Opioid therapy duration before naldemedine treatment is a significant independent risk of diarrhea: a retrospective cohort study

Background

The most common adverse event (AE) associated with opioid analgesics is opioid-induced constipation (OIC). Naldemedine (NAL) is widely used for the treatment of OIC. However, diarrhea has been reported as the most common treatment-emergent AE of NAL, and little is known about the risk factors associated with the development of diarrhea during NAL administration. This study examined the risk factors for NAL-induced diarrhea via a retrospective chart review of hospitalized patients.

Methods

The data of 101 hospitalized adult patients who received NAL for the first time for the treatment of OIC at Mie University Hospital between June 2017 and December 2018 were extracted from electronic medical records. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 70 of the 101 patients were enrolled in this study. Diarrhea was defined as “diarrhea” on the medical record within 2 weeks of NAL administration. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors for the development of diarrhea in patients receiving NAL.

Results

Twenty-two of the 70 patients enrolled (31%) developed diarrhea within 2 weeks of NAL administration. The median duration (range) of NAL treatment before diarrhea onset was 3 (1–12) days. Patients with diarrhea had a significantly longer duration of opioid therapy before NAL administration than patients without diarrhea (P=0.002). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the independent risk factors for the development of NAL-induced diarrhea were NAL administration after more than 17 days of opioid therapy (odds ratio [OR]=7.539; P=0.016) and pancreatic cancer (OR=6.217; P=0.025). In fact, the incidence of diarrhea in patients who were administered NAL within a day of opioid therapy was significantly lower than that in patients who were administered NAL after more than 17 days of opioid therapy (13% vs. 54%, P=0.030).

Conclusions

These results suggested that a prolonged duration of opioid therapy prior to NAL initiation is associated with increased incidence of diarrhea.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40780-020-00187-3.

Survival of fetuses with severe oligohydramnios

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to identify predictive data on the short-term outcomes of fetuses with oligohydramnios.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective study of all pregnancies diagnosed with oligohydramnios was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 17 fetuses (seven males, seven females, and three unknown) with oligohydramnios were treated from 2004 to 2011. Oligohydramnios was first diagnosed at a 21.6 ± 4.2 weeks gestation. Terminations of pregnancy before 22 weeks were identified in five cases, and intrauterine fetal deaths occurred in two cases. Ten neonates were born alive, five cases survived over 28 days, and five cases died within 48 hours. Prognostic factors for survival included birth weight (2,457 ± 480 grams in survivors vs. 1973 ± 124 grams in non-survivors; p < 0.05) and the mean amniotic fluid index (AFI) (2.32 ± 1.19 cm in survivors vs. 0.46 ± 0.68 cm in non-survivors;p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

All patients who survived had a mean AFI > 1.0 cm.

Abstract LB-360: MYBPH, a novel transcriptional target of TTF-1/NKX2–1, inhibits ROCK1 and actomyosin assembly, and reduces cell motility and tumor metastasis

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in most economically developed countries, with lung adenocarcinoma the most prevalent form. The vast majority of lung cancer-related deaths is caused by invasion and metastasis, thus it is crucially important to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. We previously reported that lung adenocarcinomas are addicted to sustained expression of TTF-1 (also know as NKX2–1 and TITF1), a lineage-specific transcription factor required for branching morphogenesis and physiological lung functions, while others subsequently reached similar conclusions in studies that used genome-wide searches for focal genomic aberrations in lung adenocarcinomas. However, TTF-1/NKX2–1 expression is paradoxically known to be associated with favourable prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma cases.

