Ketogenic essential amino acids replacement diet ameliorated hepatosteatosis with altering autophagy-associated molecules

Ketogenic amino acid (KAA) replacement diet has been shown to cure hepatic steatosis, a serious liver disease associated with diverse metabolic defects. In this study, we investigated the effects of KAA replacement diet on nutrition sensing signaling pathway and analyzed whether induction of hepatic autophagy was involved. Mice are fed with high fat diet (HFD) or KAA replacement in high-fat diet (30% fat in food; HFD)-fed (HFD^KAAR) and sacrificed at 8, 12, 16 weeks after initiation of experimental food. Hepatic autophagy was analyzed in protein expression of several autophagy-associated molecules and in light chain-3 green fluorescent protein (LC-3 GFP) transgenic mice. HFD^KAAR showed increased AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and enhanced liver kinase B1 (LKB1) expression compared to control HFD-fed mice. The KAA-HFD-induced activation of AMPK was associated with an increased protein expression of sirtuin 1 (Sirt1), decreased forkhead box protein O3a (Foxo3a) level, and suppression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) phosphorylation compared with the HFD-fed mice. The intervention study revealed that a KAA-replacement diet also ameliorated all the established metabolic and autophagy defects in the HFD-fed mice, suggesting that a KAA-replacement diet can be used therapeutically in established diseases. These results indicate that KAA replacement in food could be a novel strategy to combat hepatic steatosis and metabolic abnormalities likely involvement of an induction of autophagy.     

Distribution of the Galβ1-4Gal Epitope among Birds: Species-Specific Loss of the Glycan Structure in Chicken and Its Relatives

The Galβ1-4Gal epitope is rarely found in mammals, and the natural antibody against Galβ1-4Gal is rich in human. In contrast, we have previously demonstrated the presence of Galβ1-4Gal in pigeon and ostrich, and the absence of this epitope in chicken. Here, to further investigate the expression of this glycan among birds, egg white glycoproteins and egg yolk IgG from nine species of birds, namely, chicken, duck, emu, guineafowl, ostrich, peafowl, pigeon, quail, and turkey, were analyzed by western blot using an anti-(Galβ1-4Gal) antibody. The results indicated that some egg white glycoproteins from emu, ostrich, and quail, and heavy chains of IgG from all of the birds, except chicken and quail, were stained with the antibody. The presence of Galβ1-4Gal on N-glycans of IgGs from guineafowl, peafowl, and turkey were confirmed by mass spectrometry (MS), MS/MS, and MSⁿ analyses. In quail, the presence of Galβ1-4Gal was confirmed by detecting the activities of UDP-galactose: β-galactoside β1,4-galactosyltransferase (β4GalT(Gal)) in various tissues, and by detecting Galβ1-4Gal by western blotting. In contrast, bamboo partridge, which is a close relative of chicken, did not show any detectable activities of β4GalT(Gal) or Galβ1-4Gal on glycoproteins. Because quail, peafowl, turkey, chicken, and bamboo partridge belong to the same family, i.e., Phasianidae, expression of Galβ1-4Gal was most likely differentiated within this family. Considering that Galβ1-4Gal is also expressed in ostrich, emu, and pigeon, which are phylogenetically distant relatives within modern birds, Galβ1-4Gal expression appears to be widely distributed among birds, but might have been abolished in the ancestors of chicken and bamboo partridge.     

Galectin-9 Ameliorates Clinical Severity of MRL/lpr Lupus-Prone Mice by Inducing Plasma Cell Apoptosis Independently of Tim-3

Galectin-9 ameliorates various murine autoimmune disease models by regulating T cells and macrophages, although it is not known what role it may have in B cells. The present experiment shows that galectin-9 ameliorates a variety of clinical symptoms, such as proteinuria, arthritis, and hematocrit in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice. As previously reported, galectin-9 reduces the frequency of Th1, Th17, and activated CD8⁺ T cells. Although anti-dsDNA antibody was increased in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice, galectin-9 suppressed anti-dsDNA antibody production, at least partly, by decreasing the number of plasma cells. Galectin-9 seemed to decrease the number of plasma cells by inducing plasma cell apoptosis, and not by suppressing BAFF production. Although about 20% of CD19^−/low CD138⁺ plasma cells expressed Tim-3 in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice, Tim-3 may not be directly involved in the galectin-9-induced apoptosis, because anti-Tim-3 blocking antibody did not block galectin-9-induced apoptosis. This is the first report of plasma cell apoptosis being induced by galectin-9. Collectively, it is likely that galectin-9 attenuates the clinical severity of MRL lupus-prone mice by regulating T cell function and inducing plasma cell apoptosis.     

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.     

