Distribution of 7-Keto-8-aminopelargonic Acid Synthetase in Bacteria and the Control Mechanism of the Enzyme Activity

The 7-keto-8-aminopelargonic acid (KAPA) synthetase activities of cell-free extracts from various bacteria were investigated. The experiments on the substrate specificity of KAPA synthetase, using crude cell-free extracts from bacteria having high enzyme activity, showed that l-serine and pyruvic acid could replace l-alanine, but that, when the enzyme was partially purified, these compounds were not effective. Many kinds of amino acids such as l-cysteine, l-serine, d-alanine, glycine, d-histidine, and l-histidine, inhibited the enzyme activity. This inhibition was found to be competitive with l-alanine. Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate, which is a cofactor of the enzyme, also inhibited the enzyme activity at high concentrations. The repression of KAPA synthetase by biotin occurred in Bacillus subtilis and B. sphaericus but not in Micrococcus roseus and Pseudomonas fluorescens, even at a concentration of 1000 mµg per ml of biotin.     

Enhancement of Glossiness Perception by Retinal-Image Motion: Additional Effect of Head-Yoked Motion Parallax

It has been argued that when an observer moves, a contingent retinal-image motion of a stimulus would strengthen the perceived glossiness. This would be attributed to the veridical perception of three-dimensional structure by motion parallax. However, it has not been investigated whether the effect of motion parallax is more than that of retinal-image motion of the stimulus. Using a magnitude estimation method, we examine in this paper whether cross-modal coordination of the stimulus change and the observer''s motion (i.e., motion parallax) is essential or the retinal-image motion alone is sufficient for enhancing the perceived glossiness. Our data show that a retinal-image motion simulating motion parallax without head motion strengthened the perceived glossiness but that its effect was weaker than that of motion parallax with head motion. These results suggest the existence of an additional effect of the cross-modal coordination between vision and proprioception on glossiness perception. That is, motion parallax enhances the perception of glossiness, in addition to retinal-image motions of specular surfaces.     

Stromal Palladin Expression Is an Independent Prognostic Factor in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

It has been clear that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment play an important role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) progression. However, how CAFs relate to the patients’ prognosis and the effects of chemoradiation therapy (CRT) has not been fully investigated. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) representing 167 resected PDACs without preoperative treatment were used for immunohistochemical studies (IHC) of palladin, α-smooth muscle actin (SMA), and podoplanin. Correlations between the expression levels of these markers and clinicopathological findings were analyzed statistically. Whole sections of surgical specimens from PDACs with and without preoperative CRT, designated as the chemotherapy-first group (CF, n = 19) and the surgery-first group (SF, n = 21), respectively, were also analyzed by IHC. In TMAs, the disease-specific survival rate (DSS) at 5 years for all 167 cases was 23.1%. Seventy cases (41.9%) were positive for palladin and had significantly lower DSS (p = 0.0430). α-SMA and podoplanin were positive in 167 cases (100%) and 131 cases (78.4%), respectively, and they were not significantly associated with DSS. On multivariable analysis, palladin expression was an independent poor prognostic factor (p = 0.0243, risk ratio 1.60). In the whole section study, palladin positivity was significantly lower (p = 0.0037) in the CF group (5/19) with a significantly better DSS (p = 0.0144) than in the SF group (16/22), suggesting that stromal palladin expression is a surrogate indicator of the treatment effect after chemoradiation therapy.     

Legumain/asparaginyl endopeptidase controls extracellular matrix remodeling through the degradation of fibronectin in mouse renal proximal tubular cells

Legumain/asparaginyl endopeptidase (EC 3.4.22.34) is a novel cysteine protease that is abundantly expressed in the late endosomes and lysosomes of renal proximal tubular cells. Recently, emerging evidence has indicated that legumain might play an important role in control of extracellular matrix turnover in various pathological conditions such as tumor growth/metastasis and progression of atherosclerosis. We initially found that purified legumain can directly degrade fibronectin, one of the main components of the extracellular matrix, in vitro. Therefore, we examined the effect of legumain on fibronectin degradation in cultured mouse renal proximal tubular cells. Fibronectin processing can be inhibited by chloroquine, an inhibitor of lysosomal degradation, and can be enhanced by the overexpression of legumain, indicating that fibronectin degradation occurs in the presence of legumain in lysosomes from renal proximal tubular cells. Furthermore, in legumain-deficient mice, unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO)-induced renal interstitial protein accumulation of fibronectin and renal interstitial fibrosis were markedly enhanced. These findings indicate that legumain might have an important role in extracellular matrix remodeling via the degradation of fibronectin in renal proximal tubular cells.     

