Background Esophageal metastasis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is extremely rare. We have described herein a case of a 59-year-old man with esophageal metastasis of RCC that was endoscopically resected. Case presentation The case was a 59-year-old man who had undergone left nephrectomy for renal clear cell carcinoma 17 years ago and splenectomy for splenic metastasis 3 years ago. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) performed 9 years ago revealed a small reddish elevated lesion with a smooth surface in the middle esophagus; this lesion increased in size 4 years ago. However, no biopsy was performed. The lesion continued to grow in size and was found to have become nodular during the present observation. Biopsy revealed clear cell carcinoma. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) revealed that the lesion had not invaded the submucosa, and contrast-enhanced computed tomography did not reveal any other metastasis. The lesion was successfully removed en bloc via endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Pathologically, the tumor was detected in the subepithelium with focal infiltration of the muscularis mucosa. It consisted of monotonous cells with small nuclei and a clear cytoplasm. Immunohistological findings indicated that the tumor was a metastasis of RCC. The lateral and vertical margins were noted to be free. Conclusions We have presented herein a case of esophageal metastasis of RCC that had progressed over 9 years and was then resected en bloc through endoscopic submucosal dissection.

Three halophilic archaeal strains, MH2-243-1 T , MH2-93-1 and MH2-91-1 were isolated from commercial salt samples from Japan, Australia, and Bolivia. Strain MH2-243-1 T was able to grow in the presence of 12-30 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 18 % NaCl), at pH 4.5-7.0 (optimum, pH 6.0) and at 20-60 6C (optimum, 40 6C). Strains MH2-91-1 and MH2-93-1 grew in slightly different ranges. The orthologous 16S rRNA gene sequences of the three strains were almost identical (99.8-99.9 % similarities), and the closest relative was Salarchaeum japonicum JCM 16327 T with 94.2-94.3 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, followed by strains of members of the closely related genera Halobacterium and Halarchaeum. The RNA polymerase subunit B9 gene (rpoB9) sequence also showed the highest similarity (86.6 %) to that of Salarchaeum japonicum JCM 16327 T. The DNA G+C contents of strains MH2-243-1 T , MH2-93-1 and MH2-91-1 were 68.5, 68.8 and 68.3 mol%, respectively. DNA-DNA relatedness values amongst the three strains were 97-99 %. The polar lipids of the three strains were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester, and at least seven unidentified glycolipids. The polar lipid composition differed from those of Salarchaeum japonicum and species of the genera Halobacterium and Halarchaeum. Based on the phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses, it is proposed that the isolates represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Halocalculus aciditolerans gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is MH2-243-1 T (5JCM 19596 T 5KCTC 4149 T) isolated from solar salt produced in Japan. MH2-93-1 (5JCM 19595) and MH2-91-1 (5JCM 19594) are additional strains of the type species. Many haloarchaeal strains grow well in neutral to slightly alkaline media, and alkaliphilic haloarchaea have been isolated from various sources (Oren, 2012). In 2008, we showed the presence of moderately acidophilic haloarchaeal strains capable of growth in the medium MH1 adjusted to pH 4.5. They were isolated from many solar salt samples obtained from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, etc. (Minegishi et al., 2008). Most strains grew at a pH range of 4.5-6.0, and none of them showed growth at pH higher than 6.5. A representative Abbreviations: ML, maximum-likelihood; NJ, neighbour-joining; PGP-Me, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strains MH2-243-1 T , MH2-93-1 and MH2-91-1 are AB844670, AB844667 and AB844666, respectively; those for the rpoB9 sequence of the same strains are AB917096, AB917095 and AB917094, respectively. Two supplementary figures are available with the online Supplementary Material.

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ABSTRACT. To determine whether functional T-and B-cells can affect differentiation and/or proliferation of uterine natural killer (uNK) cells, their numbers in SCID mice (genotype, C.B.-17/Icr-scid/scid) were compared with those of control mice (genotype, C.B.-17/Icr-+/+) on days 8, 12 and 16 of pregnancy. Using biotinylated-Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) lectin staining, uNK cells can be readily classified into 4 subtypes, I to IV, from immature to mature types. The number of uNK cells was significantly lower in the decidua basalis of SCID mice than in that of control mice on day 8 of pregnancy. Particularly, the number of uNK cells of immature subtype II was significantly lower in SCID mice than in the control mice. By day 12, however, the uNK cell number in the SCID mice reached the same level as that of the control mice. It is likely that uNK cell differentiation in SCID mice was delayed during the early placentation period due to a lack of functional T and B cells.KEY WORDS: differentiation, SCID mouse, uterine NK cell.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 73(10): 1337-1340, 2011 Significant numbers of uterine natural killer (uNK) cells are found in the murine uterus only during pregnancy [7,10,13,15,19]. The uNK cells are observed in the metrial gland (MG) and decidua basalis (DB) of each implantation site, proliferate in the MG by day 12 of pregnancy, differentiate in the DB by day15 and degenerate during late pregnancy [1,9]. The uNK cells can produce several cytokines and growth factors, having crucial roles in pregnancy maintenance, particularly decidual health and modification of spiral arteries [12,16]. Peripheral NK cells and splenic NK cells are known to be affected in their differentiation and/or proliferation by cytokines and growth factors derived from functional T-and B-cells [14]. Since uNK cells are members of the NK cell lineage, their differentiation and/or proliferation may also be affected by T-and B-cells. We previously reported that the morphology of uNK cells in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice deficient in functional T and B cells was similar to control mice on day 12 of pregnancy [18] and that the appearance of uNK cell precursors in SCID mice after birth was delayed compared with that of normal mice [5]. However, differentiation and/ or proliferation of uNK cells in SCID mice during successful pregnancy remains to be fully understood. We wished to determine whether differentiation and/or proliferation of uNK cells were altered by absence of functional T and B cells using SCID mice. SCID mice (genotype, C.B-17/Icr-scid/scid) and control mice (C.B-17/Icr-+/+) obtained from CLEA Japan (Osaka, Japan) were used in this study. Studies were performed according to protocols for animal use approved by the Yamaguchi University Animal Experimental Guidelines. Both mice were housed within the barrier containment facility at our University. Female mice were selected for estrus and paired with control males, and the morning of vaginal plug detection was called day 1 of pregnancy. Mated females were sa...

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