MLCK exerts an inhibitory effect on actin-myosin interactions through actin-binding activity that locates in the N-terminal portion of MLCK. To understand the structure and function of this portion precisely, PCR products to code [1M-337K] and [42K-337K] of bovine stomach MLCK were designed. They were inserted into a pET system vector and transformed E. coli of BL 21 to express the products as recombinant proteins. The fragments purified by column chromatographies were subjected of the assays of actin-binding, in vitro motility, and actin-activated ATPase activity assays. [1M-337K] was bound to actin and inhibited the motility and ATPase activity. However, [42K-337K] lost both actin-binding activity and inhibition of the motility and ATPase activity, indicating active involvement of the N-terminal 41 amino acids in the inhibition. The indication was confirmed by synthesizing a peptide of [1M-41P] and detecting its inhibitory effect on the motility and ATPase activity. It must be noted that calcium calmodulin (Ca-CaM) released the inhibitory effect by affecting the actin-binding activity of [1M-337K], although it was devoid of the CaM-binding site related to the kinase activity to MLCK. Because the synthetic peptide of [26F-41P] inhibited [1M-337K] from binding to Ca-CaM, the 26-41 sequence of MLCK may work as another CaM-binding site involved in the release by Ca-CaM.

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The localization of metallothionein (MT) in twenty-nine cases of testicular tumor was investigated using an immunoperoxidase method. Fifteen patients had typical seminoma in the primary tumor, two showed seminoma with embryonal carcinoma, one seminoma with choriocarcinoma, three embryonal carcinoma, two teratocarcinoma, three immature teratoma, one teratoma with yolk sac tumor, one teratoma with malignant transformation, one malignant lymphoma, and three metastatic retroperitoneal tumors. Positive immunoreactivity for MT was observed in embryonal carcinoma, well differentiated tissue (cartilaginous cells, gastrointestinal and respiratory mucosa, squamous epithelium), tumor cells differentiated into neural and muscular cells in teratocarcinoma, and differentiated embryonal carcinoma cells in immature teratoma. Tumor cells remaining after chemotherapy including cisplatin showed positive immunoreactivity for MT. However, seminoma cells showed almost no immunoreaction. The present study suggested that MT is detected in well differentiated cells of testicular tumors and may be useful marker for drug resistance.

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Serum cytokine levels during a 2-month period of physical therapy were evaluated in 11 patients with hemiplegia, 2 weeks after the onset of cerebrovascular diseases, who had been classified into the stages 2-3 by the criteria of Brunnstrom on admission. Compared with the patients who discontinued the physical therapy 3-4 weeks after the onset of stroke on their own, the serum level of interleukin-2 receptor was significantly increased, though serum levels of interleukin-2 and 6 were not changed. The serum level of IL-1β was undetectable before and after the rehabilitation program. It may be suggested that physical therapy in stroke patients has an effect to increase the immune function in association with the cytokine network.

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Fourteen patients with malignant lymphoma of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, operated on at our surgical department, were analyzed clinicopathologically. The earlier group of Naqvi's classification, stages I and II (n=9), had a 100% 5 year survival rate, while the advanced group, stages III and IV (n=5), had a 50% of 1 year survival rate (P<0.05). Curatively resected cases (n=12) all survived without recurrence, while of the non-curatively resected cases died soon after the operation. The relationship between the presence or absence of lymph node involvement and the survival rate revealed no significant difference in the 5 year survival rate. These results show that a good outcome can be obtained with curative resection including adequate lymph node dissection or with lymph node dissection combined with resection of the invaded organs. The optimal post-operative chemotherapy is a multidisciplinary modality and this was also an important factor in improving the prognosis of gastro-intestinal malignant lymphoma.

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This study was designed to elucidate the characteristic features of areas with a long-lived population, based on the superadvanced age ratio (population above 90 years/population above 65 years × 100), by investigating each district on a nationwide scale and within Gunma prefecture.
In the whole country study, the superadvanced age ratio significantly correlated with 14 years height, mean temperature, per capita annual income, purchased quantities of meat and that of butter. Multiple regression analysis showed that the main explanatory variables were height at age 14 and mean temperature, and R-square was 0.745.
In the study within Gunma prefecture, this ratio was related to population density, per capita annual income and altitude. And the main factor appeared to be per capita annual income.
However, the true dominant causes may have been masked by longevity related items and should be sought in a future study.

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The incidence of double cancer has recently increased rapidly with advances in diagnostic imaging and the improvement of treatment results. Various combinations of double cancer have been reported. However, there is little information in the literature on double cancer involving carcinoma of the uterine cervix and renal cell carcinoma. We experienced a case of stage IIB cervical cancer with synchronous right renal cell carcinoma which was incidentally discovered by imaging diagnosis for staging. The patient died of obstructive renal failure induced by local recurrence of the cervical cancer 3 years after treatment, because she could not undergo curative radiation therapy owing to her poor general condition. No obvious progression of renal cell carcinoma was observed during the clinical course. Autopsy revealed the renal cell carcinoma to be a clear cell type histologically.

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A 9-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital because of intermittent bloody stools. Endoscopic examination showed easily bleeding ulcerative lesions in the rectum. A diagnosis of mucosal prolapse syndrome was made from the history of diarrhea, straining, and histological findings of fibromusculosis. The clinical features of 43 Japanese children with mucosal prolapse syndrome including our case are summarized herein.
Among the children with mucosal prolapse syndrome, (1) 33 were male and 10 female, ranging in age from 5 to 15 years (average was 12.3 years), (2) as for abdominal symptoms, bloody stool was the most common symptom of prolapse syndrome in children (97.4% 37/38), though mucosal prolapse was absent in many patients (26.3% 10/38), and (3) in the rectal mucosa, 69.0% (29/42) of the patients had polypoid lesions, 21.4% (9/42) had ulcerative lesions, and 7.1% (3/42) had mixed type.
We conclude that polypoid lesions with bloody stools are the most common presentation of mucosal prolapse syndrome in Japanese children.

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Lipoma of the colon is a relatively rare disease, and preoperative diagnosis is still difficult. We experienced a 48-year-old woman with lipoma of the colon which had been correctly diagnosed by computed tomography (CT). The patient was admitted to our hospital because of melena and diarrhea. Barium roentgenograms revealed a round mass with a smooth surface of 4 × 3 cm in size in the transverse colon. CT demonstrated a target-like appearance and a mass with a CT value -80Hu proceeding to the transverse colon. Under a diagnosis of lipoma of the transverse colon, a laparoscopic assisted partial resection of the colon was carried out. The histological diagnosis was submucosal well differentiated lipoma. CT is useful for making an exact diagnosis of lipoma of the colon.

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