Increased susceptibility to tumor necrosis factor-alpha in butyric acid-induced apoptosis is caused by downregulation of cFLIP expression in Jurkat T cells

Butyric acid is one of the major extracellular metabolites of periodontopathic Gram-negative bacteria. We previously demonstrated that butyric acid induced apoptosis in human T cells. In the present study, we examined the interaction between butyric acid and TNF-alpha in Jurkat T-cell apoptosis. Simultaneous treatment with TNF-alpha enhanced butyric acid-induced apoptosis by promoting caspase activity more than was achieved by either reagent alone. We examined which genes were associated with the increased susceptibility to TNF-alpha caused by butyric acid, and revealed that expression of cFLIP decreased with increased concentrations of butyric acid. Furthermore, exogenous expression of cFLIP protein suppressed the enhancing effect by TNF-alpha in the apoptosis. These results suggest that butyric acid downregulates cFLIP expression and increases the susceptibility to TNF-alpha by activating caspases via the death receptor signal.     

Field-dependent specific-heat of the pure and diluted 4f electron system Yb4As3

The experimental field-dependent specific heat of the polydomain pure Yb₄As₃ and diluted (Yb_1−xLu_x)₄As₃ (x = 0.01, 0.03) systems is presented and compared with that calculated by the numerical quantum transfer-matrix method. The simulations have been performed using the S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with the transverse staggered field (appearing as a result of the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction) and a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the staggered field. In the model calculations the fixed microscopic parameters have been taken and the impurity distribution has been considered. A significant improvement with respect to the previous results is shown.     

Chloroplast development in 4-thiouridine-cultured radish seedlings IV. Properties of cellular organelles

The effect of 4-thiouridine (4SU) on metabolic activities oforganelles other than plastids was investigated by examininggrowth parameters, cellular enzyme activities and metabolicbehaviors of greening radish seedlings germinated and grownwith 4SU. Seedling growth was not severely affected by 4SU culture.Mitochondrial, peroxisomal and microsomal marker enzymes andcytoplasmic enzyme activities were not generally changed inthe 4SU-cultured radish cotyledons. The respiration rate ofmitochondria isolated from 4SU-cultured cotyledons was alsonormal. Some soluble enzymes of the isolated plastids had normalor even higher activities. However, chloroplastic pigments andribulose bisphosphate carboxylase activity decreased with increasingconcentration of 4SU in the culture medium. We concluded thatthe inhibitory effect of 4SU was limited to chloroplast development. (Received December 4, 1979; )     

The Dictyostelium developmental cDNA project: generation and analysis of expressed sequence tags from the first-finger stage of development.

In an effort to identify and characterize genes expressed during multicellular development ill Dictyostelium, we have undertaken a cDNA sequencing project. Using size-fractionated subsets of cDNA from the first finger stage, two sets of gridded libraries were constructed for cDNA sequencing. One, library S, consisting of 9984 clones, carries relatively short inserts, and the other, library L, which consists of 8448 clones, has longer inserts. We sequenced all the selected clones in library S from their 3'-ends, and this generated 3093 non-redundant, expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Among them, 246 ESTs hit known Dictyostelium genes and 910 showed significant similarity to genes of Dictyostelium and other organisms. For library L, 1132 clones were randomly sequenced and 471 non-redundant ESTs were obtained. In combination, the ESTs from the two libraries represent approximately 40% of genes expressed in late development, assuming that the non-redundant ESTs correspond to independent genes. They will provide a useful resource for investigating the genetic networks that regulate multicellular development of this organism.     

Growth inhibition and morphological changes of LLC-PK1 induced by ultimobranchial calcitonins

Ultimobranchial calcitonins (CTs), known to stimulate cAMP production, inhibited the growth of a porcine kidney cell line LLC-PK1. This inhibition was accompanied by degenerative changes including vacuole formation and cell detachment. The electron microscopic study revealed marked swelling of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). Other cAMP-increasing agents such as human CT, arginine, vasopressin, and forskolin showed less growth inhibitory activities and no induction of the degenerative changes. These results indicate that the growth inhibition of LLC-PK1 by ultimobranchial CTs is mainly due to cellular death caused by the swelling of RER via a signalling pathway other than the cAMP-dependent event(s).