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Asymmetric sulfoxidation of sulfur-containing l-amino acids was successfully achieved through bioconversion using IDO, which is an Fe(II)/α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase previously found in Bacillus thuringiensis strain 2e2. The IDO catalyzed sulfoxidation of l-methionine, l-ethionine, S-methyl-l-cysteine, S-ethyl-l-cysteine, and S-allyl-l-cysteine into the corresponding (S)-configured sulfoxides such as (+)-methiin and (+)-alliin, which are responsible for valuable physiological activities in mammals, and have high stereoselectivity. Herein we have established an effective preparative laboratory scale production method to obtain enantiomerically pure chiral sulfoxides using an IDO biocatalyst.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is widely used as a biomarker of inflammation, though its functions are not fully understood. In the present study, we hypothesized that CRP reduces cancer cell invasion and migration by enhancing the expression of E-cadherin. NR-S1M cells, a murine squamous cell carcinoma line, were incubated for 48 h or 72 h with or without 10 or 50 μg/ml recombinant mouse CRP. Subsequent counts of viable cells showed that CRP had no significant effect on NR-S1M cell proliferation, nor did it affect invasion by the cells across a basement membrane matrix in Boyden chamber assays. By contrast, wound healing assays showed that CRP significantly weakened the migration potential of the cells. Moreover, Western and immunohistochemical analyses showed that CRP induced a corresponding increase in E-cadherin expression. These findings suggest that CRP may inhibit cancer cell migration, and thus metastasis, by strengthening cell-cell adhesion through increased E-cadherin expression.

Nodal micrometastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with a poorer survival rate than node-negative disease. Furthermore, lymph node micrometastasis often cannot be detected using conventional hematoxylin and eosin staining of frozen sections ; detection requires additional time-consuming immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of paraffin-embedded tissue. We previously developed and reported a device that enables us to complete IHC analyses within 11 minutes. In the present study, we used this rapid-IHC protocol with an anti-cytokeratin antibody and analyzed 205 mediastinal lymph nodes dissected during surgery for NSCLC. Although we modified the original rapid-IHC procedure to block endogenous peroxidase activity, which could potentially cause misdiagnosis, the staining was still completed within 19 min. On the basis of conventional histological examination, 7 lymph nodes from 3 patients were deemed positive for micrometastasis. By contrast using hematoxylin and eosin staining, 13 lymph nodes from 7 patients were diagnosed positive on the basis of cytokeratin-detection using routine-IHC, and the same 13 nodes were diagnosed positive on the basis of rapid-IHC. That is, all nodes deemed positive with the routine-IHC procedure were also positive with the rapid-IHC procedure. Assuming the results of the routine-IHC are correct, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of rapid-IHC are 100%, 100% and 100%, respectively. These findings demonstrate the utility of our rapid-IHC analysis for intraoperative diagnosis of micrometastasis. However, our findings are limited by the fact that we tested the method using a single antibody at a single institute. Further investigation in multicenter studies will be needed to confirm the utility of this method.

今回、山梨県内の居宅介護支援事業所を対象に、サービス担当者会議の開催状況を主とした各サービス事業所との連携について調査した。その結果、介護保険施行後１年半を経過する現在、以下のような実状と今後の課題が明らかになった。 各居宅介護支援事業所において、ケアマネージャーは非常に多忙な状況にありながら、他のサービス事業所との連携を９割以上が実施していた。またサービス担当者会議の開催率は８割を越えていた。 サービス担当者会議開催に際しての困難として、日程の調整が最も多かった。また連携そのものがボランティア的要素が強く、サービス担当者会議についても報酬が得られないこと、会議を有効に進める上での方法論等の問題もあることがわかった。 そして課題として以下の６点があげられた。 各居宅介護支援事業所の努力として １）所在する市町村の動向把握に努め、行政ルートを活用して各サービス事業所との連携強化に役立てる。 ２）連携の効率をあげるために、業務整理の一環として、サービス事業所との日常の連絡方法の見直しを行う。 ３）日頃のサービス事業所との連携の中で、サービス担当者会議の対象者選定及び会議の必要性の共通理解を得るよう努める。 行政からの支援として、 １）各支援事業所とサービス事業所の連携に役立つ具体的な支援を強化する。 ２）サービス担当者会議の目的の再認識、会議進行に関わるノーハウを学ぶ研修の場を設ける。 ３）サービス担当者会議に参加するサービス担当者の報酬に結びつく策を検討する。, A survey was conducted to ascertain the state of collaboration among various service agencies, with a special emphasis on service provider meetings, by interviewing home care support agencies in Yamanashi Prefecture. One and a half years have passed since the implementation of the Home Care Insurance legislation, and the results of this survey clarified the actual situation and future tasks: Care managers in all home care support agencies were very busy, but more than 90% of the agencies were collaborating with other agencies. In addition, the rate of hosting service provider meetings was above 80%.Scheduling was the most common problem associated with hosting service provider meetings. In addition, the nature of collaboration among these agencies displayed a strong sense of volunteerism, and there were problems with methodology since no financial incentive is provided for attending service provider meetings and service providers are not trained to effectively advance the agenda of meetings.These problems could be addressed in a number of ways. Each home care support agency could :1) ascertain trends in local agencies, and strengthen collaboration among various service agencies by making effective usage of bureaucratic resources. 2) reevaluate ways in which daily contacts are made with service agencies to improve collaboration, as part of workplace reorganization. 3) select one member to attend service provider meetings, and reiterate the necessity of these meetings when collaborating with other service agencies.Bureaucratic agencies could: 1) strengthen supports that are truly useful for facilitating collaboration between various support and service agencies. 2) remind each agency of the objectives and benefits of service provider meetings, and provide opportunities for learning methods of advancing meetings. 3) investigate methods to financially reward service providers who participate in service provider meetings.

