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Brain metastasis from ovarian cancer is a very rare condition with a poor prognosis. However, due to its rarity, there is no established treatment strategy. We present a case series of brain metastasis with ovarian cancer, focusing on two long-term survivors treated with multimodal therapy. Among the nine cases, the median survival time after brain metastases was six months (range: 0–58 months). Eight patients had high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). Three of the four patients who underwent genetic testing tested positive for germline BRCA2 (gBRCA2) mutation. Two patients survived longer than 4 years after the diagnosis of brain metastases. Both of these patients received chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and olaparib, a molecularly targeted drug, as maintenance therapy. This case series suggests that patients with gBRCA2 mutation-positive HGSC may be at a high risk of developing brain metastases. A multidisciplinary approach, including PARP inhibitors, may improve the prognosis of patients with brain metastases from ovarian cancer.

Abstract Although thorough chewing lowers postprandial glucose concentrations, research on the effectiveness of chewing vegetables in different forms on postprandial glucose metabolism remains limited. This study examined the effects of vegetables consumed in solid versus puree forms on postprandial glucose metabolism. Nineteen healthy young men completed two 180-min trials on separate days in a random order: the chewing trial involved the consumption of shredded cabbage with chewing and the non-chewing trial involved the consumption of pureed cabbage without chewing. Energy jelly was consumed immediately after the consumption of shredded or puree cabbage. Blood samples were collected at 0, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 and 180 min. Circulating concentrations of glucose, insulin, total glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) concentrations were measured from the plasma. Although plasma glucose concentrations did not differ between the trials, the plasma insulin and GIP incremental area under the curve values were higher in the chewing than in the non-chewing trial. Postprandial total GLP-1 concentrations were higher in the chewing than in the non-chewing trial at 45, 60 and 90 min. This study demonstrates that consuming shredded cabbage while chewing enhances postprandial incretin secretion but has no effect on postprandial glucose concentration. Trial registration: Clinical trial registration ID.: UMIN000052662, registered 31 October 2023.

Summary: Cassidine leaf beetles are associated with genome-reduced symbiotic bacteria Stammera involved in pectin digestion. Stammera cells appear to be harbored in paired symbiotic organs located at the foregut-midgut junction either intracellularly or extracellularly, whereas the symbiont is extracellular in the ovary-accessory glands of adult females and during caplet transmission in eggs. However, using fluorescence and electron microscopy, an intracellular symbiotic configuration of Stammera was observed in Notosacantha species. Detailed inspection of other cassidine species revealed fragmented cell membrane and cytoplasm of the symbiotic organs, wherein Stammera cells are in an intermediate status between intracellularity and extracellularity. We also identified a mitochondria-rich region adjacent to the symbiont-filled region and well-developed muscle fibers surrounding the whole symbiotic organ. Based on these observations, we discuss why the Stammera genome has been reduced so drastically and how symbiont-derived pectinases are produced and supplied to the host’s alimentary tract for plant cell wall digestion.

Background: /Objective: FOLFIRINOX therapy (FFX) for locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) is increasingly recognized as a potent neoadjuvant therapy that enables transition to conversion surgery (CS). However, predictors of CS achievement after chemotherapy are controversial. This study aimed to demonstrate the efficacy of CS after modified FFX (mFFX) in patients with LAPC and to identify and score predictors of CS. Methods: From January 2014 to December 2018, patients with LAPC who received mFFX as a first-line treatment were screened. Patients’ overall survival was compared with and without CS. Moreover, the predictors for CS were analyzed to create scores for the CS factors. Results: Forty-three patients received mFFX, including 20 patients who underwent CS (CS group, 46.5%). R0 resection was achieved in 16 patients (80%). The median survival time was 39.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 17.3–53.8) for the CS group and 16 months (95% CI 10.5–22.6) for the non-CS group (P

Ants are known to show diverse mating behaviors across different species, but detailed reports on such behaviors are limited to only 0.7% of ant species. Therefore, we report on the mating behavior of the alate females and males in the small carpenter ant, Camponotus yamaokai. Its process was classified into two phases: mating attempt, and copulation. Out of 53 pairs we observed, 23 pairs engaged in a total of 36 mating attempts. The mating attempt durations in cases where copulation failed were significantly longer than those leading to copulation. Among these attempts, copulation was observed 10 times in 9 pairs, including multiple mating in one pair. The copulation lasted for 24.0 ± 5.1 seconds (mean ± SD). At the end of copulation, males pulled out their genitalia quickly to avoid potential attacks from the females. This behavior might be a strategy of males to minimize the risk of mortality during a single mating and support them to engage in multiple mating.