Emerging evidence indicates that non-muscle myosin II (NM II) members, especially NM IIA, are crucially involved in cancer cell migration, invasion, and metastasis via bivalent binding to actin filaments. Rho kinase 1 (ROCK1), a downstream effecter of RhoA, has been shown to be a major positive regulator of that process, which is thought to be executed through phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) and subsequent unfolding of NM IIA into an assembly competent form capable of NM IIA dimer formation. In addition, ROCK1 phosphorylates LIM domain kinase (LIMK) and stabilizes actin filaments through inactivation of the actin-depolymerising factor cofilin. However, how actomyosin organization in non-muscle cells is regulated to counter-balance the positive regulatory function of ROCK1 remains to be elucidated. Herein, we report identification of myosin binding protein H (MYBPH) as a transcriptional target of TTF-1/NKX2–1, a lineage-survival oncogene in lung adenocarcinoma. MYBPH inhibits assembly competence-conferring phosphorylation of RLC as well as activating phosphorylation of LIMK. These are unexpectedly implemented through direct physical interaction of MYBPH with ROCK1 rather than with RLC, leading to inhibition of the ROCK1 kinase activity. In addition, MYBPH is shown to directly bind with non-muscle myosin heavy chain IIA (NMHC IIA), resulting in inhibition of NMHC IIA assembly. Thus, the present findings demonstrate that MYBPH plays multi-facetted roles in negative regulation of actomyosin organization, which we find results in reduction of cell motility, invasion, and metastasis. Finally, we also show that MYBPH is epigenetically inactivated by promoter DNA methylation in a fraction of lung adenocarcinomas abundantly expressing TTF-1/NKX2–1, which appears to be in accordance with its deleterious function for lung adenocarcinoma invasion and metastasis, as well as with the paradoxical association of TTF-1/NKX2–1 expression with favourable prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma patients.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-360. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-LB-360

198 THE EFFECT OF SOURCE AND IN VITRO MATURATION ON THE ABUNDANCE OF MATERNAL mRNA OF SELECTED GENES IN FOLLICULAR BOVINE OOCYTES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON IN VITRO DEVELOPMENT

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of oocyte source and in vitro maturation (IVM) on the expression of selected genes in bovine oocytes and their contribution to in vitro embryo development. Follicular oocytes were collected either by ovum pick-up from live cows or by the aspiration of ovaries of slaughtered cows following storage in Dulbecco’s PBS at 15°C for overnight. In vitro maturation was performed according to the method of (Imai et al. 2006 J. Reprod. Dev. 52, 19–29 suppl.). Gene expression was assessed before and after IVM by real-time PCR. The following genes were investigated: GAPDH, G6PDH, ACTB, H2A, CCNB1, MnSOD, OCT4, SOX2, CX43, HSP70, GLUT8, PAP, GDF9, COX1, ATP1A1, CDH1, CTNNB1, AQP3, DYNLL1, DYNC 1/1, and PMSB1. In brief, mRNA was extracted from 20 oocytes per sample using a Qiagen RNeasy Micro Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). Gene expression was analysed by a Roche Light Cycler 480 device and software (Roche, Indianapolis, IN). Relative expression of each gene was normalized to CCNB1, which in preliminary experiments appeared the most stably expressed irrespective of oocyte source and meiotic stage. Three replications were performed. Data were analysed by paired t-test. In immature ovum pick-up oocytes, genes related to metabolism (GAPDH, G6PDH, GLUT8) and stress (MnSOD, HSP70), and also OCT4, ATP1A1, and DYNC1/1 showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher expression compared with immature oocytes collected from slaughtered-stored ovaries. The expression of GDF9, GLUT8, CTNNB1, and PMSB1 was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced during IVM irrespective of the oocyte source. In a second experiment, IVF IVM oocytes showing an early (at 22 to 25 h after IVF) or late (at 27 to 30 h after IVF) first cleavage were either cultured in vitro or analysed for gene expression at the 2-cell stage. A higher (P < 0.05) rate of early-cleaving oocytes developed to the blastocyst stage compared with the rate of late-cleaving ones (46.2% v. 15.6%, respectively). Nevertheless, only ATP1A1 showed significantly reduced (P < 0.05) expression in late-cleaving embryos compared with early-cleaving ones. Our results suggest that although removal and storage of ovaries and IVM caused a reduction in the relative abundance of several genes in oocytes, in most cases, this did not affect embryo development. Among the genes studied, only ATP1A1 was correlated with in vitro development.

