Abstract 6109: Clonal relationship of B cells between tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in advanced endometrial cancer

Objective: Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are known to be a marker of peripheral inflammation. While high densities of TLSs were reported to be associated with longer patient survival in several cancer types, there is no direct evidence where B cells in TLSs(TLBs) are derived from and whether these clones are consistent with tumor infiltrating B cells (TIBs), in endometrial cancer.

Methods: We analyzed the pathological distribution of TLSs and TIBs in human endometrial cancer samples using immunohistochemistry of a series of B cell markers and evaluated the relationship with patients’ clinical outcomes. Additionally, we micro-dissected six pairs of tumor nests and their neighbor TLSs and analyzed the clonal consistency between TLBs and TIBs using the sequencing of complementarity-determining region (CDR) of B cell receptor (BCR).

Results: In 104 patients with endometrial cancer, TLSs were detected in 81 patients (78%), and the absence of TLS was related to worse progression-free survival (PFS) (HR, 0.15, P <0.01). Among TLS-detected cases, the high number of TIBs was significantly associated with better PFS (P<0.05). BCR analyses in the six patients found that three patients with advanced stage had a unique B cell clones in common between TLBs and TIBs, while the other three patients with early stage did not have any common B cell clones. The frequency of common B cell clones in the former three patients were 10.3% (5250/51146 reads), 9.7% (1873/19369 reads) and 3.0% (1034/34618 reads).

Conclusion: TLSs and TIBs are associated with better prognosis in endometrial cancer. Common B cell clones were found in the advanced stage cases, suggesting that B cells may have gradually acquired immunospecificity in TLSs.

Citation Format: Haruka Suzuki, Junzo Hamanishi, Meng Qin, Masayo Ukita, Akihiko Ueda, Shunsuke Kawahara, Koji Yamanoi, Taito Miyamoto, Shiro Takamatsu, Mana Taki, Yoko Hosoe, Takashi Kobayashi, Ken Yamaguchi, Masaki Mandai. Clonal relationship of B cells between tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in advanced endometrial cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 6109.

Images of Older Adults among University Students: a Comparison between Japan and Korea

This study investigated the differences between Japanese and Korean college students' images of the elderly. Japan is the most aged society worldwide, while South Korea has the highest rate of aging. Japan has a more advanced elderly welfare system than Korea. The datasets included responses from 320 Japanese students (collected in 2009) and 384 Korean students (collected in 2011). A semantic difference scale of 50 pairs of items was adopted. The chi-square test and logistic regression analyses were utilized. The five most prevalent images among Korean students were generally negative, whereas the most common images among Japanese participants were mostly neutral or positive. A greater degree of talking/good memories, activities with older adults, and experience of gerontological education showed positive relationships to favorable images, whereas living with grandparents and visiting facilities for the elderly did not yield the same results. It seems that greater interaction with grandparents and other senior citizens, as well as more extensive gerontology education, improved the images of the elderly in both countries, whereas merely visiting facilities for older adults seemed insufficient. The results also suggest that living with grandparents can lead to rather negative images of older adults.

Liver stiffness measured by transient elastography correlates with fibrosis area in liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis C

AIM

Liver stiffness (LS) measured by transient elastography (TE) has been reported to correlate with liver fibrosis, which is usually semiquantitatively assessed. In the present study, the fibrosis area was measured by image analysis software in liver biopsy specimens and its correlation with LS was assessed.

METHODS

LS was measured by TE in all 165 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who underwent liver biopsy consecutively in Fujita Health University Hospital from July 2004 to September 2007.

RESULTS

Fibrosis area was significantly correlated with fibrosis stage as assessed by the Metavir score (rho = 0.733, P < 0.0001). The optimal cut-off value of fibrosis area was 1.6% for F > or = 2, 3.1% for F > or = 3, and 3.8-6.4% for F4. LS was significantly correlated with fibrosis stage (rho = 0.734, P < 0.0001). The optimal cut-off value of LS was 7.1 kPa for F > or = 2, 9.6 kPa for F > or = 3 and 11.6-16.9 kPa for F4. Multiple linear regression analysis selected fibrosis area (P = 0.0002), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P = 0.0237), gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GTP) (P = 0.0114), prothrombin time (P = 0.0114) and hyaluronic acid (P < 0.0001) as factors correlating with LS.

