Localization and density of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia in gingival and subgingival granulation tissues affected by chronic or aggressive periodontitis.

Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia have been thought to be associated with periodontitis; however comprehensive histopathological localization of bacteria in affected human periodontal tissues is not well documented. In the present study, we examined formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded gingival and subgingival granulation tissues from 71 patients with chronic periodontitis and 11 patients with aggressive periodontitis, using immunohistochemistry with novel monoclonal antibodies specific to P. gingivalis or T.

The 1-min animal test as a mental status screening examination in patients with diabetes.

Background: Detecting and treating dementia at an early stage are important. Although the Revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS-R) is commonly used to detect dementia, it takes about 10 min to complete. In contrast, the 1-min animal test (OMAT) takes only 1 min to complete and may be a helpful screening test for general practitioners in deciding whether to proceed with administering further diagnostic tests such as the HDS-R.

Autophagosomal YKT6 is required for fusion with lysosomes independently of syntaxin 17.

Macroautophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic mechanism that delivers intracellular constituents to lysosomes using autophagosomes. To achieve degradation, lysosomes must fuse with closed autophagosomes. We previously reported that the soluble -ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) protein syntaxin (STX) 17 translocates to autophagosomes to mediate fusion with lysosomes.

Immunophenotypic characterization of CSF B cells in virus-associated neuroinflammatory diseases.

Intrathecal antibody synthesis is a well-documented phenomenon in infectious neurological diseases as well as in demyelinating diseases, but little is known about the role of B cells in the central nervous systems. We examined B cell and T cell immunophenotypes in CSF of patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) compared to healthy normal donors and subjects with the other chronic virus infection and/or neuroinflammatory diseases including HIV infection, multiple sclerosis (MS) and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Antibody secreting B cells (ASCs) were elevated in HAM/TSP patients, which was significantly correlated with intrathecal HTLV-1-specific antibody responses.

A brief history of autophagy from cell biology to physiology and disease.

The field of autophagy research has developed rapidly since the first description of the process in the 1960s and the identification of autophagy genes in the 1990s. Autophagy is now increasingly studied at the level of organismal pathophysiology and is being connected to the medical sciences. This Historical Perspective describes a brief history of autophagy and discusses unanswered cell biological questions in the field.

induces somatic mutations in via overexpression of CHAC1 in infected gastric epithelial cells.

Infection with is known to decrease the level of glutathione in gastric epithelial cells and increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can lead to DNA damage and the development of gastric cancer. Cation transport regulator 1 (CHAC1) has γ-glutamylcyclotransferase activity that degrades glutathione. We found that -positive infection triggered CHAC1 overexpression in human gastric epithelial (AGS) cells leading to glutathione degradation and the accumulation of ROS.

Survival benefit of lymph node dissection in surgery for colon cancer in elderly patients: A multicenter propensity score-matched study in Japan.

Introduction: In surgery for elderly patients with colorectal cancer, it is unclear whether radical lymph node (LN) dissection safely offers a survival benefit. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the LN yield in elderly patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer.

Methods: The subjects were selected from a surgical database of 2065 patients aged ≥80 years old who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer at 41 hospitals in Japan between 2003 and 2007.

PLEKHN1 promotes apoptosis by enhancing Bax-Bak hetro-oligomerization through interaction with Bid in human colon cancer.

The anti-apoptotic nature of cancer cells often impedes the effects of anti-cancer therapeutic agents. Multiple death signals influence mitochondria during apoptosis, and though many studies have attempted to elucidate these complicated pathways, Bax oligomerization, an important step in the process, remains controversial. Here we demonstrate that pleckstrin-homology N1 (PLEKHN1), also known as cardiolipin phosphatidic acid binding protein, plays pro-apoptotic roles during reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced apoptosis.

Propionibacterium acnes-derived insoluble immune complexes in sinus macrophages of lymph nodes affected by sarcoidosis.

Background: Propionibacterium acnes is thought to be a causative agent of sarcoidosis. Patients with sarcoidosis have circulating immune complexes. We attempted to detect P.

A Dual Binding Receptor for ER-phagy.

Selective autophagy of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-ER-phagy-is mediated by multiple receptors. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Smith et al. (2018) identify ER membrane protein CCPG1 as an ER-phagy receptor that interacts with autophagy-related proteins GABARAPs and FIP200 and ensures ER protein homeostasis, especially in pancreatic acinar cells.

Intratracheal Administration of Autologous Bone Marrow-Derived Cells Ameliorates Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Vessel Remodeling and Lung Inflammation in Rats.

Purpose: Inflammation is a feature of lung injury and plays a critical role in pulmonary vascular remodeling. Bone marrow-derived cells (BMCs) have anti-inflammatory properties and favor macrophage differentiation into an alternatively activated regulatory M2 profile. We investigated the effect of autologous BMCs on monocrotaline-induced pulmonary vessel remodeling and lung inflammation in rats, by direct administration into lungs via the airway.

Systematic analysis of ATG13 domain requirements for autophagy induction.

