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Purpose: Pleural biopsy is invaluable for the etiological diagnosis in the presence of an exudative pleural effusion. We evaluate the efficacy of thoracoscopic pleural biopsy under local anesthesia using a [...]

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 has been shown to induce ectopic expression of cardiac transcription factors and beating cardiomyocytes in non-precardiac mesodermal cells, suggesting that BMP-2 is an inductive signaling molecule that participates in cardiac development. However, direct evidence of the effects of BMP-2 on cardiac myocytes has not been reported. To examine the role of BMP-2 and its receptors, we studied the ability of BMP-2 to promote survival of isolated neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. BMP receptors IA, IB, and II and activin receptor I were found to be expressed in myocytes, and BMP-2 phosphorylated Smad1 and p38 MAPK. Interestingly, BMP-2 promoted survival and inhibited apoptosis of serum-deprived myocytes, although it did not strongly induce hypertrophic growth. To explore the mechanisms for this protective effect, an adenovirus-based vector system was used. Similar to BMP-2, Smad1 promoted survival that was repressed by Smad6. Moreover, BMP-2 and Smad1 enhanced the expression of the anti-apoptotic molecule Bcl-x(L). Antisense oligonucleotides to bcl-x(L) attenuated the survival effected by BMP-2. Overall, our findings suggest that BMP-2 prevents apoptosis of myocytes by induction of Bcl-x(L) via a Smad1 pathway and might be a novel survival factor without any hypertrophic effect on myocytes.

Activation of glycoprotein (gp) 130 transduces hypertrophic and cytoprotective signals in cardiac myocytes. In the present study, we have demonstrated that signals through gp130 increase the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cardiac myocytes via the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 pathway. After activation of gp130 with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), expression of VEGF mRNA rapidly increased with a peak at 3 h in cultured cardiac myocytes. Cardiotrophin-1 also enhanced VEGF mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner. VEGF protein production and secretion to the medium were also enhanced by LIF and cardiotrophin-1 but not by interleukin-6. Adenovirus transfer of the dominant-negative form of STAT3 to cultured cardiac myocytes inhibited induction of VEGF expression induced by LIF, but neither PD98059 nor wortmannin was affected. In murine hearts, intravenous administration of LIF augmented expression of VEGF mRNA; however, the hearts of transgenic mice overexpressing dominant-negative STAT3 showed reduced expression of VEGF mRNA that was not induced after LIF stimulation. These data provide the first evidence that a STAT family protein functions as a regulator of angiogenic growth factors and suggest that gp130/STAT signaling in cardiac myocytes can control vessel growth during cardiac remodeling.

A phase I trial of the combination of irinotecan (CPT-11) with cisplatin in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed a very promising response rate of 54% in previously untreated NSCLC patients. This study was conducted to confirm the activity and toxicities of CPT-11 and cisplatin combination for previously untreated NSCLC in a multi-institutional phase II study. Seventy patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC received CPT-11 60 mg m(-2) intravenously (i.v.) on days 1, 8 and 15, and cisplatin 80 mg m(-2) (i.v.) on day 1 every 4 weeks. Assessments were made of response, survival and toxicities. Sixty-nine were eligible, and evaluable for toxicities and survival, and 64 patients evaluable for response. Thirty-three patients (52%; 95% confidence interval 39-64%) achieved an objective response, with one complete response (2%) and 32 partial responses (50%). The median duration of response was 19 weeks and the overall median survival time was 44 weeks. The 1-year survival rate was 33%. The major toxic effects were leucopenia and diarrhoea. Grade 3 or 4 leucopenia, neutropenia, and diarrhoea occurred in 32 patients (46%), 53 patients (80%), and 13 patients (19%) respectively. A combination of CPT-11 and cisplatin is very effective against non-small-cell lung cancer with acceptable toxicities.

