OBJECTIVE: The importance of quality assurance in cancer screening has recently gained increasing attention in Japan. To evaluate and improve quality, checklists and process indicators have been developed. To explore effective methods of enhancing quality in cancer screening, we started a randomized control study of the methods of evaluation and feedback for cancer control from 2009 to 2014. METHODS: We randomly assigned 1270 municipal governments, equivalent to 71% of all Japanese municipal governments that performed screening programs, into three groups. The high-intensity intervention groups (n = 425) were individually evaluated using both checklist performance and process indicator values, while the low-intensity intervention groups (n= 421) were individually evaluated on the basis of only checklist performance. The control group (n = 424) received only a basic report that included the national average of checklist performance scores. We repeated the survey for each municipality's quality assurance activity performance using checklists and process indicators. RESULTS: In this paper, we report our study design and the result of the baseline survey. The checklist adherence rates were especially low in the checklist elements related to invitation of individuals, detailed monitoring of process indicators such as cancer detection rates according to screening histories and appropriate selection of screening facilities. Screening rate and percentage of examinees who underwent detailed examination tended to be lower for large cities when compared with smaller cities for all cancer sites. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of the Japanese cancer screening program in 2009 was identified for the first time.

HASH(0xf8eedf0)

In mammals, female development has traditionally been considered a default process in the absence of the testis-determining gene, Sry. Recently, it has been documented that the gene for R-spondin1 (RSPO1), a novel class of soluble activator for Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, is mutated in two Italian families with female-to-male (XX) sex-reversal. To elucidate the role of Rspo1 as a candidate female-determining gene in a mouse model, we generated Rspo1-null (Rspo1(-/-)) mice and found that Rspo1(-/-) XX mice displayed masculinized features including pseudohermaphroditism in genital ducts, depletion of fetal oocytes, male-specific coelomic vessel formation, and ectopic testosterone production in the ovaries. Thus, although Rspo1 is required to fully suppress the male differentiation program and to maintain germ cell survival during the development of XX gonads, the loss of its activity has proved to be insufficient to cause complete XX sex-reversal in mice. Interestingly, these partial sex-reversed phenotypes of Rspo1(-/-) XX mice recapitulated those of previously described Wnt-4(-/-) XX mice. In accord with this finding, the expression of Wnt-4 and its downstream genes was deregulated in early Rspo1(-/-) XX gonads, suggesting that Rspo1 may participate in suppressing the male pathway in the absence of Sry and maintaining oocyte survival through positively regulating Wnt-4 signaling.

Bloom's syndrome (BS) is an autosomal disorder characterized by predisposition to a wide variety of cancers. The gene product whose mutation leads to BS is the RecQ family helicase BLM, which forms a complex with DNA topoisomerase IIIalpha (Top3alpha). However, the physiological relevance of the interaction between BLM and Top3alpha within the cell remains unclear. We show here that Top3alpha depletion causes accumulation of cells in G(2) phase, enlargement of nuclei, and chromosome gaps and breaks that occur at the same position in sister chromatids. The transition from metaphase to anaphase is also inhibited. All of these phenomena except cell lethality are suppressed by BLM gene disruption. Taken together with the biochemical properties of BLM and Top3alpha, these data indicate that BLM and Top3alpha execute the dissolution of sister chromatids.

To understand molecular responses to salt stress in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), we identified 106 salt-inducible soybean genes that expressed differentially at 72 h after 100 mM NaCl treatment using the cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method. The genes were designated as G. max Transcript-Derived Fragments (GmTDFs). Among these genes, we characterized a soybean gene GmTDF-5 that encoded an unknown protein of 367 amino acids. The GmTDF-5 protein was a putative cytosolic protein with two leucine-zipper motifs at the N-terminal and was calculated as 40.7 kDa. Southern blot analysis indicated that GmTDF-5 presents as an intron-less single gene on soybean genome and possibly distributes narrowly throughout the higher plants. By 100 mM NaCl treatment, the gene expression of GmTDF-5 was induced in the stem and lower-expanded leaf, and the amount of mRNA increased 5.1- and 2.0-fold up to 72 h, respectively. Interestingly, GmTDF-5 expression in the upper-leaf appeared dramatically with 10.0-fold increase at 72 h after the salt stress, but not until 48 h. Hyperosmotic pressure (mannitol treatment) and dehydration also caused the increases similar to NaCl treatment in the levels of GmTDF-5 expression. These results suggest that GmTDF-5 might be a novel cytosolic leucine-zipper-like protein functioning in mature organs of soybean shoot against water-potential changes.

Monitoring Editor: Orna Cohen-Fix Excess Cdt1 reportedly induces rereplication of chromatin in cultured cells and Xenopus egg extracts, suggesting that the regulation of Cdt1 activity by cell cycle-dependent proteolysis and expression of the Cdt1 inhibitor geminin is crucial for the inhibition of chromosomal overreplication between S phase and metaphase. We analyzed the consequences of excess Cdt1 for DNA replication and found that increased Cdt1 activity inhibited the elongation of nascent strands in Xenopus egg extracts. In Cdt1-supplemented extracts, overreplication was remarkably induced by the further addition of the Cdt1-binding domain of geminin (Gem79-130), which lacks licensing inhibitor activity. Further analyses indicated that fully active geminin, as well as Gem79-130, restored nascent strand elongation in Cdt1-supplemented extracts even after the Cdt1-induced stalling of replication fork elongation had been established. Our results demonstrate an unforeseen, negative role for Cdt1 in elongation and suggest that its function in the control of replication should be redefined. We propose a novel surveillance mechanism in which Cdt1 blocks nascent chain elongation after detecting illegitimate activation of the licensing system.