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Purpose: The aim of this study was to perform the phantom experiment and demonstrate the clinical usefulness of tissue quantification using a linear array transducer and acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) technology., Materials and Methods: For the phantom study, the commercially available Elasticity QA Phantom Model 049 was used. First, we measured the shear wave velocity (m/s) for the four spheres and the background of the phantom. Then, the shear wave velocity at nine sites was measured, with the region of interest being moved gradually from a shallow region (3 mm) to a deeper region (38 mm). For the clinical study, the shear wave velocities of 15 solid breast mass lesions were measured., Results: The phantom study confirmed the feasibility of quantitative determination of the degree of tissue hardness. Dispersion of the measured values tended to be somewhat increased for the depths of 3 mm and 38 mm. The mean shear wave velocity was 2.07-2.93 m/s for five benign lesions, whereas higher shear wave velocities (n = 2) (7.15, 7.44 m/s) or "X.XX" (unmeasurable state) (n = 7) were found for malignant lesions other than mucinous carcinoma (2.44 m/s)., Conclusion: ARFI tissue quantification is a potentially promising ultrasonographic technique for diagnosing breast lesions.

High-grade carcinoma with a large central acellular zone (central acellular carcinoma, CAC) and matrixproducing carcinoma (MPC) are aggressive tumors that both have a central myxomatous acellular zone. Their characteristic morphology may be useful in diagnostic imaging. Ultrasonographic findings based on the Breast Imaging Recording and Data System (BI-RADS) and detailed histological features were evaluated in 11 cases of CAC and 2 cases of MPC to characterize their features. Safranin-O staining was undertaken for the evaluation of central acellular zones in these tumors. Overall, ultrasonography demonstrated heterogeneous hyperechoic lesions in the center of the hypoechoic mass. Posterior echo enhancement was observed in all but 1 case. One case was classified as malignant and the others as "borderline." Histologically, cancer tissue was located in the periphery of the tumor with a ring-like structure and fewer cellular central areas comprising hyaline cartilage myxoid material such as those stained by safranin-O. The present study showed that the pathological findings of CACs and MPCs accurately reflect the ultrasonographic findings. Tumors that showed hyperechoic areas in the center of the hypoechoic mass, with posterior echo enhancement indicating acellular zones composed by myxochondroid material, and that were also relatively round on ultrasonography may be benign, but evaluation is required to exclude CAC and MPC.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging for the differential diagnosis of breast lesions., Materials and Methods: We studied 40 solid mass lesions from a total of 40 patients (age range 29-67 years, mean 50 years). There were 18 benign lesions and 22 malignant tumors. ARFI imaging was performed using Virtual Touch tissue imaging. We examined the possibility of lesions seen on B-mode images being visually confirmed on ARFI images. When the lesion was visually confirmed, the lesions that were bright or dark inside were classified into patterns 1 and patterns 3, respectively. The lesions that failed to be visually confirmed were classified as pattern 2., Results: There were 3 pattern 1 lesions and 7 pattern 2 lesions; all of these lesions were benign. The remaining 8 benign lesions and 22 malignant lesions were determined to be pattern 3. The negative predictive value was 100%., Conclusion: ARFI imaging is a potentially promising ultrasonographic technique for the differential diagnosis of breast lesions, particularly complicated cysts without a cystic component on B-mode images.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to investigate the visualization rate for the mammary gland under the nipple with automated breast ultrasonography (US) and to compare the detectability of breast lesions under the nipple with automated breast imaging and handheld US imaging., Materials and Methods: A total of 60 patients underwent automated breast US (ABVS; Siemens Medical Solutions, Mountain View, CA, USA) and handheld US. The scans of the four segments of the breast included sequential scans in the upper-outer (C), lower-outer (D), lower-inner (B), and upper-inner (A) regions., Results: The visualization rates for the mammary gland under the nipple were 72% (86/120 breasts) in A-scanning, 84% (101/120) in B-scanning, 78% (93/120) in C-scanning, and 80% (96/120) in D-scanning. Interscanning mode differences were statistically significant only for A-scanning and B-scanning (P = 0.02). Eventually, 98% (117/120 breasts) of the breasts examined were rated as "visualized." In 14 of the 15 patients with breast lesions under the nipple, the lesions were detectable with handheld US and the ABVS. In the other patient, the lesion was not detectable on handheld US but was detected on ABVS imaging., Conclusion: ABVS imaging is by no means inferior to handheld US for detecting breast lesions under the nipple.