A patient with ataxia telangiectasia was treated with recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) and the resulting immunological effects evaluated. The patient lacked IL-2 production, and immunoglobulin synthesis was also impaired. Treatment with IL-2 selectively increased serum IgM without any significant side effects. Therapy also restored B-cell function in vitro, IgM production as well as the proliferative response to Staphylococcus aureus strain Cowan I. These results suggest that IL-2 treatment may correct both T-cell and B-cell defects.

A randomized trial of combination therapy with bestatin (30mg daily, every day) was performed in 238 patients with inoperable primary lung cancer from August, 1981 through April, 1984. Of the 238 patients, 227 were evaluable: 113 treated by bestatin combination therapy and 114 controls. There was no statistically significant difference in response rate or survival between the 2 groups. In squamous cell cancer response was observed in 34.5% of the bestatin group and 17.9% of the control group. The analysis, including Cox's proportional hazard model, revealed that the survival tended to be longer in the bestatin group (median survival 40 weeks) than in the control group (median survival 24 weeks; p = 0.051). This suggests that addition of bestatin might be beneficial in squamous cell cancer of the lung but further, more rigidly controlled, clinical trials are necessary before more definitive conclusions can be drawn.

The nylon oligomer (6-aminohexanoic acid cyclic dimer) degradation genes on plasmid pOAD2 of Flavobacterium sp. KI72 were cloned into Escherichia coli vector pBR322. The locus of one of the genes, the structural gene of 6-aminohexanoic acid linear oligomer hydrolase, was determined by constructing various deletion plasmids and inserting the lacUV5 promoter fragment of E. coli into the deletion plasmid. Two kinds of repeated sequences (RS-I and RS-II) were detected on pOAD2 by DNA-DNA hybridization experiments. These repeated sequences appeared five times (RS-I) or twice (RS-II) on pOAD2. One of the RS-II regions and the structural gene of the hydrolase overlapped.

Hybrids were constructed of the genes for two homologous enzymes, 6-aminohexanoic acid-oligomer hydrolase (EII, one of the nylon oligomer degradation enzymes), and its probable evolutionary antecedent (EII'). The structural genes of EII (nylB) and EII' (nylB') have 88% similarity in their nucleotide sequences, an open frame encoding a peptide of 392 amino acids, conserved restriction sites, and in vitro recombination between these genes at the corresponding restriction sites generated genes directing various hybrid enzymes. In a comparison of the EII, EII', and the hybrid enzymes, we concluded that one or more of the four amino acid alterations that occurred in the intramolecular region (between amino acids 162-257) of EII' is essential to the adaptation of the enzyme to nylon oligomer degradation, and that its effect is enhanced 20-fold by one or more further alterations in the 258-380 region. Our results also suggest that this technique is useful for improving enzyme characteristics.

A phase II trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the Egorin's carboplatin dosing formula with 14-day oral etoposide in 38 elderly patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). The overall response rate was 81%. Median survival times were 15.1 months for 16 limited-disease (LD) and 8.6 months for 22 extensive-disease (ED) patients. Myelosuppression was the principal side-effect. This regimen is an active regimen in the treatment of elderly SCLC patients.

Sixty-three patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer were randomized to receive either cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin and etoposide (CODE) alone or CODE plus recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF). rhG-CSF administration in support of CODE chemotherapy resulted in increased mean total received dose intensity for all drugs (P = 0.03) with a significant improvement in survival (P = 0.004).

