👤 Hiromitsu Kanamori

Apolipoprotein A-IV amyloidosis (AApoA-Ⅳ) is a rare subtype of cardiac amyloidosis (CA) and is often overlooked because of its clinical similarity to transthyretin (ATTR) CA. An 82-year-old man presented with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. His clinical features, including grade 1 uptake on Although the pathologic significance of the unique histologic features remains unclear, they may represent distinguishing characteristics of AApoA-IV amyloidosis. AApoA-IV CA typically presents with elderly-onset heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and may show positive uptake on bone scintigraphy. Differentiation from ATTR CA is possible based on characteristic histopathologic findings and mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis. Show less

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an enveloped, double-stranded DNA virus that selectively infects primates. Periodontitis, a common inflammatory disease characterized by alveolar bone destruction, affects more than half of the global adult population. While EBV has been linked to periodontitis due to its pro-inflammatory effects and presence in the human periodontium, its effects on bone metabolism, particularly alveolar bone resorption, remain unclear. This study demonstrated that EBV infection in humanized mice induced osteoclast differentiation and alveolar bone resorption, resulting in sparse trabecular bone patterns and increased lacunae resorption. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from EBV-infected cells contained M-CSF, essential for osteoclast differentiation, and increased CTSK and RANKL expression in osteoclast precursor cells after uptake. EBV infection increased the expression of group IIA-secreted phospholipase A Show less

G protein-coupled receptor class C group 5 member B (GPRC5B) is involved in extracellular glucose sensing, glucose metabolism, and insulin resistance. Many cancers require glucose at high concentrations to survive and grow. We have investigated the association between tumour GPRC5B expression and the prognosis for patients with cancer, including head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), using data from The Human Protein Atlas. The 5-year survival rate was significantly reduced in patients with HNSCC, gastric, pancreatic, colorectal, and breast cancers if their tumours exhibited high levels of GPRC5B expression. The role of GPRC5B in glucose metabolism was assessed using six HNSCC cell lines with varying levels of GPRC5B expression. High levels of GPRC5B expression were found to favour rapid cell growth. The viability of an HNSCC cell line with normal and transfected GPRC5B expression was also assessed and no differences were observed under standard culture conditions. However, under glucose-deficient culture conditions, GPRC5B-overexpressing cells exhibited increased viability and reduced apoptosis. The results highlight the association between high GPRC5B expression and poor 5-year survival rates in patients with various cancers, including HNSCC. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that GPRC5B supports cancer cell survival under glucose-depleted conditions and could be a target molecule for cancer therapy. Show less

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a hepatic phenotype of the metabolic syndrome, and increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although increasing evidence points to the therapeutic implications of certain types of anti-diabetic agents in NASH, it remains to be elucidated whether their effects on NASH are independent of their effects on diabetes. Genetically obese melanocortin 4 receptor-deficient (MC4R-KO) mice fed Western diet are a murine model that sequentially develops hepatic steatosis, NASH, and HCC in the presence of obesity and insulin resistance. In this study, we investigated the effect of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor anagliptin on NASH and HCC development in MC4R-KO mice. Anagliptin treatment effectively prevented inflammation, fibrosis, and carcinogenesis in the liver of MC4R-KO mice. Interestingly, anagliptin only marginally affected body weight, systemic glucose and lipid metabolism, and hepatic steatosis. Histological data and gene expression analysis suggest that anagliptin treatment targets macrophage activation in the liver during the progression from simple steatosis to NASH. As a molecular mechanism underlying anagliptin action, we showed that glucagon-like peptide-1 suppressed proinflammatory and profibrotic phenotypes of macrophages in vitro. This study highlights the glucose metabolism-independent effects of anagliptin on NASH and HCC development. Show less

The genetic pathways of aggressive changes of bone tumors are still poorly understood. It is very important to analyze DNA copy number alterations (DCNAs), to identify the molecular events in the step of progression to the aggressive change of bone tissue. Genome-wide array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH) was used to investigate DCNAs of 14 samples from 13 aggressive bone tumors, such as giant cell tumors (GCTs) and osteosarcoma (OS), etc. Primary aggressive bone tumors had copy number gains of 17.8±12.7% in the genome, and losses of 17.3±11.4% in 287 target clones (threshold for each DCNA: ≦085, 1.15≦). Genetic unstable cases, which were defined by the total DCNAs aberration ≧30%, were identified in 9 of 13 patients (3 of 7 GCTs and all malignant tumors). High-level amplification of TGFβ2, CCND3, WI-6509, SHGC-5557, TCL1A, CREBBP, HIC1, THRA, AFM217YD10, LAMA3, RUNX1 and D22S543, were commonly observed in aggressive bone tumors. On the other hand, NRAS, D2S447, RAF1, ROBO1, MYB, MOS, FGFR2, HRAS, D13S319, D13S327, D18S552, YES1 and DCC, were commonly low. We compared genetic instability between a primary OS and its metastatic site in Case #13. Metastatic lesion showed increased 9 DCNAs of remarkable change (m/p ratio ≧1.3 folds), compared to a primary lesion. D1S214, D1S1635, EXT1, AFM137XA11, 8 M16/SP6, CCND2, IGH, 282 M15/SP6, HIC1 and LAMA3, were overexpressed. We gave attention to HIC1 (17p13.3), which was common high amplification in this series. Our results may provide several entry points for the identification of candidate genes associated with aggressive change of bone tumors. Especially, the locus 17p11-13 including HIC1 close to p53 was common high amplification in this series and review of the literature. Show less