PU.1 and TGF-β signaling activate the cell-surface expression of CD103 in mast cells and dendritic cells: opposite roles of GATA2 in the expression of mucosal mast cell genes.

Mucosal mast cells (MMCs) are distinguished from connective tissue mast cells (MCs) by the specific cell-surface expression of integrin CD103 (also known as integrin αE/β7; αE is encoded by Itgae) and mast cell protease 1 and 2 (Mcpt1 and Mcpt2, respectively). Although the expression of the Mcpt1 and Mcpt2 genes is cooperatively regulated by the transcription factor GATA-binding protein 2 (GATA2) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling in MMCs, the transcriptional mechanism of the cell-surface expression of CD103 remains unknown. We herein found that surface CD103 and Itgae mRNA levels were significantly increased by the knockdown (KD) of Gata2 in mouse bone marrow-derived MCs (BMMCs), which was accelerated by TGF-β stimulation.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-negative Encephalomyeloradiculopathy Diagnosed by Anti-lactosylceramide Antibody Positivity and Electrophysiological Findings: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

A 71-year-old woman developed progressive limb weakness and sensory disturbances below the thoracic level. Although myelopathy was initially considered, spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed no abnormalities. Conversely, electrophysiological studies have identified both spinal dysfunction and radiculopathy, suggesting myeloradiculopathy.

A method for determining workers' exposure concentration to airborne nitrilotriacetic acid.

Objectives: This study aimed to establish a method to determine workers' exposure concentrations to airborne nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA).

Methods: The sampler used an air sampling cassette containing a glass-fiber filter (GFF). After sampling, NTA extracted from the GFF using ultrapure water was derivatized using a boron trifluoride-methanol complex methanol solution and analyzed using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer.

Using the WHO building blocks to examine cross-border public health surveillance in MENA.

The introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations has set a global target for achieving Universal Health Coverage, requiring resilient health systems capable of addressing public health emergencies and ensuring health security. Public health surveillance, crucial for detecting and responding to infectious disease outbreaks, is key to building health system resilience. Due to the high levels of mobility and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, unique challenges arise in cross-border health surveillance.

Primary Cutaneous CD8-positive Aggressive Epidermotropic Cytotoxic T-cell Lymphoma Complicated by Paraneoplastic Encephalitis.

Primary cutaneous CD8-positive aggressive epidermotropic cytotoxic T-cell lymphoma (PCAE-CTL) is a rare subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma with a poor prognosis. We herein report a case of PCAE-CTL accompanied by anti-Ma2 antibody-positive paraneoplastic encephalitis. A 33-year-old woman with erythema and disturbance of consciousness was diagnosed with PCAE-CTL by a skin biopsy.

Prediagnostic Phase of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy in a Longitudinal Epidemiological Study of Dementia and Aging.

A 63-year-old previously healthy man participated in a longitudinal epidemiologic study of dementia and aging. Although he initially showed no subjective symptoms and a normal motor function, verbal fluency test scores gradually declined, and progressive atrophy of the frontal lobes was observed on magnetic resonance imaging of the head. At 71 years old, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) was diagnosed after supranuclear gaze palsy, and gait disturbance developed.

Transcriptional regulation of basophil-specific protease genes by C/EBPα, GATA2, TGF-β signaling, and epigenetic mechanisms.

Basophils and mast cells (MCs) play an important role in immune responses against allergens and parasitic infection. To elucidate the mechanisms that determine the commitment between basophils and mast cell (MCs), transcription factors and epigenetic modifications regulating the gene expression of basophil-specific enzymes, Mcpt8 and Mcpt11, were analyzed using bone marrow-derived (BM) cells containing basophils and MCs. Knockdown (KD) and overexpression experiments revealed that the transcription factor C/EBPα positively regulated the gene expression of Mcpt8 and Prss34 (encoding Mcpt11).

Urinary benzyl alcohol and hippuric acid in workers exposed to benzyl alcohol during paint-stripping work.

Objective: We aimed to develop a reliable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for detecting urinary benzyl alcohol (BeOH) concentrations and assess the suitability of urinary BeOH as a biomarker for occupational BeOH exposure.

Methods: Thirteen male participants exposed to BeOH during paint-stripping work provided preshift and postshift urine samples, and their personal exposure concentrations were measured. Meanwhile, a control group of 10 nonexposed workers contributed urine samples.

Crystal structure of Alzheimer's disease phospholipase D3 provides a molecular basis for understanding its normal and pathological functions.

Human 5'-3' exonuclease PLD3, a member of the phospholipase D family of enzymes, has been validated as a therapeutic target for treating Alzheimer's disease. Here, we have determined the crystal structure of the luminal domain of the enzyme at 2.3 Å resolution, revealing a bilobal structure with a catalytic site located between the lobes.

Tranexamic acid and blood loss in pancreaticoduodenectomy: TAC-PD randomized clinical trial.

Background: Tranexamic acid (TXA) may reduce intraoperative blood loss, but it has not been investigated in pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD).

Methods: A pragmatic, multicentre, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial was conducted. Adult patients undergoing planned PD for biliary, duodenal, or pancreatic diseases were randomly assigned to TXA or placebo groups.

Development of a method to determine workers' personal exposure levels to glyphosate.

Objectives: We aimed to develop a method to determine workers' personal exposure levels to N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate) for their risk assessments.

Methods: The proposed method was assessed as follows: recovery, stability of samples on storage, method limit of quantification, and reproducibility. Glyphosate in air was sampled using an air-sampling cassette containing a glass fiber filter.