A glucose dehydrogenase gene was isolated from Bacillus megateriumIWG3, and its nucleotide sequence was identified. The amino acid sequence of the enzyme deduced from the nucleotide sequence is very similar to the protein sequence of the enzyme from B. megateriumM1286 reported by Jany et al. (Jany, K.-D., Ulmer, W., Froschle, M., and Pfleiderer, G. (1984) FEBS Lett. 165, 6–10). The isolated gene was mutagenized with hydrazine, formic acid, or sodium nitrite, and 12 clones (H35, H39, F18, F20, F191, F192, N1, N13, N14, N28, N71, and N72) containing mutant genes for thermostable glucose dehydrogenase were obtained. The nucleotide sequences of the 12 genes show that they include 8 kinds of mutants having the following amino acid substitutions: H35 and H39, Glu-96 to Gly; F18 and F191, Glu-96 to Ala; F20, Gln-252 to Leu; F192, Gln-252 to Leu and Ala-258 to Gly; N1, Glu-96 to Lys and Val-183 to Ile; N13 and N14, Glu-96 to Lys, Val-112 to Ala, Glu-133 to Lys, and Tyr-217 to His; N28, Glu-96 to Lys, Asp-108 to Asn, Pro-194 to Gin, and Glu-210 to Lys; and N71 and N72, Tyr-253 to Cys. These mutant enzymes have higher stability at 60 °C than the wild-type enzyme. The results of this study indicate that the tetrameric structure of glucose dehydrogenase is stabilized by several kinds of mutation, and at least one of the following amino acid substitutions stabilizes the enzyme: Glu-96 to Gly, Glu-96 to Ala, Gln-252 to Leu, and Tyr-253 to Cys.

Bacillus megaterium is known to have several genes that code for isozymes of glucose dehydrogenase. Two of them, gdhI and gdhII, were cloned from B. megaterium IAM1030 in our previous work (T. Mitamura, R. V. Evora, T. Nakai, Y. Makino, S. Negoro, I. Urabe, and H. Okada, J. Ferment. Bioeng. 70:363-369, 1990). In the present study, two new genes, gdhIII and gdhIV, were isolated from the same strain and their nucleotide sequences were identified. Each gene has an open reading frame of 783 bp available to encode a peptide of 261 amino acids. Thus, a total of four glucose dehydrogenase genes have been cloned from B. megaterium IAM1030. In addition, this strain does not seem to have other glucose dehydrogenase genes that can be distinguished from the four cloned genes so far examined by Southern hybridization analysis. The two newly cloned genes were expressed in Escherichia coli cells, and the products, GlcDH-III and GlcDH-IV, were purified and characterized and compared with the other isozymes, GlcDH-I and GlcDH-II, encoded by gdhI and gdhII, respectively. These isozymes showed different mobilities in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (GlcDH-I greater than GlcDH-III = GlcDH-IV greater than GlcDH-II), although they have the same number of amino acid residues. Double-immunodiffusion tests showed that GlcDH-I is immunologically different from the other isozymes and that GlcDH-III and GlcDH-IV are identical to one another but a little different from GlcDH-II. These glucose dehydrogenases were stabilized in the presence of 2 M NaCl. The effect of NaCl was especially large for GlcDH-III, which is most unstable enzyme. Kinetic studies showed that these isozymes are divided into two groups with respect to coenzyme specificity, although they can utilize both NAD and NADP: GlcDH-III and GlcDH-IV prefer NAD, and GlcDH-I and GlcDH-II prefer NADP. The phylogenic relationship of these glucose dehydrogenase genes is also discussed.

In an attempt to clarify the regulatory mechanism that accounts for the shift of protein A24 in the mitotic cycle, we demonstrated the existence of an enzyme, provisionally termed isopeptidase, that cleaves A24 stoichiometrically into histone H2A and ubiquitin. Properties of this enzyme are (i) most eukaryotes, including mammals, amphibia, chicken, and yeast, contain isopeptidase in the cytoplasm; (ii) a significant increase in enzyme binding to chromatin occurs when cells enter mitosis; (iii) Escherichia coli does not contain isopeptidase; (iv) isopeptidase has a molecular weight of 38,000; (v) at an ionic strength that induces globular conformation of H2A, isopeptidase activity is repressed; (vi) a SH group is an essential cofactor; and (vii) most divalent cations (except Mg2+ and Ca2+) are inhibitory. In view of the stoichiometric conversion of A24 into H2A and ubiquitin by isopeptidase in vitro, A24 probably contains a Gly-Gly dipeptide in isopeptide linkage but no other intervening polypeptides. Since ubiquitin in various eukaryotes binds to protein other than H2A, and is proteolytically released, isopeptidase probably acts on isopeptide bonds in general and not uniquely on those of A24. Inasmuch as isopeptidase is present throughout the cell cycle, the level of A24 in chromatin appears to be controlled by a balance between isopeptidase and an as yet unestablished H2A-ubiquitin ligase.

