Isolation and characterization of cDNA encoding mouse RNA polymerase II subunit RPB14

By means of the yeast two-hybrid system using the 40-kDa subunit of mouse RNA polymerase I, mRPA40, as the bait, we isolated a mouse cDNA which encoded a protein with significant homology in amino acid sequence to the 12.5-kDa subunit of Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNA polymerase II, B12.5 (RPB11). Specific antibody raised against the recombinant protein that was derived from the cDNA reacted with a 14-kDa polypeptide in highly purified mammalian RNA polymerase II and did not react with any subunit of RNA polymerase I or III. Moreover, the antibody co-immunoprecipitated the largest subunit of mouse RNA polymerase II. These results provide biochemical evidence that the cDNA isolated, named mRPB14, encodes a specific subunit of RNA polymerase II, and indicate that the subunit organization of the enzyme is conserved between yeast and mouse. A possible role of the alpha-motif [Dequard-Chablat, M., Riva, M., Carles, C. and Sentenac, A., J. Biol. Chem. 266 (1991) 15300-15307] in the protein-protein interaction between mRPA40 and mRPB14 is also discussed.

Long-term outcome in double-vessel coronary artery disease in Japanese patients

The long-term (average: 10 years) outcome in 220 patients with double-vessel disease (DVD) treated medically was investigated. The patients underwent coronary angiography between September 1973 and February 1984, and significant (75% or more) stenosis was detected in each of two major coronary arteries. These patients showed relatively good 5-year and 10-year survival rates of 94.5% and 87.4%, respectively. Cardiac death occurred in 31 patients (14.1%) and nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) developed in 16 patients (7.3%) during follow-up. When these were defined as cardiac events, the annual attrition rate was 3.1%. A comparison of the outcome with regard to the presence or absence of MI revealed worse results for the MI group, but no difference was observed between different sites of infarction. There was also no difference in outcome with regard to the presence or absence of lesions in the left anterior descending artery (LAD). In the MI group, patients with impaired left ventricular function (ejection fraction < or = 40%) had inferior survival to those with good left ventricular function. Thus, DVD associated with good left ventricular function had a relatively good outcome when treated medically, while patients with impaired left ventricular function might benefit from revascularization.

Long-term follow-up study of anterior decompression and fusion for thoracic myelopathy resulting from ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament

STUDY DESIGN

This was a retrospective study of the results of anterior decompression and fusion in patients with thoracic myelopathy secondary to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament with a minimum follow-up time of 5 years.

OBJECTIVES

To clarify the effectiveness and limits of anterior decompression and fusion for thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Posterior decompression for the surgical management of thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament has had an uncertain success record. Anterior decompression and fusion have been considered the treatment of choice however, there are few reports describing the long-term results.

METHODS

The participants in this investigation were 33 patients whose cases were followed for an average period of 8 years and 2 months. The factors that were investigated included changes in the Japanese Orthopedic Association score and in recovery rates, postoperative complications, and radiographic findings of bone union and progression of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament within the area of anterior decompression.

RESULTS

Although the recovery rates were relatively stable from 1-5 years after surgery, the rates declined thereafter. The average recovery rate at the final follow-up visit was 53.2%. Postoperative complications included three cases of deterioration of thoracic myelopathy and four cases of extrapleural cerebrospinal fluid leakage. Except for the one case of deterioration of thoracic myelopathy, the remainder of the complications were transient.

CONCLUSIONS

Anterior decompression and fusion is an effective surgical procedure for thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament with good, stable, long-term results; when thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament was extensive or coincident with ossification of the intraspinal ligament, however, the results were not as predictable.