Plastic is an essential material in modern day society. Most plastics are produced by a chemical process using petroleum. Plastic production thus cannot be said to be either resource- or environmentally friendly. Therefore, in recent years, research has been conducted into bioprocess production of plastics by using a microbial enzyme. In this study, we attempted to identify microorganisms that catalyze the decarboxylation of dicarboxylic acid to produce a carboxylic acid, which is the raw material for plastic production. Our ultimate aim was to identify microorganisms capable of fermentative production of carboxylic acids from biomass. Although we isolated a large number of bacteria using the dicarboxylate medium, we did not manage to identify any microorganisms that catalyze decarboxylation of dicarboxylic acid. We believe that the microorganisms we isolated may be heterotrophic, and any decarboxylase activity against dicarboxylic acid is very weak. Alternatively, they may be autotrophic and capture carbon dioxide in the air as a carbon source without assimilating the substrates. To distinguish between the two possibilities, it is necessary to screen more samples. プラスチックは現代社会を支える重要な素材であるが，これらの多くは石油を使用した化学プロセスによって生産されている．しかし，このプロセスは資源環境の面で好ましい生産法とは言えない．そのため，近年では，微生物酵素を用いたバイオプロセスによる生産が進められている．そこで，バイオマスによる発酵生産が可能なジカルボン酸を脱炭酸反応させ，プラスチックの原料となるカルボン酸を生成する反応を触媒する微生物の発見を最終目標として研究を行った．結果は，培地上には多数の菌が見られたが，TLC分析では，今回サンプリングしたサンプル中にはジカルボン酸の脱炭酸反応を触媒する微生物は見つからなかった．ここから，得られた菌が従属栄養生物であり，基質に対する活性が非常に弱いこと，または独立栄養生物であり，基質を資化せずに空気中の二酸化炭素を炭素源として取り込んでいることなどが考えられる．

Linoleic acid isomerase in Lactobacillus plantarum was found to be a novel multi-component enzyme system widespread in membrane and soluble fractions. The isomerization reaction involved a hydration step, 10-hydroxy-12-octadecenoic acid production from linoleic acid, as part of the reaction, and the hydration reaction was catalyzed by the membrane fraction. Both membrane and soluble fractions were required for the whole isomerization reaction, i.e., conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) production from linoleic acid, and for CLA production from 10-hydroxy-12-octadecenoic acid, a reaction intermediate. The multi-component enzyme system was inhibited by o-phenanthroline, and divalent metal ions such as Ni^[2+] and Co^[2+] restored activity. Metal oxides such as VO4^[3+], MoO4^[2+], and MnO4^[2+] enhanced activity. The multi-component enzyme systems required oxidoreduction cofactors such as NADH together with FAD or NADPH for total activity

Some cases of post-surgical acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) may be an acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) including subclinical IP, and pathological interstitial pneumonia (IP) is a predictor of the ARDS high-risk group. Although one-lung-ventilation (OLV) has become established procedure during thoracic surgery, there is little data on the re-expansion of pulmonary edema after surgery. In the present study, we evaluated the possibility that occult lung injury occurs in pathological IP patients during the early phase of thoracic surgery. [Methods] Study was performed in 22 patients who underwent pulmonary resection at our institute. Plasma levels of interleukin (IL)6, IL8 and high mobility group box protein1 (HMGB1) were measured during the pre-, peri-and postoperative periods. [Results] Serum levels of IL-6 and IL-8 increased after surgery ; however, there were no significant differences between the IP and non-IP groups. Meanwhile, serum levels of HMGB1 were significantly higher at 30 min after OLV in IP group, and those in IP group were continuously higher during the peri-and postoperative periods. [Conclusions] This study suggests that elevation of HMGB1, which might influence occult lung injury, occurred during OLV in IP group, and that it already existed before lung re-expansion.

Background Recent trials have shown that perioperative administration of an immuno-enhancing diet can reduce the incidence of infectious complications and shorten hospital stay following elective surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a relatively small perioperative intake of ω -3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich nutritional supplement modulates postoperative inflammatory responses.Methods Twenty-three patients with esophageal cancer were prospectively randomized into Treatment (n=11) and Control (n=12) groups. The former drank 2 packs (0.4 L) of a liquid diet that was supplemented with ω -3 fatty acids each day for 6 consecutive days prior to esophagectomy, while the latter drank a control liquid. In addition, both groups received postoperative enteral feeding with the same formula. The levels of human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 were measured, and polymorphonuclear cell and total lymphocyte counts were obtained.Results Plasma IL-10 levels were significantly (p