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Biomedical subjects

K Tanabe

Publications and source records attributed to K Tanabe.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

A 10-year follow-up study of renal transplant recipients treated with cyclosporine. Japanese Cyclosporine Kidney Transplant Study Group.

AIM: In this report a 10-year follow-up of Japanese multicentre trial of renal transplantation using cyclosporine is described. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 1,323 recipients, including 1,055 (79.7%) living donor (LD) transplantations and 268 (20. 3%) non-heart-beating cadaveric donor (CD) transplantations, were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: Favorable results; graft survival at 1, 5 and 10 years were 95.8%, 80.9%, 56.8%, respectively, for LD, and 88.7%, 74.2%, 58.8%, respectively, even for CD, were obtained. No serious adverse reactions or complications were observed in this group of patients excepting 28 cases (2.0%) of malignant tumors. There were no cases of abnormality in 49 babies delivered during the term. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate the interesting findings that graft survival of non-heart-beating CD are surprisingly as good as that of LD and the safety issues are almost equal to other available data in other countries.

Adult↗

[Clinical study of 18 pediatric cadaveric renal transplantations: organ sharing in pediatric renal transplantation after enforcement of the organ transplant law in Japan].

Renal transplantation is considered to be the optimal replacement therapy for children with end-stage renal disease. However, the number of pediatric renal transplants in Japan is much lower than in the USA and/or Europe. Since October 1997, pediatric(< 15 years) recipients are given priority over adult recipients for organ sharing, only if one or two HLA-DR antigen(s) are matched between the recipient and pediatric(< 15 years) donor. However, the number of pediatric transplants is not increasing. One hundred and twenty-four pediatric renal transplantations were performed in Tokyo Women's Medical University between 1983 and 1999, of which 18(14.5%) were cadaveric transplants and the others (106, 85.5%) were living-related transplants. We examined 18 pediatric cadaveric renal transplantations. Seven patients received their graft from pediatric donors less than 15 years of age and 11 from adult donors. The mean age at transplantation was 13.2 years (range 4.5-18.7 years). Major etiologies of renal disease are hereditary renal disease(38.8%), chronic glomerulonephritis(33.3%), and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis[FSGS] (16.7%). Zero matches in HLA-DR locus were observed in 72.2%. Patient survival rate was 100%. Graft survival rates at 1 and 5 years after transplantation were 83% and 64% successively. There was no significant difference between the graft survival of cadaveric and living-related transplantation at 1 and 5 years. All 5 patients who received their graft between 1994 and 1998 have maintained normal graft function. Causes of their graft loss were chronic rejection in 3, recurrence of FSGS in 2, primary non-function in 1, and graft thrombosis in 1. Donor age and HLA-DR mismatching did not affect the outcome. We propose that pediatric renal grafts should be provided to children with priority, regardless of their HLA-A, B and HLA-DR matching.

Adolescent↗

[Gamma-interferon-induced cardiomyopathy during treatment of renal cell carcinoma: a case report].

A 78-year-old woman with renal cell carcinoma and pulmonary metastasis presented with reversible cardiomyopathy induced by gamma(gamma)-interferon. She was treated with gamma-interferon twice a week since November 1996. She presented with severe acute congestive heart failure and gamma-interferon was immediately discontinued in December 1997. Left ventricular fractional shortening was 38% before admission, 12% on admission, and improved to 31% by 40 days after discontinuation of interferon together with administration of diuretics and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. We restarted the same gamma-interferon regimen because it was effective against renal cell carcinoma after 47 days. She has remained well with no significant changes of cardiac function or renal cell carcinoma for almost one year.

Aged↗

[Effect of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor lisinopril on sympathetic heart rate response during exercise in the early phase of acute myocardial infarction].

