Clinical progression following acellular dermal matrix use for volume replacement after breast-conserving surgery.

Background: The cosmetic outcomes of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) have recently gained increasing attention, and surgeons are exploring the use of the acellular dermal matrix (ADM) as a safe and effective method of breast reconstruction. This study evaluated the clinical progress of patients with breast cancer following the application of sheet-type ADM for breast reconstruction after BCS.

Methods: This retrospective study included 137 patients who underwent BCS using ADM at a single center between October 2019 and October 2021.

Effectiveness and safety of chlorhexidine gluconate double-cleansing for surgical site infection prevention in neonatal intensive care unit surgical patients.

Purpose: This study assessed the efficacy and safety of preoperative chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) double-cleansing in reducing the incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) in surgical patients in neonatal intensive care units.

Methods: A retrospective chart review involved 56 patients who underwent 73 surgical procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from 2013 to 2022. CHG double-cleansing involves the following 2 processes.

Development and Feasibility Evaluation of Smart Cancer Care 2.0 Based on Patient-Reported Outcomes for Post-Discharge Management of Patients with Cancer.

Purpose: A "Smart Cancer Care" platform that integrates patient-reported outcomes (PROs) with management has been established in Korea. This study focused on improving health behaviors and connecting patients to welfare services by introducing and assessing the feasibility of "Smart Cancer Care 2.0," an enhanced version designed for monitoring complications post-cancer treatment.

Anti-tumor effects of rivoceranib against canine melanoma and mammary gland tumour in vitro and in vivo mouse xenograft models.

Background: Rivoceranib, a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor, exhibits anti-tumour effects by selectively blocking vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2) in cancer cells. Recently, the therapeutic effects of rivoceranib on solid tumours have been elucidated in human patients. However, the anti-tumour effects of rivoceranib against canine cancer remain unclear.

Factors of Acute Kidney Injury Donors Affecting Outcomes of Kidney Transplantation From Deceased Donors.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the outcomes of kidney transplantation (KT) from deceased acute kidney injury (AKI) donors and analyzed the factors affecting these outcomes.

Methods: All patients who underwent KT from deceased donors at our institution from 1998 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Recipients were divided into the AKI and non-AKI donor groups.

Development of a SFTSV DNA vaccine that confers complete protection against lethal infection in ferrets.

Although the incidence of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) infection has increased from its discovery with a mortality rate of 10-20%, no effective vaccines are currently available. Here we describe the development of a SFTSV DNA vaccine, its immunogenicity, and its protective efficacy. Vaccine candidates induce both a neutralizing antibody response and multifunctional SFTSV-specific T cell response in mice and ferrets.

Mouse medulloblastoma driven by CRISPR activation of cellular Myc.

MYC-driven Group 3 (G3) medulloblastoma (MB) is the most aggressive of four molecular subgroups classified by transcriptome, genomic landscape and clinical outcomes. Mouse models that recapitulate human G3 MB all rely on retroviral vector-induced Myc expression driven by viral regulatory elements (Retro-Myc tumors). We used nuclease-deficient CRISPR/dCas9-based gene activation with combinatorial single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) to enforce transcription of endogenous Myc in Trp53-null neurospheres that were orthotopically transplanted into the brains of naïve animals.

Rapid response to an emerging infectious disease - Lessons learned from development of a synthetic DNA vaccine targeting Zika virus.

Vaccines are considered one of the greatest advances in modern medicine. The global burden of numerous infectious diseases has been significantly reduced, and in some cases, effectively eradicated through the deployment of specific vaccines. However, efforts to develop effective new vaccines against infectious pathogens such as influenza, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), dengue virus (DENV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV), Ebola virus, and Zika virus (ZIKV) have proven challenging.

Characterization of Z-DNA as a nucleosome-boundary element in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In this article, the effect of a d(CG) DNA dinucleotide repeat sequence on RNA polymerase II transcription is examined in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our previous report shows that a d(CG)n dinucleotide repeat sequence located proximally upstream of the TATA box enhances transcription from a minimal CYC1 promoter in a manner that depends on its surrounding negative supercoiling. Here, we demonstrate that the d(CG)9 repeat sequence stimulates gene activity by forming a Z-DNA secondary structure.

Biological function of the vaccinia virus Z-DNA-binding protein E3L: gene transactivation and antiapoptotic activity in HeLa cells.

The vaccinia virus (VV) E3L protein is essential for virulence and has anti-apoptotic activity. In mice, Z-DNA-binding activity of the N-terminal domain of E3L (Z alpha) is necessary for viral lethality. Here, we report that inhibition of hygromycin-B-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells depends on Z-DNA binding of the E3L Z alpha domain.

Transcriptional repression of the human p53 gene by hepatitis B viral core protein (HBc) in human liver cells.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a causative agent of chronic and acute hepatitis, and is associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We demonstrate here that the Hepatitis B viral core protein (HBc) functions as a repressor on the promoter activity of the human p53 gene. The functional analyses of the promoter of the p53 gene by serial deletion, site-directed mutagenesis, and the heterologous promoter system revealed that the promoter activity was repressed through the E2F1-binding site (nucleotides -28 to -8) by HBc.

Hepatitis B viral core protein activates the hepatitis B viral enhancer II/pregenomic promoter through the nuclear factor kappaB binding site.

We here demonstrated that the hepatitis B viral (HBV) core protein (HBc) functions as a transcriptional activator on the pregenomic promoter of HBV. Detailed analyses on the HBV pregenomic promoter by serial deletion, mutation, and heterologous promoter system showed that the site responsible for activation was the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) binding site (GGGACGTACT, nucleotides 1408-1417) upstream of the enhancer II/pregenomic promoter. The electrophoretic mobility shift assay using the HBc-transfected HepG2 nuclear extracts showed that the HBc enhanced the NF-kappaB DNA-binding ability.