CONCLUSION

The correlation between LS and liver fibrosis was confirmed by the objective measurement of fibrosis area. ALT was significantly correlated with LS, suggesting that inflammatory activity also affects LS values. Despite some limitation, LS measurement is a useful method for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis.

Liver stiffness measured by transient elastography correlates with fibrosis area in liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis C

AIM

Liver stiffness (LS) measured by transient elastography (TE) has been reported to correlate with liver fibrosis, which is usually semiquantitatively assessed. In the present study, the fibrosis area was measured by image analysis software in liver biopsy specimens and its correlation with LS was assessed.

METHODS

LS was measured by TE in all 165 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who underwent liver biopsy consecutively in Fujita Health University Hospital from July 2004 to September 2007.

RESULTS

Fibrosis area was significantly correlated with fibrosis stage as assessed by the Metavir score (rho = 0.733, P < 0.0001). The optimal cut-off value of fibrosis area was 1.6% for F > or = 2, 3.1% for F > or = 3, and 3.8-6.4% for F4. LS was significantly correlated with fibrosis stage (rho = 0.734, P < 0.0001). The optimal cut-off value of LS was 7.1 kPa for F > or = 2, 9.6 kPa for F > or = 3 and 11.6-16.9 kPa for F4. Multiple linear regression analysis selected fibrosis area (P = 0.0002), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P = 0.0237), gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GTP) (P = 0.0114), prothrombin time (P = 0.0114) and hyaluronic acid (P < 0.0001) as factors correlating with LS.

CONCLUSION

The correlation between LS and liver fibrosis was confirmed by the objective measurement of fibrosis area. ALT was significantly correlated with LS, suggesting that inflammatory activity also affects LS values. Despite some limitation, LS measurement is a useful method for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis.

HNF-1 regulates the liver-specific transcription of the chipmunk HP-20 gene

The chipmunk hibernation-specific protein HP-20 is a component of the 140 kDa complex that drastically decreases in the blood during hibernation, and its gene is expressed specifically in the liver. To reveal molecular mechanisms underlying the liver-specific transcription of the HP-20 gene, we isolated chipmunk HP-20 genomic clones. The HP-20 gene spans approximately 6 kb, and consists of three exons. The transcription start site, as determined by 5' RACE-PCR analysis, was found to be 160 bp upstream of the translation initiation codon. Transient transfection studies in HepG2 cells revealed that the 57 bp 5' flanking sequence was sufficient for the liver-specific promoter activity. A database search revealed that this region contains a potential binding site for hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 (HNF-1). In a gel retardation assay, in vitro-synthesized HNF-1 bound to the 5' flanking sequence from -52 to -26. A similar shifted band was also observed with HepG2 nuclear extracts, and this complex was super-shifted by an anti-(HNF-1) Ig. When transfected into COS-7 cells, HNF-1 transactivated transcription from the HP-20 gene promoter, and this activity was abolished by a mutation of the HNF-1 binding site, indicating that HNF-1 plays an important role in HP-20 gene expression.

Identification of a novel retinoic acid-responsive element within the lamin A/C promoter

A-type lamins are not present in either early embryos or the embryonal carcinoma (EC) cell line. P19 cells, which are EC cell line, are able to express A-type lamins upon retinoic acid (RA) treatment. Here we report that a novel RA-responsive element, termed lamin A/C-RA-responsive element (L-RARE), is located within the lamin A/C promoter. RA activated the luciferase activity of the reporter which had four tandem repeats of the wild-type L-RARE, while a loss of function mutant, which altered CACCCCC to CACtatC within L-RARE, did not respond. Four specific binding complexes of L-RARE, Complexes-A, -B, -C, and -D, were detected in protein extracts obtained from P19 cells treated with and without RA. Specific antibodies revealed that Sp1 and Sp3 were included in Complex-A and Complexes-B and -C, respectively. Thus, L-RARE was important in the RA-mediated activation of the lamin A/C promoter and was recognized by DNA binding proteins.