A higher production of functional mast cells (MCs) can be generated by co-culturing cord blood-derived CD34+ cells with a human bone marrow stromal cell line under serum-free conditions supplemented with stem cell factor and IL-6. We addressed the question of whether the higher proliferation of MCs in this co-culture system might be due to the higher proliferation of MC progenitors. The stromal cell line increased the cell numbers of MC progenitors derived from cord blood-derived CD34+ cells, in a combination of cell-cell interactions between stromal cells and CD34+ cells, and as yet unidentified soluble factors derived from stromal cells.

Fibroadenoma is a frequently encountered benign tumor that must be differentiated from carcinoma. Fibroadenomas often exhibit myxedematous changes (myxomatous fibroadenoma). We focused on myxomatous fibroadenomas and evaluated their diagnostic imaging and clinicopathologic findings. We examined the (1) clinicopathologic findings of myxomatous fibroadenomas out of 113 fibroadenomas among 592 needle biopsy cases and (2) clinical findings of 27 patients with fibroadenoma who underwent surgical resection. One hundred thirteen (19%) of 592 cases were fibroadenoma, of which 45 cases (40%) were myxomatous fibroadenoma. Based on ultrasonography findings, the depth to width ratio was significantly higher in the myxomatous fibroadenoma group (0.79 ± 0.26) compared with the non-myxomatous fibroadenoma group (0.64 ± 0.26) (P < .01). Forty-two patients were subjected to needle biopsy to differentiate fibroadenoma from carcinomas based on ultrasonography and clinical findings, of which 13 cases (31%) were myxomatous fibroadenoma. These lesions showed a relatively round shape and increased posterior echo enhancement with internal hyperechogenicity on ultrasonography. Among 17 resected cases suspected of malignancy that showed rapid growth and/or size greater than 3 cm, 16 cases were myxomatous fibroadenoma. Tumors showing rapid growth and a relatively large size, a high depth to width ratio, a relatively round shape, and posterior echo enhancement with internal hyperechogenicity on ultrasonography require differentiation from (mucinous) carcinoma but are histologically more likely to be myxomatous fibroadenoma. Understanding the histologic features and combining the ultrasonography findings of myxomatous fibroadenomas may permit reduction in the number of unnecessary needle biopsies for tumor-forming lesions., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast is a distinct variant of breast cancer. In the present study, we analyzed potential immunophenotypic changes in invasive micropapillary carcinoma., Methods: Specimens from 15 patients with invasive micropapillary carcinoma were analyzed using clinicopathological and immunohistochemical methods. We also examined the relationship between clinicopathological factors using the Ki-67 labeling index., Results: Immunohistochemical staining for cytoplasmic p63 expression was seen in four (27%) tumors, and p63 nuclear expression was also observed in four (27%) tumors. Involucrin and 34betaE12 were expressed in the invasive micropapillary carcinoma component of nine (60%) and four (27%) tumors, respectively. Cytokeratin 5/6 was expressed in three (20%) tumors and cytokeratin 14 staining was negative in all tumors. In one tumor (case 3), vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen and cytokeratin 8/18 were co-expressed. Four tumors (27%) were negative for the estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor/HER2. However, 11 out of 15 (73%) tumors were positive for the estrogen receptor. The Ki-67 labeling index was significantly higher in cases with p63 tumor expression than in those without (P < 0.0001), and also higher in cases with lymph node metastasis than in cases without (P = 0.0029)., Conclusions: Nuclear expression of p63, involucrin and 34betaE12 were detected indicating squamous differentiation. Cytoplasmic p63 expression was also identified. The fact that the Ki-67 labeling index was significantly higher in such cases may have been associated with the aggressive behavior of these tumors. Our findings suggest that the characteristic morphology of invasive micropapillary carcinomas may be due to immunophenotypical and oncogenic changes.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the scanning technique for covering the whole breast using a commercially available automated breast ultrasonography (US) system., Materials and Methods: A total of 40 patients in the supine position underwent automated breast US (ABVS: Siemens Medical Solutions, Mountain View, CA, USA) and hand-held US. The scanning included sequential scans in the upper-outer, lower-outer, lower-inner, and upper-inner regions. After scanning all four segments of each breast using ABVS, hand-held US was performed in all the patients. The detectability of the lesions using the ABVS technique compared with that using the handheld US was evaluated. The average scanning time was compared between any two of the three examiners with various lengths of experience in breast US., Results: In all, 61 lesions were detected by hand-held US. The average size of the lesions was 7.7 mm (range 2.5-26.0 mm). The number of detected lesions by ABVS was consistent with those found by hand-held US in each patient. The average total scanning time for each examiner using ABVS was 10.9, 11.1, and 11.5 min, respectively. No significant difference was found in the total scanning time between any two of the three examiners., Conclusion: The four-scans technique for the major segments of the breast is thought to be an operator-independent, feasible method for performing automated breast US.