A case of isolated growth hormone (GH) deficiency with compound heterozygous abnormality at the GH-1 gene locus

We report a Japanese boy with IGHD who is a compound heterozygote at the GH-1 gene locus. The patient and his mother were heterozygous for a 6.7 kb deletion of the GH-1 gene. A T-->C transition at position -123, an A-->G transition at position -6 and an A-->T transition at position -1 in the GH-1 promoter region and the addition of AGAA at base 250 in intron I were observed in one allele of the patient and his father. These results demonstrate that familial IGHD is a heterogeneous disease that perturbs different steps in the expression of the GH-1 gene.

No genetic mutation in type II 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase gene in patients with biochemical evidence of enzyme deficiency

Nonclassic or the mild form of 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (NC3 beta-HSD) deficiency is an entity which is identified with typical features of premature pubarche, hirsutism, or oligomenorrhea. In this study, type II 3 beta-HSD gene from 4 girls who were diagnosed as NC3 beta-HSD deficient, base on the adrenal steroidogenic responses to ACTH, was analyzed to determine whether NC3 beta-HSD deficiency was an allelic variant of classical 3 beta-HSD deficiency by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). We could not detect any alterations of type II 3 beta-HSD gene from these patients. Our result strongly suggests that unlike classical 3 beta-HSD deficiency, NC3 beta-HSD deficiency may be secondary adrenal biosynthetic defects, rather than dual inherited deficiencies.

Mouse RNA polymerase I 16-kDa subunit able to associate with 40-kDa subunit is a homolog of yeast AC19 subunit of RNA polymerases I and III

We have previously isolated a mouse RPA40 (mRPA40) cDNA encoding the 40-kDa subunit of mouse RNA polymerase I and demonstrated that mRPA40 is a mouse homolog of the yeast subunit AC40, which is a subunit of RNA polymerases I and III, having a limited homology to bacterial RNA polymerase subunit alpha (Song, C. Z., Hanada, K., Yano, K., Maeda, Y., Yamamoto, K., and Muramatsu, M. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 26976-26981). In an extension of the study we have now cloned mouse RPA16 (mRPA16) cDNA encoding the 16-kDa subunit of mouse RNA polymerase I by a yeast two-hybrid system using mRPA40 as a bait. The deduced amino acid sequence shows 45% identity to the yeast subunit AC19 of RNA polymerases I and III, known to associate with AC40, and a local similarity to bacterial alpha subunit. We have shown that mRPA40 mutants failed to interact with mRPA16 and that neither mRPA16 nor mRPA40 can interact by itself in the yeast two-hybrid system. These results suggest that higher eukaryotic RNA polymerase I conserves two distinct alpha-related subunits that function to associate with each other in an early stage of RNA polymerase I assembly.

Classification and treatment of axis body fractures

We have classified 31 cases of axis body fracture by the type of bony injury depicted in radiographic images into the following four types: avulsion, transverse, burst, and sagittal fractures. The results of treatment in these types were retrospectively analyzed. In all of nine cases of avulsion fracture and two cases of transverse fracture, bone union was obtained by nonoperative treatment. All three cases of burst fracture healed, one by nonoperative treatment, and the remaining two by C2/3 anterior interbody fusion. Bone union was also obtained in all of the 17 cases of sagittal fracture, which included nonoperative treatment in 15 cases, and transoral atlanto-axial fusion in the remaining two cases. because many axis body fractures are inherently stable injuries, the authors normally select nonoperative treatment as initial therapy. However, in sagittal fractures, eight patients had sequelae of nuchal pain caused by osteoarthrosis of the atlanto-axial joint. As a result of these findings, the authors deem it appropriate to utilize atlanto-axial fusion when severe malalignment of the atlanto-axial joint is recognized.

