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Bacillus amyloliquefancies CH51 isolated from cheonggukjang, a traditional Korean fermented soy food, has strong fibrinolytic activity and produces several fibrinolytic enzymes. Among four different growth media, tryptic soy broth was the best in terms of supporting cell growth and fibrinolytic activity of this strain. A protein with fibrinolytic activity was partially purified from the culture supernatant by CM-Sephadex and Phenyl Sepharose column chromatographies. Tandem mass spectrometric analysis showed that this protein is a homolog of AprE from B. subtilis and it was accordingly named AprE51. The optimum pH and temperature for partially purified AprE51 activity were 6.0 and 45 o C, respectively. A gene encoding AprE51, aprE51, was cloned from B. amyloliquefaciens CH51 genomic DNA. The aprE51 gene was overexpressed in heterologous B. subtilis strains deficient in fibrinolytic activity using an E. coli-Bacillus shuttle vector, pHY300PLK.

Objective: In this study, we investigated the effects of radiotherapy 60 Gy in the setting of concurrent chemo-radiotherapy for treating patients with Stages II -III esophageal cancer. Methods: A total of 126 patients treated with 5-fluorouracilbased concurrent chemo-radiotherapy between January 1998 and February 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Among these patients, 49 received a total radiation dose of ,60 Gy (standard-dose group), while 77 received a total radiation dose of 60 Gy (high-dose group). The median doses in the standard-and high-dose groups were 54 Gy (range, 45-59.4 Gy) and 63 Gy (range, 60 -81 Gy), respectively. Results: The high-dose group showed significantly improved locoregional control (2-year locoregional control rate, 69 versus 32%, P , 0.01) and progression-free survival (2-year progression-free survival, 47 versus 20%, P ¼ 0.01) than the standard-dose group. Median overall survival in the high-and the standard-dose groups was 28 and 18 months, respectively (P ¼ 0.26). In multivariate analysis, 60 Gy or higher radiotherapy was a significant prognostic factor for improved locoregional control, progression-free survival and overall survival. No significant differences were found in frequencies of late radiation pneumonitis, post-treatment esophageal stricture or treatment-related mortality between the two groups. Conclusions: High-dose radiotherapy of 60 Gy or higher with concurrent chemotherapy improved locoregional control and progression-free survival without a significant increase of in treatment-related toxicity in patients with Stages II -III esophageal cancer. Our study could provide the basis for future randomized clinical trials.

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