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Biomedical subjects

T Matsumura

Publications and source records attributed to T Matsumura.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Proteome analysis of human placentae: pre-eclampsia versus normal pregnancy.

Although placental proteins play multiple roles in fetal and placental development and in the maintenance of pregnancy, many remain inadequately characterized. In the present study, we comprehensively analyzed these proteins by using a proteomic approach. Samples were denatured with guanidine hydrochloride, which was found to be superior to the commonly used urea for the present purpose, and subjected to 2-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis (2-DE) to obtain placental proteome maps. The identified protein spots (ca. 60% of the total) on the proteome maps included several pregnancy-related proteins (PRPs). Furthermore, a novel 2D immunoblotting (2-DI) analysis of molecules related to pre-eclampsia revealed three immunopositive spots that appeared to correspond to dynactin p-50, a protein related to cell turn-over. The rate of positivity for dynactin p-50-reactive antibodies was significantly (P=0.0024) higher in 26 pre-eclamptic women than in 58 normally pregnant women. These results indicate that dynactin p-50 may be involved in the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia.

Adult↗

Significant change of alignment effect by dimer formation in the dissociative energy transfer reaction of Ar(3P2)+(N2O)n and (H2O)n.

An alignment effect in the dissociative energy transfer reaction of Ar((3)P(2))+(X(2)O)(n)(X=N,H) was directly measured using an oriented Ar((3)P(2),M(J)=2) beam. The chemiluminescence intensity of N(2)(B,(3)Pi(g)) for (N(2)O)(n) and OH(A,(2)Sigma(+)) for (H(2)O)(n) was measured as a function of the magnetic orientation field direction in the collision frame. The relative reaction cross section for each magnetic substate in the collision frame, sigma(M(J) (') ), was determined. In both the reaction systems, it is observed that the dimer formation significantly enhances the alignment effect and decreases the reactivity, especially for sigma|1| and sigma|2|. A significant contribution of rank 4 moment is recognized in the dimer reaction.

Journal Article↗

Genetic relatedness and pathogenicity of equine herpesvirus 1 isolated from onager, zebra and gazelle.

Equine herpesvirus 1 was isolated from an onager in 1985, a zebra in 1986 and a Thomson's gazelle in 1996 in USA. The genetic relatedness and pathogenicity of these three viruses were investigated based on the nucleotide sequences of the glycoprotein G (gG) gene, experimental infection in hamsters, and comparison with horse isolates. The gG gene sequences of EHV-1 from onager and zebra were identical. The gG gene sequences of the gazelle isolate showed 99.5% identity to those of onager and zebra isolates. The gG gene sequences of EHV-1 isolated from horses were 99.9-100% identical and 98, 98 and 97.8% similar to gG from onager, zebra and gazelle isolates, respectively. Hamsters inoculated with onager, zebra and gazelle isolates had severe weight loss, compared with hamsters inoculated with horse isolates. The histopathological findings were related to the virulence of each isolate. The results indicated that EHV-1 isolates from onager, zebra and gazelle differ from horse EHV-1 and are much more virulent in hamsters.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Clinicopathological features of pyothorax-associated lymphoma; a retrospective survey involving 98 patients.

To investigate clinicopathological features of pyothorax-associated lymphoma (PAL), we examined medical records of 98 patients (88 males and 10 females) with PAL at a median age of 70 years (range 51-86). Seventy-nine patients had a history of artificial pneumothorax. Median interval between diagnosis and artificial pneumothorax was 43 years (range 19-64). At diagnosis, performance status (PS) was 0-1 (n=56) and 2-4 (n=42). Clinical stages were I (n=42), II (n=26), III (n=8) and IV (n=22). Pathological diagnosis comprised diffuse large-B-cell (n=78) and peripheral T-cell lymphoma (n=1). Seventeen were treated supportively. The other 81 received aggressive treatments; chemotherapy (n=52), radiotherapy (n=7), surgery (n=4) and combination (n=18). Five-year overall survival (OS) was 0.35 (95% confidence interval, 24% to 45%). Causes of deaths were PAL (n=39), respiratory failure (n=13) and others (n=12). Multivariate analysis identified prognostic factors for OS; lactate dehydrogenase levels [hazard ratio (HR)=2.36; P=0.013], sex (female versus male) (HR=0.15; P=0.01), PS (2-4 versus 0-1) (HR=2.20; P=0.02), clinical stages (III/IV versus I/II) (HR=1.95; P=0.037) and chemotherapy (HR=0.31; P=0.01). Most patients with PAL are elderly and have comorbidities, while some of them achieve durable remission with appropriate treatments. These findings prompt us to establish an optimal treatment strategy on the basis of risk stratification of individual patients.