OBJECTIVES: Sympathetic heart rate response decreases in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors effectively prevent heart failure after myocardial infarction. However, the effect of ACE inhibitors on heart rate response is not well known. The present study investigated the effect of ACE inhibitors on sympathetic heart rate response in the early phase of acute myocardial infarction. METHODS: Sixty-five patients with acute myocardial infarction receiving no beta-blocking agents participated in the study. The subjects consisted of 25 patients (mean age 60.2 +/- 10.7 years) treated with ACE inhibitor lisinopril from the initial stage and 40 control subjects (mean age 57.7 +/- 7.6 years). Cardiopulmonary exercise testing with a treadmill was performed using the ramp protocol in the first month and the third month after the onset of the disease. Heart rate (HR) was measured in the resting state (rest) and immediately after peak exercise (peak). At the same time, blood samples were obtained to investigate the changes in the plasma level of norepinephrine (NE). The degree of sympathetic heart rate response was evaluated as follows: (peak HR - rest HR)/¿(peak NE - rest NE)/rest NE¿ x 100. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the first month in anaerobic threshold, peak oxygen uptake and plasma brain natriuretic peptide concentration. Though the change of heart rate was not significant, the change in the plasma level of norepinephrine was significantly lower in the lisinopril group (9.3 +/- 4.4 vs 5.7 +/- 2.8, p < 0.01). In the first month, the heart rate response in the control group was markedly lower than that in the lisinopril group (8.7 +/- 3.5 vs 15.2 +/- 8.5 beats/min/%, p < 0.01). In the third month, the significant difference between the 2 groups disappeared (10.7 +/- 7.9 vs 14.0 +/- 9.7 beats/min/%, NS) due to the increase of the value in the control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: From these results, we conclude that ACE inhibitors are effective to improve sympathetic heart rate response during exercise in the early phase of myocardial infarction.

Anaerobic Threshold↗

Comparative aspects of the function and mechanism of SUR1 and MDR1 proteins.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily proteins have divergent functions and can be classified as transporters, channels, and receptors, although their predicted secondary structures are very much alike. Prominent members include the sulfonylurea receptor (SUR1) and the multidrug transporter (MDR1). SUR1 is a subunit of the pancreatic beta-cell K(ATP) channel and plays a key role in the regulation of glucose-induced insulin secretion. SUR1 binds ATP at NBF1, and ADP at NBF2 and the two NBFs work cooperatively. The pore-forming subunit of the pancreatic beta-cell K(ATP) channel, Kir6.2, is a member of the inwardly rectifying K(+) channel family, and also binds ATP. In this article, we present a model in which the activity of the K(ATP) channel is determined by the balance of the action of ADP, which activates the channel through SUR1, and the action of ATP, which stabilizes the long closed state by binding to Kir6.2. The concentration of ATP could also affect the channel activity through binding to NBF1 of SUR1. MDR1, on the other hand, is an ATP-dependent efflux pump which extrudes cytotoxic drugs from cells before they can reach their intracellular targets, and in this way confers multidrug resistance to cancer cells. Both NBFs of MDR1 can hydrolyze nucleotides, and their ATPase activity is necessary for drug transport. The interaction of SUR1 with nucleotides is quite different from that of MDR1. Variations in the interactions with nucleotides of ABC proteins may account for the differences in their functions.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗

PLP-I: a novel prolactin-like gene in rodents.

In this report, we describe molecular cloning and characterization of cDNAs encoding a novel rat prolactin-like protein. The rat cDNAs were isolated from the decidua and the gene was named PLP-I. cDNAs for the mouse equivalent were also cloned by the cross-hybridization technique. Pregnancy-specific expression of the rat PLP-I gene was observed in the rat placenta by Northern analysis. Location of signal peptide cleavage sites in rat and mouse pre-PLP-I proteins was predicted using a theoretical method. A molecular phylogenetic tree for the growth hormone-prolactin superfamily including the novel member, PLP-I, constructed using the neighbor-joining method, places rat/mouse PLP-I closest to rat/mouse placental lactogen I and II.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A specific inhibitor of factor Xa, DX-9065a, exerts effective protection against experimental tumor induced disseminated intravascular coagulation in rats.

