Retinol induces platelet aggregation via activation of phospholipase A2

All-trans-retinol induced aggregation of rabbit platelets, and this effect could be inhibited by a cyclooxygenase inhibitor and a thromboxane A2 (TXA2) receptor antagonist, indicating an essential role for endogenously produced TXA2. We found a two-phase arachidonic acid release in retinol-stimulated platelets. The first phase was induced by the action of retinol alone and not inhibited by TXA2 receptor antagonist. The second phase was induced via synergistic action of retinol and initially generated small amount of TXA2, and was inhibited by the antagonist. Moreover, we discussed that the arachidonic acid release may be mediated by the action of phospholipase A2.     

Concurrent Bursty Behavior of Social Sensors in Sporting Events

The advent of social media expands our ability to transmit information and connect with others instantly, which enables us to behave as “social sensors.” Here, we studied concurrent bursty behavior of Twitter users during major sporting events to determine their function as social sensors. We show that the degree of concurrent bursts in tweets (posts) and retweets (re-posts) works as a strong indicator of winning or losing a game. More specifically, our simple tweet analysis of Japanese professional baseball games in 2013 revealed that social sensors can immediately react to positive and negative events through bursts of tweets, but that positive events are more likely to induce a subsequent burst of retweets. We confirm that these findings also hold true for tweets related to Major League Baseball games in 2015. Furthermore, we demonstrate active interactions among social sensors by constructing retweet networks during a baseball game. The resulting networks commonly exhibited user clusters depending on the baseball team, with a scale-free connectedness that is indicative of a substantial difference in user popularity as an information source. While previous studies have mainly focused on bursts of tweets as a simple indicator of a real-world event, the temporal correlation between tweets and retweets implies unique aspects of social sensors, offering new insights into human behavior in a highly connected world.     

Comparison of the inhibitory effects of mexiletine and lidocaine on the calcium current of single ventricular cells

Effects of mexiletine and lidocaine on inward calcium current (ICa) of single ventricular myocytes from guinea pigs were studied using tight seal whole cell clamp method. Mexiletine at the concentrations of 10, 30 and 100 microM decreased ICa by 23.0, 28.9 and 55.4%, respectively, while lidocaine decreased it by 8.9, 16.8 and 25.2%. At all concentrations tested, a potency for ICa inhibition in mexiletine was significantly greater than that in lidocaine (p less than 0.05). The results suggest that mexiletine has, at therapeutic concentrations, a considerable blocking action on the Ca channels other than well-known action on the Na channels.     

Density dependent growth of corneal endothelial cells cultured in vitro

Using the cornea of macaque monkey, we demonstrated the relationship between cell density and growth of endothelial cells in vitro. Corneal endothelial cells in a cell sheet grow most actively in regions with cell density of 1000 to 1800 cells/mm2, in explant cultures and cell sheets and in concentrated inocula dissociated cells. Cell morphology was well sustained in these cultures. Cells cultured at a higher cell density retained their potential to proliferate actively, showing clear contrast to cells cultured at a density lower than 200 cells/mm2. When dissociated cells were cultured at a low density and maintained for more than 4 weeks, they gradually lost their growth potential, altered into polymorphonuclear giant cells and eventually dedifferentiated. In addition, cells with no contact with each other did not express growth potential. Density dependent growth was confirmed by measuring the mitotic index against the cell density per square mm from the center to the peripheral regions in cultured explants. It is concluded that the growth pattern of corneal endothelial cells is closely related to cell density, and that growth of these cells might be regulated through intercellular communications.     

Biphasic action of phospholipase A in collagen-stimulated rat platelets

The formation of thromboxane A2 (TXA2) in collagen-stimulated rat platelets was successfully divided into two stages, an initial and a second one, by the specific TXA2 receptor antagonist, ONO3708. In the presence of this antagonist, only the initial TXA2 production was observed, without the subsequent platelet shape change and aggregation. Collagen causes the specific cleavage of arachidonic acid from phosphatidylinositol (PI) in the initial stage, whereas in the absence of the antagonist, it caused decrease in the arachidonic acid levels in phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and PI with concomitant formation of the respective lyso-forms. These results demonstrate that phospholipase A (PLA) preferentially acts on PI to release arachidonic acid which leads to the initial TXA2 production, which might be a trigger for the second release of arachidonic acid from PE and PI.     