Molecular cloning of a human neuroD from a neuroblastoma cell line specifically expressed in the fetal brain and adult cerebellum

Several neuron-specific cDNAs were identified using large-scale collection of 3'-directed partial cDNA sequences from a human neuroblastoma cell line. One of such cDNAs encoded a protein homologous to the mouse NeuroD. The mouse NeuroD, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein seems to function as a differentiation factor for neurogenesis, as the gene is transiently expressed in postmitoic differentiating neurons. The human counterpart has a bHLH domain completely identical to that of the mouse NeuroD. But its expression was not only in the fetal brain but also in the adult cerebellum. The result of cross-species in situ hybridization also showed the transcripts were detected in the granule cell layer of the adult mouse cerebellum. The results suggest that the human as well as the mouse neuroD may play some important functions not only in the fetal brain but also in the fetal brain but also in the matured neurons of the cerebellum.

Identification and cloning of neuroblastoma-specific and nerve tissue-specific genes through compiled expression profiles

An expression profile of active genes in a human neuroblastoma cell line CHP134 was obtained by collecting 1222 partial sequences from a 3'-directed cDNA library representing a non-biased mRNA population. By comparing this expression profile with the compiled profiles of multiple tissues, several novel gene transcripts that appeared only in the profile of the neuroblastoma cell line were identified. Further analyses by Northern blotting revealed two specific cDNA clones that are expressed in most of the human neuroblastomas examined, and three that are in some of the human neuroblastoma cell lines as well as in the adult human brain. Full-size cDNAs were cloned using these five partial cDNA sequences as probes and sequenced. A database search revealed that they are all novel and unique sequences: one sharing some amino acid sequence similarities with a cytoskeletal protein, two clones likely to be transcriptional factors, a clone that has characteristic potassium channel properties, and a clone that is non-homologous to any one of the known proteins. Thus, we argue that the collection of 3'-directed cDNA sequences in combination with the compiled expression profiles of active genes in multiple tissues is a powerful tool for discovering novel genes that are specifically expressed in a given cell or tissue, in this case neuroblastomas and/or nerve tissue.

Growth response to growth hormone therapy in patients with different degrees of growth hormone deficiency

Growth response to GH therapy in prepubertal patients with idiopathic GH deficiency (GHD) was analyzed in terms of the chronological age at the start of GH treatment and the GH secretory capacity, by using the large database provided by the International Cooperative Growth Study (ICGS) Japan. 1192 patients, aged from 3 to 10 years were divided into three groups with the following maximum GH values in GH stimulation tests: Group A: both < or = 5 ng/ml, group B: both 5-10 ng/ml, group C: one > 10 ng/ml. Analysis of age-related growth response using with delta height SDS (delta height SDS) as a response variable revealed that the group A patients responded better to GH, while there was no differences between the other groups. Simple and multiple regression analysis showed that IGF-I and chronological age (CA) negatively correlated with growth response, and target height SDS-height SDS positively correlated. These three most important predictors accounted for 49% of the variation in the growth response in group A, whereas six variables such as CA, frequency of GH injection, % overweight, GH dose, target height-height SDS, and pretreatment height velocity SDS accounted for only 28% of those in groups of B and C. These results lead us to conclude that growth response to GH is related to the degree of GH impairment with its cut-off level of 5 ng/ml. From these findings it might be suggested that treatment regimen should be tailored to individual requirements according to the degree of GHD.

Zinc and growth

Zinc is an essential nutrients and plays an important role in growth and sexual function. Zinc deficiency has been known to cause growth retardation and hypogonadism. Several mechanisms of growth retardation and hypogonadism due to zinc deficiency have been suggested. Zinc affects growth hormone (GH) metabolism. Conversely, GH affects zinc metabolism. Zinc deficiency may result in reduced GH production and/or insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Zinc deficiency may also affect bone metabolism and gonadal function. The interrelationships among zinc, growth, gonadal function, and GH-IGF-I axis appears to be complex.