Structural biology of cell surface receptors implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is a common and devastating age-related disease with no effective disease-modifying treatments. Human genetics has implicated a wide range of cell surface receptors as playing a role in the disease, many of which are involved in the production or clearance of neurotoxins in the brain. Amyloid precursor protein, a membrane-bound signaling molecule, is at the very heart of the disease: hereditary mutations in its gene are associated with a greatly increased risk of getting the disease.

Anti-Tumor Effects of MAPK-Dependent Tumor-Selective Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Armed with CD/UPRT against Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma in Mice.

Engineered vaccinia virus serves as an oncolytic virus for cancer virotherapy. We evaluated the oncolytic characteristics of - and -deleted recombinant mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent vaccinia virus (MDRVV). We found that compared with viruses with the deletion of either gene alone, MDRVV is more attenuated in normal cells and can replicate in cancer cells that exhibit constitutive ERK1/2 activation in the MAPK pathway.

Impact of chest subcutaneous fat on the occurrence of central venous port-related infectious complications in cancer patients.

Purpose: There is no concrete evidence to support the association between the amount of subcutaneous fat area (SFA) in the central venous port-insertion site (precordium) and port-related complications. We aimed to investigate the relationship between SFA in the midclavicular line and postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing port-insertion surgery.

Methods: This was a single-institute and historical cohort study of 174 patients who underwent first central venous port implantation surgery for chemotherapy between January 2014 and December 2018.

Tranexamic ACid during PancereaticoDuodenectomy (TAC-PD): study protocol for a multicentre randomised, blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Introduction: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is a major gastroenterological surgery that results in a substantial amount of blood loss. Several studies have demonstrated that major blood loss during PD is associated with both short-term and long-term poor outcomes. Administration of perioperative tranexamic acid (TXA) has been reported to reduce intraoperative blood loss in various surgeries, including cardiovascular surgery and orthopaedic surgery.

Characteristics of primary and repeated recurrent retroperitoneal liposarcoma: outcomes after aggressive surgeries at a single institution.

Objective: This study sought to investigate the characteristics of primary and repeated recurrent retroperitoneal liposarcoma.

Methods: Patients treated with primary or recurrent retroperitoneal liposarcoma between 2005 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Survival time analysis of recurrence-free survival and overall survival was conducted using Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test.

Impact of the preoperative body composition indexes on intraoperative blood loss in patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy.

Purposes: This study sought to identify any significant predictors of blood loss during pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) among preoperative variables, including the body composition indexes.

Methods: The preoperative data of patients undergoing PD were retrospectively reviewed. The objective variable was the percentage of blood loss during PD to the estimated circulating blood volume (proportional blood loss: PBL).

Impact of initial coagulation and fibrinolytic markers on mortality in patients with severe blunt trauma: a multicentre retrospective observational study.

Background: Acute coagulopathy is a well-known predictor of poor outcomes in patients with severe trauma. However, using coagulation and fibrinolytic markers, how one can best predict mortality to find out potential candidates for treatment of coagulopathy remains unclear. This study aimed to determine preferential markers and their optimal cut-off values for mortality prediction.

Improvement of the skin penetration of hydrophobic drugs by polymeric micelles.

Polymeric micelles, which form through the self-assembly of poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(amino acid) block copolymers, are systemic nanocarriers in targeted cancer therapy. These micelles can encapsulate therapeutic compounds, such as lipophilic substances, charged compounds, and metal complexes, that have characteristics of increased solubility, sustained release, and improved tissue distribution. However, few studies have been conducted on the local distribution of polymeric micelles.

Melanogenesis-Inhibitory Activities of Isomeric C-seco Limonoids and Deesterified Limonoids.

Treatment of eight C-seco limonoids including six of salannin-type, 1 - 6, and two of nimbin-type, 7 and 8, with a combination of BF · Et O and iodide ion yielded the isomeric C-seco derivatives, i.e., six isosalannins, 1a - 6a, and two isonimbins, 7a and 8a, respectively.

Limonoids from Azadirachta indica var. siamensis extracts and their cytotoxic and melanogenesis-inhibitory activities.

Six new limonoids, 7-benzoyl-17-epinimbocinol (5), 3-acetyl-7-tigloylnimbidinin (8), 1-isovaleroyl-1-detigloylsalanninolide (15), 2,3-dihydro-3α-methoxynimbolide (16), deacetyl-20,21-epoxy-20,22-dihydro-21-deoxyisonimbinolide (26), and deacetyl-20,21,22,23-tetrahydro-20,22-dihydroxy-21,23-dimethoxynimbin (27), along with 28 known limonoids, 1-4, 6, 7, 9-14, 17-25, and 28-34, and two known flavonoids, 35 and 36, have been isolated from the extracts of bark, leaves, roots, and seeds of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. var.

Cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing activities, and anti-tumor-promoting effects of cyanogenated and oxygenated triterpenes.

Two of each semisynthetic lanostane- and cycloartane-type triterpenes with a cyano-enone functionality, i.e., 13 and 18, and 23 and 28, respectively, sixteen of their synthetic intermediates, 9-12, 14-17, 19-22, and 24-27, along with seven semisynthetic oxygenated triterpene acetates, 29-35, and eight natural hydroxy triterpenes, 1-8, were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against leukemia (HL60), lung (A549), stomach (AZ521), and breast (SK-BR-3) cancer cell lines.