Immunosuppressive drugs inhibit the production of interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 in cultured cardiac myxoma cells

Cardiac myxoma cells produce large amounts of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8. To determine whether immunosuppressive agents could be used to treat cardiac myxoma, we tested the effects of dexamethasone and three of the newer second-generation immunosuppressive drugs, cyclosporin A, tacrolimus, and deoxyspergualin, on the production of IL-6 and IL-8 in these cells. Cultured cardiac myxoma cells were used as in vitro model of cardiac myxoma. Cells were tested for 24 hours with 10(-7) M dexamethasone, 10(-6) M cyclosporin A, 10(-8) M tacrolimus, and 10(-6) M 15-deoxyspergualin, with aliquots of conditioned medium being assayed for cytokine levels at 0, 6, 12, and 24 hours. Cardiac myxoma cells isolated from 4 patients all produced quantities of IL-6 and IL-8. The concentrations of IL-6 in the medium after 7 days in culture ranged from 79,000 to 2,740,000 pg/ml, and the concentrations of IL-8 ranged from 40,000 to 1,000,000 pg/ml. Exposure of cyclosporin A and dexamethasone almost completely inhibited the production of IL-6 and IL-8 after 24 hours of treatment. Tacrolimus inhibited the production of both cytokines by 55%, while 15-deoxyspergualin reduced IL-6 levels by 24% and IL-8 levels by 48% after separate 24 hour treatments. These results suggest that these newer immunosuppressive agents may be useful in reducing the production of IL-6 and IL-8 in patients with cardiac myxoma.

Angiotensin II increases plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and tissue factor mRNA expression without changing that of tissue type plasminogen activator or tissue factor pathway inhibitor in cultured rat aortic endothelial cells

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) have been reported to prevent the recurrence of cardiovascular events. The mechanism of this decrease, however, can not be completely explained by anti-hypertensive and anti-hypertrophic effects of ACE-I. To investigate the mechanism of this decrease, we studied the regulation of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tissue type plasminogen activator (TPA), tissue factor (TF), and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) by angiotensin II (Ang II) in cultured rat aortic endothelial cells. Ang II increased PAI-1 and TF mRNA expression without affecting that of TPA or TFPI. These inductions were accompanied by increases in PAI-1 and TF activities and were inhibited by a type I Ang II receptor antagonist. The results suggest that Ang II decreases the antithrombotic properties of endothelial cells which increases the chance of thrombosis. Thus, inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system may be beneficial to prevent thrombus formation in treatment of ischemic heart disease.

Effect of nicotine on the intimal hyperplasia after endothelial removal of the rabbit carotid artery

1. The present experiments were designed to investigate the effect of long-term oral nicotine (10 mg/200 ml/kg/day for 7 weeks) on the intimal hyperplasia after endothelial removal of the rabbit carotid artery. 2. The plasma concentrations of nicotine were determined to be 11.7-12.5 ng/ml during the term of administration and corresponded to the plasma levels in human smokers. 3. Six weeks after the endothelial removal, light microscopy revealed a marked intimal hyperplasia. Administration of nicotine tended to accelerate the intimal hyperplasia, which was estimated by comparing the histological findings, DNA content and wet weight of the vessel wall. 4. Acetylcholine- and A23187-induced endothelium-dependent relaxations were greatly impaired in the hyperplastic artery strips. The impairment of relaxations tended to be accelerated in the nicotine group. Sodium nitroprusside-induced relaxation was not different between the control and the hyperplastic artery strips and remained unaffected in the nicotine group. 5. The concentrations of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) synthesis inhibitors, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) and asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine (ADMA) were significantly more increased in the regenerated endothelial cells compared with those in the control endothelial cells. The concentrations of L-NMMA and ADMA in the regenerated endothelial cells were significantly increased by as much as 1.3 x 10(-6) and 5.6 x 10(-7) M, respectively, in the nicotine group. 6. Immunoreactive endothelin-1 was significantly increased in the hyperplastic vessel wall (2.4 times that of the control) in 6 weeks. Administration of nicotine tended to increase the level. 7. It seems possible to assume from these results that, although, under the present experimental conditions, nicotine exhibited a tendency to accelerate the intimal hyperplasia after endothelial removal, the longer exposure to nicotine or a higher dose of the agent or both would significantly accelerate the intimal hyperplasia through the enhanced impairment of endothelium-derived relaxing factor/ NO production, which might be brought about by the enhanced increases in L-NMMA and ADMA concentrations, and the enhanced increase in endothelin-1 in the vessel wall.

