Biochemical and Morphological Features of Rice Cell Death Induced by Pseudomonas avenae

Pseudomonas avenae is a Gram-negative phytopathogenie bacteriumthat causes the symptom of a brown stripe in infected susceptibleplants. The host range of P. avenae is wide among the monocotyledonousplants, however, individual strains can infect only one or afew host species. A rice-incompatible strain, N1141, causedrapid cell death in sheath sections and in cultured rice cells.A rice-compatible strain, H8301, also induced cell death, however,this cell death in a compatible interaction was delayed comparedto the cell death induced by the N1141 incompatible strain.Inoculation of N1141 strain induced expression of EL2 gene whichis thought to be one of the defense-related gene. Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) of culturedrice cells showed that DNA cleavage occurred only in N1141-inoculatedrice cells. N1141 strain caused cytoplasmic condensation, shrinkage,and plasma membrane blebbing, all of which are important morphologicalcharacteristics of programmed cell death (PCD). In contrast,H8301 strain inoculated rice cells appeared to show weakeningof the cell wall instead of cytoplasm condensation, shrinkageand membrane blebbing. These results suggest that the rapidcell death of rice induced by the incompatible strain is characterizedas PCD. (Received May 22, 1999; Accepted July 22, 1999)     

Background Coloration of Squamous Epithelium in Esophago-Pharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: What Causes the Color Change?

Objectives

This study aims to clarify the cause of background coloration in the epithelia between each dilated intra papillary capillary loop in esophago-pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Design

This is a single center retrospective study including 124 patients with 160 lesions who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy in Nagasaki University Hospital from September 2007 to March 2012; a detailed comparison between endoscopic images and pathology was performed. Immunohistological assessment using anti-human hemoglobin antibody (anti-Hb Ab) was performed to verify the presence of hemoglobin (Hb) component in the cancer cells. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH) on Hb-β mRNA were performed to assess the production of Hb component within the cancer cells.

Results

A strong positivity for anti-Hb Ab was observed in the squamous cell carcinoma area, whereas non-cancerous mucosa showed no immunopositivity for Hb. The concordance rate between anti-Hb Ab immunoreactivity and the presence of BC was as high as 80.9%. The amount of Hb-β mRNA expression was three times higher in cancer tissues compared with the surrounding non-cancerous mucosa. ISH images showed that the expression exclusively occurred in cancer cells, indicating that Hb is probably produced within cancer cells.

Conclusions

The background coloration observed is partly due to an extravascular component of Hb. RT-PCR and ISH analyses indicate that Hb is produced within cancer cells.     

Derivation of iPSCs after Culture of Human Dental Pulp Cells under Defined Conditions

Human dental pulp cells (hDPCs) are a promising resource for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering and can be used for derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). However, current protocols use reagents of animal origin (mainly fetal bovine serum, FBS) that carry the potential risk of infectious diseases and unwanted immunogenicity. Here, we report a chemically defined protocol to isolate and maintain the growth and differentiation potential of hDPCs. hDPCs cultured under these conditions showed significantly less primary colony formation than those with FBS. Cell culture under stringently defined conditions revealed a donor-dependent growth capacity; however, once established, the differentiation capabilities of the hDPCs were comparable to those observed with FBS. DNA array analyses indicated that the culture conditions robustly altered hDPC gene expression patterns but, more importantly, had little effect on neither pluripotent gene expression nor the efficiency of iPSC induction. The chemically defined culture conditions described herein are not perfect serum replacements, but can be used for the safe establishment of iPSCs and will find utility in applications for cell-based regenerative medicine.     

How a Spatial Arrangement of Secondary Structure Elements Is Dispersed in the Universe of Protein Folds

It has been known that topologically different proteins of the same class sometimes share the same spatial arrangement of secondary structure elements (SSEs). However, the frequency by which topologically different structures share the same spatial arrangement of SSEs is unclear. It is important to estimate this frequency because it provides both a deeper understanding of the geometry of protein folds and a valuable suggestion for predicting protein structures with novel folds. Here we clarified the frequency with which protein folds share the same SSE packing arrangement with other folds, the types of spatial arrangement of SSEs that are frequently observed across different folds, and the diversity of protein folds that share the same spatial arrangement of SSEs with a given fold, using a protein structure alignment program MICAN, which we have been developing. By performing comprehensive structural comparison of SCOP fold representatives, we found that approximately 80% of protein folds share the same spatial arrangement of SSEs with other folds. We also observed that many protein pairs that share the same spatial arrangement of SSEs belong to the different classes, often with an opposing N- to C-terminal direction of the polypeptide chain. The most frequently observed spatial arrangement of SSEs was the 2-layer α/β packing arrangement and it was dispersed among as many as 27% of SCOP fold representatives. These results suggest that the same spatial arrangements of SSEs are adopted by a wide variety of different folds and that the spatial arrangement of SSEs is highly robust against the N- to C-terminal direction of the polypeptide chain.     

