CD151 (PETA-3 ⁄ SFA-1) is a member of the tetraspanin family of proteins, possessing four membranespanning domains [1]. CD151 was initially identified in platelets [2] and T-cell leukemic cells [3] and has been found to be expressed in a wide variety of cells, including epithelial, endothelial, muscle, Schwann and dendritic cells. Studies using antibodies and small interfering RNA (siRNA) against CD151 have revealed that treatments with these antibodies and siRNA attenuate cell adhesion to and migration on substrates, and disturb epithelial cell-cell adhesion and polarization in cultured cells [4][5][6][7][8][9][10], indicating that CD151 is involved in the regulation of cell-cell and cell-substratum adhesions. Several studies performed in vivo highlight the physiological importance of CD151: in humans, a nonsense mutation in CD151 causes diseases, including end-stage hereditary nephropathy, pretibial epidermolysis bullosa and sensorineural deafness [11]. CD151-null mice show defects in platelet aggregation, keratinocyte migration, T-cell proliferation and pathological angiogenesis, although these mice are viable and fertile [12][13][14][15]. Recently, Sachs et al. [16] reported that CD151 knockout mice show strain-dependent severe renal defects caused by abnormalities of the glomerular basement membrane, loss of podocyte foot processes, glomerulosclerosis and cystic tubular dilation.CD151 interacts with various membrane proteins, including the laminin-binding integrins a3b1, a6b1, a6b4 and a7b1, and other tetraspanin family members, The tetraspanin CD151 forms a stable complex with integrin a3b1, a widely expressed laminin receptor, and is implicated in the regulation of integrin a3b1-mediated cellular responses, including cell attachment, spreading and migration. However, the molecular mechanism by which CD151 regulates integrin a3b1 functions remains unclear. To address this issue, we knocked down CD151 expression in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells by RNA interference. When plated on laminin-511 (laminin-10), the CD151-knocked-down cells showed aberrant membrane protrusions and exhibited reductions in the tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase, Src, p130Cas and paxillin. The formation of membrane protrusions was attenuated when the cells were either plated on surfaces coated with higher concentrations of laminin-511 or treated with the integrin b1-activating mAb TS2 ⁄ 16; however, neither treatment could rescue the reduced tyrosine phosphorylation. These results indicate that CD151 knockdown weakens the integrin a3b1-mediated adhesion to laminin-511 and thereby provokes an aberrant morphology, but this reduced adhesive activity is not involved in the decline of signaling events in CD151-knocked-down cells. Thus, our results suggest that CD151 regulates integrin a3b1 functions in two independent aspects: potentiation of integrin a3b1-mediated cell adhesion and promotion of integrin a3b1-stimulated signaling events involving tyrosine phosphorylation.Abbreviations EGFP, enhanced green fluorescent...

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic massively impacted emergency department (ED) visits. The unavailability of specific therapies or vaccines has made non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) an alternative strategy for COVID-19. We assessed the impact of NPIs (nationwide school closures and state of emergency) on ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Methods: This retrospective study compared the trends in ED visits from 1 January to 25 May, 2020 (during the pandemic) with the average during 2015-2019 (before the pandemic). The primary end-point was the change in the number of ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic with those from before the pandemic, with the NPI application stratified across four periods in 2020:

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Background With the aging society, the number of emergency transportations has been growing. Although it is important that a patient be immediately transported to an appropriate hospital for proper management, accurate diagnosis in the prehospital setting is challenging. However, at present, patient information is mainly communicated by telephone, which has a potential risk of communication errors such as mishearing. Sharing correct and detailed prehospital information with emergency departments (EDs) should facilitate optimal patient care and resource use. Therefore, the implementation of an app that provides on-site, real-time information to emergency physicians could be useful for early preparation, intervention, and effective use of medical and human resources. Objective In this paper, we aimed to examine whether the implementation of a mobile app for emergency medical service (EMS) would improve patient outcomes and reduce transportation time as well as communication time by phone (ie, phone-communication time). Methods We performed an interrupted time-series analysis (ITSA) on the data from a tertiary care hospital in Japan from July 2021 to October 2021 (8 weeks before and 8 weeks after the implementation period). We included all patients transported by EMS. Using the mobile app, EMS can send information on patient demographics, vital signs, medications, and photos of the scene to the ED. The outcome measure was inpatient mortality and transportation time, as well as phone-communication time, which was the time for EMS to negotiate with ED staffs for transport requests. Results During the study period, 1966 emergency transportations were made (n=1033, 53% patients during the preimplementation period and n=933, 47% patients after the implementation period). The ITSA did not reveal a significant decrease in patient mortality and transportation time before and after the implementation. However, the ITSA revealed a significant decrease in mean phone-communication time between pre- and postimplementation periods (from 216 to 171 seconds; −45 seconds; 95% CI −71 to −18 seconds). From the pre- to postimplementation period, the mean transportation time from EMS request to ED arrival decreased by 0.29 minutes (from 36.1 minutes to 35.9 minutes; 95% CI −2.20 to 1.60 minutes), without change in time trends. We also introduced cases where the app allowed EMS to share accurate and detailed prehospital information with the emergency department, resulting in timely intervention and reducing the burden on the ED. Conclusions The implementation of a mobile app for EMS was associated with reduced phone-communication time by 45 seconds (22%) without increasing mortality or overall transportation time despite the implementation of new methods in the real clinical setting. In addition, real-time patient information sharing, such as the transfer of monitor images and photos of the accident site, could facilitate optimal patient care and resource use.