We report a 17-year-old woman with refractory high-grade breast cancer who died early after surgery, with reference to the histogenesis of the cancer. Macroscopically, the tumor was cystic, composed of a mixture of solid and myxomatous areas. Histologically, the tumor exhibited ductal structures and areas with squamoid features. Cancer cells were markedly atypical and polymorphic, and included a mixture of bizarre and eosinophilic cells with rhabdoid feature-like free cells. Immunohistochemically, cytokeratin (CK) 8, CK 18, 34 beta E12, CD10, involucrin, CK14, and vimentin were partially positive, whereas estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER-2 were negative. These findings suggest an undifferentiated cancer whose cells have multilineage potential to differentiate into mesenchymal, basal, and squamoid cells, and it was diagnosed as pleomorphic carcinoma, which is a histological type hitherto unreported in young girls. The cancer was refractory to treatment, and the patient died 1 year and 5 months after surgery despite chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

On breast cancer imaging some cancers have an anechoic or high-echoic zone in the tumor on ultrasonography and ring-shaped enhancement on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with high intensity in the central area of the tumor on T2-weighted imaging, necessitating their differentiation from benign disease. Thus, nine breast cancers with a ring-like appearance on imaging were analyzed on cytopathology. Histologically the cancer cells of these lesions showing a ring-like appearance were located in the periphery of the tumor, with a central hypocellular zone. Five such lesions with a thick, doughnut-like appearance were identified as cancers with acellular zones (CAC), and four lesions with a thinner, rim-like appearance as matrix-producing carcinomas (MPC). The percentage ratio of the cancer-zone width to the tumor diameter was 26.4 +/- 7.8 and 8.0 +/- 3.2 (mean +/- SD), respectively (P= 0.003). Cytologically, highly atypical, naked-nucleus cells were observed in eight of the nine cancers. In two MPC and three CAC, cartilage matrix and amorphous material, respectively, were observed in the background. In summary, the present series of breast cancers having a ring appearance on imaging did not have uniform cytopathological features. They were classified as MPC or CAC, and cytology was useful in their diagnosis and differentiation in some cases.

Background: Type I allergic reactions such as urticaria-like manifestations constitute a large percentage of transfusion-related adverse events. Along with donor factors, patient factors might be involved in these reactions. Sera from some patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria show histamine-releasing activity (HRA). Sera from patients who develop Type I allergic reaction might possess HRA., Study Design and Methods: Pretransfusion serum samples were collected. Mast cells were cultured from peripheral blood CD34+ cells and mixed with the serum samples. Cells with elevated intracytoplasmic Ca2+ concentrations were monitored using flow cytometry to evaluate Ca2+ influx-inducing activity (CaIA) in serum. The amount of histamine released into the supernatant was measured using an enzyme immunoassay kit to evaluate HRA. In some assays, cells were incubated with pertussis toxin (Ptx)., Results: CaIA values were higher (p < 0.05) in sera from patients with reactions (27.68 ± 20.38 [n = 145]; range, 0.49-84.90) than in sera of patients without reactions (10.70 ± 6.50 [n = 54]; range, 2.67-36.97) and control sera (9.67 ± 5.88 [n = 107]; range, 1.11-25.68). No difference in CaIA was found between patients with (27.38 ± 20.46 [n = 88]) and without (28.38 ± 20.59 [n = 57]) skin manifestations. However, CaIA was higher (p < 0.05) in patients with pure urticaria (mean, 30.58 ± 21.3 [n = 30]; range, 70.43-4.1) than in patients with fever alone (mean, 18.61 ± 14.71 [n = 18]; range, 45.94-3.19). Levels of HRA were higher (p < 0.001) in CaIA-positive sera than in CaIA-negative sera. Both CaIA and HRA were blocked by Ptx., Conclusion: Elevated CaIA and HRA in pretransfusion sera might be attributable to adverse reactions, especially to urticaria-like manifestation. The Gi protein-coupled receptor complexes on mast cells and its ligand must be involved.

