Radiation-induced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma showing a significant response to pembrolizumab: A case report.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) arising from radiation dermatitis has a higher risk of metastasis than conventional cSCC. Immunosuppression is another risk factor for cSCC, suggesting that mycosis fungoides (MF) could be a risk factor for cSCC. Here we report a case of radiation-induced cSCC with a high level of tumor-mutation burden that developed in a patient with MF who was successfully treated with pembrolizumab. The present case suggests that pembrolizumab might be an optimal therapy for radiation-induced cSCC, even at advanced stages.

Secure base script and psychological dysfunction in Japanese young adults in the 21st century: Using the Attachment Script Assessment.

The universality of secure base construct, which suggests that one's use of an attachment figure as a secure base from which to explore the environment is an evolutionary outcome, is one of the core ideas of attachment theory. However, this universality idea has been critiqued because exploration is not as valued in Japanese culture as it is in Western cultures. Waters and Waters (2006) hypothesized that one's experiences of secure base behaviors are stored as a script in memory, and developed a narrative assessment called the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA) to evaluate one's secure base script. This study examined the validity of the ASA and the utility of secure base concept in Japanese culture. A sample of Japanese young adults (N = 89; M = 23.46; SD = 3.20; 57% = females) completed both the ASA and self-report questionnaires. The results revealed that the ASA score was associated with two dimensions of self-report questionnaires assessing parent-youth attachment relationships (trust and communication). The ASA score was not related to Japanese cultural values (amae acceptance, interdependent self-construal, and low independent self-construal). However, a low ASA score was related to a psychological dysfunction in the Japanese cultural context; hikikomori symptoms, which are defined as a desire to remain in his or her own room and his or her understanding of this behavior in other people. We concluded that since hikikomori can be interpreted as an extreme inhibition of exploration, the association between low secure base script and hikikomori symptoms suggests the utility of secure base construct in Japan. (PsycINFO Database Record

Seasonal changes in pollen limitation and femaleness along the snowmelt gradient in a distylous alpine herb, Primula modesta.

Flowering phenology of alpine plants is strongly determined by the timing of snowmelt, and the conditions of pollination of widely distributed plants vary greatly during their flowering season. We examined the reproductive success of the distylous alpine herb, Primula modesta, along the snowmelt gradient under natural conditions, and compared it with the result of artificial pollination experiments. In addition, the compositions and visit frequencies of pollinators to the flower of P. modesta were examined during the flowering period. The pin and thrum plants of P. modesta growing at the same site have an equal ability to produce seeds if a sufficient amount of legitimate pollen grains are deposited on the stigma surface. However, under natural conditions, their seed-set success was often (even if not always) restricted by pollen limitation, and the functional gender of the pin and thrum plants biased to the female and male, respectively, associated with their growing sites. These variations were not ascribed to resource limitation nor biased morph ratio but to the seasonal changes in pollination situations, a replacement of pollinator types from long- to short-tongued pollinators resulted in unidirectional pollen transfer from long stamens (thrum plants) to long styles (pin plants). The functional gender specialization may enhance the evolution of dioecy from heterostyly, but the severe pollen limitation may cause the breakdown of heterostyly into homostyly. To consider the evolutionary pathway of heterostylous plants, an accumulation of the empirical data is required demonstrating how phenological synchrony between plants and pollinators is decided and to what degree this relationship is stable over years, along with estimates of selection and gene flow in individual plants.

3EZ,20Ac-ingenol, a catalytic inhibitor of topoisomerases, downregulates p-Akt and induces DSBs and apoptosis of DT40 cells.

We have previously reported that many ingenol compounds derived from Euphorbia kansui exhibit topoisomerase (topo) II inhibitory activity. Of these compounds, 3EZ,20Ac-ingenol inhibited topo I activity. Camptothecin, which inhibits the religation activity of topo I without interfering with the binding of topo I to DNA and induces topo I-mediated DNA cleavage, was used as a positive control. In this study, we found that 3EZ,20Ac-ingenol did not hamper the binding of topo I to DNA in the same manner as camptothecin but affected the inhibition of cleavage of one DNA strand. 3EZ,20Ac-ingenol inhibited cell proliferation by blocking cell cycle progression in the G2/M phase. To define the mechanism of inhibition of DT40 cell proliferation, the change in Akt activity was observed because Akt activity is regulated in response to DNA damage. Western blot analysis revealed that 3EZ,20Ac-ingenol downregulated the expression of p-Akt, and apoptosis was detected by the presence of DNA double-strand breaks and caspase 3 activation.

Molecular and catalytic properties of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol hydrolase (PhlG) from Pseudomonas sp. YGJ3.

Gene phlG encoding 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol hydrolase was cloned from Pseudomonas sp. YGJ3 and expressed in Escherichia coli. Recombinant PhlG was purified homogeneously. It required 2-mercaptoethanol for stability. Km for 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol and kcat were determined to be 24 µM and 5.8 s(-1) respectively. CoCl2 specifically and significantly activated PhlG.

Oxidative degradation of 4-hydroxyacetophenone in Arthrobacter sp. TGJ4.

The 4-hydroxyacetophenone assimilating bacterium Arthrobacter sp. TGJ4 was isolated from a soil sample. The resting cell reaction suggested that the strain cleaved 4-hydroxyacetophenone and its 3-methoxy derivative to the corresponding carboxylic acids and formaldehyde. Some properties of the enzyme catalyzing the cleavage reaction were examined.

[Nested variant of urothelial carcinoma of bladder : a case report].

A 58-year-old man visited our hospital with gross hematuria. Cystoscopy revealed a papillary tumor around the left ureteral orifice. Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TUR-Bt) was performed and histopathological findings revealed a nested variant of urothelial carcinoma. Computed tomography (CT) revealed no involvement of other organs. Laparoscopic radical cystectomy and orthotopic neobladder substitution (Studer methods) were performed. The histopathological stage was pT3aN0M0. Adjuvant chemotherapy (gemcitabine + cisplatin) was performed. The patient is currently free from disease at five months after the surgery.

Analysis of inhibition of topoisomerase IIalpha and cancer cell proliferation by ingenolEZ.

We previously reported that many ingenol compounds derived from Euphorbia kansui exhibit topoisomerase inhibitory activity and/or inhibitory activity of cell proliferation. The inhibitory effects of 20-O-(2'E,4'Z-decadienoyl) ingenol and 3-O-(2'E,4'Z-decadienoyl)-ingenol among these compounds on topoisomerase II activity and on the cell proliferative activity and arrest phase of the cell cycle were studied using a mouse breast cancer (MMT) cell line. Although 20-O-ingenolEZ exerted inhibitory effects on both topoisomerase II activity and cell proliferative activity, 3-O-ingenolEZ exerted inhibitory activity on neither. The 20-O-ingenolEZ-induced cell arrest of MMT-cell proliferation led to a cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. Topoisomerase II inhibition can be divided into the poison and catalytic inhibitor types. A checkpoint mechanism is activated when cells are treated with these topoisomerase II inhibitors. Poison-type inhibition occurs via induction of the DNA damage checkpoint and the catalytic-type inhibition occurs via induction of the DNA-decatenation checkpoint, suggestive of distinct checkpoint reactions. 20-O-ingenolEZ inhibited topoisomerase IIalpha activity through inhibition of ATPase, and induced DNA-decatenation checkpoint without signaling for phosphorylation of H2AX.