A common binding site for primary prostanoids in vascular smooth muscles: a definitive discrimination of the binding for thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2 receptor agonist from its antagonist

Differences in binding characteristics between agonists and antagonists for the thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2 (TXA2/PGH2) receptor were examined in rat cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). Scatchard analysis indicated the existence of two binding sites for the TXA2/PGH2 agonist, whereas a single class of recognition sites for the receptor antagonists were observed with approximately the same maximum binding capacity (Bmax) as a high-affinity binding site of the agonist. Weak binding inhibition by approx. 100 nM of primary prostanoids (PGE1, PGF2 alpha and PGD2) was detected only with the TXA2/PGH2 agonist, and not with the antagonist. Primary prostanoids as well as TXA2/PGH2 agonists (U46619 and STA2) suppressed the [3H]PGF2 alpha and [3H]PGE1 binding with almost the same potency, whereas TXA2/PGH2 antagonists (S-145, SQ29,548 and ONO3708) did not. The Bmax value of the binding sites was roughly identical in PGF2 alpha, PGE1 and a low-affinity binding site of U46619. These results suggest the existence of two binding sites for TXA2/PGH2 in VSMC, i.e., a high-affinity binding site corresponding to that of the TXA2/PGH2 antagonists and a low-affinity binding site in common with primary prostanoids.     

Instability of Mex- phenotype in human lymphoblastoid cell lines

Three lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) had extremely low activities of O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (O6-AGT), and were classified as Mex-. They were highly sensitive to cell killing by 1-(4-amino-2-methyl-5-pyrimidinyl)-methyl-3-(2-chloroethyl)-3-nitrosoure a hydrochloride (ACNU), whereas NMO2, a Mex+ LCL with a high O6-AGT activity, was resistant to the agent. Small fractions of these Mex- LCLs survived the treatment with 10 micrograms/ml of ACNU for 24 h, and the surviving cells were found to be resistant to subsequent treatments with the agent. In addition, they contained O6-AGT activities comparable to that of NMO2 and were therefore regarded as Mex+. These results suggest that the Mex- phenotype in LCLs is unstable.     

Primary structure of chain I of the heterodimeric hemoglobin from the blood clamBarbatia virescens

The blood clamBarbatia virescens has a heterodimeric hemoglobin in erythrocytes. Interestingly, the congeneric clamsB. reeveana andB. lima contain quite different hemoglobins: tetramer and polymeric hemoglobin consisting of unusual didomain chain. The complete amino acid sequence of chain I ofB. virescens has been determined. The sequence was mainly determined from CNBr peptides and their subpeptides, and the alignment of the peptides was confirmed by sequencing of PCR-amplified cDNA forB. virescens chain I. The cDNA-derived amino acid sequence matched completely with the sequence proposed from protein sequencing.B. virescens chain I is composed of 156 amino acid residues, and the molecular mass was calculated to be 18,387 D, including a heme group. The sequence ofB. virescens chain I showed 35–42% sequence identity with those of the related clamAnadara trapezia and the congeneric clamB. reeveana. An evolutionary tree forAnadara andBarbatia chains clearly indicates that all of the chains are evolved from one ancestral globin gene, and that the divergence of chains has occurred in each clam after the speciation. The evolutionary rate for clam hemoglobins was estimated to be about four times faster than that of vertebrate hemoglobin. We suggest that blood clam hemoglobin is a physiologically less important molecule when compared with vertebrate hemoglobins, and so it evolved rapidly and resulted in a remarkable diversity in quaternary and subunit structure within a relatively short period.     

Purification and characterization of a heat-stable enterotoxin of Vibrio mimicus

A heat-stable enterotoxin produced by Vibrio mimicus (VM-ST) was studied. VM-ST was purified from a culture supernatant of V. mimicus strain AQ-0915 by ammonium sulfate fractionation, hydroxyapatite treatment, ethanol extraction, column chromatography on both SP-Sephadex C-50 and DEAE-Sephadex A-25, and HPLC, and the recovery rate was about 15%. Purified VM-ST was heat-stable. VM-ST activity was cross-neutralized by anti-STh antiserum. The amino acid composition of the purified VM-ST was determined 17 amino acid residues in the following sequence: Ile-Asp-Cys-Cys-Glu-Ile-Cys-Cys-Asn-Pro-Ala-Cys-Phe-Gly-Cys-Leu-Asn. This composition and sequence were identical to those of V. cholerae non-O1-ST. These results clearly demonstrate the production of a characteristic VM-ST by V. mimicus.