A rare case of neuroendocrine small cell carcinoma (SmCC) of the breast is reported. A 51-year-old postmenopausal woman noticed a nodule approximately 3 cm in diameter in her right upper breast. Histologically, the tumor consisted of small ovoid to pleomorphic cells with hyperchromatic nuclei, and a large central area was occupied by acellular amorphous tissue. Extensive lymphatic permeation was seen around the tumor. Invasive and in situ ductal carcinoma foci were not observed in and surrounding the tumor. Immunohistochemically, estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER2/neu were all negative in the tumor cells. Synaptophysin and chromogranin A were diffusely positive in the tumor cells. Cytokeratin 8 was only positive in a few tumor cells. The labeling indices of Ki-67 and p53 were high in the tumor. Postoperatively, systemic studies including positron emission tomography were performed but failed to reveal any other possible primary sites, including lung. Based on these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as neuroendocrine primary SmCC of the breast. Postoperatively, the patient received a course of weekly paclitaxel. However, pelvic bone metastasis was identified on a bone scintigram 1 year after surgery. Mammary SmCC showing high Ki-67 and p53 index should be treated carefully because of their aggressive clinical behavior.

Hemoglobin vesicles (HbVs), liposomal oxygen carriers containing human hemoglobin, are candidates for development as clinically useful blood substitutes. Although HbVs are shown to distribute transiently into the bone marrow in animal models, the influence of HbVs on human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells has not yet been studied. Therefore, we investigated the influence of HbVs at a concentration of up to 3 vol/vol % on the clonogenic activity (in semisolid culture) and proliferative activity (in liquid culture) of human hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from umbilical cord blood (CB) in vitro. Continuous exposure of CB mononuclear cells to HbVs tended to decrease the number and size of mature-committed colonies and most notably reduced the number of colonies of high-proliferative potential colony-forming cells (HPP-CFC). In contrast, exposure to HbVs for 20 h or 3 days, which is more relevant to the clinical setting, had no effect on the number of mature-committed colonies and only modestly decreased the number of HPP-CFC. Continuous exposure (10 days) to HbVs significantly suppressed the cellular proliferation and differentiation of both the erythroid and myeloid lineages in liquid culture. Again, short exposure (20 h or 3 days) did not affect these parameters. Thus, our results show that HbVs, under conditions relevant to the clinical setting, have no adverse effect on human CB hematopoietic progenitor activity in vitro., (2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Adenomyoepithelioma is an uncommon primary breast tumor. It is conspicuous for two elements of the tumor, namely, ductal and myoepithelial components. Recently, a Mammotome biopsy, or stereotactic vacuum-assisted biopsy has become popular and various benign or borderline lesions are obtained. We report an adenomyoepithelioma of the breast in a 56-year-old woman. She was pointed out to have a cluster of some microcalcifications on mammography and a 9-mm hypoechoic mass lesion was detected by ultrasound. A Mammotome biopsy revealed a well-defined lesion. Histologically, the tumor demonstrated a thick and bi-cellular growth pattern consisting of ducts and myoepithelium. Immunohistochemically, epithelial cells were positive for cytokeratin AE1/AE3 and cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), negative for alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA). In addition, myoepithelial cells were positive for alpha-SMA and CEA, which were scatterly positive for cytokeratin AE1/AE3, and negative for EMA. In examinations of non-palpable lesions found on mammography and ultrasound, a Mammotome biopsy is useful for making diagnosis, however, and adenomyoepithelioma is rarely found. In diagnosing such a rare disease from the limited information obtained from a needle biopsy, an immunohistochemical study was thus found to be useful for making a differential diagnosis.