286 PRODUCTION OF NORMAL MICE USING LONG-TERM PRESERVED MOUSE SPERMATOZOA WITHOUT FREEZING

Mammalian spermatozoa preservation now plays an important role in fertility treatments, generating hybrid animals and protecting endangered and extinct species. To date, the most common method of sperm preservation is freezing in liquid nitrogen (LN2). However, this method requires constant supplementation of LN2 and also presents some safety issues involved in transporting LN2. Here we describe a new sperm preservation method that does not involve freezing. Mouse spermatozoa were cultured in four basic media (HEPES–Chatot-Ziomele-Barister’s medium (HCZB), KSOM, K+-rich nuclear isolation medium (NIM), and PBS) with or without 10% BSA or 15% Ficoll as a cryoprotectant, and preserved in a refrigerator for up to 6 months. These preserved sperm were then injected into fresh oocytes and cultured to the blastocyst stage in vitro or transferred into recipient females to demonstrate their genetic integrity. Oocytes injected with 1-month-preserved spermatozoa in NIM and PBS showed significantly higher blastocyst rates (22.8% and 18.9%) than those in HEPES-CZB and KSOM (1-way ANOVA, P < 0.05). In embryos with 3-month-preserved spermatozoa in NIM or PBS with BSA or Ficoll, 5.3–24.0%; P < 0.05 of embryos, (n = 1056) developed to the blastocyst stage, and the developmental ratio was not decreased even for 6-month preservation (13.6–18.2%; P > 0.05). Surprisingly, 18 pups were obtained using spermatozoa stored in those mediums for 6 months. Moreover, this new method allowed easy production of healthy offspring even after transporting spermatozoa between two countries by aircraft at room temperature without any protection. In conclusion, this method allows for easy long-term preservation of mouse spermatozoa in a simple, modified medium at refrigerator temperature with very low cost and wide application.

26 EFFECT OF TREATMENT OF BOVINE DONOR CELLS WITH MOUSE EMBRYONIC STEM CELL EXTRACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMBRYOS AFTER NUCLEAR TRANSFER

The efficiency of somatic cell cloning is very low, probably because of incomplete reprogramming of the somatic cell nucleus. In recent studies, it is suggested that transient exposure of donor somatic cells to mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) extract enhances pluripotency of the cells in vitro (Bru et al. 2008 Exp. Cell Res. 314, 1634–1642; Xu et al. 2009 Anat. Rec. 292, 1229–1234). In the present study, we examined the effect of treatment of donor cells with mouse ESC extract on the in vitro development of bovine NT embryos. First, in order to examine effect of treatment of donor cells with streptolysin O (SLO), which reversibly permeabilizes the plasma membrane, we compared the in vitro development of NT embryos using donor cells treated with 5 μg mL–1 SLO (SLO group) and untreated donor cells (control group). As donor cells for NT, bovine fibroblast cells of passages 3 to 5 were used. Fibroblasts were treated with 5 μg mL–1 SLO for 45 min, and then incubated for resealing in DMEM including 2 mM CaCl2 for 60 min. NT was performed as previously described (Akagi et al. 2003 Mol. Reprod. Dev. 66, 264–272). After in vitro culture for 8 days, blastocyst formation and cell number of blastocysts were examined. There were no significant differences between SLO and control groups in the fusion rate (80% and 72%, respectively), cleavage rate (60% and 65%, respectively), developmental rate to the blastocyst stage of NT embryos (31% and 28%, respectively), and blastocyst cell number (127 ± 6 and 112 ± 14, respectively). These results suggest that SLO treatment of donor cells has no negative effect on the in vitro development of NT embryos. Next, we examined the in vitro developmental ability of NT embryos using donor cells treated with mouse ESC extract (ES extract group). After SLO treatment for 45 min, permeabilized fibroblast cells were treated with mouse ESC extract for 45 min, and then incubated in DMEM including 2 mM CaCl2 for 60 min, and used for producing NT embryos. There were no differences between ES extract and control groups in the fusion rate (68% and 69%, respectively), cleavage rate (86.7% and 80.6%, respectively), and developmental rate to the blastocyst stage of NT embryos (39.8% and 43.5%, respectively). The cell number of NT embryos at the blastocyst stage in ES extract group (201 ± 30) was significantly (t-test; P < 0.05) higher than that in control group (140 ± 14). In conclusion, treatment of bovine donor cell with mouse ESC extract did not affect the in vitro developmental ability of NT embryos, but improved the quality of blastocysts.

54 THE EFFECT OF TREATMENT OF BOVINE NUCLEAR TRANSFER EMBRYOS WITH VALPROIC ACID ON THEIR SUBSEQUENT IN VITRO DEVELOPMENT