New Type of Sendai Virus Vector Provides Transgene-Free iPS Cells Derived from Chimpanzee Blood

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are potentially valuable cell sources for disease models and future therapeutic applications; however, inefficient generation and the presence of integrated transgenes remain as problems limiting their current use. Here, we developed a new Sendai virus vector, TS12KOS, which has improved efficiency, does not integrate into the cellular DNA, and can be easily eliminated. TS12KOS carries KLF4, OCT3/4, and SOX2 in a single vector and can easily generate iPSCs from human blood cells. Using TS12KOS, we established iPSC lines from chimpanzee blood, and used DNA array analysis to show that the global gene-expression pattern of chimpanzee iPSCs is similar to those of human embryonic stem cell and iPSC lines. These results demonstrated that our new vector is useful for generating iPSCs from the blood cells of both human and chimpanzee. In addition, the chimpanzee iPSCs are expected to facilitate unique studies into human physiology and disease.     

Comparison of the course of biomarker changes and kidney injury in a rat model of drug-induced acute kidney injury

Objective: To aid in evaluating the performance of biomarkers, we measured kidney injury biomarkers in rat models of drug-induced acute kidney injury. Methods and results: Rats were treated with site-specific nephrotoxins, puromycin, gentamicin, cisplatin, or 2-bromoethylamine. Fifteen biomarkers (β-2-microglobulin, calbindin, clusterin, cystatin-C, KIM-1, GST-α, GST-μ, NGAL, osteopontin, EGF, TIMP-1, VEGF, albumin, RPA-1, and urinary total protein) were examined in comparison with BUN, serum creatinine, and NAG. Some biomarkers, which were different depending in each nephrotoxin, showed ability to detect the prodromal stage of drug-induced kidney injury. Characteristic changing patterns of biomarkers were also found depending on the specific lesion site in the kidney. Conclusion: These data suggested that establishment of a suitable biomarker panel would facilitate detection of site-specific kidney injury with high sensitivity.     

Wnt signaling gradients establish planar cell polarity by inducing Vangl2 phosphorylation through Ror2

It is fundamentally important that signaling gradients provide positional information to govern morphogenesis of multicellular organisms. Morphogen gradients can generate different cell types in specific spatial order at distinct threshold concentrations. However, it is largely unknown whether and how signaling gradients also control cell polarities by acting as global cues. Here, we show that Wnt signaling gradient provides directional information to a field of cells. Vangl2, a core component in planar cell polarity, forms Wnt-induced receptor complex with Ror2 to sense Wnt dosages. Wnts dose-dependently induce Vangl2 phosphorylation of serine/threonine residues and Vangl2 activities depend on its levels of phosphorylation. In the limb bud, Wnt5a signaling gradient controls limb elongation by establishing PCP in chondrocytes along the proximal-distal axis through regulating Vangl2 phosphorylation. Our studies have provided new insight to Robinow syndrome, Brachydactyly Type B1, and spinal bifida which are caused by mutations in human ROR2, WNT5A, or VANGL.     

An extensive analysis of R2R3-MYB regulatory genes from Fagus crenata

Using pairs of degenerate primers, we conducted a polymerase chain reaction to amplify the partial R2R3 domains of a majority of the R2R3-MYB family genes from Fagus crenata and identified a total of 85 independent gene fragments. By phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences, we found that many of the beech genes clustered with members from Arabidopsis, suggesting that these members represent beech orthologs of Arabidopsis. Some of the orthologous relationships became more evident when the complete gene structures were compared. Further, a large number of genes formed an additional and expanding cluster, independent from the other subgroups. These members were further compared with the Populus and Vitis family genes. In the epidermal cell fate clade, expansion of the beech family genes was comparable with those of the Populus and Vitis families, but the number of genes present in every subclade fluctuated extensively. Beech genes were abundant in the general flavonoid pathway regulation and TT2-related subclades; no beech gene was included in the anthocyanin-related subclade. Further analysis of the newly amplified regulatory genes to elucidate their functions may clarify the role of these genes in the evolution of plant species.