Seasonal reproductive cycle in relation to tolerance to high temperatures in the terrestrial slug Lehmannia valentiana

Abstract. Seasonal maturation of the gonad (hermaphrodic gland) was examined in the terrestrial slug Lehmannia valentiana in Osaka, Japan. The ratio of the gonad weight to body weight was low in June–September, rapidly increased in October, and gradually decreased thereafter. In May–September, most slugs had only spermatogonia and spermatocytes, and all slugs had mature sperms in October–April. The oocyte size increased in September and large oocytes were observed in late October–April. Under natural temperature and photoperiodic conditions in Osaka, slugs laid eggs in early November–May. Therefore, this species reproduces from late autumn to spring, in contrast to many terrestrial slugs. In January–early February, however, the number of laid eggs was small and oviposition activity showed a bimodal seasonal pattern. In contrast, the hatching pattern was unimodal and most hatching was observed in spring. After a 1-h exposure to 33°C, the survival rate was 100% in juvenile slugs but 0% in eggs. Although hatching success was >85% at 15°–20°C, no eggs hatched when they were maintained at 25°C. The heat susceptibility of eggs in this species may be one of the key factors restricting oviposition from late autumn to spring.     

Induction of growth inhibition and differentiation of human leukemia HL-60 cells by a Tunisian gerboui olive leaf extract

Cancer protection associated with the consumption of olive products is well established, but not for leukemia. The protective effects of olive (Olea europaea L.) leaves were investigated by incubating human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells with olive leaf extracts (OLEs) from seven principal Tunisian olive varieties, namely, Chemchali, Chemlali, Chétoui, Gerboui, Sayali, Zalmati and Zarrazi. The results showed significant growth inhibition of HL-60 cells incubated for 48 h with a 100-fold dilution of each OLE which had been obtained by incubating 10 g of dried leaves in 100 ml of 70% ethanol for one week with subsequent ultrafiltration. DNA fragmentation was observed in the cells incubated for 19 h with a 100-fold dilution of the Chemchali, Chemlali and Zalmati extracts. The results of a nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) assay revealed NBT reduction, a differentiation marker, by the OLE-treated cells after an overnight incubation. The Gerboui extract showed the highest NBT reduction ability at more than 90%. An HPLC analysis revealed the presence of apigenin 7-glucoside in the extract, which was found in subsequent experiments to be responsible for the Gerboui extract-mediated cell differentiation.     

Role of the ompT mutation in stimulated decrease in colony-forming ability due to intracellular protein aggregate formation in Escherichia coli strain BL21

Recently we found that the cells of Escherichia coli strain BL21 producing a fusion protein, GST-Sup35NM, show a much more rapid decrease in colony-forming ability in the stationary phase than control cells. In this study, it was found that an extract of the cells producing GST-Sup35NM forms fibrous protein polymers containing GST-Sup35NM. In the course of the study, we realized that strain BL21 carried the ompT mutation. We suspected that the deficiency in OmpT protease was responsible for the observed phenotype. To test this, we introduced the wild-type ompT gene into strain BL21, and found that the transformed cells recovered the wild-type phenotype. We concluded that OmpT protease, though known to localize on the cell surface, is involved in protein quality control within the cell.     

Textural evaluation of rice cake by chewing and swallowing measurements on human subjects

The difficulty in masticating and swallowing rice cake was quantified. Healthy subjects ate pieces of rice cake (9 g and 3 g) and a modified product (9 g). We used electromyography to measure the activity of the jaw-closing and -opening muscles during chewing, as well as the suprahyoid muscle activity, laryngeal movement, and sound during swallowing. The smaller the rice cake, the shorter the mastication time, the fewer the number of chews, and the less the jaw-closing muscle activity. A modified rice cake product (9 g) was consumed with less mastication effort than the standard rice cake (9 g) and with the same effort as the standard (3 g). Both the sample amount and texture influenced mastication, although neither factor caused a significant difference in swallowing characteristics. These observations suggest that swallowing was induced when the bolus properties became suitable for swallowing, as healthy subjects could adjust their mastication technique according to the food amount and texture.     

In situ observation of a cell adhesion and metabolism using surface infrared spectroscopy

In this study, we report on an in situ monitoring system of living cultured cells using infrared absorption spectroscopy in the geometry of multiple internal reflections (MIR-IRAS). In order to observe living cultured cells, the temperature in the sample chamber of a FT-IR spectrometer was maintained at 37 °C and a humidified gas mixture containing 5% CO₂ was introduced into the sample chamber. Human breast cell line MCF-7 cultured on Si MIR prisms were placed in the sample chamber and infrared spectra of MCF-7 cells were collected for 5 h. It was found that the adhesion and metabolism of MCF-7 cells could be monitored by the absorption intensity of amide-II protein band (1,545 cm⁻¹) and also by the absorption intensities of CH _x bands (2,700–3,100 cm⁻¹). These results suggest that our system is useful for a nondestructive and non-label monitoring of cell viability. Our method based on infrared absorption spectroscopy has a potential for bioscreening application.     

Determination of serum glucose by horseradish peroxidase-catalysed imidazole chemiluminescence coupled to a micro-flow-injection system.