Anterior decompression and fusion for ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the upper thoracic spine causing myelopathy: using the manubrium splitting approach

The effectiveness and problems associated with the operation of anterior decompression and fusion using the manubrium splitting approach for thoracic myelopathy due to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) of the upper thoracic spine carried out in nine patients was investigated. They were followed up for 1 year or more following the operation. The severity of the thoracic myelopathy was evaluated using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association score, and the surgical outcome was evaluated using recovery rates. This study includes investigation of the surgical outcome and of any postoperative complications, and radiographic observation of bony union and the progression of OPLL within the area of the anterior decompression. The caudal limit of the anterior decompression achieved by splitting the manubrium was the T3 vertebral body. A recovery rate of 71% was achieved during an average follow-up period of 35 months. Only one transient recurrent nerve palsy, and in another patient cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred as postoperative complications. Radiographic examinations confirmed bony union in all of the patients, and there was no instance of spinal canal stenosis caused by progression of the OPLL within the area of the anterior decompression. Anterior decompression and fusion by splitting the manubrium was an effective surgical procedure for OPLL of the upper thoracic spine, to achieve a good outcome, however, the extent of anterior decompression was limited.

Detection of in vitro clastogens and spindle poisons by the mouse lymphoma assay using the microwell method: interim report of an international collaborative study

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan and the Japanese Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Association, a collaborative study of the mouse lymphoma assay (MLA) was conducted by 42 Japanese laboratories and seven overseas laboratories to clarify the performance of the MLA for the detection of in vitro clastogens and spindle poisons. Twenty-one chemicals that were positive in in vitro chromosomal aberration assays (CA) but negative in bacterial reverse mutation assays (BRM) were examined by the MLA using the microwell method. All chemicals were coded, and each chemical was tested by two or three laboratories. Positive responses were obtained with 14 chemicals: mitomycin C (an internal positive control), arsenic trioxide, cadmium sulphate, chlorendic acid, cytosine arabinoside, diethylstilbestrol, eugenol, 5-fluorouracil, griseofulvin, hexamethyl phosphoramide, hydroxyurea, methotrexate, monocrotaline and pentachloroethane. Two chemicals (benzene and chlorodibromomethane) showed positive responses in one of two laboratories and were judged probably positive chemicals. Three chemicals (bromodichloromethane, isophorone and tetrachloroethane) were inconclusive because of a marginal response in one laboratory and a negative response in the other. Urethane was judged probably negative because two laboratories out of three showed clear negative responses. Dideoxycytidine (DDC) was a clear negative chemical in this study. The present results showed that 75.0% of the test chemicals (15/20, excluding mitomycin C) were positive, 15.0% (3/20) were inconclusive, and 10.0% (2/20) were negative. This suggests that the MLA may detect a majority of CA-positive chemicals. The inconclusive chemicals, however, are critical for the judgement of the MLA potential to detect clastogens. The findings that DDC was clearly negative suggests that the MLA may not be able to detect some clastogens. To clarify these issues, we began the second phase of the collaborative study with other BRM-negative and CA-positive chemicals.

Obstruction of mechanical valve prostheses: clinical diagnosis and surgical or nonsurgical treatment

Twenty patients underwent nonsurgical and/or surgical treatment for obstruction of mechanical prosthetic valves. The obstructed prosthetic valve was in the aortic position in 11 patients, in the mitral position in 5, and in the tricuspid position in 4. Twelve patients had a bileaflet valve (3 aortic, 5 mitral, 4 tricuspid), and 8 had a tilting disk valve (all aortic). The diagnosis of prosthetic valve obstruction was made by cineradiography and echocardiography. Thrombolytic therapy was instituted in a series of our 10 most recent patients (11 cases), except for one patient with acute renal failure, regardless of the position of the obstructed prosthetic valve. Successful thrombolysis was achieved in 6 cases (54.5%). Six patients required surgical treatment subsequent to either failed or incomplete thrombolysis, and one patient died of congestive heart failure 1 month after surgery. Nonfatal neurologic events occurred in 2 cases (18.2%). A total of 16 patients underwent surgical treatment. Two (12.6%) of the 16 patients died of causes unrelated to the operative procedures before discharge from the hospital. These results suggest that thrombolytic therapy appears to be an attractive nonsurgical alternative for valve thrombosis when the patient's clinical condition is not critical, and thus surgical treatment should only be performed in an emergency on seriously ill patients.

