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Biomedical subjects

S Furuya

Publications and source records attributed to S Furuya.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Heterogeneity of proliferative activity in nodule-in-nodule lesions of small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Surgically resected small hepatocellular carcinomas showing "nodule-in-nodule" formation were analyzed in terms of cell proliferative activity. The analysis was achieved by successful immunohistochemical demonstration of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Eight nodules (up to 3 cm in diameter) examined were either atypical adenomatous hyperplasia or hepatocellular carcinoma of low histologic grade, containing a discrete inner nodular area composed of obvious hepatocellular carcinoma of higher histologic grade. In all cases, the proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index of the latter area was much higher than that of the former, which in turn was slightly higher than that of the non-cancerous liver of the patient in 6 cases. The data presented here provide supporting evidence that the successive emergence and expansion of a more rapidly proliferating subclone within a nodule result in the stepwise progression of malignancy of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

Detection of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease using the polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization.

Thirty-one cases of Hodgkin's disease were examined for the occurrence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of DNA in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and in situ hybridization technique. The cases were subdivided into 17 cases of nodular sclerosis (NS), nine cases of mixed cellularity (MC), four cases of lymphocyte predominance (LP), and one case of lymphocyte depletion (LD). EBV DNA was detected in eight cases including four cases of NS, three cases of MC and one case of LP. The sensitivity of PCR was higher than that of Southern blot hybridization of DNA from fresh frozen tissue, because Southern blot hybridization using the BamHI-W fragment of EBV detected virus DNA only in two of three cases which were positive by PCR. The results of in situ hybridization studies confirmed that EBV genome was localized within the nuclei of Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells and their mononuclear variants. Furthermore, double-labeling studies combining in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry using CD30 (BerH2) and CD15 (LeuM1) as markers of RS cells, as well as pan B-marker (L26) and pan T-marker, CD45RO (UCHL1), were performed to demonstrate the phenotype of EBV DNA-positive cells, confirming that EBV DNA was present in RS cells but not in lymphocytes. The results of this study indicate a significant association between EBV and some cases of Hodgkin's disease.

Adult↗

[Relationship between aging and renal function: a positron emission tomographic study].

Blood volume (V), blood flow (F) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) per 100 g (100 ml) of kidney were calculated with C15O, H(2)15O and 68Ga-EDTA, to study age-related changes per unit tissue in 19 subjects using positron emission tomography. Age was negatively correlated with V, F and GFR. The aging-related decrease in V was less marked than those in F and GFR. Analysis by regression formula induced that F, GFR for subjects in their 70s are 76%, 46% and 55% for those in their 20s, respectively.

Adult↗

[Evaluation of renal blood volume by PET--the aorta-kidney equilibrium monitored with C15O].

Twenty subjects inhaled C15O and its dynamics were monitored to determine when equilibrium between the aorta and kidney occurred. One minute after inhalation, the increase in radioactivity in the aorta paralleled that in the kidney, but thereafter, both declined slowly. The ratio of aorta/kidney radioactivity become constant 1 min after inhalation and remained unchanged for 4 min. Thus renal blood volume can be measured 1 min after inhalation of C15O its distribution in the aorta and kidney has attained equilibrium.

Administration, Inhalation↗

125I-endothelin binds to fibroblasts beneath the epithelium of rat small intestine.

Rats were intravenously injected with synthetic 125I-endothelin, and then were fixed by intracardiac perfusion at 10 min, 30 min and 1 hr after the injection. Localization of 125I-endothelin was examined in the small intestine by light and electron microscopic radioautography. Through the time course examined, more than seventy percent of total silver grains were localized in the fibroblasts, especially beneath the basal lamina of epithelium of the intestinal villi. Silver grains were observed mostly on the thin processes, and also on the vacuoles. At 10 min, 80% of silver grains on the fibroblasts were located on the plasmalemma. By the chase, grains on the plasmalemma decreased, and silver grains in the cytoplasm increased gradually.

Animals↗

The AMeX method: a multipurpose tissue-processing and paraffin-embedding method. II. Extraction of spooled DNA and its application to Southern blot hybridization analysis.

In our previous report, we described a new fixation and paraffin-embedding method (the AMeX method) that preserves many of the antigens that are normally destroyed by routine formalin fixation. The current study was conducted to examine the preservation of high-molecular-weight DNA in tissues processed by this method. DNA was extracted from AMeX-processed tissue sections after deparaffinization by the same method as that used to extract DNA from fresh tissues. The total amounts of DNA extracted from 10 mg each in wet weight of AMeX-processed and fresh mouse liver tissues were identical. In tissues of malignant lymphoma, the total amount of spooled DNA extracted from 50 sections, each 20 microns thick, was about 8 micrograms/mm2. The electrophoretic pattern of DNA digested with restriction endonucleases on agarose gel from AMeX-processed tissue sections did not differ from that of fresh materials. Southern blot hybridization analysis also revealed that the mobility of specific DNA fragments was identical for AMeX-processed and fresh tissues. The AMeX method was thus proved to be a versatile multipurpose tissue-processing procedure, which is expected to provide important information regarding the correlation between morphology, phenotypic expression, and gene alteration.