Prognostic factors for renal cell carcinoma: a multivariate analysis of 320 cases

BACKGROUND

We performed a multivariate analysis of clinical variables in 320 patients with renal cell carcinoma to identify important prognostic factors for long-term survival.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 320 patients who presented with renal cell carcinoma. Survival curves were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and statistical differences were determined by the log-rank test. Significant prognostic factors were evaluated by Cox's multivariate proportional hazard model.

RESULTS

The median follow-up period was 29 months. The overall survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 years were 90.0%, 77.6%, and 69.9%, respectively. Seventeen of the 19 prognostic factors evaluated were shown to be significant by the log-rank test: patient age, sex, performance status, body temperature, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), levels of hemoglobin, alpha 2-globulin, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP), size or involvement of tumor (T classification), regional lymph node involvement (N classification), extent of metastasis (M classification), pathologic grade, tumor cell type, mode of tumor infiltration, and the modality of treatment (curative surgery). Among them, the body temperature, ESR, alpha 2-globulin, fibrinogen, IAP, and mode of tumor infiltration were excluded from multivariate analysis because of missing data. Curative surgery was also excluded because it is a treatment modality and different from the other variables which are clinical or pathologic characteristics. From the remaining 10 variables, multivariate analysis showed that age (P = 0.0389), N classification (P = 0.0289), and M classification (P < 0.0001) were important and independent prognostic factors for long survival.

CONCLUSION

This analysis showed that age, N classification, and M classification were the most important factors predicting long-term survival of patients with renal cell carcinoma.

A possible role of endogenous inhibitor for nitric oxide synthesis in the bovine ciliary muscle

The present experiments were designed to investigate the possible role of endogenous methylarginine derivatives such as NG-monomethyl-L-arginine, asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine and symmetrical NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-arginine for the nitric oxide synthesis in the bovine ciliary muscle. The contents of asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine and symmetrical NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-arginine in the bovine ciliary muscle were determined to be 370.2 +/- 27.6 (n = 5) and 182.4 +/- 22.9 (n = 5) pmoles g-1 wet weight, respectively by means of the automated high-performance liquid chromatography. NG-Monomethyl-L-arginine was below the assay limits. On the basis of the total tissue water content (0.792 +/- 0.006 ml g-1 wet weight, n = 14), the concentrations of asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine and symmetrical NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-arginine were tentatively estimated to be (4.7 +/- 0.3) x 10(-7) M (n = 5) and (2.3 +/- 0.3) x 10(-7) M (n = 5), respectively. A23187 (10(-7)-3 x 10(-4) M) produced a concentration-dependent relaxation of the ciliary muscle strips which had been contracted with 10(-5) M carbachol. Authentic asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine (3 x 10(-6)-3 x 10(-4) M), but not symmetrical NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-arginine (3 x 10(-4) M), inhibited the 10(-6) M A23187-induced relaxation in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibition with asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine (10(-4) M) was reversed by an addition of 3 x 10(-3) M L-arginine, but not by 3 x 10(-3) M D-arginine. The A23187 (10(-6) M)-induced relaxation was enhanced by 3 x 10(-3) M L-arginine or superoxide dismutase (50 U ml-1), whereas it was inhibited by carboxy-PTIO (3 x 10(-4) M), a scavenger of nitric oxide, or methylene blue (10(-5) M), an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase. The carbachol-induced contraction was enhanced by asymmetrical, NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine (10(-5) M) and inhibited by 3 x 10(-3) M L-arginine. Any effect of prostanoid formation during the A23187-induced relaxation was ruled out by using indomethacin (10(-5) M). Sodium nitroprusside (10(-5) M), a donor of nitric oxide, also produced a relaxation, which was inhibited by methylene blue (10(-5) M) or carboxy-PTIO (3 x 10(-4) M) and was augmented by superoxide dismutase (50 U ml-1), but unaffected by asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine (3 x 10(-4) M) or L-arginine (3 x 10(-3) M). These results lead us to speculate that the nitric oxide synthesized endogenously from L-arginine may play a role for mediating relaxation of the bovine ciliary muscle and that the endogenous asymmetrical NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine may be involved in inhibiting the biosynthesis of nitric oxide when there are increased intracellular concentrations of the methylarginine under certain circumstances.

