Engineering of Silkworm Tyrosyl-tRNA Synthetase Variants to Create Halogenated Silk Fiber with Improved Thermal Stability.

Silk fiber, produced by the silkworm , is a protein fiber with an excellent mechanical strength and broad biocompatibility. Multiple approaches, including genetic and chemical methods, must be combined to tailor silk fiber properties for wide applications, such as textiles and biomaterials. Genetic code expansion (GCE) is an alternative method to alter proteins' chemical and physical properties by incorporating synthetic amino acids into their primary structures.

Genetic Code Expansion of the Silkworm Using a Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase/tRNA Pair.

The domesticated silkworm , an essential industrial animal for silk production, has attracted attention as a host for protein production due to its remarkable protein synthesis capability. Here, we applied genetic code expansion (GCE) using a versatile pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS)/tRNA pair from to ; GCE enables synthetic amino acid incorporation into proteins to give them non-natural functions. Transgenic lines expressing PylRS and its cognate tRNA were generated and cross-mated to obtain their F hybrid.

Association between physical function and parameters of hip structural analysis in patients with hip fracture.

Objectives: The current study sought to investigate whether physical function and activity were associated with hip structural analysis (HSA) parameters on the non-fracture side of patients with hip fractures.

Methods: Participants were patients with unilateral hip fracture treated by surgery. HSA of the proximal femur was conducted based on dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry data.

The effect of anterior support screw (AS2) in unstable femoral trochanteric fractures: A multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: This study was conducted to verify the effectiveness of Anterior Support Screw (AS2) for unstable femoral trochanteric fractures.

Design: A multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial SETTING: This study was conducted across 15 academic medical centers in Japan PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: We enrolled 240 cases of femoral trochanteric fractures with posterior crushing and intramedullary displacement of proximal bone fragments across 15 institutions in Japan.

Intervention: All patients were subjected to a reduction in which the anterior cortex was brought into contact.

Prenatal Maternal Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Newborn Brain Development.

Importance: Elevated maternal psychological distress during pregnancy is associated with altered fetal brain development. During the COVID-19 pandemic, prenatal maternal psychological distress more than doubled.

Objective: To examine the association of the pandemic and rising maternal psychological distress with brain growth in newborns using quantitative 3-dimensional volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Protocol of a phase II study investigating the efficacy and safety of trifluridine/tipiracil plus ramucirumab as a third-line or later treatment for advanced gastric cancer.

In Japan, systemic chemotherapy is the standard treatment for unresectable, advanced, or recurrent gastric cancer. However, numerous patients with gastric cancer do not receive late-line treatment because of the rapid progression of gastric cancer. Additionally, late-line treatments, such as nivolumab, trifluridine tipiracil (FTD/TPI), or irinotecan, have limited effects on improving clinical symptoms and delaying the onset of symptoms associated with cancer progression.

A multi-institutional prospective observational study to compare postoperative quality of life of patients who undergo total or proximal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer (CCOG1602).

Background: Proximal gastrectomy (PG) has become an increasingly preferred procedure for treating early cancer in the upper third of the stomach. However, advantages of PG in postoperative quality of life (QOL) over total gastrectomy (TG) has not fully proven.

Methods: We conducted a multi-institutional prospective observational study (CCOG1602) of patients who undergo TG or PG for cStage I gastric cancer.

Improvement of muscle quality assessed using the phase angle is influenced by recovery of knee extension strength in patients with hip fractures.

Background And Aims: Studies reported that knee extension strength on the operated side in patients with hip fractures was not recovered to the level on the non-operated side 6 months after surgery or later. In a cross-sectional study, we revealed that a reduction in isometric knee extension muscle strength on the operated side in patients with hip fractures approximately 6 months after surgery was associated with not only a reduction in skeletal muscle mass but also a reduction in muscle quality, characterized by a reduction in the phase angle (PhA). Furthermore, the mechanisms of knee extension strength improvement can be clarified in more detail using the minimal significant change as the index of recovery.

Lysoglycosphingolipids have the ability to induce cell death through direct PI3K inhibition.

Sphingolipidoses are inherited metabolic disorders associated with glycosphingolipids accumulation, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation leading to severe neurological symptoms. Lysoglycosphingolipids (lysoGSLs), also known to accumulate in the tissues of sphingolipidosis patients, exhibit cytotoxicity. LysoGSLs are the possible pathogenic cause, but the mechanisms are still unknown in detail.

Proposal of the Second Cutoff of Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Levels to Stratify Patients into Low, Intermediate, and High Risks at Recurrences after Curative Resection of Gastric Cancer.

Introduction: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 are widely used for treating various cancers, with cutoff values of 5.0 ng/mL and 37.0 IU/mL, respectively.

