Kaneka (Japan)

Publisher of over 50 scientific journals across the life, physical, earth, and health sciences, both independently and in partnership with scientific societies including Cell, Neuron, Immunity, Current Biology, AJHG, and the Trends Journals.

The KCB01 (KIZASHI™) is a novel cutting balloon catheter with blades integrally formed with the balloon. It is designed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional cutting balloons in terms of lesion delivery, crossability and procedural complications while maintaining the same dilation capacity. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the KCB01, a prospective, open-label, single-arm study was conducted at nine sites in Japan on percutaneous coronary intervention-eligible patients with stenotic lesions that exhibited residual indentation even after conventional balloon dilation at nominal pressure. Seventy-six patients were enrolled between November 2022 and June 2023, and 73 eligible patients were included in the primary analysis. The mean age was 73.5 ± 7.4 years, and 79.5% of the patients were male. The target lesion characteristics included bifurcation lesions (42.5%), in-stent restenosis lesions (20.5%), and severely calcified lesions (54.8%). The primary endpoint was procedural success, defined as the KCB01 crossing the target lesion, no residual indentation, and < 50% residual stenosis rate after KCB01 dilation (assessed using quantitative coronary angiography). The angiographic images obtained during the procedure were evaluated in a core laboratory. The procedural success rate was 87.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 77.9–94.2), with the lower limit of the 95% CI (77.9%) exceeding the performance goal of 76.5%. Clinical success rate was achieved in 94.5% of cases (95% CI: 86.6–98.5%), with no major adverse cardiac events reported until discharge. Furthermore, no device deficiencies related to the KCB01 were observed. These results suggest the safety and efficacy of the KCB01.Graphical abstractSupplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12928-025-01205-7.

Abstract. The spatial and seasonal dynamics of 137Cs were investigated from 2021 to 2023 in Matsukawa-ura lagoon, a semi-closed estuarine area approximately 40 km north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japan. Weighted mean dissolved 137Cs concentrations in the lagoon waters ranged from 5.3 to 19 Bq m-3, 2.4–8.6 times higher than those in the surrounding coastal seawater and inflowing river waters. Mass balance calculation suggests that the dissolution of 137Cs from bottom sediments sustained the high dissolved 137Cs concentrations in the estuarine water. Furthermore, dissolved 137Cs concentrations in the lagoon were higher in summer (July) than in winter (February). Quantification of the source revealed that dissolution caused 137Cs concentrations in bottom sediments to decrease by more than 2.4 % over 30 days in July, but only by &lt;0.8 % over 30 days in February. This finding indicates that warmer waters during the summer accelerate the dissolution of 137Cs from bottom sediments.

Deliberately targeted emission wavelengths, high quantum yields (QYs), and high luminescence dissymmetry factors (glum) are essential for chiral materials exhibiting circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). The addition of achiral luminophores to chiral nematic liquid crystals (N*-LCs) is a promising way to generate CPLs. We aimed to generate red-green-blue (RGB)- and white-colored CPLs by adding each of three types of fluorene-based luminescent molecules and their mixtures to N*-LCs. Herein, achiral fluorene-based derivatives with RGB emission colors were synthesized and added to N*-LCs containing alkylcyanobiphenyl- and alkylcyanoterphenyl-based N-LCs and an axially chiral binaphthyl dopant. A mixture of the RGB fluorene derivatives was subsequently prepared at an optimum mixing ratio and added to the N*-LCs. The fluorene-based derivatives dissolved in the N*-LCs exhibited induced CPLs of RGB and white colors with QY values of 60-90% and glum values of 0.5-1.0. The glum value of 1.0 is the highest among white CPLs reported thus far, and there are no examples that simultaneously exhibit both high QY and high glum. Furthermore, a mixture of the RGB fluorene derivatives was added to a temperature-responsive N*-LC containing a thermally invertible chiral compound, resulting in reversible thermal inversion of white CPL.

Cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) produced by the genus Bacillus are amphiphiles composed of hydrophilic amino acid and hydrophobic fatty acid moieties and are biosynthesised by non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). CLPs are produced as a mixture of homologues with different fatty acid moieties, whose length affects CLP activity. Iturin family lipopeptides are a family of CLPs comprising cyclic heptapeptides and β-amino fatty acids and have antimicrobial activity. There is little research on how the length of the fatty acid moiety of iturin family lipopeptides is determined. Here, we demonstrated that the acyl ligase (AL) domain determines the length of the fatty acid moiety in vivo. In addition, enzyme assays revealed how mutations in the substrate-binding pocket of the AL domain affected substrate specificity in vitro. Our findings have implications for the design of fatty acyl moieties for CLP synthesis using NRPS.