(+)-2S-2-[4-[[(35S)-1-acetimidoyl-3-pyrrolidinyl]oxy]phenyl]-3-[7- amidino-2-napthyl]propanoic acid hydrochloride pentahydrate (DX-9065a) is an antithrombin III-independent, selective inhibitor of activated blood coagulation factor X (FXa). We investigated the protective effects of DX-9065a against tumor-bearing experimental disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) induced by the inoculation of AH-109A cells into rats. DX-9065a was subcutaneously administered at doses of 0.03 and 0.1 mg/kg/hour through an osmotic pump transplanted immediately after the inoculation of the tumor cells during the observation period. Platelet count decreased 12 days after the inoculation, concomitant with an increase in the thrombin-antithrombin III complex and fibrin and fibrinogen degradation products. Doses of 0.03 and 0.1 mg/kg/hour of DX-9065a significantly inhibited the decrease in plasma fibrinogen concentration and platelet count 13 days after the inoculation, respectively. These findings suggest that direct, selective inhibition of FXa by DX-9065a improves the hypercoagulable state induced by the progress of solid tumor.

Animals↗

Sphingosine 1-phosphate regulates heat shock protein 27 induction by a p38 MAP kinase-dependent mechanism in aortic smooth muscle cells.

In an aortic smooth muscle cell line, A10 cells, we investigated the effect of sphingosine 1-phosphate on the induction of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27), a low-molecular-weight heat shock protein. Sphingosine 1-phosphate significantly induced the accumulation of HSP27 in a pertussis toxin-sensitive manner. The effect was dose-dependent in the range between 0.1 and 30 microM. Sphingosine 1-phosphate stimulated an increase in the levels of mRNA for HSP27. Sphingosine 1-phosphate stimulated both p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and p38 MAP kinase activation. PD98059, an inhibitor of the upstream kinase that activates p42/p44 MAP kinase, did not affect sphingosine 1-phosphate-stimulated HSP27 induction. In contrast, SB203580, an inhibitor of p38 MAP kinase, reduced sphingosine 1-phosphate-induced HSP27 induction. SB203580 reduced the levels of mRNA for HSP27 induced by sphingosine 1-phosphate. These results indicate that sphingosine 1-phosphate stimulates the induction of HSP27 via p38 MAP kinase activation in aortic smooth muscle cells.

Animals↗

Discordant expression of c-Ret and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor receptor alpha-1 mRNAs in response to motor nerve injury in neonate rats.

Adult motoneurons can survive following axotomy, whereas neonate motoneurons result in cell death. Following hypoglossal nerve axotomy in neonate rat, Glial cell line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) receptor alpha-1 (GFRalpha-1) mRNA expression was dramatically suppressed in the injured motoneurons, while a slight increase of c-Ret mRNA expression was observed. In adult, both GFRalpha-1 and c-Ret mRNAs increased substantially after axotomy. The present result suggests that the difference of motoneuron fate after axotomy may be partly due to the coordinate or discordant responses of GFRalpha-1 and c-Ret expression to nerve injury.

Aging↗

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of new non-steroidal progesterone receptor ligands.

In order to study structure-activity relationships, a series of new non-steroidal progesterone receptor ligands based on PF1092A was synthesized with structural modifications (mostly introduction or removal of a methyl group) at the 3-, 4-, 5-, 7- or 9-position in the 6-acetoxy-4a, 5, 6, 7-tetrahydro-3, 4a, 5-trimethylnaphtho[2,3-b]furan-2(4H)-one skeleton. Critical positions for high binding affinity to the progesterone receptor were identified.

Furans↗

A conspicuous adaptability to antibiotics in the Escherichia coli mutator strain, dnaQ49.

By repeating the cycle of mutagenesis and selection, the Escherichia coli dnaQ49 mutator acquired high level resistance to ampicillin (30,000 micrograms ml-1), streptomycin (26,000 micrograms ml-1) and ofloxacin (3000 micrograms ml-1). Under the strong pressure of ofloxacin, dnaQ49 also followed the history of mutations in the gyrase and topoisomerase i.v. genes previously observed in clinical isolates of quinolone-resistant E. coli. The results of these in vitro experiments suggest that naturally existing mutators may participate in the rapid acquisition of resistance to various antibiotics in patients. A possible mechanism for the occurrence of this adaptability is discussed with special reference to the property of mutagenesis accompanying DNA replication.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A predominant apoptotic death pathway of neuronal PC12 cells induced by activated microglia is displaced by a non-apoptotic death pathway following blockage of caspase-3-dependent cascade.