Recently, trichostatin A (TSA) and some other histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) were reported to enhance the development of mouse somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. Previously, we have succeeded in improving in vitro development of bovine SCNT embryos significantly with inhibitors of class I, IIa, and IIb HDACs such as TSA or Scriptaid (SCR). In this study, we examined the effect of valproic acid (VPA), a selective inhibitor of class I and IIa HDACi, on in vitro development of bovine SCNT embryos. 3 cell lines (adult male, adult female, and fetal female fibroblast cells) were used as donor cells. SCNT was performed as previously described (Akagi et al. 2003 Mol. Reprod. Dev. 66, 264–272). Reconstructed embryos were chemically activated by treatments with 10 μM calcium ionophore for 5 min and 10 μg mL–1 cycloheximide for 5 h. Then SCNT embryos were cultured in serum-free medium for 7 days. Embryo development data were analyzed by chi-square test. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. Each experiment was replicated at least 3 times. At first, to determine the suitable concentration of VPA, bovine SCNT embryos derived from adult female fibroblast were treated with various concentrations of VPA (0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10 mM) for 20 h from the start of chemical activation and embryo development was examined. There was no difference in blastocyst formation rates based on the number of cleaved embryos among the groups [46% (166/357), 53% (49/92), 46% (51/112), 55% (56/102), and 44% (44/100), respectively], and the cell numbers of blastocysts were also similar. Next, we examined the effect of duration of VPA treatment on development of SCNT embryos obtained from adult male, female, and fetal female fibroblast cells. Based on the results of previous experiment, bovine SCNT embryos were treated with 1 mM VPA for 20 h or 40 h and those without treatment were used as control. Neither 20 h nor 40 h VPA treatment affected blastocyst formation rates of SCNT embryos from adult male, control: 38% (41/107), 20 h: 45% (47/104), 40 h: 46% (39/85); adult female, control: 47% (166/357), 20 h: 55% (56/102), and 40 h: 36% (12/33); and fetal female fibroblast cells, control: 7% (4/58), 20 h: 13% (7/54), and 40 h: 16% (8/51). In the present study, treatment of bovine SCNT embryos with VPA did not improve in vitro development significantly. Comparing these results with our previous results on TSA or SCR treatment, inhibition of HDAC class IIb may be a key factor to improve development of bovine SCNT embryos.

47 SUCCESSFULLY PRODUCING CLONED MICE FROM SOMATIC CELLS OF AGED MICE VIA ESTABLISHED ntES CELL LINES

Recent nuclear transfer techniques have enabled us to produce cloned animals from somatic cell nuclei in a variety of animal species and are to date the only way to obtain offspring from infertile animals. Despite very aged mice often showing an infertile phenotype, the decreasing rate of cloning success with increased age makes it almost impossible to produce cloned mice or offspring from these animals. Other studies, however, have demonstrated that ES cell lines have been established from cloned blastocysts through somatic cell nuclear transfer (ntES cells), irrespective of sex, strains, or organs. These cells are subsequently capable of differentiating into all three germ layers in vitro, or even into spermatozoa and oocytes in chimeric mice. Thus, ntES cells have received considerable attention recently in regenerative medicine. Importantly, the success rate of establishing ntES cell lines from cloned blastocysts is ten times higher than that of producing cloned mice, which may allow us to establish ntES cell lines even from such 'unclonable' aged mice. ntES cells also have the potential to be a good donor source for nuclear transfer as they have the same DNA as their donor somatic cells and can indefinitely proliferate in their undifferentiated states. In this study, we attempted to establish ntES cell lines from aged mice and analyze their normality. We then tried to produce cloned mice via nuclear transfer using established ntES cell lines. We obtained donor cells from tail-tip fibroblast cells of BDF1 and BCF1 male and female mice that were over two years old. Following nuclear transfer, we transferred a proportion of the cleaved cloned embryos to pseudopregnant ICR female mice. The remaining embryos were cultured for 72 h, and cloned embryos that developed into morulae or blastocysts were plated on feeder cells. We then examined all established ntES cell lines for normality by Oct4 and Nanog expression using immunofluorescence staining and pluripotency by chimeric mice formation, for which ntES cells were injected into fertilized ICR embryos. Finally, we attempted to produce cloned mice from the nuclei of these ntES cell lines. In each experiment, 25, 37, 73, 63, and 75 cloned embryos from aged mice tail-tip cells were used in attempts to produce cloned mice, and 20, 20, 27, 35, and 40 cloned embryos were used to derive ntES cell lines, respectively. No cloned mice were obtained by direct nuclear transfer of the aged mice tail-tip cells; however, we were successful in establishing ntES cell lines from all experiments, with an establishment rate between 10 and 25%. All established ntES cell lines expressed Oct4 and Nanog and contributed to somatic cells in chimeric mice. Some chimeric mice produced offspring derived from ntES cells after mating. We were also able to produce cloned mice even from a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old BCF1 male mouse by nuclear transfer using ntES cells as donor nuclei. These results clearly show that normal ntES cell lines can be established from infertile, aged mice and this technique can now be used to produce offspring, irrespective of donor conditions.