Differences in sialic acid-galactose linkages in the chicken egg amnion and allantois influence human influenza virus receptor specificity and variant selection

Human influenza viruses are more efficiently isolated by inoculating patient samples into the amniotic rather than the allantoic cavity of embryonated chicken eggs. This type of cultivation selects virus variants with mutations around the hemagglutinin (HA) receptor binding site. To understand the molecular basis of these phenomena, we investigated the abundances of sialic acid (SA) linked to galactose (Gal) by the alpha-2,3 linkage (SA alpha2,3Gal) and SA alpha2,6Gal in egg amniotic and allantoic cells and in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Using SA-Gal linkage-specific lectins (Maackia amurensis agglutinin specific for SA alpha2,6Gal and Sambucus nigra agglutinin specific for SA alpha2,3Gal), we found SA alpha2,3Gal in both allantoic and amniotic cells and SA alpha2,6Gal in only the amniotic cells. MDCK cells contained both linkages. To investigate how this difference in abundances of SA alpha2,3Gal and SA alpha2,6Gal in allantoic and amniotic cells affects the appearance of host cell variants in eggs, we determined the receptor specificities and HA amino acid sequences of two different patient viruses which were isolated and passaged in the amnion or in the allantois and which were compared with MDCK cell-grown viruses. We found that the viruses maintained high SA alpha2,6Gal specificities when grown in MDCK cells or following up to two amniotic passages; however, further passages in either the amnion or allantois resulted in the acquisition of, or a complete shift to, SA alpha2,3Gal specificity, depending on the virus strain. This change in receptor specificity was accompanied by the appearance of variants in the population with Leu-to-Gln mutations at position 226 in their HA. These findings suggest that lack of SA alpha2,6Gal linkages in the allantois of chicken eggs is a selective pressure for the appearance of host cell variants with altered receptor specificities and amino acid changes at position 226.

Genetic analysis in Japanese kindreds of congenital type I antithrombin deficiency causing thrombosis

We have identified two novel minor deletions (case 1; -TA or -AT at nucleotide 9831-3 in exon 5 and case 2; -A at nucleotide 7640-1 in exon 4), one novel nonsense mutation (case 3; TAT to TAA at nucleotide 7491 in exon 4), and one recurrent nonsense mutation (case 4; CGA to TGA at nucleotide 5381 in exon 3A) in Japanese kindreds with congenital type I antithrombin deficiency. The deletion detected in case 1 represented a symmetric element (CTCTGTCTC) and possessed a direct repeat (CTCTATGTCTC). The deletion in case 2 was recognized in a consensus sequence (TGAAT) and possessed a direct repeat (GATGAA). The nonsense mutation in case 3 formed a palindrome (CCGTTAACGG) and that in case 4 was caused by a CpG dinucleotide mutation. These results confirm that the mutations of congenital type I antithrombin deficiency are not random events but are influenced strongly by DNA sequences.

Chronic blockade of nitric oxide synthesis increases urinary endothelin-1 excretion

OBJECTIVES

Our objective was to determine the effect of nitric oxide (NO) inhibition on renal synthesis of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in vivo.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Rats were administered 500 mg/l NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) in their drinking water or its vehicle for 2 weeks (2W-L-NAME, n = 10; 2W-CONT, n = 10) or for 6 weeks (6W-L-NAME, n = 13; 6W-CONT, n = 11). We measured the levels of albumin, NO metabolites and ET-1 both in their blood and in 24 h urine samples, and determined the expression of preproET-1 messenger RNA in the renal cortex and the inner medulla. We also examined renal histology.

RESULTS

L-NAME administration for 6 weeks reduced NO metabolites both in serum (21.5 versus 3.66 nmol/ml in 6W-CONT) and in urine (5.72 versus 22.53 nmol/24 h in 6W-CONT), raised the systolic blood pressure (228 versus 162 mmHg in 6W-CONT), and the increased urinary excretion of albumin (24.29 +/- 11.66 versus 0.60 +/- 0.08 mg/day in 6W-CONT) and of ET-1 (112.0 +/- 38.3 versus 35.8 +/- 4.4 pg/day in 6W-CONT). There were no significant differences between the plasma levels of ET-1 in the control and L-NAME groups. Expression of preproET-1 messenger RNA increased in the renal cortex but not in the inner medulla in the 6W-L-NAME group. Bleeding and marked arteriolar narrowing were observed in the renal cortex of the 6W-L-NAME group.

