Immunohistochemical Diagnosis of Amyloid Typing: Utility and Limitations as Determined by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

Background: Although immunohistochemical techniques and proteomic analysis are widely used for typing diagnosis of amyloidosis, the diagnostic utility of immunohistochemical evaluation is not well understood.

Methods: We used immunohistochemical techniques to characterize staining patterns of in-house rabbit polyclonal anti-κ, anti-λ, anti-transthyretin antibodies, and commercial anti-amyloid A and anti-β-microglobulin antibodies in 40 autopsy cases.

Results: In thirty cases (75%), the subtype was determined by using the criterion that amyloid is strongly and diffusely positive for one antibody while negative for other antibodies.

Combination of plasma MMPs and PD-1-binding soluble PD-L1 predicts recurrence in gastric cancer and the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: The tumor microenvironment (TME) impacts the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). No liquid biomarkers are available to evaluate TME heterogeneity. Here, we investigated the clinical significance of PD-1-binding soluble PD-L1 (bsPD-L1) in gastric cancer (GC) patients and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade.

High Phase-Purity and Composition-Tunable Ferromagnetic Icosahedral Quasicrystal.

We discovered a ferromagnetic Au-Ga-Dy icosahedral quasicrystal (i QC), not only with high phase purity but also with tunable composition. The isothermal magnetization of the polycrystalline ferromagnetic i QC was closely investigated and the mean-field-like nature of the ferromagnetic transition is elucidated. Moreover, the maximum Weiss temperature (θ_{p}) of the i QCs was found at the electrons-per-atom (e/a) ratio of 1.

Experimental Observation of Long-Range Magnetic Order in Icosahedral Quasicrystals.

Quasicrystals (QCs), first discovered in 1984, generally do not exhibit long-range magnetic order. Here, we report on long-range magnetic order in the real icosahedral quasicrystals ( QCs) Au-Ga-Gd and Au-Ga-Tb. The AuGaGd QC exhibits a ferromagnetic transition at = 23 K, manifested as a sharp anomaly in both magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements, along with an appearance of magnetic Bragg peak below .

Toll‑like receptor 4 plays a tumor‑suppressive role in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Toll‑like receptor 4 (TLR4), a key regulator of the innate immune system, is expressed not only in immune cells, but also in a number of cancer cells. A biological role for TLR4 in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), however, is unclear. In this study, we first examined TLR4 expression and localization in cases of SCC, actinic keratosis (AK) and Bowen's disease (BD) by immunohistochemistry.

2-Deoxy-d-glucose increases GFAT1 phosphorylation resulting in endoplasmic reticulum-related apoptosis via disruption of protein N-glycosylation in pancreatic cancer cells.

The glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2DG) causes energy starvation, affecting cell viability in a wide range of cancer cell lines. To determine the action of 2DG in pancreatic cancer, we performed proteomic analysis of pancreatic cancer cell line after 2DG treatment. Eighty proteins showed differential expression and among these, proteins involved in phosphohexose metabolism were upregulated.

Identification of aldolase A as a potential diagnostic biomarker for colorectal cancer based on proteomic analysis using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and many patients are already at an advanced stage when they are diagnosed. Therefore, novel biomarkers for early detection of colorectal cancer are required. In this study, we performed a global shotgun proteomic analysis using formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) CRC tissue.

Higher expression of EpCAM is associated with poor clinical and pathological responses in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is a standard regimen in treatment of breast cancer patients, but some are resistant to NAC. We hypothesized that breast cancer cells overexpressing epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) could be resistant to NAC, contributing to a poor prognosis. Seventy patients with breast cancer were treated with NAC.

Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein-3 as a marker for distinguishing between cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and keratoacanthoma.

In the histopathological diagnosis of cutaneous tumors, the differential diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with crateriform architecture and keratoacanthoma (KA) is often difficult so an accurate understanding of the biological features and the identification of reliable markers of SCC and KA are crucial issues. Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein-3 (IGF2BP3, also known as IMP3) is thought of as a bona fide oncofetal protein, which is overexpressed and is involved in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in several kinds of tumors. However, the role of IMP3 in cutaneous SCC and KA has not been well studied.

Modified six-minute walk test: number of steps per second.

The 6-min walk test (6MWT) has been used to examine subjective dyspnea, predict mortality and measure clinical outcomes in studies of patients with chronic pulmonary or heart disease. Although the 6MWT is useful to assess the general ability to perform daily physical activity, it is difficult to evaluate time-dependent responses. To improve the 6MWT, we devised a new index, which is the number of steps walked per second (NSPS).

Altered expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 isoform IIIc: relevance to endometrioid adenocarcinoma carcinogenesis and histological differentiation.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) is activated in many cancers and considered as a potential therapeutic molecular target including for endometrial endometrioid carcinoma (EEC). Overexpression of FGFR2 isoform IIIc (FGFR2IIIc) has been shown to be associated with carcinogenesis in various cancers, but its expression in EEC has not been reported yet to the best of our knowledge. In this study, we identified roles for FGFR2IIIc in EEC carcinogenesis and demonstrated its diagnostic and prognostic values in EEC.

Nodular fasciitis in the parotid gland: a case report and review of the literature.

