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Bacterial and protozoan sugar chains contain glycosyl 1-phosphate repeating structures; these repeating structures have been studied for vaccine development. The fluorinated analogues of [β-Gal-(1→4)-α-Man-(1→6)-P-] n , which are glycosyl 1-phosphate repeating structures found in Leishmania, were synthesised using the solid-phase phosphoramidite method. This method has been less extensively studied for the synthesis of glycosyl 1-phosphate units than H-phosphonate chemistry. A stepwise synthesis of a compound containing five such repeating units has been conducted using the phosphoramidite method herein, which is the longest glycosyl 1-phosphate structures to be chemically constructed in a stepwise manner.

Bacterial and protozoan sugar chains contain glycosyl 1-phosphate repeating structures; these repeating structures have been studied for vaccine development. The fluorinated analogues of [β-Gal-(1→4)-α-Man-(1→6)-P-]

The development of embryonic stem cell (ESC) therapies requires the establishment of efficient methods to differentiate ESCs into specific cell lineages. Here, we report the in vitro differentiation of common marmoset (CM) (Callithrix jacchus) ESCs into hematopoietic cells after exogenous gene transfer using vesicular stomatitis virus-glycoprotein-pseudotyped lentiviral vectors. We transduced hematopoietic genes, including tal1/scl, gata1, gata2, hoxB4, and lhx2, into CM ESCs. By immunochemical and morphological analyses, we demonstrated that overexpression of tal1/scl, but not the remaining genes, dramatically increased hematopoiesis of CM ESCs, resulting in multiple blood-cell lineages. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that CD34, a hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell marker, was highly expressed in tal1/scl-overexpressing embryoid body cells. Similar results were obtained from three independent CM ESC lines. These results suggest that transduction of exogenous tal1/scl cDNA into ESCs is a promising method to induce the efficient differentiation of CM ESCs into hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

In order to establish treatment of interstitial lung diseases in video assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy, we retrospectively reviewed our experiences. The present study included 7 patients with a mean age of 46.4, range from 24 to 61, who were treated at our department from 1996 through 1999. They were 5 men and 2 women. The pathologic diagnosis was nonspecific interstitial pneumonia in 3 patients who responded to steroid therapy. Three other patients had usual interstitial pneumonia. One patient had lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia. No complications occurred. The results indicate that video assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy is an effective and safe way to diagnose interstitial lung diseases.

【目的】右側原発性肺癌に対する二葉切除例について, 手術適応, 術後合併症, 再発形式および予後について検討し, とくに手術時葉間P3症例に対する二葉切除術の妥当性について検討する.【対象】1979年より1998年9月までに当科で切除した原発性肺癌740例中, 二葉切除を施行した62例 (8.4%).術式は上中葉切除13例, 中下葉切除49例.男性45例, 女性17例.平均年齢は64.2歳.組織型は扁平上皮癌30例, 腺癌25例, 小細胞癌3例, 大細胞癌2例, 腺扁平上皮癌1例, カルチノイド1例.病期分類はp-Stage IA 7例, IB16例, IIA4例, IIB9例, IIIA22例, IIIB2例, IV2例.【結果】二葉切除症例では同時期の肺全摘術, 一葉切除に比べ, 扁平上皮癌が多く, 二葉切除となった理由として上中葉切除では葉間P3が, 中下葉切除ではリンパ節の気管支浸潤が多かった.また, 術前一葉切除を予定するも二葉切除になった症例の47.1%は葉間P3が原因であった.二葉切除術症例の術後合併症は24例 (37.5%) であり, 局所再発を7例, 遠隔転移を17例に認め, その5年生存率は48.0%であった.手術時葉間P3症例において二葉切除例と一葉切除に肺部分切除を加えた症例では, その予後に有意差を認めなかった.またその局所再発および合併症はそれぞれ, 4.8%, 19%および43%, 19%であった.【結論】右肺癌手術時葉問P3症例において二葉切除例と一葉切除に肺部分切除を加えた症例では, その局所再発の頻度において有意差を認めなかったが, 一葉切除に肺部分切除を加える術式は, 症例数が増加すれば有意な差になる可能性が示唆された.

Parathyroid cysts are rarely located in the mediastinum. This report describes a 45-year-old man with a mediastinal parathyroid cyst. Video-assisted thoracic surgery was successfully performed to remove the cyst.

