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T(11;18)(q21;q21) results in a chimeric transcript between API2 at 11q21 and MALT1 at 18q21 and is a characteristic chromosomal aberration of extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma). API2-MALT1 chimeric transcripts are present in approximately one-third of all cases of MALT lymphoma. MALT lymphoma is also known to have variations in histological features and tumor cell proportions. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to examine number of API2-MALT1 copies in clinical samples for further investigation of the pathophysiology of MALT lymphoma. A total of 13 samples of MALT lymphoma contained API2-MALT1 transcripts from 1.7 × 10-2 to 1.0 copies/ß-actin copy. These findings were compared to the proportions of tumor cells in genomic VDJ PCR products determined by Southern blotting. Tumor cell ratios varied widely among the patients' samples, and no significant correlation was found between transcript copy number and tumor cell ratio. These results suggest that copy numbers of API2-MALT1 do not reflect tumor cell proportions, and that the number of copies of API2-MALT1 in a tumor cell is different for each clinical sample.Leukemia (2003) 17, 2508-2512. doi:10.1038/sj.leu.2403179 Published online 16 October 2003 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY The regulatory role of chemokines and chemokine receptors on specific lymphocyte recruitment into periodontal diseased tissue is poorly characterized. We observed that lymphocytes infiltrating inflamed gingival tissue expressed marked levels of CCR6. In periodontal diseased tissue, the expression of MIP-3α mRNA was detected by RT-PCR and further, MIP-3α was distributed in the basal layer of gingival epithelial cells, microvascular endothelial cells and the areas of inflammatory cells as shown by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, CCR6-expressing cells infiltrated into periodontal diseased tissue, and the proportion of CCR6-positive CD4+ T cells was significantly elevated in periodontal diseased tissue compared with peripheral blood in the same patients. Furthermore, gingival lymphocytes isolated from patients showed migration toward MIP-3α in an in vitro chemotaxis assay in which migration was abrogated by specific antibody to CCR6. Thus, these findings suggested that CCR6 and the corresponding chemokine, MIP-3α may have an important regulatory role in specific lymphocyte migration into inflamed periodontal tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with cancer receive an explanation of their disease and the recommended treatment when they are asked to give informed consent (IC). In the course of this process patients suffer severe distress, including anxiety and depression, but physicians tend to underestimate it. The goal of this study was to reveal the magnitude of such stress and any changes to this during the IC process by means of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale, a self-assessment scale. Of 171 in-patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer, 119 were assessable for serial HAD scale scores on admission, immediately after the IC process, and at 1 and again at 2 weeks after the IC. Both anxiety and depression scores increased significantly immediately after IC. Female patients had significantly higher anxiety and depression scores than males at 1 week after the IC. The patients with poor performance status demonstrated high anxiety scores on admission and immediately after the IC, and substantial depression persisted longer in these patients. The prevalence of high scores of more than 11 (judged as adjustment disorder or more severe state) immediately after the IC was 50% for anxiety and 31% for depression. The prevalence decreased significantly within 1 or 2 weeks, but 41% and 14% of the patients still showed high anxiety and depression scores, respectively. Physicians should be aware of these facts and pay special attention to their patients' psychological distress in routine clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more effective and simple endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) for esophageal varices, we developed an EIS procedure with ligation (EISL) that is non-invasive, in which EIS and endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) are performed simultaneously. In this study, we compared EISL and EIS in a randomized sample of patients (n = 14 for each procedure). For EISL, EVL was performed, including the injection site, after the injection of 5% ethanolamine oleate with iopamidol (EOI) into a varix. The mean number of treatment sessions required for eradication of esophageal varices was 2.3+/-0.5 for EISL and 3.9+/-0.8 for EIS (P < 0.001); the mean number of treatment sites was 6.2+/-2.2 for EISL and 14.0+/-5.0 for EIS (P < 0.001); the mean total amount of EOI used was 13.8+/-5.2ml for EISL and 26.3+/-9.8ml for EIS (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of recurrence of varices or in bleeding between the two groups. For EISL, fewer treatment sessions and less sclerosant were sufficient, probably because the sclerosants were more effective due to the blockage of variceal blood flow by the ligation. This method should provide a novel modification of EIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three D-type cyclins, cyclin D1, D2 and D3, belong to the G1 cyclin, which regulates the G1/S transition of the cell cycle, and feature highly homologous amino acid sequences. The cyclin D1 gene was found to be transcriptionally activated in B-lymphoid malignancies with t(11;14), but available information is limited regarding expression of cyclin D2 and D3 in hematopoietic malignancies. We examined the expressions of three D-type cyclins to investigate how these homologous genes are differentially used. Northern blot hybridization with densitometric analyses was performed to examine 64 cell lines and 159 patients with various hematopoietic malignancies. Among lymphoid malignancies, cyclin D1 overexpression was exclusively detected in B cell malignancies accompanied by a genetic event consisting of 11q13 chromosomal translocation, consisting of 13 of 19 (68%) patients with mantle cell lymphoma, two of 11 (18%) with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and one of six (17%) with multiple myeloma. The cyclin D2 expression was significantly higher in T cell malignancies than in B cell malignancies (P = 0.003 for cell lines and P < 0.0001 for patient samples, respectively). In the T cell malignancies, cyclin D2 overexpression was predominantly recognized in those with mature phenotype. Furthermore, cyclin D2 expression was upregulated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation of normal