Long-term outcome in single-vessel coronary artery disease in Japanese patients

We assessed the long-term outcome of medical therapy in 453 patients who underwent coronary angiography in the period from September 1973 to February 1984, and who had a significant stenotic lesion (75% or more stenosis) in a single coronary artery. The mean follow-up period was 9.8 years. The 5- and 10-year survival rates were, respectively, 96.0% and 91.3% in these patients, and these survival rates were comparable to the cumulative survival rates in the age-matched healthy male controls determined on the basis of overall death. Cardiac death occurred in 35/453 patients (7.7%) with single-vessel disease (SVD), and non-fatal myocardial infarction occurred in 17 patients (3.8%) during the follow-up period. The incidence of cardiac events, which was defined as cardiac death and nonfatal myocardial infarction, was as low as 1.2% per year. The survival rates were compared in terms of the presence or absence of myocardial infarction, the type of the coronary artery with stenosis, and proximal versus distal location of the stenotic lesion in the left anterior descending artery (LAD). The survival rates were similarly high in both assessed groups, with no significant differences. Patients with SVD treated medically had a good prognosis, except for those patients with decreased left ventricular function (ejection fraction < or = 40%). These factors should be taken into consideration when selecting therapies for patients with SVD.

New mutations of DAX-1 genes in two Japanese patients with X-linked congenital adrenal hypoplasia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

Congenital adrenal hypoplasia, an X-linked disorder, is characterized by primary adrenal insufficiency and frequent association with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. The X-chromosome gene DAX-1 has been most recently identified and shown to be responsible for this disorder. We analyzed the DAX-1 genes of two unrelated Japanese patients with congenital adrenal hypoplasia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism by using PCR amplification of genomic DNA and its complete exonic sequencing. In a family containing several affected individuals, the proband male patient had a stop codon (TGA) in place of tryptophan (TGG) at amino acid position 171. As expected, his mother was a heterozygous carrier for the mutation, whereas his father and unaffected brother did not carry this mutation. In another male patient with noncontributory family history, sequencing revealed a 1-bp (T) deletion at amino acid position 280, leading to a frame shift and, subsequently a premature stop codon at amino acid position 371. The presence of this mutation in the patients' genome was further confirmed by digestion of genomic PCR product with MspI created by this mutation. Family studies using MspI digestion of genomic PCR products revealed that neither parent of this individual carried the mutation. These results clearly indicate that congenital adrenal hypoplasia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism result from not only inherited but also de novo mutation in the DAX-1 gene.

Serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and DHEA-sulfate (DHEA-S) in Alzheimer's disease and in cerebrovascular dementia

A decreased concentration of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been reported but is still controversial. In the present study, serum concentrations of DHEA and DHEA-S were determined in 19 patients with AD, 21 patients with cerebrovascular dementia (CVD) and 45 age- and gender matched elderly control individuals from the Japanese community at large. Serum concentration of DHEA among controls, patients with AD and patients with CVD did not significantly differ from one another. However, patients with AD and patients with CVD were found to have lower concentration of serum DHEA-S and a lower DHEA-S/DHEA ration compared to normal control individuals. No significant difference was observed in the concentration of serum DHEA-S or the DHEA-S/DHEA ratio between patients with AD and those with CVD. These results suggest that reduced concentrations of serum DHEA-S may not be unique to AD, but instead reflect a common phenomenon in dementing diseases. However, since serum concentration of DHEA in these patients remained unchanged, the significance of DHEA in dementia remains unclear.