BACKGROUND The product of the p16INK4/CDKN2/MTS1 (p16) controls the transition from the G1 phase to the S-phase in the cell cycle by inhibiting the phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma gene product. A lack of p16 expression has been reported in various cancer cell lines and tumors; however, there have been only a few reports on the prognostic significance of p16 alteration. The authors studied p16 expression in nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and also examined its correlation with clinicopathologic features and prognosis. METHODS p16 expression was determined by immunohistochemical analysis of 115 paraffin specimens of primary NSCLC that were curatively resected. The immunohistochemical study was performed using the labeled streptavidin-biotin method with anti-p16 rabbit polyclonal antibody. RESULTS Thirty-one of 115 NSCLC specimens (27%) showed negative p16 staining. The frequency of negative p16 expression was significantly higher in squamous cell carcinoma (39.5%) than in adenocarcinoma (20.3%) (P = 0.026). There were no statistically significant differences in the p16 status with respect to age, gender, smoking history, histologic differentiation, or stage of the disease. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that patients with negative p16 expression survived for a significantly shorter period of time than those with positive p16 expression (P = 0.043). p16 status was a significant prognostic factor, especially in patients with early stage disease (Stages I-II) (P = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS A lack of p16INK4 expression in NSCLC was observed more frequently in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma, and also was found to be closely related to prognosis, especially in patients with early stage squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer 1997; 80:389-95. © 1997 American Cancer Society.

Iron–corrole complexes were found to copolymerize epoxides with CO2. The first iron-catalyzed propylene oxide/CO2 copolymerization has been accomplished. Moreover, the glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE)/CO2 copolymerization with this catalyst provided a crystalline material as a result of the isotactic poly(GPE) moiety.

BACKGROUND—Although the preoperative prediction of pulmonary complications after lung major surgery has been reported in various papers, it still remains unclear. METHODS—Eighty nine patients with stage I-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent a complete resection at our institute from 1994-8 were evaluated for the feasibility of making a preoperative prediction of pulmonary complications. All had either a predicted postoperative forced vital capacity (FVC) of >800 ml/m2 or forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) of >600 ml/m2. RESULTS—Postoperative complications occurred in 37 patients (41.2%) but no patients died during the 30 day period after the operation. Pulmonary complications occurred in 20 patients (22.5%). Univariate analysis indicated that the factors significantly related to pulmonary complications were FVC

Telomeres are the specialized structures at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes. In humans and all other vertebrates, telomeric DNA consists of tandem repeats of the highly conserved G-rich sequence TTAGGG. 1–3 These repeats are thought to protect genomic DNA from degradation and deleterious recombination events. 1,2 Normal human somatic cells lose 50 to 200 bp of terminal telomeric DNA with each round of replication 4–6 because of the inability of DNA polymerase to replicate fully the ends of a linear DNA template 6–8 and presumably because of the lack of telomerase activity. 9,10 Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein enzyme that uses its own integral RNA as a template for synthesis on the TTAGGG telomeric repeats to compensate for the normal loss of telomeric repeats during cell divisions. 11 Recently, a highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based telomerase assay called the telomeric amplification protocol (TRAP) was developed to detect telomerase activity. 10,12 Using this method, telomerase activity has been found in various tissues. In cultured cells, 98% of immortal and no mortal cell populations were found to express telomerase activity. 10In vivo, telomerase activity appears to be repressed in somatic cells and tissue, except for the fact that some reproductive somatic cells revealed a low level of telomerase activity, such as epidermal cells, 13 intestinal mucosal cells, 14 peripheral blood monocytes, and hematopoietic progenitor cells. 15 In tumor tissue, telomerase activity was detected in 94% of neuroblastoma, 16 93% of colorectal cancer, 17 85% of gastric cancer, 18 and 85% of hepatocellular carcinoma specimens. 19 In lung cancer, telomerase activity was detected in almost all small cell lung cancer specimens and in approximately 80% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) specimens. 20 There has been no previous report regarding the telomerase activity and patient prognosis in NSCLC. In this study, we examined the clinical significance of the telomerase activity, especially regarding its prognostic impact in NSCLC.

Background: Recently, some studies have focused on the tumor angiogenesis and its prognostic value. We studied the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, microvessel counts, and serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor to investigate their association with clinicopathologic factors and prognosis in non-small-cell lung cancer. Methods: The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor was determined by an immunohistochemical analysis from 91 paraffin specimens of completely resected non-small-cell lung cancers using anti–growth factor polyclonal antibody. Microvessel staining was performed by immunohistochemical analysis with anti–factor VIII–related antigen polyclonal antibody. Measurement of the serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor used the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Results: Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor was detected in 48 of the 91 tumors. The positive ratio was significantly higher in patients with adenocarcinoma than in those with squamous cell carcinoma. The microvessel counts were significantly higher in the patients with nodal metastasis than in those without nodal metastasis. The serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor were also significantly higher in the patients with T3-4 disease than in those with T1-2 disease. The microvessel counts were closely associated with expression of vascular endothelial growth factor. The prognosis of patients with a positive growth factor ratio was significantly worse than that of the patients with a negative ratio ( p = 0.002), especially in squamous cell carcinoma. According to a multivariate analysis, only nodal status and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor were found to be independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor was one of the most important prognostic factors in completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer, especially in squamous cell carcinoma. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1998;115:1007-14)