The malic enzyme (EC 1.1.1.38) gene of Bacillus stearothermophiluswas cloned in Escherichia coli, and the enzyme was purified to homogeneity from the E. coliclone. In addition to the NAD(P)-dependent oxidative decarboxylation of L-malate, the enzyme catalyzes the decarboxylation of oxalacetate. The enzyme is a tetramer of Mr200,000 consisting of four identical subunits of Mr50,000. The pH optima for malate oxidation and pyruvate reduction are 8.0 and 6.0, respectively; and the optimum temperature is 55 °C. The enzyme strictly requires divalent metal cations for its activity, and the activity is enhanced 5–7 times by NH4+and K+. Kinetic study shows that the values of the dissociation constant of the enzyme-coenzyme complex are 77 µMfor NAD and 1.0 mMfor NADP, indicating that the enzyme has a higher affinity for NAD than for NADP. The nucleotide sequence of the gene and its flanking regions was also found. A single open reading frame of 1434 base pairs encoding 478 amino acids was concluded to be that for the malic enzyme gene because the amino acid composition of the enzyme and the sequence of 16 amino acids from the amino terminus of the enzyme agreed well with those deduced from this open reading frame.

Abstract The importance of the dose intensity of chemotherapy in achieving maximal therapeutic effect has recently been reported for several chemosensitive malignant diseases, with Murray et al. reporting that intensive weekly chemotherapy using the cisplatin, vincristine, doxorubicin, and etoposide (CODE) regimen in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is very effective. However, leukopenia is the major obstacle to delivering the planned dose in intensive regimens. Therefore, we investigated whether recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) could allow full drug doses to be given as scheduled, thereby improving the final outcome. Extensive-stage (ES) SCLC patients were randomized to receive either CODE alone or CODE with rhG-CSF, with the CODE regimen consisting of cisplatin given i.v. at 25 mg/m² weekly for 9 weeks; vincristine given i.v. at 1 mg/m² during weeks 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8; and doxorubicin given i.v. at 40 mg/m² and etoposide given i.v. at 80 mg/m² for 3 days during weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. rhG-CSF at 50 μg/m² was given s.c. on the days on which cytotoxic drugs were not given. From May 1989 to September 1991, 64 patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 63 were analyzable (31 for CODE alone and 32 for CODE with rhG-CSF). No difference in any of the patients’ characteristics except gender was found between the two groups. The complete response (CR) rate was 34% in the CODE with rhG-CSF group and 23% in the CODE alone group; the median survival was 59 and 32 weeks, respectively, in these groups (P = 0.004). Therefore CODE with rhG-CSF improved the survival of ES SCLC patients. On the basis of these results a phase III study to determine whether CODE with rhG-CSF would increase survival as compared to the standard regimen in ES SCLC was designed by the Japan Clinical Oncology Group.

Flavobacterium sp. strain KI725 harbors plasmid pOAD21, a derivative of nylon oligomer-degradative plasmid pOAD2, in which all of nylA (the gene for 6-aminohexanoate cyclic dimer hydrolase [EI]) was deleted but nylB (the gene for 6-aminohexanoate dimer hydrolase [EII]) was retained. KI725 showed no growth on unfractionated nylon oligomers (Nom1) obtained from a nylon factory as a sole carbon and nitrogen source (Nom1 minimum plate). Extracts of KI725 cells possessed hydrolytic activity for Nom1 (approximately 5% of the activity of KI72), but pOAD2-cured strains (KI722 and KI723) showed no activity. KI725R strains which grew on the Nom1 minimum plate were spontaneously isolated from KI725 at a frequency of 10(-7) per cell. Activity toward Nom1 was enhanced in KI725R strains (10 to 30% of the activity of KI72). This new Nom1 degrading enzyme (EIII, the nylC gene product) hydrolyzed not only Nom1 but also the N-carbobenzoxy-6-aminohexanoate trimer, a substrate which was not hydrolyzed by either EI or EII. Cloning and sequence analysis showed that the nylC gene is located close to nylB on pOAD21 and is a 1,065-bp open reading frame corresponding to 355 amino acid residues. The nucleotide sequence of the nylC gene and the deduced amino acid sequence of EIII had no detectable homology with the sequences of nylA (EI) and nylB (EII).