380 FULL-TERM DEVELOPMENT OF MOUSE EMBRYOS PRODUCED FROM RECONSTRUCTED GIANT OOCYTES BY INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM HEAD INJECTION

In mammals, unusually large diploid giant oocytes are ovulated occasionally, but as any fertilized embryos would be triploid, the potential of the cytoplasm to support normal development is unknown. However, if such giant oocytes possess normal cytoplasm, the oocytes or their excessive cytoplasm would have potential applications in the treatment of human infertility and would enhance the study of basic biology, such as the influence of cytoplasmic factors on genomic reprogramming. We reconstructed oocytes 2 to 9 times normal volume by electrofusion or mechanical fusion between intact and enucleated oocytes. First, we examined the in vitro developmental potential of 2- to 9-times giant oocytes after parthenogenetic activation. Second, 2-times giant oocytes were reconstructed by fusing with intact and enucleated oocytes; then we examined the in vitro and in vivo developmental potential of these giant oocytes after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Third, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) was carried out using enucleated giant oocytes. When the giant oocytes were activated parthenogenetically, most developed into morulae or blastocysts, irrespective of the original size. When sperm heads were injected into 2-times giant oocytes, these were fertilized and developed normally in vitro; after embryo transfer, we obtained 12 healthy offspring (3 female, 3 male, and 6 cannibalized the next day) by Caesarian section. All survivors grew to adulthood and demonstrated normal fertility. However, we failed to generate cloned mice by SCNT. In conclusion, reconstructed giant oocytes have normal potential for development after activation and fertilization. The reconstructed giant oocytes will provide us with interesting tools for basic biology, such as providing new material for the study of nuclear reprogramming and genomic imprinting, and may be important in widening the treatment options in human assisted reproductive technology.

27 CYTOPLASM OF A GERMINAL VESICLE OOCYTE CAN PROMOTE SOMATIC NUCLEAR REPROGRAMMING IN MICE

A number of studies have shown that epigenetic reprogramming is severely deficient in cloned embryos, the majority of which exhibit histone hypermethylation. Xenopus geminal vesicle (GV) oocytes have been reported to have a DNA demethylating activity (Simonsson and Gurdon 2004 Nat. Cell Biol. 6, 984–990). In an attempt to develop a new method for erasing or reprogramming the epigenetic status of the donor cell prior to nuclear transfer, we examined whether the mammalian GV oocyte cytoplasm can demethylate H3-K9 of somatic cell nuclei and improve the quality of reconstructed embryos. In the first series of experiments, cumulus nuclei were injected into enucleated GV oocytes and cultured for various times, 0 h, 3 h, 7 h, 9 h, 11 h, and 16 h, before examining the chromosome morphology of somatic nuclei together with Me-H3-K9. In the second series of experiments, permeabilized cumulus cells were immersed with GV oocyte extract and injected into enucleated MII oocytes. These reconstructed oocytes were activated and cultured until the blastocyst stage. Preparation of oocyte extracts was as follows: 200 GV oocytes were collected and zonae pellucidae removed using Tyrode's solution. These zona-free oocytes were broken down in 5 �L of HEPES medium containing the ATP-generating system (1 mM ATP, 10 mM creatine phosphate, 25 �g mL-1 creatine kinase, 100 �M GTP). Permeabilized cumulus was incubated in oocyte extract for 45 min at 37�C. The demethylation of H3-K9 was analyzed in nuclear transfer embryos at the pronucleus, 2-cell, 8-cell, morula, and blastocyst stages. In 2 experiments, we examined a total of 234 enucleated GV oocytes and 358 enucleated MII oocytes. The results of first experiment showed that histone H3-K9 begins demethylation in the somatic chromosome 1 h after injection into GV oocytes (90%) and, importantly, this state was maintained until the MII-like stage. The donor somatic chromosomes in the enucleated GV oocyte can condense and undergo stages GVI (0–3 h), MI (7 h), and AI-TI (9–11 h), and the MII (16 h)-like stage. These results clearly show that enucleated GV oocytes can carry out spindle assembly and extrude the first polar body. However, some of these chromosomes are located not only on the metaphase plate of the spindle but also on spindle poles or dispersed on the spindle. In the second experiment, reconstructed embryos with GV extract-treated somatic cells showed a strong H3-K9 demethylation that was significantly different to nontreated somatic cells at the blastocyst stage. The demethylation was expressed at a rate comparable to that observed in ICSI embryos. Although there was no increase in the frequency of development at the blastocyst stage, we found an increase in cell number at the blastocyst stage. Our findings show that the GV oocyte cytoplasm has the ability to erase methylation of H3-K9 in somatic nuclei, which suggests that the incorporation of GV mammalian oocyte components may contribute to the reprogramming of somatic cell nuclei.