Amplification of a DEAD box gene (DDX1) with the MYCN gene in neuroblastomas as a result of cosegregation of sequences flanking the MYCN locus

A DEAD box gene (DDX1) characterized by a motif with a putative RNA helicase was found at elevated levels, with multiple copies, in a neuroblastoma and in some retinoblastoma cell lines in which the MYCN gene was amplified. The present study was aimed at determining whether amplification of the DDX1 gene is critical for human neuroblastomas exhibiting MYCN gene amplification. Extended DNA panels of tumors and cell lines revealed amplification of the DDX1 gene in approximately half of the specimens exhibiting MYCN gene amplification, which is in good agreement with a finding reported recently. Because its profile was similar to that of the cDNA marker G21 and another flanking DNA marker, clone 8, both of which localize outside the core of the amplicon of the MYCN gene, we noted that we could localize the DDX1 gene in relation to the MYCN gene. Utilizing pulsed-field gel electrophoresis according to a method based on the combinatorial alignment of multiple single digests and a 5.5-megabase map surrounding the MYCN locus, we mapped the DDX1 gene within a 100 kb region about 400 kb upstream from the MYCN gene, where G21 is localized. Further hybridization experiments with both genes, complete sequencing of G21, and its comparison with that of the DDX1 gene eventually confirmed that the DDX1 gene is identical to G21. G21 is a cDNA clone isolated by differential screening of a library from a neuroblastoma cell line, IMR-32, but its function has not yet been identified. Coamplification of the DDX1 gene with the MYCN gene is a consequence of the segregation of continuous DNA stretches spanning both loci during the amplification process.

Atrophy of the nuchal muscle and change in cervical curvature after expansive open-door laminoplasty

We analyzed computed tomography (CT) images and plain X-ray films of 53 patients who had undergone expansive open-door laminoplasty, in a 3-year study. The relationship between the postoperative changes in the nuchal muscles and those in the cervical curvature was investigated. On postoperative CT images, the cross-sectional area of all nuchal muscles was reduced to approximately 80% of its preoperative size. This atrophic change was especially intense in the multifidus muscle and the semispinalis cervicis muscle. Postoperative cross-sectional area of the deep nuchal muscles was reduced approximately 30% from its preoperative size. No significant correlation was found between the all cross-sectional area of the nuchal muscles and the cervical curvature. However, a weak correlation was found between the deep nuchal muscles area and the curve index (correlation coefficient 0.29).

Prognosis of neurological deficits associated with upper cervical spine injuries

We investigated the type of injury and neurological prognosis in 82 patients with an upper cervical spine injury with neurological deficits, from a total of 247 such patients that we treated, from which 11 patients who were dead on arrival had been excluded. The incidence of neurological deficits in upper cervical spine injury was 33%. They were classified into three signs; cord, upper cervical nerve root, and cranial nerve signs. The types of injury accompanied by neurological deficits were burst fracture of the atlas, type II dens fracture, body fracture of the axis, type II traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis, atlanto-occipital dislocation, and atlanto-axial dislocation. Most were unstable vertebral injuries. The four patients who died after arrival at hospital had complete tetraplegia with respiratory distress. The neurological deficit was one of paresis in the 78 patients who survived; in many, the paresis was mild with a resulting good neurological prognosis.

Purification and characterization of extracellular alginate lyase from Enterobacter cloacae M-1

An alginate lyase from the culture supernatant of Enterobacter cloacae M-1 was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, cation-exchange chromatography (SP-Toyopearl), and gel filtration (Ultrogel AcA44). The final preparation thus obtained showed a single band on SDS-PAGE. The purified enzyme had the molecular weight of 38,000 and 32,000 by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration, respectively. The pI of the enzyme was 8.9. The optimum pH and temperature for the enzyme reaction were around 7.8 and 30 degrees C, respectively. The enzyme was unstable on heating. EDTA completely inhibited the enzyme activity, but the activity was completely restored by the treatment with CaCl2. The enzyme was specific for poly-guluronate and produced several kinds of unsaturated oligomers from the gluluronate. This suggested that the enzyme could be classified as an endo poly-guluronate lyase.