Publications by authors named "Tomoko Watanabe"

Objective: To enhance satisfaction, the cosmetics industry needs to clearly understand consumers' descriptions of their key tactile preferences. It is difficult for researchers to understand verbal descriptions from people whose native language is different from their own. Previous research has implied that some sensory words with the same lexical meanings have been observed in different haptic exploratory procedures (HEPs).

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  • Genetic testing methods like sequencing analysis and MLPA are typically used to diagnose familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), but some genetic changes can be hard to detect.
  • A case study of a woman with FAP showed that complex genomic rearrangements could be identified through advanced techniques such as multigene panel testing, chromosomal analysis, and long-read sequencing.
  • The study highlights the importance of using comprehensive genomic analyses when standard testing fails to find genetic variants, especially in patients with a relevant medical or family history of hereditary cancer syndromes.
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  • This study aimed to identify genetic changes and potential treatment targets in advanced pediatric solid tumors through genomic profiling.
  • Conducted at the National Cancer Center in Japan, it analyzed tumor and blood samples from 142 pediatric patients with recurrent or refractory cancer, finding significant genetic alterations in 59% of those evaluable.
  • The research highlights the importance of genomic medicine in understanding tumor biology and developing new therapies, while also noting challenges in accessibility and a limited number of actionable treatment options.
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Glycans are composed of branched structures consisting of monosaccharides, such as glucose and galactose linked by glycosidic bonds. Glycans are often bound to proteins and lipids and are localized at the cell surface. They are deeply involved in a wide range of multicellular systems inside and outside the cells, such as the quality control of glycoproteins, cell-cell communication, and various diseases.

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Gall-forming aphid species Tetraneura nigriabdominalis and T. fusiformis and its closely related species are taxonomically revised. By referring to the original descriptions, the name T.

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Background And Aims: In familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), neoplastic lesions outside the colon have become increasingly important. The genotype-phenotype correlation has been established for duodenal polyps, and regular screening is recommended. However, this correlation remains unclear for small-intestinal lesions, except for reports on the relationship between their occurrence and Spigelman stage.

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Background: BRCA1 c.5096G>A (p. Arg1699Gln) (hereinafter BRCA1 R1699Q) is classified as a pathogenic genetic variant despite its lower penetrance of breast and ovarian cancers compared to other BRCA1 variants.

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  • Pre-placodal ectoderm (PPE) is an important area in developing animals that helps create sensory organs and nerves.
  • To form PPE, a special signal called FGF must be activated, but getting this signal to work the same way in different animals is tricky.
  • Researchers found that a protein called Dusp6 plays a key role in this process by helping control the FGF signal, which is important for the proper formation of PPE and nearby areas in early development.
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Background: Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS), which accounts for a small subset (1-3 %) of Lynch syndrome (LS), is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder characterized by sebaceous gland or keratoacanthoma associated with visceral malignancies. Most families with MTS have pathogenic germline variants (PGV) in MSH2. Sarcomas are not common on the LS tumor spectrum, and sarcomas associated with MTS are extremely rare.

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Heparan sulfate (HS), a sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG), was reported to be a necessary host attachment factor that promotes SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we developed GAG microarrays based on fluorescence detection for high-sensitivity screening of the GAG-binding specificity of proteins and applied it for the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. Among the 20 distinct GAGs, the S protein bound not only to heparin (HEP)/HS but also to chondroitin sulfate E (CSE) in a concentration-dependent manner.

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Development of low-clearance (CL) compounds that are slowly metabolized is a major goal in the pharmaceutical industry. However, the pursuit of low intrinsic CL (CL ) often leads to significant challenges in evaluating the pharmacokinetics of such compounds. Although in vitro-in vivo extrapolation is widely used to predict human CL, its application has been limited for low-CL compounds because of the low turnover of parent compounds in metabolic stability assays.

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Somatic genetic alteration analysis was performed for post-hysterectomy high-risk early-stage uterine cervical cancer patients who underwent post-operative radiation therapy. Post-operative radiation therapy was performed for patients with pathological features of pelvic lymph node metastasis, parametrium invasion, or positive vaginal margin, which corresponded to the post-operative high-risk category. DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded surgical specimens, and 50 somatic hotspot genetic alternations were detected using Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel.