66 SUCCESSFUL ESTABLISHMENT OF PLURIPOTENT ntES CELL LINES FROM AGED MICE

Nuclear transfer technique has enabled us to produce cloned animals from somatic cell nuclei in various animal species to date. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that ES cell lines have been established from cloned blastocysts by somatic cell nuclear transfer (ntES cell), irrespective of sex, strains, or organs. These cells are capable of differentiating into all 3 germ layers in vitro, or even into spermatozoa and oocytes in chimeric mice. So ntES cells have gotten a lot of attention recently in the field of regenerative medicine. However, it is unclear whether ntES cells can be established from aged individuals because, in general, the cloning success rate was higher when young donor cells were used, such as fetus cells rather than adult. To answer this question, we tried to establish ntES cell lines from aged mice and then examined their pluripotency. The donor cells were obtained from tail-tip fibroblast cells of 11-month-old to 15-month-old male and female mice. After nuclear transfer, we succeeded in establishing 8 ntES cell lines from 3 aged BDF1 males and 6 ntES cell lines from 2 aged BCF1 females. The normality of these ntES cell lines was examined after passages 5 times. Karyotypes were analyzed using SKY-Fish painting, and pluripotency was examined by chimeric mice formation, in which ntES cells were injected into fertilized ICR blastocysts. As a result, most of the ntES cell lines examined had normal karyotypes, and all of the ntES cell lines tested could contribute to somatic cells of chimeric mice. Now we are examining whether these ntES cells have germ line transmission ability in chimeric mice by natural mating.

95 OBSERVATION OF CHROMOSOME DECONDENSATION, HISTONE H3 MODIFICATION, AND HP1 PROTEIN IN MOUSE CLONED EMBRYOS FOLLOWING INHIBITION OF HISTONE DEACETYLATIONS AND CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASE

Low chromosome decondensation and hypoacetylation and hypermethylation of histones characterize the incomplete reprogramming of cloned embryos during the first mitotic prophase. Our study looks at the effect of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), Trichostatin A (TSA), APHA Compound 8 (APHA), and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKi) roscovitin (ROS), on nuclear reprogramming in cloned mouse embryos during the first mitotic prophase. Oocytes were collected from female B6D2F1 mouse cumulus cells collected from female B6D2F1 and ICR, and fibroblasts from male GFP-ICR. We performed somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) using a piezo-actuated micromanipulator system; the SCNT oocytes were subsequently activated for 6 h with 5 mM SrCl2 in Ca2+-free CZB medium (CZB) supplemented individually with 100 nM TSA, 250 nM APHA, or 100 nM ROS or in combination with TSA+ROS or APHA+ROS. Activated SCNT embryos were then cultured in KSOM medium with the same concentrations of TSA, APHA, ROS, TSA+ROS, or APHA+ROS for 2 h. Following treatment, we cultured the cloned embryos in KSOM for in vitro development. In the first experiment, the levels of chromosome decondensation during the first mitotic prophase in these cloned embryos were performed, based on the ratio of nuclear volume, at 6 h and 10 h after activation. We calculated the average nuclear volume � SD for each treatment, and these were subsequently compared to control values (100%, without treatment). We next turned to examining the intensity of methyl H3-K9, acetyl H3-K9, and HP1β of cloned embryos at 6 h and 10 h after activation by immunostaining. Images of immunostained embryo nuclei were acquired using an OLYMPUS Fluoview FV 1000 confocal system. The distribution of fluorescence intensities from 5 different regions of the nucleus were determined using Fluoview FV 1.4a software. Student&apos;s t-test was used to calculate the significance of differences between groups in the experiment. We repeated each experiment 4 times to obtain 40 nuclear transfer embryos per treatment. The present results show that global histone hyperacetylation and hypomethylation can be characterized by an increase in H3-K9 acetylation and a decrease in H3-K9 methylation in the presence of HDAC inhibitors. The levels of all isoforms of HP1&beta;, however, were not reduced following inhibition of HDAC. This was in contrast to the high decondensation observed in interphase chromatin, leading to a significant increase of pronuclear volumes and a decrease in H3-K9 methylation in cloned embryos in the presence of ROS, although we were unable to obtain hyperacetylation and HP1&beta; did not change. From these results, we conclude that the combined inhibition of histone deacetylases and cyclin-dependent kinase for 8 h following NT caused an increase in somatic chromosome decondensation, hyperacetylation, and demethylation of histone H3-K9 during the first mitotic cell cycle in cloned mouse embryos. Our findings strongly suggest that there is no correlation of HP1&beta; involved in hyperacetylation and demethylation of H3-K9.