Aged↗

Steric effect in the energy transfer reaction of Ar(3P2)+N2.

Steric effect for N2(C,3Piu) formation in the energy transfer reaction of Ar(3P2)+N2 was directly measured by using an oriented Ar(3P2,MJ=2) beam at a collision energy of 0.06 eV. The N2(C,3Piu) chemiluminescence intensity was measured as a function of the magnetic orientation field direction in the collision frame. A significant alignment effect on the energy transfer probability was observed. The relative reactivity for each magnetic substate in the collision frame sigma|MJ'|was determined to be sigma|2|:sigma|1|:sigma(0)=0.50:0.60:1.00. It is suggested that the observed steric effect is primarily due to the favorable configuration of the 3p orbital for the efficient overlap with the 2sigma(u) molecular orbital of N(2).

Journal Article↗

Differential cross section and photon-beam asymmetry for the gamma n --> K+ Sigma- reaction at E gamma = 1.5-2.4 GeV.

Differential cross sections and photon-beam asymmetries have been measured for the gamma n --> K+ Sigma- and gamma p --> K+Sigma0 reactions separately using liquid deuterium and hydrogen targets with incident linearly polarized photon beams of E gamma = 1.5-2.4 GeV at 0.6 < cos ThetacmK< 1. The cross section ratio of sigma K+ Sigma-/sigma K+ Sigma0, expected to be 2 on the basis of the isospin 1/2 exchange, is found to be close to 1. For the K+ Sigma- reaction, large positive asymmetries are observed, indicating the dominance of K* exchange. The large difference between the asymmetries for the K+ Sigma- and K+ Sigma0 reactions cannot be explained by simple theoretical considerations based on Regge model calculations.

Journal Article↗

Report of the equine herpesvirus-1 Havermeyer Workshop, San Gimignano, Tuscany, June 2004.

Amongst the infectious diseases that threaten equine health, herpesviral infections remain a world wide cause of serious morbidity and mortality. Equine herpesvirus-1 infection is the most important pathogen, causing an array of disorders including epidemic respiratory disease abortion, neonatal foal death, myeloencephalopathy and chorioretinopathy. Despite intense scientific investigation, extensive use of vaccination, and established codes of practice for control of disease outbreaks, infection and disease remain common. While equine herpesvirus-1 infection remains a daunting challenge for immunoprophylaxis, many critical advances in equine immunology have resulted in studies of this virus, particularly related to MHC-restricted cytotoxicity in the horse. A workshop was convened in San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy in June 2004, to bring together clinical and basic researchers in the field of equine herpesvirus-1 study to discuss the latest advances and future prospects for improving our understanding of these diseases, and equine immunity to herpesviral infection. This report highlights the new information that was the focus of this workshop, and is intended to summarize this material and identify the critical questions in the field.

Animals↗

Near-threshold diffractive psi-meson photoproduction from the proton.

Photoproduction of a phi meson on protons was studied by means of linearly polarized photons at forward angles in the low-energy region from threshold to Egamma = 2.37 GeV. The differential cross sections at t = -|t|min do not increase smoothly as Egamma increases but show a local maximum at around 2.0 GeV. The angular distributions demonstrate that phi mesons are photoproduced predominantly by helicity-conserving processes, and the local maximum is not likely due to unnatural-parity processes.

Journal Article↗

Disseminated tuberculosis following reduced-intensity cord blood transplantation for adult patients with hematological diseases.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) recipients are prone to infections. The incidences of mycobacterial infections after allo-SCT in several case series vary from less than 0.1-5.5%. However, no study has been published on tuberculosis following unrelated cord blood transplantation (UCBT). We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 113 adult patients with a median age of 54 years who underwent reduced-intensity UCBT (RI-UCBT) at Toranomon Hospital from March 2002 to May 2004. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections were diagnosed in three patients (2.7%), of these two patients developed primary infection and one patient developed reactivation of latent tuberculosis. The interval between RI-UCBT and the diagnosis of tuberculosis was 34, 41 and 61 days. All the patients had disseminated disease at diagnosis. Histological examination showed the lack of granuloma in caseous necrosis. Combination antituberculous treatments showed limited efficacy, and two patients died immediately after diagnosis. M. tuberculosis caused life-threatening illness, rapidly progressing in RI-UCBT recipients. The lack of granuloma in caseous necrosis suggests the impaired T-cell function in early post transplant phase of RI-UCBT. We should consider M. tuberculosis in the differential diagnoses of fever of unknown source after RI-UCBT.