CONCLUSIONS

Prolonged inhibition of NO synthesis increases urinary excretion of ET-1 and albumin without having any effect on plasma ET-1 levels. These results do not support the hypothesis that NO plays an inhibitory role in the regulation of ET-1 in the systemic circulation, although it is possible that such a role could exist in renal tissue. However, in view of the albuminuria, a more likely explanation is that increased urinary ET-1 is secondary to L-NAME-induced renal hyperfiltration injury.

Swine influenza virus strains recognize sialylsugar chains containing the molecular species of sialic acid predominantly present in the swine tracheal epithelium

We determined the ratio of N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) to N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) in swine respiratory epithelia by fluorometric high-performance liquid chromatography, and examined the binding specificity of swine influenza virus strains for gangliosides containing different molecular species of sialic acid (Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc), and for bovine erythrocyte sialoglycoprotein 2 (GP-2) containing Neu5Gc as its predominate sialic acid (96% of total sialic acids). The presence of Neu5Gc, which had not been detected in human tracheal epithelia, and Neu5Ac in swine tracheal epithelia was observed in a 1:1 ratio. The swine influenza virus H1 and H3 isolates tested, except for A/swine/Iowa/15/30 (H1N1), displayed a marked binding ability for sialylsugar chains containing Neu5Gc compared with that of the human influenza virus strains. These results suggest that swine influenza viruses recognize sialylsugar chains containing the molecular species of sialic acid present predominantly in the swine tracheal epithelium.

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the cDNA for the mouse counterpart to adult hamster liver purified growth inhibitory factor

A cDNA clone encoding the mouse counterpart to adult hamster liver purified growth inhibitory factor (PGIF) was isolated from a mouse liver cDNA library by using antibodies raised against PGIF and sequenced. It contained a single open reading frame with a coding capacity for a 323 amino acid protein. Sequence analysis showed that it shared high homology with rat- and human liver arginases: the cDNA clone was 92% identical for rat arginase at the nucleotide level and was 93% identical to it at the deduced amino acid level. These results suggest that PGIF derived from adult hamster liver was identical or closely related to an isoform of hamster liver arginases.

Immunogenetic study of sympathetic ophthalmia

Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) is very rare but it remains one of the most intractable eye diseases. In clinical manifestations and histopathologic features SO is known to resemble closely Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada's disease (VKH disease). We had reported that VKH disease was significantly associated with HLA-DRB1*04 and -DQB1*04 in Japanese patients. In this study, to investigate an HLA association with SO we performed HLA serological and PCR-based DNA typing in 16 patients and 50 healthy controls. Our study revealed that HLA-DRB1*04 (0405; Pc < 5 x 10(-4)), DQA1*03 (Pc < 5 x 10(-3)), and DQB1*04 (0401; Pc < 5 x 10(-4)) were significantly associated with SO as compared to the healthy controls but there was no significant difference in the frequencies of any DPB1 alleles between the patients and healthy controls. It can be postulated that not only the clinical manifestations but also the genetic predisposition of SO are very similar to those of VKH disease.

[Study of directional differences on static and stress urethral pressure profiles of female urethra]

PURPOSE

We investigated the female continence mechanisms by comparing directional differences of static and stress urethral pressure profiles (UPP) in urinary continent females with those in stress incontinent females. Also, the mechanisms of bladder neck suspension were investigated by comparing directional differences of UPP pre- and post-operatively.

METHODS

UPP at rest and under stress were recorded by means of double lumens microtip transducer catheter in 21 females without urinary incontinence (normal group) and 38 females with stress urinary incontinence (SUI group). And UPP were recorded pre- and postoperatively in 19-females of SUI group who had surgical cure of SUI (ope group). These measurements were performed on the urethral directions (anterior-direction of symphysis pubis, lateral and posterior) to which the pressure sensor in the catheter were pointed. Pressure transmission ratios (PTR) were calculated in each quartile dividing functional urethral length (FUL) into four equal lengths. We compared the parameters (the maximum urethral closure pressure = MUCP, FUL and PTR) when the sensor lies at the anterior, lateral and posterior direction in each group. The parameters in normal group were compared with those in SUI group in each direction and those in ope group were, compared pre- and postoperatively.