54 SUCCESS OF MOUSE CLONING FROM AN OUTBRED STRAIN BY TRICHOSTATIN A TREATMENT AFTER SOMATIC NUCLEAR TRANSFER

Although the somatic cloning technique has been used for numerous applications and basic research of reprogramming in various species, the extremely low success rates have plagued this technique for a decade. Further, in mice, the clonable strains have been limited mainly to the hybrid F1 strains such as B6D2F1. Recently, we have reported a new efficient cloning technique using trichostatin A (TSA) where reconstructed oocytes are activated by 5 mM strontium with 5 nM TSA for 6 h, followed by 3 h of culture in KSOM medium containing the same concentration of TSA. After the TSA treatment, cloned embryos were cultured in KSOM medium without TSA. This TSA treatment leads to a 2–5-fold increase in success rates for mouse cloning of B6D2F1 cumulus cells. In this study, to further test the validity of this TSA cloning technique, we tried to clone the adult ICR mouse, an outbred strain, which has never been directly cloned before. Only when TSA was used did we obtain both male and female cloned mice from cumulus and fibroblast cells of adult ICR mice with 4–5% success rates, which is comparable to 6–7% of B6D2F1. Thus, the TSA cloning technique now allows us to successfully clone outbred mice, demonstrating that this technique not only improves the success rates of cloning from the hybrid strains but also enables mouse cloning from normally unclonable strains. Further, our results provide insight into the mechanism underlying why only limited strains can be cloned using the current standard cloning technique.

139 INJECTION OF SOMATIC CELL CYTOPLASM INTO OOCYTES BEFORE ICSI IMPAIRED FULL-TERM DEVELOPMENT AND INCREASED PLACENTA WEIGHT IN MICE

During the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer, cytoplasm is introduced into the enucleated oocytes, in addition to the genomic material, regardless of the electrofusion methods (Wilmut et al. 1997) or direct injection of somatic nucleus by the Honolulu method (Wakayama et al. 1998). Only 1 to 2% of cloned embryos, however, develop to term with many incidences of developmental anomalies. These cloning failures may be explained by incomplete reprogramming of the donor cell genome, although it is not yet clear whether cytoplasmic materials of the somatic cell also have an affect on development of the cloned embryo. In an attempt to answer this question, this study investigates the effects of somatic cytoplasm of different mouse strains and cytoplasm of fertilized embryos at different stage by injecting them into intact mouse oocytes before intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Mature oocytes collected from B6D2F1 female after 14 to 16 h of hCG injection were injected with (1) B6D2F1 cumulus cell cytoplasm with different volumes (collected by 2 to 3 �m of injection pipette and piezo pulses), (2) cumulus cell cytoplasm from different mouse strains (B6D2F1, ICR, C57BL/6), (3) cytoplasm of 1- to 8-cell embryos. After subsequent culture for 1 h, B6D2F1 sperm were injected into those oocytes and examined for preimplantation developmental competence. The total number of cells, inner cell mass (ICM), and expression of Oct4 in expanded blastocysts were also examined. In order to examine the effects of somatic cytoplasm on full-term development, we transferred 2-cell embryos at 24 h or morula and blastocysts at 72 h after ICSI to the oviduct or uterus of surrogate mothers (ICR) on Day 1 or 3 of pseudopregnancy. The control group received a sham injection with PVP before ICSI. The results showed that an increase the volume of cytoplasm from 1-fold to 4-fold (equivalent with the volume of 1 cumulus cell) resulted in impairing full-term development (28 and 7%, respectively, vs. 56 to 63% in the control group, P < 0.01). There was no difference in the frequency of embryos developing to the blastocyts stage between B6D2F1 and ICR somatic cytoplasms at the same volume. However, C57BL/6 somatic cytoplasm induced the 2-cell block to B6D2F2 embryos. Fertilized embryo cytoplasm did not reduce the frequency of blastocyst stage and full-term development. Interestingly, we found that somatic cytoplasm increased the placenta weight of ICSI embryo (0.2002 � 0.03, n = 32; vs. 0.1198 � 0.02 in control group, n = 87; P < 0.01). We also obtained placenta with no fetus when the volume of somatic cytoplasm was the same size as cumulus cell. We found that an increase in the volume of somatic cytoplasm led to low expression of Oct4 in expanded blastocysts. These findings indicated that injection of somatic cytoplasm into oocytes before ICSI decreased the preimplantation development, clearly impaired full-term development, and caused placental overgrowth in fertilized embryos. This study suggested that somatic cell cytoplasmic material is one cause of the low rate of full-term development of cloned animals.