Nodular fasciitis (NF) is a benign, reactive lesion with a self-limiting process. Because NF is rare in the parotid gland and has many cytological similarities to other benign or malignant tumors, cytological misinterpretation is common. The patient, a 30-year-old woman, had a painless mass in her right parotid gland.

Comparison of fixation methods for preservation of morphology, RNAs, and proteins from paraffin-embedded human cancer cell-implanted mouse models.

Xenograft transplantation of human tumor cells into immunodeficient mice is an important method to clarify the roles of specific molecules or chemicals in vivo. Recently, this method has been reported as a definitive examination to identify tumor stem cells. In this study, the authors compared the morphology and the quality and quantity of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and protein in paraffin-embedded tissues of nude mice implanted with human uterine cervical cancer cells, followed by fixation with commonly used fixatives, including 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA), 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF), 20% NBF, and 99% ethanol (EtOH).

Keratinocyte growth factor induces vascular endothelial growth factor-A expression in colorectal cancer cells.

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), which is also called fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-7, belongs to the FGF family. KGF is not commonly produced by human cancer cells, but the KGF receptor (KGFR) is expressed in most cancer cells and particularly highly expressed in well-differentiated types of cancer. Recently, it has been reported that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A expression is induced by KGF in pancreatic cancer cells.

Expression and roles of keratinocyte growth factor and its receptor in esophageal cancer cells.

The keratinocyte growth factor receptor (KGFR), also known as FGFR2 IIIb, is mainly localized in epithelial cells and is activated by the keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) that is predominantly synthesized by mesenchymal cells. In this study, we examined the roles of KGFR and KGF in human esophageal cancer (EC). In noncancerous esophageal tissues, KGFR was localized in epithelial cells from the basal region of the epithelium to the lower one-third of the epithelium, and KGF was weakly localized in the basal to parabasal epithelial cells.

Keratinocyte growth factor-transfection-stimulated adhesion of colorectal cancer cells to extracellular matrices.

The keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) regulates cell growth and behavior in an autocrine or paracrine manner. In colorectal cancer tissues, KGF is expressed in tumor cells and adjacent stromal fibroblasts. We have constructed a KGF-gene-transfected cell line (HCT15-KGF) from a colorectal cancer cell line, HCT-15, that expresses the KGF receptor, and studied the effects of KGF on cell behavior, particularly growth and adhesion to extracellular matrices (ECMs).

Defined localization of nestin-expressing cells in L-arginine-induced acute pancreatitis.

Objective: Nestin is a stem cell marker originally described as an intermediate filament protein expressed in neuroepithelial stem cells. In the pancreas, a small number of nestin-expressing cells, which are believed to represent either stem cells or progenitor cells, are known to be present in islets, as well as in some stellate cells, pericytes, and endothelial cells. We monitored pancreatic nestin expression to delineate the location of stem cells/progenitor cells in the pancreas after L-arginine-induced pancreatitis.

Effect of morpholino antisense oligonucleotide against lumican mRNA in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells.

Lumican is a member of the small-leucine-rich proteoglycan (SLRP) family and is overexpressed during wound healing of the cornea, in ischemic and reperfused heart, and in several cancer tissues. Lumican is considered to regulate the collagen fibril diameter and interfibrillar spacing. However, the effect of lumican on cell growth has not been adequately examined.

Transient and ectopic expression of lumican by acinar cells in L-arginine-induced acute pancreatitis.

Lumican is a member of a small leucine-rich proteoglycan family. We previously found that lumican mRNA and its protein were ectopically and highly expressed in acinar cells in chronic pancreatitis (CP)-like lesions close to pancreatic cancer cells. CP-like lesions are characterized by acinar and ductal-ductular cell proliferation with expanding fibrosis.

Expression of keratinocyte growth factor receptor (KGFR/FGFR2 IIIb) in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Keratinocyte growth factor receptor (KGFR), also known as fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)2 IIIb, is located in many types of epithelial cells and is activated by four known ligands (FGF-1, FGF-3, FGF-7 (also known as KGF) and FGF-10) that are predominantly synthesized by mesenchymal cells. In the early stage of atherosclerosis, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) transform from a contractile to a synthetic phenotype, proliferate and migrate into the intima. Previously, FGF-7 mRNA expression was reported in VSMC, but KGFR mRNA was not detected.

Differential distribution of fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-7 and FGF-10 in L-arginine-induced acute pancreatitis.

The regenerative process of the pancreas after acute pancreatitis (AP) is characterized by acinar and ductal cell proliferation with synthesis and transient deposition of extracellular matrices. Various growth factors were reported to be highly expressed in AP, but their regulation has not yet been clarified. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-7, also known as keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), and FGF-10 are members of the FGF family and show high structural homology and similar biological characteristics.

Floppy aortic valves without aortic root dilatation: clinical, histologic, and ultrastructural studies.

Gross anatomic, histologic and ultrastructural studies were made on 32 floppy aortic valves (FAVs) resected at the time of aortic valvular replacement for aortic regurgitation. Patients with the FAVs had relatively long clinical courses and had severe aortic regurgitation with mild symptoms of heart failure. The sizes of the mechanical valves implanted in the patients with FAVs were not large, indicating that the aortic regurgitation in these patients was not worsened by dilatation of the aortic ring.