Activated microglia have been implicated in the regulation of neuronal cell death. However, the biochemical mechanism for neuronal death triggered by activated microglia is still unclear. When treated with activated microglia, neuronal PC12 cells undergo apoptosis accompanied by caspase-3-like protease activation and DNA fragmentation. Apoptotic bodies formed were subsequently phagocytosed by neighboring activated microglia. Pretreatment of the cells with the caspase-3-like protease inhibitor N-acetyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-aldehyde did not reverse this cell death. Although Bcl-2 overexpression in the cells caused the inhibition of caspase-3-like protease activity and DNA fragmentation and the effective interference of apoptosis induced by deprivation of trophic factors, it could not suppress the activated microglia-induced neuronal death. At the electron microscopic level, degenerating cells with high levels of Bcl-2 were characterized by slightly condensed chromatins forming irregular-shaped masses, severely disintegrated perikarya, and marked vacuolation. Various protease inhibitors tested did not inhibit this cell death, whereas the radical oxygen species scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine significantly suppressed this death. Altogether, our study provides an alternative death pathway for the activated microglia-induced neuronal death by blockage of the caspase-3 protease cascade.

Acetylcysteine↗

IPP isomerase, an enzyme of mevalonate pathway, is preferentially expressed in postnatal cortical neurons and induced after nerve transection.

To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental processes of the cerebral cortex, we screened genes whose mRNA expression was up-regulated in neonatal in the rat cortex to a greater extent than in adult by differential display and obtained five genes. Among these genes, we focused on pyrophosphate (isopentenyl diphosphate, dimethylallyl diphosphate: IPP) isomerase gene, the product of which is known as an enzyme of the mevalonate pathway. Rat IPP isomerase was recently cloned and the gene expression was shown to be dependent on the activation of the mevalonate pathway. Its expression and roles in the brain, however, have not been investigated hitherto. In the present study, Northern blots and in situ hybridization analysis showed that at embryonic stage weak signals for IPP mRNA were diffusely detected in the CNS, and the signal in the cortex became intense at postnatal day 1 and maximized in almost all neurons of all layers at postnatal day 7 with a subsequent reduction. At 8 weeks, the expression of IPP isomerase mRNA in neurons decreased, while it was detected in the oligodendrocytes in the regions containing abundant nerve fibers. These findings suggested that IPP isomerase contributes to postnatal neuronal maturation and myelination. We also demonstrated that IPP isomerase mRNA is induced after nerve axotomy, which suggests a relationship between neuronal regeneration and IPP isomerase. Taken together, these results suggest that elevation of IPP isomerase mRNA levels in neurons contributes to construction of nerve fibers both during the postnatal period in the cortex and their regeneration.

Animals↗

Allelic recombination and linkage disequilibrium within Msp-1 of Plasmodium falciparum, the malignant human malaria parasite.

The C-terminal, cysteine-rich 19kDa domain of merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1) of Plasmodium falciparum is a target of the host's humoral immunity and thus a malaria vaccine candidate. Although variation in the 19kDa domain is limited among parasite isolates, tertiary structure-dependent intramolecular associations between the 19kDa domain and other parts of MSP-1 are suggested to be involved in immune evasion by allowing competitive binding of protective and non-protective antibodies directed to their epitopes, which are conformationally in close proximity but separated at the primary structure. Since allelic recombination can account for the major variability of the Msp-1 gene, we examined whether linkage disequilibrium occurs between polymorphic loci in the 5'- and the 3'-region, the latter encoding the 19kDa domain. From 184 Thai field isolates, we selected 69 isolates with a single allelic type in six variable blocks of Msp-1 as determined by PCR-based allelic typing. All the isolates showed no evidence of recombination in blocks 6 to 16, whereas recombination was apparent in blocks 2 to 6. Sequencing of the 3'-region revealed two potential recombination sites in block 17. Strong linkage disequilibrium was seen between polymorphic loci in the 5'- and 3'-regions. The strength of this disequilibrium did not correlate with distance between loci. We discuss the possible role of epistatic selection on particular association types (haplotypes) of Msp-1.

