Bone marrow-derived NGFR+ cells regulate arterial remodeling and those poor mobilizations in peripheral blood in acute coronary syndrome predicts plaque progression at the non-targeted lesion

Background

In our previous 5-year cohort study, we demonstrated that low gene expression of nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) in peripheral leucocytes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) predicted repetitive coronary interventions at the de novo lesions. An NGFR-positive cell has been demonstrated to reside in bone marrow (BM) stromal fraction and to be increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (MNCs) fraction in patients with ischemic heart disease.

Purpose

To investigate whether the BM-NGFR+ cell is associated with arterial remodeling and the relationship between the levels of peripheral NGFR+ cells after ACS and coronary plaque progression in an experimental and prospective clinical study.

Methods and results

In an experimental study, 8-week-old C57B6/J wild type male mice were subjected to irradiation with 9.6 Gy and transplantation with BM (BMT) isolated from GFP-transgenic NGFR wild type (WT) or knock-out (KO) mice at day 1. Four weeks after BMT, the right carotid artery was ligated for 4 weeks. Induced neointimal area was increased (p<0.05), where cells under apoptosis were decreased (p<0.05) in NGFR-KO-BMT group compared to WT-BMT group (n=4). NGFR+ cells were not detected in wild type sham-operated artery, whereas in the ligated artery in WT-BMT group NGFR+ cells assembled in the developed neointima and exclusively presented double positive with GFP, but absent in NGFR-KO-BMT group (p<0.05, n=4). In a clinical study, thirty patients with ACS who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were enrolled. The peripheral blood sample was collected on days 0, 3 and 7, and 9 months follow-up and the number of NGFR+MNCs were measured by flowcytometric analysis. The plaque volume at non-targeted coronary lesion (non-TL:>5 mm proximal or distal to the implanted stents) were quantitatively analysed using gray-scale intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and Q-IVUS™ software at the acute phase and 9 months follow-up. The number of NGFR+MNCs in peripheral blood was 1.5-fold increased at day 3 (0.064±0.056%) compared to day 0 (0.042±0.030%) (p<0.05). The change in normalized total plaque volume (TAVN) at non-TL at 9 months was negatively correlated with the number of NGFR+MNCs at day 0 (r=−0.51), day 3 (r=−0.51) and 9 months (r=−0.59) after ACS (p<0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that NGFR+MNCs at day 0 (β=−0.48, p=0.01) and CRP (β=−0.53, P<0.01) are independent factors associating with TAVN change at non-TL at 9 months, regardless of LDL-cholesterol control level. ROC analysis revealed that NGFR+MNCs <0.049 at day 0 predicted the increase of TAVN with AUC 0.78; sensitivity 0.82 and specificity 0.67.

Conclusions

Bone marrow-derived peripheral NGFR+ cells negatively regulate arterial remodeling through appropriate apoptosis of neointimal cells and the peripheral level of NGFR+ cells in ACS predicts plaque progression at the non-targeted lesion.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): KAKENHI

The surface composition of asteroid 162173 Ryugu from Hayabusa2 near-infrared spectroscopy

The near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu, the target of the Hayabusa2 sample-return mission, is thought to be a primitive carbonaceous object. We report reflectance spectra of Ryugu's surface acquired with the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on Hayabusa2, to provide direct measurements of the surface composition and geological context for the returned samples. A weak, narrow absorption feature centered at 2.72 micrometers was detected across the entire observed surface, indicating that hydroxyl (OH)-bearing minerals are ubiquitous there. The intensity of the OH feature and low albedo are similar to thermally and/or shock-metamorphosed carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. There are few variations in the OH-band position, which is consistent with Ryugu being a compositionally homogeneous rubble-pile object generated from impact fragments of an undifferentiated aqueously altered parent body.