Blotting, Southern↗

Basal lamina enhances hippocampal neurite outgrowth in vitro.

To investigate the involvement of the extracellular matrix in central neuron neurite outgrowth, dissociated hippocampal neurons were cultured on basal lamina prepared from chick embryo retina. After 2 days in culture, the basal lamina was found to promote marked hippocampal neurite outgrowth. The average neurite length was over twice that on collagen plus laminin-treated coverslips. These results clearly indicate that central neurons as well as peripheral neurons respond to the components of basal lamina and thus extend their processes.

Animals↗

Monensin induces distortion of optic nerve crossing at the chick embryo chiasm.

The effects of intraocular injection of monensin, a specific inhibitor of membrane glycoprotein transport within the axon, on the development of the chick embryo optic nerve were examined. A proportion of axons growing from the monensin-injected eye were misrouted into the opposite optic nerve at the chiasm and grew to the retina of the opposite eye. These results suggest that formation of the decussation pattern at the chiasm primarily depends on neurite fasciculation mediated by membrane glycoproteins.

Animals↗

Single calcium-activated potassium channel in cultured mammary epithelial cells.

The properties of Ca2+-activated K+ channels in mouse mammary epithelial cells in primary culture were studied by the patch-clamp technique. In cell-attached patches, spontaneous channel openings were sometimes observed; the slope conductance of the currents was about 12 pS at negative membrane potentials with a physiological solution (152 mM Na+, 5.4 mM K+) in the pipette. External application of A23187, a calcium ionophore, activated this channel. In excised inside-out patches, the channel was activated by increasing the internal Ca2+ concentration (10(-7) to 10(-6) M). No voltage dependence of the channel was activated was observed. Internal Na+ blocked the outward K+ current in a voltage dependent manner and this block led to the non-linear I-V relationship at positive membrane potentials. The channel was blocked by internal Ba2+ (0.1 mM) and tetraethylammonium (TEA+, 20-50 mM). Ba2+ reduced the open probability but not the single channel conductance, whereas TEA+ reduced the single channel conductance. The single channel conductance of this channel, measured from the inward current with a high-K+ solution (150 mM K+) in the pipette, was large (about 40 pS), and showed inward rectification. These results suggest that this channel is different from the usual small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels observed in many other cells.

Animals↗

Intracellular calcium mobilization triggered by a glutamate receptor in rat cultured hippocampal cells.

1. Intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) was monitored by means of Fura-2 fluorescence measurements in hippocampal cells in primary cultures from newborn rats. 2. In external media containing 200 microM-DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate and 1 mM-kynurenate, but no added Ca2+, an increase in [Ca2+]i was observed in 30-40% of cells examined in response to quisqualate or L-glutamate. 3. Under such conditions, [Ca2+]i often increased gradually with a latency of a few seconds after application of the agonists. 4. Pre-treatment of the cultured cells with pertussis toxin reduced the extent of quisqualate-stimulated [Ca2+]i increase in Ca2+-free media, but the percentage of the responsive cells was not affected appreciably. 5. It is concluded that quisqualate and L-glutamate can trigger the release of Ca2+ from intracellular Ca2+ stores, most likely by activating a glutamate receptor coupled to a pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein.

Animals↗

Lymphocyte subsets in pulmonary venous and arterial blood of lung cancer patients.

Lymphocyte subsets in pulmonary venous blood (PVB) smears from 42 patients with lung cancer were immunocytochemically determined. In four patients, pulmonary arterial blood (PAB) smears were also studied for comparison with PVB. Seven healthy donor peripheral blood (PB) smears were used as controls. The percentage of T cells, helper/inducer T (Th) cells and B cells were significantly lower (P less than 0.01) than in normal controls but those of suppressor/cytotoxic T (Ts) cells, natural killer (NK) cells (P less than 0.01) and S100+ small lymphoid cells (P less than 0.05) were higher. This resulted in a decrease in the Th:Ts value in cancer patients (1.46 vs. 2.28 for normal controls; P less than 0.01). The Th and Ts value of PVB from patients in pathological Stages III and IV was lower than from those in Stages I and II because of the increase in Ts cells in the former (P less than 0.05). S100+ small lymphoid cells were increased in cancer patients, especially in those with adenocarcinoma. The present study demonstrates immunoregulation abnormalities in cancer bearing hosts, the results correlating well with the stage of the cancer. Determining lymphocyte subset alterations in PVB did not, however, enable us to detect the changes associated with local immune responses against cancer.

Adult↗

[Studies on prostatism of males fifty years of age and older--analysis on results of a second mass screening for prostatic diseases in Tanno town].