Reproducing the Reaction Route Map on the Shape Space from Its Quotient by the Complete Nuclear Permutation-Inversion Group.

This study develops an algorithm to reproduce reaction route maps (RRMs) in the shape space from the outputs of potential search algorithms. To demonstrate the algorithm, global reaction route mapping is utilized as a potential search algorithm, but the proposed algorithm should work with other potential search algorithms in principle. The proposed algorithm does not require any encoding of the molecular configurations and is thus applicable to complicated realistic molecules for which efficient encoding is not readily available.

Unique Material Properties of Silk Fiber Incorporated with 3-Azidotyrosine.

Silk fiber produced by the silkworm is a nature-derived proteinous fiber with excellent mechanical strength and broad biocompatibility. To alter its material properties and make it more suitable for textile, biomedical, and electronics applications, chemical modifications and genetic engineering methods have been extensively studied. Here, we report that the translational incorporation of a synthetic amino acid, 3-azidotyrosine (3-AzTyr), into silk fiber can improve its material properties.

Deficiency Reduces Proliferation, Increases Apoptosis, and Alters Secretion in Enteric Glial Cells of Mouse Small Intestine in Culture.

To investigate the roles of calcineurin (CN) in glial cells, we previously generated conditional knockout (CKO) mice lacking in glial cells. Because these CKO mice showed dysfunction and inflammation of the small intestine in addition to growth impairment and postweaning death, we have focused on enteric glial cells (EGCs) in the small intestine. In this study, we examined the effects of deficiency on the proliferation and survival of EGCs and the expression and secretion of EGC-derived substances in culture to reveal the mechanisms of how deficiency leads to dysfunction and inflammation of the small intestine.

Incidence and trend of antiresorptive agent-related osteonecrosis of the jaw from 2016 to 2020 in Kure, Japan.

Unlabelled: We investigated the incidence/trend of osteonecrosis of the jaw by antiresorptive agent dose over a 5-year period in Kure city, Japan. The incidence was 24 times higher among osteoporosis patients with low-dose agents and 421 times higher among cancer patients with high-dose agents than in the population without agents.

Purpose: We launched the registry system of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) cases in 2015 to investigate the trend in ONJ incidence.

Genome-Wide Gene Expression Profiling Reveals the Direct Effect of Dienogest on Ovarian Endometriotic Stromal Cells.

Endometriosis affects up to 10% of women of reproductive age, causing dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility. The current key drug for endometriosis is dienogest, a progestin with high specificity for the progesterone receptor. To reveal the direct anti-endometriotic effect of dienogest on ovarian endometriotic cells, we investigated the genome-wide gene expression profiles of ovarian endometriotic stromal cells with (Dienogest group) or without dienogest treatment (Control group) and compared the groups' gene expression profiles.

An income equalisation policy and social welfare: beyond inequality.

The inequality of income distribution is one of the most serious problems to our society. Traditional economics proposes the tax increase on wealthy classes and transfers its revenue to low income group. This is the most appropriate one.

Risk score for predicting death from other causes after curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Background: The number of patients who die from causes other than gastric cancer after R0 resection is increasing in Japan, due in part to the aging population. However, few studies have comprehensively investigated the clinicopathological risks associated with deaths from other causes after gastrectomy. This study aimed to build a risk score for predicting such deaths.

Aberrant autophagy in lysosomal storage disorders marked by a lysosomal SNARE protein shortage due to suppression of endocytosis.

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are inherited metabolic diseases caused by genetic defects in lysosomal enzymes or related factors. LSDs are associated with excessive accumulation of natural substrates in lysosomes leading to central nervous system and peripheral tissue damage. Abnormal autophagy is also involved in pathogenesis, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Preoperative neutrophil-to-platelet ratio as a potential prognostic factor for gastric cancer with positive peritoneal lavage cytology in the absence of other non-curative factors: a multi-institutional dataset analysis.

Purpose: Peritoneal dissemination is the key to the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) and can be detected early with peritoneal lavage cytology. No studies have examined preoperative prognostic factors in GC patients who have positive cytology but no other non-curative factors.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis using a multicenter database of 3575 patients who underwent gastrectomy between 2010 and 2014.

Construction of a Rhodobacter sphaeroides Strain That Efficiently Produces Hydrogen Gas from Acetate without Poly(β-Hydroxybutyrate) Accumulation: Insight into the Role of PhaR in Acetate Metabolism.

The purple nonsulfur phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides produces hydrogen gas (H) from acetate. An approach to improve the H production is preventing accumulation of an intracellular energy storage molecule known as poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), which competes with H production for reducing power. However, disruption of PHB biosynthesis has been reported to severely impair the acetate assimilation depending on the genetic backgrounds and/or culture conditions.