The reactivity of flow-injection (FI)-horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalysed imidazole chemiluminescence (CL) was studied for continuous determination of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and serum glucose with immobilized glucose oxidase. Light emission by the HRP-catalysed imidazole CL was obtained when immobilized HRP, alkaline imidazole (in Tricine solution, pH 9.3) and H(2)O(2) were reacted at room temperature. The optimal pH for the CL reaction was 9.3 and the optimal concentration of imidazole was 100 micromol/L. When no imidazole was added, the light intensity of the same H(2)O(2) specimen decreased to a level that could not be quantitatively determined. The spectrum of the light emitted by imidazole CL was in the range 400-600 nm with a peak at 500 nm. The calibration equation for determination of H(2)O(2) was y = 9860x(2) + 3830x + 11,700, where y = light intensity (RLU) and x = concentration of H(2)O(2) (micromol/L). The detection limit of H(2)O(2) was 5 pmol, and the reproducibility of the H(2)O(2) assay was 2.3% of the coefficient of variation (H(2)O(2) 48 micromol/L, n = 13). The CL method was successfully applied to assay glucose after on-line generation of H(2)O(2) with the immobilized glucose oxidase column, resulting in good reproducibility (CV = 3.3% and 1.0% for the standard glucose and the control serum, respectively).     

PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 regulates spindle orientation in adherent cells

Cultured adherent cells divide on the substratum, leading to formation of the cell monolayer. However, how the orientation of this anchorage-dependent cell division is regulated remains unknown. We have previously shown that integrin-dependent adhesion orients the spindle parallel to the substratum, which ensures this anchorage-dependent cell division. Here, we show that phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3) is essential for this spindle orientation control. In metaphase, PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 is accumulated in the midcortex in an integrin-dependent manner. Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K) reduces the accumulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and induces spindle misorientation. Introduction of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 to these cells restores the midcortical accumulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and proper spindle orientation. PI(3)K inhibition causes dynein-dependent spindle rotations along the z-axis, resulting in spindle misorientation. Moreover, dynactin, a dynein-binding partner, is accumulated in the midcortex in a PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-dependent manner. We propose that PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 directs dynein/dynactin-dependent pulling forces on spindles to the midcortex, and thereby orients the spindle parallel to the substratum.     

Reassignment of a rare sense codon to a non-canonical amino acid in Escherichia coli

The immutability of the genetic code has been challenged with the successful reassignment of the UAG stop codon to non-natural amino acids in Escherichia coli. In the present study, we demonstrated the in vivo reassignment of the AGG sense codon from arginine to l-homoarginine. As the first step, we engineered a novel variant of the archaeal pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) able to recognize l-homoarginine and l-N⁶-(1-iminoethyl)lysine (l-NIL). When this PylRS variant or HarRS was expressed in E. coli, together with the AGG-reading tRNA^Pyl_CCU molecule, these arginine analogs were efficiently incorporated into proteins in response to AGG. Next, some or all of the AGG codons in the essential genes were eliminated by their synonymous replacements with other arginine codons, whereas the majority of the AGG codons remained in the genome. The bacterial host''s ability to translate AGG into arginine was then restricted in a temperature-dependent manner. The temperature sensitivity caused by this restriction was rescued by the translation of AGG to l-homoarginine or l-NIL. The assignment of AGG to l-homoarginine in the cells was confirmed by mass spectrometric analyses. The results showed the feasibility of breaking the degeneracy of sense codons to enhance the amino-acid diversity in the genetic code.     

Comparative analysis of methods to determine DNA methylation levels of a tumor-related microRNA gene

Quantifying levels of DNA methylation in tumors is a useful approach for the identification of potential tumor suppressors and to find biomarkers that can be used as prognostic or therapeutic indicators. In the current study, we compared three methods commonly used for quantifying DNA methylation—bisulfite pyrosequencing, quantitative methylation-specific PCR (Q-MSP), and MethyLight—by focusing on the CpG island of the gene encoding the microRNA-34b and microRNA-34c (miR-34b/c); aberrant regulation of this miR is associated with various human malignancies, including gastric cancer. Standard curve analysis using control DNA samples demonstrated the highest quantitative accuracy in Q-MSP analysis. We also carried out methylation analysis using gastric mucosa specimens obtained from gastric cancer patients. We found a high correlation between methylation levels determined by Q-MSP and those determined by MethyLight (R² = 0.952), whereas the results of bisulfite pyrosequencing and the other two methods were less well correlated (R² = 0.864 and R² = 0.804 for Q-MSP and MethyLight, respectively). This may reflect possible PCR bias in the pyrosequencing technique, which we show can be corrected for by applying a cubic approximate equation to the original data. Thus, although results obtained by the different DNA methylation analysis techniques are largely comparable, an appropriate correction may be necessary for stringent comparison.     

Flies without Trehalose

Living organisms adapt to environmental changes through metabolic homeostasis. Sugars are used primarily for the metabolic production of ATP energy and carbon sources. Trehalose is a nonreducing disaccharide that is present in many organisms. In insects, the principal hemolymph sugar is trehalose instead of glucose. As in mammals, hemolymph sugar levels in Drosophila are regulated by the action of endocrine hormones. Therefore, the mobilization of trehalose to glucose is thought to be critical for metabolic homeostasis. However, the physiological role of trehalose as a hemolymph sugar during insect development remains largely unclear. Here, we demonstrate that mutants of the trehalose-synthesizing enzyme Tps1 failed to produce trehalose as expected but survived into the late pupal period and died before eclosion. Larvae without trehalose grew normally, with a slight reduction in body size, under normal food conditions. However, these larvae were extremely sensitive to starvation, possibly due to a local defect in the central nervous system. Furthermore, Tps1 mutant larvae failed to grow on a low-sugar diet and exhibited severe growth defects on a low-protein diet. These diet-dependent phenotypes of Tps1 mutants demonstrate the critical role of trehalose during development in Drosophila and reveal how animals adapt to changes in nutrient availability.