Purpose: We report two patients with refractory recurrent breast cancer (HER2/neu: +) postoperatively, who had failed response to the available conventional chemotherapy of CAF (cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, 5-fluorouracil) and docetaxel, etc. They markedly responded to the combination immunotherapy using intraperitumoral injections of autologous tumor cell-stimulated T lymphocyte (AuTL) and trastuzumab (Herceptin), an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody., Methods: AuTLs were administrated directly into the recurrent tumor by intraperitumoral injections biweekly and trastuzumab was infused systemically every week. The treatments were repeated for 6 and 11 injections in the patients, respectively. The total administered T cells had reached to 3.8 x 10(9) and 6.4 x 10(9), respectively. The dosage of trastuzumab was 2 mg/kg in each patient., Results: The carcinomatous pleural effusion had disappeared and was well controlled in patient 1 and a marked regression in injected fields in comparison to the size of the recurrent tumor before treatment was observed in patient 2. The tumor marker proteins (CEA, CA15-3, TPA) had also decreased significantly. The adverse effects of the immunotherapy were tolerable with grades 1-2 infusion reaction of fever, tachycardia and hypotension, but no cardiac dysfunction was observed., Conclusions: Clinical responses of recurrent breast cancer were observed in two patients after receiving the intra-peritumoral AuTL injection plus trastuzumab immunotherapy. These results showed that refractory recurrent breast cancer may be controlled effectively and safely by repeating the cellular immunotherapy combined with trastuzumab and suggested utility of combining these agents in clinical trial.

We employed multidisciplinary therapy, consisting of hyperthermia, radiotherapy, and intraarterial infusion, for a patient with progressive advanced breast cancer that was resistant to epirubicin hydrochloride and cyclophosphamide (EC) therapy as well as being resistant to docetaxel hydrate, and obtained a good therapeutic response. Because estrogen and progesterone receptors were both negative and HER2 was 3(+), administration of trastuzumab was started, and this patient has shown no signs of recurrence at 33 months after our treatment. The results suggested that our multidisciplinary therapy can be an effective method for the treatment of progressive breast cancer showing resistance to major chemotherapy agents such as anthracyclines and taxanes.

Autologous tumor cells stimulated with T lymphocytes (AuTL) were generated ex vivo from peripheral blood lymphocytes over a two-week co-culturing process with autologous tumor cells. These AuTLs were capable of lysing established tumor cell lines and may have a potential for efficacy as an adoptive immunotherapy (IT) in advanced and metastatic refractory cancer patients (pts). We investigated the feasibility of a combination of AuTL transfer and chemotherapy (ChT) based on the conventional conditioning regimen in order to take advantage by both the anticancer effects and reconstruction of antitumor immunity. Nineteen patients were enrolled in a pilot clinical trial. The two administrations of AuTL were given prior to chemotherapy (ChT) for one treatment cycle. The treatment was repeated at least for three cycles over a one-week interval. The conventional ChT regimen was based on the standard dosage. The pts consisted of 3 of gastric cancer, colon cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, respectively, 6 of esophageal cancer, and 2 of breast and pancreas carcinoma, respectively. AuTLs were administered 1x/2 weeks using direct injection or intraarterial infusion. The median duration of the treatment was over 11.5 months, and the median survival time was 14.8 months. Adverse events related to both the ChT and AuTL transfers at all dosages were minimal. Four of the 13 pts achieved major tumor responses (2 CR: complete regression and 2 PR: partial regression) in this study. Three pts showed progressive disease, and 6 pts had stable disease for over 90 days. PBMC were evaluated for cytokine production prior to the treatment and after 3 treatments. Two and one of 4 CR/PR pts had increased IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production with no TGF-beta1 responses by their PBMC after 3 treatments, respectively. Two out of 6 pts who experienced stable disease after the treatment had high IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha responses and no TGF-beta1 or IL-4 response. TGF-beta1 and IL-4 secretion increased in parallel in 3 out of 3 pts that experienced progressive disease after the treatment. These data show that combination therapy of AuTL transfer and non-myeloablative ChT is a feasible option for patients with refractory advanced cancers without serious adverse events and without reducing Th1 cytokine responses in peripheral blood for most of the pts that responded to the treatment. According to each mechanism of IT and ChT, a more stringent evaluation of AuTL transfer combined with non-myeloablative ChT for various kinds of cancers should be performed to manage the immunodeficiency in the pts with advanced cancer and to improve the effect of antitumor AuTLs.