T-lymphocytes, suggesting that this simply represents the proliferation status of mature T cells. Although cyclin D3 was ubiquitously expressed, its expression was reduced in lymphoid malignancies with cyclin D1 or D2 overexpression. In myeloid leukemias, although three D-type type cyclins were differentially expressed, no preference for particular D-type cyclins was found. This selective usage of D-type cyclins in lymphoid malignancies suggests an existence of a regulatory mechanism among three D-type cyclins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is closely related to angiogenesis in various human cancers. However, little is known of its circulating levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We examined circulating VEGF levels in chronic liver disease to assess their clinical significance. Plasma VEGF concentrations were determined, by enzyme immunoassay, in patients with chronic hepatitis (CH; n = 36), liver cirrhosis (LC; n = 77), and HCC (n = 86) for a cross-sectional study. Plasma VEGF levels in healthy controls (n = 20) and CH, LC, and HCC patients were 17.7 +/- 5.4 (mean +/- SD), 30.6 +/- 22.8, 34.4 +/- 27.0, and 51.1 +/- 71.9 pg/ml, respectively. The levels were significantly elevated in the HCC group, compared with the control, CH, and LC groups. Plasma VEGF levels in stage I, II, III, IVA, and IVB HCC patients were 27.6 +/- 16.1, 26.5 +/- 13.7, 35.8 +/- 15.3, 45.4 +/- 39.4, and 103.1 +/- 123.2 pg/ml, respectively. The stage IVB patients with remote metastasis showed significantly marked elevation compared with the patients at the other stages. Platelet numbers were weakly correlated with plasma VEGF levels in the HCC group. Plasma VEGF level was highly elevated in patients with HCC, particularly those with metastatic disease. We consider that plasma VEGF is a possible tumor marker for metastasis of HCC. Circulating VEGF may be derived mainly from the large burden of tumor cells, and partly from platelets activated by the vascular invasion of HCC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatiotemporal response patterns in the anterior and dorsocaudal fields of the guinea pig auditory cortex after two-tone sequences were studied in anesthetized animals (Nembutal 30 mg kg−1) using an optical recording method (voltage-sensitive dye RH795, 12 × 12 photodiode array). Each first (masker) and second (probe) tone was 30 ms long with a 10-ms rise-fall time. Masker-probe pair combinations of the same or different frequencies with probe delays of 30–150 ms were presented to the ear contralateral to the recording side. With same-frequency pairs, responses to the probe were inhibited completely after probe delays of less than 50 ms and the inhibition lasted for more than 150 ms, and the inhibition magnitudes in different isofrequency bands of the anterior field were essentially the same. With different-frequency (octave-separated) pairs, responses to the probe were not inhibited completely even after probe delays as short as 30 ms, and the inhibition lasted only for 110–130 ms. Inhibition magnitudes were different from location to location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatio-temporal patterns of binaural interaction in the guinea pig auditory cortex (AC) were observed using optical recording with a 12 × 12 photodiode array and a voltage-sensitive dye. The amplitudes of the sound-induced light signals from the cortex were transformed into sequential two-dimensional images every 0.58 ms. Binaural sound stimuli evoked an excitatory response followed by a strong inhibition, and contralateral stimuli evoked a strong excitatory response followed by a weak inhibition. Ipsilateral sound stimuli evoked a weak response. Binaural stimulation induced two types of ipsilateral inhibition: a fast binaural inhibition which was detected only after the contralateral and ipsilateral responses were subtracted from the binaural responses, and which appeared 12–25 ms after the onset of stimulation, and a slow binaural inhibitory effect which was clearly observed in the binaural responses themselves, appearing 70–95 ms after the onset of stimulation. The fast binaural inhibition was observed in the same area as the contralateral excitatory response. The inhibited area became stronger and more widespread with increasing intensity of ipsilateral stimulation. We did not observe the specialized organization of binaural neurons as electrophysiologically found in the cat AC, in which binaural neurons of the same binaural response type are clustered together and alternate with clusters of other response types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expressions of cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) gene in the liver, lung, skeletal muscle, and kidney were studied by in situ hybridization with a cDNA probe from rat liver CDO under normal conditions. Significant expression of the CDO gene was detected in the liver, lung, and kidney, but not skeletal muscle. In the liver, the signal was confined to the cytoplasm of the hepatocytes. Furthermore, the signal was stronger in the periportal than that in the perivenous areas. In the lung, an intensive signal was found in the bronchiolar epithelium. As to the kidney, an intensive signal was observed in the distal convoluted tubules, while no signal was found in the proximal convultions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the expression of the transglutaminase 1 (Tgase1) gene in frozen sections of normal and psoriatic epidermis by means of non-radioactive in situ hybridization with digoxigenin-labelled cRNA probes. Tgase1 mRNA was expressed in the granular layer of normal epidermis, regardless of ortho-or hyperkeratosis. However, in psoriatic epidermis, Tgase1 mRNA was detected in the suprabasal spinous layer, but not in the suhcorneal layer. These results indicate that Tgase1 gene expression is limited to the last stage of keratinization in normal epidermis and this regulation is disturbed in psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ras proto-oncogene is frequently amplified and overexpressed in the hyperproliferative conditions of epidermal keratinocytes. To investigate the effects of its overexpression on the growth of keratinocytes in a model system, we constructed expression vectors for normal human Ha- ras and introduced them into FRSK cells, a fetal rat epidermal keratinocyte cell line. Several clones containing the transfected Ha- ras were isolated, and two of them overexpressed this gene. In these clones DNA synthesis and cell growth were greater than in other clones expressing this gene at low levels. Thus we suggest that overexpression of normal ras gene may provide growth advantage to epidermal keratinocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]