Preparation of a novel antiserum to aromatase with high affinity and specificity: Its clinicopathological significance on breast cancer tissue

Aromatase inhibitors have been widely used for the endocrine treatment of estrogen-dependent breast cancer in postmenopausal patients. However, clinicopathological studies of aromatase have been limited due to unsatisfactory specificity and/or restricted availability of anti-aromatase antibodies. Here, we have generated a polyclonal antiserum with high affinity and specificity for human aromatase using a monoclonal antibody tagged immunoaffinity chromatography on an industrial production scale. Our preliminary immunohistochemical analysis of 221 invasive breast cancer cases indicated that 87.3% (193/221) had at least 5% aromatase positive cells. The histoscore for aromatase was inversely correlated with pT (p = 0.019), pN (p = 0.001), stage (p < 0.001), histologic grade (p = 0.003), lymphatic infiltration (p < 0.001), venous infiltration (p < 0.001), and Ki-67 index (p < 0.001). However, cancer aromatase expression was independent of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 statuses. This antiserum will be applicable to clinicopathological examination of aromatase in addition to ER and PgR for an appropriate use of aromatase inhibitor on the treatment of breast cancer. Further studies on the relationship between Aromatase inhibitors have been widely used for the endocrine treatment of estrogen-dependent breast cancer in postmenopausal patients. However, clinicopathological studies of aromatase have been limited due to unsatisfactory specificity and/or restricted availability of anti-aromatase antibodies. Here, we have generated a polyclonal antiserum with high affinity and specificity for human aromatase using a monoclonal antibody tagged immunoaffinity chromatography on an industrial production scale. Our preliminary immunohistochemical analysis of 221 invasive breast cancer cases indicated that 87.3% (193/221) had at least 5% aromatase positive cells. The histoscore for aromatase was inversely correlated with pT (p = 0.019), pN (p = 0.001), stage (p < 0.001), histologic grade (p = 0.003), lymphatic infiltration (p < 0.001), venous infiltration (p < 0.001), and Ki-67 index (p < 0.001). However, cancer aromatase expression was independent of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 statuses. This antiserum will be applicable to clinicopathological examination of aromatase in addition to ER and PgR for an appropriate use of aromatase inhibitor on the treatment of breast cancer. Further studies on the relationship between aromatase expression and aromatase inhibitors are warranted.

The role of the extracellular matrix in primary myelofibrosis

Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm that arises from clonal proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells and leads to progressive bone marrow (BM) fibrosis. While cellular mutations involved in the development of PMF have been heavily investigated, noteworthy is the important role the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays in the progression of BM fibrosis. This review surveys ECM proteins contributors of PMF, and highlights how better understanding of the control of the ECM within the BM niche may lead to combined therapeutic options in PMF.

Restoration of MYC-repressed targets mediates the negative effects of GM-CSF on RUNX1-ETO leukemogenicity

GM-CSF signaling regulates hematopoiesis and immune responses. CSF2RA, the gene encoding the α subunit for GM-CSF, is significantly downregulated in t(8;21) (RUNX1-ETO or RE) leukemia patients, suggesting that it may serve as a tumor suppressor. We previously reported that GM-CSF signaling is inhibitory to RE leukemogenesis. Here we conducted gene expression profiling of primary RE hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) treated with GM-CSF to elucidate the mechanisms mediating the negative effects of GM on RE leukemogenicity. We observed that GM treatment of RE HSPCs resulted in a unique gene expression profile that resembles primary human cells undergoing myelopoiesis, which was not observed in control HSPCs. Additionally we discovered that GM-CSF signaling attenuates MYC-associated gene signatures in RE HSPCs. In agreement with this, a functional screen of a subset of GM-CSF-responsive genes demonstrated that a MYC inhibitor, MXI1, reduced the leukemic potential of RE HSPCs and t(8;21) AML cells. Furthermore, MYC knockdown and treatment with the BET inhibitor JQ1 reduced the leukemic potential of t(8;21) cell lines. Altogether, we discovered a novel molecular mechanism mediating the GM-CSF-induced reduction in leukemic potential of RE cells, and our findings support MYC inhibition as an effective strategy for reducing the leukemogenicity of t(8;21) AML.