Adolescent↗

Intestinal thrombotic microangiopathy following reduced-intensity umbilical cord blood transplantation.

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a significant complication after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT); however, there is little information on it following reduced-intensity cord blood transplantation (RI-CBT). We reviewed the medical records of 123 adult patients who received RI-CBT at Toranomon Hospital between January 2002 and August 2004. TMA was diagnosed in seven patients based on intestinal biopsy (n = 6) or autopsy results (n = 1). While these patients showed some clinical symptoms such as diarrhea and/or abdominal pain, mental status alterations or neurological disorders were not observed in any of them. Laboratory results were mostly normal at the onset of TMA; >2% fragmented erythrocytes (n = 1), <10 mg/dl haptoglobin (n = 1), and >200 IU/dl lactic dehydrogenase (LD) (n = 4). On endoscopic examination, TMA lesions, consisting of ulcers, erosions, and diffuse exfoliation, were distributed spottily from terminal ileum to rectum. Intestinal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis were confirmed in five and four patients, respectively. With therapeutic measures including supportive care (n = 4), fresh frozen plasma (n = 1), and a reduction of immunosuppressive agents (n = 1), TMA improved in four patients. The present study demonstrates that intestinal TMA is a significant complication after RI-CBT. Since conventional diagnostic criteria can overlook TMA, its diagnosis requires careful examination of the gastrointestinal tract using endoscopy with biopsy.

Adolescent↗

Interleukin-4 gene transduced tumor cells promote a potent tumor-specific Th1-type response in cooperation with interferon-alpha transduction.

To investigate antitumor mechanisms in interleukin (IL)-4 therapy, we established an IL-4-overexpressing MC38 murine colorectal cancer cell line (MC38-IL4). As a therapy against established tumors, MC38-IL4 cells were inoculated contralaterally 7 days after wild-type (MC38-WT) cells had been injected, significantly reducing growth of wild-type tumors (P=0.030). Immunohistochemical analysis showed numerous granulocytes infiltrating wild-type tumors of MC38-IL4-inoculated mice. Injection of MC38-IL4 cells in leukocyte-depleted mice confirmed that granulocytes were involved in IL-4-related primary antitumor effects. Inoculation of MC38-WT in leukocyte-depleted mice initially injected with MC38-IL4 suggested that T cells contributed to the antitumor effects. To investigate tumor-specific responses, we stimulated splenocytes of MC38-immune mice with MC38-IL4 cells in vitro, resulting in MC38-specific lysis (57.5+/-7.2%, effector to target ratio=20). Treatment of established wild-type tumors with MC38-IL4 in combination with interferon (IFN)-alpha-overexpressing MC38 cells (MC38-IFNalpha) significantly reduced the growth of wild-type tumors (P=0.009). In vitro IFN-gamma production by splenocytes from mice injected with both MC38-IL4 and -IFNalpha was greatly enhanced in comparison with MC38-IL4 alone, while IL-10 production was not increased. Thus, granulocytes concern early antitumor effects of IL-4 therapy. Subsequently, IL-4 induces long-lasting, tumor-specific immune responses. IL-4 appears to promote a T-helper 1-type antitumor immune response, which is enhanced in cooperation with IFN-alpha.

Animals↗

Identification of Ki23819, a highly potent inhibitor of kinase activity of mutant FLT3 receptor tyrosine kinase.

Constitutively active internal tandem duplication (ITD) in the juxtamembrane domain of Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), a type III receptor tyrosine kinase, is the most common molecular defect associated with acute myeloid leukemia. Its presence confers a poor outcome in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who receive conventional chemotherapy. FLT3-ITD has therefore been considered to be an attractive molecular target for a novel therapeutic modality. We describe here the identification and characterization of Ki23819 as a novel FLT3 inhibitor. Ki23819 suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis of FLT3-ITD-expressing human leukemia cell lines. The growth-inhibitory effect of Ki23819 on MV4-11 cells was superior to that of SU11248, another FLT3 inhibitor (IC(50)<1 vs 3-10 nM). Ki23819 inhibited the autophosphorylation of FLT3-ITD more efficiently than that of wild-type FLT3. FLT3-ITD-dependent activation of the downstream signaling proteins ERK and STAT5 was also inhibited within similar concentration ranges. Thus, Ki23819 is a potent in vitro inhibitor of FLT3.

Acute Disease↗