Macroautophagy/autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process whose induction is regulated by the ULK1 protein kinase complex. The subunit ATG13 functions as an adaptor protein by recruiting ULK1, RB1CC1 and ATG101 to a core ULK1 complex. Furthermore, ATG13 directly binds both phospholipids and members of the Atg8 family.

The different roles of innate immune receptors in inflammation and carcinogenesis between races.

Innate immune factors exert widespread effects on cytokine secretion, cell survival, autophagy, and apoptosis. Nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) are members of the innate immune system in the cytosol that sense pathogens, endogenous danger molecules such as uric acid, and pollutants. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1 and 2 (NOD1 and NOD2) are components of NLR family, and ligands of these factors are γ-D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid (iE-DAP) and muramyl dipeptide (MDP), respectively.

Motivating Mothers to Recommend Their 20-Year-Old Daughters Receive Cervical Cancer Screening: A Randomized Study.

Background: In Japan, the rate of cervical cancer screening is remarkably low, especially among women in their twenties and thirties, when cervical cancer is now increasing dramatically. The aim of this study was to test whether a modified government reminder for 20-year-old women to engage in cervical cancer screening, acting through maternal education and by asking for a maternal recommendation to the daughter to receive the screening, could increase their participation rate.

Methods: In two Japanese cities, 20-year-old girls who had not received their first cervical cancer screening before October of fiscal year 2014 were randomized into two study arms.

Differential requirement for ATG2A domains for localization to autophagic membranes and lipid droplets.

ATG2 is one of the autophagy-related (ATG) proteins essential for autophagosome formation and localizes to isolation membranes and lipid droplets in mammalian cells. Here, we investigated the requirement of regions in ATG2A for its organellar localization and function. The N-terminal amino acids 1-198 and the C-terminal amino acids 1830-1938 are required for the localization to isolation membranes and lipid droplets, respectively.

MAGI-1 expression is decreased in several types of human T-cell leukemia cell lines, including adult T-cell leukemia.

Membrane-associated guanylate kinase with inverted orientation protein 1 (MAGI-1) is a cytoplasmic scaffold protein that interacts with various signaling molecules; it negatively controls the cell growth of various types of cells and positively controls cell-cell interaction. In T cells, MAGI-1 has been shown to inhibit Akt activity through its interaction with PTEN and MEK1. In this study we found that MAGI-1 expression is decreased in multiple (9 out of 15) human T-cell leukemia cell lines, including adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic T-cell lymphocytic leukemia.

Cabozantinib and dastinib exert anti-tumor activity in alveolar soft part sarcoma.

Background: Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is an extremely rare metastatic soft tissue tumor with a poor prognosis for which no effective systemic therapies have yet been established. Therefore, the development of novel effective treatment approaches is required. Tyrosine kinases (TKs) are being increasingly used as therapeutic targets in a variety of cancers.

Monitoring and Measuring Autophagy.

Autophagy is a cytoplasmic degradation system, which is important for starvation adaptation and cellular quality control. Recent advances in understanding autophagy highlight its importance under physiological and pathological conditions. However, methods for monitoring autophagic activity are complicated and the results are sometimes misinterpreted.

Autophagy-monitoring and autophagy-deficient mice.

Discovery of yeast autophagy-related (ATG) genes and subsequent identification of their homologs in other organisms have enabled researchers to investigate physiological functions of macroautophagy/autophagy using genetic techniques. Specific identification of autophagy-related structures is important to evaluate autophagic activity, and specific ablation of autophagy-related genes is a critical means to determine the requirements of autophagy. Here, we review currently available mouse models, particularly focusing on autophagy (and mitophagy) indicator models and systemic autophagy-related gene-knockout mouse models.

The ULK complex initiates autophagosome formation at phosphatidylinositol synthase-enriched ER subdomains.

In our recent paper, we biochemically analyzed autophagosome-related membranes at the initiation stage of macroautophagy/autophagy using atg knockout (KO) cells and demonstrated that the ULK complex is recruited to 2 distinct membranes: the ER membrane and ATG9A-positive autophagosome precursors. We have also identified phosphatidylinositol synthase (PIS)-enriched ER subdomains as the initiation site of autophagosome formation. Based on these findings, we propose that the ULK complex, the PIS-enriched ER subdomain, and ATG9A vesicles together initiate autophagosome formation.

Fusion and scission of membranes: Ubiquitous topological transformations in cells.

The 2016 Nobel Prizes were awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi for autophagy and to David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz for topological transitions. Both of these phenomena are intrinsically related when it comes to membranes. Here, we give a brief account on topological transformations of lipid membranes, commonly known as membrane fusion and membrane scission, and introduce the underlying topological invariant, the genus.

Hydrophilic-treated plastic plates for wide-range analysis of Giemsa-stained red blood cells and automated Plasmodium infection rate counting.

Background: Malaria is a red blood cell (RBC) infection caused by Plasmodium parasites. To determine RBC infection rate, which is essential for malaria study and diagnosis, microscopic evaluation of Giemsa-stained thin blood smears on glass slides ('Giemsa microscopy') has been performed as the accepted gold standard for over 100 years. However, only a small area of the blood smear provides a monolayer of RBCs suitable for determination of infection rate, which is one of the major reasons for the low parasite detection rate by Giemsa microscopy.