A high-density linkage map with 2560 markers and its application for the localization of the male-sterile genes <Emphasis Type="Italic">ms3</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">ms4</Emphasis> in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomeria japonica</Emphasis> D. Don

Cryptomeria japonica pollinosis is one of the most serious allergic diseases in Japan; this is a social problem because C. japonica is the most important Japanese forestry species. In order to reduce the amount of pollen dispersed, breeding programs using trees with male-sterile genes have been implemented. High-density linkage maps with stable ordering of markers facilitate the localization of male-sterile genes and the construction of partial linkage maps around them in order to develop markers for use in marker-assisted selection. In this study, a high-density linkage map for C. japonica with 2560 markers was constructed. The observed map length was 1266.2 cM and the mean distance between adjacent markers was 0.49 cM. Using information from this high-density map, we newly located two male-sterile genes (ms3 and ms4) on the first and fourth linkage groups, respectively, and constructed partial linkage maps around these loci. We also constructed new partial linkage maps around the ms1 and ms2 loci using additional SNP markers. The closest markers to the ms1, ms2, ms3, and ms4 male-sterile loci were estSNP04188 (1.8 cM), estSNP00695 (7.0 cM), gSNP05415 (3.1 cM), and estSNP01408 (7.0 cM) respectively. These results allowed us to develop SNP markers tightly linked to the male sterile genes for use in MAS; this will accelerate the future isolation of these genes by map-based cloning approaches.     

Membrane glycoproteomics of fetal lung fibroblasts using LC/MS

Some aberrant N‐glycosylations are being used as tumor markers, and glycoproteomics is expected to provide novel diagnosis markers and targets of drug developments. However, one has trouble in mass spectrometric glycoproteomics of membrane fraction because of lower intensity of glycopeptides in the existence of surfactants. Previously, we developed a glycopeptide enrichment method by acetone precipitation, and it was successfully applied to human serum glycoproteomics. In this study, we confirmed that this method is useful to remove the surfactants and applicable to membrane glycoproteomics. The glycoproteomic approach to the human fetal lung fibroblasts membrane fraction resulted in the identification of over 272 glycoforms on 63 sites of the 44 glycoproteins. According to the existing databases, the structural features on 41 sites are previously unreported. The most frequently occurring forms at N‐glycosylation site were high‐mannose type containing nine mannose residues (M9) and monosialo‐fucosylated biantennary oligosaccharides. Several unexpected N‐glycans, such as fucosylated complex‐type and fucosylated high‐mannose and/or fucosylated pauci‐mannose types were found in ER and lysosome proteins. Our method provides new insights into transport, biosynthesis, and degradation of glycoproteins.     

<Superscript>1</Superscript>H, <Superscript>15</Superscript>N,and <Superscript>13</Superscript>C resonance assignments of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Staphylococcus aureus</Emphasis> extracellular adherence protein domain 4

The pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus has evolved to actively evade many aspects of the human innate immune system by expressing a series of secreted inhibitory proteins. Among these, the extracellular adherence protein (Eap) has been shown to inhibit the classical and lectin pathways of the complement system. By binding to complement component C4b, Eap is able to inhibit formation of the CP/LP C3 pro-convertase. Secreted full-length, mature Eap consists of four ~98 residue domains, all of which adopt a similar beta-grasp fold, and are connected through a short linker region. Through multiple biochemical approaches, it has been determined that the third and fourth domains of Eap are responsible for C4b binding. Here we report the backbone and side-chain resonance assignments of the 11.3 kDa fourth domain of Eap. The assignment data has been deposited in the BMRB database under the accession number 26726.     

Inhibition of Malaria Infection in Transgenic Anopheline Mosquitoes Lacking Salivary Gland Cells

Malaria is an important global public health challenge, and is transmitted by anopheline mosquitoes during blood feeding. Mosquito vector control is one of the most effective methods to control malaria, and population replacement with genetically engineered mosquitoes to block its transmission is expected to become a new vector control strategy. The salivary glands are an effective target tissue for the expression of molecules that kill or inactivate malaria parasites. Moreover, salivary gland cells express a large number of molecules that facilitate blood feeding and parasite transmission to hosts. In the present study, we adapted a functional deficiency system in specific tissues by inducing cell death using the mouse Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) to the Asian malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi. We applied this technique to salivary gland cells, and produced a transgenic strain containing extremely low amounts of saliva. Although probing times for feeding on mice were longer in transgenic mosquitoes than in wild-type mosquitoes, transgenic mosquitoes still successfully ingested blood. Transgenic mosquitoes also exhibited a significant reduction in oocyst formation in the midgut in a rodent malaria model. These results indicate that mosquito saliva plays an important role in malaria infection in the midgut of anopheline mosquitoes. The dysfunction in the salivary glands enabled the inhibition of malaria transmission from hosts to mosquito midguts. Therefore, salivary components have potential in the development of new drugs or genetically engineered mosquitoes for malaria control.