318 ENHANCEMENT OF FERTILIZATION BY DIGITONIN IN ROUND SPERMATID INJECTION

Reproductive technologies allow us to produce offspring using a variety of cells including sperm, spermatids, spermatocytes, somatic cells, and even parthenogenetic oocytes. In each of these technologies, failure of pronuclear formation after injection often prevents successful artificial reproduction. One of the possible causes is assumed to be that the breakage of the cytoplasmic membrane by simple pipetting is not enough to expose the nuclei to the ooplasm for pronuclear formation. To overcome this problem, we applied digitonin, a mild nonionic detergent, for the purpose of the permeabilization of cellular and nuclear membranes before injection. In this study, round spermatid cells in the mouse were used as a model because of their low pronuclear formation rate after injection. First, to examine the permeabilization of spermatids by digitonin, spermatid cells were incubated in CZB medium including 10 μg/mL of digitonin. Interestingly, the spermatids were lysed within 30 s after transfer but not other spermatogenic cells or somatic cells. Next, we conducted round spermatid injection (ROSI) using PVP including digitonin in a similar manner. Spermatids were picked up by injection pipette from spermatogenic cells suspended in a drop of PVP. These spermatids were transferred into another PVP drop including 1 μg/mL or 10 μg/mL of digitonin and left for 30 s. These digitonin-treated spermatids were then directly injected into previously activated oocytes. Six hours after injection, the fertilized oocytes were examined. Pronuclear formation rates were calculated as a proportion of oocytes with two pronuclei as well as one second polar body to total oocytes with one second polar body (Table 1). After digitonin treatment, fertilization rates significantly increased compared with ROSI without digitonin (Table 1). Further, these fertilized oocytes developed into blastocysts in vitro at comparable or higher rates. To further elucidate the effects of digitonin pretreatment on in vivo development, embryos were transferred into surrogate mothers 24 h after injection for offspring production. Although it is preliminary, we succeeded in the delivery of pups after ROSI with digitonin pretreatment (8 pups out of 14 transferred embryos). Thus, digitonin pretreatment is suggested to improve the success rate of ROSI. Table 1. Fertilization and in vitro development after ROSI with digitonin

[Prognosis of resected stage I bronchioloalveolar carcinoma of the lung]

In this retrospective study, we investigated the prognosis of 25 patients with resected bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) of 3.0 cm or less in diameter. We assigned a diagnosis of BAC for non-invasive tumors as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) classification. The patients ranged in age from 47 to 78 years with an average of 64.0 years. Eighteen patients (72%) were male and 7 patients (28%) were female. All the patients underwent complete resection. As the mode of surgical resection, at least lobectomy was performed in 84%. Sections of the resected tumor were stained by HE and Elastica, and then examined by light microscopy. The tumors ranged in size from 0.5 to 3.0 cm with an average of 1.9 cm. Neither pleural involvement nor vascular permeation was seen in BACs. There was also no lymph node involvement for BACs. The 5-year disease-free survival rate of all 25 patients with BAC was 100%. The unequivocally recognizing invasive features by morphology is important for a prospect of the prognosis of resected BACs.

Hemorrhagic shock due to intrathoracic rupture of an osteosarcoma of the rib

A 13-year-old girl presented with dyspnea and chest pain. Chest radiography showed a massive left pleural effusion. Computed tomography revealed a tumor of the fourth rib. A large bloody effusion was drained. Her anemia worsened (hemoglobin: 4.8 g/dl), and hemorrhagic shock ensued. An emergency thoracotomy was performed. Bleeding from the ruptured tumor was identified. The fourth rib, the tumor, and the adjacent tissues were resected. Histopathologic examination revealed a ruptured primary osteosarcoma of the rib with pleural dissemination.