RESULTS

In all groups, MUCP is always highest in the anterior direction but FUL shows no differences in the three directions. In all directions, MUCP and FUI are higher in the normal group than in the SUI group and there is no significant change in MUCP and FUL following successful bladder neck suspension. In the normal group, PTR of anterior, lateral and posterior urethra were approximately equal, but SUI group patients demonstrated significantly decreased PTR in the lateral and posterior urethra in comparison with PTR observed in the anterior urethra. Also, PTR of the anterior urethra in the SUI group approximates that in the normal group but PTR of the lateral and posterior urethra are lower in the SUI group than in the normal group. In the ope group, in the proximal three-quarters of the FUL, PTR in the lateral and posterior urethra approximated to those in the anterior urethra postoperatively.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that urethral support is destructed in the SUI group as mentioned in DeLancey's hammock hypothesis and lateral and posterior weakness were corrected by bladder neck suspension. Bladder neck suspension restored the continence by constructing posterior support of urethra as the substitution for destructed urethral support.

Lipophorin density variation during oogenesis on Rhodnius prolixus

The density of lipophorin was determined in adult females of Rhodnius prolixus on different days after a meal. Several populations od lipoproteins, differing in density but always in the range of HDL, were found in the hemolymph. The density of the major population was analyzed and a complex profile of density variation was found associated with the principal metabolic events in these insects digestion and oogenesis. During the initial three days after the blood meal, with the onset of the digestive process, the density of lipophorin decreased from 1.1185 g/l to 1.1095 g/l, associated with the transfer of lipids from midgut to the lipophorin particles. During the period of intense vitellogenesis and lipid uptake by the ovary, the lipophorin density started to increase and reached the value, 1.1322 g/l, and remained stable up to the end of oogenesis. As soon as the requirement of lipids to build up the oocytes ceased, the density of lipophorin decreased to its initial value associated with the transfer of lipids from fat body to lipophorin. Soon after the blood meal the midgut was the main source of lipids capable of replenishing the lipophorin particles, while the fat body assumed this function during the succeeding days and reached its maximum capacity around day 10, as estimated by the rate of lipid transfer. The principal lipids transferred were phospholipids and diacylglycerols. Except in the protein/lipid ratio no major changes were observed among different lipids isolated from lipophorin of different densities.

The presence of h2-calponin in human keratinocyte

Calponin (h1 isoform) was characterized as a smooth muscle specific, actin-, tropomyosin-, calmodulin-binding protein and described as a factor which inhibits contraction. H2-calponin, encoded by a different gene from h1-calponin, was identified from the smooth muscles of mouse and pig. However, non-muscle calponin analogues have recently been reported in rat and pig brains. Here we show the presence of calponin expressed in human skin tissue and in cultured human keratinocytes using polyclonal antibodies to bovine aortic smooth muscle calponin. Western blot analysis demonstrated that calponin with a molecular weight around 36,000 existed in extracts of keratinocytes. Immunofluorescence microscopy displayed the localization of calponin in the cytoplasm of the basal cells in situ, and along the cell-to-cell borders in cultured human keratinocytes maintained in standard calcium medium. Furthermore, according to RT-PCR analysis using human h1- and h2-calponin-specific primers, calponin expressed by cultured human keratinocytes was identified as the h2 isoform. We demonstrated the presence of h2-calponin in human keratinocytes, and it might play a role in the structural organization of actin cytoskeleton at the cytoplasmic region of cell-to-cell junctions of keratinocytes.

Internal tissue displacement measurement based on ultrasonic wave Doppler signal digital detection and its application to fetal movement monitoring

We have developed a fetal movement monitoring system based on small displacement measurement of internal tissues. When ultrasonic pulses are transmitted to the fetus, the reflected ultrasonic waves which have a Doppler frequency shift due to the fetal movements are detected by using an ultrasonic pulsed Doppler technique. In this paper, we propose a displacement measurement method for internal tissues which is based on the Doppler signal digital detection technique. In the method, the received ultrasonic RF signals are sampled with a sampling frequency of four times higher than the centre frequency of the ultrasonic waves; the Doppler frequency shift signals are derived using digital signal processing. From the detected signals, the internal displacements are estimated using the arc-tangent method. The basic algorithm of the detection method has already been used in the area of blood flow sensing, however, we apply the algorithm to the displacement measurement of internal tissues. The comparison between the proposed method and the conventional method is presented. The fetal movement quantitative monitoring system based on the method which has been constructed is shown.

Laparoscopic adrenalectomy for nonfunctioning adrenal tumors

Thirteen patients who underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy for nonfunctioning adrenal tumors were compared with seven patients who underwent open adrenalectomy. Although a longer operating time was required for laparoscopic surgery, postoperative recovery was significantly more rapid. Performance of adrenalectomy for nonfunctioning adrenal tumors is controversial, but we cannot exclude the possibility of malignancy and the potential for hormone overproduction by presumably nonfunctioning small tumors. The minimally invasive nature of laparoscopic surgery may widen the indications for adrenalectomy in patients with nonfunctioning adrenal tumors.