A bacterial strain, Pseudomonas sp. strain NK87, that can use 6-aminohexanoate-cyclic dimer as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen was newly isolated from wastewater of a factory which produces nylon-6. Two responsible enzymes, 6-aminohexanoate-cyclic-dimer hydrolase (P-EI) and 6-aminohexanoate-dimer hydrolase (P-EII), were found in the NK87 strain, as is the case with Flavobacterium sp. strain KI72, another 6-aminohexanoate-cyclic-dimer-metabolizing bacterium (H. Okada, S. Negoro, H. Kimura, and S. Nakamura, Nature [London] 306:203-206, 1983). The P-EI enzyme is immunologically identical to the 6-aminohexanoate-cyclic-dimer hydrolase of KI72 (F-EI). However, antiserum against the 6-aminohexanoate-dimer hydrolase purified from KI72 (F-EII) did not react with cell extracts of NK87, indicating that the F-EII and P-EII enzymes are immunologically different. Restriction endonuclease analyses show that the NK87 strain harbors at least six plasmids ranging in size from 20 to 80 kilobase pairs (kbp). The P-EI and P-EII genes were cloned in Escherichia coli. Both the P-EI and F-EI probes strongly hybridized with a 23-kbp plasmid in Southern hybridization analyses. The P-EII probe hybridized specifically with an 80-kbp plasmid, but the F-EII probe hybridized with none of the plasmids harbored in NK87. These results indicate that the P-EI gene and P-EII gene are encoded on the 23-kbp and 80-kbp plasmids, respectively.

The nucleotide sequences of the genes for 6-aminohexanoate-cyclic-dimer hydrolases of Flavobacterium sp. strain K172 (F-nylA) and Pseudomonas sp. NK87 (P-nylA), enzymes essential for the degradation of a by-product of the nylon-6 industry, were obtained by the dideoxynucleotide chain-termination method. A 1,479-base-pair open reading frame starting at a GTG and terminating at a TGA was found for the both of the genes. The P-nylA and F-nylA genes encoded polypeptides of 493 amino acids and had only 10 base substitutions in the coding region, which caused seven amino acid substitutions.

Bacillus stearothermophilus IAM11001 produced three beta-galactosidases, beta-galactosidase I, II, and III (beta-gal I, II, and III), which are detectable by polyacrylamide (nondenatured) gel electrophoresis. By connecting restriction fragments of the chromosomal DNA to plasmid vectors, followed by transformation of Escherichia coli, two beta-galactosidase genes (bgaA and bgaB) located close to each other on the chromosome were isolated. Identification of the gene products and Southern hybridization analyses with a 2.7-kilobase-pair EcoRI fragment containing the bgaA gene as probe revealed that a single bgaA gene exists on the genome and that beta-gal II and beta-gal III consist of a common subunit (the bgaA gene product; molecular weight, 120,000), but differ in their assembly (beta-gal II is a dimer, and beta-gal III is a tetramer). The bgaB gene product (molecular weight, 70,000) in Bacillus subtilis harboring pHG5 (a hybrid plasmid consisting of pUB110 and a 2.9-kilobase-pair EcoRI fragment) was estimated to be the beta-gal I protein from its heat stability. Southern hybridization and immunological testing indicated that the two genes have no homology.