Analysis of individual differences in radiosensitivity using genome editing

Current standards for radiological protection of the public have been uniformly established. However, individual differences in radiosensitivity are suggested to exist in human populations, which could be caused by nucleotide variants of DNA repair genes. In order to verify if such genetic variants are responsible for individual differences in radiosensitivity, they could be introduced into cultured human cells for evaluation. This strategy would make it possible to analyse the effect of candidate nucleotide variants on individual radiosensitivity, independent of the diverse genetic background. However, efficient gene targeting in cultured human cells is difficult due to the low frequency of homologous recombination (HR) repair. The development of artificial nucleases has enabled efficient HR-mediated genome editing to be performed in cultured human cells. A novel genome editing strategy, 'transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN)-mediated two-step single base pair editing', has been developed, and this was used to introduce a nucleotide variant associated with a chromosomal instability syndrome bi-allelically into cultured human cells to demonstrate that it is the causative mutation. It is proposed that this editing technique will be useful to investigate individual radiosensitivity.

Serum ferritin level is prognostic of patient outcome in extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma, nasal type

The objective of the current study was to assess the prognostic factors in patients with extranodal natural killer (NK)/T cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKL). We retrospectively analyzed 35 patients who were diagnosed with ENKL between 1998 and 2011. The median patient age was 63 years, and the male/female ratio was 22:13; twenty patients had localized ENKL, and 26 had a good Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (score 0 or 1). B symptoms were present in 17 patients. Twenty-five patients presented with nasal or paranasal lesions, or both. With a median follow-up duration among patients still alive at their last follow-up of 47 months (range 8-93 months), the 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 44.5 %. Multivariate analysis revealed that advanced disease stage (P = 0.002), the presence of extranasal disease (P = 0.013), and serum ferritin levels greater than 300 ng/ml (P < 0.001) were significant and independent (negative) prognostic factors. High serum ferritin levels were associated with the presence of B symptoms, elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels, and high soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels, but not with clinical stage. Patients with high ferritin levels had a remarkably low remission rate (23 %) and a short OS time (median: 4 months). Serum ferritin level at the time of diagnosis of ENKL was a useful prognostic factor.

The 3q27 and 18q21 translocations for follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the rituximab era

The 3q27 and 18q21 chromosomal translocations are major hallmarks in B-cell lymphoma. We aimed to determine the frequencies of these translocations in follicular lymphoma (FL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and to evaluate their prognostic impact in the rituximab era. This study included 98 FL and 93 DLBCL patients whose abnormal karyotypes had been detected using G-banding. Patients uniformly underwent R-CHOP therapy : doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisolone, and rituximab ; survivors were followed up for 29 months (median). The 3q27 and 18q21 translocations were detected in 14 and 77 FL patients and 14 and 22 DLBCL patients, respectively. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) did not differ significantly between the groups with 3q27, 18q21, concurrent 3q27 and 18q21 translocations, and other chromosomal abnormalities for FL and DLBCL. There were no significant differences in OS and PFS between patients with 3q27 translocation-positive FL and those with 3q27 translocation-positive DLBCL or between the patients with 18q21 translocation-positive FL and those with 18q21 translocation-positive DLBCL. The presence of 3q27 and 18q21 translocations did not correlate with the clinical outcomes of FL or DLBCL patients following R-CHOP treatment.

Absolute monocyte count in follicular lymphoma patients treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone

Elevated absolute monocyte counts (AMCs) have been reported to indicate poor prognosis for patients with lymphoproliferative disease, including those with follicular lymphoma (FL) receiving various treatments. We evaluated the prognostic impact of AMC in 150 consecutive FL patients who received rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) therapy. Progression-free survival (PFS) did not differ significantly according to the AMC level. Univariate and multivariate analyses did not indicate a prognostic significance of AMC for PFS. Thus, the AMC is not a prognostic factor for FL patients treated with R-CHOP. However, immunochemotherapy might influence the prognostic impact of AMC.