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Background: There is limited information about the respiratory function of ever-smokers without lung disorders. We sought to assess the effects of smoking habits on respiratory function in subjects without lung disorders., Methods: Subjects were recruited from among patients without any evidence of respiratory disorders who visited rural primary care clinics. Each participant was asked to answer a questionnaire that included questions smoking history. Their forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were measured., Results: We analyzed 802 subjects (364 men and 438 women). The means of the lambda-mu-sigma method derived z-score of FEV1 (zFEV1) both in current-smokers and ex-smokers were lower than that in never-smokers. The mean zFEV1 in the ever-smokers with more than 30 pack-years of smoking history were lower than that in the ever-smokers with less smoking history. Univariate analysis showed that there were significant negative correlations between pack-years and zFEV1 both in the ex-smokers and current-smokers. There was no significant correlation between the duration of smoking cessation and zFEV1 in the ex-smokers., Conclusions: Our data suggests that respiratory function in healthy ever-smokers is decreased based on smoking habits in a dose-dependent manner. Even after a long period of smoking cessation, the decreased respiratory function seems to be maintained in ex-smokers., (Copyright © 2017 The Japanese Respiratory Society. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lung cancer is one of the most frequent causes of cancer-related death worldwide. However, molecular markers for lung cancer have not been well established. To identify novel genes related to lung cancer development, we surveyed publicly available DNA microarray data on lung cancer tissues. We identified lipase member H (LIPH, also known as mPA-PLA1) as one of the significantly upregulated genes in lung adenocarcinoma. LIPH was expressed in several adenocarcinoma cell lines when they were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), western blotting, and sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Immunohistochemical analysis detected LIPH expression in most of the adenocarcinomas and bronchioloalveolar carcinomas tissue sections obtained from lung cancer patients. LIPH expression was also observed less frequently in the squamous lung cancer tissue samples. Furthermore, LIPH protein was upregulated in the serum of early- and late-phase lung cancer patients when they were analyzed by ELISA. Interestingly, high serum level of LIPH was correlated with better survival in early phase lung cancer patients after surgery. Thus, LIPH may be a novel molecular biomarker for lung cancer, especially for adenocarcinoma and bronchioloalveolar carcinoma., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The direct observation of individual molecules in action is required for a better understanding of the mechanisms of biological reactions. We used a high-speed atomic force microscope (AFM) in solution to visualize short DNA fragments in motion. The technique represents a new approach in analyzing molecular interactions, and it allowed us to observe real-time images of biotinylated DNA binding to/dissociating from streptavidin protein. Our results show that high-speed AFMs have the potential to reveal the mechanisms of molecular interactions, which cannot be determined by analyzing the average value of mass reactions.