We conducted a second mass screening for prostatism on males 50 years of age and older in the Tanno town area, to determine the incidence of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and prostatic carcinoma. We also studied how often elderly males had symptoms related to prostatism according to their age. The incidence of BPH was 10.0% in these males who were received the first and/or second mass screening as well as those treated previously, when BPH was defined as the prostate with a moderately or greater enlarged size upon digital palpation. The incidence of BPH was 8.9% in males fifty years of age and older who lived in Tanno town. The figures tended to elevate with the advance of age. Two new patients with prostatic carcinoma were discovered during this second mass screening, which resulted in a total of 8 patients discovered in this area. Of these 8 patients, 6 had been found in the first screening. The incidence of prostatic carcinoma was 1.4% in those males who received the first or second mass screening as well as those treated previously, and that in all the males who lived in the town was 1.0%. Further efforts will be necessary to establish a more convenient system that can provide less costly screening procedures and more effective diagnostic procedures to detect localized prostatic carcinoma. With advance in age the male tended to have a higher incidence of prostate with a moderately or markedly enlarged size, and symptoms related to prostatism. In addition, the urinary flow rate tended to decrease, irrespective of the prostate size. The results supported the significance of mass screening for prostatism.

Age Factors↗

Exocytosis of bovine chromaffin granules in Ficoll captured by rapid freezing.

Exocytosis of cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells was examined in a balanced salt solution containing Ficoll using rapid freezing followed by freeze-substitution. In solution without Ficoll, exposure to Ba2+ produced many exocytotic lumina between the cells; in most cases, these lumina were large and empty. When chromaffin cells were exposed to Ba2+ in Ficoll, it was possible to observe a small pore between the plasmalemma and each granule. The granule retained the dense contents when the pore was approximately 20 nm in diameter, and became empty when the pore was widened in 14% Ficoll. The addition of Ficoll made it easy to catch the events occurring during exocytosis of individual bovine chromaffin granules.

Animals↗

[Two cases of obstructive jaundice due to advanced gastric cancer with marked response to the intravenous administration of cisplatinum].

Two cases of obstructive jaundice due to advanced gastric cancer were treated with intravenous administration of cisplatinum. The first case was a 46-year-old female who had undergone gastrojejunostomy 5 months earlier because of Borrmann type 3 gastric cancer. The tumor involved the head of the pancreas and a portion of the duodenum with distant intraperitoneal dissemination (S3N3P3H0). She was admitted to Shimodate Municipal Hospital on June 8 because of abdominal pain and jaundice. Her abdomen was distended with ascites, and there was a fist-sized tumor in the lower portion. CT examination revealed that the jaundice was caused by obstruction due to the main tumor. Histologically, the tumor consisted of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Intravenous administration of CDDP (50 mg/body/week X 4), MMC (4 mg/body/week X 4) and FT (400 mg/body/day for 4 weeks) was carried out. After the chemotherapy, the jaundice, abdominal pain and ascites disappeared, and the abdominal tumor had markedly reduced in size which was regarded as PR. The second case was 66-year-old male who had received subtotal gastrectomy and transverse colectomy 16 months ago because of Borrmann type 3 gastric cancer. The tumor comprised well-differentiated adenocarcinoma and infiltrated to the mesentery of the transverse colon with positive lymphnodes (S3N1P1H0, stage IV). This time he was admitted to the hospital because of general fatigue and jaundice. According to CT examination, the common bile duct was obstructed by metastasized lymphnode around the pancreas. He had elevated serum level of total bilirubin (7.7 mg/gl) and CA 19-9 (23,000 U/ml). After the administration of CDDP (50 mg/body/week X 4) and MMC (4 mg/body/week X 4), his complaints disappeared and the serum total bilirubin level and CA 19-9 level returned within normal range. These data suggest that combination chemotherapy using CDDP was effective in these 2 cases.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Synthetic partial extension peptides of P-450(SCC) and adrenodoxin precursors: effects on the import of mitochondrial enzyme precursors.

Various portions of the extension peptides of P-450(SCC) precursor were chemically synthesized. The effects of these peptides on the import of enzyme precursors into mitochondria were examined. Peptides SEP1-15 and SEP1-20, corresponding to the amino terminal portion of the extension peptides, strongly inhibited the import of P-450(SCC) precursor into mitochondria. These peptides were effective at concentrations above 30 microM, and complete inhibition was observed at 100 microM. SEP1-11, which is shorter than SEP1-15 and SEP1-20, showed very weak inhibition. SEP25-39, which corresponds to the carboxy terminal portion of the extension peptide, did not affect the import of the precursor. The import of P-450(11 beta) and adrenodoxin precursors were also inhibited by SEP1-15. Another peptide, AEP1-14, which corresponds to the amino terminal portion of the extension peptide of adrenodoxin precursor, was also synthesized. The peptide inhibited the import of both adrenodoxin and P-450(SCC) precursors into mitochondria. The import of malate dehydrogenase was also inhibited by SEP1-15 and AEP1-14. The rate of the internalization of the precursor into mitochondria was decreased by the peptides. The amount of the precursor bound to the surface of mitochondria and the processing of adrenodoxin precursor were not affected. The respiratory activities of isolated mitochondria were not influenced by SEP1-15 even at 100 microM. We conclude that the inhibitory activities of the synthetic partial extension peptides on the import of enzyme precursors into mitochondria require the presence of about fifteen amino acid residues in the amino terminal portion of the extension peptides, and the inhibition of the import by the peptides was dependent on the blockage of the internalization of the precursors into mitochondria.

Adrenodoxin↗