Alleles↗

Direct photoaffinity labeling of the Kir6.2 subunit of the ATP-sensitive K+ channel by 8-azido-ATP.

ATP-sensitive potassium channels are under complex regulation by intracellular ATP and ADP. The potentiating effect of MgADP is conferred by the sulfonylurea receptor subunit of the channel, SUR, whereas the inhibitory effect of ATP appears to be mediated via the pore-forming subunit, Kir6.2. We determined whether ATP directly interacts with a binding site on the Kir6.2 subunit to mediate channel inhibition by analyzing binding of a photoaffinity analog of ATP (8-azido-[gamma-32P]ATP) to membranes from COS-7 cells transiently expressing Kir6.2. We demonstrate that Kir6.2 can be directly labeled by 8-azido-[gamma-32P]ATP but that the related subunit Kir4.1, which is not inhibited by ATP, is not labeled. Photoaffinity labeling of Kir6.2 is reduced by approximately 50% with 100 microM ATP. In addition, mutations in the NH2 terminus (R50G) and the COOH terminus (K185Q) of Kir6.2, which have both been shown to reduce the inhibitory effect of ATP upon Kir6.2 channel activity, reduced photoaffinity labeling by >50%. These results demonstrate that ATP binds directly to Kir6.2 and that both the NH2- and COOH-terminal intracellular domains may influence ATP binding.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Vasopressin stimulates the induction of heat shock protein 27 and alphaB-crystallin via protein kinase C activation in vascular smooth muscle cells.

In the present study, we examined the effect of vasopressin on the induction of the low-molecular-weight heat shock proteins heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) and alphaB-crystallin in an aortic smooth muscle cell line, A10 cells. Vasopressin induced a time-dependent accumulation of HSP27 and alphaB-crystallin. The stimulatory effects of vasopressin were dose-dependent over the range 0.1 nmol/L to 0.1 micromol/L. The EC50 values for vasopressin were 2 (HSP27) and 4 nmol/L (alphaB-crystallin). Vasopressin induced increases in the levels of the mRNAs for HSP27 and alphaB-crystallin. 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), a protein kinase C (PKC)-activating phorbol ester, induced an accumulation of HSP27 (EC50, 20 nmol/L) and alphaB-crystallin (EC50, 2 nmol/L). In contrast, 4alpha-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate, a non-PKC-activating phorbol ester, had no such effect. Staurosporine and calphostin C, inhibitors of PKC, significantly reduced the vasopressin-induced accumulation of HSP27 and alphaB-crystallin as well as that induced by TPA. BAPTA/AM and TMB-8, inhibitors of intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, significantly reduced the vasopressin-induced accumulation of HSP27 and alphaB-crystallin. These results strongly suggest that vasopressin stimulates the induction of HSP27 and alphaB-crystallin via PKC activation in vascular smooth muscle cells and that this effect of vasopressin is dependent on intracellular Ca2+ mobilization.

Animals↗

Expressed-sequence-tag approach to identify differentially expressed genes following peripheral nerve axotomy.

Gene expression profiles in the rat hypoglossal nucleus after axotomy were demonstrated using expressed-sequence-tag (EST) approach. To demonstrate the gene-expression profiles after axotomy, nerve-transected hypoglossal nuclei were dissected and collected from about 1000 rats, with which a cDNA library was constructed. More than 750 clones were sub-cloned and sequenced from the library. The clones which hit frequently are likely to be associated with mitochondrial respiratory chain, cytoskeletal protein and protein synthesis. One hundred three clones from among the sequenced clones were further processed for histological screening using unilateral-hypoglossal nerve-transected brain sections by in situ hybridization histochemistry. In situ hybridization study revealed that 26% of clones examined showed upregulated expression of mRNA in response to axotomy. They included genes encoding proteins associated with glucose, lipid and protein metabolism, cytoskeleton, neurotransmission and immune reaction. The present EST analysis may have an advantage in targeting genes which are associated with nerve injury with a good efficacy, as compared with other methods such as differential display and subtraction.

Animals↗