We found that simultaneous expression of survivin in both the nucleus and cytoplasm is an important prognostic factor for high-grade astrocytoma. The present findings indicate that subcellular localization of survivin expression is a reliable prognostic factor for patients with this tumor.

The utility of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for the diagnosis of intracranial abscesses has already been established. However, the use of DWI for pituitary abscesses has not been previously reported. We present a case of postoperative pituitary abscess in which T1-weighted and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a supra-sellar cystic mass, with the cyst contents showing high intensity on DWI. This case suggests that DWI is useful for the diagnosis of pituitary abscesses.

Glioblastoma is characterised by invasive growth and a high degree of radioresistance. Survivin, a regulator of chromosome segregation, is highly expressed and known to induce radioresistance in human gliomas. In this study, we examined the effect of survivin suppression on radiosensitivity in malignant glioma cells, while focusing on centrosome aberration and chromosome instability (CIN). We suppressed survivin by small interfering RNA transfection, and examined the radiosensitivity using a clonogenic assay and a trypan blue exclusion assay in U251MG (p53 mutant) and D54MG (p53 wild type) cells. To assess the CIN status, we determined the number of centrosomes using an immunofluorescence analysis, and the centromeric copy number by fluorescence in situ hybridisation. As a result, the radiosensitisation differed regarding the p53 status as U251MG cells quickly developed extreme centrosome amplification ( ¼ CIN) and enhanced the radiosensitivity, while centrosome amplification and radiosensitivity increased more gradually in D54MG cells. TUNEL assay showed that survivin inhibition did not lead to apoptosis after irradiation. This cell death was accompanied by an increased degree of aneuploidy, suggesting mitotic cell death. Therefore, survivin inhibition may be an attractive therapeutic target to overcome the radioresistance while, in addition, proper attention to CIN (centrosome number) is considered important for improving radiosensitivity in human glioma.

ARHI is a maternally imprinted tumor suppressor gene that is expressed in normal breast and ovarian epithelial cells but not in most breast and ovarian cancers. Our earlier studies showed that histone deacetylases (HDACs) in complexes with transcription factors E2F1 and E2F4 play an important role in downregulating ARHI expression in breast cancer cells. To determine which HDAC or HDACs are responsible for repressing ARHI, we cotransfected vectors expressing HDACs 1–11 with an ARHI/luciferase reporter into SKBr3 and MCF‐7 breast cancer cells. Expression of multiple HDACs consistently reduced ARHI promoter activity in a dose‐dependent manner. We also found that the expression level of HDACs 1–3 was higher in breast cancer cell lines than in normal breast epithelial cells. In agreement with their repressive function, depletion of HDACs 1, 3 and 11 not only significantly increased the ARHI promoter activity of the transfected reporter but also activated the transcription of the endogenous ARHI gene. Furthermore, depletion or inhibition of HDACs by small interfering RNA of HDAC11 or by trichostatin A, respectively, increased E2F acetylation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that HDACs 1 and 3 are bound to the ARHI promoter. Taken together, our results suggest that the activity of multiple HDACs contributes to the repression of the ARHI tumor suppressor gene in breast cancer cells. Since HDAC inhibitors are now being used to treat breast cancer, the reactivation of ARHI in these cancer cells may serve as a new biomarker with which to monitor the treatment effects. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

A 35-year-old man presented with penetrating spinal injury after attempting suicide by stabbing a wooden chopstick into his mouth. The object penetrated the pharynx, and the tip entered the spinal canal of the atlantoaxial vertebrae. Emergent surgery disclosed that the tip of the chopstick had penetrated between the dural sac and the vertebral artery. There was no dural tear or vertebral artery injury. The foreign body was removed successfully from the oral side. He recovered without neurological sequelae.