two new species of Asellota (Crustacea, Isopoda) from coral reefs on Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan.

Pleurocope iriomotensis sp. n. and Prethura tuberculata sp.

Mouse model of proximal colon-specific tumorigenesis driven by microsatellite instability-induced Cre-mediated inactivation of Apc and activation of Kras.

Background: KRAS gene mutations are found in 40-50% of colorectal cancer cases, but their functional contribution is not fully understood. To address this issue, we generated genetically engineered mice with colon tumors expressing an oncogenic Kras(G12D) allele in the context of the Adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) deficiency to compare them to tumors harboring Apc deficiency alone.

Methods: CDX2P9.

The Glycine max cv. Enrei Genome for Improvement of Japanese Soybean Cultivars.

We elucidated the genome sequence of Glycine max cv. Enrei to provide a reference for characterization of Japanese domestic soybean cultivars. The whole genome sequence obtained using a next-generation sequencer was used for reference mapping into the current genome assembly of G.