Application of light-cured dental adhesive resin for mounting electrodes or microdialysis probes in chronic experiments

In chronic recording experiments, self-curing dental acrylic resins have been used as a mounting base of electrodes or microdialysis-probes. Since these acrylics do not bond to the bone, screws have been used as anchors. However, in small experimental animals like finches or mouse, their craniums are very fragile and can not successfully hold the anchors. In this report, we propose a new application of light-curing dental resins for mounting base of electrodes or microdialysis probes in chronic experiments. This material allows direct bonding to the cranium. Therefore, anchor screws are not required and surgical field can be reduced considerably. Past experiences show that the bonding effect maintains more than 2 months. Conventional resin's window of time when the materials are pliable and workable is a few minutes. However, the window of working time for these dental adhesives is significantly wider and adjustable.     

Environmental DNA monitoring method of the commercially important and endangered fish Gnathopogon caerulescens

Limnology - Gnathopogon caerulescens is an endangered but commercially important fish in Lake Biwa, Japan. The population size of G. caerulescens has drastically reduced in the past decades, and...     

Isolation of Aspergillus caninus (Synonym: Phialosimplex caninus) from a Canine Iliac Lymph node

Mycopathologia - Aspergillus caninus (synonym: Phialosimplex caninus) is an anamorphic fungus species associated with systemic infections in dogs that has been transferred from the genus...     

Cloning of a new aquaporin (AQP10) abundantly expressed in duodenum and jejunum

A new aquaporin (AQP10) was identified in human small intestine. This gene encoded a 264-amino-acid protein with high sequence identity with AQP3 (53%), 9 (52%), and 7 (43%). These AQPs constitute one subfamily of AQP family that is differentiated from the other subfamily of AQP (AQP0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8) by sequence homology. Ribonuclease protection assay and Northern blotting demonstrated almost exclusive expression of AQP10 mRNA in the duodenum and jejunum. In situ hybridization localized it in absorptive jejunal epithelial cells. Xenopus oocytes expressing AQP10 exhibited an increased osmotic water permeability in a mercury-sensitive manner. Although AQP10 belongs to the AQP subfamily, which has been characterized by permeability to water and neutral solutes such as urea and glycerol, it was not permeable to urea nor glycerol. The specific expression of AQP10 suggests its contribution to the water transport in the upper portion of small intestine.     

Gene structures and regulation of the alkane hydroxylase complex in Acinetobacter sp. strain M-1

In the long-chain n-alkane degrader Acinetobacter sp. strain M-1, two alkane hydroxylase complexes are switched by controlling the expression of two n-alkane hydroxylase-encoding genes in response to the chain length of n-alkanes, while rubredoxin and rubredoxin ruductase are encoded by a single gene and expressed constitutively.     

PDZ interaction sites in integrin alpha subunits. T14853, TIP/GIPC binds to a type I recognition sequence in alpha 6A/alpha 5 and a novel sequence in alpha 6B

We used published peptide library data to identify PDZ recognition sequences in integrin alpha subunit cytoplasmic domains and found that the alpha(6)A and alpha(5) subunits contain a type I PDZ binding site (TSDA*) (asterisk indicates the stop codon). The alpha(6)A cytoplasmic domain was used for screening a two-hybrid library to find interacting proteins. The bulk of the captured cDNAs (60%) coded for TIP-2/GIPC, a cytoplasmic protein with one PDZ domain. The interaction of TIP-2/GIPC with different integrin subunits was tested in two-hybrid and in vitro binding assays. Surprisingly, TIP-2/GIPC bound strongly to the C terminus of both alpha(6)A and alpha(6)B, although the alpha(6)B sequence (ESYS*) is not suggestive of a PDZ binding site because of its polar C-terminal residue. For high affinity interaction with TIP-2/GIPC, at least one of the residues at positions -1 and -3 must be negatively charged. An aliphatic residue at position 0 increases the affinity of but is not required for this interaction. The alpha(5) integrin subunit also bound to TIP-2/GIPC. The alpha(6) integrin and TIP-2/GIPC co-localize in retraction fibers in carcinoma cells plated on laminin, a finding suggesting a functional interaction in vivo. Our results demonstrate that both splice variants of alpha(6) integrin contain a conserved PDZ binding site that enables interaction with TIP-2/GIPC. The binding site in alpha(6)B defines a new subclass of type I PDZ interaction site, characterized by a non-aliphatic residue at position 0.