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Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are important starting materials for cell therapy products (CTPs) used for transplantation. During cell culture, hiPSCs often spontaneously undergo morphological changes and lose pluripotency. Such cells are called 'deviated cells', which are deviated from the undifferentiated state of hiPSCs, lack the expression of hiPSC markers and become positive for the early differentiation marker SSEA1 (stage-specific embryonic antigen 1, Lewis X glycan).

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Objective: Many people want to have healthy facial skin. They tend to check their skin's condition by touching their face with their hands. In the cosmetic industry, we need to understand what consumers are perceiving in a tactile sense when touching their own facial skin.

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Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are useful starting materials for the generation of cell therapy products, due to their pluripotency and ability to self-renew. Quality control of hiPSCs is extremely important in creating a stable supply of hPSC-derived products. Previously we identified an hiPSC-specific lectin probe, rBC2LCN, which binds specifically to α1,2-fucosylated glycan and recognizes podocalyxin (PODXL) as a glycoprotein ligand.

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Quality control for human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is important for efficient and stable production of hiPSC-derived cell therapy products to be used for transplantation. During cell culture, hiPSCs spontaneously undergo morphological changes and lose pluripotent properties. Such cells are termed deviated cells, which are altered from the undifferentiated state of hiPSCs, and express the early differentiation marker stage-specific embryonic antigen 1 (SSEA-1).

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Inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase domain (HIF-PHD) promotes erythropoietin (EPO) production by stabilizing the HIFα subunit. Thieno[2,3-]pyrimidine identified based on X-ray crystal structure analysis was optimized to lead to the discovery of pyrazolo[4,3-]pyrimidine as the lead compound of orally bioavailable HIF-PHD inhibitors. Conversion of the benzyl moiety in gave pyrazolopyrimidine with high solubility and bioavailability, which increased hemoglobin levels in anemic model rats after repeated oral administration.

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Purpose: Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), which influences the efficacy of PARP inhibitor- and platinum agent-based therapies, is a prevalent phenotype of breast cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs; 15-39 years old). However, HRD score, indicating HRD status, is not routinely assessed in the breast oncology clinic, particularly in patients without germline BRCA1/2 mutations. Hence, we sought to develop a model for determining HRD status based on genetic and clinicopathological factors.

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Purpose: Anesthetic fade refers to the time-dependent decrease in the amplitude of the intraoperative motor-evoked potential. It is thought to be caused by the accumulation of propofol. The authors examined whether normalization by the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) after peripheral nerve stimulation could compensate for anesthetic fade.

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Objective: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Asian women, due to its poor prognosis. This study aimed to decipher genomic alteration profiles of a cohort of Japanese cervical cancer patients to understand why certain patients benefited from molecular targeted therapies and their prognostic significance.

Methods: During 2008-2018, 154 cervical cancer patients underwent a potentially curative resection procedure at the National Cancer Center Hospital.

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Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is known as aggressive subtype and have no identified targeted therapies. We examined the relationship of neoadjuvant chemotherapy response to genetic variations of TNBC. The tumors used in this study were collected from Showa University Hospital, Japan.

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Since 1961, all Japanese citizens have belonged to one of the available medical care insurance systems. This "universal care" system has contributed to the maintenance of health: the life expectancy at birth was 84 years in 2016, and the infant mortality rate (the number of infants dying before reaching 1 year of age) was 2.0 per 1,000 live births, which is one of the lowest rates in the world.

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For efficient drug discovery and screening, it is necessary to simplify P-glycoprotein (P-gp) substrate assays and to provide in silico models that predict the transport potential of P-gp. In this study, we developed a simplified in vitro screening method to evaluate P-gp substrates by unidirectional membrane transport in P-gp-overexpressing cells. The unidirectional flux ratio positively correlated with parameters of the conventional bidirectional P-gp substrate assay ( R = 0.

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The purpose of this study was to develop a searchable system to confirm magnetic resonance (MR) safety information of implantable medical devices (IMDs) to safely perform magnetic resonance imaging examinations. We labeled MR safety information for IMDs based on package insert descriptions and then categorized allowed MR conditions for IMDs. Finally, a searchable system was developed to use the database via the internet.

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Background: Use of the everolimus-eluting stent (EES) instead of the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) has been shown to improve clinical outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) out to 3 years. However, it is not known whether the differences in efficacy and safety outcomes remain constant throughout 5 years.

Methods: This was a retrospective, non-randomized, observational study.

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