Isolation of a calcium-binding phosphoprotein from the oocytes and hemolymph of the blood-sucking insect Rhodnius prolixus

A novel calcium-binding phosphoprotein was isolated from the oocytes of the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus. This protein exhibits an apparent molecular mass of 18 kDa on gel filtration, but migrates as an 8-kDa band on N-[2-hydroxy-1,1-bis(hydroxymethyl)ethyl]glycine/SDS-polyacrylamide gels. It has a high content of serine (24% of the total number of residues), and phosphoserine is the sole amino acid phosphorylated in vivo. A similar protein was partially purified from the hemolymph. It resembles the oocyte form of the protein in its NH2-terminal sequence and its ability to be taken up by growing ovaries. 45Ca binding to the oocyte phosphoprotein was determined after SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by blotting on nitrocellulose membranes. Titration of Ca2+-binding sites shows a high capacity (approximately 50 mol/mol of protein), but a low affinity (K0.5 congruent with 10(-3) M). Based on these characteristics, we have named this protein Rhodnius calcium-binding phosphoprotein. It resembles phosvitin, a phosphoprotein present in the oocytes of nonmammalian vertebrates.

Expression of 47 kDa heat shock protein (HSP47) during development of mouse cornea

The 47-kDa heat shock protein (HSP47) is assumed to be a molecular chaperone specific to collagen. We examined and compared the expression patterns of HSP47 and alpha 1(I) collagen in the developing mouse cornea. Expression of HSP47 and alpha 1(I) collagen mRNAs was assessed by Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization, and that of HSP47 protein was determined by Western immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. HSP47 mRNA and protein were expressed strongly in early embryonic ocular tissues and were developmentally down-regulated during ocular development. Both were distributed in the mesenchymal cells (presumptive corneal stroma, sclera and choroid) and hyaloid blood vessels until post-natal day 14. The level of alpha 1(I) collagen mRNA increased during ocular development, was maximally expressed in the three days after birth, and was detected in mesenchymal cells. HSP47 expression is regulated developmentally toward completion and plays an important role during ocular development especially in corneal morphogenesis. We discuss here the relation between expression of HSP47 and alpha 1(I) collagen.

Sulphatide binds to human and animal influenza A viruses, and inhibits the viral infection

We found, by using a virus overlay assay, that influenza A virus isolates bind to sulphatide (HSO3-Gal beta 1-->1'Cer), which has no sialic acid residue, and that the infection of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells with the human influenza virus A/Memphis/1/71 (H3N2) is inhibited by sulphatide. A/Memphis/1/71 (H3N2) causes obvious haemagglutination and low-pH haemolysis of asialoerythrocytes reconstituted with sulphatide. All influenza A virus isolates from the species of animals so far tested bound to sulphatide. The sulphatide-binding specificity of the isolates was different from the viral sialyl-linkage specificity. Influenza A virus isolates also bound to galactosyl ceramide (GalCer; Gal beta 1-->1'Cer), as well as sulphatide, in the virus overlay assays. In contrast, the influenza virus did not bind to N-deacyl, a derivative of sulphatide, glucosyl ceramide or the other neutral glycolipids tested. These results indicate that the linkage of galactose, or sulphated galactose, to ceramide is important for viral binding.

Aortic intimal sarcoma with acute myocardial infarction

An autopsy case of aortic sarcoma who died of acute myocardial infarction caused by coronary involvement is reported. The patient was a 54 year old woman who was admitted because of an undiagnosed fever and general fatigue of 6 months duration. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a tumor in the aortic arch. Total aortic arch replacement was performed. It was diagnosed as a malignant mesenchymal tumor of the aorta. The patient died of acute myocardial infarction 10 months after the operation. At autopsy, the tumor had invaded the luminal surface and intima of the proximal anastomosis (the remnant ascending aorta and the graft), the aortic valves, the distal anastomosis (surgical line of the thoracic aorta plus the graft), and the coronary arteries. The left main coronary artery showed complete obstruction by fibrin thrombus with tumor invasion in the intima, which was responsible for acute myocardial infarction. Primitive and bizarre tumor cells proliferated with many slit-like tissue spaces. Most of the tumor except for its luminal surface showed necrosis. Ultrastructurally, there were spaces between tumor cells, suggesting lumen formation, and some of them had microvilli. This sarcoma was considered to be the so-called aortic intimal sarcoma.