Sonocrystallization is a promising technology for improving the reproducibility and productivity of the crystallization process because of the unique cavitation effect of ultrasound as well as for controlling crystal polymorphs and particle size. Despite these advantages, the use of ultrasound for crystallization has typically been limited to laboratory studies and has not been widely adopted on an industrial scale by the pharmaceutical industry. In this study, ultrasound was combined with continuous crystallization using a mixed-suspension, mixed-product removal (MSMPR) crystallizer, and this technology was applied to the crystallization of perampanel, demonstrating the effects of ultrasound and its practicality. Finally, the continuous sonocrystallization process was successfully scaled up using a 10 L ultrasonic crystallizer capable of direct ultrasound irradiation, providing a methodology for the scale-up of the continuous sonocrystallization process.

Abstract A type of foamed plastic insulation that improves thermal performance while maintaining the original durability by adding fillers with low radiation rates in foamed plastic insulation is investigated. The thermal conductivity of extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) adding graphite is reduced by 14% compared to without graphite additives. The study investigates that mechanism by comparing the properties of XPS and XPS containing graphite (graph XPS) through the gas isotherm method and 3D imaging analysis by X‐ray CT. First, the specific surface area of the insulation's resin is examined through the gas isotherm method using N2, H2O, and CO2. The results confirmed that graph XPS has a more increased specific surface area than XPS. Second, the internal structure of the insulation and its strut/pore distribution is confirmed through X‐ray CT, which showed an increase in surface area with a thinning of the strut. The improved thermal performance due to the addition of graphite may contribute to an increase in the surface area of the insulation.

Abstract The CRISPR/Cas9 system has revolutionized the field of plant genetic engineering. Here we report a smart genome editing system of soybean by using iPB-RNP method without introducing foreign DNA and requiring traditional tissue culture processes such as embryogenesis and organogenesis. Shoot apical meristem (SAM) of embryonic axes was used the target tissue for genome editing, because the SAM in soybean mature seeds has stem cells and specific cell layer developing germ cells during reproductive growth stage. In the iPB-RNP method, the complex of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) and Cas9 protein was directly delivered into SAM stem cells via particle bombardment and genome-edited plants were generated from these SAMs. Soybean allergenic gene Gly m Bd 30K , which we previously generated genome-editing soybean by using Agrobacterium -mediated transformation and particle bombardment in our previous studies, was targeted in this study. Many E 0 (the first generation of genome-edited) plants in this experiment harbored mutant alleles at the targeted locus. Editing frequency of inducing mutations transmissible to the E 1 generation was approximately 0.4 to 4.6 % of all E 0 plants utilized in various soybean varieties. Furthermore, Gly m Bd 30K protein in mature seeds was not detected by western blot analysis due to flame-sift mutations. Our results offer a practical approach for both plant regeneration- and DNA-free genome editing achieved by delivering RNP into the SAM of dicotyledonous plants.

Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury arises from inadequate oxygen delivery to the brain, commonly occurring following cardiac arrest, which lacks effective treatments. Recent studies have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of exosomes released from mesenchymal stem cells. Given the challenge of systemic dilution associated with intravenous administration, intranasal delivery has emerged as a promising approach. In this study, we investigate the effects of intranasally administered exosomes in an animal model. Exosomes were isolated from the cell supernatants using the ultracentrifugation method. Brain injury was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats through a transient four-vessel occlusion model. Intranasal administration was conducted with 3 × 108 exosome particles in 20 µL of PBS or PBS alone, administered daily for 7 days post-injury. Long-term cognitive behavioral assessments, biodistribution of exosomes, and histological evaluations of apoptosis and neuroinflammation were conducted. Exosomes were primarily detected in the olfactory bulb one hour after intranasal administration, subsequently distributing to the striatum and midbrain. Rats treated with exosomes exhibited substantial improvement in cognitive function up to 28 days after the insult, and demonstrated significantly fewer apoptotic cells along with higher neuronal cell survival in the hippocampus. Exosomes were found to be taken up by microglia, leading to a decrease in the expression of cytotoxic inflammatory markers.