Abstract Background Arthropods gradually change their forms through repeated molting events during postembryonic development. Anamorphosis, i.e., segment addition during postembryonic development, is seen in some arthropod lineages. In all millipede species (Myriapoda, Diplopoda), for example, postembryonic processes go through anamorphosis. Jean-Henri Fabre proposed 168 years ago the “law of anamorphosis”, that is, “new rings appear between the penultimate ring and the telson” and “all apodous rings in a given stadium become podous rings in the next stadium”, but the developmental process at the anamorphic molt remains largely unknown. In this study, therefore, by observing the morphological and histological changes at the time of molting, the detailed processes of leg- and ring-addition during anamorphosis were characterized in a millipede, Niponia nodulosa (Polydesmida, Cryptodesmidae). Results In the preparatory period, a few days before molting, scanning electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and histological observations revealed that two pairs of wrinkled leg primordia were present under the cuticle of each apodous ring. In the rigidation period, just prior to molt, observations of external morphology showed that a transparent protrusion was observed on the median line of the ventral surface on each apodous ring. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and histological observations revealed that the transparent protrusion covered by an arthrodial membrane contained a leg bundle consisting of two pairs of legs. On the other hand, ring primordia were observed anterior to the telson just before molts. Conclusions Preceding the anamorphic molt in which two pairs of legs are added on an apodous ring, a transparent protrusion containing the leg pairs (a leg bundle) appears on each apodous ring. The morphogenetic process of the rapid protrusion of leg bundles, that is enabled by thin and elastic cuticle, suggested that millipedes have acquired a resting period and unique morphogenesis to efficiently add new legs and rings.

Cellular cholesterol levels are tightly regulated. Here, the authors show that the hedgehog signalling receptor PTCH is a cholesterol transporter. Reduction in PTCH activity leads to cellular cholesterol accumulation, changes in nuclear hormone receptor activity and fatty acid metabolism.

The evolution of land flora transformed the terrestrial environment. Land plants evolved from an ancestral charophycean alga from which they inherited developmental, biochemical, and cell biological attributes. Additional biochemical and physiological adaptations to land, and a life cycle with an alternation between multicellular haploid and diploid generations that facilitated efficient dispersal of desiccation tolerant spores, evolved in the ancestral land plant. We analyzed the genome of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, a member of a basal land plant lineage. Relative to charophycean algae, land plant genomes are characterized by genes encoding novel biochemical pathways, new phytohormone signaling pathways (notably auxin), expanded repertoires of signaling pathways, and increased diversity in some transcription factor families. Compared with other sequenced land plants, M. polymorpha exhibits low genetic redundancy in most regulatory pathways, with this portion of its genome resembling that predicted for the ancestral land plant. PAPERCLIP.

Abstract Precision medicine based on cancer genomics is being applied in clinical practice. However, patients do not always derive benefits from genomic testing. Here, we performed targeted amplicon exome sequencing‐based panel tests, including 160 cancer‐related genes (PleSSision‐160), on 88 malignant ovarian tumors (high‐grade serous carcinoma, 27; endometrioid carcinoma, 15; clear cell carcinoma, 30; mucinous carcinoma, 6; undifferentiated carcinoma, 4; and others, 6 (immature teratoma, 1; carcinosarcoma, 3; squamous cell carcinoma, 1; and mixed, 1)), to assess treatment strategies and useful biomarkers for malignant ovarian tumors. Overall, actionable gene variants were found in 90.9%, and druggable gene variants were found in 40.9% of the cases. Actionable BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants were found in 4.5% of each of the cases. ERBB2 amplification was found in 33.3% of mucinous carcinoma cases. Druggable hypermutation/ultramutation (tumor mutation burden ≥ 10 SNVs/Mbp) was found in 7.4% of high‐grade serous carcinoma, 46.7% of endometrioid carcinoma, 10% of clear cell carcinoma, 0% of mucinous carcinoma, 25% of undifferentiated carcinoma, and 33.3% of the other cancer cases. Copy number alterations were significantly higher in high‐grade serous carcinoma (P

Spatiotemporal restriction of signaling plays a critical role in animal development and tissue homeostasis. All stem and progenitor cells in newly hatched C. elegans larvae are quiescent and capable of suspending their development until sufficient food is supplied. Here, we show that ptr-18, which encodes the evolutionarily conserved patched-related (PTR)/patched domain-containing (PTCHD) protein, temporally restricts the availability of extracellular hedgehog-related protein to establish the capacity of progenitor cells to maintain quiescence. We found that neural progenitor cells exit from quiescence in ptr-18 mutant larvae even when hatched under starved conditions. This unwanted reactivation depended on the activity of a specific set of hedgehog-related grl genes including grl-7. Unexpectedly, neither PTR-18 nor GRL-7 were expressed in newly hatched wild-type larvae. Instead, at the late embryonic stage, both PTR-18 and GRL-7 proteins were first localized around the apical membrane of hypodermal and neural progenitor cells and subsequently targeted for lysosomal degradation before hatching. Loss of ptr-18 caused a significant delay in GRL-7 clearance, causing this protein to be retained in the extracellular space in newly hatched ptr-18 mutant larvae. Furthermore, the putative transporter activity of PTR-18 was shown to be required for the appropriate function of the protein. These findings not only uncover a previously undescribed role of PTR/PTCHD in the clearance of extracellular hedgehog-related proteins via endocytosis-mediated degradation but also illustrate that failure to temporally restrict intercellular signaling during embryogenesis can subsequently compromise post-embryonic progenitor cell function.