Bulk T cells can be expanded by CD3 stimulation alone (CD3-Ts) or by CD3/CD28 dual stimulation (CD3/CD28-Ts) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). However, few reports have described the difference of features between CD3-Ts and CD3/CD28-Ts. PBMC were stimulated with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAb) alone or co-stimulated with anti-CD3/CD28 mAbs immobilized on plastic plates, in the presence of rhIL-2 for 4 days, subsequently cultured in the presence of rhIL-2 with no antibody then analyzed. The expansion rate was significantly lower for CD3-Ts (965 + 510-fold, n=5) than CD3/CD28-Ts (2263 + 856-fold, n=5) (p<0.05). The CD4/CD8 ratio, the percentage of CD28(+) cell, and the percentage of T cells with no ability to generate intracytoplasmic interleukin-4 (IL-4) or interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were all significantly higher, but, phenotypically, memory cells were lower in CD3/CD28-Ts than in CD3-Ts. The levels of activity of both natural killer (NK) and lymphocyte-activated killer (LAK) cells were lower in CD3/CD28-Ts than CD3-Ts. In comparison to CD3-Ts, CD3/CD28-Ts showed impaired migration toward RANTES. In conclusion, T cells expanded with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAbs differ from those expanded with anti-CD3 alone with proliferation, cytotoxicity, chemotaxis, and phenotype. These differences may exert profound influences on the therapeutic potential of output cells.

Although only 5% of steady-state peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ cells were found to express chemokine receptor CXCR4, 45% of the cells became CXCR4+ after incubation at 37 degrees C for 4 hours. In contrast, there were no remarkable differences between PB CD34+ cells before and after the 37 degrees C incubation in their expression of selectin ligand, VLA-4, and VLA-5 or in their affinity for VCAM-1 or fibronectin. This increase in CXCR4 expression level was inhibited by the addition of brefeldin A, actinomycin D, or cycloheximide. When PB CD34+ cells with CXCR4 expression levels enhanced by a 4-hour preincubation at 37 degrees C or bone marrow (BM) CD34+ cells were exposed overnight to stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1), the expression levels of CXCR4 were greatly reduced, and when SDF-1 was removed, CXCR4 levels were thereafter up-regulated. The reexpressed CXCR4 was able to elicit integrin-dependent migration of hematopoietic progenitor cells. There was no difference in the severe combined immunodeficient mouse repopulating cell activity between PB CD34+ cells with and cells without a 37 degrees C preincubation.

Thrombopoietin (TPO) is a hematopoietic cytokine that regulates megakaryocytosis and thrombocytosis by binding to its receptor (c-Mpl). The signaling pathways downstream of c-Mpl include the Ras/Raf/MAP kinase and JAK/STAT pathway and are transduced into the regulation of immediate early-, early- and delayed-response genes. How these genes couple c-Mpl activation to the biochemical machinery of cell growth and cell cycle progression in hematopoietic cells is still unclear. UT-7/TPO is a recently characterized TPO-dependent cell line. Using RNA fingerprinting with arbitrarily primed PCR (RAP-PCR) to identify the TPO-regulated genes in this cell line, we found that the mRNA expression of nucleolin was upregulated in the UT-7/TPO cells in response to TPO. Concomitantly, the TPO-stimulated cells expressed an increased amount of full length nucleolin as determined by immunoblot analysis. The TPO-induced upregulation of nucleolin mRNA was not inhibited by the MEK1/2 inhibitor PD98059, suggesting that ERK/MAPK activation is not necessary for elevation of nucleolin gene expression in response to TPO in UT-7/TPO. Nucleolin is a multifunctional nucleolar protein thought to be involved in many cellular processes, including ribosome biogenesis, the processing of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), mRNA stability, transcriptional regulation, and cell proliferation. Thus, these results indicate that the upregulation of nucleolin mRNA and protein may be important for the TPO-induced effects of hematopoietic cells.

A 43-year-old female was admitted to our hospital because of an abnormality detected in chest radiography. Chest radiographs showed a nodular shadow behind the heart. Chest CT revealed a nodule connected to the descending aorta with increased blood flow in left lower lobe, suggesting the presence of a pulmonary sequestration. Bronchography showed an intralobar sequestrated lung in the left lower lobe. Aortography demonstrated that the sequestrated lung was fed by an anomalous artery 20 mm in diameter, originating from the celiac artery. From those findings, Pryce type IIintralobar pulmonary sequestration was diagnosed, and the left lower lobe was removed. Histological findings from the excised tissues showed mild dilatation of the bronchioles and hypervascularity.