Inhibition of osteoporosis due to restricted food intake by the fish oils DHA and EPA and perilla oil in the rat

Seven-week old female rats fed restricted foods including the fish oils Docosahesaenoic Acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and perilla oil with food intake decreased by 50%, had increases of fracture force and bone mineral density (BMD) and decreases in levels of Deoxypiridinoline (Dpd) and Calcium (Ca) in the urine, compared with those of rats with osteoporosis due to restricted soy bean oil food intake. Therefore, the fish oils DHA and EPA and perilla oil depressed excretion of urinary Ca and inhibited osteoporosis due to restricted food intake.     

Asymmetric expression of antivin/lefty1 in the early chick embryo

Mammalian lefty and zebrafish antivin, highly related to lefty, are shown to be expressed asymmetrically and involved in the specification of the left body side of early embryos. We isolated a chick homologue of the antivin/lefty1 cDNA and studied its expression pattern during early chick development. We found that antivin/lefty1 is expressed asymmetrically on the left side of the prospective floorplate, notochord and lateral plate mesoderm of the chick embryo.     

Off-response property of an acid-activated cation channel complex PKD1L3-PKD2L1

Ligand-gated ion channels are important in sensory and synaptic transduction. The PKD1L3-PKD2L1 channel complex is a sour taste receptor candidate that is activated by acids. Here, we report that the proton-activated PKD1L3-PKD2L1 ion channels have the unique ability to be activated after the removal of an acid stimulus. We refer to this property as the off-response (previously described as a delayed response). Electrophysiological analyses show that acid-induced responses are observed only after the removal of an acid solution at less than pH 3.0. A small increase in pH is sufficient for PKD1L3-PKD2L1 channel activation, after exposure to an acid at pH 2.5. These results indicate that this channel is a new type of ion channel-designated as an 'off-channel'-which is activated during stimulus application but not gated open until the removal of the stimulus. The off-response property of PKD1L3-PKD2L1 channels might explain the physiological phenomena occurring during sour taste sensation.     

Glucocorticoid enhances Na(+)/K(+) ATPase mRNA expression in rat olfactory mucosa during regeneration: a possible mechanism for recovery from olfactory disturbance.

Systemic or topical application of glucocorticoid is the treatment of choice for olfactory disturbance. Recently, Na(+)/K(+) ATPase and glucocorticoid receptor immunoreactivity in the olfactory mucosa was reported. To elucidate a glucocorticoid action on Na(+)/K(+) ATPase production, an animal model was produced by an intra-nasal application of 5% ZnSO(4) solution to Wistar rats. Dexamethasone was injected i.p. (0.01 mg/100 g) for 14 days after the insult. Histologically, the regeneration process was completed on day 14 in both dexamethasone- and saline-injected control rats. We used a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to evaluate mRNA production of Na(+)/K(+) ATPase and glucocorticoid receptor. In dexamethasone-injected rats, up-regulation of glucocorticoid receptor mRNA (95% more than control rats, P = 0.00068, unpaired t-test) and of Na(+)/K(+) ATPase mRNA expression (76% more than control rats, P = 0.0042) was observed on day 14. The increased Na(+)/K(+) ATPase expression in the regenerated olfactory mucosa is thought to be beneficial for an active uptake of K(+), which is released during excitation, around olfactory neurons and for the transepithelial absorption of Na(+) from olfactory mucus. Dexamethasone may thus contribute to the recovery of function after the morphological regeneration in part, at least, through its receptor by regulation of the ionic concentration in the olfactory mucosal microenvironment.     

Screening procedure for the analysis of distigmine bromide in serum by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A screening procedure was developed for the identification and quantification of distigmine bromide in serum samples by using liquid chromatography (LC)-electrospray ionization (ESI)-mass spectrometry (MS). In this method, distigmine bromide was analyzed in 0.5 mL serum by using pancuronium bromide as the internal standard, and gradient elution was performed using a reversed-phase column and a mixture of 10 mM-ammonium formate and methanol as the mobile phase. A highly sensitive assay could be performed with simple solid phase extraction using a cation exchange cartridge column by carrying out selected ion monitoring analysis in the positive ion detection mode. The procedure was validated in terms of linearity (0.9973 at 2.5 ng/mL). The inter- and intra-day precisions (coefficient of variation; CV%) were <8.5% and < 9.7%, respectively. The analytes were evaluated for stability and were found to be stable in serum for 1 week at 4 degrees C and 4 weeks at -30 degrees C, and successfully applied to in the analysis of two overdose cases. This method is sensitive and useful for the detection, quantification, and confirmation of distigmine bromide in serum.     

Measurement of the carbohydrate-binding specificity of lectins by a multiplexed bead-based flow cytometric assay

Carbohydrate binding underlies many cell recognition events. Here, we describe a multiplexed glyco-bead array method for determining the carbohydrate-binding specificities of plant lectins using a bead-based flow cytometric analysis. N-glycans including high mannose, hybrid, and complex types and O-glycans from glycoproteins were immobilized on multiplexed beads, and the specificities of 13 kinds of sugar chains were monitored within 2 h in a single reaction. This strategy is easy, rapid, reproducible, and suitable for small samples and allows the reliable and simultaneous elucidation of sugar-binding properties under identical conditions.