The gene encoding a thermostable peroxidase was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Bacillus stearothermophilus IAM11001 in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of the 3.1-kilobase EcoRI fragment containing the peroxidase gene (perA) and its flanking region was determined. A 2,193-base-pair open reading frame encoding a peroxidase of 731 amino acid residues (Mr, 82,963) was observed. A Shine-Dalgarno sequence was found 9 base pairs upstream from the translational starting site. The deduced amino acid sequence coincides with those of the amino terminus and four peptides derived from the purified peroxidase of B. stearothermophilus IAM11001. E. coli harboring a recombinant plasmid containing perA produced a large amount of thermostable peroxidase which comigrated on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with the B. stearothermophilus peroxidase. The peroxidase of B. stearothermophilus showed 48% homology in the amino acid sequence to the catalase-peroxidase of E. coli.

Fine structure of the gene of 6-aminohexanoic acid cyclic dimer hydrolase, one of the enzymes responsible for the degradation of the nylon oligomer (6-aminohexanoic acid cyclic dimer), on the plasmid pOAD2 harbored in Flavobacterium sp. KI72 was determined by constructing miniplasmids from plasmid pNDH5 (a hybrid plasmid consisting of pBR322 and a 9.1-kilobase-pair HindIII fragment of pOAD2 ). The 6-aminohexanoic acid cyclic dimer hydrolase produced by cells of Escherichia coli C600 harboring pNDH5 or its miniplasmid was examined immunologically and electrophoretically and was found to be identical to that of Flavobacterium sp. KI72 . A fragment of pOAD2 (17.2- to 19.1-kilobase-pair region on pOAD2 ) was detected as hybridized fragment by Southern blotting experiments, indicating the presence of the DNA region analogous to the 6-aminohexanoic acid cyclic dimer hydrolase gene on the plasmid.

The nucleotide sequence of the bgaB gene, which encodes the thermostable beta-galactosidase I of Bacillus stearothermophilus, and its flanking region was determined. A 2,016-base-pair open reading frame observed was concluded to be for beta-galactosidase I (Mr 78,051) from observations that the amino acid composition of the enzyme and the sequence of 14 amino acids from the amino-terminus of the enzyme coincided with those deduced from this open frame. A 107-base-pair HaeIII-AluI fragment just upstream of the estimated Shine-Dalgarno sequence of the bgaB gene had promoter activity toward cat-86 (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene) and produced the enzyme at a level equivalent to 7% of the total cellular protein of B. subtilis. From the base sequence of this DNA region and the transcriptional start site determined by S1 nuclease mapping, the -35 and -10 sequences are estimated to be TTGACA and TAATTT, respectively, which are similar to the consensus sequence of B. subtilis sigma 43 RNA polymerase.

Persistent diabetes mellitus with marked hyperglycemia was induced in mice by the administration of streptozotocin. In these streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice, resistance to tubercle bacillus challenge and primary as well as secondardy humoral immune responses against foreign erythrocytes were markedly depressed. The T-cell function in delayed hypersensitivity to 2,4-dinitro-1-fluorobenzene and bacterial phagocytic activity or peritoneal macrophages were markedly depressed. In contrast, the B-cell function in antibody production against T-independent antigen and the intracellular killing of bacteria in peritoneal macrophages were intact. We concluded that depression of the T-cell function or the phagocytic activity of macrophages or both may be the main immunological defect in these mice.

Diheptylbenzene-1,4-bis(trimethylene boronate) was copolymerized with arylene dibromides in the presence of a palladium catalyst. Copolymers with 2,5-thienylene or 1,4-naphthylene had degree of polymerization higher than 100. Structures of the copolymers were identified by NMR spectroscopy. The copolymers emitted strong fluorescence. Spectra of copolymer with anthracene showed fine structures and a Stokes shift as small as 13 nm, while those of copolymers with thiophene or naphthalene were structureless and showed large apparent Stokes shift ranging from 70 to 130 nm.

The precise mechanism of fever and flu-like syndrome that occurs in treatment with deoxycytidine analogues remains unclear. This study demonstrated a strong correlation between plasma interleukin 6 levels and fever in treatment with oral (E)-2'-deoxy-2'(fluoromethylene)cytidine, another deoxycytidine analogue.